Chapter 5: Veyra Beneath Seven Seals
Hum—!
Dark-gold patterns spread outward from the floor of the Oath Hall, crossed the shattered shrine, flowed down the stone stairs, and finally converged before the black-gold throne.
All seven chains binding Veyra lit up.
The first.
The second.
The third.
One after another, until all seven gleamed with cold golden light.
[Establishing Domain covenant.]
[Warning.]
[Target life tier far exceeds the current Domain.]
[Master-servant covenant cannot be established.]
[Adjusting...]
[Covenant form changed.]
[Temporary Covenant established successfully.]
[Veyra has been registered as a special Domain unit of the Forgotten Shrine.]
For the first time, a far more complete status panel appeared in front of Cassian.
[Veyra]
[Level: 1]
[Life Tier: ???]
[Current Status: Sealed]
[Divine Name: Stripped]
[Divinity: Near Depletion]
[Seals: Eclipse Chains ×7]
[Strength: 31]
[Endurance: 29]
[Agility: 27]
[Spirit: 38]
[Currently Analyzable Abilities:]
[War Instinct]
[Eclipse Spear]
[???]
[???]
[???]
[Comprehensive Combat Rating: 27★]
Cassian paused at the final number—twenty-seven stars—then opened his own panel.
[Cassian Vale]
[Level: 1]
[Strength: 11]
[Endurance: 10]
[Agility: 17]
[Spirit: 12]
[Traits: Bloodsense I / Predator Step I / Toxin Resistance I / Night Sight I]
[Comprehensive Combat Rating: 7★]
The gap was almost fourfold, and that was Veyra after seven Eclipse Chains had reduced her to her current state.
Cassian looked up at her. "No wonder you said a hundred of them wouldn’t matter."
Veyra rested against the black-gold throne. "You believe me now?"
"I do."
"Afraid?"
"Why would I be?" Cassian glanced at her status panel. "You still can’t leave my Domain."
Veyra stared at him in silence.
For a brief moment, she looked as though throwing him down the stairs might improve her mood.
Before she could act on that thought, another system message appeared.
[Temporary Covenant established.]
[As the Domain rank increases, Veyra’s permitted movement range will gradually expand.]
[Current Movement Range: Within the Forgotten Shrine Domain]
[Current Domain Radius: 300 meters]
The chains loosened slightly. Veyra stood, and for the first time, they did not immediately drag her back to the throne.
She took one step forward, then another. The dark-gold chains scraped across the stone behind her as she climbed out of the underground shrine.
Night wind slipped through the ruined roof above.
Veyra raised her head and looked at the real sky with gray-gold eyes.
For a long time, she said nothing.
Cassian stood beside her without interrupting.
Eventually, Veyra spoke in a low voice.
"Uglier than I remember."
Cassian looked up as well. "The sky?"
"The world."
She lowered her gaze, and whatever had crossed her expression a moment earlier disappeared as if it had never been there.
Then she looked Cassian over from head to toe.
"Seven stars."
"Mm."
"You’re even weaker than I thought."
Cassian let the remark pass.
Veyra folded her arms. "I think I understand this Lord system now. Domain. Hero. Army. The Lord himself."
Her eyes stayed on him.
"Your Domain is the lowest F-grade. You have no army. The only hero worth mentioning is me."
She paused before adding, "And you are seven stars."
"So why do those creatures outside keep calling you first?"
"Because I am."
Veyra’s eyes narrowed. "I’m not asking about the ranking."
She held his gaze.
"I’m asking what makes you qualified for it."
Someone else might have taken offense.
Cassian smiled instead. "You don’t think I’m qualified either?"
"At the moment? No." Veyra didn’t soften the answer. "You’ve shown me a talent that can take abilities from monsters. It’s rare enough to interest me, but that doesn’t make you strong now."
"A real battlefield won’t line up dozens of weak beasts for you to eat at your leisure."
She raised her right hand, and the chain at her wrist gave a soft metallic sound.
"If something comes tomorrow that can survive my spear, then with the body you have now, you’ll die first."
The center of the Domain fell quiet.
A notification appeared.
[Veyra’s current evaluation of the Lord’s strength: Low]
[Temporary Covenant Stability decreased.]
Cassian looked at the message and didn’t argue.
Instead, he asked, "Have you thought about one thing?"
"What?"
"A Level 1 Lord with a seven-star combat rating." Cassian looked at her. "Why was I able to wake something like you—twenty-seven stars even in this state, with a true life tier the system can’t even read?"
Veyra said nothing, so Cassian continued. "Why did the Forgotten Shrine go so many years without a master, only to open when I arrived?"
Something shifted at last in those gray-gold eyes.
Cassian turned toward the shrine entrance.
"Where are you going?" Veyra asked.
"You wanted to know what makes me qualified."
He opened the Hunt Map.
The first red marker was still there.
[Target Distance: 2.8 km]
[Estimated Level: 6–8]
This time, with Night Sight acquired and the Domain advanced, one more line of information had appeared.
[Blackfang Packlord]
[Level: 7]
[Threat Level: High]
[Core Trait: Pack Dominion]
[Description: Suppresses the will of its own kind and forces them into obedience.]
Cassian stopped walking. There it was—the thing he had been looking for.
Veyra noticed the change in his expression. "Level 7. You’re seven stars. At the very least, that thing is several times stronger than you."
Cassian nodded. "Which is why it’s valuable."
"You want to kill it?"
"Mm."
"For what?"
Cassian pointed to the final line.
Pack Dominion.
"This."
Veyra glanced at it. "You want to command beasts?"
"Twelve of them."
"What twelve?"
Cassian enlarged the map.
Twelve smaller red markers moved around the Blackfang Packlord—Level 3 and Level 4 Blackfang, a full pack of twelve.
Veyra understood. "You want those twelve?"
Cassian shook his head. "I want the Packlord first."
His eyes returned to Pack Dominion.
"As for the rest, we’ll see whether they still recognize their old master after I eat what made it their master."
For the first time, Veyra was genuinely caught off guard.
Cassian was already moving toward the edge of the Domain.
[First Blood Trial]
[00:12:43]
Veyra looked at the timer, then at him. "Twelve minutes."
"Enough."
"You’re going to run three kilometers, kill a Level 7 Packlord, and come back in twelve minutes?"
Cassian didn’t look back.
Predator Step activated.
Bang!
Stone chips burst beneath his boots as he shot into the dark forest.
His answer came back over his shoulder.
"Then stop wasting time talking."
Veyra stood where he had left her. After two seconds, the corner of her mouth lifted.
"Seven stars..."
She looked toward the forest.
"Fine. Show me what makes you qualified."