The Veiled Sanctum had been awake for three days.
Three days since Elias had revealed the hidden world.
Three days since the words Veiled Sanctum had first echoed through its halls.
And already...
It was growing.
What had once been empty fields were becoming streets.
Barracks were filling with soldiers.
Workshops burned throughout the night.
Mess halls served thousands.
Training grounds echoed with steel.
The organization was no longer an idea.
It was becoming a nation hidden inside another world.
But Elias knew something the others didn't.
Growth attracted attention.
And attention attracted enemies.
Inside the central tower, Elias stood before a massive table.
Seydric, Kael, and Lyra stood around it.
A map of Dregmoore covered the surface.
Three black markers represented their territories.
Blackridge.
Ironveil.
Eldermere.
But there were new markings now.
Dozens of them.
Kael looked at the map.
"You've been busy."
Elias nodded.
"Information is more valuable than soldiers."
Seydric studied the markings.
"What are these?"
"Royal patrol routes."
"And these?"
"Noble alliances."
Lyra pointed toward a cluster near Aurelis.
"And those?"
Elias's expression became colder.
"People who are beginning to ask questions."
Silence.
Kael leaned forward.
"How many?"
"Enough."
Far away in Aurelis...
The royal court was no longer celebrating.
Three territories had gone silent.
Three rulers had fallen.
And the same strange black crest had appeared in every location.
King Aldric Valemoor stood before a giant map.
His fingers rested against Blackridge.
"Who did this?"
Nobody answered.
A royal adviser stepped forward.
"We believe it may be a coordinated rebellion."
Aldric looked at him.
"Rebellion?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The king's expression hardened.
"Then why haven't we found its leader?"
The adviser hesitated.
"We're still investigating."
Aldric slammed his hand against the table.
"Three territories."
The room became silent.
"Three."
He looked around.
"And you tell me you're still investigating?"
Nobody spoke.
Then the doors opened.
A woman entered.
She wore a white military coat.
A silver insignia rested on her shoulder.
The royal court immediately became silent.
Her name was Commander Valeria Thorne.
The Crown's most trusted investigator.
She approached the king.
"I have a theory."
Aldric looked at her.
"Speak."
"The three territories weren't attacked randomly."
She placed three markers on the map.
"Blackridge. Ironveil. Eldermere."
Then she drew a line between them.
"They form a pattern."
Aldric frowned.
"What pattern?"
Valeria looked toward the eastern border.
"They aren't expanding toward the capital."
She paused.
"They're expanding away from it."
The king stared at the map.
"Why?"
Valeria's eyes narrowed.
"I don't know."
Then she placed another marker.
Greyhaven.
"But whoever is behind this..."
She tapped the city.
"...started here."
Back inside the Sanctum...
Elias was already aware.
The moment Valeria placed the marker on Greyhaven...
The black book whispered.
"They are looking."
Elias looked down at it.
"I know."
"They will find you."
Elias smiled.
"No."
He closed the book.
"They'll find what I want them to find."
That night, Elias summoned Seydric.
"I have another assignment."
Seydric stood straight.
"Where?"
"Greyhaven."
His expression changed slightly.
"The city where we began."
"Yes."
"What am I doing?"
Elias placed a sealed document on the table.
"Nothing."
Seydric frowned.
"Nothing?"
"You're going there to be seen."
Seydric understood immediately.
"A distraction."
"Exactly."
Elias walked toward the window.
"Commander Valeria Thorne is investigating the organization. She'll search for our headquarters, our soldiers, our supply lines."
Seydric looked at the document.
"And she expects to find something."
"She will."
"What?"
Elias smiled.
"Me."
Meanwhile, Kael had received his own mission.
Ironveil wasn't finished.
Although the mercenary houses had fallen, Kael had discovered something beneath the city.
An old tunnel.
A sealed gate.
And markings carved into its surface.
The symbols were ancient.
Older than the kingdom.
Kael stood before them.
His hand rested against the stone.
Weapon Dominion reacted.
Not to a weapon.
To the metal within the gate.
Kael's eyes widened.
"This metal..."
He had never felt anything like it.
The gate was made from something that seemed to reject his ability.
He stepped back.
For the first time in a long while...
Kael felt uncertain.
Lyra's mission was different.
She had been sent to Eldermere.
Not to conquer.
To listen.
The people were talking.
Rumors were spreading.
Some believed the black organization was a criminal syndicate.
Others believed they were revolutionaries.
Some believed they were monsters.
But one rumor interested Lyra.
People had begun saying that the organization was searching for something.
Something ancient.
Something connected to the royal bloodline.
Lyra's expression changed.
She remembered Elias's words.
Not yet.
There was something he wasn't telling them.
And she knew better than to ask.
Not because she feared him.
Because she trusted that when the time came...
He would tell them.
Three missions.
Three different directions.
And none of the Top Three knew what Elias had truly planned.
Because while they were looking outward...
Elias was looking beneath.
Deep inside the Veiled Sanctum was a room nobody had entered.
Not Seydric.
Not Kael.
Not Lyra.
Nobody.
Its walls were covered in ancient-looking symbols.
At the center stood the black book.
Elias entered alone.
The door closed behind him.
He approached a circular stone platform.
"This is the fourth time."
The book opened.
A page turned.
Nothing was written on it.
Then slowly...
Ink began appearing.
THE FIRST KING.
Elias stared.
His expression remained calm.
But his eyes sharpened.
Another sentence appeared.
THE ROYAL BLOOD REMEMBERS.
Elias reached toward the page.
Before his fingers touched it...
The writing disappeared.
The book closed.
Elias stood silently.
Then smiled.
"So that's how you're going to play it."
He turned toward the door.
"Fine."
Outside, the Sanctum continued growing.
Thousands of people slept beneath its black banners.
They believed they were safe.
They believed their enemy was the kingdom.
They were wrong.
Because somewhere beneath the kingdom...
Something else was moving.
And Elias had just discovered that he wasn't the only one searching for the truth.
The game had changed.
And this time...
Someone else had made the first move.