CHAPTER 191: A GATHERING OF BLADES [3]

The air in the council chamber grew heavier with each passing second, thick with tension you could almost taste.

The floating magical lights flickered nervously overhead, making shadows dance across the polished obsidian table like restless spirits.

Every breath felt too loud in the silence.

Seris stood perfectly still at the center of it all, her silver-white hair catching the dim light. Her golden eyes fixed on the frozen image of the hooded figure hanging in the air above the table.

The intruder’s shadowy blade was raised mid-swing, frozen in time, but you could almost feel the deadly intent radiating from it.

"This one," Seris said, her voice low and controlled, "wasn’t part of Vesper’s plan."

Alistair Noctis. The sharp-eyed king from the east, leaned forward in his seat.

"You’re telling us this... person just showed up out of nowhere?"

Seris gave a single nod. "Vesper came to deliver a message. This one made sure he never got the chance to finish."

King Sylas’s knuckles went white where he gripped his throne’s armrests. The thin golden crown on his head seemed to weigh heavier as he spoke.

"Then what was his damn message?"

You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed. Seris took a slow breath. Like she was choosing her words carefully.

When she finally spoke. Each word landed like a hammer blow.

"He wasn’t a demon."

The room erupted in murmurs. Robert Lockman from the Hero’s Association barked out a laugh that held no humor.

"That’s impossible! The energy reading you mentioned—"

"Were demonic," Seris cut in. Her voice slicing through the noise.

"But not from any demon like we’ve ever seen." She turned back to the frozen image of Vesper. His smug smirk preserved in magical light.

"He talked about demons like they were beneath him. Called them ’scavengers.’ But the power the mana he used..." She shook her head slightly.

"It was wrong. Like demonic energy. But twisted. Thicker. Like oil mixed with blood."

High Priestess Illyria’s fingers tightened around her crystal pendant until her knuckles turned white. "You are saying he was something completely new."

Seris didn’t blink. "Yes."

Alistair, who’d been watching quietly until now, finally spoke up. His voice was calm. But there was steel underneath.

"And this message he tried to give you?"

Seris’s gaze never wavered. "He made me an offer. A chance to join them...."

The silence stretched so long it became uncomfortable.

Then—

Lorian Dainmar slammed his fist down on the table hard. "Join who? Who the hell is them?"

Seris didn’t even flinch.

"I don’t know. But he wasn’t working alone. And whatever is coming... it’s worse than the demon war." Her golden eyes seemed to glow brighter.

King Sylas’s dark eyes turned stormy. "Explain."

Seris recited the words like she’d been replaying them in her head for days:

"’The demons you fear? They’re nothing. What’s coming will wipe them out, same as your kind.’"

A cold shudder seemed to pass through the room.

King Alistair’s voice cut through the uneasy murmurs. "You said he wasn’t a demon. But not human either?"

For the first time. Seris hesitated, just for a heartbeat.

"I don’t know what he was. He looked human. Spoke like one. But the mana he used..." She shook her head again.

"It wasn’t natural. Not for humans. Not even for demons."

Duke Veyl leaned back in his chair. The wood creaking under his weight.

"And yet... he got away from you." His tone was light, but the challenge was clear.

The temperature in the room dropped suddenly. Seris’s golden eyes glowed brighter. "He was holding back."

That made even King Sylas pause.

Seris continued, her voice like ice.

"I don’t know why. But he wasn’t fighting to kill. He was testing me. And before I could push him, before backup arrived..." She made a sharp gesture with her hand.

"He was gone."

Illyria’s emerald eyes narrowed. "Gone how?"

The magical projection shifted again. Now it showed Vesper standing in the wreckage of the hospital grounds.

His long coat flapping in some unseen wind. He raised one hand casually. Like he was hailing a carriage.

"Ray," his voice echoed through the chamber, smooth and amused despite the chaos around him. "Get me out of here."

Then—

A portal tore open behind him. It wasn’t the usual soft purple glow of spatial magic.

This one was red and black. Swirling violently like a wound in the air, pulsing with strange energy.

Vesper stepped backward into it, still wearing that smirk on his face.

And just like that, he was gone.

The portal slammed shut behind him, leaving only scorch marks on the floor where he’d stood.

No one spoke.

The entire council just stared at the place where he had vanished.

"That," Seris said quietly, "wasn’t spatial magic."

Lucian’s face darkened. "An Ability."

Seris nodded slowly. "Most likely. And if that’s true. Then... the man Seraphina killed. The one who changed the dungeon gate. He might not be dead at all."

King Alistair leaned forward, eyes sharp. "You think he’s this ’Ray’?"

"It’s just a theory," Seris replied.

"We all assumed he transformed the gate into a Black Gate. But what if he didn’t? What if he... swapped it?"

A hushed voice cut through the tension. "He teleported an entire dungeon?"

The room fell into a thick. Suffocating silence.

Lorian let out a hard breath. "So now we have... things walking around with powers we don’t understand, acting like demons, and talking about some kind of apocalypse?"

"Yes," Seris said simply.

No one said anything.

Then—

King Sylas leaned forward. His voice was quiet. But sharp like a blade. "Then we have a problem."

The weight of those words settled over the room. It was no longer just about border raids or security systems failing. This was something else.

Duke Veyl didn’t speak. His usual smug smile was gone.

High Priestess Illyria finally broke the silence. "If these... beings aren’t demons, and they aren’t human... then what are they?"

Seris didn’t answer right away, her voice low.

"I don’t know. But if Vesper was telling the truth..." She looked around the room. "Whatever’s coming... even the demons are afraid of it."

"And they’re a bigger threat than the demons could ever be."

Her words echoed into the silence that followed. Cold and real. Impossible to ignore.

They had come to talk about attacks and strategy.

Now, they were staring at something far bigger.

Something they didn’t understand.

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