Black Dragon X [LitRPG • Dark Fantasy]-Chapter 45 - 44 : Awakening

Skyler knelt on the rock. His hands trembled. The blood no longer hurt him. He was crying. Not a silent tear. But a choked, broken sob, forcing its way out against his will.

"They did not hesitate... when they decided. They did not think about who would bear the consequences."

His voice was not loud. It was broken. He slowly raised his head.

"Those bodies... that I was fighting..."

He gasped.

"They were the souls of children..."

His voice fractured even further.

"Who were exterminated on this mountain..."

Above, A faint laugh.

Kanade. It was not a mocking laugh. But a knowing one. She spoke calmly, as if recalling an old memory:

—"Justice will return... but in the wrong way, Skyler."

She tilted her head slightly.

—"Not always in the way you expect."

The threads around her began to move. Slowly. Toward Kai. Lying on the ground. Still. Weak. One of the threads approached his chest.

Skyler tried to move. He couldn’t. He clenched his fingers into the rock. He couldn’t. He tried to extend his hand. His shoulder trembled... then his hand fell, powerless. Tears fell to the ground.

"Move..."

He whispered to himself.

"Move!"

But his body did not respond. He looked at Kai. He saw his pale face. He saw his shallow breaths. And he saw the thread drawing closer.

A struggle tore inside him. To rise... To save him... To fight. Or To surrender. To let everything end here.

He looked at his hand. At the trace of light dwelling within his skin. At the Sun Stone. He felt nauseous.

"I don’t deserve it..."

The words came out audibly this time.

"I can’t save him."

The thread hovered directly above Kai’s heart.

Skyler trembled violently.

"Kai..."

He shouted But his shout came out as a cry, not anger.

"Enough..."

Kanade raised her hand slightly. The thread began to descend.

—"This is not punishment," she said calmly.

"This is balance."

She stepped forward to the edge of the rock.

—"As it happened to me... it will happen to you. In a different way."

Skyler’s eyes widened. The thread touched Kai’s shirt.

In that moment, Skyler stopped trying to rise. He no longer fought his body. He no longer gripped the rock. He simply cried. A pure cry. The cry of someone who had fully realized his weakness.

"If the Stone seeks the worthy... I am not him."

His tears did not stop. The thread above Kai’s chest was about to descend But Skyler no longer looked at it. Only one sentence kept echoing in his mind.

"He did not choose me because I am the strongest... but because I listened."

His eyes widened. The tears fell... then froze halfway down. The sound around him softened. The threads slowed. The air froze.

Then, Everything disappeared. White. Boundless emptiness. No ground. No sky. Only him. Skyler stood alone. His breaths were clearly audible.

Then, A voice. Not from in front of him. Nor from behind. From within.

—"Finally..."

He turned. He saw no one. But shadows began to take shape around him.

Bodies. Warriors. Standing in a distant circle.

Broken armor. Worn swords. Bodies marked with old burns and stab wounds.

He could not see their faces. Mist veiled them. But he saw moments. Flashes : A sword raised to protect a child. A body falling before a burning gate. A trembling hand pressing against a glowing stone. A muffled scream beneath a red sky.

Their memories were not whole.Only fragments.

Skyler gasped.

"You..."

The voice returned. Calm. Mysterious.

—"Memories of the ancient warriors who bore the First Ray Stone."

Skyler’s voice trembled.

"Who are you?"

A brief silence. Then the voice replied :

—"I do not know."

Skyler’s eyes widened further.

"The Stone...?"

—"A name... close."

He stepped forward.

At the heart of the void, The Stone appeared. Suspended. Surrounded by thick black chains stretching into nothingness.

Each chain bound to a memory. To a warrior. To a decision. To a loss. The Stone’s pulse was slow. Heavy.

Skyler spoke in a broken voice:

"I am weak."

The voice answered immediately.

—"I know."

His chest trembled.

"I do not deserve you."

Silence. Then the voice reply :

—"I did not search for the worthy."

