East corridor of the palace.

  Kael moved silently, away from prying eyes. He reached a discreet corridor where Miguel was waiting for him, standing in the shadows.

  “There you are, Master.”

  “So, Miguel... did you notice anything?”

  “Yes, unfortunately. Three men have infiltrated the palace. Two are armed with invisible magic blades. The third is a mage.”

  “What do they look like?”

  “Impossible to say precisely. They're using very powerful concealment magic.”

  If even Miguel couldn't see them, their invisibility magic must be really powerful! thought Kael.

  “And the guards?”

  “They didn't see anything. And that's not all... there are others outside. Disguised as ordinary citizens.”

  Kael nodded, his expression dark.

  "I see. Thank you. I must hurry."

  “Be careful, Master.”

  “Don't worry.”

  So... the king's fears were well-founded. I must eliminate them before they can reach the prince.

  Kael hurried back to the ballroom. Upon his return, he noticed that many eyes were turned toward Lyssandra, who was now surrounded by guests.

  "I knew it," he thought with a discreet smile.

  As he walked away from the crowd, he whispered an incantation, and a faint glow passed over his eyes.

  If I can't see them, I can at least sense their mana and aura.

  Light yellow particles floated in the air, invisible to the naked eye. He followed them, his eyes fixed on the traces of aura... until he spotted one, dense and moving. It was heading towards the prince. It was very close.

  Kael materialized a dark blade in his hand.

  He lunged forward.

  SLASH

  A geyser of blood splattered the prince's face. A head rolled onto the floor. A body appeared, collapsing to the ground with a thud.

  DOOOM

  A deathly silence fell over the room. Everyone stood frozen. Then the guards reacted abruptly.

  “Protect the royalty!” Kael shouted in a deep voice. This is an assassination attempt!

  Panic immediately broke out, and the guests scattered in all directions. Two assassins were still at large. Kael wasn't finished.

  At that moment, Lyssandra was searching for him through the crowd... and what she saw made her blood run cold.

  Kael's face was frozen in a relentless, blood-stained expression. His eyes, usually calm, had become more icy. A heavy aura surrounded him, almost suffocating.

  He no longer resembled the Kael she knew...

  He resembled a beast.

  A shiver ran down her spine.

  The guards immediately surrounded the prince and the royal family, weapons drawn, and then deployed a magical protective dome. The assassin's body lay on the ground, his blood forming a thick, dark pool beneath the prince's shoes as he watched the scene with surprising coldness.

  Only his cheek, still splattered with red, betrayed that he had nearly been killed.

  “Catch that one!” shouted a guard, pointing at a man who looked terrified.

  But as soon as the soldier's sword came down, the man vanished in a cloud of black smoke. An illusion.

  “Tch... They're good,” Kael growled through clenched teeth.

  He spun around, activating his flow perception magic once more. Strands of mana curled through the air like translucent veins. Two of them stretched toward the balconies, where the musicians and certain privileged nobles were seated.

  Kael raised his hand. A silent incantation brought deep red runic circles to life in his palms.

  Vrm... shhhr...

  A wave suddenly escaped from him, and two figures were brutally revealed, as if an invisible veil had been torn away. One of the men held a slender black dagger covered in shifting letters; the other, a short spear whose tip vibrated with magical energy.

  One of the assassins threw his dagger, which sliced through the air with a shrill whistle. Kael spun around, the blade grazing his cheek and embedding itself in a marble column behind him, splitting it in two.

  CRACK

  Panic erupted. Screams and shouts filled the air as the nobility in silk robes and powdered wigs fled in all directions. Some stumbled, others dropped jewelry, and wine cups shattered on the floor.

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  The princess stood frozen, her hands pressed against her mouth.

  The queen remained cold, staring at Kael with piercing, almost inhuman eyes; the king remained silent.

  They're willing to do anything to get the prince's head, Kael thought. But something's not right... They're not acting like assassins!

  He leapt forward, propelled by wind magic, and his blade sliced through the air with a sharp SHLICK. The assassin with the spear tried to parry, but Kael spun around, changing the angle of his blade and piercing his opponent's shoulder.

  THUNK

  Blood spurted, but the man, with a maddened groan, exploded a sphere of dark energy at point-blank range.

  BOOM

  Kael was thrown against a column. He coughed, his suit torn and sticky with blood, but got up without faltering. He was in pain, but his mission was not over.

  The other assassin rushed toward the prince—or so he thought.

  At the last moment, a dull BLAM sounded, and the ground beneath his feet collapsed. He was swallowed up by a massive illusion triggered by Kael, falling into a magical pit that closed immediately.

