CHAPTER 51: MORGAN: A NEW THREAT

Beneath a blood-orange sunset, the outskirts of the Ghost Village were cloaked in a solemn silence. The air was still, save for the distant cries of recovering warriors and the soft rustling of the wind against the ash-scorched trees. Beyond the borders of civilization—where the laws of men and demons blurred—stood Morgan, her sharp eyes narrowed against the wind. She was tall, beautiful, and carried the aura of nobility, yet something in her stance that day was darker than usual. As Lady Fares’ first daughter, a warrior born of ghostly royalty, she was supposed to be with the Ghost Army but today, her loyalty stood questioned.

Before her loomed a creature of ancient power and godless wrath—a Colossus being.

It towered over her, a monstrous being nearly one hundred feet tall, its skin rough and dark like petrified stone. Its hands were thick as towers, fingers like siege weapons, and its face was carved with eternal disdain. Eyes like molten gold stared down at the comparatively small figure of Morgan.

They spoke not in sound but in a language formed through vibrations in the air—an ancient exchange of magical resonance and warlike intent.

"You summoned me, child of the Ghost Queen," the Colossus growled in a deep, layered tone that echoed like an avalanche.

Morgan nodded, her expression calm but resolved. "Dominic must fall!! He threatens the power balance!! He is not one of us!!! He was never meant to wear the crest of the us. He is the one the prophecy of Galion speaks of. Besides I was met by a strange figure who is willing to pay us handsomely if we het his head!!!!" she exclaimed at the top of her voice to be heard.

The Colossus tilted its massive head. "You conspire against your own mother’s chosen one?"

Morgan’s eyes flared. "My mother sees only potential, not truth. Dominic’s rise has made her weak. She puts trust in a man she barely knows, in a stranger with a divine purpose to fulfilthe prophecy."

The Colossus bent slightly, its towering figure leaning closer. "And what do you want, Morgan? Speak clearly."

Morgan clenched her fists. "I want power. I want the Ghost Army to follow a true heir. Not a parasite who fucks his way to power. Not a man cursed by a broken world."

A deep rumble issued from the Colossus, like stone shifting under pressure. "And you believe I will help you... because you are her daughter? And because of a sleazy pay."

Morgan reached into her coat and pulled out a fragment of a cursed relic—dark, pulsing with sickly light. "Because I offer you this. The Soulcore of a broken Wraith Lord. With this, you will have more than power. You will be seen again as a god among demons. And in exchange, you will crush Dominic beneath your feet."

The Colossus extended a hand. The relic floated to his palm, absorbed through its thick hide like a drop of water on parched earth.

A moment of silence passed, and then a low chuckle rumbled from the giant.

"You have darkness in you, Morgan Fares. Perhaps more than your mother ever dared to see."

"She’s blind to it," Morgan said flatly. "Blinded by hope. Blinded by Dominic."

The Colossus leaned closer. "Then hear me, daughter of shadows. You shall have your war. But not without a cost."

Morgan blinked. "What cost?"

"If Dominic proves himself in battle... if he defeats the Revenant Trials, if he slays one of us... then you will have to kill your own blood to claim his place. Would you do that, Morgan? Would you strike your mother down to wear her crown?"

The wind howled.

Morgan paused, her heart cold. Then she looked back at the direction of the village, where smoke flickered in the barracks. She wondered what was happening now.

"Yes," she whispered. "I will."

Back in the Colossus encampment—deep within the ruined eastern marshes—ten Colossi awoke from their dormant slumber. These were ancient beings, once worshipped as living weapons in the Great Demon Wars. They were not just massive. They were death incarnate. They ruled the Solo Province.

The first Colossus, called Gravemind, turned to the west. The others followed, their eyes ignited like dying stars.

Gravemind rumbled: "War returns. The pact is forged."

Morgan stood beneath the firelit sky, her fingers still tingling from the resonance of ancient power. She turned to a cloaked warrior beside her—a man with half his face covered in ceremonial black.

"Send word to the assassins hiding in the village. Phase One begins at dawn. I want Dominic isolated. Do not let him near Alice, Lady Fares, or Lillian."

"What of the commanders?" the cloaked man asked.

"Distract them. Corrupt them if possible. Those loyal to me will rise. Those loyal to him will fall."

"Understood."

As the soldier vanished into the shadowed wilderness, Morgan looked once more at the retreating form of the Colossus. Her lips curved.

"Let’s see how long the gods save you now, Dominic. Let’s see if the words "

Meanwhile, at the Ghost Village, unaware of the imminent betrayal, Dominic was beginning to feel the first tremors of unease. In the war tent, surrounded by glowing maps and shifting battle formations, he turned to Lady Fares.

"Something’s not right. I feel it in my bones."

Lady Fares looked up from her strategy board. "Is it Coris again?"

"No," Dominic said. "Something darker. Deeper. Like the earth itself is preparing for collapse."

Alice entered then, her hair damp from a recent patrol, her face sharp with urgency.

"We spotted strange movement near the eastern watchposts. A shape too large for a demon. Taller than any beast we’ve recorded."

Lady Fares’s eyes narrowed.

"Colossi," she whispered.

Lady Fares’s hand froze.

"They were sealed off... locked beyond the Black Crevice."

"Not anymore," Alice said. "And they’re moving."

Dominic looked up. The storm was coming.

But he didn’t know yet—from within his own walls, Morgan was setting the next stone of his downfall.