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Chapter 7: Breaking Chains, Forging Monsters
Two weeks passed.
The wilds beyond the city knew no peace. Entire swathes of forest lay barren, trees turned to ash, beasts reduced to husks. At the center of it all, Malik knelt on blood-soaked ground, violet lightning dancing along his frame. His body had changed — sharper, leaner, every fiber coiled with terrifying vitality.
His aura surged, a storm that bent the air itself.
"First Order… Ninth Tier." His voice was calm, but his violet eyes burned with madness and clarity both. "Just a step away from perfection."
Every beast, every assassin, every night of pain and hunger had driven him forward. His body wasn't just evolving — it was rewriting itself. His fists crackled with both chaos and speed, his tendrils stronger, his reflexes sharper.
Yet the hunger remained. Always gnawing. Always whispering.
"…Then I'll feed it the world," he murmured coldly, rising to his feet.
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In the Aderenle estate, the clang of steel rang through the courtyard.
Nabila stood across from Nyx, her breathing ragged but her aura steadier than ever. She had broken through the limits of her first order, stepping into the Second Order, First Tier. Her strikes were faster, heavier, her presence sharper.
Nyx circled her slowly. "Better. You've crossed the wall. But remember — strength without will is nothing."
Nabila wiped sweat from her brow, eyes burning.
"I won't stop. Not until I'm free. Not until I can protect what I…" Her voice faltered. She thought of Malik, of his eyes, his vow. Her chest tightened, but she steadied herself.
"…What I choose."
From the shadows of the courtyard, Najima watched silently.
The younger Aderenle daughter — delicate where Nabila was radiant, smaller where Nabila was statuesque — clenched her fists until her nails drew blood.
Always her. Always Nabila.
Najima trained twice as hard, cut herself raw, but still she was the shadow, the second daughter, the forgotten star behind the blazing sun.
Her eyes glistened as she whispered to herself, low and furious:
"I'll surpass them all. Sister, prince, even that boy you protect… I'll prove I exist."
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Meanwhile, in the royal palace, Dick's aura exploded in crimson waves. The marble around him cracked, his training hall shuddering under the pressure. His obsession, his rage, his hatred for Malik and his twisted desire to dominate Nabila drove him forward like fire in his veins.
He laughed bitterly, his eyes wild.
"Second Order… Fifth Tier!"
He slammed his fist into the stone wall, shattering it to rubble.
"No one will take what's mine. Not Malik. Not her. I'll break her chains, I'll bend her will, I'll make her kneel before me!"
His laughter echoed, a mad chorus bouncing off the walls of the palace.
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But not all laughter carried joy.
In the Aderenle mansion's inner chamber, Lord Aderenle sat hunched over his desk, his hands trembling. Scrolls of alliances, decrees, and promises lay scattered like chains around him.
His wife stood in the doorway, her expression weary and sorrowful.
"Still you hesitate."
He closed his eyes, voice breaking. "If I defy the King, he'll destroy us. But if I obey… I destroy her."
"Then you must choose what kind of father you wish to be," she said softly.
The silence between them was suffocating. A crack formed that night — a fracture in the Aderenle family that no amount of noble dignity could mend.
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And so, while Malik sharpened himself into a storm in the wilds, Nabila forged her path under Nyx's merciless hand, Dick burned in madness and ambition, and Najima carved herself in the shadows…
The balance of power shifted.
The cracks deepened.
And the city unknowingly inched closer to the chaos written in prophecy.
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