Magic Abyss So Far-Chapter 16: Ep - Crown

The clouds bled orange as the storm wall passed over the floating city of Frestco. Beneath the still-glowing runes of the ruined skyport, silence lay like a corpse. Shattered glyph-crystals pulsed faintly in the wreckage, their corrupted magic dissipating like smoke.

Akira wiped blood from his cheek, staring at the charred remains of a Sky Blade. Its armor had fused to the skin. The glyph on its chest—a sigil for "Loyalty"—had twisted into something grotesque. A jagged spiral burned black against what should've been gold.

Behind him, Sera knelt beside another fallen warrior, her shoulders tense, unmoving. She had been quiet since the last one—the one who had whispered before dying.

"She's waking up," she'd said softly, repeating the words like a prayer. "But not as you remember."

Akira approached her cautiously. "You knew them."

Sera didn't look up. Her voice was steady, but thin. "That one trained under my mother. Used to braid violets into his scabbard after a battle. Said it reminded him why he fought." She swallowed. "I almost didn't recognize him."

Ayaka stood on a nearby ledge, arms crossed, her long coat fluttering. "Don't blame yourself. Whatever they became, it wasn't by choice."

"But what made them change?" Sera asked, rising slowly. "Glyph corruption doesn't happen randomly. Someone did this."

"Or something," Akira added.

Ayaka nodded. "The sigils weren't just reversed. They were rewritten. Subjugated. That kind of alteration requires more than power—it requires authority."

"Like a queen," Akira muttered.

Ayaka turned. "Exactly. And not just any queen."

Sera's eyes narrowed. "You mean Fresha."

Ayaka pointed at the largest ruin ahead—a spire, cracked in half but still humming with ancient power. "The Spindle Core is still active. If Fresha's spirit is waking, and her glyph-matrix is unstable, she may be leaking influence. Or worse—someone else is controlling it."

Akira rubbed his chest. The mark beneath his shirt burned again, pulsing in rhythm with the Spindle's glow. "When I fought them... something in me changed. My body moved on its own. The glyphs on my back flared without me calling them. It was like..."

"Something inside you was answering," Ayaka said.

Akira nodded slowly.

Sera glanced between them, her brow furrowed. "Akira, you said she's waking up. But not as we remember. What did he mean?"

"I don't know. But when I touched one of their glyphs, I saw something. For a second. A reflection... of her. The Queen. Her face was different. Wrong. Like it was... cracked."

Ayaka's lips thinned. "Then we're running out of time."

---

Above the Spindle Core — Royal Containment Chamber

Inside the sealed heart of Frestco's ruined palace, a woman floated in a prism of crystal. Her long silver hair swam through liquid starlight, and around her, glyphs danced like fireflies—except some flickered with unstable rhythm. One of her hands twitched.

The seal groaned.

"Subject Fresha is exhibiting non-linear awakening patterns," announced a monotone voice. "Mental signature fragmented. Core stability at 63%. External interference detected."

Kurumi, high priestess of the Celestial Archives, stood just outside the crystal containment. Her face, usually unreadable, twisted in pain.

"She's dreaming," Kurumi whispered. "She's seeing what she once was. But she doesn't know who she is now."

Beside her, a tall man in crimson stood silently. Justin, Regent of the Azure Throne and Guardian of the Seal.

"She was supposed to wake in peace," he said. "Not like this."

Kurumi looked up at the Queen's half-lidded eyes. "There's something inside her. Something foreign. It's not just memory loss."

"She was merged with the Spindle Core," Justin growled. "The binding was perfect. I made sure."

"Perfection is an illusion," Kurumi said. "Especially when it involves the Echo Glyph."

Justin's jaw clenched. "We have to stop it."

Kurumi stared at him. "Stop what? If you tear her out now, she could die. If you leave her, she might become something worse."

"Then we find the boy."

"Akira?"

Justin nodded. "He carries the Crest. If the Queen's waking—and changing—then she'll resonate with him."

