I barely had time to breathe.
The moment we exited the ruins, the crimson fog outside twisted and coiled like it had a mind of its own. My boots crunched against black gravel, stained with the echoes of war long buried—and I knew something was off.
Nyx sniffed the air. "We're being hunted."
"How many?"
He bared his teeth. "Too quiet to count. Which means they're trained."
Then it began.
A whimper.
Low. Sharp. Inhuman.
The sound was followed by a chorus of howls that shook the valley.
> [Incoming Threat – Zepar's Hellhounds: Elite Recon Squad Detected]
Classification: Tier III
Units: 6 Hound-Wraiths | 1 Lead Shadowfang (Commander-Class)
Zepar didn't wait.
He sent his hounds to clean up.
Coward.
I summoned my weapon. The blade thrummed with new energy—still warm from the Guardian's shattered soul. Oathpiercer pulsed in my palm.
The fog parted.
The first beast lunged.
A long, skeletal creature, half-shadow, half-metal, eyes glowing with Authority runes etched into its skull. Its jaw unhinged unnaturally wide, revealing not teeth—but rotating saw-like tongues.
> [Hellhound – Shadow-Warping Mutation]
Special Ability: Tear Through Dimensions
Weakness: Soulfire
"Nyx!"
"On it!" My soul beast transformed mid-air, his body stretching and splitting into three ghostly forms—all lunging at different angles.
Steel clashed. Fog turned red.
I ducked, rolled, slashed through one hound's ribcage—but it didn't fall. It howled and split into two smaller wraiths, each flanking me.
"Of course you multiply," I growled. "Why wouldn't you?"
> [Skill Activated – Demontrail: Afterimage Clone]
My body shimmered as I split into three illusionary copies. One drew fire, another baited, and I took the center path—straight toward the commander.
The Lead Shadowfang stood still at the edge of the battlefield—taller than the others, its body armored with obsidian plates, and a crown of jagged bone fused into its head.
It didn't charge. It watched.
Smart.
"Sending your pack to bleed me, huh?" I hissed. "Too bad I just fought a knight who was a thousand times nobler than you."
> [Authority Surge Detected – Adaptive Pressure Building… 46%]
I could feel Zepar's signature bleeding through the beast.
He was watching through it.
"Watching won't save you."
The Shadowfang finally moved—blinking forward with terrifying speed. I blocked the strike, but the force sent me skidding across the gravel. Sparks flew. My shoulder throbbed.
"You want action?" I snapped. "Then get ready to regret tuning in."
> [Skill Chain Activated – Oathpiercer > Judgement Carve > Echo Strike]
My blade burned red with soulfire as I launched forward, slashing through the fog, shattering one of the lesser hounds into ash.
The commander retaliated with a vortex of black wind, sending Nyx flying back, injured but alive.
"SYLVIA—!"
I grit my teeth, leapt straight into the cyclone, and struck the center mass.
> [CRITICAL STRIKE – Commander-Class Beast Staggered!]
The Shadowfang let out a roar that split the fog in all directions—and for a second, the image of Zepar's smug face flickered in the sky like a projection.
"You're wasting effort," he said, bored. "Why chase broken memories when you could be standing beside me?"
I laughed.
Loud.
"You sent your mutts because you're scared I'll find truth in the things you buried. And now you're bluffing through a dog's eyes?"
My blade erupted again, soulfire pouring from my Authority gauge.
I struck the beast through its helm.
And shattered the projection.
Silence.
The pack scattered into mist.
> [Combat Complete – All Units Neutralized]
EXP Gained: +3,100
Loot: Corrupted Fang x4, Shadowfang Core x1
Trait Progress: [Authority – 58% Stabilized]
Nyx limped over, licking his wound. "You alright?"
"Ask me when my lungs stop burning," I muttered, sheathing my sword.
"Zepar knows you're a threat now."
"Good."
Because I'd just proven that I could beat what he sent to kill me.
Now I was coming for him.
And I wouldn't stop until I uncovered every echo he tried to erase.
