The white spell crossed the battlefield like a blade of light.
Veyr stepped into it.
Pain struck him before the spell touched his body.
His skin tightened. The blood inside his veins began to boil. For one brief moment, the battlefield disappeared.
There was only white.
White fire.
White noise.
White pain.
Then his boots hit the ground again.
The spell had thrown him several steps backward, leaving a burning trail across the stones. Smoke rose from his coat. His left hand trembled, and the ring on his finger was hot enough to hurt through the glove.
Across the battlefield, Sister Malra stared at him.
"You should be dead."
Veyr slowly raised his head.
"I’ve been told that before."
Malra tightened her grip around the broken staff. The white cloth wrapped around it had burned away, leaving only a blackened wooden shaft.
"You used the relic."
"I used what I had."
"You don’t understand what you’re holding."
"That makes two of us."
Malra raised her free hand.
The church soldiers surrounding her began to move. Some headed toward Kaelen. Others advanced on the eastern gate.
The girl was behind Kaelen, clutching the back of his armor with both hands.
Seris knelt near the gate, one hand pressed against the stones. Blood ran from her nose to her chin.
Odrik stood on the other side of the closing gate.
His sister was outside.
His soldiers were inside.
And Veyr was caught between them with a sword in his hand and a body that was rapidly losing its argument with death.
Malra pointed at him.
"Kill him."
The church soldiers charged.
A red screen appeared before Veyr’s eyes.
Predator’s Claim is available.
Stronger enemy detected.
Target selected: Sister Malra.
Enemy rank: Silver.
Claim will activate after a decisive victory.
Veyr read the final line twice.
He had assumed the ability required him to kill the target himself.
Apparently, defeating the target was enough.
"Kaelen."
The hero was fighting two church soldiers at once.
His white sword moved in short, efficient arcs. He wasted no motion, but the two men were forcing him back toward the gate.
"What?" Kaelen shouted.
"Keep Malra alive."
Kaelen blocked a sword.
"Why?"
"I need her."
"That is not a reason!"
"It’s the one you’re getting!"
Kaelen cut down the soldier in front of him and turned toward Malra.
Malra saw him coming.
She raised her hand.
White threads of light shot across the ground.
Kaelen jumped over the first line.
The second wrapped around his ankle.
He fell hard.
The girl screamed.
Seris thrust out her hand.
A red blade formed from the blood on the stones and sliced through the spell.
Kaelen rolled away before the light could tighten around his leg.
He rose in one movement.
"You could have warned me."
Seris wiped the blood from her mouth.
"You were doing well."
"That is not a reason."
"It was today."
Kaelen stared at her.
The battlefield was collapsing around them, and somehow they had found time to repeat the same argument.
Then Malra attacked again.
White light gathered above her palm.
Veyr recognized the spell.
The first one had been designed to bind.
This one was different.
The air around Malra’s hand compressed into a narrow point.
A piercing spell.
It could break through armor.
It could also tear through the eastern gate.
Veyr looked behind him.
The gate had almost closed.
Odrik was on the inside.
His sister was still outside.
If Malra fired at the gate, everyone near it would die.
Veyr ran.
Malra released the spell.
A line of white light shot toward the gate.
Veyr reached the center of its path and raised his sword.
The spell struck the blade.
The impact drove him backward. His boots carved two lines into the stone, and the sword began to crack in his hands.
The white light pushed against him, trying to break through the blade and enter his body.
The ring burned hotter.
Red light spread through his veins.
Cinder Vein activated without permission.
His vision narrowed.
The spell weakened.
Not enough.
Veyr pushed forward.
The blade broke.
The white spell entered his chest.
For one heartbeat, he could not breathe.
Then red light exploded from his body.
The spell shattered.
The blast threw Malra across the battlefield. She struck the ground and rolled several times before stopping near the forest.
A red screen appeared before Veyr.
Target condition updated.
Sister Malra: critically wounded.
Predator’s Claim can now activate.
