Astrid Grimblade had been a great talent before her death. She managed to turn Malachi Grimblade, a talent in his own right, into a re puppet, had used Sylas to get rid of Lucius for her by avoiding taking him as her pick, and had almost killed Sylas himself at one point.
She was smart, sharp, and powerful. Clearly, she was head and shoulders above her competitors. And yet, no matter the ranking involved, whether it was the rit Leaderboard, the Leveling Leaderboard, or the City Leaderboards, there was one person who was consistently ahead of her no matter what she did.
Kael Darkmane.
The Darkmanes were the most low-key of the three hidden families, and the only one of them that Sylas had never personally co across. Though, their ancestors had likewise died under the system's fury.
Much like Kael had always been first-with the exception of leaderboards Sylas had been on—the Darkmanes had likewise only ever had two candidates to the three of the other families.
Kael and Asher alone were the pillars of the family, and they were too easily overlooked because of this... At least by the public.
When it ca to those who understood this family, they didn't just not overlook them... they had a healthy fear of them.
Astrid had personally been extrely wary of Kael. He was a man who had limits she couldn't see through, and maybe because she was far more familiar with Kael than she had ever been with Sylas, she had always subconsciously treated Kael as far more of a threat.
When Thorne realized it was this man attempting to establish a line of communication with her, she almost forgot that she was supposed to be watching what was happening with Sylas. Her entire world froze until she slowly picked up.
"Thorne Ravenclaw."
The voice was deep, gruff, and abyssal in ways she couldn't describe. It simply didn't feel human in the way that it should, almost like soone had blended the most harrowing voices they could find in a program to spit this one out.
The na he spoke was her own, and it should have been a question, but it simply didn't feel like one.
Thorne cald herself.
"Kael Darkmane."
"I'm calling you about the City of Glass. I plan to take the Darkmanes to the Grimblades as a show of allegiance soon, and I would hope that you would co with ."
Thorne's eyes opened wide. "What did you say?"
Kael didn't repeat himself. He let Thorne sit with the words, almost as though every one he spoke was too precious. Why repeat sothing he didn't have to?
Thorne took a deep breath. "Why?"
"The gap is too large," he said simply before ending the communication.
Thorne didn't understand what she was hearing. What did he an the gap was too large?
Her head snapped back up to the screen only to see what everyone else was seeing play out.
Her eyes opened so wide it felt like they were falling out of their sockets.
Professor Fembroise had been in the custody of Casstle Main for a long while now. Her son and husband had been allowed to be with her, but even now, she was under strict supervision.
Much of her previous anger had taken a strong downturn after the governnt responsible for it all had been wiped out due to Sylas needing training targets for Cassarae. But even so, it was hard for a mother to forget the loss of her son.
She still had one child left, and what she thought was strength, but she was helpless to use it. Not when Sylas of all people didn't trust her. She was lucky to have her life alone, and the only reason she had it at all was because the system wanted to preserve her life for reasons even she didn't fully understand.
When she saw the na Sylas Grimblade in the notification, she couldn't help but feel a swirl of complex emotions.
She had always known Sylas to be polite, though guarded, while also being professional and sharp. Plus, he was the man who had saved her from being raped, sothing she would forever be grateful for.
She had held so resentnt, but the more she sat with those emotions, the more she understood Sylas' perspective. If the roles had been reversed, she wouldn't have been as decisive as Sylas, but she would have certainly thought about it.
Much like everyone else, she turned to the broadcast simply feeling curious, and a bit worried. How many people had she seen die to this exact challenge in the last year? It felt like there was a new fool every month.
But then it began.
Sylas took a step forward, his posture casual. He wore a snow-white turtleneck that almost blended into the howling hail, a pair of pressed black dress pants for his bottoms.
There wasn't a single treasure in sight on him. No blade, no armor, no support.
He just stood there as though he had entered for no reason other than to end his own life.
When the first attacks fired—a rain of arrows, cannons of Iced Aether-it truly did seem
as though there was no path forward outside of death itself.
But then his eyes flashed.
A transparent barrier of golden green appeared around Sylas in a semi-spherical do. Official source is novèlfire
PENG! PENG! PENG!
Sylas slowly pulled a hand out of a pocket, raising a finger.
The arrows that rebounded off his shield spiraled wildly in all directions, so random and hard to track that it should have been impossible for a single person to grasp the trajectory of them all.
And yet Sylas did.
Then, slowly, the waves of arrows in the air ca to a stop in layers, first the ones closest and then the ones further away until they ford a pack in the skies so dense it cast a shadow that blotted out the sun before Sylas.
With a sound akin to flipping paper, they all spun in the air, turning to face the army.
Sylas only simply pointed—a casual action without much effort or fanfare-yet death descended.
The sound of pelting rain fell from above, so continuous and unrelenting it shook the world.
When the dust cleared...
There was no army remaining.
Sylas stood alone.
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