The vault trembled.
Shan Wei knelt on the silver floor, breath ragged, sweat sliding down his brow as echoes of the Emperor's final memories tore through his mind. Xueya held his shoulders tightly, refusing to let him fall deeper into the spiraling vision.
"Stay with me, Shan Wei… breathe. Focus on my voice."
Her hands trembled, but her resolve did not.
Drakonix prowled nearby, wings partially flared, eyes smoldering with protectiveness—and fear.
Jin Wei scanned the chamber rapidly.
"SYSTEM ALERT:MASTER'S SOUL-STABILITY AT 41% AND DROPPING—URGENT ANCHOR REQUIRED."
Xueya pulled Shan Wei closer until his forehead rested against her chest.
"I'm here. I'm right here. I won't let you go."
His shaking slowed—barely.
But the danger was far from passed.
Because the crown—the broken starlight crown—hovered in the air just before him, dripping faint crimson light like frozen blood.
It pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.
The Empress was pale as death.
"That crown… it was lost in the war of erasure… No record ever described it, only whispers… But to actually see it…"
Drakonix swallowed hard, voice heavy.
"That is the Crown of Stars' End. The Emperor's final regalia."
Xueya's eyes hardened.
"Then it has no place touching him now."
But she was wrong.
The crown whispered with the voice of a thousand dying realms:
"Chosen soul… return."
Shan Wei flinched violently.
The crown tilted forward—
And began descending toward him.
1. The Crown Reacts — Emperor Recognition
The moment the crown neared his aura, the vault erupted with energy.
Prismatic arcs crackled across floating platforms.Rivers of energy surged upward.Runes blazed in seven layers.
Drakonix snarled.
"No! Not this soon!"
Xueya tightened her grip on him.
"Shan Wei—fight it! You're not him. You're you!"
Drakonix whispered urgently:
"He was him, Xueya. The crown recognizes soul, not name."
Xueya glared.
"I don't care who he was. I know who he is now."
Shan Wei's fingers twitched in her grasp.
Something inside him—another version of himself—pulled toward the crown.
A deep, ancient voice echoed in his skull:
"Take me…and remember your throne."
His eyes flickered red-gold.
He whispered:
"…I see… a battlefield… flames… betrayal… I was… alone…"
Xueya cupped his cheeks and forced his eyes to meet hers.
"Look at me.Not the past.Me."
Another crack in the vault ceiling.
Another surge of crimson light.
The crown hovered inches from his hair.
2. The Prophecy Revealed — Drakonix Speaks
Drakonix stepped toward Xueya and Shan Wei, lowering his voice.
"Xueya… there was more to the prophecy the world never learned."
Her breath stilled.
Drakonix continued:
"'The Emperor shall rise twice.Once to fall.Once to shatter the heavens.'"
Jin Wei paused mid-scan.
"SECOND LINE IDENTIFIED.PROPHECY COMPLETION CONFIRMED."
Xueya's grip on Shan Wei tightened until her knuckles turned white.
"What… what does that mean?"
Drakonix exhaled a plume of shimmering flame.
"The first rise ended in erasure.The second rise…shakes the heavens themselves."
Her voice cracked.
"Does that mean… if he accepts that crown… he'll lose himself?"
Drakonix hesitated.
"He may become something more than mortal comprehension can contain."
Xueya's heart clenched painfully.
"Then he can't accept it."
But the crown answered her thought:
"You cannot deny destiny."
It flared with crimson fire.
3. A Memory Apparition Appears
A shadow materialized behind the crown.
Tall.Regal.Dripping starlight.Eyes like crimson novas.
The Red Emperor—or rather, a memory echo—stared directly at Shan Wei.
Xueya gasped.
Jin Wei dropped to one knee instinctively.
Drakonix lowered his head.
The apparition stepped forward.
"Shan Wei… no, that is not your true name."
The Emperor's voice filled the vault with raw authority.
"You were never meant to live a quiet life.You carry my will, my fire, my fate.Take the crown, and you inherit what was stolen."
Xueya stepped between the apparition and Shan Wei, frost swirling around her.
"He is not your puppet."
The Emperor's gaze slowly drifted to her.
"You are strong for a mortal woman… but this does not concern—"
Xueya's sword touched the base of his throat.
"I don't care if you're a god.Shan Wei is mine to protect."
The temperature plummeted.
Frost crawled across the Emperor's projection.
Drakonix froze, stunned.
Jin Wei recorded frantically.
Shan Wei—eyes shaking—reached toward her.
"…Xueya…"
The Emperor's apparition tilted his head, studying her not as an ant—but as a potential threat.
"…Interesting."
He stepped aside slightly, allowing the scene to unfold.
4. Shan Wei's Decision — Almost Taken
The crown drifted closer.
Shan Wei's breathing changed.
Slow.Shallow.Unsteady.
His eyes flickered crimson again.
A whisper tempted him:
"Accept me.Rise again."
His body leaned forward.
Xueya cried out.
"Shan Wei—NO!"
But his fingertips grazed the crown—
And the entire vault detonated with prismatic energy.
BOOOOOOOOOM—!!!
Xueya was thrown backward.Jin Wei shielded her.Drakonix flared his wings, anchoring against the shock.The Empress dropped flat to the ground, screaming.
Shan Wei was engulfed in white fire.
Not burning.
Transforming.
Becoming.
5. The Crown Chooses… or Rejects?
As the brilliant light faded—
Drakonix's eyes widened.
Jin Wei's sensors screamed warnings.
Xueya staggered to her feet.
Because Shan Wei floated midair, surrounded by rings of prismatic and crimson fire…
…but the crown—
The crown was on the floor.
Untouched.
Rejected.
Shan Wei's eyes opened.
Golden.Not crimson.
Clear as dawn.
He whispered:
"…I'm not ready to be him."
And he fell.
Xueya caught him in her arms, tears streaming down her face.
The crown pulsed once, almost in approval.
"Then rise as yourself."
The Red Emperor's apparition faded.
The vault dimmed.
Drakonix bowed his head.
"Brother… you chose your own path."
Jin Wei's core dimmed to normal output.
"SYSTEM NOTE:MASTER MAINTAINS INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY.SOUL INTEGRITY— 78% AND STABILIZING."
Xueya buried her face in his chest, voice trembling.
"Don't scare me like that… ever again."
Shan Wei leaned weakly into her embrace.
"I promise…"
But before he could finish—
The vault shook violently.
Jin Wei spun.
"SYSTEM ALERT:THE EXECUTIONERS HAVE BREACHED THE OUTER SEAL."
The Empress screamed.
"They're coming inside!"
Drakonix's wings burned with wrath.
"Then they entered their own grave."
Three silhouettes appeared at the vault entrance—
Bloodied, enraged, and terrified.
Veyruth. Serakai. Morkhul.
Veyruth pointed a trembling spear fragment at Shan Wei.
"YOU!IF THE CROWN DOESN'T CLAIM YOU—WE WILL KILL YOU BEFORE IT DOES!"
Shan Wei stood slowly, Xueya at his side.
His golden eyes narrowed.
"No."
He lifted his hand—
Prismatic flame swirling.
"You will fail again."
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.