[Scene:] The forbidden altar in the deepest depths of the Thorne Estate.
1.1 The Destroyer's Tenderness
A low, heartbeat-like rhythmic drumming echoed through the air. It was the Core Algorithm's final frenzy before losing total control.
Alistair carried the nearly fainting Eleanor into the forbidden zone of the estate, a place never opened to the outside. There were no lights here, only the crisscrossing soul circuits on the ground, emitting an eerie blue glow.
"Tutor… let me go." Eleanor leaned against his shoulder, her voice so faint it was barely audible. "You've already taken ten years of my love. Now you want to stitch my soul into your shadow?"
Alistair stopped, his long fingers gently stroking her pale cheek. Due to the Blood Symbiosis, his hand trembled slightly. He could feel the impulse for self-destruction deep within her soul, a sensation that filled him with unprecedented terror.
"Let you go?" Alistair's voice was hauntingly tender. "Eleanor, I've lived thirty years in this world, and the only light I've ever known was given by you. Even if that light was a calculation by the Council, it has grown into my bones. You want me to let go? Not until I'm dead."
1.2 The Soul Stitching Ritual
He placed her gently in the center of the altar. The "Mirror of Memory" hovered in mid-air, its blue liquid surface beginning to flow, transforming into countless threads of light as thin as hair.
This was the most forbidden art of the Thorne family—Soul Stitching. Once successful, their consciousnesses would deeply overlap. He would see her every thought, and she would be perpetually incapable of harboring killing intent toward him.
"Tutor, once this begins, there is no turning back." Lydon knelt outside the altar, his voice shaking. "If Miss Eleanor's soul rejects you, your own consciousness will collapse along with hers."
"Begin." Alistair didn't even look back. He bit his middle finger and flicked a drop of essence blood toward the Mirror of Memory.
VROOM—!
The entire estate shook violently. The blue light threads, as if sentient, began to penetrate Eleanor's skin, boring into the depths of her mind.
1.3 The Prisoner's Final Counter: Mutual Destruction
Eleanor's eyes snapped open, her pupils reflecting the eerie light threads.
She knew that once the stitching was complete, she would become a puppet—a being with no self, entirely dependent on him.
"Alistair Thorne…" Eleanor suddenly let out a piercing, cold laugh. Using their shared bloodline, she forcibly reversed the energy flow within her body.
"Since you want my soul so badly, then I will feed you all the poison hidden in this 'prescription'!"
Because of the Blood Symbiosis, the soul-tearing sensation Eleanor felt was transmitted tenfold to Alistair. Alistair coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body swaying, yet he remained pinned to her shoulders, refusing to retreat a single inch.
"Poison?" Alistair, face bloodied, smiled with increasing fanaticism. "Then let us be poisoned together. As long as you are in my arms, hell is paradise."
1.4 The Unexpected Variable: Betrayal of the Council
Just as the ritual reached its critical point, the estate's defense system blared a piercing alarm.
A beam of golden holy light forcibly breached the altar's barrier. Several Council members in white robes appeared at the entrance, led by Alistair's own uncle.
"Alistair, you have disappointed the family." The elder looked coldly at the two on the altar. "We designed this 'prescription' to cure you, to make you the perfect heir—not for you to self-destruct for a sacrifice."
The elder raised his staff, a destructive energy locking onto Eleanor.
"Since this medicine has caused you to lose control, we will simply replace it. Kill the girl and extract the Core residue from her body."
Author's Note:
Thank you for your continued support! 2.26k viewers is an exhilarating milestone. This chapter escalates the conflict from "romantic angst" to "individual vs. family power." Alistair is on the edge of collapse, and the Council's intervention will push him over the brink. In the next chapter, we will witness the darkest, most intense moment yet: The total darkening of Seven Lord!
BY : KHChing