The morning sun bled through the tall windows of the Duke's study, but it did little to warm the room. Duke Alistair sat behind his mahogany desk, staring at a gold-embossed scroll that had arrived by griffon-rider at dawn.
"The King wants to see you," Alistair said, his voice gravelly from lack of sleep. "Personally. Tonight."
Lucian stood by the fireplace, watching the flames. Thanks to the Raven's Mask, his violet-ringed eyes were now hidden behind his natural brown iris, and his terrifying aura was suppressed. To any observer, he looked like a refined, albeit strangely calm, noble youth.
"He wants to know if I'm a weapon he can use or a threat he needs to bury," Lucian replied.
"He isn't the only one," the Duke muttered, leaning forward. "The High Priest has been sending messengers to the other Great Houses, claiming you are the 'Vessel of the End.' If you go to the capital, you are walking into a den of lions."
"Let them roar," Lucian said, a ghost of a smile touching his lips. "I need to go to the capital anyway. There is something in the Royal Vault that belongs to me."
[System Notification]
[New Quest: 'The King's Gambit']
[Objective: Attend the Royal Banquet and 'Devour' the mana of at least one Tier-4 artifact without being detected.]
[Reward: 3,000 SP / Skill: 'Echo of the Void']
"And how do you plan to survive the journey?" Alistair asked. "Cassian is bedridden, and half my guards are now terrified of their own shadows because of what you did last night."
"I don't need guards, Father. I need a shadow."
An hour later, Lucian stood in the manor's dungeon.
Unlike the high-born cells, these were damp, smelling of salt and old iron. At the very end of the hall sat a girl who looked no older than seventeen. Her hair was a matted silver, and her clothes were rags, but her eyes—sharp, amber slits—held a feral intensity.
[Target: Seraphina (The Silver Ghost)]
[Class: Assassin (Locked)]
[Condition: Mana-Sealed / Malnourished]
[Potential: S-Rank Shadow Affinity]
In the previous timeline, Seraphina had been the King's most lethal shadow. She had been executed for a crime she didn't commit because she refused to bow to a corrupt noble.
"They say the 'Trash of the Thornes' is now a monster," Seraphina rasped, her voice like sandpaper. "Did you come here to eat me, little monster?"
Lucian waved his hand, and the mana-suppressing bars of the cell turned to gray ash. The metal didn't melt; it simply lost its "existence."
Seraphina froze. Her amber eyes widened as she watched the "unbreakable" enchanted iron crumble.
"I don't eat trash," Lucian said, stepping into the cell. "I eat destiny. And yours is currently rotting in this hole."
He reached out. Seraphina flinched, but instead of a strike, she felt a surge of warmth. Lucian wasn't taking; he was giving. He funneled a tiny fraction of the "Frost" mana he had stolen from Cassian into her withered veins.
[Soul Points Spent: 500 (Gift of the Monarch)]
[Trait Activated: 'Subjugator's Mark']
Seraphina gasped as her sealed mana circuits snapped open. The silver light of her own power flickered to life around her fingers. She looked at her hands, then at the boy standing over her.
"Why?" she whispered.
"I'm going to the capital to meet the King," Lucian said. "I need someone who knows how to move in the dark. In exchange, I will give you the heads of the men who put you in this cage."
Seraphina looked at the dark, bottomless depth in Lucian's eyes. She realized then that this wasn't a noble boy. This was something ancient wearing a young man's skin. She knelt, her forehead touching the damp stone floor.
"My life was forfeit," she said. "If you give me vengeance, I will give you my soul."
[Subjugation Successful!]
[First Follower Acquired: Seraphina (The Silver Ghost)]
[Bond Level: 1 (Fledgling Shadow)]
The journey to the capital took three days by carriage.
Inside the velvet-lined interior, Lucian sat with his eyes closed, practicing the internal circulation of his Hollow Monarch class. Every time he breathed, the ambient mana in the forest they passed through would lean toward the carriage, as if being pulled by an invisible tide.
Seraphina sat perfectly still in the corner, her presence so suppressed she seemed like a ghost. She was dressed in a new suit of black dragon-leather, a pair of daggers tucked into her belt.
"We are being followed," she whispered.
"I know," Lucian said without opening his eyes. "Six riders. Low B-Rank. Probably scouts from House Ravenwood."
"Should I eliminate them?"
"No. Let them watch. I want them to report back that I look weak. The more they underestimate the 'Null,' the more they will offer me on a silver platter."
As the carriage crested the final hill, the Golden City of Aethelgard came into view. Its white walls were topped with gold, and the Central Spire—the King's palace—pierced the clouds.
To the world, it was the pinnacle of civilization. To Lucian, it was a massive storehouse of energy waiting to be harvested.
[Notice: You have entered a 'High-Density Mana Zone'.]
[Passive Hunger is increasing...]
The carriage stopped at the main gates. A knight in gold-and-crimson armor stepped forward, his hand on a glowing halberd.
"Identification!"
Lucian opened his eyes. The violet rings swirled behind his mask's glamour. He leaned out the window, tossing a silver coin marked with the Thorne crest to the knight.
"Lucian Thorne," he said. "The King is expecting me."
The knight looked at the coin, then at Lucian. He had heard the rumors of the Stone-Breaker, but the boy before him looked... ordinary. "Enter, Lord Thorne. But be warned—the Palace is not the West Wing. Watch your step."
Lucian leaned back as the carriage rolled onto the marble streets of the capital.
I'm not here to watch my step, he thought, his hand brushing the Raven's Mask. I'm here to change the path.