"The Labyrinth" Kael gasped, his voice vibrating with the power of the Inner Sanctum's residual magic.
"It's not a lock It's a rewrite."
In that moment of clarity, Kael forced his remaining energy into the key.
The geometric patterns that had danced in the dust suddenly rose into the air, spinning around the room in a dizzying blur of light.
The "Wow-Factor" of the Magical Labyrinth manifested here, in the heart of the crypt, as the space began to warp and fold.
Walls appeared where there were none.
The exit to the tunnel stretched into an infinite distance.
Valens lunged, but he found himself running through a shifting corridor of light that looped back on itself.
"Seraphina!" Kael yelled, his skin beginning to crack as the power of the Alpha-Shift threatened to tear him apart.
"The Scroll the riddle in the vault 'Only a tongue descended from Valerius.'
It wasn't about blood! It was about the Oath of Dissolution!"
Seraphina looked at Valens, who was
frantically hacking at the walls of
the light-labyrinth with a blade of pure energy
She realized the truth Kael had uncovered
the Valerius family didn't just guard the secret; they held the power to delete the
"Host" signatures from the ledger.
She turned to the metallic book, flipping to the very last page
a page that had appeared blank until the Labyrinth's light hit it.
There, etched in microscopic script, was the Oath.
"Valens!" she screamed over the roar of the shifting dimensions.
"You can end this! Look at the ledger! You aren't the guardians you're the next harvest!"
She shoved the List toward the edge of the labyrinthine barrier.
Valens paused, his golden eyes flickering. For a split second, the commander looked at the names of his ancestors on the List, seeing the marks of 'compatibility' next to his own father's name a father who had died 'heroically' in a purification raid.
The lie was crumbling. But outside the crypt, the sound of a hundred Enforcer boots hit the chapel floor above.
The shepherd had brought more than just words; he had brought an army to ensure the harvest was gathered.