Run.
That was the only thought screaming in Alicia’s mind.
She dropped from the ventilation shaft, her boots hitting the foul sewer water with a heavy splash.
Behind her, the cavern erupted. Shouts echoed. Armor clanked. The rhythmic, terrifying thud of elite soldiers mobilizing filled the subterranean tunnels.
"Find the rat! Seal the exits!"
Alicia sprinted into the pitch-black maze. She had no idea where she was going. Every twisting tunnel looked identical. Every damp, moss-covered stone wall felt like a cage closing in.
She took a sharp left. Dead end.
She cursed, spinning around, her breath coming in ragged, desperate gasps. Footsteps splashed in the water just a corridor away. The glow of mana torches danced against the wet brickwork.
She pressed her back against the wall, her heart hamring against her ribs. She was running purely on the survival instincts drilled into her during her years in the slave camps.
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Think. Think!
She slid deeper into the shadows, feeling along the wall. Her fingers brushed against cold, rusted tal. A heavy, gear-operated maintenance door. It was old, stiff with decay, and practically invisible in the dark.
The voices were getting closer.
Alicia gritted her teeth. She channeled a tiny, hyper-concentrated spark of heat into the rusted gears, lting the corrosion just enough to force the wheel to turn.
Creak.
She slipped through the heavy iron door just as the light of a torch rounded the corner. She pulled it shut, plunging herself into absolute darkness.
She stumbled forward. The air here was different. Warr. Scented with incense instead of sewage.
She pushed through a heavy velvet curtain and tumbled onto a plush, woven rug.
"Who’s there?!"
The sharp shing of steel being drawn cut through the room.
Alicia scrambled up, her hand instinctively reaching for her rapier.
The room was lavishly furnished, a stark contrast to the filth outside. Standing by a grand mahogany desk was a young man. His raven-black hair frad striking, aristocratic features. He held a longsword leveled perfectly at her chest.
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Alicia froze. The breath left her lungs.
"L-Leon?"
The young man stiffened. His dark, fierce eyes locked onto her face. He took in her ragged clothes, the sewage dripping from her boots, and the jagged, ugly scar running across her left cheek.
The tip of his sword wavered.
"Alicia...?" he whispered.
Even though they were eting after a decade. Even though the last ti he saw her, she was just a kid. But he could not be mistaken. He recognized her at first glance.
The longsword slipped from his fingers. It clattered loudly against the stone floor.
He didn’t care. He crossed the room in two massive strides and fell to his knees, pulling her into a crushing, desperate embrace.
"You’re alive," Leon choked out, his voice breaking. Tears spilled down his cheeks, burying his face in her shoulder. "My little sister... you’re alive!"
Alicia’s hands hovered in the air for a second before she gripped his cloak, pulling him tight. She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the sob rising in her throat.
"I thought I lost you," Leon wept, pulling back to fra her scarred face with shaking hands. "The gods... they haven’t abandoned us, Alicia. Fate brought you back to . We can lead our people again."
Alicia’s eyes snapped open. The warm, desperate illusion of their reunion shattered.
"Leon, we have to run," she gasped, gripping his wrists. "Right now."
Leon blinked, confused. "Run? Alicia, you’re safe here. This is our stronghold."
"It’s a slaughterhouse!" Alicia pleaded, her voice rising in panic. "Your retainers—the Chancellor, the Knight Commander—they reek of dark mana! They are colluding with demonic forces!"
Leon’s confused expression lted away. He let out a long, heavy sigh. His shoulders dropped.
"I know, Alicia."
Alicia froze. "...What?"
"I know they joined hands with Infernus," Leon said, his voice calm. Dangerously, terrifyingly calm.
"Are you insane?!" Alicia shrieked, shaking him. "They are demon worshippers! They want to attack the Imperial Academy!"
"It is a necessary evil," Leon argued, his dark eyes hardening with a tragic, unyielding resolve.
"Necessary?! Leon, they are monsters!"
"And what choice do we have?!" Leon shouted back, his voice thick with grief. "Our holand is gone, Alicia! The monster tides took it. The dungeons swallowed our soil. Valemont is a wasteland of corpses and ash. It’s completely irredeemable!"
He grabbed her shoulders, his grip desperate.
"We have no ho left to restore. If we want our family to survive... if we want to give our people a future... we have to carve a new Valemont out of the Aurelian Empire. And Infernus gave us the power to do that."
Alicia stared at him in absolute horror.
He wasn’t just being manipulated. He was complicit. The Chancellor had raised him, molded his grief, and fed his vengeance for fifteen years, completely brainwashing him into believing this madness.
"They don’t care about a new Valemont!" Alicia scread, tears of sheer frustration spilling over. "They are using you, Leon! They don’t want a king! They want a sacrifice! They are going to use your royal blood to tear open a dinsional rift!"
Leon shook his head stubbornly.
"You’re confused, Alicia. You’ve been out there alone for too long," Leon said softly, reaching out to comfort her. "The Chancellor wouldn’t betray . He swore an oath."
"Leon, please! You have to believe !"
Alicia grabbed his arm, pulling with all her might. She was going to drag him out of this hellhole by force if she had to.
BANG.
The heavy oak doors to the private quarters were kicked violently open.
Alicia and Leon spun around.
Standing in the doorway, blocking the only exit, was a hulking, battle-scarred giant.
The Knight Commander.
His eyes swept the room. They landed on Leon, then shifted to the silver-haired girl clutching the Prince’s arm.
The Commander’s eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated shock.
But the surprise only lasted for a fraction of a second. It was instantly replaced by a cold, murderous glare.
He slowly drew his greatsword. Thick, corrosive black mana dripped from the steel, hissing as it hit the floorboards.
"You should have burned with the kingdom, little princess," the Commander growled, his voice a guttural rumble of pure malice. "Your survival complicates the board."
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