Leo stared at the floating chain, his heart hammering against his ribs. The silence was so absolute it made his ears ring. Beside him, the werewolf was a statue of murderous intent, its claw still extended toward the empty air where Leo's heart had been a second ago.
''Who are you?'' Leo rasped, his voice sounding hollow in the stagnant air.
The chain pulsed once, a ripple of red light expanding from the metal links. ''A fragment of a memory. A shadow of a queen who once commanded the very blood you now claim as your own,'' the voice replied.
Leo narrowed his eyes, glancing at the frozen battlefield. ''Did you stop time?''
''Time is merely a river, and I have briefly dammed the flow to keep your spark from being snuffed out,'' the voice echoed. ''But do not mistake this for a gift, child. You are dangerously weak if you cannot perceive that your opponent has inherited a Hero's Legacy.''
''A Legacy? I thought only Lords could summon Heroes- those who retain their original talents,'' Leo countered, his mind racing.
The voice sighed, the sound echoing with eons of disappointment. ''There are no fixed rules in Origin. Some Lords refuse to let their legends die; they leave Legacies. Some are merely hoards of treasure, but others contain the very Essence of their talent. This mutt has claimed one- the ability to manifest a perfect shadow of himself.''
'Legacy' Leo thought of the twilight queen legacy quest he got, glancing at the coat.
He looked at the frozen beast. Aside from the missing stone axe, the clone was a flawless replica. 'There is only one true Alpha,' he realized.
The crimson space began to vibrate, the edges of reality groaning under the strain. ''My grip is failing. Remember this: do not hunt recklessly. To lift your blade without knowing your enemy is to invite your own end.''
The chain drifted back to his neck, the links fusing with a cold click. A final command resonated in his mind: ''Mythical treasures are anchors of reality, yet you are too frail to awaken us. I have unlocked a new authority of the ring- It will be useful to your journey. Until we meet again, Child.''
Leo didn't waste a second checking the new feature; he used the old authority of his artifact, which he hadn't needed to use so far.
Active Effect – Vanishing Edict
Become undetectable to all beings below S-rank
Duration: 1 hour
Usable once per day
The altered time snapped back into place. The raindrops fell with their natural rhythm, no longer suspended like glass beads. The werewolf's claws pierced the empty air, slamming into the mud with enough force to send a spray of dirt flying.
It stood paralyzed, its primal senses screaming in confusion. 'He was here. I felt his blood. I felt his fear.' The beast sniffed the air, its snout wrinkling in frustration, but Leo had become a ghost- a phantom that even an Epic-grade D-rank beast could no longer perceive.
Its bewilderment lasted only a heartbeat. Sensing the shift in the atmosphere, the Alpha tried to spin around, but it was already too late.
Malphas appeared like a crimson reaper, his heavy claymore glowing with a dark, suffocating light. With a roar of displaced air, the blade cleaved through the werewolf's shoulder, biting deep into its chest. The impact was so great that the earth beneath the beast shattered, creating a crater in the mud.
BOOMM!
Malphas didn't stop. He kicked the creature in the ribs, sending it flying across the camp, while his eyes scanned the area frantically for Leo. He could feel the connection to his Lord, but he couldn't see him.
Sylvia and Aurella skidded to a halt nearby. Sylvia's emerald eyes darted toward the blood-stained mud, her composure cracking. ''Leo! Where is he? Aurella, find him''
The guardian's eyes turned a solid, blinding gold, but she quickly recoiled.''He is... gone. Not dead, but erased. I cannot track him.''
"Impossible,'' Sylvia whispered, her brow furrowed in disbelief.
Meanwhile, Leo was standing less than three meters away from them. He watched their panic with a strange, detached feeling. His back still stung from the shallow wound, but the Vanishing Edict was absolute. He was a ghost on his own battlefield.
'These mythical artifacts are really something,' he thought, looking at his trembling hands.
He sent a silent pulse through the mental link: I am safe. Finish them.
