The device sat in Victor's hand.
Small.
Black.
Covered in runes that glowed faintly in the darkness.
Pre-Dragon Era.
The system had said it clearly.
Before dragons existed.
Before the void.
Before gods.
Something had existed even then.
And that something had left a message.
Kai stared at the device.
"How do I open it?"
Victor looked at him.
"I couldn't."
"For three weeks I tried everything."
He held it toward Kai.
"But I think that's because it wasn't meant for me."
Kai looked at the device.
Then at Victor.
"You kept it for three weeks."
"Through dragon invasions."
"Through abyss armies."
"Through a literal God of Ruin."
Victor nodded once.
"It seemed important."
Kai almost smiled.
"That's an understatement."
He reached out slowly.
His fingers closed around the device.
The moment skin touched surface—
The runes exploded with light.
BOOM.
Not a physical explosion.
An energy one.
Golden light burst outward from the device.
Lyra's barrier snapped up instantly.
Drakar spread his wings protectively.
Victor stepped back.
But Kai didn't move.
Because the light wasn't attacking.
It was recognizing.
The system flashed rapidly.
[Sovereign Artifact Activated]
[Bloodline Verification — Complete]
[Message Unlocking…]
The device rose slowly from Kai's hand.
Floated at eye level.
The runes rearranged themselves.
Then the light condensed.
Took shape.
A figure formed in front of Kai.
Not solid.
A projection.
Golden.
Faint.
Like a memory made visible.
It was a man.
Tall.
Dragon scales visible along his jaw and forearms.
Eyes burning with the same golden light Kai saw in his own reflection sometimes.
Dragon Sovereign Form.
The previous one.
He looked young.
Younger than Kai expected.
But his eyes were ancient.
The kind of eyes that had seen too much and chosen to keep going anyway.
The projection spoke.
Its voice came from everywhere at once.
Quiet.
Direct.
"If you're seeing this…"
A pause.
"Then I failed."
The battlefield was completely silent.
Every dragon above had stopped moving.
The Void Emperor watched from a distance.
Even Victor stood completely still.
"My name doesn't matter," the projection continued.
"What matters is what I learned too late."
Kai watched the figure carefully.
"The Dragon Sovereign bloodline is not a gift."
The projection looked directly at Kai.
Like it could actually see him.
"It is a responsibility the multiverse placed on one person."
"Without asking."
Kai felt something tighten in his chest.
"I spent my entire existence fighting."
"Every enemy that appeared — I faced alone."
The projection's expression shifted slightly.
Something between regret and warning.
"That was my mistake."
The system displayed a quiet message.
[Recording: Final transmission — Previous Dragon Sovereign]
[Timestamp: 10,247 years ago]
Kai looked at the timestamp.
Ten thousand years.
This man had been dead for ten thousand years.
And he was still trying to help.
"The Observer will come for you," the projection said.
"It came for me too."
"I was classified Sufficient."
Kai blinked.
"Sufficient meant it tried to erase me."
The projection raised one hand.
The same gesture Kai made when activating his aura.
Identical.
"I survived the first judgment."
"But the second one—"
The recording flickered.
Static crossed the projection for a moment.
Then stabilized.
"—I was alone when it came back."
"Lyra — whoever is standing beside you right now — don't push them away."
Kai went very still.
Lyra's breath caught beside him.
Neither of them spoke.
"The Sovereign Flame cannot be controlled by will alone," the projection continued.
"It requires connection."
"The more genuine the bond — the more stable the flame."
Kai looked at Drakar.
The bonded dragon was watching the projection.
Completely motionless.
Golden eyes wide.
Like it was seeing something sacred.
"Your bonded dragon is not just a weapon," the projection said.
"Treat it like one and the flame will feel it."
"The flame knows the difference."
Drakar made a quiet sound.
Low.
Almost like acknowledgment.
Kai placed one hand briefly on the dragon's shoulder.
The projection kept speaking.
"The God of Ruin will return."
"It killed me."
"But it cannot kill a Sovereign that fights with genuine bonds rather than raw power."
"That is the one thing it cannot counter."
"It has killed every Sovereign who fought alone."
"It has never faced one who didn't."
The light around the projection began fading slightly.
Running out of time.
The recording was old.
Even preserved this long — it had limits.
"Last thing," the projection said.
Its voice becoming slightly quieter.
"There is something buried beneath Blackridge."
Kai straightened.
"Beneath the original guild vault."
Victor's eyes sharpened.
"A chamber that only opens for active Sovereign energy."
The projection looked at Kai one final time.
"Inside it — everything I learned."
"Everything I should have known earlier."
"Every mistake I made."
"Take it."
"Don't repeat them."
The golden light flared once.
Bright.
Full.
Like a last breath.
Then the projection faded.
The device dropped back into Kai's hand.
Cold now.
Silent.
The runes completely dark.
Spent.
The message delivered after ten thousand years.
The battlefield remained silent for a long moment.
Then Lyra spoke.
Her voice careful.
"He knew my name."
Kai looked at her.
"He said Lyra."
Kai was quiet.
"He said whoever is standing beside you."
"He used my name."
The silence stretched between them.
Victor was the one who spoke.
"The previous Sovereign left that recording ten thousand years ago."
He looked at Lyra carefully.
"Before you were born."
Lyra stared at the empty space where the projection had stood.
Something moving across her face that she wasn't quite ready to name.
Kai watched her.
He didn't push.
But he filed it away.
Something about Lyra was connected to all of this.
Deeper than either of them understood yet.
Victor cleared his throat quietly.
"The vault he mentioned."
Kai turned.
"I know where it is," Victor said.
"I found it three weeks ago."
"Couldn't open it."
He looked at the device in Kai's hand.
"But you can."
Kai closed his fingers around it.
The Sovereign Flame pulsed once around his hand.
Warm.
Steady.
Responding.
Like it already knew where they were going.
Drakar rose to its feet.
Ready without being asked.
Lyra pulled her platform level with Kai.
Her expression had settled.
Whatever she was processing — she had pushed it aside for now.
Professional.
Focused.
But her eyes were different than they had been an hour ago.
Something had shifted there.
Quietly.
Permanently.
Kai looked at Victor.
"Take us to the vault."
Victor nodded once.
He turned and started walking through the rubble.
Toward the deeper ruins of Blackridge.
Toward whatever the previous Sovereign had left behind.
Toward answers ten thousand years in the making.
Above them the dragon army held formation.
The Void Emperor watched from the edge of the battlefield.
The scar in the sky pulsed once.
Patient.
Waiting.
And the Dragon Sovereign walked forward — not alone, never again alone — into the heart of secrets the last Sovereign had died trying to protect.
Keep reading — Dragon Sovereign System
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