The First Cut is Silent
---
: The Taste of Weakness
The war council lasted three hours.
Kael listened through the floorboards, his ear pressed to the cold stone. Raised voices bled through the cracks—Lord Virell's wavering baritone, Lucien's bullish roars, the steward's honeyed poison.
Pathetic.
[Skill Analyzation: Active]
- Lord Virell – [Fear: 78%] [Indecision: 94%]
- Lucien – [Bloodlust: 63%] [Strategic Insight: 11%]
- Steward Orlan – [Deceit: 89%] [Loyalty to Daincrest: Confirmed]
Kael exhaled through his nose.
They're handing me the game.
He reached for his Unlimited Mana, letting it pool in his palm like liquid shadow. It responded sluggishly—this body's channels were still untrained. But he didn't need fireballs.
He needed one precise push.
---
: A Nudge, Not a Blow
The next morning, Lucien stormed into the armory, bellowing for his sword.
Kael watched from the corridor, silent.
His brother didn't notice the pebble on the third step.
Lucien's boot came dow
and slipped.
The heir crashed onto the stone, his bad knee twisting with a sickening pop
Kael's mana dissipated. A whisper. A ghost's touch.
No one saw.
No one ever saw.
---
: The Art of Misdirection
Lucien's injury changed everything.
- The knight-captain sneered at his "clumsiness."
- Lord Virell hesitated—how could he send a cripple to war?
- The steward's letters to Daincrest grew frantic.
Kael observed it all, a shadow in the corner.
Then, he acted.
That night, he slipped into Lucien's chambers. His brother lay groaning, leg splinted, face flushed with fever.
Kael didn't touch him.
He touched the desk.
A letter lay half-written—Lucien's crude scrawl begging a cousin for troops.
Kael dipped the quill in ink. Added one line:
"Father plans to surrender. Stop him."
Then, he vanished.
---
: The Flames Spread
Two days later, Lucien's cousin arrived with fifty men.
Lord Virell paled. "I gave no order—"
Lucien grinned through the pain. "I did."
The steward's face went ashen. His plans unraveled—Daincrest expected surrender, not reinforcements.
Kael sipped watered wine in the gallery above, watching the chaos unfold.
Check.
---
: The Hollow King's First Truth**
That night, the System flickered:
[World Corruption: 1.2%]
[Blood of the Hollow: Proximity Detected]
A map materialized in Kael's mind—a ruin three days' ride east.
He smiled.
Soon.
But first, the Church's summons would come.
And he would go willingly.
---
Final Line:
The first domino had fallen.
The rest would burn.