The instant the Bell Throne Keeper's mask shattered, the Ice Phoenix Tomb felt colder.
Not because of ice.
Because the truth had teeth.
The puppet-faced Keeper stood in the hidden chamber like a metal judge carved out of ancient law. Silent Bell runes glowed across its faceplate, and the bell-shadow behind it grew taller, darker, heavier—like a throne standing up.
Shan Wei's eyes stayed calm and sharp.
He did not gasp.
He did not step back.
He simply watched, measured, and understood.
"A throne puppet," he thought. "So the Monastery hid their Keeper inside a construct. That's why it can hold 'final' law without breaking."
Above Shan Wei, the backup chain path stabbed down from the sky like a pale spear.
INSTANT EXECUTION.
The spear was not meant to hurt his body.
It was meant to pin his fate to the ground and erase his future.
The Ice Phoenix spirit screamed.
"DODGE—!"
Shan Wei did not move away.
He moved forward.
Because his real target was not the spear.
His real target was the stolen shard in his hand.
The XUAN shard trembled like a trapped heartbeat.
It wanted to go home.
It wanted to return to the thread it belonged to.
But the Moon Crown wanted it too.
The crown was not just a shadow.
It was a hungry lock.
Shan Wei lifted the shard and spoke one calm, simple command:
"Return."
He pressed the shard against the Nail Core.
For one breath, black-gold runes and moon-frost light collided.
The tomb screamed again.
And the XUAN shard became a beam—thin, bright, sharp—shooting out of the tomb like a moon arrow.
At the same time—
The execution spear hit.
Outside the tomb, in the Refuge Tunnel lane, the sky cracked and dropped a pale line of judgment.
Zhen did not hesitate.
He stepped into the path and raised both arms.
"IMPERIAL SHIELD MATRIX," he said.
His voice stayed blunt, steady, and absolute.
"FOURTH LAYER: THRONE GUARD."
A new shield formed—thicker, brighter, and shaped like a moving gate.
The spear slammed into it.
The impact was silent for half a second.
Then the world exploded with light.
The fortress dome around Drakonix and the allies shook like it might break apart. Formation plates screamed. Shield lines bent.
Zhen's chest core flared crimson.
A sharp crack ran across one of his golden-black armor plates.
Zhen's head tilted slightly, like he was reading damage.
"CORE STRESS: HIGH," he reported.
Then, very blunt:
"I AM STILL FUNCTIONAL."
Yuerin swore under her breath and grabbed Xuan Chi's arm.
"Hold," she ordered.
Xuan Chi was already shaking.
Because the XUAN shard beam had reached her.
And it hit her like a name punching through fog.
Xuan Chi's eyes went wide.
Her mouth opened.
But no sound came out.
Because the Moon Crown shadow above her head screamed first.
It slammed down, trying to seal her mind.
Trying to keep the stolen name piece from reconnecting.
Xuan Chi staggered.
Her hands went to her head.
"I— I—" she tried.
Yuerin grabbed her face and forced her eyes to lock.
"Simple," Yuerin said harshly. "Say the smallest truth."
Xuan Chi's lips trembled.
"I am…" she whispered.
The Moon Crown shadow hissed and tightened.
Behind Xuan Chi, a huge frost moon outline appeared again—stronger this time.
The air around them turned white with cold.
Frozen law scars spread on the ground like cracks in glass.
Xuan Chi's near-awakening tremor became a storm inside her body.
The name echo from the shard tried to return.
But the crown fought it like a beast.
Xuan Chi suddenly screamed.
This time, with sound.
"STOP!"
The crown shadow flinched.
For one breath, it loosened.
And in that tiny breath, a new voice—an old echo—rose from deep inside her.
Not loud.
Not calm.
A whisper that felt like the start of truth.
…Xuan…
Xuan Chi's eyes filled with tears she didn't understand.
"Why does it hurt?" she gasped.
Yuerin's voice softened for one second—only one.
"Because it's yours," she said. "And they stole it."
Drakonix's wing trembled.
His prismatic flame had burned too much law.
His chest rose and fell fast.
He tried to roar again—
But the sound came out broken.
A cough of rainbow fire.
He collapsed to one knee, shaking.
The flame didn't die.
Instead, it left a scorch mark in the air—like a burn scar on the world itself.
And inside that scorch mark, faint words appeared, revealed by the fire:
COURT COMMAND SIGNATURE: SILENT BELL.
Yuerin's eyes widened.
