Chapter 28: The Final Warning from the Abyss

I couldn't move.

The throne room of shadows still stretched endlessly before me. That monstrous figure—The Abyssal Sovereign—loomed high above, its eyes like twin burning stars in the void.

"Your power stirs, Final Heir," the Sovereign's voice echoed directly into my mind. "But will you control it… or will it consume you like the others before you?"

My fists clenched involuntarily.

"I'm not like them…" I muttered under my breath.

"Aren't you?"

Suddenly, images flooded my vision—visions of past Heirs, their bodies torn apart by uncontrollable shadows, their minds broken by the weight of their own power.

I gasped for air, falling to my knees.

"Liam!"

Through the black haze, I heard her voice—sharp, commanding, desperate.

The Queen.

A sudden warmth broke through the suffocating cold.

She was there, kneeling in front of me, her hands gripping my face, crimson eyes boring into mine.

"You're still here, Caretaker. Don't let them take you!"

Her voice was the only thing keeping me anchored.

But the Sovereign's voice returned, low and thunderous:

"Choose, Final Heir. Embrace the abyss and become a god… or fall and become nothing."

The shadow wings behind me flared out involuntarily, slashing through the air with raw power.

The Queen didn't flinch.

Instead… she leaned closer.

And whispered, almost painfully gentle—

"If you take that power now… I'll be forced to stop you. Even if it kills me."

My heart twisted painfully.

"Do you want me to become your enemy, Liam?"

I clenched my jaw, the overwhelming power surging through me…

And then—

I made my choice.

To be continued…