The knight stiffened with relief but maintained his grim focus, engaging the clone while Aurella launched toward the boss at the cave mouth.
Time was his most precious resource, and the hour of invisibility was ticking away. He turned his back on the chaos and sprinted toward the cave. The two guards at the entrance were looking toward the fight, their hackles raised. Leo walked right between them, his footsteps silent on the stone floor.
As he pushed deeper into the earth, the sounds of slaughter died away, replaced by the hollow rhythm of limestone dripping and a shimmering golden luminescence.
'What could be so precious that a High Elf would barter a Clear Chest for it?' he wondered.
The passage constricted, the floor slick with wet moisture, until it opened into a grotto. A golden pond sat at the center, its surface obscured by a thick, sandalwood-scented mist that threatened to pull him into a deep slumber.
Through the fog, he saw it: an uneven, jagged stone levitating over the water. It pulsed with a rhythmic, embryonic heat. The obsidian ring on his finger throbbed with a violent crimson light.
[Spirit Womb]
[Details: A rare treasure formed from the condensation of eons of Aether. High probability of birthing a High-Grade Spirit or Elemental Sovereign]
Leo's breath caught in his throat. ''Oh... so this is the prize.''
''Wait... wait,'' Leo muttered, lifting his hand. 'So you can also do this, huh? Damn, that's cool.' He chuckled at his artifact's new feature, which was finally making up for his lack of knowledge about this world.
As his gaze drifted back to the shimmering pond, a secondary window flickered into existence.
[Material: Ambrosia Dew]
[Details: A rare distillation of Aether and primal spiritual energy. Consuming or applying this liquid grants the user Eternal Beauty.]
''Beauty?'' Leo's lip curled in a derisive sneer. ''You've got to be kidding me. Who has time for vanity in a place like this?''
He paused, his tactical mind whirring. ''Wait... is Sylvia after the egg, or is she just looking for a cosmic facial?'' He paced the narrow stone bank, the golden mist clinging to his coat. 'If I take this and she comes for the egg, I'm inviting a war. But if I leave it...'
Greed won out. 'I'll take it. If she complains, I'll negotiate.'
He manipulated the Blood from his artifact, forming thin tendrils that wrapped around the Spirit Womb and pulled it into his grasp. The moment his skin made contact, the stone thrummed with a rhythmic, fetal heartbeat, acknowledging his presence.
'So this was the Alpha's true treasure,' he mused. He willed the object into his inventory, but a harsh system chime rebuked him.
[System Warning: Living entities cannot be localized within the Inventory. Transfer to the Lord's Sigil is required.]
Leo's jaw tightened. This was a complication. The Lord's Sigil acted as a bridge between Origin and his home world, but its capacity was tethered to his rank. At E-rank, he was limited to five uncommon existences or one rare-grade soul. Binding this unknown entity now was a gamble; he had no idea what would emerge or how much 'space' it would eventually occupy.
''To hell with the risks. The system said it's a high-grade spirit. I'm not leaving it behind,'' Leo decided. He initiated the transfer, and the Sigil on his arm burned with a cold, violet light.
The Spirit Womb dissolved into particles of light. Leo closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, sensing the interior of his Sigil- a vast, silent void where the golden stone now drifted in a state of suspended animation.
''Nice. Now let's kill those bastards,'' Leo whispered. He turned on his heel, his invisibility still cloaking him as he sprinted back toward the cavern entrance.
***
Ring of the Unremembered Sovereign
Type: Relic (Passive / Active)
Rank: Mythic (Growth-Type)
Description: A ring forged from erased bloodlines. It allows its bearer to exist outside notice.
Passive Effects:
Conceals true race, bloodline purity, and talent rank. Allows customization of a false profile. Suppresses abnormal aura leakage
Active Effect – Vanishing Edict
Become undetectable to all beings below S-rank
Duration: 1 hour
Usable once per day
Authority(NEW): Appraisal
Growth Trait:
Effect potency increases with the host's bloodline purity. Detection threshold may rise in later stages