  Kael stood in the center of the chaos, staring at the last man on the ground, his gaze empty, his breathing slow. He reached out his arm toward him.

  ZSHHHH

  A black summoning circle appeared beneath the man's feet, and spectral chains grabbed hold of him, immobilizing him as dark flames began to lick at his legs.

  “Who sent you?” Kael asked, his voice so deep and calm that it sent a chill through the assembly.

  The man, his jaw almost broken, smiled nonetheless.

  “It's too late, Kael. She's already here...”

  And he turned to ash.

  Kael froze.

  “She...?”

  A shiver ran down his spine. He immediately looked up at Lyssandra.

  Meanwhile, Lyssandra had remained frozen, pushed back by the crowd fleeing in panic. Guards shouted at her to stay safe, but she stared at Kael, or rather... what he had become.

  He had changed. Before her stood a black silhouette, its gaze empty, enveloped in swirls of dark mana. It seemed inhuman and dangerous. This was no longer the man who had given her a dress, who had smiled gently as he teased her, who had listened to her questions.

  “Kael...?” she whispered.

  And he, without looking at her, murmured:

  “She's here.”

  Suddenly, an inhuman scream rang out, tearing through the air in the ballroom.

  RRRRRAAAAAAAAARRRGHHHHHHH!

  The stained glass windows in the room shook. The candles went out. A figure appeared in the center of the room, alone, standing in the middle of the flickering light.

  A woman.

  Her long white hair floated like snakes; her skin was deathly pale, and her eyes a crystalline yellow. A black halo pulsed around her.

  “At last...” she said in a soft, sinister voice. “You're here, Kael~”

  ...And everything seemed to stop.

  Time. Heartbeats. Screams.

  Silence fell, total and heavy. An almost sacrilegious silence, charged with ancient tension, with something unspoken. Even the mana in the air seemed to shiver.

  Kael stared at her, motionless. His body was tense, ready to pounce. But his gaze... it was no longer disgust. Nor hatred. It was something else. A mixture of fear and repressed memories.

  “You should never have come back,” he said at last.

  The woman smiled faintly. It was a terrible smile, cold and merciless, a smile designed to break souls.

  “And yet here I am. Have you forgotten me, Kael? Or has your mind lied to you?”

  She took a step forward. The air grew heavy; the walls creaked. Every magical light flickered. Some nobles collapsed, unconscious, their bodies unable to withstand the pressure.

  Kael slowly drew his dark blade. It glowed faintly green, its brilliance eaten away by darkness.

  “You shouldn't have crossed the border,” he whispered. “You know what this means.”

  “Oh, Kael~... You still speak so harshly, but your scent has changed. Even though you've grown since the last time. You remain closer to me than those humans.”

  She reached out to him. Not threateningly. Almost tenderly. A caress suspended in the air.

  “Look at yourself. Look at me. Do you still think you can stop me?”

  Behind her, the shadow spread. A thick, creeping black blaze that covered the walls and devoured the mirrors. Magic wrapped around her like chains too ancient to be broken.

  Kael clenched his teeth.

  “You won't get what you came for.”

  “But Kael... or should I say Kimbrael, I came for you.”

  Her voice caressed the space between them like a soft, cursed breath.

  “They've kept me locked up for so long, but I'm still the same. Have you forgotten the promise you made me? I am...”

  “Ashréa,” he cut her off coldly.

  The name rang out in the room, as sharp as a blade.

  Lyssandra flinched.

  A murmur ran through the few lucid survivors. That name... it echoed in myths. In nightmares. It was cursed, erased from the archives, and whispered in the confessions of the possessed.

  Ashréa.

  Queen of the abyss of nightmares.

  The weaver of curses.

  Damnation personified.

  And she was there. In flesh and curse.

  “You haven't changed, Kael,” she whispered, tilting her head. “Still as tragically handsome as ever. And still as... hopelessly mine.”

  She reached out her hand one last time.

  “Come, my boy. Let's go home.”

  Kael closed his eyes for a moment. Just a moment.

  Then he whispered to himself:

  “I belong to no one.”

  And he sprang forward.

  The air exploded.

  A magic circle sprang up beneath his feet, propelling Kael toward Ashréa in a flash of crimson light. His blade burst into a greenish fire, screaming with contained rage.

  And Ashréa, without moving, raised a finger.

  “Bad choice, my boy.”

  The shock was cataclysmic.

  ZWHOOOM!

  A shockwave shattered the remaining stained glass windows and knocked over a column. Shards flew, walls groaned. Lyssandra screamed, thrown to the ground, her hands covering her head.

  And in this infernal turmoil, the real battle had just begun.