The Grand Ballroom, once a sanctuary of gold and crystal, had transformed into a vision of hell. The explosion had birthed a smoke so thick it felt like breathing ash. I stood in the epicenter, my lungs burning, the silence following the blast more terrifying than the noise. I couldn't see my own hands, but I could feel the malice—cold, sharp, and hungry—closing in from every corner of the room.
"Night!" I screamed within the corridors of my mind, my voice jagged with panic. "Do something! Take the wheel before we're buried in this tomb!"
Assassins erupted from the shadows, their blades whistling through the haze. Some tore through the shattered walls, others dropped from the vaulted ceilings like spiders of death.
"I thought you were prepared, kid!" Night's voice snarled back, brimming with a dark, electric adrenaline.
"I'm still a human brat, remember? I thought like a kid, but they brought an army!" I hissed as a blade grazed my shoulder.
Night let out a guttural, demonic laugh that vibrated through my bones. "A demon calling himself a child... pathetic. Shut up and watch. I'll show you how a Sovereign hunts."
The Spectrum of Death
In an instant, the world changed. Night took control, but he didn't just use his eyes. He shut them. Suddenly, the grey void of smoke was replaced by a Chromatic Vision. I could see it now—the world wasn't made of flesh and stone anymore; it was made of Mana Colors. The assassins were streaks of jagged red, the falling debris was dull brown, and the royal guards were flickering blues.
Everything slowed down. A blade was inches from my throat, moving at a snail's pace in this heightened state. Night didn't even flinch. With a movement so fast it defied the laws of physics, he grabbed the Rank 2 Hero, Kaelen, by the throat. The force of the grip shattered Kaelen's collarbone, the sound muffled by the chaos.
"Let him go!" I shouted as more streaks of red—assassins—swarmed us. "We'll be surrounded!"Night grunted, releasing Kaelen only to unleash a whirlwind of violence. He moved in the millisecond gaps between heartbeats. A punch landed on an assassin's chest, the impact sent him skyrocketing through the ceiling. A kick followed, burying another deep into the marble floor. I watched, mesmerized and terrified, as Night navigated the 'Hollywood-style' carnage with a predatory grace.
Nearby, Yumi was a beacon of white light. Her barriers had evolved—they were no longer just shields; they were living geometric prisons. Beside her, Hina was a vortex of energy, her power surging to heights I hadn't seen before. The five heroes from the First Kingdom had taken their battle positions, their auras clashing with the intruders.
"Good," I thought, struggling to keep my consciousness anchored. "Yumi and Hina are guarding the Royal family. Now, we hunt."
The Scent of the Date
Kaelen had used the smoke to vanish, but he didn't realize he was already dead. He thought he was clever, but he had underestimated the 'Hero' who went on a date.
"He's gone," Night growled, scanning the mana-spectrum.
"No, he isn't," I replied, a cold, calculating calm settling over me. "Remember that 'date' at the market? The First Kingdom heroes gave me a gift—a fabric woven from Star-Thread, the most expensive material in the world. It reacts to Mana like a magnet to iron. When I put my hand on Kaelen's shoulder, I didn't just threaten him. I marked him with a concentrated 'Mana-Scent' I brewed myself. He's glowing like a sun in the dark, and he doesn't even know it."
Night chuckled. "You devious little brat. You used a romantic outing to set a death trap."
We didn't use the doors. Night gathered his power and launched us straight through the reinforced stone wall of the palace. The impact was thunderous, but we didn't stop. We landed on the outer courtyard where Lady Knight Seraphina was waiting. I threw her the marked cloth.
"Follow the scent from the rear! Watch the shadows!" I commanded, not waiting for her response. She stood there, stunned by the raw, terrifying aura radiating from 'Night,' but she nodded, her eyes filled with a new kind of respect.
The Subterranean Abyss
"He's gone underground!" Night shouted. He gathered a ball of Nebula Blue Light in his palms and slammed it into the earth.
The ground didn't just break; it dissolved. We plunged into a hidden tunnel system beneath the Kingdom—a labyrinth of ancient stone and damp rot. As we fell, I felt a sensation that made me want to scream. It felt like my soul was being hooked by a thousand fishing lines and pulled in opposite directions.
"Slow down! My soul... it's stretching!" I gasped, the 'Soul-Weight' becoming an unbearable anchor.
"If we slow down, the trail goes cold!" Night roared. "Don't die on me now, Reyansh!"
Night transformed into a streak of blue lightning. We were moving so fast the walls of the tunnel became a blurred smear of grey. Every time a group of demons tried to block our path, Night didn't even pause. He swung his hand, releasing a Blue Crescent Slash that bifurcated everything in its path.But for every demon he killed, my agony tripled. The 'Soul-Weight' was no longer just a burden; it was a hungry void, pulling at my very essence. I could feel my consciousness fragmenting. The Blue Slashes left glowing trails in the air, marking our path, but each glow was a piece of my life force being burnt away.
"I... I can't breathe... Night... stop..." My voice was a whisper, lost in the roar of the wind and the sound of breaking bones.
Night didn't stop. He was a possessed engine of destruction, his eyes locked on the faint, shimmering scent of Kaelen. The tunnel seemed endless, descending deeper into the bowels of the earth where the air smelled of ancient sulfur and impending death.
We were close. I could feel the darkness of a General up ahead. But as my soul screamed under the pressure, I wondered—would I be alive to see the face of the monster we were chasing?