The wind that swept across the capital of Valerith carried no warmth.
It was not the biting cold of winter.
It was the silence before something broke.
After the fall of the underground shrine and the exposure of the Dark Sect's infiltration, the kingdom had not celebrated. Instead, tension lingered like a drawn blade.
Lucifer stood on the palace balcony, arms folded, crimson eyes scanning the distant white spires.
"They're watching us," he muttered.
Luna leaned against the stone pillar beside him. "Of course they are. We just tore open their hidden cult beneath their own capital."
Lin said nothing.
He was looking at the page.
The same page from the tomb.
The page that should have been a book.
The faint white ink had grown clearer since the collapse of the shrine. New letters shimmered along its surface like frost forming over glass.
"When the white place is stained with royal blood, the gate beneath snow shall awaken."
Emilie read it twice. "Royal blood… That means…"
Lucifer exhaled slowly. "The palace."
Silence swallowed them.
Princess Aurevielle entered the chamber quietly, her silver gown brushing against the marble floor. Though royalty, she carried herself with less pride now — more concern.
"You found something," she said softly, eyes lingering on Lin longer than necessary.
Lin nodded. "There's something beneath this palace."
Her expression didn't change.
But her fingers tightened.
"There is," she admitted.
Everyone turned toward her.
"There is a sealed chamber beneath the Snow Throne Hall. It's forbidden even to the royal family. My father once told me it was created during the war against the Supreme Darel's enemies."
Luna's gaze sharpened. "Darel again."
Lucifer smirked faintly. "Of course."
Lin finally spoke. "We need to go there."
Aurevielle hesitated.
"Only the royal bloodline can open the passage."
The air grew heavy.
Emilie stepped closer to Lin. "You don't mean—"
Lin looked at Aurevielle.
Not demanding.
Not forcing.
Just waiting.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
For a moment, she wasn't a princess.
She was just a girl standing before someone she didn't fully understand.
But trusted.
"…I'll take you."
The Snow Throne Hall
The hall was vast and empty.
White marble pillars stretched toward a ceiling carved with ancient constellations. At the center stood the Snow Throne — carved from a single block of pale crystal.
Aurevielle approached the throne slowly.
"Once this opens… we can't undo it."
Lucifer grinned. "We stopped a cult beneath your city. I think we're past undoing things."
Luna rolled her eyes.
Lin simply nodded.
Aurevielle placed her hand on the armrest of the throne.
A thin blade of frost formed from nowhere and sliced across her palm.
Blood dripped onto the crystal.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then—
The throne cracked.
A deep rumble echoed as the marble floor beneath it split open, revealing descending stairs spiraling into darkness.
Cold air surged upward like the breath of something ancient.
Emilie shivered. "That doesn't feel welcoming."
Lucifer stepped forward first. "Good."
They descended.
The Chamber Beneath Snow
The underground chamber was not large.
It was pristine.
White walls.
White floor.
White ceiling.
At the center stood a pedestal — and upon it—
A mirror.
But the mirror reflected nothing.
Not even their figures.
Luna frowned. "Is this a joke?"
Lin stepped closer.
The page in his hand burned faintly.
And the mirror responded.
Faint ripples spread across its surface like disturbed water.
Then words formed.
"One who abandoned the battlefield."
Lucifer stiffened.
Luna froze.
Emilie's breath caught.
The mirror shifted again.
This time it showed an image.
A battlefield drenched in flame.
Darel standing alone.
Falling.
Lucifer clenched his fists.
"That's not—"
The image shattered.
Now it showed Luna.
Another battlefield.
Another loss.
Her best friend collapsing in her arms.
The ghost's mockery echoed in her memory.
Lucifer glanced at her but said nothing.
Then the mirror turned toward Lin.
It showed nothing.
Just white.
Aurevielle whispered, "Why doesn't it show his past?"
The mirror cracked.
A deep, distorted voice emerged from it.
"Because his past is sealed."
The temperature plummeted.
A black crack spread across the white floor beneath the mirror.
From it—
Smoke rose.
