DEMON SOVEREIGN'S REIGN

The chamber trembled as the Abyss widened its maw. That singular, blood-red eye in the center of the gate did not blink, did not close. It simply watched. And in its gaze, the mortal world seemed to flicker—like reality itself grew uncertain in its presence.

Zhao Ying, Empress of the Hollow Empire, did not flinch. Despite the roaring spiritual pressure, she stood tall, her golden robes rippling like fire. "You should be dead," she said softly, more to herself than to him.

"You said that last time," Liu Shen replied. "Perhaps the heavens are tired of your voice."

The guards moved first—twelve elite cultivators, each in the Emperor Step Realm. Formations ignited around their arms, amplifying their strikes with bloodline magic. They did not hesitate. In any other chamber, in any other world, their power would have shaken mountains.

But the Abyss consumed all.

The moment their blades crossed the threshold between the chamber and the gate, their energies distorted. One man's sword turned to ash mid-swing. Another's foot sank into the floor and vanished with a wet squelch. A third screamed as his spiritual core inverted, ripping his dantian apart from the inside.

Liu Shen didn't even raise a hand.

"You brought them here knowing what lay beyond," he said to Zhao Ying. "Even now, you're feeding the Abyss. Are you that desperate?"

Zhao Ying clenched her fist. "You know nothing. The heavens betrayed us all. But at least I tried to control what followed."

Yu Meixing stepped beside Liu Shen, her expression unreadable. "Control the Abyss? Is that what you call bargaining with fallen beings? You led the Nine Shadows to slaughter. Don't pretend it was to save anyone but yourself."

"I saved what I could," Zhao Ying hissed. "And I survived. Something none of you managed."

The Abyss gate pulsed again. This time, the eye blinked.

And something stepped through.

It was tall—taller than a man by twofold—but lacked form. Its body was wrapped in ever-shifting shadows, its head a void crowned by bone. It had no face. No eyes. And yet, its presence screamed ancient malice.

A voice entered the minds of all present, cold and oily: "You have opened the path. The pact is bound."

Zhao Ying dropped to one knee. Her voice shook. "I offer my lineage. The blood of emperors. Grant me your shadow."

The creature tilted its faceless head. The eye in the gate did not blink, but its glow intensified.

Liu Shen stepped forward.

"No."

The word shattered the stillness like lightning.

"You had your chance, Zhao Ying. You made your pact centuries ago. But that creature—like the heavens—offers only chains in disguise."

Zhao Ying's expression twisted. "I dared to survive, Liu Shen. You call it betrayal. I call it sacrifice."

"You call it power. I call it rot."

The Abyss creature moved. Its hand—a clawed tendril of void and bone—extended toward Zhao Ying. But just as it neared, a spear of lightning crashed into its wrist, blasting it sideways into the chamber wall.

Lei Qing emerged from the shadows, his spear crackling with wrath. "That's for pretending you were ever worthy of his trust."

Yu Meixing followed, throwing a dozen soul blades in an arc that forced the creature to recoil further. The gate shuddered in response.

Zhao Ying screamed, turning on them with golden flame wreathing her body. "You think you can stop this? The Abyss is already awake!"

"Then let it wake." Liu Shen's voice boomed across the chamber. "And let it remember the one who once sealed it."

He raised both hands. Demonic runes erupted from his skin, ancient and forbidden, swirling into a formation that pulsed black and crimson.

The Abyss creature froze. The eye in the gate blinked—twice—then widened in alarm.

"You…" the voice echoed again, this time with something akin to fear. "You carry the brand... of the Old Sovereign…"

"I am the Old Sovereign."

The ground split beneath Liu Shen's feet as the demonic formation activated. From the cracks, chains of crimson energy surged upward, lashing onto the creature and binding its limbs.

Zhao Ying staggered back, blood pouring from her eyes. "You—You bound it?! That seal was broken! The heavens—"

"The heavens broke nothing. They only feared I might return."

The creature struggled, howling without voice, its shadow body tearing against the crimson chains. But Liu Shen did not relent. His aura surged as black flames wreathed his arms, feeding into the formation.

"Back into the Abyss," he growled. "And take your puppeteer with you."

The creature screamed—and the gate responded. The eye began to shrink, pulsing rapidly, as though trying to shut itself.

But it was too late.

The creature was pulled back, inch by inch, clawing at the floor, dragging gouges through the bone and flesh of the chamber. Zhao Ying screamed in despair and fury as her connection severed.

"No—NO! I gave everything—!"

A final pull—and the creature vanished into the gate. With a sound like thunder collapsing into silence, the gate closed. The eye sealed shut.

And the chamber was still.

Liu Shen dropped to one knee, panting.

Yu Meixing caught him. "That formation… you didn't have enough energy to sustain it."

"It didn't matter," he murmured. "It remembered me. That was enough."

Zhao Ying crawled forward, blood staining her lips. "You think… this changes anything? The heavens still stand."

"So do I," Liu Shen whispered.

And then, without fanfare, the altar above crumbled.

The Hollow Empire had lost its link to the heavens.

And the Abyss had awakened—but not as a servant.

It had remembered its Sovereign.