Veyr looked at the message.
"Finally."
He moved toward her.
The remaining church soldiers tried to stop him.
The first swung at his neck.
Veyr ducked beneath the blade and drove his elbow into the soldier’s throat. The man dropped his weapon.
Veyr caught it before it hit the ground and threw it at another soldier.
The blade entered beneath the man’s helmet.
The third rushed from the side.
A red chain wrapped around his ankle and pulled him off balance.
Seris stood near the gate with one hand raised.
"Try not to die before I get my revenge."
Veyr stepped over the fallen soldier.
"Be specific."
"The church."
"That is a large list."
"I have time."
The soldier on the ground reached for his dagger.
Veyr stamped on his wrist.
Bone cracked.
"Not anymore."
Kaelen reached the gate with Odrik’s sister.
He pushed her through the narrow opening.
"Take her!"
Odrik caught the girl from the other side.
For a moment, brother and sister held each other through the gap in the gate.
Odrik looked at Veyr.
The captain’s face was covered in blood and ash.
"You could have left her."
Veyr took the fallen soldier’s sword.
"You could have opened the gate."
Odrik had no answer.
Veyr looked toward Malra.
"Close it."
Odrik stared at him.
"My lord—"
"Close the gate."
The captain looked at the church soldiers outside.
Then at his sister.
Then at Veyr.
His hand tightened around the chain.
He pulled.
The gate moved another inch.
Malra rose from the ground.
One of her arms hung uselessly at her side. Blood ran from her forehead.
She looked at Veyr and laughed.
"You think this is victory?"
"No."
Veyr raised the stolen sword.
"I think it’s the part where you lose."
Malra lifted her hand.
The white light around her fingers flickered.
Veyr charged.
Malra fired.
The spell was weaker, but it still moved faster than a thrown blade.
Veyr turned his shoulder.
The light tore through his coat and burned a line across his ribs.
He did not stop.
Malra tried to retreat.
Her injured leg failed.
Veyr reached her, caught her wrist, and twisted.
The bones in her hand cracked.
Malra screamed.
Veyr drove his knee into her stomach, caught the back of her robe, and slammed her against a tree.
Leaves fell around them.
Malra tried to speak.
Veyr pressed the sword against her throat.
"Where is the heart?"
Malra’s breathing became ragged.
"What heart?"
"The one you took from the archive."
Her eyes changed.
It was a small movement.
Veyr saw it.
"You know nothing."
"I know you brought an army for it."
"The heart belongs to the Church of Light."
"It belonged to someone before that."
Malra smiled through the blood on her lips.
"You think killing me will make you understand?"
"No."
Veyr pressed the blade closer.
"I think it will make you quieter."
Kaelen landed beside them.
His armor was covered in blood.
Most of it belonged to other people.
"Veyr."
Veyr glanced at him.
"What?"
"Don’t kill her."
Malra gave a weak laugh.
"The hero has come to save the witch?"
Kaelen ignored her.
"She knows something."
"So do I."
"Then keep her alive."
"You heard her. She is about to become quiet."
Kaelen placed his sword between Veyr’s blade and Malra’s throat.
The white blade glowed faintly.
The moment it touched Veyr’s sword, the ring grew cold.
Veyr felt something move beneath his glove.
Not the voice.
A pulse.
One beat.
Two.
Then the red screen changed.
Decisive victory condition achieved.
Predator’s Claim available.
Target: Sister Malra.
Select one ability.
Three choices appeared.
Radiant Binding.
Whitefire Lance.
Bloodless Prayer.
Veyr studied them.
Radiant Binding could restrain enemies.
Bloodless Prayer sounded like the kind of power the church used to drain strength from living people.
Whitefire Lance was an attack.
He chose Whitefire Lance.
The choices vanished.
Heat flooded his right arm.
White lines appeared beneath his skin, moving from the ring to his wrist and up toward his shoulder.
The pain was sharp enough to loosen his grip.
