CHAPTER 50: THE ONE SHE ANSWERED

There was no light where Luc opened her eyes.

Revealed as Lucille, she hung in a void that had existed since before the beginning of time.

A whisper - a cry for help, an expression of longing, a silent, desperate affection.

The soft voice that spoke her name cut through the silence, forming a single crack in the darkness.

There was no horizon. No gravity. No time.

But now, a sky dawned. Her existence anchored to a name. Time aligned with the one who had called her.

The name was ancient. Primordial. Sacred.

It struck fear into the hearts of the few who dared remember it. It was a forbidden call a mortal wasn’t permitted to evoke.

But when it was remembered with an affection and spoken with longing - it was beautiful; a name that could bring light.

Luc stirred. Her fingers moved first, flexing against the emptiness. Then came her breath. A soundless exhale in a place that held no air.

———

"What is happening?" Councilor Vale asked Cassian, growing impatient.

Lin had been sitting still for minutes - hardly breathing, her eyes vacant.

Zhen and Vale needed her confirmation. All they needed was her "yes" as Saen consumed the last piece of her.

Cassian glanced sideways. Any moment now, she would say it. He could already see her lips about to move. A whisper would do. A whisper was enough to seal an era.

At that moment, a gust of wind tore through the Hall of Order.

All candlelights went off with a quick blow, and then immediately reignited - now burning in pure black flames.

Everyone held their breath. Although everything had been meticulously calculated and planned over centuries - the scheme to usurp the Roen bloodline and install a Zhen as the new heir - they were entering an unknown territory - or rather, realm. The moment of truth had come.

Lin’s eyes flashed open. Councilor Vale and Zhen gasped. Cassian was just about to break into a triumphant smile.

Saen had consumed Lin Roen. A new order had been established in this very place.

Or so they thought.

Just above Lin, reality warped and waved as if it were a fabric. Then it hardened - and it started to crack.

Without a sound, a thin line first appeared - growing, branching, spreading.

Like glass that could no longer hold, it began to shatter.

Each broken piece hung, suspended in the air.

And from the gap, a presence started to emerge.

People could feel it.

Something - something ancient was breaking through.

First there was a hand. A very pale hand with long slender fingers. Then the wrist, cuff of black blazers - pitch black darkness that absorbed all light.

This realm was giving way to the entry of a primordial existence.

Nothing could stop its intrusion - or rather, its return.

Then with a sudden burst of shock wave, all the broken pieces scattered, giving people a glimpse of absolute void that laid behind.

From the void, Luc had entered the Hall of Order.

Her silver hair swayed with no breeze. Her gray eyes sucked in all life and hope - the very will to live.

Despair filled every lung. Dread echoed in every bone

Luc floated above Lin with majestic raven-black wings sprouting from her shoulder blades, fully spread open and motionless. Their feathers had a sheen of death. They instilled fear. They asserted authority. They demanded obedience.

"You dared to try to take what is mine?"

Luc whispered, yet her voice echoed. The sound cascading and growing louder with each reverberation.

"How- how...?"

Councilor Zhen fell to her knees. Vale took a step back.

"You dared to distort the child I love."

Luc eyed Cassian. It wasn’t a glare, but a stab through his heart.

He froze, paralyzed by the weight of her gaze.

"Your treachery-"

The Zhen and Vale banners draped over the wall burnt in black flame and instantly turned to ashes.

"Shall not go unpunished."

Still floating above Lin’s head, Luc’s eyes turned black without a blink.

With that, the eyes of all the Elders of both houses lost its colors.

Thick tears of black blood began to fall from their eyes.

"I will feed you to my dog."

Nobody could scream. All they could do was helplessly gag.

"Caleb."

From the back of the Hall, Nabir emerged. He was incomparably bigger than his normal form. Completely covered in black fur, eyes flaming in blood-red, teeth hungry to dig into human flesh - this was the true form of Nabir, evoked by his true name.

"Feast yourself."

Caleb rampaged through the hall, grabbing and tearing limbs, biting heads off, gutting the bodies with his beastly claws.

Yet, nobody could scream.

Only the sound of Caleb’s grunt and heavy breathing filled the Hall.

"Luc- please give us a chance to expla-"

Before Councilor Vale could finish his words, his body was dragged up to air with an invisible force.

"Arms."

At Luc’s command, his arms vanished and his sleeves drooped on his sides.

"Plea-"

"Tongue."

Vale wasn’t able to speak anymore.

"Legs."

With that, the man was reduced to a limbless body.

"You can’t do this!" Lian Zhen yelled.

Luc turned her mortifying gaze to the Councilor.

"Saen is a child of Roen! She is the Head of the Compact founded by Zhen and Vale!"

"Humor me," Luc grinned.

"We’ve renounced our allegiance to the Roen in the Whisper Room. Lin Roen herself signed the declaration. The new leader of the Roen Group is Saen Roen-Zhen, and by the virtue of her Roen blood, you are bound to serve her!"

Luc paused for a moment. Then the corner of her lips rose in a grin.

"I am not summoned here by Saen, my poor child."

Lian Zhen’s eyes widened.

"Then... how?"

"I am no longer in pact with the Roen blood either."

"Impossible!"

Then Luc descended to the ground, just behind Lin, who still sat still with her eyes open. She hadn’t blinked once.

The silver-haired immortal ran her palms along Lin’s cheeks, caressed her neck, and placed them on her shoulders. Her black-feathered wings moved forward and wrapped around the helpless girl.

"I am here for the girl who called out to me."

Lian Zhen couldn’t help herself.

Something irresistible was forcing her.

Her velvet-gloved right hand moved against her will.

It first grabbed her chest, then the fingers started to dig in.

She couldn’t stop it. Her hand was being moved by an incredible force. Something far beyond physically possible.

The finger tips dug in through her flesh, broke her ribs, and grabbed her beating heart.

"No... No-"

As Luc beamed a smile, she tore her heart out with her own hand and held it in the air.

It was still beating, desperately, but it was starting to turn black.

"Vale shall live with no limbs. He will crawl like an insect and feed on his own vomit."

"Please, Luc... please-"

"And you shall live with no heart-"

Lian Zhen could not even feel dread. There was nothing she could feel anymore.

"For eternity."

And mercy had never been her name.