Restart: the ultimate system

A Hollow Victory, A Darker Truth

The ruins of Ravencourt Manor were eerily silent. The dust had settled, and the oppressive weight of Lucian's power had finally lifted. But the tension in the air refused to fade.

Kai wiped sweat and grime from his forehead, but his fingers trembled. It wasn't from exhaustion. It was from the gnawing unease that clawed at the back of his mind.

We won. But why doesn't it feel like a victory?

Selene crouched beside the Soulforge dagger, still pulsing with the remnants of Lucian's soul. She didn't look relieved—she looked concerned.

"This was too easy," she murmured.

Vale gave her an incredulous look. "Easy? We nearly died!"

"No," Selene said, shaking her head. "Lucian was powerful, but he let us kill him. He let us trap his soul."

Kai stiffened. "You think this was part of his plan?"

Selene exhaled sharply. "I think we played right into it."

A Warning from the Shadows

A gust of wind stirred the ash around them. Lyra, still nursing her wounds, suddenly tensed. Her eyes darted toward the shadows cast by the ruined pillars.

"We're not alone."

A figure emerged.

Wrapped in tattered black robes, its face obscured by a silver mask, the stranger moved with an unnatural stillness. Even without seeing their eyes, Kai could feel their gaze piercing straight through him.

Selene and Vale immediately drew their weapons, but the stranger raised a hand.

"If you attack me, you won't live to regret it."

His voice was cold, carrying an unsettling resonance that made Kai's stomach churn.

"Who are you?" Kai demanded.

The masked figure tilted his head slightly, as if considering his words carefully. "You've taken something that doesn't belong to you." His gaze flickered toward the Soulforge in Selene's hand. "That soul was never meant to be sealed."

Selene tightened her grip. "And why should we care?"

The air around them grew heavy, pressing down like a vice.

"Because," the stranger said, "Lucian was just one of seven. And now that he's gone, the others will awaken."

The Seven Sovereigns

Kai's breath caught. "Others?"

The stranger took a slow step forward. "Lucian was bound to the Order of Seven Sovereigns. His death is the first crack in a chain that should never have been broken. The others will feel it. And they will come."

Vale frowned. "Seven… What are they?"

The stranger's voice was calm. Too calm.

"The rulers of the old world. Monsters who should have stayed buried."

Selene's grip on her daggers tightened. "You're saying we just started a war?"

The stranger nodded.

"A war you have no hope of winning."

A Choice in the Dark

Silence hung between them.

Kai's mind raced. If what this stranger said was true, then killing Lucian had only unleashed something worse.

"So what do we do?" Lyra asked, her voice quiet but steady.

The stranger turned his masked face toward Kai. "You have two choices."

"Run."

"Or prepare for the end of everything."

Kai clenched his fists.

Running wasn't an option. It never had been.

"We fight."

The stranger let out a slow, almost amused sigh.

"Then pray you're ready for what comes next."

The Whispering Abyss

The Stranger's Warning

Kai's heart pounded as the masked stranger's words settled over the group like a death sentence.

The Seven Sovereigns.

Rulers of the old world.

A war we cannot win.

For a long moment, no one spoke. The ruins of Ravencourt Manor stood around them, ghostly and broken, as if the land itself had been wounded by what had just occurred.

Selene was the first to break the silence. She pointed her dagger at the stranger, her voice steady despite the tension. "If we can't win, why are you telling us this?"

The stranger's mask betrayed no emotion. "Because you're already entangled in this. Whether you realize it or not, Lucian's death changed everything. The seals that bound the Sovereigns are weakening."

Kai's fingers twitched. The System had been silent since the battle ended, no notifications, no updates—nothing. He didn't trust that.

"You knew this would happen," Kai accused, eyes narrowing. "Didn't you?"

The stranger didn't deny it. "It was inevitable."

Selene let out a sharp laugh. "I don't like this. You show up after we kill Lucian and start spouting cryptic warnings? Who the hell are you, really?"

The masked figure tilted his head slightly. "A messenger."

"From whom?"

The wind howled through the ruins.

"The Abyss."

A Glimpse into the Abyss

Kai didn't know why, but the moment the stranger uttered those words, his vision blurred.

Darkness swallowed him whole.

A deep, resonating voice echoed in his mind—not the System, something older.

"The chains are breaking."

"The Sovereigns awaken."

"The System is not what you believe."

Kai gasped and staggered back. When his vision cleared, he was still standing in the ruins, but his chest heaved as if he had just surfaced from drowning.

Selene and Vale rushed to steady him.

"Kai? What the hell just happened?"

"I…" He swallowed. "I saw something."

The masked figure watched him closely. "Then you understand."

Kai clenched his jaw. "No. But I will."

The stranger let out a quiet breath. "Then you don't have much time."

A New Threat Emerges

Before anyone could respond, the System suddenly flared to life.

[System Notification: World Event Triggered]

[The First Sovereign Awakens]

Kai's blood ran cold.

The ground beneath them trembled.

From the horizon, a dark storm was gathering—one that reeked of ancient power.

The stranger turned away. "Choose wisely, Kai. The war has already begun."

And then—he vanished.