The battlefield was silent.
The fog had receded, as if the land itself were holding its breath after our clash with the hounds. Ash still drifted through the air like black snow, and Nyx was quietly licking a wound on his front leg, though he tried to hide it from me.
I crouched beside him, gently brushing a hand along his side. "Stubborn mutt."
"Says the demon who leapt headfirst into a vortex of razor wind."
"Fair."
We shared a brief smirk, one of those fleeting moments of peace that never lasted in this realm. But then—
> [Notification – Authority Pulse Detected: Submerged Echo Chamber Unlocked]
Coordinates: Beneath the Kharos Memorial Crypt
Status: Sealed Memory Chamber – High Permission Required
A symbol appeared on my interface.
One I recognized… even if I didn't remember why.
A crown, broken in half. A black sun behind it. And the faint whisper of a name...
> ["Sylvia Noctara."]
I froze.
"…Nyx. That voice."
"I heard it too," he said darkly. "Old. Familiar. Wrong."
The crypt's gates creaked open in the distance—massive stone doors shifting as if the city itself had decided it was time to tell me something. My steps were slow. Heavy. The air grew colder the closer I got. And just beyond the entrance…
Flames lit by themselves.
Blue fire. Soulfire.
And an altar carved from obsidian bone.
> [Area Unlocked – Vault of the Forgotten Heirs]
Status: Dormant
Contained Relics: 1
Legacy Access: Candidate Confirmed
A single object sat at the center of the altar.
A mirror. Shattered.
But when I approached, it shimmered—mending itself, just for a moment, to show me a reflection I didn't recognize.
Not my current face.
Not this version of me.
But a young woman—with wings of black glass, eyes of molten gold, and a crown of horns that pulsed like a heart.
She was me.
Or who I was meant to become.
> [Legacy Memory Echo Triggered – Bloodline Access: Fragmented (2%)]
Relic Acquired: Crown of the Hollow Flame (Dormant)
• Trait Unlocked: [Inheritor of the Lost Line]
• Passive: ??? (Requires further activation)
The vision faded.
And my knees buckled.
I wasn't just one of the heirs.
I was something... more.
Something that had been erased.
Nyx caught me as I stumbled. "Sylvia. Your aura—it changed."
"I saw her," I whispered. "The me before reincarnation. Before... this life. I think she was the one who wore this crown."
"Then someone's been tampering with more than memories."
> [New Quest – Uncover the Crownless Past]
Objective: Discover the truth of Sylvia Noctara's original existence
Progress: 1%
Reward: Authority Advancement, Bloodline Awakening
I stood, shaky but alive.
Stronger.
No longer a pawn of the system, or my siblings, or even fate.
"I'm going to make them remember," I said softly. "Even if I have to tear the truth out of every ruin, one echo at a time."
Nyx grinned, blood still drying on his fur.
"That's my Demon Princess."
The wind shifted as we left the ruins of Kharos behind.
No more blood fog. No more whispers of the dead. Just scorched plains stretching endlessly beneath a sky bruised in violet and red. But peace?
Yeah, not a chance.
We barely made it half a mile from the crypt before Nyx's ears twitched.
"What now?" I asked.
He narrowed his eyes. "Voices. Metal clanging. Someone's either fighting… or very bad at cooking."
We crested a ridge, and that's when we saw it.
A tiny mercenary camp. Four tents. One crooked flagpole with a skull dangling from it. And in the center, a drunk man with wild silver hair and a missing boot was sword fighting a wooden post.
"I challenge thee, fiend!" he roared at the post, lunging forward—and promptly tripping over a rock. "You fight dirty!"
> [Mercenary – ???]
Name: [Darius Wildthorn]
Class: Unregistered
Threat Level: Unstable, But Armed
Current Status: Intoxicated (67%)
I blinked. "Are we… being pranked by the System?"
Nyx growled low. "He smells like cheap spirits and bad choices."
The post shattered. The man stood victorious, arms raised high. "HAH! And that, my loyal audience, is how you conquer a TREE DEMON."