Skyler froze in place.

"Then... why me?"

The pulse changed. Closer. Deeper.

—"Because you listen."

In that moment, He understood. It was not about strength. Nor inheritance. Nor predetermined fate.

But a moment. A moment in which he did not turn his back on the voice. He approached the Stone. He extended his hand.

The chains trembled. A heavy scraping echoed through the void. The voice said:

—"You were using resonance."

The chains tightened.

—"Not the pulse."

His fingers trembled before touching the light.

"I... did not use your full power?"

—"I did not give it to you fully."

Silence. Then the voice added :

—"You were not ready."

His pupils contracted.

"And now?"

The voice did not answer immediately. Instead One of the chains trembled. A small crack appeared within it. A faint golden light seeped through.

A deep cracking sound And a single link shattered. Only one. The light grew warmer. The voice said:

—"I grant you... a memory."

In an instant, A flash exploded within his eyes. He saw a warrior from the circle charging alone toward an entire army.

He was not the strongest. He was not the fastest. But he did not retreat. The sun behind him did not burn. It steadied.

The light did not explode. It focused into a single point. One strike. Pure. Decisive.

The memory ended. The void returned. The chain remained partially broken. And the rest... remained. The voice finally said:

—"Use it."

"But..!!!"

—"Listen... then strike."

And everything faded. The voice returned. Not a whisper this time But a full surge across the world.

Air exploded into Skyler’s lungs. The ground beneath him returned suddenly. The wind. The dust. The sound of threads moving.

The thread above Kai’s chest was about to pierce the fabric. Then... It stopped. A moment of absolute silence. No movement. No breath.

Even Kanade did not blink. Then, The thread ignited. Not red fire. But a silent internal burning, as though light had seeped into its fibers from within.

It cracked. It corroded. Then it turned to dark golden ash... And scattered into the air. Without Skyler touching it.

Skyler stood. Slowly. No tears. No trembling. His features were empty of pain, As if something deep within had extinguished... or settled.

His hair moved around his face, Though the wind had stilled. When he lifted his head His eyes were a total eclipse.

A fine golden ring... Encircling a still, dark center. And his shadow Vanished. It no longer stretched behind him upon the rock. As if light no longer held dominion over it.

He reached toward the Stone. Luminous veins golden and black surged from his wrist toward it, Moving like a living orbit.

When his fingers touched the Stone. The circle completed. Lines of light closed around his hand and chest, A complete path with no gaps.

When he pulled his hand back slightly. The light dimmed instantly. As if the connection had been severed.

He gripped it again. The orbit returned. The pulse began. One beat. The Stone’s pulse synchronized with it.

With each beat, A faint pressure wave spread through the air. Dust rose half an inch... Then descended unnaturally slowly.

The threads bent toward him for a moment... As though gravity had shifted. The light in the area drew toward him for a fraction of a second. Then returned.

Upon his chest, A faint eclipse symbol appeared. Not a clear engraving. But the shadow of an incomplete circle, Appearing with each pulse... and vanishing.

Inside the Stone, A ring of light formed. A complete corona. But its center had grown darker than before.

The light no longer emanated outward. It rotated within itself. A closed orbit. When Skyler held it, He felt as though his palm grasped a small planet spinning beneath the skin.

The Stone emitted a single tone. Steady. Not audible to the ear But the bones felt it.

His ribs trembled with it. Light extended from his hand And a weapon formed before him. Not a straight sword. Not a complete circle.

A blade shaped like an eclipse arc. An incomplete arc. Half glowing with dense gold, The other half shadowed in deep darkness.

The two ends did not meet. As if the circle had yet to be completed. He held it. It was not light.

Nor heavy. It was... fitting.

The threads around Kai receded. Not from fear. But deviation. As if their path was no longer valid.

Skyler took a single step forward. The ground beneath his feet did not crack. It did not explode. But the air itself shifted slightly to make way for him. His eyes fixed upon Kanade. No anger. No pain. Calm confidence. Steady.

