Not all monsters are born. Some are crafted in silence, with purpose… and precision."
---
Vanguard Academy – Main Courtyard, 3:02 AM
Fog rolled in unnaturally thick. It clung to the ground, cold and wet, dimming the moonlight to a dull crimson hue. Students watched from their dorm windows, silent, uneasy.
Selene Nyx had arrived less than three hours ago.
And already… the walls were bleeding.
Literally.
Thin lines of black-red liquid ran from the stone around the east gate—just enough for Kael to see from the second floor.
He stood beside Lyra and Cassiel, overlooking the courtyard.
"She's doing this without effort," Lyra whispered, voice tight.
Kael didn't speak.
He was watching her.
Selene.
A barefoot girl in a tattered academy uniform, violet-black hair draping her back like a shroud. She moved slowly. Gracefully. Like a ghost who had forgotten how to die.
Wherever she stepped, the ground cracked.
---
System Notification
> [Cursed Presence Detected: Apex Tier – Entity: Selene Nyx]
Bloodline Class: Omega Prime (Artificially Induced)
Status: Emotionally Dormant
Morality: Null
Threat Level: Catastrophic
Protocol Recommendation: Evacuation or Suppression
---
The three heirs stood in silence as the system triggered a red warning:
> [Unauthorized Bloodline Surge Detected – Vanguard Defense Code Nullified]
Event Class: Rogue Origin Flare
Response Time: 120 Seconds
Warning: Standard instructors and defense turrets will be ineffective
"She's overriding the defense grid," Cassiel said grimly. "How is that even possible?"
"She's not bound by the bloodline rules," Kael murmured. "She's something else. Something worse."
Lyra's eyes flicked to Kael. "Then why haven't you stopped her?"
Kael's voice was distant, thoughtful.
"Because she's not attacking."
---
Selene's First Words
Selene stopped in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by faint swirling embers of violet energy.
She tilted her head and spoke, not aloud—but through the system network itself.
Her voice bled into every interface. Every screen.
> "Two awakened. One afraid. One angry. Both incomplete."
She raised her hands. Blood rose from the ground like steam.
> "I am not your enemy."
> "I am your end."
Then she smiled.
And every student in the courtyard collapsed unconscious.
Just like that.
No wounds. No visible attack.
Just silence.
A psychic pulse strong enough to short out half the surveillance grid.
Lyra stepped back from the railing.
"She's testing us."
---
Underground Chamber – Two Hours Later
Kael sat at the center of a blood-glyph circle, heart pounding.
Cassiel leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching warily.
Lyra paced the room, fury barely restrained.
"We need to report this," she said.
"To who?" Kael asked. "The Council? They're the ones who funded her."
Cassiel raised an eyebrow.
"You're sure about that?"
Kael nodded.
"The Throne told me. Before I awakened."
---
Flashback – The Throne's Whisper (Days Earlier)
> "One heir was born cursed. Another, sharpened through conflict. But the third… she was made."
"Made by those who feared the old prophecy. Who feared that if a cursed heir walked alone, he might one day... rule."
"So they made her in the image of death. A failsafe."
"They did not ask if she wanted it."
---
Kael looked up at Lyra and Cassiel.
"She's a weapon. One created to destroy any of us who got too strong."
Cassiel's jaw clenched.
"She's too unstable. If she slips..."
"She won't slip," Kael said. "She'll shatter."
---
System Message – Emergency Event Trigger
> [Unauthorized Bloodline Event – Class Omega]
Status: In Progress
Location: Hall of Founders
Target: Vanguard Academy's Memory Core
Estimated Containment Time: 60 Minutes
System Override Detected
Resolution Options:
– 1: Avoid confrontation
– 2: Engage and stall
– 3: Activate Pact of Red and Silver
Kael didn't wait.
"I'm going in."
Cassiel grabbed his arm.
"You'll lose control."
"I'd rather lose control than lose this academy."
Lyra sighed. "You're both idiots."
She reached down, pulled a blade from her boot, and followed them.
---
Hall of Founders – Ten Minutes Later
The Hall of Founders was Vanguard's heart.
A cathedral-like chamber of glass, metal, and suspended light, containing the Memory Core—the crystalline archive of every bloodline evolution, every student's progress, every classified experiment.
Selene stood at its center.
Unmoving.
Hands placed gently against the surface of the core.
She was absorbing knowledge.
Her eyes remained pure white.
Kael stepped forward.
"Selene."
She turned her head slightly.
"You came."
"We had to."
She smiled again.
"You shouldn't have."
---
Combat Triggered
> [Combat Initiated – Heir Battle: 3 vs. 1]
Participants: Kael Draven, Cassiel Thorne, Lyra Voss
Target: Selene Nyx
Restrictions: None
Bloodline Divergence: Active
System Override: Unified Combat Affinity Bonus (+12%)
---
Kael charged first.
Shadow energy wrapped his limbs, forming claws of crimson light.
He struck—only to be stopped mid-air, frozen in place by an invisible force.
Gravity control.
Selene didn't move.
Cassiel appeared next, blade flashing with mirrored essence.
She blinked, and he was slammed against the wall.
Lyra hurled three photon daggers at her head.
They melted mid-air.
Kael growled. "She's siphoning from the core!"
> [Selene's Trait: Hollow Memory – Absorbs learned combat data from physical environments]
Cassiel stood, coughing blood. "She's using Vanguard's own history as a weapon."
Kael didn't respond.
He tapped deeper into his bloodline.
And it responded.
---
Kael's Evolution: Tier II – Phase II Triggered
> [Sovereign of the Hollow Vein – Mutation Complete]
New Trait: Blood Mirror
Effect: Copy and deflect one enemy bloodline ability per battle
Activation: Manual – 30% BP Cost
Warning: May destabilize mind for 60 seconds after use
Kael raised his hand, focused.
Selene tilted her head curiously.
Then Kael whispered: "Let's see what happens when the weapon gets mirrored."
He activated Blood Mirror.
Selene's gravitational field twisted. Backfired.
She staggered.
Her body twitched—the first time she had visibly faltered.
Kael didn't stop.
He launched toward her, breaking through her barrier, driving his fist into her ribs.
She hit the wall—not hard—but hit it.
That was enough.
---
System Message – Event Outcome
> [Bloodline Clash: Incomplete Victory]
Selene Nyx: Wounded (10%)
Retreat Triggered – Recalibration Phase Engaged
Next Confrontation: 7 Days
Reward: Cursed Archive Fragment Unlocked
Bonus: Memory Core Integrity Preserved (68%)
Morality Divergence: –5% (Temporary Stabilization)
Pact of Red and Silver: Strengthened
---
Selene vanished in a flicker of smoke and frost.
She didn't scream.
Didn't curse.
She only said:
> "You're more interesting than I hoped."
And then she was gone.
---
Aftermath – Rooftop of Vanguard
Kael stood at the edge of the roof, watching the last of the violet mist fade from the horizon.
Cassiel joined him, arms crossed.
"We didn't beat her."
"We survived her," Kael said.
Lyra approached from behind.
"She'll be back."
Kael nodded.
"But next time... she won't be the only one ready."
And deep below the academy, in the buried catacombs beneath the Throne ruins, an ancient glyph began to glow red for the first time in a thousand years.
The war of heirs had begun.
---
End of Chapter 13