Alright. This chapter is pressure, manipulati
Kairos did not believe in coincidence.
He believed in leverage.
From his throne, he watched Lena from beneath lowered lashes as the court droned on with irrelevant matters—grain tariffs, border patrols, noble disputes. None of it held his attention. His focus remained fixed on the girl standing at the edge of the hall, arms crossed, Ashikai curled lazily at her feet.
Too calm.
Too unafraid.
The white dragon had not roared once since she arrived. Kion slept like a house cat. Even the air around her felt… settled.
Kairos exhaled slowly.
"Bring forth the next matter," he said.
The chief beast handler stepped forward, bowing deeply. "Your Majesty, the beast tamer trials—"
"Will be advanced," Kairos interrupted.
A ripple of surprise swept through the nobles.
"Advanced?" one of them echoed. "But the next trial is—"
"Lethal," Kairos finished coolly. "Yes. That is precisely why."
Lena's stomach dropped.
Ashikai lifted his head sharply. No. He's testing you.
Kairos' gaze flicked to her. "Lena Maren."
She stiffened. "Yes, Your Majesty?"
"You have been appointed Junior Beast Tamer," he said evenly. "Which means you serve the court, not your comfort."
A pause.
"Tomorrow at dawn," he continued, "you will enter the Black Hollow."
The hall went silent.
Someone dropped a goblet.
"The Black Hollow?" a noble whispered in horror. "That place devours magic—"
"And sanity," another added.
Lena's pulse thundered. "What's in there?"
Kairos' eyes gleamed faintly.
"Beasts that refuse control," he said. "Beasts that kill instinctively. Beasts that do not recognize kings… or mercy."
Ashikai growled low. He wants you broken.
Kairos stood.
"If you succeed," he said, descending the steps, "your position is secured. If you fail—"
He stopped directly in front of her.
"You die."
Lena lifted her chin. "You're doing this on purpose."
A slow smile curved his lips.
"Yes," he said simply.
The nobles erupted into murmurs.
Marianne, seated in shadow, watched with narrowed eyes.
Kairos turned away. "Dismissed."
---
That night, Lena couldn't sleep.
The maids' quarters were quiet, Velvet already snoring softly across the room. Lena lay staring at the ceiling, Ashikai pressed tightly against her ribs.
You shouldn't go, Ashikai said. The Hollow strips bindings. It will sense everything you are.
"Then maybe it'll tell me what I am," Lena whispered.
He went still.
You don't want that truth from a place like that.
She closed her eyes. "Kairos thinks fear will make me crack."
Will it?
Lena thought of Mai screaming. Of Kion licking her face. Of the dragon bowing its head.
"No," she said softly. "It'll just piss me off."
Ashikai huffed weakly. That's my girl.
---
The Black Hollow lived up to its name.
It was a wound in the earth—jagged stone spiraling downward into darkness so deep it seemed to swallow light itself. Ancient runes lined the walls, broken and warped, as though even magic had tried to escape and failed.
Kairos stood at the edge, hands clasped behind his back.
"This place nullifies enchantments," he said. "If you are hiding power, it will tear it from you."
Lena stepped forward, heart hammering.
"And if I'm not?"
"Then you will prove yourself mortal," Kairos replied. "Either way, I win."
She paused, looking back at him.
"You enjoy this," she said quietly.
His gaze sharpened. "Enjoyment is irrelevant."
She smiled faintly. "Liar."
Then she stepped into the Hollow.
The world collapsed.
Pain slammed into her like ice water. Her lungs seized. Her thoughts fractured as the Hollow clawed at her—memories flashing, instincts screaming, something deep inside her pulling back hard, like a beast refusing a leash.
She fell to her knees.
Above, Kairos watched intently.
The Hollow stirred.
Shapes moved in the dark—massive, wrong silhouettes, eyes glowing faintly as they circled.
Ashikai cried out in her mind, his voice distorted. Lena—something's waking—
"Stay back!" she shouted hoarsely.
A beast lunged.
She raised her hands instinctively—
—and nothing happened.
No warmth. No pull. No response.
Her breath hitched.
"So this is what you wanted," she whispered. "To see me helpless."
The beast snarled, breath hot and rotten.
Then—
It stopped.
Sniffed.
Confusion rippled through its massive form.
One by one, the creatures retreated, lowering their heads, pressing themselves against the stone.
The Hollow shuddered.
Kairos stiffened.
"What—"
The runes cracked.
Not flared.
Cracked.
Lena staggered to her feet, shaking.
"I told you," she muttered weakly. "I don't know what I am."
Above her, Kairos' expression shifted—not triumph.
Not rage.
Fear.
For the first time, the Demon King realized—
Whatever Lena was,
even places meant to erase power could not erase her.
And that meant one thing:
She was not hidden from fate.
She was beyond it.
---