"The Court…" she whispered. "Their command is Bell-coded."
Meaning the Monastery didn't just "advise" the Court.
They were inside its command.
They were writing its orders.
Zhen saw the scorch mark too.
"NEW DATA," he said.
Then, blunt:
"THEY ARE CHEATING."
Karma-erase assassins rushed again, trying to strike while Drakonix was down.
Zhen's eyes glowed.
"REMEMBER WALL: SHIFT."
The fortress dome moved like a living city.
It slid forward and wrapped around the assassins instead of blocking them.
The formation plates locked.
The assassins were trapped in a tight ring.
Inside the ring, their own daggers began to flicker again.
Because the Remember Wall forced the world to record every hit.
Every sin.
Every erase attempt.
The assassins slashed—
And their daggers tried to erase them back.
One assassin's arm vanished halfway.
Another's mask flickered out like smoke.
They screamed silently as they started to disappear into the emptiness they carried.
Zhen's voice stayed calm.
"PRISON COMPLETE," he said.
Then, very literal:
"ERASE PEOPLE ARE BEING ERASED."
Yuerin did not smile.
She stared at the sky.
The Court stamp above them shook again.
The Judge voice roared with fury.
"FINALIZE!"
A second spear began forming.
Another instant execution.
Inside the Bell-contract corridor, Yuerin's other self—her shadow presence—moved deeper, pulling the Pavilion leader along.
The corridor rang with tiny bell sounds.
On the walls, contract words floated like hungry fish.
SPEAK.AGREE.CONFESS.
A new line formed in front of her feet:
SILENCE PENALTY: APPLY.
The corridor started to tighten like a throat.
It wanted her to speak.
It wanted her voice so it could bite it into law.
Yuerin kept her mouth shut.
She raised her finger and wrote in the air again—silent cuts, forming code-runes, shaping a path with prismatic logic.
But the corridor learned fast.
A new floating clause appeared:
WRITING = SPEECH SUBSTITUTE.
Yuerin's eyes narrowed.
"So even silence is taxed," she thought.
The Silent Bell monk behind her whispered.
"One sentence," it said softly. "Just one. And you will live."
Yuerin's gaze turned cold.
She did not speak.
Instead, she cut a small piece of her shadow and placed it on the floor like a coin.
A sacrifice.
The corridor paused.
It accepted the shadow as "payment."
The silence penalty eased for one breath.
Yuerin walked.
And at the end of the corridor, a bell door appeared.
A door with one rune carved into it:
EMPEROR.
Yuerin's stomach tightened.
So the Bell system had a "master door."
And that door was tied to Shan Wei.
Back inside the Ice Phoenix Tomb, Shan Wei felt the XUAN shard beam fully leave his hand.
The return ritual had begun.
But return rituals were not gentle.
They were violent.
Because stolen things don't go back quietly.
The Bell Throne Keeper took one step forward.
Its voice was cold metal.
"You will break her," it said. "If her true name returns too fast, her mind will split."
Shan Wei's eyes did not blink.
"Then I will stabilize her," he said.
The Keeper's bell-shadow surged and slammed into Shan Wei like a wall.
Shan Wei raised his prismatic ruler strike to block.
The impact shook the tomb.
The Ice Phoenix spirit screamed and dove forward, frost-fire exploding to push the bell-shadow away.
Shan Wei used the space and moved to the altar.
Above it, the Xueyao shard return path still glowed faintly.
The Moon Lock was cracked.
Not broken.
But cracked.
And cracks spread.
If Shan Wei could return the Xuan shard too, the Moon Crown lock would lose its handle.
The Keeper's voice went low.
"You think you're winning," it said. "But you don't know what is inside me."
Shan Wei's eyes narrowed.
The Keeper opened its chest.
Metal plates split apart with a slow, heavy click.
Inside was a core chamber.
And inside that chamber floated a second Nail Core.
Bigger.
Darker.
Heavier.
It pulsed like a heart made of black-gold law.
A single word was carved into it, glowing faintly:
EMPEROR.
Shan Wei's golden eyes sharpened like a blade finally seeing its real enemy.
The tomb shook.
The Court stamp above the world began forming the second spear.
Xuan Chi screamed outside as her true name tried to return through the Moon Crown.
Drakonix collapsed, shaking.
Zhen's core cracked deeper as he prepared to block again.
And Shan Wei stared at the Emperor Nail Core inside the Keeper—realizing this was not just a trap.
This was a weapon meant for him.
A nail meant to pin an Emperor.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.