Location: Black Whale – Below Deck 9
Time: Now.
Status: Forgotten by time. Suppressed by fear. Whispered only in madness.
The name Xel'ra didn't echo.
It sank.
It weighed Kaen's mind like iron pages soaked in blood.
Not a curse. Not a power.
But a truth older than fear.
⸻
🧠 The Mind Palace Quakes
Renzu staggered in the tower of architecture.
"Something's disrupting the Palace!" he shouted. "It's not invading—it's… awakening something already there!"
Mora gritted her teeth.
"This isn't another Nen user. This is deeper than that.
We're brushing against Pre-Hunter script. Pre-Nen structure."
Kaen stood at the core of the throne room.
The Crown of Clarity hovered above him.
"Then it's time we stop asking questions…"
The throne began to shift—twisting, shimmering, reshaping.
"…and meet the Architect."
⸻
🪙 An Ancient Token
Kaen stepped into the real world.
He now stood before an unlisted hatch on Deck 9—once sealed with royal glyphs.
But Saravak's memories had spilled a truth: this door was once used by Ging Freecss.
Kaen pressed a Nen coin against the lock.
The coin burned.
And the door opened.
⸻
🕯️ The Temple of No Name
Behind the door was darkness.
Not empty—pregnant.
A quiet full of unscreamed screams.
Walls lined with carvings too deep for mortal eyes to focus on.
As Kaen stepped through, the Mind Palace began projecting automatically.
Mora: "The Palace is scared."
Kaen smiled.
"Good. That means we're getting closer to the edge."
They passed five torchless halls.
Then came a single beam of white light—pouring down on a figure seated cross-legged in the void.
⸻
👤 The Monk with No Eyes
He wore faded robes that shimmered like dying constellations.
His eyes had been burned shut, yet he saw without looking.
"I knew you'd come," he rasped.
"Child of the Mirror Palace. Bearer of the Impossible Crown."
Kaen stepped closer.
"You know the name. Xel'ra."
The monk's mouth curved—not into a smile, but into a warning.
"Xel'ra is not a person.
It is a memory that refused to die.
A forbidden first throne, older than human Nen. It rejected its king… and waits for a new one."
Kaen's fingers curled.
"Is that me?"
The monk answered not with words…
…but with an attack.
⸻
💢 Psychic Illusionist: The Monk's Trial
The space shattered—
Kaen was suddenly standing in a palace of mirrors, all reflecting versions of himself:
• One powerless and afraid.
• One ruthless and monstrous.
• One silent, sitting on the same throne as Meruem.
"To reach Xel'ra," the monk's voice boomed,
"You must kill the king you fear becoming most."
Kaen's eyes narrowed.
He stepped toward the silent version.
⸻
⚔️ Battle of Reflection
The silent Kaen didn't speak.
He stood slowly, raising a copy of the Crown of Clarity. But his was jagged. Sharp.
It flickered with a cold, divine apathy.
"No dreams," the copy said. "No comrades. Just control. Forever."
Kaen's Nen surged.
He invoked a new construct—
⸻
👑 Mind Palace Construct: Crown of Flameglass
A battle-mode enhancement—
Shaped from imagination and fused with memory.
It melts illusions and reshapes them into weapons of truth.
Kaen charged forward—
And the two kings collided.
⸻
🔥 Blades of Belief
Glass clashed with glass.
Illusions cracked with every blow.
Kaen's rage exploded into motion.
"I'm not afraid of becoming a tyrant—
I'm afraid of forgetting why I started."
His crown glowed with Mora's warmth, Renzu's resolve, and his mother's voice—
"You dream like fire, Kaen."
The final strike shattered the false Kaen into ash and hope.
⸻
💀 The Monk Reveals the True Door
Kaen emerged from the illusion, breathing hard.
The monk bowed.
"Then you may enter.
The Throne of Xel'ra lies ahead.
But beware—once you step upon it, it does not leave you untouched.
Not even gods can sit without kneeling first."
Kaen stepped forward.
A door of living bone opened silently.
Behind it—
A seat of carved void, older than all known symbols.
A place where truth eats lies.
And it whispered his name.
⸻
🧠 TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 42 – The Throne That Dreams Itself