Chapter 34—Shadows in the Archive.
Chapter 34—Shadows in the Archive.
The scent of dry parchment and old marble was rapidly giving way to something far more sinister beneath the Academy: the metallic, iron-heavy stench of fresh blood.
While the thunderous cheers of Arena Beta echoed faintly through hundreds of feet of solid bedrock above, the subterranean corridors leading to the Royal Archives were deathly quiet.
Kaelen moved like a shadow through the damp stone hallways, his dark coat wrapped tight around his frame.
Beside him, Lyra moved with quiet, practiced grace, her rapier half-drawn from its scabbard, her golden eyes scanning the flickering mana lamps lining the vaulted ceiling.
"The secondary guard post was completely wiped out," Lyra whispered, stepping over the unmoving body of an Academy warden.
"No physical wounds... their life force was ripped clean out of their chests before they could even draw their sidearms."
Kaelen knelt for a brief second, placing two fingers against the cold stone near the fallen warden’s neck. A faint residue of dark red, vicious energy lingered on the leather armor—a familiar, corrupting signature.
"Blood magic," Kaelen said softly, his voice cutting through the chill.
"Malakor’s brand, but far more concentrated. He didn’t just break out of Iron-spire; he was gifted a blood-refinement elixir."
CLING!
[ALERT: SIGNAL MARKER RESONANCE STRENGTH —88%]
[ DISTANCE TO VAULT ROOM B-4: 120 METERS]
"Where is Tsubaki?" Lyra asked, her gaze sweeping across the junction ahead.
"He’s already inside the perimeter," Kaelen replied, rising to his feet.
"His shadow-step skill allowed him to bypass the main corridor, but the outer ward around B-4 hasn’t been shattered—it was unlocked from the inside."
"An inside job?" Lyra’s jaw tightened.
"Chancellor Sterling or someone on the High Council?"
"Or a puppet controlled by the Red-Eyed Player," Kaelan corrected smoothly.
"Let’s move."
Deep within the subterranean complex, beneath three later layers of anti-magic basalt and heavy runic wards, Vault Room B-4 stood behind a colossal circular door of solid adamantine.
Normally, opening this door required three high-level keys and a direct mana signature from the Academy Chancellor. Today, however, the massive steel locking bolts were retracted, humming with a sickly crimson light that fought against the blue security runes of the doorway.
In the center of the vault hall, surrounded by rows of ancient, locked chest containers, a single figure stood before a raised stone altar.
The man wore the formal blue robes of an Academy Senior Archivist, but his eyes were completely bloodshot, his veins bulging with dark purple lines across his temples.
He was muttering a chaotic stream of runic incantations, his hands shaking as he held a jagged, crimson glass vial over a glowing black iron box resting on the altar.
Standing in the shadows just ten paces behind the archivist, Tsubaki had his hand firmly pressed against the hilt of his Falana.
He had not struck yet—not because he couldn’t, but because a secondary presence was lingering near the ceiling arches above.
A presence so silent, so suffocating, that moving a single inch would trigger an immediate ambush.
TAP. TAP. TAP.
The soft sound of footsteps echoed from the vaulted entrance.
The mind-controlled archivist froze, his incantation dying in his throat as Kaelen and Lyra stepped through the broken threshold of vault Room B-4.
"You’re late," Tsubaki’s voice drifted from the gloom on the right flank, his dark eyes remaining fixed on the vaulted ceiling.
"There’s something lurking in the stone rafters. High concealment. Level 25 at minimum."
Kaelen didn’t look up immediately. His eyes locked onto the black iron box on the altar—the target of the heist.
CLING!
[ ITEM IDENTIFIED: COMPRESSED VOID-CORE FRAGMENT]
[ ITEM CLASS: S-RANK ANCIENT ARTEFACT]
[ SYSTEM NOTE: ESSENTIAL MATERIAL FOR CLASS ASCENSION (VOID ARCHITECT)]
So this is what they came for, Kaelen thought, his eyes flaring with violet light.
The Red-Eyed Player isn’t just trying to cause chaos.
He’s hunting for the same ancient ascension materials I need.
" Step away from the altar," Lyra commanded, raising her rapier, her holy mana bursting forth in a bright silver aura that illuminated the dark vault.
"Archivist Vane, break the control contract now, or I will purge the corrupted mana from your heart myself!"
The controlled archivist slowly turned around, a wide, unnatural grin twisting his face.
"Purge?" the archivist rasped, his voice sounding like two rusty blades scraping together. "You are too late, little holy knight..." The blood sacrifice is already complete..."
Before Lyra could react, the archivist’s eyes burst into flames of pure crimson light. He collapsed to his knees, his body swelling grotesquely as the dark blood magic inside his meridians detonated.
"Back!" Kaelen barked.
BOOM!
A wave of corrupted bloodfire erupted from the archivist’s collapsing body, splashing against the stone floor and melting the ancient marble tiles like hot wax.
At that exact millisecond, the shadow in the rafters struck.
