They descended through winding stairs carved into old stone. Torches lit by Seliora's touch flickered with violet flame, casting shadows on walls that hadn't seen light in centuries. Dust fell like ash with every step. The silence wasn't empty—it was watchful, as if the city itself remembered what had been done to it.
"This place was sealed when we fell," Seliora said. "Even I couldn't return. Only you could break the lock—because your name still lives inside it."
Auron said nothing. The air grew colder the deeper they went. The walls changed. Cracked carvings gave way to glass murals, their pictures faded but still sharp enough to hurt. He saw his own face in one of them—standing above a group of kneeling soldiers, not in pride, but in mourning.
"That was after the first purge," Seliora said. "You chose mercy. They chose silence."
At the bottom, the path opened into a large circular chamber. A single sarcophagus rested at the center, made of black stone with a crown carved into its lid. Chains of glowing runes coiled around it like snakes.
Auron stepped forward. "What is this?"
"The tomb of the first crown," Seliora said. "The one you forged before they changed the world. If you open it, you'll reclaim something they couldn't take."
The mask pulsed against his face. The system stirred.
\[WARNING: Forbidden Memory Detected]
\[Unlocking May Trigger World Shift]
\[Proceed?]
Auron didn't hesitate.
He placed both hands on the lid. The runes lit up violently. The chamber shook. The chains snapped, one by one, vanishing into sparks.
The lid slid open.
Inside, there was no corpse. No bones. Only a single black crown, floating above a pool of white fire. It wasn't made of gold or jewels—just jagged iron and smooth obsidian. It pulsed with something deep, old, and alive.
He reached out.
The fire didn't burn. It accepted him.
As his fingers closed around the crown, the mask on his face cracked—and then rebuilt itself, smoother, more complete. The system roared in his head.
\[Relic Retrieved: Crown of Origin]
\[Memory Access Restored – Layer 1 Complete]
\[New Title Acquired: Trueborn King]
\[Domain Unlocked: Sovereign Will]
Seliora knelt. "It remembers you."
Auron stood in silence, the crown in his hands. He didn't place it on his head. Not yet.
"This isn't just about taking back what they stole," he said quietly. "It's about finishing what we started."
From far above, the sound of thunder rolled across the dead city.
Others had felt the crown awaken.
And now, they were coming.