Commander Ren's house arrest was a mere formality. Grand Commander Valerius hadn't withdrawn his Forged Light Essence but had instead placed it under surveillance. Ren was imprisoned, yet his power was his own prison. Seated on the floor of his quarters, Ren focused. He knew the monitoring network sought any fluctuation of Shadow or Chaos. But the final sabotage the Ash Queen had demanded didn't require dark magic; it required the betrayal of the Light.
He needed access to the Conclave's main energy system. The backup generators were located beneath the Chapel of Light, Aethelgard's most sacred place. Ren invoked his Rune Blade Magic, not to attack but to deceive. He made his aura shine with an intensity of absolute purity and devotion, fooling the sensors and watching guards. Under the cloak of his forced piety, he activated the access crystal hidden in his bracelet. He moved through sealed corridors like a ghost, his mind focused on the sacrifice.
The Desecration of the Chapel
The Chapel of Light was a space of white marble and gold, where Forged energy was so dense it felt like a warm breeze. For Ren, this Light was now poison. He descended into the underground vault. The backup generator, a vast ring of ancestral runes stabilizing the dome's shield, pulsed with the Celestial King's essence. To destroy it completely, Ren couldn't use explosives. He had to inject a lethal overdose of pure Forged Light into the system, causing total self-destruction, irreparable.
Ren removed his gauntlets, revealing the scars Paladin training had left on his hands. "I promised you, Kaito," Ren whispered, his voice breaking. "I'll get you out of here. At any cost." He placed both hands on the generator's rune ring. Ren channeled all his Paladin Essence into the machine. The power was immense. It was the oath of his entire life, all his faith, all his identity, poured into an act of annihilation. The generator's runes screamed. The Light rose in a blinding column. Ren felt his soul detach from his body, burned by his own magic.
The generator imploded, not with fire but with a cold, white light that extinguished instantly. In that moment, Aethelgard's Dome went dark entirely. The ancestral shield, protecting the city for centuries, vanished. Aethelgard lay bare before the Shadow. The Ash Bond in Ren's soul was no longer oppressive; it was triumphant.
A Journey into the Abyss
Ren limped to the meeting point in the city's sealed section. Panic already spread through streets where Paladins saw the open, dark sky for the first time. In an alley, a hooded figure waited. Not the Queen but Lysandra Vane. The former Inquisitor, now a servant of the Queen, smiled coldly. "The traitor Commander. An ironic twist." "The portal," Ren ordered, ignoring the mockery. "I fulfilled my part." Lysandra didn't hesitate. From her hand, a rent in reality materialized, a vortex of Shadow and sulfurous smoke. It was the gate to the Ash Citadel. "The Queen awaits you. Remember the deal, Paladin. Now you're a slave twice over." Ren didn't look back. There was nothing to save, only his brother's soul. He crossed the threshold.
The portal's impact was brutal. Ren fell into a cavernous hall where air was thick with dark power. Magical pressure was crushing, forcing him to kneel. His Forged Light, now drained and isolated, felt ridiculous. The Ash Queen, seated on her basalt throne, watched him with eyes gleaming maliciously. "Welcome home, Ren. You fulfilled your part of the bargain." "Kaito. I want my brother, I want my brother," Ren said, struggling to breathe. The Queen smiled. Her gesture wasn't cruelty but absolute control. "Of course. I present to you the new Specter of the Ash." A figure emerged from shadows. He wore dark robes, black hair falling over his face. There was no trace of the frightened prisoner. It was Kaito. Kaito stood beside the Queen, his aura no longer needing the Infiltration Cloak. His Chaos had settled into cold, dangerous discipline. "You're in my house now, Ren," Kaito said with soulless coldness. "And the Queen promised me that if I captured you, she'd let me train you." Ren felt ultimate terror. He had bargained for his own enslavement, not Kaito's. His brother wasn't a victim but a weapon he himself had handed over and strengthened. "Begin the training, Specter," the Queen ordered. Kaito smiled.
The Tome I has concluded.