The Forbidden Throne

Julius remained frozen in place, his mind struggling to process what he was witnessing.

The statue—a colossal figure radiating divine power—was kneeling before him.

A being of such overwhelming strength, a force akin to a god, was bowing… to him?

His thoughts raced. The King of the Sky… Could he be one of the five kings who lost to the Dark King? Were they imprisoned here, in this forgotten dimension?

Then, a chilling realization struck him.

What if the statues themselves… were the Five Kings? And the one at the center… the God of Shadows?

The theory was absurd, yet eerily plausible.

Power like this could only belong to a god.

Suddenly, the statue began to rise, its movements slow yet deliberate.

From a distance, a woman watched in awe and fear, her gaze filled with worship… and terror.

"Impossible," she thought, her breath unsteady. "The Sky God… kneels to that man? Then… is he the Dark King?"

A dreadful thought gripped her mind.

"That bastard… has he somehow harnessed the power of the Kings? Especially the Sky King… who once stood acknowledged by the God of Shadows himself?"

Her eyes darted around the Celestial Hall, searching for an escape.

This wasn't a battle. This was an execution.

The statue lifted its spear.

With a simple yet impossibly swift motion, it struck.

Despite its massive frame, its attack was not slow or cumbersome—it was the precise, lethal strike of a master spearman.

In an instant—before she could even react—her body was torn in half.

The walls behind her shattered, the ground cracked and trembled, and a deep shockwave rippled through the Celestial Hall.

The sheer destructive force was terrifying.

Even Julius, standing at a distance, felt the air itself twist under the pressure.

Had it not been for the barrier of ancient stone, embedded with a power older than the hall itself, he would have been flung like a mere insect.

"Is this… the Sky God's doing?"

As the dust settled, her body began to change.

Her form twisted, shifting into a massive silver serpent—yet her head still bore the same human face, now frozen in pain and disbelief.

Her body lay split in two.

Julius narrowed his eyes.

"What… is she?"

A curse? A creature? Or something else entirely?

The stone statue began to advance, its spear raised once more.

She coughed up blood, her breath ragged.

"Damn it…" she muttered. "After everything I did to survive… is this how it ends? I… I still can't believe it. The Five Kings… truly lost?"

She lifted her gaze, staring at the colossal figure before her.

It wasn't a simple statue.

To her, it was an executioner.

She let out a bitter, pained laugh.

"If I had known I'd die at the hands of the Sky God… my master's closest friend…" she sneered weakly, "I would've punched that old fool as hard as I could before he fell!"

The spear descended.

"STOP."

The word boomed across the Celestial Hall.

The statue froze, its spear halting midair.

Her bloodied eyes widened.

That voice…

She turned sharply, glaring at the man standing at the center of it all.

Julius.

His voice had been calm, yet it carried a weight that even the Sky God had obeyed.

She gritted her teeth.

"You… What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she spat, fury and pain lacing her voice. "Kill me, you bastard! Do you think I'd ever become one of your damned hounds?"

Julius blinked.

Her reaction caught him off guard.

He had no intention of sparing her out of mercy.

She was the first person he encountered with a direct connection to the God of Shadows. If anyone could provide answers, it was her.

But first—he needed to calm her down.

"You misunderstand," he said coolly.

Her eyes burned with hatred.

"Misunderstand? Do you take me for a fool?! You're a traitorous bastard! The Dark King—"

She spat blood, her body trembling.

"You think you've won? That you've conquered the Five Kings? You're nothing but a disgrace to magic! To the Arcane Knights! JUST KILL ME!"

Julius furrowed his brows.

She thinks… I'm the Dark King?

Finally, he understood her fury.

This was a massive misunderstanding.

He exhaled. "I am not the Dark King. I am his victim."

She froze.

"What…?"

Her disbelief was evident.

She scoffed. "What kind of nonsense—"

"I do not belong to this world," Julius interrupted. "I was brought here through a summoning ritual—one meant to summon an unknown entity. Instead… I was pulled into this realm."

His gaze darkened. "The Dark King has been hunting me ever since."

He lifted his hand, revealing the mark on his palm.

The woman's eyes widened.

That seal… it belonged to her master.

The God of Shadows.

Her mind reeled. "How… does he have my master's seal?"

Then, her gaze flickered with realization.

The black book.

Her master had always recorded his arcane knowledge within it.

But still—his story made no sense.

"You claim you don't belong to this world?" she said, voice laced with suspicion. "What madness are you speaking?"

She was still wary, but… listening.

Julius took a deep breath and explained.

How he had first awakened inside the body of someone named Elias. How he was killed when he failed to seal the Dark King. How, for some unknown reason, he was brought back to life—this time, inside the body of Julius.

How the summoning ritual that dragged him here was meant to summon a being beyond human understanding, yet somehow, he had been the one to arrive.

How he had survived by deceiving the cultists who summoned him.

How his mission to retrieve cursed artifacts led him to an ancient temple, where he had found a black book inscribed with the Nightmare's Eye.

And when he touched it—he was transported here.

The woman listened, her expression shifting.

She couldn't see his face, veiled as it was in shadow.

But his words…

They sounded real.

Julius sighed. "When I arrived here, I was terrified."

He glanced at the central statue, pointing towards it.

"You said it resembles the God of Shadows."****"It spoke to me, briefly."

Her breath hitched.

"It told me that the Dark King had deceived the Five Kings… and imprisoned them in this dimension. That it had been waiting for me… That I am its heir. That I was brought into this world by mistake, all because of an error made by the Dark King."

His voice trembled slightly.

Even now, he was struggling to comprehend it all.

The woman's eyes filled with unspoken emotion.

Her fingers curled into fists.

Then, hesitantly, she whispered:

"This place… is it called the Hall of the Forgotten Kings?"

Julius stiffened.

"Yes. That was the name it gave me."

Her breath shuddered.

"That's just its alias," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"The true name of this place is…"

She swallowed hard, as if choking on the words.

"The Forbidden Throne."

Julius felt his heart stop.

What… have I been dragged into?