🕯️ Tier 5 – The Lowest Deck
Water leaked from rusted pipes overhead. Rats skittered through the remains of forgotten crates. This level was officially uninhabited. But Kakin's officials had long since stopped pretending they knew everything about their own ship.
Something moved in the dark.
A low groan—a mix between metal grinding and bone creaking—rose from behind a sealed storage unit marked "Emergency Containment."
And then…
A heartbeat.
From within the chamber, a pair of golden eyes opened.
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🧠 Mind Palace: System Corruption
Kaen sat in a meditation chamber, surrounded by the most stable walls of his Mind Palace—the "Ethereal Library." This was the place where he stored every Nen ability he understood, indexed across aisles of glowing tomes and spinning astral codices.
But now…
"Section 'Perception' corrupted."
"Section 'Emotion Constructs'—rewriting."
"Intrusion confirmed: Layer D-12 'Dreamwell Root'."
The voice wasn't his.
Not Mora. Not Renzu.
But something deeper. Something primordial.
He stood. His Nen crackled to life—violent, violet fire. Even the coded books began to shudder.
"This is my domain."
Across the chamber, the Mirror-Kaen smirked.
"Not anymore. You let the door open. And now the past is coming."
Kaen extended his hand—his Dream Crown morphed, shifting into a glowing prism that fired a pulse through the entire Library.
"Override Protocol: King's Veto."
The books stopped shuddering.
For now.
⸻
👑 Orien: Refusing to Break
Orien wandered the Mind Palace, his Constellation Beast orbiting silently above him. The once-pristine halls now flickered between the elegant white-and-gold of Kaen's aesthetic and jagged, thorn-covered roots spreading like veins along the walls.
A memory erupted beside him—not his.
A boy, no older than twelve, kneeling before a throne of bones.
His mother saying: "You were never meant to rule. But you must survive it."
"Who was the first dreamer?" Orien asked aloud.
A door opened in response.
He stepped through.
And found a room that didn't belong in Kaen's palace at all.
⸻
📖 The Forbidden Throne Room
It was ancient—pre-Nen architecture. Stone and steel. Rusted spires. A shattered crown lay at the center, pulsing with dark energy.
Orien approached it, his Beast crying out in warning.
Then—he touched it.
And saw everything.
The first Queen, experimenting with artificial princes.
A child built to wield thought itself.
A prototype Mind Palace called Project Dreamwell.
The child going mad.
Killing the others.
And then sealing his mind inside the palace.
Orien fell to one knee, his breath shallow.
"He's still in here."
Behind him, the Mirror Kaen stood again—but now his voice was different.
Older. Broken.
It wasn't just a reflection anymore.
"You found my grave. Congratulations. Now give me your mind."
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💢 Battle: Orien vs. The Dreamwell Echo
The thorned version of Kaen lunged, shadow-aura bursting from his back in the shape of twisted wings.
Orien raised both arms and expanded his aura field—his Constellation Beast split into three spinning orbitals that redirected the aura slashes into the ground.
"You don't belong here!"
"I built this place! I am the root of the palace!"
The Dreamwell Kaen struck again—but this time, Orien reached into the Mind Palace, copying an ability Mora once used: Kaleidoscope Shield—a prism barrier that spun and fractured incoming Nen attacks into harmless bursts.
"You may be the root," Orien shouted, "but I'm the future!"
He charged—his aura condensed into a blade, shaped like a shimmering star—and drove it straight into the shadow-Kaen's chest.
⸻
🧬 Synchronization Error
As the shadow faded, something transferred.
Orien gasped as the entire Thorned Crown disintegrated into his mind—and something else took its place.
His own Crown transformed.
It became layered, a triple-tiered circlet, each ring rotating in opposite directions.
New Trait Unlocked: "Crown of Memory."
Can view, restore, and lock memories from other Nen users within the palace.
But it came at a cost.
A voice echoed in his skull, faint and echoing:
"I may have lost… but I've left seeds behind… in both of you."
⸻
🌌 Kaen Recovers, But Not Alone
Kaen opened his eyes back in the throne chamber.
Mora, Renzu, and even the Beast known as "Gōra" stood nearby.
Kaen's breathing was shallow.
"Orien reached the first throne."
"He wasn't supposed to," Mora whispered.
Kaen nodded.
"And now… the Dreamwell wants us both."
A pause.
"We need allies. The other princes. Even the ones we were going to betray."
Renzu blinked.
"You mean… form a court?"
Kaen smirked, tired but glowing with resolve.
"A kingdom without a court is a tyrant's sandbox.
We're building a world."
⸻
⚔️ Next Chapter: Chapter 50 – The Court of Crowns