Chapter 134: Wind
Amon did not move.
The words settled into the room.
Kayla stared at the stranger.
"What are you talking about?"
The man ignored her.
His black eyes remained fixed on Amon.
"She is the anchor."
Amon’s grip tightened around Azrael.
"Explain."
The stranger smiled faintly.
"So you finally want answers."
"Explain."
The pressure in Amon’s voice made the windows tremble.
The man looked down at Ciara.
She remained asleep against his chest.
Too peaceful.
Amon hated that more than if she had been crying.
"The system did not awaken because you became a father."
Amon’s eyes narrowed.
"It awakened because she was born."
Amon said nothing.
The stranger continued.
"There is a difference."
Kayla moved slightly.
Amon noticed immediately.
So did the man.
"Don’t."
Kayla froze.
The stranger did not even look at her.
"I have no intention of harming either of them. But your wife is understandably emotional."
Amon’s expression became colder.
"You are holding my daughter."
"Temporarily."
"That is enough."
The stranger studied him.
Then laughed softly.
"You really are exactly what the system wanted."
Amon took one step forward.
Danger Sense exploded.
He stopped.
Not because the stranger had moved.
Because Ciara’s fate signature had suddenly become entangled with his.
Amon’s eyes sharpened.
The man noticed.
"You felt that."
Black threads appeared around Ciara.
So faint they were almost invisible.
They connected her body to the stranger’s arms.
Not physically.
Through fate.
Amon immediately understood.
If he attacked carelessly, the consequences could reach her.
Azrael lowered slightly.
The stranger smiled.
"Good."
Amon looked at him.
"Remove the connection."
"No."
The answer came calmly.
"Not until we finish speaking."
Amon’s killing intent intensified.
The stranger remained unaffected.
"You can threaten me."
He looked down at Ciara.
"You can even kill me."
His smile faded.
"But if you kill me incorrectly, the connection collapses through her."
Kayla’s face turned white.
Amon’s voice became quiet.
"What do you want?"
"To see what the system gave you."
"No."
The stranger sighed.
"I expected that."
Amon stared at him.
The Fate Sign-In System remained strangely silent.
That bothered him.
"System."
Nothing.
Amon’s eyes narrowed.
"System."
No response.
The stranger smiled.
"You noticed."
"What did you do?"
"Nothing permanent."
He shifted Ciara slightly.
"I merely isolated the room from its direct communication layer."
Amon felt the Primordial Fate Devouring Seed.
Still present.
Prison Law Fragment.
Still present.
His abilities remained.
Only the system’s voice was gone.
The stranger watched his expression.
"Systems are not gods."
Amon’s gaze hardened.
"They are mechanisms."
The man walked slowly toward the center of the nursery.
"They have rules."
"Origins."
"Limitations."
He stopped.
"And creators."
Kayla stared at him.
Amon did not.
His attention remained on Ciara.
"Are you claiming you created mine?"
The stranger laughed.
"No."
For the first time, genuine amusement appeared.
"If I had created something like that, I would not have spent eleven years hiding in this kingdom."
Amon’s eyes narrowed.
"You know Alaric."
The man’s smile vanished.
There it was.
A reaction.
Small.
But clear.
"You met him."
Amon said nothing.
The stranger studied him.
"Interesting."
His gaze moved toward Amon’s damaged clothes.
"That explains how you returned so quickly."
Amon continued.
"He said you crossed from the prison."
"True."
"That you’ve been searching for someone carrying a fate system."
"Also true."
"Why?"
The stranger looked down at Ciara.
"Because a fate system appeared in the prison once."
Amon’s eyes sharpened.
"Before mine?"
"Long before."
The stranger walked toward one of the windows.
The fate threads moved with him.
Amon followed every movement.
"The prison was not originally designed to contain creatures."
The man looked outside at the dark capital.
"It was designed to contain possibilities."
Amon frowned slightly.
The stranger continued.
"Worlds create paths."
"Choices create branches."
"Some branches grow."
"Some collapse."
"Some produce things that should never exist."
He turned.
"The prison collects those things."
Amon remembered the dead worlds.
The eye.
The outer seal.
"Who built it?"
The stranger smiled faintly.
"That question killed civilizations."
"Try me."
The smile disappeared.
"I don’t know."
Amon believed him.
That irritated him more.
The man continued.
"The oldest prisoners don’t know either."
"Then what does this have to do with Ciara?"
The stranger’s gaze shifted toward the child.
"She carries a fate origin."
Amon’s expression changed.
Kayla immediately spoke.
"What does that mean?"
This time the stranger answered her.
"It means your daughter was born carrying something that does not belong to this world’s natural destiny."
Kayla looked at Amon.
He remained still.
The stranger continued.
"Not corruption."
"Not possession."
"Not a foreign soul."
He looked at Amon.
"Potential."
Amon’s eyes narrowed.
"Be specific."
The man sighed.
"Your daughter was born with the ability to create fate."
Silence.
Even Amon paused.
"What?"
"Not manipulate it."
"Not predict it."
"Create it."
The man looked almost fascinated.
"That should be impossible."
Amon stared at Ciara.
She slept peacefully.
Tiny.
Fragile.
Completely unaware.
The stranger continued.
"When she was born, the local fate structure changed."
"Something responded."
"Your system."
Amon’s eyes narrowed.
"So it chose me because of her."
"Partially."
"Why not choose her?"
The stranger smiled.
"Because she is the source."
Amon’s expression hardened.