Kurumi stepped closer to the crystal. A crack spidered across the bottom. Glyphs flickered erratically.

"She already is," she said. "And the bond is waking up something else inside him."

---

Back on the Skybridges

The trio moved cautiously along the Skybridges—floating paths of solid air, humming with unstable mana. They had to be quick. If the glyph-paths collapsed, they'd fall straight into the Everstorm below.

"Spire's up ahead," Ayaka said, pointing. "We'll reach the outer sanctum in ten minutes."

"I feel it," Akira whispered.

Sera looked over. "Feel what?"

He touched his chest. "Her. A voice... not quite words. It's like a pulse. Each step we take, it gets louder."

Ayaka slowed. "Then we're getting close to the Resonance Limit. If you're connected to her glyph-matrix, once we cross into the sanctum, it might activate fully."

"What happens then?"

She didn't answer.

Sera frowned. "Ayaka?"

Ayaka stopped. "It might fuse him to her—temporarily. Or worse, it might let whatever's in her... into him."

Akira blinked. "What?"

"That Crest Form you accessed earlier?" she continued. "It was only partial because the connection was raw. Unstabilized. If it goes full-form without regulation—your mind could fracture."

He laughed nervously. "Well, that's reassuring."

Ayaka put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll stabilize you. I've done it before. But if I say pull out—you pull out. No heroics."

Akira nodded.

They continued up the last bridge. The Spire loomed above them, jagged and massive, its broken dome revealing the crystal pulse within. Silver lightning danced across the surface. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Suddenly, a shriek split the sky.

Dozens of Sky Blades launched from the Spire balconies—screaming through the air, glyphs burning on their armor. But this time, they weren't corrupted alone. They were tethered to something.

Floating behind them, cloaked in broken crystal, was a figure—half-masked, its body draped in ancient Queen's Regalia. The glyph on its chest was hers, but twisted. A perfect mirror in reverse.

"Brace!" Ayaka shouted.

Akira barely raised his arms before the first wave hit.

Steel clashed. Glyphs exploded. The bridge cracked beneath them as the battle erupted. Ayaka summoned twin plasma rings, slicing through two attackers. Sera ducked low, striking with pinpoint glyph bursts.

Akira's eyes burned green again.

The glyph on his back flared to life.

Lightning arced around him as he leapt forward—dodging attacks that hadn't even landed yet. His body moved like it remembered something his mind didn't.

He struck the masked figure—and their glyphs linked.

In an instant, he was no longer on the bridge.

---

Inside the Echo

A mirror-world.

Akira stood in an infinite white field, face-to-face with the masked figure.

Except now the mask was gone.

Queen Fresha stood before him.

But her eyes weren't silver.

They were red.

"You're not her," Akira whispered.

She smiled. "No. I am what remains."

Her voice echoed. Not one voice. Three.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The figure stepped closer. Her skin cracked, light spilling from within.

"I am what she left behind. The guilt. The grief. The fragment cast away when she sealed the Gates. I was born in silence. I have no name."

"Then why are you waking?"

"Because the world remembered her," she said, reaching out. "And you... carry the echo."

Akira stepped back.

"I'm not your vessel."

"But you are," she said. "And once the Seal breaks... I'll be whole again."

---

Reality — The Skybridge

Akira collapsed.

Sera caught him before he fell from the bridge.

"Akira!" she shouted.

Ayaka threw a sealing glyph into the air, blasting back the Sky Blades. "He's not breathing!"

But Akira's eyes snapped open, glowing pure white.

He spoke—but not in his own voice.

"The Crown breaks. The Echo sings. And the Gate shall open again."

Lightning exploded from his body, knocking the enemies back in a dome of raw force.

When the light faded, the masked figure was gone.

And Akira lay still.

---

Elsewhere — Sealed Corridor Beneath the Spire

Kurumi's breath caught.

The Spindle shook.

The Queen's body jerked violently.

Justin stared at the glyphs, which had changed again.

A new one pulsed in the center.

"Akira."

He turned to Kurumi.

"We're too late."

---

To be continued.