Chapter 5 — The Price of Being Hunted

The city of Arkenfall was burning.

Not literally.

At least, not yet.

But the streets were filled with chaos.

Guards flooded the western district while magical barriers rose around the city gates.

Every few seconds, another bell rang.

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

Lyra pulled her hood over her head.

"We have to leave."

I looked at the destroyed warehouse behind us.

"Agreed."

Nero stood beside me, his black scales reflecting the moonlight.

I looked at him.

"You can shrink, right?"

Nero tilted his head.

"You're telling me you can control a monster but you don't know whether it can shrink?"

"I've known him for about six hours."

Lyra sighed.

"Nero."

The wolf's body suddenly began changing.

His enormous frame shrank.

His scales disappeared beneath dark fur.

Within seconds, the terrifying Infernal Wolf had become a creature roughly the size of a large dog.

I stared.

"You're kidding."

Nero barked.

Lyra smiled faintly.

"Most magical beasts can alter their appearance."

"That's convenient."

I crouched.

"Nero, from now on, you're a dog."

Nero looked offended.

"He's definitely judging me."

"He is."

"Great."

We moved through the abandoned district.

Lyra knew the city surprisingly well.

Every time we heard soldiers approaching, she found another alley.

Every time a magical detection spell appeared, she created an illusion.

Eventually, I asked the question that had been bothering me.

"How do you know this city so well?"

She didn't answer.

"Lyra."

Nothing.

"Seriously."

She stopped.

For a moment, she simply stared at the ground.

Then she said quietly:

"I grew up here."

I blinked.

"You grew up in Arkenfall?"

She nodded.

"My mother was an elf who lived inside the city."

"What about your father?"

She looked away.

"Human."

That explained something.

"That's why you can enter the city?"

"No."

She looked at me.

"That's why I was never supposed to be here."

I frowned.

"What happened?"

Lyra continued walking.

"When I was young, the kingdom discovered that my mother was an elf."

She paused.

"Humans and elves aren't exactly friends."

"I noticed."

"They arrested her."

I became silent.

"What happened to her?"

"Executed."

I looked at Lyra.

She didn't cry.

She didn't look angry.

That somehow made it worse.

"How old were you?"

"Eight."

I didn't know what to say.

So I said nothing.

After a while, she spoke again.

"My father tried to protect me."

"Did he survive?"

"No."

Two words.

That was all.

I looked ahead.

For the first time, I understood why she had been so willing to help me.

She wasn't simply afraid of the kingdom.

She hated it.

But there was something else.

"Then why did you save me?"

She stopped.

"What?"

"You could have walked away."

She looked at me.

"You were a stranger."

"Technically, you are also a stranger."

"You're difficult."

"So I've been told."

She smiled.

Just slightly.

"I don't know."

She looked toward the city.

"Maybe because when I saw that mark..."

She touched her own chest.

"I remembered what it felt like to be hunted."

I didn't answer.

Neither did she.

For a while, we simply walked.

Near midnight, we reached the western wall.

The main gate was heavily guarded.

Hundreds of soldiers stood there.

Magical barriers covered the entire entrance.

Lyra looked at me.

"We can't go through."

"Can you teleport?"

"No."

"Illusion?"

"Won't work on the barrier."

"Can Nero destroy it?"

She looked at the small dog beside us.

"Nero could probably destroy the gate."

Nero barked proudly.

"But then the entire army would know where we are."

"Right."

I looked at the wall.

It was enormous.

At least thirty meters high.

"Then we'll climb."

Lyra stared at me.

"How?"

I pointed upward.

"Like this."

I grabbed a broken piece of stone and threw it.

It stuck into the wall.

I stared.

Lyra stared.

Nero stared.

"...That wasn't supposed to happen."

The stone had embedded itself halfway into solid stone.

I touched the black mark on my palm.

A thought came to me.

"Sovereign."

The mark pulsed.

[COMMAND]

[Target: Stone]

[Authority insufficient.]

I frowned.

"Can't command stone?"

I tried again.

"Dominion."

The system appeared.

[DOMINION]

[Target: Stone Wall]

[Authority difference: Insufficient.]

Nothing happened.

I sighed.

"Apparently I'm not king of rocks."

Lyra covered her mouth.

"Are you laughing?"

"No."

"You are."

"I'm not."

She was definitely laughing.

Then I noticed something.

A faint black line appeared beneath my feet.

I looked down.

The ground was glowing.

"What is that?"

Lyra's expression changed.

"Move!"

Too late.

A magic circle appeared.

BOOM!

The ground beneath us disappeared.

We fell.

I opened my eyes.

Something was lying on top of me.

I pushed it away.

"Nero?"

The dog barked.

Lyra was sitting nearby.

She was covered in dirt.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

I looked around.

We were underground.

A massive tunnel stretched ahead.

Ancient stone walls surrounded us.

Symbols covered every surface.

Lyra walked toward one.

She touched it.

Her face went pale.

"What?"

She didn't answer.

I approached.

The symbols suddenly changed.

They rearranged themselves.

A language I had never learned became readable.

THE SOVEREIGN WILL RETURN.

I froze.

Lyra stared at the wall.

"That's impossible."

Another line appeared.

WHEN THE WORLD REJECTS HIM, THE GATE WILL OPEN.

The black mark on my palm began glowing.

Then the entire tunnel shook.

A gigantic stone door at the end of the passage slowly opened.

Behind it was darkness.

And something was breathing inside.

THUMP.

THUMP.

THUMP.

Nero growled.

I took a step backward.

"What is that?"

Lyra whispered:

"I don't know."

The system appeared.

[HIDDEN LOCATION DISCOVERED]

[DUNGEON: ???]

[RANK: UNDEFINED]

[WARNING]

[THIS LOCATION SHOULD NOT EXIST.]

The door opened completely.

A voice echoed from the darkness.

Not human.

Not demonic.

Ancient.

"Welcome back, Sovereign."

I froze.

Lyra grabbed my arm.

"Kai..."

The voice continued.

"We have been waiting for you."

The darkness opened like a pair of enormous eyes.

And something inside smiled.

"For three hundred years."

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