Chapter 17
The wind that had once howled with battle cries now drifted quiet over the shattered cliffs.
Arthur regrouped with Kael and Elyra near the edge of the destroyed mountainside. The forest that had once surrounded them had been reduced to cinders, craters, and fractured stone—proof of the destructive scale only Realmshapers could reach. Elyra bore light bruises and mana fatigue, but stood tall, victorious. Arthur, breathless, kept glancing at Kael with an awe he couldn't hide.
Elyra turned to him, concern flickering in her violet eyes.
"Kael," she said softly, "are you alright?"
Kael exhaled, dusting off the burn-scorched edges of his coat. "Yes, my lady," he replied with a faint smirk. "Just need a potion. Little bit bruised."
He reached into his space bag and retrieved a slim vial—crimson-tinted with threads of golden liquid swirling inside. A high-grade recovery potion. Without hesitation, he popped the stopper and drank it in one smooth motion. Mana flickered around his body briefly, knitting torn veins and smoothing over residual fatigue.
Elyra's gaze swept toward the unconscious, bound forms of Eleka and Roderick lying nearby.
"Then we should move," she said, her voice turning cold. "Now… shall we question them?"
Arthur stepped forward, his voice sharp. "Why did you attack us?"
Eleka, bound and bloodied, scoffed. "What did you expect—flowers and wine—after laughing like that? Should I have treated you to a meal instead?"
Before Arthur could answer, Elyra stepped on Eleka's chest, forcing a grunt of pain from his lungs.
"Watch your mouth," she said coldly.
"Stop it!" Roderick barked. "He's already down!"
Arthur turned to him, brow raised. "Interesting. Weren't you two at each other's throats a few hours ago?"
Roderick's jaw clenched. "What do you know?"
Arthur tilted his head. "So the rumors are true."
Eleka's gaze darkened. "Those rumors… were started by our uncle. Darius."
Arthur blinked. "Your uncle? The same Darius who was exiled? He's been living in the outer sectors of Erion for years. He has no contact with anyone."
Roderick cut in with a bitter smile. "Is that what you think? Haven't you already met him?"
Kael narrowed his eyes. "When?"
Roderick looked directly at him. "Your knight captain. Vhal Lorran."
Kael's body tensed.
"…His real name is Darius."
There was a silence—brief, but suffocating.
Arthur's brows furrowed. "Wait. If he was your uncle, why didn't you tell us from the beginning?"
Roderick glanced at Eleka. Silence stretched.
Finally, Eleka exhaled through his nose. "Because he threatened to kill us if we exposed him."
Elyra crossed her arms. "You expect us to believe your rank 6 bodyguards can't protect you?"
Eleka's laugh was bitter. "Those rank 6 don't listen to us. They don't care. Our uncle… he has something else backing him. Something darker."
Arthur took a step closer. "Explain. Now."
Eleka's eyes flicked upward. "When he was accused of dealing with the Dark Order, he was jailed. Everyone knows that. What they don't know… is what happened after."
"We're listening," Kael said coldly.
Eleka continued, voice low. "He came back. Not to stay, just… to visit. Father threw him out. Cut him off from the family registry. Banished him from Erion."
"But he didn't leave us alone," Roderick muttered. "He came to us separately. First to Eleka. Promised him power beyond his limits—said he could help him reach past Rank 5."
"I refused," Eleka said, jaw tight. "I wasn't going to sell myself for shortcuts."
"Then he came to me," Roderick said. "Promised I'd be named heir, that the house would be mine. All I had to do was help him."
Elyra narrowed her eyes. "And you said yes?"
Roderick looked away. "No. Not at first. But he was persistent. In the end, he challenged us both."
Arthur's voice sharpened. "A duel?"
"Together. He said if we could defeat him, he'd leave us forever. No strings. But if he won, we'd follow him."
Elyra folded her arms. "He's only a Rank 3, right? That should've been easy."
"…That's what we thought," Eleka said, his voice dark.
