"You can't cage a fire born in hell. You can only hope to die before it sees you."
The corpse of Lord Halden twitched once, then stilled.
Kael stood over him, chest rising and falling—not with panic, but precision. His hands were drenched in blood, his eyes aglow with a quiet, simmering hunger. Not for flesh. Not for violence.
For control.
[New Skill Effect Active: Dominion of Fear (Tier I)]— Nearby enemies will hesitate or flee in your presence. Minor psychological pressure applied passively.
[Villain Points: 100][Available Actions: 1 System Shop Token | 1 Skill Tree Branch Pending]
The whisper of the System faded from his mind like smoke, but the scent of blood did not.
Kael looked down at his hand, flexing his fingers.
"So this is what it feels like to start again... and choose fire instead of forgiveness."
He walked toward the washbasin in the corner of the room—same one he'd cried beside when his engagement was broken, when the nobles spit on him during feasts, when his own siblings used him as a mockery at court.
He wiped the blood slowly.
Not like a panicked boy. Like a man preparing for a ceremony.
Just then—
BANG!
The door slammed open. Two guards rushed in, crossbows raised.
"Lord Kael! Are you—?!"
They saw the body. Saw Kael standing over it with calm, blood-spattered elegance.
Their hands trembled.
Kael turned, slowly, his eyes like a dying star—beautiful and doomed.
"Do you remember the punishment for nobles who attack a Varian blood heir?"
One of them stammered. "I-It's… death by fire, m-my lord, but—"
"Then congratulations. You've just witnessed justice."
[Passive: Dominion of Fear Triggered.]— Targets psychologically weakened.— One target will flee.— One target may submit.
The first guard dropped his weapon and bolted down the hall.
The second froze, caught between terror and duty.
"Drag the body," Kael ordered. "Throw it into the manor's lower furnace. Not a word to the staff. If anyone asks—Lord Halden had a… tragic accident."
The guard swallowed hard, then nodded.
Kael's lip curled slightly.
"You've just earned a week's extension on your life. Use it wisely."
⏳ Hours Later — The Forbidden Wing
Night draped the Varian Estate in silence. Kael moved like a ghost through shadowed halls, past sealed doors, to the ancient, dust-coated north wing—locked for over a decade. No guards. No torches. Just a forgotten world buried under noble pride.
He knew what he was looking for.
The Grimoire of Ash. A relic only someone of Varian blood could unseal. A book banned by the Concord. A piece of what would one day make him king… or destroyer.
He placed his palm on the rusted sigil at the sealed door's heart.
It pulsed.
"Ash remembers."
The door shuddered. Screeched. And opened.
Inside, the air was thick with memory and magic. Shelves of bone-white parchment. Walls scribed with forgotten languages. At the center, a floating black book chained to a stone pedestal.
The Grimoire of Ash.
"You waited, even after they killed me," Kael murmured, stepping closer.
The chains rattled. The book opened.
Its pages turned by themselves—stopping on a spell titled:"First Pact: Bone of the Betrayed"
Kael grinned.
He drew a dagger across his palm and let his blood drip onto the page.
[New Ability Acquired: Pact Necromancy (Tier 0)]You may bind a soul to undeath if the body was betrayed violently. Cost: Blood + Villain Points.
🩸 Back at the Furnace Pit
The body of Lord Halden still smoldered.
Kael stood over it, hand outstretched.
"Let's test a theory."
[Villain Points Spent: 50][Binding Soul Fragment… Success.]
Bones cracked. Flesh bubbled. The corpse twitched—and then rose, limbs shaking, eyes empty.
A mindless servant. Ugly. Imperfect.
But loyal.
"Kneel."
The undead husk dropped to one knee.
Kael turned his gaze to the night sky, where distant towers of the Radiant Empire glowed like false stars.
"This world burned me to ash," he whispered. "Now I rise from it."
"And when I return to that altar… I will be the executioner."