The Abyss was calling him.
No — not calling.
Demanding.
After the battle with Vorren, Asura followed the pull deeper into the shattered wastelands.
Past the broken towers.
Past the ruins of the dead cities.
Into the forgotten heart of the Abyss.
It was there, buried beneath mountains of blackened bone and rusted steel, that he found it.
The Forsaken Throne.
A colossal monument carved from the remains of countless fallen Monarchs.
Twisted metals, shredded Sigil cores, broken memories embedded into every inch of it.
The throne pulsed.
Alive.
Hungry.
Waiting for someone mad enough… or strong enough… to claim it.
The System howled warnings in his mind:
[Warning: Forsaken Throne Detected.]
[Warning: Catastrophic Evolution Risk.]
[Warning: Host may lose Identity Integrity.]
Asura smiled faintly.
Identity?
He had abandoned that long ago.
He stepped forward.
The moment his hand touched the black throne, the world collapsed inward.
A scream — not from his throat, but from existence itself.
The sky shattered.
The earth bled.
The Abyss roared.
[Forsaken Trial Initiated.]
[Objective: Defeat All Remaining Weakness.]
When Asura opened his eyes,
he was somewhere else.
A field of broken mirrors stretched endlessly around him.
Each mirror reflected a different version of himself.
The Kai who cried as a child after being beaten.
The Kai who begged his parents for love and received only silence.
The Kai who knelt in the Academy courtyard, coughing blood under Riku's boot.
Each mirror whispered.
Each mirror mocked.
Each mirror begged.
"We could have been normal…"
"We could have been safe…"
"Please, don't forget us…"
Asura clenched his fists.
The Bloodline surged beneath his skin.
The Abyss inside him howled for silence.
The first mirror shattered.
A version of himself — soft, weak, pitiful — stepped out.
Tears streaming down his face.
"Why…?" it whimpered. "Why can't we just stop?"
Asura answered with a single blow —
shattering the phantom into mist.
The second mirror broke.
Another version stumbled forward —
full of hatred, but also fear.
"You can't do this alone! You need people! You need hope!"
Asura tore him apart without blinking.
One by one, the mirrors fell.
One by one, the ghosts died.
Until only one mirror remained.
And in it…
stood the last true reflection.
Not Kai.
Not Asura.
Something… in between.
The part of him that still doubted.
Still hesitated.
Still wondered if there was another path.
It stared at him silently.
No anger.
No pleading.
Just sad understanding.
"You'll be alone," it said softly. "Forever."
Asura stepped closer.
The reflection didn't move.
He reached out.
Touched the glass.
The mirror cracked.
Splintered.
Collapsed into dust.
And Asura stood alone once more.
The Throne materialized before him again,
waiting.
The System stuttered, fighting to process what he had become.
[Congratulations: Forsaken Trial Complete.]
[New Title Unlocked: Abyss King Candidate.]
[Dominion Sigil Acquired.]
[New Ability: Sovereign Command (Dormant) Available.]
Asura approached the Throne without hesitation.
He sat.
The world screamed again —
but this time, it bowed.
Reality itself bent around him,
accepting him as something more than human.
Something inevitable.
The Abyss knelt before its new King.
And Asura smiled.
Not because he had won.
But because now…
there was no turning back.
Only conquest.
Only ruin.
Only the silence of a universe that would learn to kneel.
Or break.