The chamber was carved into the bedrock beneath the palace—older than the capital itself, untouched by time, and hidden behind seven seals of shadow.
Auron stood at its center now, facing the twelve thrones of the Echo Court.
They were not empty.
Each throne shimmered faintly, occupied by a ghost — not of the dead, but of *forgotten rulers*. Masked. Faded. Their forms flickered like candlelight in wind, preserved only by the will of the Abyss.
The system whispered as he stepped closer.
**\[Location: Hall of the Echo Court]**
**\[Echoes of Previous Sovereigns – Memory Locked Entities]**
**\[Initiating Lineage Alignment…]**
Auron bowed his head slightly.
"Do you remember me?"
The first echo stirred. A woman with long, silver hair and a mask shaped like a weeping willow.
Her voice was wind and bone. "We remember the one who rose. The one who fell. The one who rises again."
The second spoke—a childlike figure with a crown too big for its head. "You wear the mask. But not the shame."
Auron met their gaze, unflinching. "I carry both."
The echoes fell silent for a moment.
Then the twelfth throne lit up—dimly, like a long-dead star flickering once more.
The final voice spoke.
Deep. Cold. Familiar.
**"Then speak your claim."**
Auron stepped forward.
"The world above has forgotten what it means to serve a true king. They kneel to names, not to truth. I come not to rule as they did—but to remember. To restore. And to punish."
He drew his sword and drove it into the stone floor before the thrones.
"I claim my place—not as your successor—but as your *continuation*."
The chamber shook.
Light bled from the walls.
And the echoes rose from their thrones as one.
**"Then you are King of Echoes. The Last Crown. The Waking Silence."**
**"Let the old blood hear us."**
The system chimed louder than before.
**\[Throne Alignment Complete]**
**\[Title Granted: Voice of the Echo Court]**
**\[Skill Acquired: Sovereign's Recall – Summon an Echo to assist in battle once per day]**
**\[Echo Memory Bank Unlocked – Accessing Historical Lineage…]**
---
Hours later, Auron returned to the war chamber above, where Mira had gathered the first pieces of their rebellion-turned-kingdom.
Maps. Battle plans. Territory shifts.
The world was moving—responding like a creature stirred from slumber.
Jace stood nearby, bruised and tired, but wide-eyed.
"You felt that, right?" he asked. "It was like... thunder in the stone."
"It was the Echo Court," Auron said. "They've acknowledged the new line."
Mira tilted her head. "So what now? We prepare for war?"
Auron shook his head. "No. We prepare for the *others*."
Jace blinked. "Others?"
Auron tapped a mark on the edge of the map—far east, past the cursed plains.
"Another echo pulsed. Not from memory—but from power."
Mira's gaze darkened. "You think another throne still stands?"
"No," Auron said. "I think another was *never dethroned*."
---
Far away, in the lands beyond the ash gates, a bell rang in a sunless temple.
A figure awoke from centuries of sleep.
Their armor creaked with frost.
Their mask bore no face.
Only a crown of thorns.
And as the bell tolled again, they whispered:
**"The Hollow King walks."**
**"And so must the Bound Queen rise."**
---
Back in the capital, the people watched their king step out onto the high balcony for the first time.
He said nothing.
But behind his silence, the wind carried change.
And the throne that once reeked of lies...
Now *listened* again.