The night had not yet died.
It breathed like a living creature, clutching the silence tightly within the forest’s embrace. The wind slithered between the leaves—as though it had overheard soone’s secret and now wished to whisper it to others. The earth was damp. Droplets of blood seeped into the soil, spreading a sharp, iron-like scent into the air.
The pink-hued spirit chain that had erged from Zaber’s palm slid through the darkness like an invisible serpent and buried itself into the chests of Garrik and Kael.
This was no blade that pierced flesh.
This was no blow that shattered bone.
This was judgnt that tore the soul away.
Ordinary eyes could not see the chain. Only Zaber perceived it clearly: the glowing thread that pierced their chests, coiled around their hearts, and began searching for sothing deep inside.
First ca the pain.
Then the cold.
Then an incomprehensible emptiness.
Garrik’s knees struck the ground. The dampness of the soil seeped through his knees and chilled his bones. Kael staggered back one step and dropped to one knee, breathing heavily.
An ordinary strike could never break them. Swords, spears, even poison would find it difficult to affect them.
But this assault was not physical.
It entered from within and touched the deepest layers of a person.
Zaber’s eyes glead in the dark. He pulled the chain.
"Your souls..." he said in a low but distinct voice, "...are mine."
The chain grew taut.
Garrik’s pulse slowed in his veins. His vision blurred. Instead of the battlefield, he began to see his childhood—dust-covered courtyards, his first deals on the trade routes, the oaths he had given, the promises he had never broken.
This was no re mory.
This was the root of his soul.
Kael gritted his teeth. His hand pressed against his chest.
"What... what the hell is this..."
His heart beat.
Yet along with the heartbeat, sothing else was being dragged out.
Zaber furrowed his brows.
He pulled again.
Again.
And again.
But the souls did not co out completely.
There was resistance.
Heavy. Thick. Unyielding.
He could feel it.
They were several stages above him—Zaber was at the fifth level of the first tier, while they were third-tier. At first glance they seed only twice as strong, but that was deceptive. In truth, they were ten tis more powerful. In a normal fight, he would not even have been able to approach them. The spirit chain forced them to their knees, yet it could not rip their souls free.
"You still resist..." he said slowly.
Garrik lifted his head. His eyes were clouded, yet unbroken.
"So... this is your power?"
Kael wiped the blood trickling from his lip onto his sleeve.
"What have you done to us, you rat..."
Zaber began to pull again.
Harder this ti.
It felt as though pressure rose from beneath the earth. The leaves trembled. The air grew heavier.
And in that instant—
Sothing inside Garrik shattered.
A power sealed for years, never shown to anyone, awakened. He had never needed it to control trade routes. He had never laid that card on the table.
But now...
The spirit chain struck an inner wall and halted.
For a mont—it recoiled.
Zaber’s eyes widened.
"What—"
A faint golden tremor appeared around Garrik. It was not aura. It was inner energy—the purest protective layer drawn from the depths of the soul.
Kael looked at him in astonishnt.
"You... hid this?"
Garrik’s breathing grew labored.
"Showing all your cards... is the act of fools."
The chain slid back several centiters.
Zaber took a step backward.
He had not expected this strength.
Yet he still held the advantage.
Because they were on their knees.
He pulled once more.
Both souls shuddered at the sa ti.
An invisible wave spread through the forest.
Garrik and Kael’s heads spun; they struggled not to attack, but simply to maintain balance.
High on the rocky outcrop, Aurora narrowed her eyes.
She had been rely watching the fight.
But now she sensed sothing.
Subtle.
Yet sharp.
A third force.
This was no ordinary clash.
"Edvin."
"Yes, my lady?"
"The one in the shadows has revealed himself. We intervene."
The distance was great.
Forest, valley, cliffs.
For an ordinary fighter—a few minutes.
For Aurora—a few leaps.
She bent her knees.
She stamped forward with decisive force.
The ground beneath the rock cracked as though split open. Dust rose, enveloping the two knights left behind.
Second leap.
She cut through the trees like wind.
Third leap.
The night tore apart.
At that exact mont Zaber felt the cold.
Death’s breath was behind him.
He turned his head.
Aurora was approaching.
"Damn it..." he whispered.
When she landed, the surroundings trembled.
No visible aura.
No weapon.
Only two hands.
