Chapter 11 — Grim

Grim and Oro find the lost king chained alone at the bottom of the drained sea prison. When threatened, the king awakens, recognizes them, and speaks in riddles, confirming he has seen what is to come. He identifies their shared goal: reaching Isla.

The lost king warns that Cronan still hunts Isla and calls her his Worldkey, explaining that with Isla’s six abilities and the Infinite, Cronan could reenter this world and, combined with his sword and crown, conquer all realms. He reveals this world once served as a prison for relics, that Cronan’s failed attempt to bind the Infinite cursed him, and that worlds bleed together—urging Grim and Oro to seek lost knowledge in the cursed world.

After testing Oro’s resolve, the lost king extracts and offers the Threads of Time, calling them both a key to breaking and saving the universe and insisting they must reach Isla. He cautions that Isla can become villain as often as hero, then vanishes, leaving his chains and the Threads in Grim and Oro’s hands.

As Cleo’s hold on the sea falters, Grim and Oro keep grip on the Threads and rip the king’s long chains free as weapons. They topple a scorpion beast, carve a scale for a blade, and sprint for the collapsing ice steps. Under a rain of shattering ice, they climb as the stairway disintegrates beneath them.

At the final ledge, Grim’s powers flicker back. He chooses to pull Oro up instead of abandoning him, then uses a burst of portaling to lift them clear before his abilities fully return. He immediately portals them back to Cleo, who has barely maintained the ocean’s divide. Exhausted, Cleo asks if they found the king; Grim confirms.