"We're not prodigies like you," Roderick added, glancing toward Elyra. "But in Erion, we're considered the best of our generation. We were confident."
"And you lost?" Arthur asked.
"In a single strike," Eleka said bitterly.
Kael's eyes narrowed. "Why? What was he really?"
Roderick answered quietly. "He was hiding his true strength. Our uncle… is a peak Rank 5 warrior. Stronger than our father ever was."
Silence fell again, thick with implications.
Arthur's thoughts churned like a storm.
No. Something's not right.
When I used Appraisal on him… it said Rank 3. Beginner. Clean. No traces of hidden cores. No distortions. Nothing.
But if what they're saying is true… then that man was a peak Rank 5 all along?
His grip tightened at his side, mana pulsing faintly beneath his skin.
He stepped closer, eyes narrowing, voice low and sharp.
"Don't lie to me, Eleka."
Eleka winced, still beneath Elyra's heel, but didn't look away. "I'm not lying."
Arthur's glare sharpened. "I used Appraisal. It told me he was Rank 3. Explain that."
Eleka's voice cracked as he spat, "I don't know how—but I swear on my mana core, I'm telling the truth. He is our uncle. And he is Rank 5."
The air shifted.
Arthur froze.
Swearing on your core… that was no empty bluff. A false oath would rupture the core, maybe even kill the one who made it.
His eyes searched Eleka's face for any sign of deceit—but found only exhaustion and bitterness.
Arthur stepped back slightly, his inner voice quiet now.
Then it's true.
Either that man masked his power perfectly… or I was never strong enough to see through it.
He clenched his fist slowly.
Elyra's voice cut through the tension like a blade.
"So what happened after you started working for him?"
Roderick exhaled, his gaze distant. "He assigned two Rank-6s to watch over us. We asked where they came from… he just said, 'No questions asked.' We stopped asking after that."
Arthur frowned. "Rank-6? Just like that?"
Roderick nodded slowly. "I don't know how, or from where, but they listened to him. Treated him like he was someone far above them. And then… he had me handling trades. Fierce beast cores. Dozens at first, then hundreds."
"He deals in cores?" Elyra asked.
"Yeah. Took them to an alchemy master. Made him inscribe runes into each core. I don't know what kind. We weren't allowed to ask."
Arthur's brows pulled together. "And then?"
Roderick's expression turned darker. "After a while, he started building support. Whispering things to our father. Telling him Eleka was the most suitable heir for the next baron."
Arthur snapped, "But your father exiled him. Kicked him out of the family, right?"
Eleka let out a bitter, dry laugh. "He came back with a different face."
Arthur blinked. "What?"
"He has a unique skill," Eleka said. "Lets him change his appearance. Not an illusion. A real transformation. Whatever face he wants… he becomes."
Elyra's eyes widened. "So… he joined the family estate as a knight. No one recognized him."
"Exactly."
Elyra narrowed her eyes. "Then the corrupt knight. The one who betrayed the baron…"
She paused.
"…was his own brother?"
Eleka and Roderick said nothing.
They didn't need to.
Their silence was confirmation enough.
Arthur clenched his jaw. "And now we know who's pulling the strings behind all of this…"
Elyra's gaze drifted toward the horizon, cold and thoughtful. "Uncle Darius."
Kael's voice was quiet, calm—but it cut like a blade.
"What happened after that?"
Eleka looked down for a moment before speaking. "I confronted him," he said, voice dull. "Told him I didn't care about being the heir—I wanted strength. Real strength."
Arthur's brow furrowed. "And what did he say?"
Eleka's eyes darkened. "He told me this was the plan. That if I followed him, he'd give me power beyond my limit. No one else could offer what he could."
He looked up, the fire gone from his voice now. "After that… I stopped asking questions."
"I joined the plan too," Roderick said beside him. "Even fought with Father. Told him I deserved to be heir. Back then, I believed it."