No one clapped.
Except for one goblin cook, flipping something on a frying pan nearby. "Good form, boss. Much better than yesterday's fight with the campfire."
This was the Redfang Mercenary Squad? Rumored scavengers who hunted echoes and relics for profit?
Somehow… it felt like a side quest gone wrong.
"Think we should walk away?" Nyx asked.
"No," I grinned. "Let's introduce ourselves."
I strode down into the camp, ignoring the goblin's shocked stare and the man's wobbly attempt to stand tall. His eyes finally landed on me—and something shifted. His posture straightened just a little. The booze haze didn't vanish, but beneath it, I saw recognition. Respect… or maybe fear.
"You're not from the wastes," he said slowly. "You're from deeper in."
"I'm Sylvia," I said. "Tenth daughter of the Demon King."
The camp went dead silent.
Even the frying pan stopped sizzling.
Darius blinked. "Well… sh*t."
Then he bowed.
Actually bowed.
"Forgive my rude display, Princess. Had I known royalty was descending upon my humble battlefield of sticks and cookware, I'd have worn both boots."
"You're still not wearing one," I noted.
"Exactly. That's how unprepared I was."
> [New Character Unlocked – Darius Wildthorn]
Title: Echo Hunter | Exiled Blade of the Obsidian Court
Affinity: Chaotic Neutral
Loyalty: Questionable
Charm: Excessive
He offered a crooked smile. "So. What brings a royal like you to this part of hell?"
"Echoes," I replied. "And answers. Maybe a war."
Darius laughed. "Hell, Princess… that's exactly what I'm here for."
Night fell faster in this cursed land.
Around the campfire, Darius sat cross-legged, sipping from a dented metal flask that probably hadn't been washed in a century. The goblin cook—Snitch, as he proudly introduced himself—was roasting something that smelled suspiciously like mutated rat meat.
Nyx refused to eat. I didn't blame him.
"You've got questions," Darius said after a while. His voice was steady now. Sober, or faking it well. "And I've got scars with stories to match."
I nodded. "Start with Zepar. The Seventh Heir."
Darius's smile faded.
"Zepar Nocturn," he murmured. "The Butcher of Bastarok. The one who doesn't kill because he has to—he kills because he likes hearing people stop screaming."
I didn't flinch. But inside, something stirred. Something cold.
"He was in Kharos," I said. "Sent hounds after me."
"Then he knows," Darius muttered. "Knows something about your legacy. Your bloodline."
I narrowed my eyes. "What does he want?"
"Not power. Not anymore." Darius leaned closer, his eyes glowing faintly. "He wants recognition. He's always been in the shadow of your elder siblings—Lilith, Azar, the twins—and he's obsessed with proving that he should have been the heir. The heir."
"And he sees me as a threat."
"You are a threat." He grinned. "You've survived more in two weeks than most do in a decade."
Nyx growled softly. "And what do you want, mercenary?"
Darius looked at me, not Nyx.
"I want redemption," he said plainly. "I was a knight once. The Obsidian Court cast me out after I refused to kill a village corrupted by Echo sickness. Said I went soft."
He threw a bone into the fire.
"Now I chase echoes to fund my survival. But I'd rather fight alongside someone who wants to change this cursed system than keep selling scraps to demons who'll burn it all anyway."
A moment passed.
Then I extended my hand.
"You want in? Then fight with me. Help me finish the Echo Hunt. Help me find the truth."
He clasped my hand, firm and sure.
> [Party Formed – Redfang Pact]
Members: Sylvia Noctara, Nyx, Darius Wildthorn
Bonus: Tactical Adaptability (Rank C), Trust Pending…
Current Mission: Echo Hunt – Tier II Fragment Detected (2 days west)
"Looks like I'm royalty's sword again," Darius said with a grin. "Hope you don't mind a little chaos, Princess."
I smirked.
"Only if it's fun chaos."
Above us, the stars cracked with violet streaks.
And far in the west, an echo pulsed in the dark… waiting to be hunted.