"And I am?"
"The weapon."
Kayla inhaled sharply.
The stranger looked at Amon.
"The system attached itself to the person most likely to preserve her existence."
Amon remembered the first message.
Fate Points gained for every day his daughter remained alive.
The entire structure suddenly made more sense.
His daily rewards.
His sign-ins.
His progression.
Everything centered around Ciara.
The stranger watched realization spread across his face.
"You understand now."
Amon said nothing.
"Your system is not rewarding fatherhood."
He smiled faintly.
"It is investing in protection."
Amon looked at Ciara.
The system had always emphasized her survival.
He had simply never questioned why.
"What happens if she dies?"
Kayla flinched.
The stranger’s expression became serious.
"Your system dies with her."
Amon’s eyes hardened.
"And her fate origin?"
"Released."
"Meaning?"
The man looked toward the ceiling.
"Every entity capable of sensing higher fate would know exactly where this world is."
Amon thought of the eye.
His expression changed.
The stranger noticed.
"You’ve already been observed."
Amon said nothing.
"Then you understand the scale."
Amon tightened his grip around Azrael.
"Why are you helping me?"
The man smiled.
"I haven’t decided if I am."
Danger Sense reacted.
Amon’s eyes darkened.
The stranger continued.
"I spent eleven years looking for the system because I need it."
"For what?"
"To leave."
Amon stared at him.
"The prison will not let me travel freely."
"You already escaped."
"I escaped the containment layer."
The man shook his head.
"I never escaped the prison’s law."
He raised one hand.
Black symbols appeared beneath his skin.
Amon recognized them immediately.
Prison script.
"The farther I move from the outer boundary, the more these marks consume me."
Amon’s eyes narrowed.
"You’ve survived eleven years."
"Barely."
The stranger smiled.
"I change bodies."
Kayla’s face twisted with disgust.
Amon’s gaze became colder.
"Whose body is that?"
"No one’s anymore."
The answer came without emotion.
"The original owner died nine years ago."
Amon said nothing.
The stranger continued.
"Your system can alter fate authority."
"It can sever prison recognition."
"You know that for certain?"
"I saw it happen before."
Amon’s attention sharpened.
"To who?"
The stranger went silent.
Amon stepped forward.
"Who?"
The man studied him.
Then slowly answered.
"The first system bearer."
Amon froze.
"So there was another."
"Yes."
"What happened to them?"
The stranger’s black eyes became distant.
"They opened the inner gate."
Amon waited.
"And?"
"They disappeared."
"Dead?"
"I don’t know."
The man looked at Ciara.
"But the system vanished with them."
Amon’s mind worked rapidly.
"How long ago?"
"More than six hundred years."
That predated the kingdom.
Possibly several kingdoms.
Amon looked at the stranger.
"And you think my system is the same one."
"No."
The answer came immediately.
Amon frowned.
The stranger’s expression became serious.
"The first system consumed fate."
Amon felt the Primordial Fate Devouring Seed react.
The man saw nothing.
He continued.
"Yours creates opportunities to acquire it."
Amon’s eyes narrowed.
Different mechanisms.
Possibly related origins.
The stranger shifted Ciara again.
She stirred slightly.
Amon’s gaze immediately moved to her.
Small eyelids opened.
Ciara looked around.
Confused.
Then she saw Amon.
Her tiny face changed.
A weak sound escaped her mouth.
Amon’s chest tightened.
The stranger looked down at her.
For the first time, his expression changed.
Not fear.
Recognition.
Ciara stared directly into his black eyes.
The black fate threads surrounding her suddenly snapped.
The stranger froze.
Amon moved.
Azrael crossed the room.
The man’s arm separated at the shoulder.
Ciara fell.
Amon caught her before she dropped a single inch.
He turned.
Kayla rushed forward.
Amon placed Ciara into her arms.
"Take her."
Kayla did not hesitate.
She ran toward the far side of the room.
The stranger staggered backward.
Black blood poured from his severed shoulder.
His eyes remained fixed on Ciara.
"What..."
Amon stepped between them.
Azrael darkened.
The system connection suddenly returned.
[Communication interference removed.]
[Threat analysis resumed.]
[Warning.]
[Foreign prison entity has lost fate leverage.]
Amon looked at the stranger.
The man finally looked back at him.
His expression had changed completely.
"She broke it."
Amon raised Azrael.
The stranger laughed.
Not from amusement.
From disbelief.
"She broke a prison-bound fate connection without even knowing what it was."
Amon disappeared.
The blade entered his chest.
The stranger coughed black blood.
Amon leaned closer.
"You made one mistake."
The man looked at him.
Amon twisted Azrael.
"You assumed she needed me to protect her from everything."
Darkness spread through the stranger’s body.
Behind Amon, Ciara began crying.
The man smiled weakly.
"No."
His body started collapsing into black particles.
"I assumed you understood what she is."
Amon’s eyes narrowed.
The stranger’s final words came as his face dissolved.
"You don’t."
The body vanished.
Only black residue remained.
Then the system flashed.
[Foreign prison entity defeated.]
[Warning.]
[Entity death incomplete.]
Amon turned toward Kayla and Ciara.
Another message appeared.
[New fate signature detected.]
Amon froze.
The signature came from Ciara.
[Protected bloodline has awakened.]
Kayla looked down.
Ciara’s eyes had changed.
For less than a second, they shone gold.
Then a system notification appeared.
[Special event detected.]
[The Child of Origin has taken her first action against fate.]