Kaelen noticed.
"What did you do?"
Veyr took his sword back.
"I improved."
Malra stared at his arm.
"You stole the spell."
"Borrowed it."
"That power will burn you from the inside."
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because it is true."
Veyr lifted his hand.
A small point of white light formed in his palm.
It was no larger than a coin, but the air around it bent.
Kaelen took a step back.
"That is not normal."
"You’re becoming observant."
Malra’s face went pale.
"You cannot control it."
Veyr aimed the light at the church soldiers gathering behind her.
He did not fire at Malra.
The Whitefire Lance crossed the battlefield.
It passed through the first soldier’s chest and struck the ground behind him.
The impact exploded.
Seven church soldiers were thrown into the air.
The forest caught fire with white flames.
The remaining soldiers stopped.
Their formation broke.
Some ran toward the trees.
Others dropped their weapons.
The church had arrived expecting a dying lord trapped inside a damaged fortress.
Instead, they had lost their commander, their formation, and the advantage of surprise.
Veyr looked at Malra.
"Tell them to leave."
Malra stared at the burning forest.
"You think they’ll listen to me?"
"They listened when you told them to attack."
"They won’t retreat."
"Then they can die."
Veyr raised his hand again.
Malra’s eyes moved toward the church soldiers.
"Retreat!"
Her voice carried across the battlefield.
The soldiers hesitated.
"Retreat!" she shouted. "Take the wounded and fall back into the forest!"
The church army began to withdraw.
Kaelen looked at Veyr.
"You’re letting them go?"
"They have wounded soldiers. We barely have enough men to guard one gate."
"You could kill them."
"I could."
"Then why not?"
Veyr looked at the dead soldiers scattered around the eastern entrance.
"Because victory is not the same as slaughter."
Kaelen studied him.
Veyr lowered his hand.
The white light disappeared.
His arm began to shake.
He closed his fingers into a fist.
The heat slowly faded.
A red screen appeared again.
New ability acquired: Whitefire Lance.
Effect: Condenses hostile holy energy into a piercing projectile.
Warning: The ability requires compatible energy.
Repeated use may damage the host.
Veyr looked at the final line.
"Of course."
Kaelen heard him.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You keep saying that."
"And you keep asking."
"Because you keep hiding things."
Veyr turned toward him.
"You arrived here to arrest me."
"I still might."
"Then stop asking questions and try."
Kaelen’s expression hardened.
For a second, the two of them stood among the bodies with their swords raised.
Seris walked between them.
"That would be inconvenient."
Kaelen looked at her.
"You just said he should keep Malra alive."
"I changed my mind."
"Why?"
"Because I want to speak with her first."
Seris crouched beside Malra.
"You burned my laboratory."
Malra opened one eye.
"You were experimenting on forbidden blood."
"You burned the people who helped me."
"They were servants of darkness."
Seris’s fingers tightened.
Red blood gathered around them.
Veyr stepped closer.
"Not here."
Seris looked at him.
"She deserves worse."
"She does."
"Then why stop me?"
"Because I need her alive."
"You said that before."
"I meant it this time too."
Malra laughed weakly.
"You think I’ll tell you anything?"
"No."
Veyr looked toward the burning forest.
"I think you’ll tell someone else."
Malra’s expression changed.
Kaelen noticed it.
"So you planned this."
"I planned for the possibility."
"You wanted the church to retreat with their commander alive."
"I wanted her to believe she was still useful."
Malra stared at Veyr.
"What are you talking about?"
"You brought the army here because the heart is not in the fortress."
"You took it."
"No."
Veyr held up his ring.
"The heart chose this."
Malra’s eyes fixed on the symbol.
For the first time, fear appeared on her face.
Kaelen noticed it too.
"You know what that ring is."
Malra said nothing.
Veyr pressed the sword beneath her chin.
"Where is the heart?"
Malra’s lips moved.
No sound came out.
Veyr applied a little pressure.
