Chapter 7: The Shattered Trust
The incineration of the Royal Messenger was more than an act of defiance; it was a declaration of war. Leo knew the protocols. Within hours, the "contingency" would be marked as a "malfunction," and the hunters would become the hunted.
The Fugitives
Leo led Elara away from the outpost, guiding her through hidden volcanic tunnels beneath the permafrost—paths he had discovered during his lonely year of containment.
They sat in a cavern lit only by the dull, amber glow of Leo's skin. The silence between them was heavy, filled with the things they had become in each other's absence.
"The King won't just let us walk away," Elara said, her hands trembling as she tried to warm them near Leo's aura.
"I know," Leo replied, staring at the cave wall. "He thinks he owns the sun. He doesn't realize that even the sun eventually sets."
The King's Secret Decree
"Leo," Elara whispered, reaching into her cloak. She pulled out the stolen scrolls from the Royal Archives—the ones she had risked everything to take. "It's worse than we thought. I didn't just find your location. I found the Protocol of Ash."
She handed him the parchment. Leo's eyes scanned the mechanical, heartless text.
Subject: Leo (Hellfire Host). Upon completion of the Shadow Council purge, the Subject is to be neutralized via the 'Solar Eclipse' seal. The power is too volatile for peacetime restoration. No survivors of the host line permitted.
The paper began to smoke in Leo's hands. The Magic King—the man Leo had looked up to as a father figure, the man who had promised to help him control the fire—had already planned his execution. He was being used to win a war, only to be slaughtered at the victory feast.
"He never wanted to save me," Leo said, his voice flat and terrifyingly calm. "He just wanted to make sure I burned the right people before I went out."
The Arrival of the Past
The temperature in the cave plummeted. A familiar, sharp mana signature cut through the air. Leo stood up, his dragon-scale mantle flaring.
From the shadows of the tunnel entrance emerged a figure in polished silver armor. It was Kael of House Ignis, now a decorated Lieutenant of the Crimson Lions. But he wasn't alone. Beside him stood Captain Mara, her expression unreadable, her shadow-threads twitching like nervous spiders.
"Leo," Kael said, his voice lacks the arrogance of their academy days. It was replaced by a grim sense of duty. "The King has declared Elara Valeska a victim of kidnapping. He's ordered us to recover her and... decommission the host."
"Decommission?" Leo laughed, a dry, hollow sound. "Is that what we're calling murder now, Kael?"
The Duel of Wills
"I don't want to do this, kid," Mara said, stepping forward. "But the Council has the city on lockdown. If we don't bring you in, they'll execute every member of the Black Thorns for treason."
Leo looked at Mara—the woman who had given him a home when no one else would. Then he looked at Kael, the noble who was just following orders. Finally, he looked at Elara.
"She's staying with me," Leo said.
Kael raised his sword, flames of pure, orange mana erupting from the blade. "Then you leave me no choice."
The fight was short but brutal. Kael was fast, but Leo was no longer fighting like a knight. He fought like the Hellfire itself—unpredictable, scorching, and absolute. He didn't use a grimoire. He simply caught Kael's flaming sword with his bare hand and absorbed the fire.
"Your flame is a candle, Kael," Leo whispered, his eyes turning into pits of black-red suns. "I am the furnace."
The Fracture
Leo didn't kill them. He released a shockwave of heat that knocked them unconscious, melting their weapons into useless lumps of metal. He turned to Mara, who was the only one left standing.
"Tell the King," Leo said, his voice vibrating with the power of the Ashen King. "Tell him the 'contingency' is over. I'm not his weapon anymore."
As Leo and Elara vanished into the blizzard, Mara watched them go. She didn't chase them. She looked at the scorched cave and the broken silver armor.
"The fool," she whispered, looking toward the Capital. "He didn't just lose a weapon. He just lit the fuse on his own throne