A funeral silence dominated the office.
Not a fleeting fear…
But the silence before an empire's fall.
The air was thick with the scent of burned magical dust, and the remnants of violet energy still flickered like dying sparks in the corners.
The system screen before my eyes blinked red, and a high-pitched ringing buzzed in my ears like an alarm that refused to stop.
But the most terrifying…
Was not the dust.
Nor the chains.
Nor even the Shadow Guard.
It was the tone.
The calm, almost paternal tone in which Emperor Marcus announced his desire to kill his only son.
Kaian still stood before me, sword drawn, shoulders stiff as rock defying a storm.
He didn't move for a long moment.
I saw his father's reflection in his golden irises—distorted, as if the paternal image was shattering piece by piece.
"Father…?"
The word escaped him like a painful confession.
The Emperor pushed the door wide and entered.
He wore no crown.
He didn't need one.
A simple black robe, yet the aura surrounding him pressed on my chest like an invisible hand.
His face mirrored Kaian's eerily—the same sharp lines, the same regal gaze—but without fire… without humanity.
Behind him, in the shadows, movement stirred.
The Shadow Guard.
Faceless men. Nameless. Merciless.
[System Alert: Entity "Marcus Xsaros".]
[Level: Unmeasurable.]
[Confirmed Skill: Soul Devour.]
[Emergency Mission: Escape the Dragon Cage.]
[Reward: +200 Days of Life + Unlock Legendary Armory.]
Two hundred days.
This was no ordinary threat.
This was a final boss.
"Why?"
Kaian's voice changed. No longer a crown prince addressing an emperor.
A son asking his father.
Marcus laughed.
A dry sound… like bones slowly breaking.
He stepped forward. The black floor beneath him cracked with shadowed veins.
"You became too strong, Kaian."
"You were my sword. I sent you to wars, I made you the empire's beast… but blades too sharp frighten even their owners."
Then he turned toward me.
His eyes swept over me with cold contempt.
"And you, Evelyn… you were perfect."
He smiled.
"Weak. Jealous. Trivial. The right wife to bind my son's wings."
Blood froze in my veins.
"But to awaken the violet spark within you? To save him twice? To merge your energy with his aura?"
His smile changed.
"You've ruined my game."
So it wasn't just an assassination.
It was political genetic engineering.
He wanted me a puppet… and when I became an unpredictable variable… he decided to erase me.
[Warning: 30 seconds until "Shadow Bind" activation.]
[Suggested Option: Violet Mana Explosion.]
[Cost: 50 Charm Points + 12-hour coma.]
A coma?
In front of this monster?
Impossible.
"Kaian!" I grabbed his hand tightly.
"He doesn't speak as a father. He speaks as a king afraid to be dethroned!"
He didn't look at me.
But he squeezed my hand.
"I know." His voice was eerily calm.
"I knew… but I needed a reason to stop denying it."
The Emperor raised his hand.
Shadows in the room shifted.
From under the desks, from the ceiling corners, from between the books—
Black chains slithered out like hungry serpents.
The air grew heavier.
"Enough," Marcus said coldly.
"You will die, Kaian, as a hero betrayed by his sorceress fiancée. And you…" He turned to me, "will die as a tool that failed to obey its master."
[10 seconds.]
Laila.
If I die now… let it be the end, and let me choose its form.
I opened the system interface.
Then I saw an option that had never existed before.
[Cursed Twin Pact.]
[Bind life for 500% power increase for 5 minutes.]
[If one dies… the other dies instantly.]
[Do you accept?]
Five hundred percent.
Five minutes.
Absolute risk.
But…
We were already in hell.
"Yes."
The moment I touched the chains around my ankles, light exploded.
Violet from my chest.
Golden from Kaian's body.
The energies met in the air—not clashing, but coiling around each other like twin dragons dancing before war.
A silent blast shook the office.
Windows shattered.
The chains evaporated.
The Emperor… stepped back.
For the first time.
"Impossible…" he whispered.
Kaian didn't wait.
He surged forward.
But it wasn't just an attack.
A golden whirlwind pierced the air.
His sword ignited with true dragon fire, wings of flame stretching behind him.
Colliding with his father's blade.
The first strike shattered the floor.
The second blasted the wall.
Magic was no longer energy… it was catastrophe.
The Shadow Guard surged toward me.
I opened my palms.
Violet energy shot out like sharp thorns.
One fell.
Two recoiled.
But there were too many.
[Mission Updated: Protect the Link Point.]
[Remaining Pact Duration: 4:12]
The link point.
I felt it.
In my chest.
In his chest.
An invisible thread between us.
And suddenly—
A sudden chill.
I turned.
Isabella.
Hovering outside the shattered balcony, white light surrounding her like a fallen saint.
A black lace mask covered half her face, but her eyes… burned with open hatred.
In her hand—
A dagger.
Pure black, its edge glinting with dark silver light.
[Immediate Alert!]
[Soul Dagger.]
[Anti-Twin Pact Weapon.]
[Targets the link point directly.]
Of course.
The Emperor never played without a backup plan.
"Thought you'd won?"
Her voice was soft… venomous.
"The Emperor promised to restore my beauty… in exchange for your heart."
Time left: 3:27
Kaian was still locked with his father.
Golden energy collided with dense black shadows.
He could not see her.
She waited for the moment.
I raised my hands, but my body began to collapse.
500% power… meant 500% pressure.
The thread between us ignited.
And suddenly—
Something inside my chest… moved.
Not my heart.
Deeper.
Something ancient.
Something the system hadn't opened.
A voice.
A roar.
[Warning: Unclassified internal entity detected.]
[Possible Name: Dragon Heart.]
[Status: Seal Broken 12%… 18%… 31%…]
The pain was unbearable.
I dropped to the floor.
Isabella surged forward.
The dagger aimed directly at my chest.
At the thread.
At our lives.
"End it."
But before the blade touched my skin—
Something erupted from within me.
Not violet.
But… dark crimson fire.
A massive dragon shadow manifested behind me, incomplete, translucent, yet terrifying.
It roared.
The sound was not heard by the ear.
But felt within the bones.
Isabella froze midair.
The dagger trembled.
[Seal Broken 62%]
The air cracked.
Marcus turned sharply.
For the first time… fear appeared in his eyes.
Kaian felt it.
He turned toward me.
The golden energy around him flickered.
The dragon behind me opened its eyes.
Nightfire-colored eyes.
It extended a spectral claw—
And struck.
Not Isabella.
But the dagger.
The legendary weapon split.
Shattered into halves.
Isabella screamed.
The pact between Kaian and me blazed with unprecedented force.
[Pact Status: Transforming.]
[From "Cursed" to "Sovereign."]
[Duration Extended.]
[Warning: Unconsciousness imminent.]
I fell.
But before losing consciousness…
I saw something I would never forget.
Marcus stared at me.
Not as an emperor.
But as a man seeing a real threat for the first time in decades.
And whispered:
"So… the dragon has chosen you."
Darkness swallowed me.