The old hideout was silent.
Dust covered the tables.
Maps remained pinned to the walls.
Candles had burned down to nothing.
It was the same abandoned building where Elias had first gathered the Top Three.
But tonight...
They were returning as conquerors.
Seydric entered first.
Kael followed.
Lyra came last.
Three territories.
Three victories.
Three black banners.
They expected Elias to be waiting.
He wasn't.
Seydric looked around.
"He's late."
Kael leaned against the wall.
"He isn't late."
Lyra looked toward the empty chair.
"He's somewhere else."
Then the door opened.
Elias entered.
His expression was calm.
He looked at the three of them.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Seydric stepped forward.
"Blackridge is ours."
Kael followed.
"Ironveil belongs to us."
Lyra nodded.
"Eldermere has fallen."
Elias looked at them.
A faint smile appeared.
"Good work."
The three remained silent.
Then Elias walked toward the center of the room.
"But you aren't the only ones who've been busy."
The air changed.
Kael frowned.
Seydric's eyes narrowed.
Lyra felt something beneath her feet.
A vibration.
Elias raised his hand.
The walls disappeared.
The floor vanished.
The entire hideout dissolved into darkness.
For one terrifying second, the three felt as if they were falling.
Then...
They landed.
Seydric looked up.
And forgot how to breathe.
A city stood before them.
Not a village.
Not a fortress.
A city.
An enormous city.
Towering black structures stretched toward an artificial sky.
Massive walls surrounded the horizon.
Training grounds filled one district.
Barracks filled another.
Workshops burned with strange blue lights.
Warehouses stretched for hundreds of meters.
Roads crossed through the city.
Markets had already begun forming.
People walked everywhere.
Soldiers trained.
Blacksmiths worked.
Merchants shouted.
Children ran through the streets.
Hundreds.
Then thousands.
Seydric stared.
"What..."
Kael slowly turned.
"Where are we?"
Elias walked past them.
"Home."
Lyra looked toward the enormous towers.
"You built this?"
Elias nodded.
"While you were conquering."
They followed him.
The city seemed endless.
A massive arena stood near the center.
Training grounds surrounded it.
Beyond that were libraries.
Workshops.
Medical halls.
Meeting chambers.
Storage facilities.
Even farms.
Seydric looked around in disbelief.
"You planned all of this?"
Elias glanced at him.
"I planned for the organization to survive."
Kael noticed something.
People were wearing the same crest.
Some had come from Blackridge.
Others from Ironveil.
Others from Eldermere.
But there were far more people than the three territories could possibly have supplied.
Kael stopped.
"Where did all these people come from?"
Elias smiled.
"Recruitment."
Lyra looked at him.
"While we were gone?"
"Yes."
Seydric's expression became serious.
"How many?"
Elias didn't answer immediately.
He pointed toward the far end of the city.
A massive structure stood there.
Its doors opened.
Thousands of soldiers marched out.
Seydric stared.
His ability reacted instinctively.
His eyes widened.
"That's..."
Elias nodded.
"Those are the people who accepted."
Kael looked at the army.
Then at Elias.
"You built an army while we were taking territories."
"Not an army."
Elias corrected him.
"A foundation."
They reached the central tower.
Its doors opened automatically.
Inside was a massive chamber.
A circular table sat in the center.
Maps covered the walls.
Black markers represented territories.
Red markers represented royal strongholds.
Blue markers represented potential allies.
And at the very center...
Was Aurelis.
The royal capital.
Seydric stepped closer.
"We're actually going after them."
Elias looked at the map.
"Eventually."
Kael smiled.
"You're enjoying this."
Elias didn't deny it.
Lyra looked upward.
There was something strange about the ceiling.
It didn't look like stone.
It looked like stars.
Real stars.
But they were moving.
She whispered:
"This isn't Dregmoore."
Elias looked at her.
"No."
"Then where are we?"
Elias turned toward the enormous window.
"Somewhere the kingdom cannot reach."
The truth was simple.
Elias had created a pocket dimension.
A world hidden behind reality.
A place that could grow with them.
Every new territory.
Every new recruit.
Every new soldier.
The Sanctum would expand.
The organization wouldn't simply have a headquarters.
It would have its own world.
And nobody outside knew it existed.
Not the king.
Not the nobles.
Not the royal army.
Not even the people who had begun whispering about the mysterious black banners appearing across the kingdom.
Seydric stared through the window.
For the first time since meeting Elias...
He understood.
The territories weren't the real victory.
They were merely the beginning.
Elias walked toward the center of the chamber.
The Top Three stood behind him.
Thousands of voices echoed through the city beyond the walls.
People had gathered.
Soldiers.
Workers.
Recruits.
Survivors.
Everyone who had chosen to follow the black crest.
Elias looked at them.
Then at the three commanders.
"From today onward..."
He paused.
"The organization has a name."
The room became silent.
Elias looked toward the black symbol hanging above the chamber.
"The Veiled Sanctum."
The name echoed through the hall.
Outside, thousands of voices repeated it.
"The Veiled Sanctum."
Again.
"The Veiled Sanctum."
Again.
Until the entire hidden world seemed to speak as one.
Elias looked toward the distant artificial horizon.
Somewhere beyond it lay Dregmoore.
A kingdom ruled by blood.
A kingdom ruled by fear.
A kingdom that believed itself untouchable.
Elias smiled.
"They still think the world belongs to them."
The black book appeared beside him.
Its pages opened by themselves.
One sentence appeared.
THEY HAVE NOT SEEN THE VEIL YET.
Elias stared at the words.
For the first time...
His smile disappeared.
Then the book closed.
Elias turned toward the massive map of Dregmoore.
Three territories had fallen.
An army had been born.
A hidden world had been created.
And somewhere in the darkness between worlds...
Something had begun watching them.
Elias placed his hand over Aurelis.
"The game begins now."
Outside the Sanctum...
The black banners rose.
And for the first time in centuries...
The kingdom had something to fear.