Kanade observed everything. Her smile had not vanished. It had widened. She raised her hand slowly.

The threads began moving around her once more, Twisting like turbulent orbits. She spoke, her voice carrying hidden delight:

—"Finally..."

She stepped toward the edge.

—"It’s time to play."

Another pulse. A new pressure wave. Dust rose. The symbol on his chest lit... then dimmed. And Skyler raised the Eclipse Blade.

For the first time since the beginning of the series. He was not holding the light. The light was orbiting him.

_

Far away, in the Drakhaen Kingdom...

The night was unnatural. The sky above the kingdom was unnaturally still. The stars were dim. At the top of the central tower. The bell rang.

Not an iron bell. But a deep reverberation rising from the earth itself.

Once. Then a second time. Then a third And with each toll, The walls of the kingdom trembled. In the main square, The soldiers stopped. One raised his head.

"This... is not a border alarm."

Another swallowed.

"This is a call..."

Inside the upper hall, The observation circles ignited. Black rings of light appeared above the stone table. One of them shattered. The voice of the central system:

<< Warning. >>

A brief silence.

<< Activation of a stone at a forbidden level has been detected. >>

The air in the hall grew heavy. One of the commanders struck the table.

"Which stone?!"

The voice did not hesitate.

<< The signature does not match any known stone. >>

Silence.

Then, A faint crack appeared in the ground. Not an earthquake. But a response. The circles attempted to pinpoint the location. Lines of light spread across the map. Then... vanished.

<< The location... is undetectable. >>

"Impossible," whispered one of the commanders.

The voice continued:

<< The wave does not move through space. >>

Silence.

<< The wave... reshapes it. >>

The hall grew cold.

Outside, The soldiers felt it. A faint pressure in the chest. As if the air had grown heavier by a degree.

One guard gripped his spear tightly. Above the tower, The Drakhaen banner moved against the wind.

In the training grounds, The earth beneath the soldiers’ feet trembled half a centimeter. Not collapse. A warning.

Inside the hall, A judge spoke.

—"Has it... reached the forbidden stage?"

Heavy silence. Then a single word from Commander Kisho:

—"How much time remains?"

The voice replied without emotion:

<< Unknown.>>

Their eyes trembled.

In the lower corridors, Drums began to beat. Not a signal of attack. But of maximum readiness. Weapon gates opened. Old seals were removed.

The sound of armor being donned in haste. Soldiers running. Officers shouting orders. Yet amid it all. The fear was clear.

Not fear of an enemy. But fear of an event. One of the young soldiers asked softly:

—"Will it come here?"

The commander did not look at him. He simply said:

—"We do not know."

At the top of the tower, One of the deputy Commander Drakhaens stood before the window. His eyes reflected the darkness of the sky. He spoke calmly:

—"If we do not act... it will change the world."

He paused.

—"And if we do... it may destroy it."

Below, The drums intensified. Rapid. Relentless. Not the rhythm of war. But the rhythm of catastrophe.

Inside a side stone wing of the Drakhaen Kingdom,..

The window stood open. Cold air drifted in. Lilithia suddenly lifted her head. The drums had reached even here. Distant... yet heavy.

Villiam stood by the table, Studying an old map. He paused. Slowly raised his head. The ground trembled half a pulse. Lilithia whispered:

—"What does this mean?"

She was not afraid. But her eyes were far from calm.

Villiam walked toward the window. He looked at the central tower. At the sky where the stars had dimmed. He paused longer than he should have. Then he said:

"I do not know."

He paused again. His fist tightened slightly.

"But..."

He looked toward the distant horizon.

"This is not something born within the kingdom."

Lilithia felt something strange in her chest. Not pain. But an old sensation... returning. She whispered:

—"If it is a Stone..."

She did not finish.

Villiam completed her thought in a low voice:

"It does not ask for permission."

Silence.

Then, A faint light streaked across the sky for a brief moment. Not lightning. Nor a falling star. Something else.