Chapter 11: Breaking The Chains

The fire crackled in the cold night, sending flickering shadows against the broken walls of the abandoned house they had claimed for the night. The village was untouched, yet Lorien still felt the phantom weight of the battle he had endured. It wasn't just the remnants—the fight had awakened something deeper within him. Something clawing at the edges of his soul.

He sat near the fire, his sword resting against his knee. Across from him, Rainer sharpened his dagger with methodical ease, while Veyna lazily chewed on a dried piece of meat, eyes flicking toward Lorien every so often.

"You're staring," Lorien muttered without looking up.

Veyna grinned. "You're interesting."

Rainer smirked but didn't comment. Instead, he slid his dagger back into its sheath and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "So, Sovereign—"

"Don't call me that," Lorien interrupted.

Rainer raised a brow. "Fine. Lorien, then. You said you'd help us. I assume that means you have some idea where to start?"

Lorien exhaled, thinking. The Nightborn. A child born under a cursed star. If they were looking for something connected to chaos, then his next trial—his next calamity—was closer than he wanted to admit.

"The Nightborn attacked three days ago," he said. "They're moving with purpose. They have a destination in mind."

Rainer nodded. "We think so too. But their movements are erratic. We lost their trail near the Ashen Fields. If they took the child for a reason, they wouldn't just keep running—they'd be heading somewhere."

"The question is where," Veyna added.

Lorien clenched his fists. The system had warned him before the remnants arrived. If this was truly a part of his trial, then the Nightborn weren't just searching for something.

They were leading him to it.

[System Notification: A path has been set. Follow the echoes of fate.]

His breath hitched.

Follow the echoes of fate.

The system's words were never arbitrary. If it had spoken now, then—

Lorien shot to his feet. "I know where they're going."

Rainer and Veyna exchanged glances before standing as well. "You sure?" Rainer asked.

Lorien's gaze flickered to the horizon. "There's a ruined city past the Ashen Fields. It was wiped out centuries ago, nothing but whispers left behind. But if fate is leading us somewhere… that's where it's pointing."

A storm of energy surged around Veyna, twisting the air into unnatural currents. Lorien's grip tightened on his sword as he stared at her trembling figure. Her mismatched eyes glowed, flickering between gold and green—until both burned with a pale, eerie light.

Something else was inside her.

"Veyna!" Lorien shouted, but her body jerked as if puppeteered by invisible strings. A low, distorted chuckle escaped her lips, though the voice wasn't hers.

"The Sovereign is dead. But his echoes remain."

A ripple of power expanded outward, forcing Lorien and Rainer to brace against it. The ruins around them flickered—one moment crumbling stone, the next, the golden city of Valtara as it once stood.

Rainer cursed under his breath, his sword raised. "I don't like this, Lorien. Whatever's inside her—it's not her."

Lorien knew that all too well.

[System Notification: The Trial of the Vanquished has begun in full.]

[Warning: A past shadow has anchored itself to an unstable vessel.]

[Objective Updated: Sever the shadow's grasp before the vessel is lost.]

Lorien exhaled sharply. A past shadow… So this wasn't just the memory of the previous Sovereign—it was a fragment of him. A remnant of his existence, searching for something to hold on to.

And it had chosen Veyna.

Her hands trembled, fingers clenching and unclenching as if she was struggling against unseen chains. The smirk on her lips was not her own.

"Ah, a new Sovereign… How quaint. Tell me, how long will you last before the gods come for you?"

Lorien didn't answer. He was already moving.

Sovereign's Grasp.

Dark tendrils of energy erupted from his palm, snapping toward Veyna in an attempt to bind whatever was controlling her. But the moment they touched her, the world shattered again—

—and suddenly, Lorien wasn't in the ruins anymore.

---

The Sovereign's Last Stand

He stood in the middle of a grand throne room, its pillars stretching toward the heavens. The walls were lined with banners of black and gold, the sigil of the Sovereign emblazoned on them. The air smelled of iron, of war, of something burning in the distance.