And with it, figures cloaked in ash-black robes.
Lucifer cursed. "Dark Sect."
Luna's aura flared instantly.
Aurevielle stepped back, shocked. "Inside the palace?!"
One of the robed figures removed his hood.
His eyes were completely white.
"The gate has opened," he said calmly. "Thank you, princess."
Her blood ran cold.
"You used us."
The man smiled faintly. "Royal blood was necessary. We simply allowed you to deliver it."
Lucifer stepped forward, flames flickering across his shoulders. "Bad move."
The robed man tilted his head.
"You misunderstand. We are not here for the gate."
His gaze shifted to Emilie.
"We are here for her."
Everything stopped.
Emilie froze. "Me?"
Lin stepped in front of her without thinking.
The man's white eyes narrowed.
"Yes. The vessel."
The mirror behind them exploded.
Dark energy flooded the chamber.
From the shattered frame emerged something massive — a shadow with countless eyes embedded in its form.
Luna whispered, "That's not human."
The robed man smiled wider.
"It is the one who sleeps beneath snow. And she is its key."
Lucifer's flames roared violently.
"Try taking her."
The First Clash
The shadow creature moved without moving.
One moment it was across the chamber.
The next it was upon them.
Lucifer attacked first — flames spiraling in a compressed sphere around his arm.
"Condensed Hellfire — Break."
He punched forward.
The explosion shook the chamber.
But the shadow absorbed it.
Luna leaped upward, twin blades flashing.
Her strike split the air—
But passed through the creature harmlessly.
"It's intangible!" she shouted.
Lin's eyes narrowed.
The page in his hand began glowing brighter.
The white ink transformed into a formation pattern.
He pressed his fingers together.
"Formation — Anchor of Reality."
White symbols erupted across the floor, binding the chamber in luminous threads.
The shadow creature shrieked.
Its form solidified.
Lucifer didn't hesitate.
Another condensed strike.
This time it connected.
The beast staggered.
But the robed figures began chanting.
Dark energy poured into the creature.
It began regenerating.
Aurevielle stepped forward unexpectedly.
Her voice rang clear.
"I am the heir of Valerith. I command you — retreat!"
Royal authority pulsed outward.
For a split second—
The robed figures faltered.
Lucifer glanced at her, surprised.
Luna smirked. "Guess she's not just decoration."
The leader of the sect raised his hand.
"Kill them."
The shadow lunged again.
This time straight toward Emilie.
Lin moved faster.
Not teleporting.
Not flashy.
Just stepping forward.
Slow.
Deliberate.
The air grew dense around him.
The same density that had terrified the ghost.
Lucifer understood instantly.
He condensed his flames again.
But this time—
He didn't release them outward.
He compressed them inward.
Into a blade.
A narrow line of hellfire barely visible.
Lin whispered, "Now."
Lucifer thrust forward.
Lin simultaneously struck with his palm — not at the creature—
But at the space in front of it.
The formation threads snapped tight.
The condensed flame pierced through the exact anchored point Lin had forced into reality.
The shadow screamed.
Light exploded across the chamber.
When it faded—
The creature was gone.
The robed figures lay scattered.
Only their leader remained standing.
Bleeding.
But smiling.
"You delay the inevitable."
He looked at Emilie.
"The gate will open. And when it does… she will remember."
Before anyone could react—
He crushed something in his hand.
And vanished into black smoke.
Silence filled the chamber.
Aurevielle steadied herself against a pillar.
Emilie trembled slightly.
Lucifer extinguished his flames.
Luna exhaled slowly.
Lin looked at the shattered mirror.
And at the page.
New words had appeared.
"The third book was never a book."
His jaw tightened.
Lucifer noticed. "What does it say?"
Lin answered quietly.
"It says… we've been looking for the wrong thing."
Emilie looked up at him. "Then what is the third book?"
The white ink glowed one final time.
"It is a person."
And every gaze in the chamber slowly turned—
Toward Emilie.
Beneath the silent snow, the dark sect had never sought the gate — they sought the one who would become it.