A streak of pure black and crimson energy dropped from the ceiling with terrifying speed, aiming directly for Kaelen’s head.
The attacker moved without a sound, wielding two long, curved daggers that hissed with high-density poison-and-blood magic.
[WARNING: HIGH-SPEED INTRUSION—BLOOD SHADOW ASSASSIN (LEVEL 26—A-RANK)]
CLANG!
A blinding shower of sparks lit up the vault.
Tsubaki had moved in the blink of an eye. His katana, unsheathed in a single fluid draw, intercepted both daggers less than two inches from Kaelen’s face.
The force of the impact created a shockwave that blew the surrounding dust into a violent swirl.
"I have the assassin," Tsubaki growled, his arms straining against the immense physical strength of the cloaked intruder.
"Kaelen... the box!"
Kaelen didn’t hesitate. He thrust his right hand forward, his fingers weaving complex spatial runes mid-air.
[SKILL: EVENT HORIZON—DISTANT GRASP]
A miniature void portal opened directly above the stone altar, three feet away from the black iron box containing the Void-Core Fragment.
Kaelen’s hand entered a portal near his waist and re-emerged above the altar, his fingers wrapping firmly around the cold, heavy iron of the box.
"Got it," Kaelen muttered.
CLICK.
A cold, metallic sound echoed from the dark archway at the back of the vault—a secondary entrance leading deeper into the underground catacombs.
"An impressive trick, player," a calm, dual-layered voice spoke from the darkness.
Kaelen’s eyes narrowed as he pulled the iron box back through his spatial portal.
Stepping out from the shadows of the rear archway was a tall figure wrapped in a pristine, dark grey coat.
His face was completely obscured by a smooth, blank white mask, save for two narrow eye slits through which two burning, crimson eyes stared directly into Kaelen’s soul.
Beside the masked man stood a towering, monstrous figure wrapped in blood-soaked rags—Malakor, his eyes wild with unholy power, his skin covered in glowing crimson runes that pulsed like a dying heart.
[TARGET IDENTIFIED: THE RED-EYED PLAYER (LEVEL ???)]
[TARGET IDENTIFIED: MALAKOR THE BLOOD MAGE (LEVEL 28—A-RANK BOSS)]
The vault descended into a suffocating, razor-thin silence.
Lyra took a step closer to Kaelen, her holy aura flaring brightly against the overwhelming tide of blood-mana radiating from Malakor. Tsubaki disengaged from the assassin with a swift backflip, landing in a low combat stance beside them, his katana dripping with dark blood.
"You’re the one who beat Garrett and Valerius without breaking a sweat," Malakor hissed, his voice echoing with deep, guttural rage as he stared at Kaelen.
"The tiny commoner insect who thinks he understands spatial magic..."
"Malakor, quiet," the Red-Eyed Player commanded smoothly. His voice carried no emotion, no heat—just the absolute confidence of a predator facing trapped prey.
The red-eyed player raised his hand, gesturing toward the black iron box currently held in Kaelen’s hands.
"You have exceptional reaction time for a local native," the Red-Eyed Player said, his voice filtering through his system interface.
"Or should I say... for someone operating on a Void-class system blueprint?"
Kaelen’s eyes flared dark violet. He knows.
"Hand over the Void-Core Fragment," the Red-Eyed Player continued, taking a slow step forward.
As his boot touched the stone floor, a massive red spatial grid expanded across the walls of Vault B-4, sealing every door and emergency exit with high-density blood wards.
[ALERT: SPATIAL SECLUSION WARD ACTIVATED]
[ALL EXIT PORTALS / ESCAPE SKILLS TEMPORARILY BLOCKED]
"This vault is now completely severed from the upper academy," the Red-Eyed Player whispered, his crimson eyes glowing intensely beneath his white mask. "No guards are coming.
No professors can hear you. You have two choices: give me the fragment and die quickly... or refuse and let Malakor turn your friends into blood fuel."
Lyra raised her rapier, her voice ringing with absolute defiance.
"We’d rather burn this vault to the ground than let a monster like you touch that core!"
Kaelen didn’t answer right away. He slowly lowered the black iron box, his left hand sliding into his pocket, where the system interface was quietly processing a hidden notification.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: ANCIENT VOID-CORE DETECTED IN PROXIMITY]
[ABSORPTION REQUIREMENT MET]
[WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONSUME THE VOID-CORE FRAGMENT TO INITIATE MID-STAGE ASCENSION?]
[PROCESS TIME: 30 SECONDS]
A faint, dangerous smile curved on Kaelen’s lips.
He looked up at the Red-Eyed Player, his dark eyes glowing with an unyielding, predatory light that matched the masked man’s red glare.
"You talked too much," Kaelen said coldly.
With a single, violent motion, Kaelen slammed his palm onto the top of the iron box and activated the absorption command.
CRACK!
The black iron box shattered into a thousand pieces as a blinding column of dark violet cosmic energy erupted from the core, engulfing Kaelen in a massive, swirling vortex of pure Void mana...