Realm Lord

The silence that followed Arthur’s words hung heavy in the throne room. Aziel stood frozen, his brows furrowed in obvious confusion as he tried to process what his friend had just revealed. His eyes darted between Arthur’s haunted expression and the decayed remains of the corrupted king.

But it was Lara’s reaction that truly captured the magnitude of what had occurred. She stared at Arthur with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open in pure shock.

Arthur remained seated on the floor where he had collapsed, his hands still trembling from the intensity of what he had experienced, while his companions struggled to comprehend his words.

Finally, Lara found her voice, though it came out as barely more than a whisper laden with surprise and something that might have been excitement.

"Y-you got an echo!?" she stammered, the disbelief audible in every syllable.

Arthur looked up from his position on the floor, meeting her gaze with eyes that still held traces of the wonder and horror he had witnessed through the king’s memories.

"An echo?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

Lara gulped audibly, her throat working as she tried to find the right words to explain something that was clearly beyond the realm of normal experience.

"Y-yes, they’re extremely rare, so it makes sense you guys have never heard of them," she began, her words tumbling out in a rush of scientific excitement mixed with genuine amazement. "But there have been documented cases when high-ranking corrupted monsters that were once human are killed—the person who landed the final blow sometimes sees their memories through their eyes. We don’t know why or how it happens, but all recorded cases have been from the killing of human corrupted monsters of the abomination rank and higher."