The bells would not stop.
Their sound echoed across Elaris like a warning from the heavens.
Kael stood frozen by the window.
People flooded the streets below.
Some pointed toward the sky.
Some prayed.
Others ran.
Fear spread faster than the storm itself.
The black pillar above the city continued shining.
A terrifying light.
A light that should not exist.
“Brother…”
Lyra’s weak voice pulled him back.
Kael rushed to her side.
Her face was still pale.
Her breathing was still uneven.
But something had changed.
The sickness seemed weaker.
Not gone.
But weaker.
Kael frowned.
That should have been impossible.
The healers had said there was no cure.
Yet somehow her condition had improved.
Was it because of the Throne?
The thought sent a chill through him.
Suddenly—
BANG!
The front door exploded inward.
Kael immediately stood.
Five armored figures stormed into the house.
Silver armor.
White cloaks.
Golden symbols etched across their chests.
The Church of the Missing Gods.
The most powerful organization in the continent.
And they looked terrified.
Not angry.
Terrified.
The leader stepped forward.
A middle-aged man with scars covering half his face.
His eyes locked onto Kael.
Then onto the black marks crawling across his hands.
The man’s expression instantly changed.
Horror.
Pure horror.
“Impossible…”
One of the soldiers whispered.
“It can’t be.”
The scarred man slowly drew his sword.
“Everyone leave the house.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“Now.”
The command shook the room.
Lyra flinched.
Kael immediately stepped in front of her.
“No.”
The man stared at him.
For several seconds nobody moved.
Then the scarred priest spoke.
A single sentence.
One that made every soldier pale.
“The Calamity Bearer has awakened.”
Silence.
Kael had never heard that title before.
But the fear in their voices told him enough.
Whatever it meant…
It was bad.
Very bad.
“What is a Calamity Bearer?”
Nobody answered.
Instead, every soldier tightened their grip on their weapons.
As if preparing to fight a monster.
Not a boy.
A monster.
The scarred priest finally spoke.
“Ten thousand years ago, before the Silence, there existed one throne no mortal was allowed to touch.”
Kael’s heart pounded.
“The Throne of Death.”
Lightning flashed outside.
The priest continued.
“Every recorded Death Throne holder brought catastrophe.”
“Empires collapsed.”
“Nations vanished.”
“Millions died.”
The room felt colder.
“The last Death Bearer nearly destroyed the world.”
Kael shook his head.
“That’s impossible.”
“I didn’t ask for this.”
The priest laughed bitterly.
“None of them did.”
Suddenly—
A scream echoed inside Kael’s mind.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
The voices of the dead.
Stronger than before.
Kael grabbed his head.
Pain exploded through his skull.
Visions flooded his eyes.
A battlefield.
Mountains of corpses.
Burning cities.
Endless rivers of blood.
And at the center…
A young man sitting upon a black throne.
His face hidden.
His kingdom dead.
His eyes empty.
Then—
The vision vanished.
Kael nearly collapsed.
The soldiers stepped back.
Terrified.
One whispered:
“It’s already happening.”
The priest slowly raised his sword.
His expression filled with regret.
“Forgive me.”
Kael looked up.
“What?”
“The Church cannot allow another Calamity Bearer to exist.”
Everything froze.
Even the rain seemed to stop.
Kael stared at the blade.
They were serious.
They intended to kill him.
Right here.
Right now.
Without trial.
Without explanation.
Without mercy.
Behind him, Lyra weakly grabbed his sleeve.
“Brother…”
Fear filled her voice.
That single word shattered something inside him.
Not fear.
Not panic.
Anger.
Pure anger.
He had done nothing wrong.
All he wanted was to save his sister.
Yet everyone looked at him like a monster.
The black symbols on his arms suddenly glowed.
The room darkened.
The temperature dropped.
Every candle extinguished.
And then—
A new voice echoed through the house.
Ancient.
Cold.
Inhuman.
A voice that did not belong to Kael.
“Leave.”
The soldiers froze.
The priest’s face turned white.
Because the voice had come from behind Kael.
Slowly…
Very slowly…
Everyone turned.
A shadow stood beside Lyra’s bed.
Tall.
Humanoid.
Completely black.
Its eyes glowed silver.
Its body seemed woven from darkness itself.
Nobody had seen it appear.
The creature simply existed.
The priest stumbled backward.
“No…”
One soldier dropped his sword.
Another began praying.
The shadow looked toward them.
And smiled.
The same smile Kael had seen in the void.
The same smile from the throne.
The shadow took one step forward.
The entire house shook.
The priest’s hands trembled.
“Retreat.”
Nobody argued.
Nobody hesitated.
The soldiers fled immediately.
The priest was the last to leave.
Before disappearing into the storm, he looked directly at Kael.
And spoke one final warning.
“Run.”
Kael blinked.
“What?”
The priest’s face was pale.
Terrified.
Not of Kael.
Of something else.
“They know.”
“Who knows?”
The priest looked toward the sky.
Toward the black pillar.
Then he whispered:
“The Throne Holders.”
Kael’s blood ran cold.
“The moment the Death Throne awakened…”
The priest swallowed.
“They all felt it.”
Lightning illuminated the city.
For a brief moment the priest’s terrified face became visible.
Then he said the words that changed everything.
“The gods may be missing.”
“But the monsters who inherited their power are not.”
The door slammed shut.
The priest vanished into the storm.
Silence returned.
Kael slowly turned around.
The shadow was gone.
As if it had never existed.
Only Lyra remained.
Sleeping peacefully.
For the first time in weeks.
Kael stared at the empty space beside her bed.
His heart pounded.
One question echoed inside his mind.
Who—or what—had just protected him?
And far beyond Elaris…
At the edge of the continent…
A young man opened his eyes.
Golden clocks floated around him.
Time itself bent at his feet.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“The Death Throne…”
He stood.
“The game has finally begun.”
End of Chapter 3