Arthur crossed his arms, jaw tight.
Eleka continued, "Then one day, Governor Carrow left Erion for his daughter's wedding. It was strange… because only days earlier, he'd said she was too ill to travel. Suddenly, someone found a cure."
Arthur's eyes narrowed. "And right after he left… your father started getting threats."
Eleka nodded. "Yes. Assassination attempts. He pulled most of the security to the estate… You know what happened next."
Kael's voice was colder now. "Your father's assassination."
Eleka's tone dropped lower. "We never found out who killed him… but I saw something. Darius… treated the killer with respect. Deep respect. Like a servant before a king."
Arthur's eyes flickered. "You saw the killer?"
"Just once," Eleka whispered. "But even the Rank-6s bowed to him. At his chest were seven stars."
Kael froze.
"A… seven-star?" he said, voice tight with disbelief.
Arthur turned to Kael. "What does that mean?"
Kael took a breath. "Young master… Seven stars are a symbol used only by high-ranking officers of the Dark Order. Their minimum strength is Rank 7."
Silence dropped like a stone.
Eleka's lips parted, stunned. Roderick looked sick.
"Rank… Seven?" he muttered. "That's…"
"…a level of power beyond comprehension," Kael finished grimly.
Eleka swallowed hard. "He killed Father. Slaughtered the two mercenaries who tried to defend him like they were nothing. We… weren't close to him. Our father. But even then…"
His voice trailed.
"We had no idea Darius was planning to blow everything up. It all happened right in front of us. The explosion, the massacre… everyone died."
Arthur stood still, fists clenched.
"After that," Eleka continued, "Darius approached me. Said I could join the Dark Order officially. That his master would grant me even more power. And I had no choice—by then, I was already neck-deep in crime."
Roderick added, "Later, we received a recording. An order from him. Darius said to frame Governor Carrow for the explosion."
Arthur's voice was like ice. "So… you betrayed your city."
Eleka didn't flinch. "We were already too far gone."
Arthur stared at the ground for a moment. Then… he laughed.
A harsh, sudden, ragged sound. It started small, then rose into something unhinged. Elyra blinked in surprise. Even Kael tilted his head.
"Heh… hahaha… HAHAHAHA!"
Arthur clutched his head, shoulders trembling.
"That bastard didn't just trick me," he said between laughs. "He didn't just play with illusions or ranks. He butchered thousands. And I smiled at him. I trusted his face. I bowed to him…"
The laughter stopped like a blade slicing the air.
Arthur turned, expression like a storm—fury and grief coiling beneath his skin.
"Kael. Capture them. We're taking them back."
Kael gave a short nod and stepped forward, hand already glowing with pale blue threads of telekinesis.
But before he could move, Eleka's voice cut in.
"…Wait."
Arthur paused, narrowing his eyes.
"Just one question," Eleka said, eyes narrowing. "Who are you people really?"
Silence.
Then Elyra, Kael, and Arthur reached up and deactivated their disguising artifacts.
Mana shimmered in the air. Their appearances flickered—and then revealed their true selves.
Arthur's noble bearing. Elyra's cold, commanding grace. Kael's quiet menace. The weight of lineage and purpose radiated from all three like pressure from a descending storm.
Roderick's face drained of color.
"No… It can't be…"
His voice came out in a whisper.
"Valerians…"
Eleka's eyes widened, breath caught in his throat.
"You're them…"
Every trace of fight drained from their bodies. Whatever flicker of resistance or pride they had… died right there.
Kael extended a hand. Mana flared. Eleka and Roderick were lifted effortlessly by threads of force, bound tight.
Kael's voice was calm. Icy.
"We're using the teleportation scroll now. We'll reach Erion directly."
Arthur didn't look at either of them as he opened the shimmering scroll.
He just muttered,
"Hope you're ready to answer for everything."
The scroll glowed blindingly bright.
And they vanished—leaving behind only the broken mountains, the scorched forest…
…and the first whispers of war.