Chapter 67: Zauron: The Arcbearer Of Power
They walked through a different hallway, and arrived at a door similar to the one he showed Eli.
It was Zauron’s abode.
King opened the door with a soft click, and entered.
The chamber beyond Zauron’s door was vast, far larger than the cramped merchant’s quarters King had just left.
But the aged grandeur of the architecture was immediately overshadowed by the figure at the chamber’s center.
Zauron.
The Arcbearer of Power sat hunched in the middle of the room, and the sight of him stopped King in his tracks.
During the Second Woe, Zauron had been magnificent. A towering half-giant standing easily fifteen feet tall, his body rippling with muscle, and his heavy armor struck fear.
He’d moved through battlefields like a force of nature, crushing enemies with raw strength that made every enemy weary.
But, the creature before King now bore almost no resemblance to that warrior.
Zauron’s massive frame had withered. His armor hung loose and broken on his body, cracked plates revealing flesh beneath that looked stretched too thin over bone. The bandages wrapping his arms and neck were stained and frayed, doing little to conceal the damage they were meant to protect. His ribs were clearly visible through gaps in the armor, each one outlined sharply against sunken flesh.
His collarbones jutted out, suggesting severe malnourishment or magical draining.
He looked like someone had taken the powerful warrior King remembered and systematically drained every ounce of vitality from his body.
Seven thick iron rods pierced through Zauron’s back, embedded deep into his flesh at irregular intervals. Each rod was connected to heavy chains that extended backward, reeling into a massive black ring . The very ring Zauron had used as a sitting stool.
Zauron sat there, trapped, his massive form restrained by the very artifact that had once been his source of power.
King approached slowly, Vi following close behind. Neither of them spoke, both processing the dramatic change in the Arcbearer’s condition.
Zauron’s head lifted slightly as they entered, the effort clearly costing him. His eyes, once burning with fierce intelligence and strength, now appeared dull and unfocused.
"You," Zauron rasped, his voice a shadow of the commanding tone King remembered. "You ... fought beside us. The mortal who claimed victory."
King stopped several meters away, maintaining cautious distance. "I am. What happened to you?"
The view point immediately panned as they entered a cutscene.
"Ughh, ughhhhh, oh"
Zauron wailed painfully as he attempted to straighten, but the chains pulled taut, forcing him back down into his hunched position.
"What happened?" Zauron repeated, something bitter creeping into his tone. "The Second Woe happened. The Fallen Angels..."
He trailed off, gathering strength to continue.
King waited, giving the Arcbearer time to speak at his own pace.
"I fought well," Zauron continued after several seconds. "I Zauron, stood against the greatest warriors, and pushed them back across every front."
His massive hands clenched into fists, the movement causing the chains to rattle.
"But then, I encountered him..."
"Arandiel."
King’s attention sharpened at the name. Arandiel. The Fallen Angel he’d met when he rescued Vi. King had fought him before. But that had been the game version, the NPC was locked into predetermined patterns and responses.
This time was different. Arandiel was a free entity within the gamified world. And he noticed, most high tier NPCs represented here, were not so predictable.
"The Fallen Angel Arandiel," Zauron said, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper. "Once a guardian of celestial gates. Now corrupted, twisted into something dark and terrible."
Vi moved closer to King, her expression troubled. She remembered the feeling she got when Arandiel made his debut.
"He came for me specifically," Zauron continued. "Ignored the other Arcbearers, I thought I could withstand him. I am the Arcbearer of Power. Battle is my domain."
Zauron laughed in a broken way that held no humor.
"I was wrong."
The half-giant shifted again, and this time King noticed something crucial. The large black ring beneath Zauron wasn’t just restraining him. It was draining him. Energy flowed visibly through the chains, siphoning power from the Arcbearer’s body and feeding it into the ring itself.
