Chapter 43 – Throne of the Forsaken

Harbinger screeched as the abyssal throne behind Ren pulsed with a power that shouldn’t exist. The darkness around them twisted, forming jagged spires that loomed like silent watchers.

Ren stepped forward, his shadow elongating unnaturally, devouring the light. Every fragment of abyssal energy that had once belonged to Harbinger now swirled toward him.

Harbinger’s form flickered, cracks spiderwebbing across its shifting body. “This is impossible!”

Ren tilted his head. “Is it?”

The throne behind him whispered. He could feel it calling to him. It wasn’t just a seat of power—it was an invitation.

To rule.

To reshape.

To become something greater.

But Ren hesitated.

Something about this felt… wrong.

The abyss had never offered power without cost. Why now?

His fingers twitched.

Harbinger saw it. And it grinned.

“You don’t understand, do you?” it rasped. “That throne isn’t yours. It belongs to something far worse than me.”

The whispers grew louder.

Ren clenched his teeth, forcing his mind to focus. This was a test.

And he wasn’t about to fail.

With a slow exhale, he took another step—not toward the throne, but past it.

Harbinger’s expression shifted to horror.

“You refuse it?!”

Ren smirked. “I don’t need a throne to prove I own this battlefield.”

The abyss shuddered.

Harbinger reeled back, screeching as its power spiraled out of control. Without the throne anchoring it, the creature began to unravel.

Ren raised a hand. The void coiled at his fingertips, forming a spear of pure, absolute nothingness.

Harbinger’s eyes burned with hatred. “You think this is over?”

Ren narrowed his gaze. “No.”

Then he hurled the spear.

The moment it struck, Harbinger exploded into darkness, its abyssal form collapsing into a vortex of spiraling energy.

For a moment, everything was silent.

Then the void began to close.

The throne cracked. The abyss trembled.

And Ren—standing amidst it all—realized something.

The Abyss wasn’t dying.

It was simply waiting.

Watching.

For its next move.

And Ren had just made himself its primary target.