Jaegar raised his hands, calming Felaern and the knights too. "Easy there, I know her from the voyage. We travelled together for a couple of days; she knows too. And it was at the harbour I saw you."
He continued, "Look, we also ca for the sa thing as you. So, how about you just cooperate with us so we can get inside this place?"
The knight hesitated. He exchanged glances with his comrades before answering. "We know this place belongs to De Serpents. We know they are conducting rituals within. And..." He took a slow breath.
Jaegar’s jaw tightened. He already knew what was inside.
The kidnapped people and the ongoing ritual.
The chaos extraction.
The knight studied Jaegar carefully before continuing. "How did you find this place? This place doesn’t have any entrance or any way to get inside."
The knights, still standing in rigid formation, kept their gazes locked on the imnse structure, uncertainty flickering in their eyes. Their white armour, usually a symbol of divine strength, felt strangely inadequate in the presence of such an unnatural force.
Breaking the silence, Angelina, who had been quiet till now, finally spoke.
"Yes... getting inside requires the power of chaos."
The knights imdiately turned their heads toward her, their expressions unreadable, though their tension was palpable. They weren’t fools. If this fortress required chaos to be opened, it ant one thing—whoever had built it had done so to keep outsiders away, unless they wielded the very sa dark force that the knights were trained to eradicate.
Yet, they said nothing.
Angelina continued, her voice calm but firm. "If you’ve co all this way, I can only assu you were looking for one of the children who are inside."
The lead knight’s shoulders stiffened, confirming her words without needing to speak.
Angelina’s gaze swept over the stone walls as she explained, "This citadel was not built through normal ans. It was forged from pure chaos, shaped and sustained by it. That ans... to open it, we need chaos itself."
As soon as she finished, she turned her head toward Jaegar.
So did Felaern.
So did Daratrine.
The knights, montarily confused, followed their gaze, their focus landing on Jaegar.
One of the knights finally spoke, his tone cautious. "You... you know the ans, then?"
Jaegar exhaled, his hands tightening into fists. He could feel it. The mont they arrived, this place had begun resonating with him, as if whispering in a voice only he could hear.
Without answering the knight directly, Jaegar took a step forward.
Angelina nodded in approval. "Place your hands on the door and release your Chaos Art onto the walls. The citadel will sense it. That is the only way."
Jaegar stopped before what appeared to be a carved door, though no handles, hinges, or keyholes were visible. The patterns on it seed almost organic, lines curling and twisting in eerie, unnatural ways—like veins beneath skin.
The knights instinctively tensed, watching closely.
Jaegar inhaled, placing his hands upon the stone. A faint shiver ran up his arms as he connected with it—the ancient magic within stirred, reacting to his touch.
Then, he let go.
From his palms, a mist of deep purple chaos began to flow, tendrils of energy slithering like living entities before spreading across the carvings. As soon as they made contact, the entire citadel trembled.
A low, guttural sound rumbled from deep within.
The knights took an instinctive step back, hands on their weapons.
Then, the walls began to move.
The carved patterns pulsed as if coming to life, shifting in impossible ways. The very stones reconfigured, parts sinking inward, others peeling away like layers of flesh, until at last—a passage began to open.
A chill spread through the air.
The knights stared in shock.
Even Daratrine and Felaern, who had expected this outco, felt a deep unease watching the citadel respond like a living thing.
Angelina, however, remained composed. She gave a small nod. "It worked. Let’s move in—"
She never finished her sentence.
Because at that mont, they felt it.
A sudden shift in the atmosphere, like a pulse of raw power surging from within the fortress.
Sothing was coming.
Before any of them could react, the entrance that had just opened exploded outward with a violent burst of energy.
Daratrine, Felaern, and Angelina were thrown back, barely managing to steady themselves as they skidded across the ground. Even the knights, disciplined as they were, had to brace against the sudden force.
Then—they saw them.
Erging from the depths of the citadel’s darkness, two figures stepped into the open air, their presence sending an icy shudder through everyone present.
Behind them, three unconscious bodies floated midair—
—Alaryc.
—Elowen.
—Princess Anashyssa.
Their limp forms drifted through the air, suspended by an unseen force. And then, as if their purpose had been fulfilled, their bodies fell—collapsing in front of the stunned group.
Jaegar’s eyes widened in horror.
"Anashyssa!"
The knights, frozen in shock, imdiately recognized the princess.
But their attention was stolen by the two figures who had erged.
W’ithas and Rhedel.
Their very presence was suffocating.
W’ithas was the first to step forward, his dark robes billowing slightly in the unnatural wind that followed him. His face was unreadable, his deep-set eyes scanning the gathered group with the eerie calm of a predator surveying prey. His voice, when he spoke, was low and smooth—yet laced with sothing utterly inhuman.
"How interesting. We had not expected visitors so soon."
Rhedel, standing beside him, smirked. Unlike W’ithas, his stance was languid, his sharp features twisted into sothing almost amused. His piercing gaze moved over them all before settling on Jaegar.
"Ah. And there he is... The one we have been waiting for."
Jaegar’s hands clenched into fists, his body trembling—not in fear, but in rage.
Angelina’s breath was sharp. Felaern and Daratrine, though composed, were alert, ready to strike at any mont.
The knights, too, had drawn their weapons, though a terrible realization was dawning on them—
The enemy they faced now was unlike anything they had ever encountered before.
As the citadel doors sealed shut behind W’ithas and Rhedel, cutting off whatever lay beyond, the battlefield was set.
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