The Grave of Echoes didn't exist on most maps. Even the oldest records from the forgotten continent listed it only in passing, always followed by warnings: "Do not linger.""Avoid the valley after sunset.""The dead do not rest there."
Now we approached it at full speed.
Three airships glided through the night sky, their hulls cloaked with mana-dampening fields. Cira stood at the helm of the lead ship, eyes fixed ahead while I stood beside her, the Crown Mark glowing faintly on my skin.
"I've studied the Grave," she said. "It was once a battlefield… then a mass grave. Thousands died here—soldiers, mages, even gods."
"And now it's where the Harbinger will try to break another seal," I said.
She glanced at me. "Are you ready?"
I didn't answer right away.
In truth, I wasn't.
Not because of the enemy. Not because of the darkness.
But because the closer we got… the more I remembered.
A Voice from the Past
The moment we crossed into the Grave's airspace, the world changed.
The wind died.
The stars dimmed.
And the whispers began.
Not loud, not aggressive—just voices, layered and distorted, brushing against our minds like cold fingers on skin.
Kieran stepped beside me, his jaw clenched. "I heard my brother. He died six years ago. He just... whispered my name."
"It's the place," Cira said, her voice low. "The mana here is soaked in death. The spirits don't move on. They echo."
I felt the Mark pulse hard in warning as my own ears filled with something I hadn't expected:
"You were a king… a conqueror… a destroyer…"
A voice I hadn't heard in centuries.
My own.
From my past life.
Descent
We landed in the heart of the Grave—a wide, open valley surrounded by crumbling monoliths and broken statues. At the center stood a collapsed temple, half-swallowed by the earth, its entrance glowing with unnatural blue light.
The air was thick with spirit energy. Shadows drifted across the field, flickering in and out of existence—fragments of those who had died here, repeating their final moments in an endless loop.
"I've never felt energy like this," Elara murmured, her fists clenched, mana flaring faintly. "Even the corrupted beasts don't come near this place."
"That's because even monsters fear what sleeps here," Lord Kaelen replied.
I stepped forward, staring down the path to the temple. "He's already inside. I can feel it."
The Temple Below
The descent into the temple was like walking into a grave—quiet, cold, and thick with memories.
Carvings lined the walls, depicting ancient battles between celestial beings and something beneath the earth. Massive chains wrapped around statues of long-dead kings, their faces twisted in agony or madness.
As we moved deeper, the voices grew louder.
"You failed them."
"You burned everything."
"You'll do it again."
I kept walking, forcing the Crown's light forward. The whispers retreated, but not entirely.
Cira paused beside an ancient door, inspecting its seal. "This is it. The ritual chamber."
"What do we do?" Kieran asked.
"We go in," I said.
"And what happens if the Harbinger's already broken the seal?" Elara pressed.
I looked back at her. "Then we make sure he doesn't leave alive."
Within the Ritual Chamber
The room was vast, lit by glowing braziers that burned with pale blue flame. At the far end, another monolith stood—this one cracked, bleeding wisps of dark energy. Around it, black-robed figures chanted in an ancient tongue.
And in the center—
The Harbinger.
He stood with his back to us, facing the monolith, his body surrounded by a vortex of unstable mana. As we entered, the chanting stopped. The robed figures turned slowly, revealing empty eye sockets and mouths sewn shut with golden thread.
The Harbinger did not turn.
"I was wondering when you'd arrive," he said softly.
I stepped forward. "Step away from the seal."
He laughed—quiet and cold. "You truly believe you can stop this?"
"I know I can."
He finally turned to face us.
The moment he did, the room darkened.
The Crown flared hot across my chest, reacting instinctively.
Because the Harbinger… no longer looked entirely human.
His eyes were filled with void.
His shadow… moved with a mind of its own.
Sylas vs. the Harbinger
He didn't waste words.
He raised a hand, and the room exploded.
Energy surged out from him in waves, forcing us to scatter. I lunged left, summoning a golden shield just in time to block a torrent of black fire. Kieran blinked behind the enemy line, cutting down two acolytes. Elara met the Harbinger's next wave head-on, punching through the air and sending shockwaves crashing across the chamber.
Cira and Kaelen moved to the seal, working to reinforce it as I engaged the Harbinger directly.
"You wear the Crown," he hissed, his voice layered with something inhuman. "But you don't understand it. You never will."
I parried his strike, golden sparks flaring as our powers collided.
"I understand enough," I growled. "Enough to know you're afraid."
He smiled.
And then… he whispered a single word.
The monolith screamed.
The seal cracked.
And a wave of spectral energy erupted outward.
The Echo Unleashed
Time stopped.
The room faded.
And then I stood alone.
Surrounded by memories.
I saw myself—my former self—on a throne of ash, crowned in flame, watching cities burn. I saw the day I chose conquest over compromise. I saw friends fall, lovers vanish, kingdoms collapse… all by my hand.
"This is what you are," the Harbinger's voice echoed from nowhere. "Not a savior. A destroyer on pause."
"No," I whispered.
But the visions kept coming.
Children crying.
Armies dying.
People screaming my name in fear.
Then—Elara's voice. Kieran's. Cira's.
I turned and saw them—standing behind me.
Alive. Real. Not echoes.
And I remembered:
This life was mine now.
Not his.
Light in the Dark
The Crown flared.
Brighter than ever.
It cut through the memory. Through the lies. Through the guilt.
I returned to the real world, golden light blazing from my body.
The Harbinger staggered back, shielding his eyes.
I surged forward, my blade wreathed in Divin fire, and struck him clean across the chest.
He screamed—his form unraveling.
"You will not stop what's coming!" he roared.
"I just did," I replied.
With one last push of power, I sealed the crack in the monolith.
The ritual collapsed.
The seal held.
And the Grave of Echoes went silent.
Aftermath
We emerged hours later, the valley still eerily quiet.
The Harbinger had vanished—wounded, but not defeated.
Two seals remained.
But for now… we had won.
As I stood at the edge of the temple ruins, wind brushing my hair, Cira approached.
"You changed something in there," she said quietly.
I nodded.
"I chose who I want to be."
And for the first time in a long time…
I believed it.
End of Arc One