Chapter 86: The Crown's Last Sacrifice

The void had teeth.

Kael floated in absolute blackness, the shard's whispers suddenly silent. For one blissful moment, there was no pain.

Then the Crown's power hit him.

It wasn't corruption—it was judgment.

Visions assaulted him:

Lucian standing over a kneeling Aurelia, the first shard glowing in his hand

The Original's scream as the world fractured

A thousand possible futures, all ending in fire

A voice echoed through the dark—not the shard's, not Lucian's. Something older:

"You carry death in your chest, little thief. But death may yet save them."

Kael understood.

The shard couldn't be removed.

But it could be changed.

He reached into his own chest.

Agony beyond comprehension—but his fingers closed around the shard's burning core.

"Yes," whispered the Crown. "Remake it."

Outside the void, Lucian watched in horror as Kael's body arched violently, black veins receding. The shard's glow shifted from sickly green to molten gold.

The Original froze. "No. NO!"

Aurelia's eyes widened. "He's... purifying it."

Kael's eyes flew open—now pure white, light pouring from his mouth as he spoke with the Crown's voice:

"The cycle ends tonight."

He lunged.

Not at the Original.

At Aurelia.

His reborn shard plunged into her chest wound.

Golden light erupted, blinding them all.

When it cleared, Aurelia stood whole—and the Original was screaming, her stolen power ripping away in torrents.

Lucian caught Kael as he collapsed, the Crown's power spent.

The Original's form flickered, her edges dissolving. "This isn't over," she hissed.

Aurelia flexed her hands, new power humming in her veins. "Oh," she said softly, "I think it is."

She raised her palm.

And the world burned white.