The ancient halls of Velmora were quiet now. The echoes of battle still lingered in the ruined walls, but the beast was gone — dissolved into the darkness from whence it came. Raizen sat alone in the chamber of echoes, staring at the glowing artifact in his hand.
The Crown of Shadows pulsed like a beating heart.
Its power surged through him, thick and intoxicating. Every time he used it, he felt stronger — faster, sharper, more complete. But with each pulse, he also felt something else… a pull. Like a thread unraveling, one strand at a time, tugging at the parts of him that still felt human.
Behind him, Lyra approached cautiously.
"You don't look like someone who just saved a city," she said softly.
Raizen didn't turn to face her. "Maybe because I didn't."
"You did. That thing would've killed us all."
"I didn't destroy it. I unleashed something else," he replied, holding up the Crown. "This isn't power. It's a curse. A choice between saving everyone and saving myself."
He clenched his fist around it, and the shadows responded, curling up his arm like smoke. The voices — ancient, haunting — whispered louder now. They offered answers. Control. Glory. Dominion. All he had to do… was let go.
But Raizen knew what that meant. He had seen it in the eyes of the Crimson Mask, and in the ruins beneath the sea: total surrender.
He stood and turned to Lyra. "There's a way to destroy the Crown. The guardian told me. But if I do it… I might not survive. Worse, I might lose who I am."
Lyra's eyes widened. "Then don't. We'll find another way. You don't have to carry this alone."
"But I do," Raizen said. "Because no one else can. That's what this thing wants. To isolate me. To make me think I'm the only answer."
He walked to the edge of the chamber where a great chasm opened into the abyss below. Shadows stirred in the depths, watching. Waiting.
"I have one chance," he said. "If I channel everything — all the darkness I've absorbed, all the energy it's given me — into the seal… I might be able to destroy it forever. But it'll consume me in the process. I'll become part of it."
Lyra stepped forward. "Then we pull you back."
Raizen looked at her, eyes dim with the weight of it all. "You don't understand. There's no coming back."
A long silence stretched between them.
"Then at least let us fight with you," Lyra said.
From the shadows, the rest of the crew emerged — weathered, wounded, but alive. Kael with his scorched gauntlets. Nara with her mechanical wings. Even Rook, the thief who once swore loyalty only to coin, stood with arms crossed, nodding silently.
"You made us a crew," Kael said. "Now let us carry the burden too."
Raizen smiled faintly, for the first time in what felt like years.
"…Alright."
They set to work.
In the heart of Velmora, Raizen placed the Crown upon a pedestal of obsidian and etched the sealing circle in runes only he could read. The guardians chanted the ancient rites, amplifying the seal. Lyra stood by his side, holding his hand as the shadows surged and screamed, unwilling to be caged again.
As Raizen began the ritual, pain lanced through his body — raw, primal. The Crown fought back, clawing at his mind, his memories, his soul. He saw visions of his brother, of the burning of Noctis, of every moment that had shaped his journey. And then he saw a mirror — himself, but twisted, crowned in darkness, ruling a world drowned in shadow.
"You could be a god," the vision whispered.
Raizen gritted his teeth. "I never wanted to be a god."
With one final cry, he poured all his energy into the seal.
The Crown shattered.
The force of the explosion knocked everyone to the ground. When the smoke cleared, the pedestal was empty — and Raizen was gone.
Silence.
Lyra crawled to the center. All that remained was the obsidian shard, now lifeless. No pulse. No voice.
But from the darkness… a breath.
Raizen coughed, rising slowly, blood on his lips but eyes clear.
"I'm still here," he whispered.
They had done it.
But something had changed.
He could feel the Crown's residue — not gone, but dormant. Waiting. It had not been destroyed. Only sealed… within him.
Raizen looked out across the ruins of Velmora. The world was still in danger. But now, he had a fighting chance.
And he wasn't alone.
End of Chapter 12: The Price of Power