Chapter 222: Chapter 222: The Crown That Devours
The abyss shook like a living wound.
The throne no longer waited for Lin to approach—it dragged itself forward, tearing the graveyard apart as it came. Chains ripped through bone, grinding fossil into dust, the sound echoing like thunder beneath the fractured sky.
The envoy remained seated, its faceless void fixed on Lin, but the throne beneath it became a predator. Columns of links writhed like tendrils, coiling into the earth and pulling the entire mass closer, closer, closer.
Lin’s chains anchored into the ground, resisting, but every second the pull intensified. He felt his skin splitting where links erupted, his veins burning as if filled with molten iron. His body shook uncontrollably, muscles spasming under the strain.
Beside him, Min-joon braced, arms wrapped around him as if he could add his own weight against the abyss’s hunger. His legs trembled, sweat pouring from his face, but he refused to let go. "We stand together," he hissed. "If it wants you, it’ll have to take me too."
Lin’s heart lurched at the words. The abyss inside him snarled, desperate to seize that bond, to twist it, to devour it—but it could not own it. That much, he knew.
The envoy raised its hand once more. A ring of chains burst outward, snapping into the ground to form a circle around Lin and Min-joon. The links rose like spears, creating a cage that pressed inward with each heartbeat.
You will kneel. You will inherit. Or you will be nothing.
The voice was the abyss itself, cold and certain.
Lin staggered to his feet, dragging Min-joon up with him, even as the cage tightened. His blood dripped onto the calcified ground, staining it black where it touched. His vision blurred, but his resolve burned bright.
"I told you," he rasped, glaring at the throne. "I’m not your marrow. Not your heir. Not your king."
He raised his hand. Chains lashed upward in defiance, striking against the cage. Sparks of resonance exploded, rattling the abyss itself.
The envoy tilted its head, as if studying an insect that refused to die.
The throne’s response was simple: more chains.
They erupted in torrents, thousands upon thousands, like a tidal wave of iron. They poured toward Lin and Min-joon, intent on burying them alive, smothering every spark of resistance.
Lin roared, summoning everything he had. His own chains burst outward, colliding with the tide. The clash lit the abyss like lightning storms, shockwaves blasting through fossilized giants, shattering skulls into dust.
Min-joon shielded his face from the debris, his other hand never leaving Lin’s arm. He shouted above the storm, "Don’t give it ground! Every second you stand, you win!"
Lin’s knees buckled. Blood streamed from his nose, his ears, even the corners of his eyes. His veins glowed faintly, resonance eating through him from the inside. The abyss was too much. He was just a man—chained, broken, bleeding.
And yet—
The memory of Min-joon’s words burned inside him.
Because I love you, damn it.
Lin’s chains surged again, stronger, sharper, fueled by something the abyss could not corrupt. They intertwined with Min-joon’s grip, as if echoing the bond between them. Together, they struck back.
The tidal wave slowed. For the first time, the throne shuddered, chains recoiling as though burned.
The envoy stilled. Its faceless void rippled, resonance deepening.
Impossible.
The ground beneath them cracked wide, splitting into a chasm. From the darkness below, a deeper abyss stirred, vast and endless. Resonance poured out like black fire, washing over the graveyard.
Lin’s chains wavered, the force nearly overwhelming. He staggered, coughing blood, his vision dimming.
Min-joon caught him, shaking him fiercely. "Don’t you dare give in now! You’re not done—you hear me? You’re not done!"
"I—can’t—" Lin gasped, his body convulsing. The chains inside him threatened to turn inward, to devour him from within.
"Yes, you can!" Min-joon’s voice cracked, raw and desperate. He pressed his forehead against Lin’s, their blood smearing together. "Because you’re not fighting alone. I’m here. I’m always here!"
The words carved through the resonance storm like a blade.
Lin’s eyes snapped open, pupils dilated, breath ragged. For one heartbeat, he wasn’t drowning in abyss—he was anchored.
The envoy’s voice thundered again, louder, angrier:
If you will not kneel, then you will be consumed!
The throne surged forward, chains converging into a single colossal spear, aimed straight at Lin’s heart.
Time slowed.
Lin felt the pull, felt the inevitability of it. He knew he couldn’t match that force. It was too vast, too ancient. It was the abyss itself, demanding submission.
But then Min-joon’s grip tightened, his voice rising in a broken, defiant scream:
"Then it’ll have to kill both of us!"
Something inside Lin shattered. Not in defeat, but in revelation.
The chains within him twisted—not toward the throne, not toward the abyss—but inward, wrapping around the core of his being. And then outward, entwining with Min-joon’s hands, his chest, his breath.
Their resonance aligned.
Not abyssal. Not marrow. Something new.
When the colossal spear struck, it did not pierce Lin. His chains met it head-on, infused with the bond he clung to. The impact shook the abyss, blasting shockwaves through the graveyard. The spear cracked, then splintered, then exploded into fragments.
The throne reeled back, chains writhing like severed serpents.
The envoy rose from its seat for the first time. Its faceless void rippled violently, resonance shrieking like a dying star.
Lin collapsed to his knees, clutching Min-joon to him, both of them gasping for breath. His body was failing, every nerve screaming, but his will blazed.
He looked up at the envoy, blood dripping down his chin, and whispered, hoarse but certain:
"I am not yours."
The envoy stilled.
Then the abyss roared.
The throne’s chains writhed into a crown of thorns, lowering toward Lin as if to brand him by force. The entire graveyard trembled, bones collapsing into the chasm below.
Above, on the surface, Keller and Hwan felt the rupture tear wider.
Keller cursed, loading a fresh magazine into his useless rifle. "If we don’t get down there now, none of this city’s gonna be left."
Hwan swallowed hard, eyes wide with terror. "And if we do go down there, we’re walking into annihilation."
Keller tightened the strap on his rifle, jaw clenched. "Then we walk."
The abyss split open further, a maw inviting them in. And they jumped.