The Sealing Crypt pulsed with a sickly rhythm, the air thick with the metallic tang of blood and burnt offerings. The Dowager Queen Mun stood before the fractured altar, her spine rigid as the White Mask Captain collapsed at her feet, his armor cracked, his mask split down the middle.
"He escaped," the man wheezed, black tears streaking his face. "The boy—the Jin whelp—he shattered my blade and left me to the crows."
Silence.
Then— the altar laughed.
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Gyeonma's Wrath
The shadows in the chamber coalesced into a gaping maw, its voice vibrating through the Dowager's bones:
"Enough delays. Prepare the prince. My patience ends."
The Dowager's nails bit into her palms. "The ritual requires the full moon. Three nights hence—"
"Liar." The spirit's presence slammed her against the altar, her ribs grinding against stone. "You coddle him. You fear what I will make of him."
She choked on the truth: She did.
Gyeonma had promised her immortality, a throne of shadows—but the prince was her blood, her last leverage. What would remain of him after the merger?
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The Prince's Cage
She found the prince curled in his bed, drenched in sweat, his pupils swallowed by blackness. The physician's draughts no longer worked.
"Mother," he rasped, clutching her sleeve. "The dreams—they're not dreams. It speaks to me. It says… I'll be king of nothing."
The Dowager smoothed his hair. "All kings rule over nothing, eventually."
She pressed a vial to his lips—a new concoction, one that would slow the possession, not stop it.
"Sleep, my son. When you wake, you'll be strong. Unbreakable."
Like your father? the voice in her head sneered. The king had lasted three breaths before Gyeonma hollowed him out.
---
The Relic Hunters Move
In the war room, the White Mask remnants knelt in disgrace.
"The boy heads north," the Dowager said. "To the Bridge of Bones. You will not fail again."
She tossed them a black-iron compass—its needle spun wildly, then pointed toward Do-hyun's sword.
"And if he reaches the mirror?" a hunter dared ask.
The Dowager smiled. "Then you will die before letting him use it."
As they fled, she whispered to the shadows:
"Watch them. If they falter… consume them."
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The Spirit's Ultimatum
Alone, Gyeonma's voice slithered into her ear:
"You play a dangerous game, little queen."
She traced the altar's cracks. Wider than yesterday.
"Games are all that remain," she murmured.
And deep beneath the palace, something that was not quite Gyeonma stirred in its chains.
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