Chapter 13: The Demon King Awakens
Beneath the shattered crust of the Infernal Plane, where rivers of magma whispered forgotten names and screams echoed like prayers, a single eye opened.
Abyssal red. Slitted pupil. Timeless hatred.
System Alert: A sealed Class-Z Entity has stirred in the Abyss Rift.
Codename: Erekar, The Demon King of the Ninth Eclipse.
Status: Reawakening in response to unknown Sovereign-class fluctuation.
A tremor rippled across continents.
Skies darkened. Temples cracked. Even the oldest runes etched by the gods themselves began to flicker.
Meanwhile — Earth, Arcadia Global Academy
The entire academy was still reeling from the First Trial. Luo Shen stood atop the rooftop, silent, the starlight swirling subtly around him.
Students watched from the shadows. Some in awe. Some in fear.
[You received: Sovereign-Grade Reward Fragment (Unidentified)]
[Warning: Hostile observation detected — extraplanar in origin.]
Luo Shen's eyes narrowed. Behind his calm gaze, his system whispered.
Void Monarch Protocol - Phase II Initiating…
Trigger: Cosmic hostility breach detected.
Accessing memory lock... rejected. Temporal coordinates misaligned.
Tracking source... Demon Realm signature located.
He didn't speak, but inside him, something ancient stirred—just like Erekar. Not fear. Not hatred. But familiarity.
At the World Council
Screens across the room glowed with unreadable glyphs. Leaders of nations, awakened warriors, and artificial intelligence overlords leaned in.
"Three Sovereign-class flares in less than twenty-four hours," said President Dael. "All originating near Arcadia Academy."
The Oracle of the Seventh Temple spoke next. "Not flares… echoes. A sealed name is being remembered."
Someone whispered: "Void Monarch…"
Deep within the Demon Realm
Chains forged from the bones of extinct angels cracked.
The throne of Erekar, once dormant, began to pulse with dark life. Lava surged through veins carved into obsidian walls.
His voice—once silenced by the Divine Convergence—rose.
"He returns… the one the heavens dared to unwrite."
A shadow knelt before him. "Shall we prepare the gates, my King?"
Erekar's lips curled into something between a grin and a snarl. "No. Let the world tremble first. Let them remember why the void fears the crown."
Elsewhere — Aria
In the skies of Astera Dominion, where Aria trained under the Starlight Sovereign Protocol, a vision seized her.
A memory not hers.
A boy. Eyes silver with galaxies. A blade of nothingness. Her voice, calling his name—not "Luo Shen"… but something older.
She fell to her knees, clutching her chest.
"Why… do I remember him?"
Back at Arcadia
As classes resumed, Luo Shen walked quietly into the library, a place forgotten by most students.
He approached a sealed chamber only the system had shown him.
His hand touched the lock—
[System Confirmed: Void Monarch Signature Accepted]
[Access Granted: Codex Vault - Layer One]
The doors groaned open, dust swirling.
Within were scrolls, blades, and fragments of worlds—some of which should not exist.
One whispered: "Erekar rises."
Another: "The Second Trial will not test strength… but truth."
And in the deepest corner…
A half-formed memory—
A girl, starlight in her hair, waiting beneath a moonless sky.