> **System Notification:**
> *Main Quest Activated – "Thread of Eclipse"*
> *Objective: Discover the Circle's true intent behind the eclipse event.*
> *Secondary Objective: Identify the key nodes in the ritual.*
> *Reward: Unknown (High Tier Skill, Faction Control Potential)*
> *Warning: Time-sensitive. 9 days remaining until celestial alignment.*
Azrael leaned back in his high-backed obsidian chair, the only light in the chamber coming from the pale blue glow of the system screen flickering before his eyes. The codex taken from Seldin Marr—*The Weave Unraveled*—lay open on the desk beside him, its brittle pages pulsing faintly with residual arcane traces.
Nine days.
That's all the time he had before the eclipse. And if what the Circle planned came to pass, the balance of the empire—and perhaps fate itself—would tip.
He exhaled slowly.
The old Azrael—the obedient son, the puppet prince—would've relied on others.
But that man was gone.
He reached for his ink quill and began drafting orders.
"General Halim," he murmured aloud as he wrote, "increase patrols along the border of the Ashen Hills. No one enters or leaves without clearance."
He paused.
"Deploy two covert agents to the Weeping Coast monasteries. Use clergy disguises. Have them report on any eclipse-related relics or pilgrimages."
> **System Notification:**
> *Influence +3 (Strategic Orders – Regional Awareness)*
The system's reward was minor, but the psychological payoff was greater. Each move, each whisper, each act of anticipation chipped away at the Circle's timeline.
---
That evening, Azrael met privately with Seldin Marr in one of the hidden passage libraries beneath the palace—a forgotten relic of the old regime. The place smelled of parchment, dust, and quiet fear.
"You're certain the ritual requires three anchors?" Azrael asked, voice low.
Seldin, gaunt and twitchy, nodded. "Yes, Your Grace. The Circle refers to them as Nodes of Ascendance. One in the east—likely the Monastery of Hollow Sky. One to the west—perhaps buried beneath the ruins of Old Velis. The third... the capital itself."
Azrael's jaw tightened. "They plan to use my city as a ritual anchor."
"Yes," Seldin whispered. "But not just the city—the bloodline of Raventhorn. You are... the final seal."
A cold silence filled the chamber.
Azrael leaned closer. "Then we must make them believe the seal remains intact. While we destroy their pillars one by one."
---
> **System Notification:**
> *Trait Progressing – "Schemer" nearing Lv3*
> *Passive Buff: Your plans now radiate minimal false cues to observers. +15% chance to mislead enemies.*
> *Bonus Unlocked: Mind Veil (Active Skill – 1/day)*
> *Effect: Conceals your motives and surface thoughts from magical or intuitive scans for 10 minutes.*
That night, Azrael summoned Shade again.
"Disrupt the Circle's node in the east," he ordered. "Use our loyalists among the monk-guards. Quietly. No blood if avoidable."
Shade gave a rare smirk. "Subtlety. I like it."
"And Velis?" she asked.
"I'll go personally."
Shade hesitated. "Alone?"
Azrael's eyes gleamed.
"They wouldn't expect the prince to crawl through ruins. That's why it will work."
---
Two days later, cloaked and stripped of all royal insignia, Azrael stood before the shattered gates of Old Velis—once a proud trade capital, now a ruin of blackened stone and half-swallowed cathedrals.
> **System Prompt:**
> *Environment Detected – Corrupted Grounds (Ritualized)*
> *Passive Status: +20% Spell Resistance, -10% Physical Defense*
The air tasted of metal and silence. Crows circled above, but not one dared perch.
With his dagger drawn and a basic light rune humming beneath his glove, Azrael descended into the collapsed sanctuary beneath the temple grounds.
Beneath layers of soot and dust, strange symbols pulsed across the walls—intertwining spiderweb-like glyphs, nearly identical to those from the Circle's insignia.
In the center of the catacombs, a dais.
Upon it—a massive obsidian lens, cracked down the center, and suspended by metal strands.
> **System Notification:**
> *Node of Ascendance Detected – Status: Dormant (Charging)*
> *Time to activation: 6 days, 12 hours*
> *Action Required: Disable, Corrupt, or Usurp Node Core*
Azrael narrowed his eyes. "Corruption, then."
He reached into his satchel and withdrew a crystal of Nullstone—an anti-magical artifact banned under the Empire's own charter. Ironically, gifted to him by his father as a "collector's piece."
He embedded the crystal into the base of the lens, whispering an invocation known only to the ancient dead.
The lens screamed.
Not aloud, but inside his mind—a pitchless tremor that made blood vibrate and reason slip.
> **System Alert:**
> *Node Core Reaction – Suppression Successful*
> *+1 Hidden Feat: "Breaker of Threads"*
> *New Title Unlocked: "Saboteur of Fate"*
> *Eclipse Ritual Stability: -32%*
Azrael staggered back, eyes bloodshot, breath ragged.
But he smiled.
The Circle wouldn't notice until it was too late.
---
Back in Raventhorn, the city pulsed with eclipse fever. Priests preached of divine omens, children carved sun-moons into their toys, and nobles whispered of curses.
Azrael used the distraction well—consolidating control over information channels, bribing wandering seers to spread favorable myths, and even commissioning public plays hinting that "divine fate favored the strong."
> **System Notification:**
> *Influence +6 (Social Manipulation: Culture and Fear)*
> *Public Favor in Capital: ↑ 12%*
> *Circle Alert Level: Remains Low (Oblivious)*
It was working.
And yet...
One of his inner council—Minister Velkrin—began asking strange questions. Too pointed. Too informed.
"Your Highness," Velkrin had asked one morning, "do you not think it... curious that the eclipses coincide with ancient tales of kings reborn?"
Azrael had smiled then. "Curious indeed. But tales are just that. Stories."
Yet he marked Velkrin's name in red ink later that evening.
Just in case.
---
> **System Notification:**
> *New Evolution Branch Detected – "Path of Eclipse Master"*
> *Available only to hosts who interfere successfully with celestial rituals.*
> *Path Bonus: Enhanced resistance to fate-lock effects, unique eclipse-related abilities.*
> *Accept? (Y/N)*
Azrael didn't answer immediately.
He stood at his balcony, looking up at the night sky where the moon slowly crept toward its destined dance with the sun.
He thought of Cadmon. Of the Circle. Of all who still believed he was just a clever noble with ambition.
Let them think that.
When the sun darkened, they'd learn the truth.
And the man in the shadows?
He'd control the light.