Chapter 47 – Monarch’s Training: Breaking the Chains of Fate

Each day bled into the next—though time here wasn’t linear. In the Edge of Time, the sun didn’t rise, the moon never set, and the void itself watched in silence.

Ren knelt, panting, drenched in sweat and bruises. Around him, shattered illusions of himself flickered into nothingness—remnants of a trial he barely survived.

The First Monarch, now revealed as Kael, stood before him with arms crossed.

“You rely too much on brute strength,” Kael said coldly. “You are the Void Monarch. Shape the void. Command it. Don't let it command you.”

Ren gritted his teeth. “I’m trying—”

Kael flicked his fingers. A ripple tore through the air. Reality cracked like glass as Ren was flung backward, crashing into a jagged shard of floating stone.

“Try harder.”

Ren growled, pushing himself up. His system flickered erratically.

[System Calibration: 88% Complete]
[Temporal Stabilization Imminent]

“Your system is evolving,” Kael said. “You're nearing the next tier—Chrono-Void Ascension. Once stabilized, you’ll be able to manipulate time fragments in the real world.”

Ren wiped the blood from his lip, staring at Kael. “What happens then?”

Kael’s eyes darkened. “You’ll become a threat to the Architect. And it will come for you.”

Suddenly, Kael hurled a spear made of pure void energy. It tore toward Ren like a black comet. Instinct screamed.

But this time, Ren didn’t dodge.

He reached inward, tapped into the whispering chaos of the void, and bent the spear’s trajectory. It missed him by inches, dissolving into mist.

Kael’s lips curved into the first smile Ren had ever seen on him.

“Now you’re getting it.”

Meanwhile, in the Ruined Realm, the Abyss continued its conquest. Cities fell. Resistance faded. And atop a throne carved from obsidian and bone…

Nyx watched with amusement.

“Tick-tock, little Monarch,” she whispered, her crimson eyes glowing. “I wonder how long you’ll last this time.”

Chapter 48 Preview – Return of the Void Monarch
The system completes its evolution. Ren must now survive the final phase of training and return to the real world. But time has shifted, and the world he once knew is no longer the same…