And a gaze that delivered judgnt.
She assessed the situation in an instant.
The kneeling fighters.
One of them radiating strange light.
And before them—a masked figure with dead eyes.
She did not speak.
She simply acted.
First touch.
Her hand t the chest of a fighter standing beside Kael.
It looked ordinary.
It was not.
Inside the man, white and scarlet energy gathered and detonated in a small explosion. He vomited blood and collapsed to the ground. It was not a massive blast, but it was more than enough to destroy his internal organs.
Second.
Third.
Aurora did not run.
She did not fly.
She simply walked.
Yet to an outside observer it was no ordinary walk. With each step she crossed from one fighter to the next.
Every step—judgnt.
Every touch—death.
Zaber froze.
This was on another level.
This was not a fight.
In that mont, Zaber rembered Larden’s words:
"Stay far from that girl. She will tear you in two."
Zaber now understood that Larden had been right.
In re monts the clearing fell silent.
Only Garrik and Kael remained alive.
The chain trembled.
Aurora turned her gaze directly to Zaber.
For an instant.
Eye to eye.
Zaber felt an icy void in his heart.
If he had hesitated even one second—
He would be lying here too.
He withdrew the chain from the two of them.
He leaped backward and sprinted toward the trees.
Garrik laughed through blood.
"Running away?"
Kael twisted his lips.
"Coward."
Zaber’s teeth clenched.
The mockery stung.
He had never imagined fleeing from a woman to save his life.
But survival mattered more.
Aurora took one step forward.
She lted into the shadow.
The night swallowed her; she vanished among the trees in the darkness.
Aurora paid him no further attention. She turned her focus to the two before her.
Because Zaber was officially the weakest presence here, and Aurora had not yet decided whether to kill him or spare him.
She approached them slowly and spoke:
"You broke the unwritten rules. You fought in secret, between groups. The punishnt for that—is death."
Her voice was not loud.
Yet every word hung in the air like an icy blade, piercing not the ears but straight into the heart. Even the wind seed to slow in that mont; the surrounding wreckage fell utterly still.
Garrik and Kael opened their mouths in shock, trying to explain. For the first ti real fear flashed in their eyes. The warriors who monts ago had felt superior, even in control of the situation, now resembled condemned prisoners hearing their sentence.
"This... we..." they began.
But Aurora raised her palm.
No sharp movent. Only the calm lifting of her hand.
In the next instant her silhouette vanished.
A gust of wind rose and scattered.
Garrik was in the middle of his first word:
"Wait, my lady—"
The word never finished.
A cold breath was felt behind him.
Aurora appeared behind both of them.
Her silhouette erged from the darkness like a silent specter. Her gaze was cold and razor-sharp—as though looking not at living n, but at corpses whose verdict had already been pronounced.
"My decision is not open to debate," she said.
There was neither anger nor haste in her voice. It was fact. It was law.
A thin red line appeared across the throats of Garrik and Kael; blood began to drip slowly from it.
At first thin, almost invisible.
Then the line widened.
They froze for a mont.
Eyes wide open, bodies still standing upright as though alive. Their minds had not yet processed what had happened, but their bodies had already accepted the judgnt.
At that mont Zaber wanted only to leave this place as quickly as possible. Because if Aurora spotted him here, it would bring nothing good.
The instinct to survive worked perfectly. He had felt her power. This was not a strength one could fight.
This was a strength one could not oppose.
At least—not yet.
Aurora began walking calmly toward the city.
As though nothing had happened.
As though two warriors had not just been sentenced to death.
As though this event was rely one of her routine tasks.
After a few steps,
The heads of Garrik and Kael suddenly rolled to the ground.
Their bodies stood upright for an instant longer, then collapsed heavily like felled timber. Blood spurted from their necks in fountains, forming thick pools on the earth. The blood was warm, steaming as it mingled with the cold air.
The ground was silent.
The sky was silent.
Only the red slowly seeped into the gray soil.
Zaber did not look back.
He knew—if Aurora wished, she could reach him in a single step.
Aurora paused, gazing toward the trees.
Should I kill him? Is he connected to one of the groups here? But why... why does he feel so strangely familiar?
Friends, what do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comnts. Don’t forget to add this novel to your library. Power Stones and Golden Tickets help Chapters co out faster and give great motivation
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