CHAPTER 401: SNEAKING OUT

Third Person’s POV

Yet this feared power came with a merciless cost.

The awakening of their bloodline was said to be a torment so great that many perished in the attempt, with their bodies consumed by the very fire that should have made them strong.

The Enforcement Elders Solomon, however, had not only survived but had risen to stand among one of the most formidable of his kin.

Still, an event of such magnitude had struck him a few hundred years ago that he had severed ties with his clan and even with the Empire itself.

No one knew the exact cause of his exile, as it was spoken only in hushed whispers and was a mystery smothered beneath layers of silence.

And whatever truth lay behind it, it didn’t matter to anyone as he had long since buried himself in the Sanctum and kept himself to its shadows, while neither involving himself in politics nor in wars, nor in the schemes of the outer world.

His presence was like a sword sheathed in darkness, dormant, but undeniably lethal.

And only in cases of grave violations did his hand strike swiftly and mercilessly, which earned him the respect and fear of all who dwelled within these walls.

It was for this very reason that the three enforcers were certain no fledgling would dare to disregard his command.

That conviction, however, became their undoing now, as they allowed themselves the luxury of carelessness and drank languidly while the sanguine rays of moonlight filtered through the slatted windows.

Their laughter softened into drowsy murmurs, and one by one, they were lulled by intoxication and complacency.

Soon, the two men and the lone woman surrendered to slumber and sprawled in lazy heaps across the couches and floor cushions.

Though unbeknownst to them, the night stirred elsewhere.

On the upper-middle floors of the spire, the silence trembled with a faint rumble, so soft that it could have been mistaken for the shifting of wood.

Suddenly, the aged wooden door creaked open by the slightest degree and admitted a dark shadow into the corridors that seemed to carry the night within itself.

From the threshold stepped a tall and lean figure cloaked in such a profound darkness that it seemed as though his very form dissolved into the corridor.

His crimson eyes glimmered faintly and drank in the dim light that absorbed the gloom until they were like dying embers smoldering in a pit of ash.

The figure’s gaze darted with predator-like caution and swept the hall in utter silence as he sought any sign of movement.

Finding none, he inclined his head in quiet acknowledgment, as if satisfied with some unseen condition.

Without so much as a footstep to betray him, the shadow melted further into the darkness, and his presence slipped from sight.

Then, like a phantom unbound by walls or sound, he descended onto the spiral staircase, each step carrying him deeper into the Sanctum’s hidden heart.

Soon, Ethan reached the chamber he had been seeking, and a faint grin tugged at the corners of his lips.

With an almost inaudible click, he unlocked the heavy iron latch and stepped inside.

The faint echo of the door closed behind him and was swallowed by the stillness of the corridor.

Unbeknownst to him, the silence did not remain empty for long behind him.

A strange shimmer rippled through the air just outside his door and soon became a distortion that thickened, deepened, and within moments, gave birth to a vague crimson mist.

The red fog soon twisted and coiled like smoke from a smoldering wound before it condensed into a grotesque form.

The grotesque form was a strange looking misshapen skull exuding an ancient air.

But, it was not solid and was faintly translucent as it took shape in midair, with its jagged incisors glinting faintly through the blackened bone of its teeth.

This was not some random ghost, and it was none other than that "Excellency," the same enigmatic being with whom the Enforcement Elder Solomon Lavos had conspired earlier, a few hours before in this night, where he sealed a transaction steeped in secrets and shadow.

The crimson skull hovered still, with its hollow sockets burning with twin red orbs that pulsed like hearts of dying embers.

It continued to stare at the closed door before it, though it remained silent and unmoving, as if lost in contemplation.

Then, in a strange voice that sounded like a cacophony of shrill howling, it whispered to himself.

"Such pure dark energy... and such terrifying fusion compatibility with the dark.

And that too, at such a young age.

This boy is no ordinary existence but to think, he is human, of all things."

A trace of disdain and mockery flashed in its sockets as it continued,

"A race that once grovelled before us once and begged for mercy when our flames scorched their cities into ash..."

A faint ripple of amusement crossed its features, and the crimson glow in its eyes deepened into a hungry gleam.

"No... There must be something more. Either a secret of great weight hides within him—or perhaps he is an anomaly, one I can mold and use to my advantage."

The thought seemed to please it.

The glow within its eyes flared brighter, with an almost feverish gleam.

Turning toward the high window at the end of the corridor, it caught sight of the Blood Moon, whose light poured through the narrow slit in deep, glimmering crimson.

The moonlight touched the skull’s surface, and instantly, the entire form shimmered like molten ruby, as its edges vibrated with a strange, unholy vitality.

’Heh... it seems my journey here was not wasted after all,’ it thought with sinister satisfaction.

’At least I found something... unexpected. As for him, ah, the cautious one senses the flaw in that oaf elder’s command already.

But the fact that an unknown Heaven Connection powerhouse showed its presence in the forest yesterday, and now this boy, something big is brewing here.

But at least, it will not be boring now...’