The King Without a Soul
955 Words
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Two Luciens.
One lying on the marble floor, bleeding from a wound that should have been fatal.
The other standing in the shattered portal, dressed in cracked obsidian armor, his silver eyes completely devoid of warmth.
Alina felt as though the world had stopped.
The man wore Lucien's face.
But there was nothing human left in his eyes.
Only emptiness.
Only death.
---
Current Lucien slowly raised the Nightfall Blade.
"Who are you?"
The stranger smiled.
"I am what you become."
"I asked who you are."
The smile widened.
"I am the King... after he loses everything."
---
Kael stepped protectively in front of Alina.
"He's lying."
Future Lucien shook his head.
"I wish I were."
---
On the floor, the wounded Future Lucien struggled to breathe.
Blood spread across the white marble beneath him.
Victoria rushed to his side.
"Stay with me!"
He weakly grabbed her wrist.
"Don't waste your strength..."
His voice was barely audible.
"He'll be here any second..."
"Who?" Victoria asked.
Future Lucien's eyes filled with fear.
"The one controlling him."
---
Without warning...
The armored Lucien attacked.
He crossed the room faster than sight itself.
The Nightfall Blade collided with its twin.
The impact shattered every window in the manor.
The estate trembled.
Umbra roared.
Servants screamed.
Outside, hundreds of drones fell from the sky as the shockwave disrupted their systems.
Current Lucien slid backward several meters.
His arms vibrated from the force.
The stranger hadn't even used his full strength.
---
"You've become weak," the armored king said calmly.
"You still hesitate."
Current Lucien tightened his grip.
"I still have something worth protecting."
The stranger's expression darkened.
"Exactly."
---
They vanished again.
Black lightning filled the conference hall.
Every clash of their blades tore holes through reality itself.
Tiny fractures appeared in the air, revealing stars, oceans, and unfamiliar worlds beyond.
EVA's voice echoed through the chaos.
"Warning!"
"Dimensional integrity falling below forty percent!"
"If this battle continues..."
"...the manor will collapse into the Void."
---
Kael grabbed Alina's arm.
"We have to move!"
"No!"
She couldn't look away from Lucien.
Every strike.
Every wound.
Every drop of blood.
She felt it.
As though their souls were somehow connected.
---
The wounded Future Lucien suddenly called her name.
"Alina..."
She knelt beside him.
His breathing had become shallow.
He reached into his coat and pulled out a small crystal.
Inside it floated a single silver feather.
"Take this."
"What is it?"
"My last memory."
Alina hesitated before accepting it.
The instant she touched the crystal...
A vision exploded inside her mind.
---
She stood beneath a blood-red sky.
The Obsidian Kingdom was gone.
Earth itself had become a wasteland.
Mountains of crystal covered entire continents.
Millions of empty statues stood frozen across the landscape.
Not carved from stone.
People.
Turned into black crystal.
She saw herself.
Older.
Wearing the complete Obsidian Crown.
She was crying.
Holding Lucien in her arms.
His body was fading into light.
He smiled weakly.
"I promised..."
"...I'd find you in every lifetime."
Alina screamed,
"There has to be another way!"
Lucien gently touched her cheek.
"There isn't."
"You always lie when you're trying to protect me!"
He laughed softly.
"I learned from the best."
Then...
He kissed her.
One final time.
And dissolved into countless fragments of obsidian light that drifted into the sky.
The vision shattered.
---
Alina opened her eyes.
Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.
"No..."
She looked at the Lucien fighting across the room.
"I won't let that happen."
---
At that exact moment...
The armored king suddenly froze.
He looked directly at Alina.
For the first time...
Emotion appeared in his empty eyes.
Pain.
Deep, unbearable pain.
He whispered,
"I'm sorry."
Then he drove his own sword into his chest.
Everyone stared in horror.
Black energy erupted from the wound.
A dark mist poured out of his body.
The mist rose toward the ceiling, taking the shape of a gigantic shadow with burning crimson eyes.
It laughed.
A voice echoed through the manor.
"So..."
"The cage has finally broken."
The empty body of the armored Lucien collapsed to the floor.
His silver eyes regained their warmth.
He looked at his younger self.
"Run..."
Before he could finish...
His body turned to dust.
Only his shattered crown remained.
---
The shadow expanded until it filled the entire ceiling.
Its crimson eyes settled on Alina.
"Little Queen..."
"I've searched for you across countless timelines."
Current Lucien stepped in front of her.
"You'll never touch her."
The creature laughed.
"I already have."
The Heart of Obsidian around Alina's neck began glowing violently.
Black cracks spread across its surface.
EVA shouted,
"Impossible!"
"The Heart isn't breaking..."
"It's opening!"
---
A beam of obsidian light shot into the sky.
Far beneath Beijing...
The Seventh Gate trembled.
The six sealed gates surrounding it began to unlock one by one.
Ancient chains snapped.
The ground shook across the entire city.
People poured into the streets as buildings swayed.
News helicopters captured something impossible.
From deep beneath Beijing...
A colossal obsidian tower was rising from beneath the earth.
It climbed higher.
And higher.
Until it pierced the clouds.
At its summit...
An enormous throne slowly emerged.
It had remained hidden beneath the city for seven hundred years.
Lucien looked at it in disbelief.
"No..."
"That's not possible."
Azrael, watching from afar, slowly smiled.
"The Throne of Eternity..."
"...has finally returned."
Then his smile faded.
Because someone was already sitting upon it.
A woman.
Wearing the complete Obsidian Crown.
Her face was hidden beneath a veil of black light.
But when she slowly lifted her head...
Lucien's blood ran cold.
She looked exactly like Alina.
And she was looking directly at him.
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