"Arandiel took my Black Rings of Power," Zauron said. "All seven of them. This artifact you see binding me, it was mine. My source of strength, and my burden. Each ring amplified my capabilities. With all seven, I could move mountains. I could shatter fortresses with my bare hands."
He gestured weakly toward the massive black ring underneath him.
"This great ring needs the lesser rings to grant me power, otherwise it feeds on me itself"
"Now, Arandiel has claimed them. He bound me with my own power, turned my greatest assets into my prison. And I just sit here, weakening day by day."
"If I could get hold of just one ring, I could reverse the process, and undo this curse."
King studied the setup carefully, analyzing the magical structure. The great ring wasn’t just draining Zauron, it was actively preventing him from recovering. Any attempt to regenerate or rebuild strength would be immediately siphoned away, maintaining a perfect equilibrium of weakness.
It was elegant in its cruelty.
"How long have you been like this?" Vi asked quietly.
"Since my battle in the Second Woe," Zauron replied. "Weeks now. Maybe longer. Time becomes difficult to track when you cannot move."
King walked closer, circling to get a better view of the chain configuration. Zauron watched him move but made no attempt to interfere.
"You want me to retrieve the rings," King said.
"Yes," Zauron admitted. "I cannot do it myself. The chains prevent me from leaving this chamber. And even if I could escape, I lack the strength to challenge Arandiel in my current state."
The half-giant met King’s eyes directly, and for the first time since they’d entered, King saw a flicker of the warrior he remembered.
"Where is Arandiel now?" King asked.
"The Fallen Gates," Zauron replied. "A corrupted mirror of the celestial realm he once guarded. It exists in the space between dominions, accessible only through specific rifts. I can guide you there, where he created a rift deep in Nephilim grounds, but the journey will be dangerous."
King took a moment to reconsider the request carefully. Even if he’d defeated Arandiel before, this was not one of his original playthroughs. This was real, and the NPCs had become more unpredictable.
But the rewards would be substantial. Zauron’s gratitude would grant him a ring of power and an alliance. And the strategic advantage of being able to summon the Arcbearer of Power in his full strength was undeniable.
King made his decision.
A system prompt materialized before him, glowing text filling his vision.
[QUEST AVAILABLE: THE SEVEN RINGS OF POWER]
[OBJECTIVE: RETRIEVE ZAURON’S SEVEN BLACK RINGS FROM THE FALLEN ANGEL ARANDIEL]
[LOCATION: THE FALLEN GATES]
[REWARDS: UNKNOWN]
[ACCEPT QUEST? Y/N]
King exhaled hard, and selected Yes.
[QUEST ACCEPTED]
[ZAURON’S GUIDANCE UNLOCKED]
[RIFT LOCATION WILL BE REVEALED ON YOUR MAP]
Zauron sagged with visible relief, the tension draining from his massive frame. "Thank you," he said. "You have no idea what this means."
"I’ll get them back," King said simply.
The half-giant shifted slightly, causing the chains to rattle once more. "The Fallen Gates are protected by Arandiel’s spawns. A true Nephilim, corrupt demi-humans, entities that serve his will. You’ll need to fight through them to reach Arandiel himself."
"Understood," King said.
"And one more thing," Zauron added, his tone becoming more serious. "The rings are bound to me. Only I can truly wield their full power. But with this, they will still function as useful artifacts. If you must use them to survive the journey, do so. I only ask that you return them when the task is complete."
DING
[ITEM RECEIVED: BLACK RING TALISMAN]
King nodded. "Agreed."
"We’ll leave immediately," King told Zauron.
"And I will wait for your return," Zauron said. "It seems, I’ve become quite good at waiting."
King and Vi turned to leave, heading back toward the chamber’s entrance.
"King," Zauron called out before they reached the door.
King stopped and looked back.
"Thank you," the half-giant said again.
King didn’t respond with words. He simply nodded once, acknowledging the gratitude.
Then he and Vi exited the chamber, leaving Zauron alone.
