Chapter 2762: Story 2763: The Firstborn’s Throne

“RUN!”

Their mother’s scream tore through the corridor.

Ronan charged toward the throne, but Lyra seized his shoulder.

“Look at her!”

Beyond the silver-haired stranger, their mother struggled against chains suspended from the ceiling. Her body flickered between flesh and red mist, as though something was slowly erasing her from existence.

The stranger lifted one finger.

The chains tightened.

Their mother screamed again.

“Take another step,” he said calmly, “and she will disappear forever.”

Ronan stopped.

Elias moved beside him, black energy coiling around his arms. Aren’s silver chains spread across the floor, while Darian summoned violet flames that illuminated the kneeling statues.

The stranger watched them with quiet amusement.

“Still playing at being kings?”

Elias attacked first.

His chains shot down the corridor, wrapping around the throne’s armrests. With a sharp gesture, he pulled.

The entire throne shattered.

But the stranger remained seated in midair.

He looked at Elias.

“Second.”

One word.

Elias’s chains turned against him, winding around his throat and dragging him off his feet. Aren rushed forward, severing them with silver blades, but the stranger merely closed his fist.

Aren’s power vanished.

Both brothers crashed to the ground.

Darian released a furious burst of violet fire. The stranger finally turned toward him, and something changed in his golden eyes.

“Ah,” he whispered. “The replacement.”

Darian froze.

“What did you call me?”

“The child who was never supposed to inherit.”

The stranger rose.

His crown of living bone unfolded like the branches of a dead tree. Beneath his silver hair, red veins spread across his temples—the same pattern that had once appeared beneath Ronan’s skin.

Cael staggered into the corridor, staring at him.

“No,” he breathed. “You were erased.”

The stranger smiled.

“By our mother’s command.”

Ronan’s stomach tightened.

“You knew him?”

Cael swallowed hard.

“He was the Firstborn. The original heir. Before the crowns, before the kingdoms, before our bloodline became a prison.”

“Why was he erased?” Lyra demanded.

“Because he discovered what Father truly intended.”

The stranger’s smile disappeared.

“Enough.”

The corridor shook. Every statue turned its head toward Ronan.

Their stone mouths opened together.

“FIRST SON. FIRST SON. FIRST SON.”

Ronan’s sword reappeared in his hand, forged from liquid darkness. Its red symbol pulsed as the stranger descended from the broken throne.

For the first time, the silver-haired man looked afraid.

“You still carry it,” he whispered.

“Carry what?”

“The memory she buried inside your blood.”

Their mother suddenly lifted her head.

“Ronan, don’t listen! He wants you to remember!”

The stranger seized her chains and pulled her forward.

“Tell him what you did to me,” he commanded.

She wept silently.

“I gave you a chance.”

“You stole my birthright!”

“I saved your brothers!”

“You condemned me to eternity!”

The throne erupted with golden fire.

Ronan’s memories shattered into fragments: a burning nursery, a silver crown, a woman kneeling beside a newborn child.

And a little boy screaming as a door closed between them.

Ronan dropped his sword.

He remembered the face behind that door.

It was his own.

The Firstborn leaned close and whispered, “Now you understand, little brother.”

Behind Ronan, the ancient Father spoke in terror.

“Do not let him touch your blood.”

The Firstborn smiled.

Then he plunged his hand into Ronan’s chest.