Chapter 153 – The Summoned
The circle of crimson script burned hotter and hotter until Kael thought it might sear through his skin. The ground beneath him rumbled, the cavernous chamber echoing with an otherworldly hum.
Then, silence.
And out of that silence, a form took shape within the circle.
At first, it was little more than shadow and flame curling into one another. Then the smoke parted like a curtain, and Kael found himself staring at a figure kneeling on the stone floor.
A girl.
No older than him by appearance, yet carrying an aura that felt as ancient as the abyss. Her skin was deep crimson, flawless, with faint etchings of black sigils that seemed to breathe across her arms. Her hair cascaded in dark waves of black, shimmering faintly as though kissed by firelight. Two horns curled back from her forehead, but they were scarred, chipped as if someone had tried to shatter them. Her eyes, however, were the most striking: a pure, unbroken white, like clouds before a storm.
And her body… though her presence radiated danger, she bore the elegance of a woman sculpted with divine precision. Her frame was lithe and graceful, curves sharp yet refined, every movement fluid like water. She seemed the embodiment of feminine beauty, balanced between fragility and danger.
The girl looked up at him—eyes wide, lips trembling—and immediately pressed her forehead to the ground.
"Please," her voice was soft, quivering, almost human. "Don't kill me."
Kael froze. He had expected fire, rage, some twisted monster tearing itself free of the summoning circle. Not this. Not someone pleading for mercy the moment she arrived.
The council, however, erupted.
"She's a daemon!" Rogan's hand shot to his weapon, fury in his eyes. "End her now, before she deceives us all."
"She breathes and speaks—meaning she is capable of deceit," Fenrik growled, his knuckles white. "This could be her ruse to earn pity."
Varik's cold gaze lingered on her, calculating. "Kael… this is no lesser daemon. She is… refined. She could be more dangerous than any hound or brute."
Saekaros hissed low in his throat, his reptilian eyes narrowing. "Daemons do not beg. They barter. Be cautious."
Only Lyria remained silent, her expression torn between suspicion and something softer. She glanced at Kael, waiting for his move.
The girl raised her head slowly, trembling. "I swear it… I mean no harm. I was taken—bound—to the abyss. When you called, I thought… I thought it was freedom. If you kill me, then at least… let it not be back there."
Kael's breath caught. There was no fear of death in her tone, only desperation to escape something worse.
The council was unconvinced.
"Her words mean nothing," Rogan spat. "Kill her and be done with it."
"A mistake could doom us all," Fenrik pressed.
But Kael stepped forward, lifting a hand to halt them. His voice cut through the debate, sharper than steel.
"No."
All eyes turned to him.
"I believe her," Kael said firmly, his chest tight but his voice unwavering. "If the Daemon Lord wished to use this against us, he would have sent a monster, not someone who begs for mercy. Look at her. She is scarred, broken, afraid. Does that sound like a threat to you?"
"She is a threat," Rogan barked. "Because of what she is."
"And yet I was born from dragon and demon," Kael shot back, his chaos aura flaring faintly. "If you judged me only for my blood, we wouldn't be here today. We cannot kill her for what she might be, not before we know who she is."
The chamber fell into uneasy silence. The daemon girl's pale eyes shone with something between disbelief and fragile hope.
And then, before anyone could answer, the air behind Kael shimmered.
A tear split the chamber, a rift yawning open like a wound in the fabric of the world. Dark energy poured through, thick and pulsing, as though the abyss itself had reached across the veil.
The girl let out a gasp, staggering back. "No… they've found me…"
Kael's blood ran cold.
The council drew weapons. The rift widened, hungry and silent, and Kael planted himself between it and the trembling daemon girl.
"Stand behind me," he said, voice steady as stone.
And with that, the Hollow braced for whatever was about to emerge.