Chapter 14 – Throne of the Final Gazenamed
Chapter 14 – Throne of the Final Gaze
Kael's breathing was shallow as he knelt within the meditation chamber, the last of the soul-forging incense curling around his face like threads of ancestral smoke. A dome of runes pulsed above him, woven directly from the Verin Clan's protective formation a barrier not only from the outside world but from anything that dared look inward. He was alone, but his heartbeat echoed like a war drum within his chest.
For weeks, he had trained in silence, mastering the first seal's gifts, calculating his next move. But today, the system pulsed with a deeper intensity.
[System Update: Seal Integration Complete. Core Pathway Calibration—100%]
[Host has entered Stable Resonance Phase.]
[Initiating Eye Identification Protocol...]
Kael's back stiffened. The air thickened as if gravity bent under his breath.
> "Designation Confirmed: Eye of Echoed Death – Throne of the Final Gaze."
[Warning: System Shock Imminent.]
The words rang like an oath. Kael clutched his temples as searing pain scorched through his left eye, blood trailing from the socket in molten lines of silver-black. His scream was swallowed by the chamber's protective barrier. The Throne had declared itself, and the price was not small.
A surge of energy blasted outward, activating all formation lines in the chamber. The ancestral runes dimmed, then flared again, now bearing the mark of a newly claimed eye—something no Verin elder had seen in over two centuries.
[Second Seal Recalibration Completed.]
[Seal Abilities Active:]
> • Gravemind Pulse – Detects and marks fatal intent within a 10-meter radius. Grants a glimpse of the attacker's death-tethered fate. Side effect: prolonged exposure corrodes karmic equilibrium. • Echo Erode – A spectral decay technique that nullifies enhancements or buffs on the target. Consequence: repeated use causes soul-burn and vision distortion.
[Bloodline Evolution Initiated. Root: Human. Lineage: Sovereign Echo. Effect: Echo Capacity Increased. Reverberation Range Expanded. Temporal Distortion Tolerance Improved.]
[Future Seals will now adapt dynamically with time-aligned combat traits.]
Kael gasped, vision splitting into fractals of bone and sound. He could see echoes trailing behind objects, lives lived in reverse, the shadow of decay that clung to every motion.
[System Prompt: Throne Projection Detected. Dormant Law Imprint Present. Recommend minimizing Eye Exposure until Fourth Seal.]
Kael exhaled shakily. His skin prickled with premonition. Beneath his ribs, the heartbeat of something deeper stirred. Not just the Eye it was his very blood changing, refining.
A pulse traveled through his veins cool, resonant, not pain but pressure. A second heartbeat, distant yet synchronized, beat from within the depths of his soul.
—He was no longer merely human.
---
Above the sanctum, a cloaked figure peered through an ancient mirror inscribed with the Verin Clan's most binding law: Witness, but never interfere.
Irian Verin's gaze narrowed.
"He's passed the threshold."
Another elder behind him a stooped man with hair like fine ash grunted. "Too quickly. The Throne Eye awakens with ruin. We must tread carefully."
Irian did not respond. His thoughts were already elsewhere on the possible reactions from clans in the Middle Realm, especially once they caught wind of Kael's rise.
"The boy's lineage is shifting. The Sovereign Echo is surfacing," he murmured.
---
Far to the east, hidden beneath the Dead Marshes of the Blightroot Basin, a second ceremony reached its peak. A young woman lay within a spiraling cocoon of withered roots and soft moss.
[Designation Confirmed: Gravebloom Womb – Root of Unseen Mourning.]
Tiraka rose from the soil like a corpse reborn, her face pale, her breath thick with decay.
[Seal One: Active]
> • Witherbirth Pulse – Consumes souls of nearby dead within a one-minute threshold. Stored essence can temporarily accelerate recovery. • Bloom of Silence – A muffling field that erases all sound and visibility in a five-meter radius. Side effect: repeated use triggers soul-rot.
She stared at her own reflection in a pool of blackened water, eyes gleaming violet-red.
"I don't need a clan," she whispered. "Let the dead raise me."
---
In the Verin Clan, days passed. Kael's body adjusted to the growing storm inside him. The second seal had made his senses sharper, more attuned to death's subtle breath. His combat drills against echo constructs now ended in seconds.
The system became more talkative.
[Minor Milestone Achieved: Sight Alignment Stabilized. New Training Protocols Unlocked.]
But it was the next notification that chilled him.
[Detected: External Seal Activity – Ashen Fenlands. Potential Rival Awakening.]
He stepped back from the echo construct mid-strike.
"There's another?"
[Confirmed. Tier-One Detection Pattern Similar to Designation: Gravebloom Womb. Current Seal State: First.]
Kael clenched his fists.
His uncle summoned him that night. "You'll be heading out," Irian said. "A controlled border probe. Southern Line. But we suspect more than rogue beasts."
Kael nodded slowly. "Another Sightbearer?"
"We suspect. You'll move with a small scouting team. All Verin. No outsiders."
Kael turned to leave.
"Kael," Irian said. "You carry a Throne. Do not expose it yet. Not until we understand what the others are."
Kael gave a nod. But his thoughts swirled.
The Eye was no longer a silent burden. It was becoming a language of power one he was ready to speak.
And perhaps, through it, the world would remember the Verin name again not for silence, but for dominion.