THE WAR BEGINS

THE FALLING CHAMBER...

The ground ruptured.

Stone pillars shattered as the chamber trembled under an unseen force. Dust and magic crackled in the air, thick and suffocating.

Elias barely had time to react before the sigils beneath Varian's feet ignited.

Aldric had moved first.

The Watchers raised their hands, and the entire room bent toward them.

Power—ancient and absolute—flooded the chamber.

It was a spell of binding.

Designed to stop Varian from escaping.

Designed to trap the First King.

But Elias felt it too.

The magic curled around his limbs, locking his body in place. His breath hitched as a wave of paralyzing energy spread through his chest.

They weren't just trapping the past.

They were caging him.

"ELIAS!" Seraphina's voice pierced through the chaos.

Her hands flashed with magic as she tried to break the spell, but there were too many Watchers.

Aldric's voice cut through the collapsing chamber.

"You have strayed too far, Elias. It's time you stopped pretending to be something you're not."

He lifted his palm—

And the spell tightened around Elias's throat.

THE FIRST KING INTERVENES...

Just as Elias's vision blurred from lack of air—

The First King moved.

His robes of golden light shifted unnaturally, and in the next instant, he stood before Elias.

His hand rose—

And the binding magic shattered.

Aldric's smirk faltered. "Oh?"

The First King finally spoke.

"Your mistake," he said quietly, "was thinking I would watch from the sidelines."

Then, with a single step—he vanished.

And reappeared in the middle of the Watchers.

Elias had never seen someone move like that.

Not teleportation. Not speed.

Something else.

Something that warped the very fabric of time and space.

One of the Watchers barely had time to react before the First King lifted a single finger—

And the Watcher crumbled into dust.

A WAR OF GODS...

Chaos erupted.

The Watchers—usually calm, always in control—moved like cornered animals.

Half turned their magic on the First King.

The other half focused on Elias.

Aldric barely looked fazed. He lifted his hand again, and the entire chamber cracked open.

Runes along the walls flared, forming a new spell—

A summoning.

Something massive crawled from the broken earth.

A creature of pure shadow, its silver eyes gleaming like the Watchers.

A voice, deep and endless, echoed in the air.

"The Arcane King must not leave this place."

Elias gritted his teeth.

Not happening.

With a roar, he summoned his power—

And the war truly began.

SERAPHINA'S DECISION...

Seraphina struggled to process the chaos engulfing the chamber.

The First King held back most of the Watchers.

But Elias—

Elias was fighting Aldric.

And he was losing.

Every spell Elias cast, Aldric deflected with ease.

Every attack, countered.

Aldric was toying with him.

"You're still resisting," Aldric mused, dodging another blast of blue fire. "Why? You know this ends the same way every time."

Elias growled. "Not this time."

Aldric's smirk deepened. "You're right."

And then—he moved.

One second, he was ten feet away.

The next, his hand pressed against Elias's chest.

"Die, child."

A pulse of silver magic ripped through Elias's body.

And for a moment—

Everything stopped.

THE FALL OF A KING....

Elias felt his body break.

The magic spread through his veins like liquid fire, tearing through his nerves and muscles.

He collapsed to his knees.

Pain. Unimaginable pain.

His vision blurred as the world spun.

No—no, this wasn't how it was supposed to end.

Aldric knelt beside him, his voice almost gentle.

"It's alright," he murmured. "This was always going to happen."

He raised his hand for the final blow.

Elias tried to move—but his body wouldn't respond.

Seraphina screamed his name.

Then—

The world cracked.

And everything went white.

THE AWAKENING...

Elias gasped as something ancient surged inside him.

The pain vanished.

His heartbeat slowed.

And in the void of white light—

A voice spoke.

"You are not yet ready to die."

It wasn't the First King.

It wasn't the Watchers.

It was something older.

Something that had been waiting.

Watching.

A presence that had existed since the first Arcane King took the throne.

Elias felt it now.

Not just power.

Not just magic.

A throne inside his soul.

And for the first time—

He sat upon it.

THE ARCANE KING RETURNS...

The chamber exploded with light.

Aldric stumbled back, shielding his eyes. "What—"

Elias rose.

But he wasn't just standing.

He was floating.

The raw force surrounding him was unlike anything the world had ever seen.

Golden and violet energy crackled around him.

His eyes—once brown—were now pure, burning white.

Seraphina's breath caught.

"Elias?"

Aldric's face finally showed fear.

Elias raised a hand.

The entire chamber obeyed.

Walls shifted. The ground repaired itself.

The creature of shadows disintegrated into dust.

Even the First King paused, watching with something like… awe.

For the first time in history—

The Arcane King had awakened before he was broken.

Aldric gritted his teeth. "This… isn't how it was supposed to happen."

Elias met his gaze.

"Then change the story."

And with a single flick of his hand—

He obliterated the Watchers.