And at the far end of the hall—

A man sat upon a towering throne, draped in dark regalia, his face concealed beneath a hood of swirling shadows. His fingers tapped the armrest lazily, his other hand gripping a scepter of obsidian and bone.

This… was the past Sovereign.

Lorien couldn't move. He was merely a spectator, forced to watch what came next.

A voice echoed from beyond the throne room doors.

"You are not welcome in this realm any longer, Sovereign."

The figure on the throne let out a slow exhale. "So, they've come at last."

The doors exploded inward.

Figures in radiant armor stepped inside, their weapons shimmering with divine light. Their faces were unreadable, hidden behind visors that glowed with celestial fire.

Gods.

Or their enforcers.

The Sovereign slowly stood, rolling his shoulders. "I tire of this cycle." His voice was calm. Unbothered. "Come then. Let us see how much of creation you are willing to sacrifice just to erase me."

The warriors lunged forward, their blades cutting through the air with the force of the heavens behind them. The Sovereign raised a single hand—

And the world turned to chaos.

Reality bent.

The pillars twisted into monstrous forms, the floor cracked open into an abyss of writhing darkness, and the warriors stopped mid-motion as if frozen in time.

Then—

A tidal wave of destruction erupted outward.

Lorien barely had time to comprehend what he was seeing before—

---

The Possession Deepens

He gasped as the vision shattered, the ruins returning to his sight.

Veyna stood before him, but her expression had changed. Her body was taut, trembling as if struggling against something unseen.

"The gods will not permit you to exist," the shadow within her murmured.

Lorien's mind raced. He had just witnessed the end of the previous Sovereign's rule. If this shadow was a fragment of him, then it was clinging to Veyna in a desperate attempt to persist.

And if he didn't stop it—

Veyna would be erased.

Lorien's body moved on instinct. Sovereign's Aegis. A translucent barrier flared to life around him, pushing against the corrupted energy surging from Veyna's form.

But the shadow laughed.

"Foolish. You think mere barriers can sever my grip?"

Her hand shot forward. A wave of abyssal energy slammed into Lorien's shield, shattering it instantly. The force sent him skidding backward, his boots digging into the broken stone beneath him.

Rainer was already moving.

With a snarl, he dashed forward, blade flashing in a downward arc. "Snap out of it, Veyna!"

The possessed girl caught his blade with her bare hand.

Rainer's eyes widened.

Veyna tilted her head, a smile stretching across her lips. "You should not have done that."

A shockwave blasted outward.

Rainer was hurled back, crashing against the remnants of a fallen column. He groaned, barely managing to push himself up.

Lorien cursed.

He had to end this.

His grip on his sword tightened.

He wasn't just fighting to sever the shadow.

He was fighting to save a friend.

---

Breaking the Chains

Lorien charged.

His blade glowed with dark energy as he swung, aiming not for Veyna but for the space around her—the chains of power binding her to the shadow.

Sovereign's Grasp.

The tendrils of chaos wrapped around her wrists, seeking the connection between her and the fragment of the past Sovereign.

Veyna screamed.

Her body arched backward, and for a moment—just a moment—her real voice broke through.

"Lorien—!"

The shadow shrieked.

Lorien pulled.

The air cracked as invisible chains snapped, the remnants of the past Sovereign's will struggling to hold on. Veyna's mismatched eyes flickered wildly, her breath ragged—

And then—

A final, deafening snap.

The energy around her exploded outward, sending dust and debris flying. Lorien barely managed to remain standing.

When the chaos settled—

Veyna collapsed.

Lorien rushed forward, catching her before she hit the ground. Her breathing was uneven, her skin cold.

But she was alive.

The presence was gone.

Rainer approached cautiously, still gripping his sword. "Is it over?"

Lorien exhaled. "For now."

He lifted his gaze toward the ruins around them, a cold dread settling in his stomach.

The Trial of the Vanquished was over.

---End Of Chapter 11---