"Answer."
She looked toward the fortress.
Then toward Seris.
Finally, she whispered:
"It was never a heart."
Veyr waited.
Malra smiled.
"It was a key."
Veyr’s grip tightened around the sword.
"To what?"
Malra’s eyes moved toward the ring.
"To the door your family was sworn to guard."
The battlefield seemed to become quieter.
Veyr stared at her.
"My family?"
"The Draven house was not always a royal prison."
Seris’s expression had changed.
"You know what she means," Veyr said.
Seris did not answer.
Malra continued.
"Your ancestors guarded the entrance beneath the old cathedral. The church found the key and turned it into a weapon."
"What is beneath the door?"
"The place beneath the world."
Veyr frowned.
"That explains nothing."
"It explains enough."
"No. It gives the words a dramatic shape. I asked for an answer."
Malra laughed despite the sword at her throat.
"You sound like your grandfather."
Veyr’s eyes narrowed.
"What did he guard?"
"The thing that was sealed below."
"And what is that?"
Malra looked toward the fortress.
"The church never opened the door."
Seris spoke quietly.
"They tried."
Malra’s smile disappeared.
"The key rejected them."
Veyr looked at the ring.
"Then why did it accept me?"
Seris’s eyes moved toward him.
"That is what I want to know."
The ground trembled.
Everyone fell silent.
A low sound rolled beneath the stones.
Not an explosion.
Not an earthquake.
Something deeper.
The eastern gate shook.
One of the fortress walls cracked from top to bottom.
Malra’s face lost its color.
"No."
Veyr looked at her.
"What?"
She stared at the ring.
"It recognized you."
The ground shook again.
A red screen appeared before Veyr’s eyes.
Predator’s Claim complete.
Sister Malra defeated.
Reward acquired: Whitefire Lance.
Additional condition detected.
The Heart has recognized its vessel.
World event updated.
The Door Beneath Draeven March has awakened.
Veyr looked toward the fortress.
The stone beneath his boots trembled again.
A heavy knock came from below.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Kaelen raised his sword.
"What is that?"
Seris looked toward the center of Draeven March.
"The door."
"You said the church found it beneath an abandoned cathedral," Veyr said.
"It was beneath the cathedral."
"Then why is the ground shaking here?"
Seris looked at him.
"Because the cathedral was built on top of it."
Veyr understood.
The old fortress had not been built over a strategic road.
It had been built over a prison.
A prison the Draven family had been ordered to guard.
A prison the church had tried to open.
And a prison that had now recognized Veyr’s ring.
The fourth knock came from below.
The eastern yard split open.
Stone fell into darkness.
Something enormous moved beneath the castle.
Two red eyes opened below.
Veyr turned toward the remaining soldiers.
"Everyone inside."
Kaelen looked at him.
"And you?"
Veyr stared into the opening.
"I’m going down."
Seris stepped beside him.
"So am I."
Kaelen shook his head.
"You’re both insane."
Veyr glanced at him.
"You can stay here."
Kaelen looked at the darkness.
Then at the girl he had saved.
He pushed his white sword back into its sheath.
"No."
Veyr raised an eyebrow.
"No?"
"If there’s something beneath this fortress, I’m coming with you."
"You were sent to arrest me."
"I can do that after we survive."
"And if we don’t?"
Kaelen looked at him.
"Then someone else can arrest you."
Seris smiled.
"Look at that. The hero is learning."
The darkness beneath the fortress opened wider.
A roar rose from below.
Veyr looked down into the black hole.
The original story had never mentioned a door beneath Draeven March.
It had never mentioned a heart.
It had never mentioned the ring.
But it had mentioned one thing.
Draeven March was destroyed in the second Chapter.
Veyr had already changed that part.
Now he understood why.
The fortress had not been destroyed by the church.
Veyr looked at the ring.
"It had been opened from beneath."
The ring pulsed once.
Then the ground shook again.
Something deep below the castle laughed.