It had lasted exactly ten days.
For ten days, the maddening squeak of the wheels, the sound of rain beating against the metal cage, and the clatter of hooves had never ceased. They hadn't used the main roads leading to the capital of the Luxaris Kingdom, but rather the secret, misty passes piercing the heart of the mountains—paths known only to high-ranking officers.
Inside the cage, Lysera was in a state that could hardly be called human anymore. Her lips were cracked from thirst, her wrists scarred and raw from rubbing against the iron shackles. But her eyes… Her eyes had not dimmed. On the contrary, every blow she took, every pang of hunger she suffered during those ten days had become a coal fueling the hatred inside her.
She wasn't screaming. Not because she lacked the strength to scream, but to avoid wasting her energy, she remained silent. She was only whispering. Ceaselessly, in a rhythmic and terrifying tone like a priest reciting a prayer, she was cursing.
Lysera (in a cracked, wheezing whisper): "...Your lineage will wither... The meat you eat will turn to ash, the water you drink to poison... Darven... Kaeltryn... I will carve your names into stone with blood..."
At the very front of the convoy, General Darven Solmar rode upon a massive black warhorse. Rrnaun's right hand, Luxaris's most trusted commander. His back was straight. The heavy cloak on his shoulders was not just a rank; it was the authority of Rrnaun himself. There was no trace of fatigue on his face; he was not just a soldier, but a monument of power.
Right beside him was Kaeltryn, emitting an aura independent of Darven's but just as deadly. He was no ordinary soldier; he was the Leader of the Luxaris Assassin Guild. His eyes constantly scanned the surroundings, accompanying Darven like a silent and lethal snake. Even Rrnaun's elite guards stood holding their breath near this man, the Lord of Assassins.
Finally, at the foothills of the Misty Mountains, the massive iron gate concealed among the ruins appeared: "The Mind Foundry."
As the gates opened with the noise of magic and mechanical gears, Darven did not dismount. He simply raised his gloved hand slightly. This silent order was enough. The convoy halted.
Kaeltryn dismounted as silently as a shadow and made a sharp signal to the guards, not his own assassins. The soldiers opened the cage and dragged Lysera out.
Lysera fell to the ground but immediately lifted her head. Her eyes locked onto Darven.
Lysera: "...Your end... will be at my hands, General..."
Darven looked down at her from atop his horse, emotionless, as if looking at a turbulent weather phenomenon rather than an insect.
Darven: "She is still talking. Master Rrnaun will appreciate this resilience."
They went inside. This was not a damp dungeon, but a sterile and cold laboratory where cutting-edge magic and alchemy blended. The ceilings were high, with complex pipes running everywhere.
In the center of the main hall, standing at the head of a massive table and examining complex diagrams, was High-Alchemist Vex.
However, the corridor they passed through to reach Vex was of a kind that would overshadow even the greatest nightmare Lysera had ever seen.
It was quiet, but this was not a peaceful silence. This was a silence of death where screams knotted in throats and hope was left at the door. The smell in the air was a nauseating mixture of rusted iron, burnt flesh, and heavy chemicals.
Lysera looked in horror at the glass jars she passed while being dragged.
On a table to the right lay a massive warrior. His arms and legs were fixed to the table with metal clamps. But that wasn't the terrifying part. The man's skull had been opened. His brain pulsated under a translucent membrane, with fine silvery needles stuck into specific regions of it. The man's eyes were open but saw nothing; saliva dripped from his mouth down the metal table. He was not conscious; he was now merely a heap of meat consisting of reflexes.
A little further on, there was a group hanging from chains suspended from the ceiling. These were the "failed" subjects. Some laughed to themselves, others rhythmically banged their heads against the wall. A woman whose eyes had been gouged out and replaced with purple crystals was moving her fingers ceaselessly, as if fighting an invisible enemy.
In a cell on the left was a "fresher" victim. This was a young mage. The veins in his body were swollen with Vex's purple fluid, bulging under his skin like worms. The boy writhed in pain but could make no sound; for his lips were sewn together with metal wires. Only muffled moans could be heard.
This was not a dungeon. This was a workshop. And the raw material here was human.
Vex stood in the middle of this gallery of horrors with the ease of an artist in his studio. The metal mask on his face was not a necessity, but a choice; to hide his emotions. Seeing Darven and Kaeltryn arrive, he put down the diagrams. He calmly wiped the bloody scalpel in his hand on a white cloth beside him.
Vex: "General Solmar... And Assassin Leader Kaeltryn..." His voice was smooth and mechanical, like working gears. "You have arrived earlier than I expected, and with a heavier load. This girl... I can feel her."
Vex didn't even approach Lysera. He took a deep breath from afar as if smelling her. His eyes were not on Lysera's body, trembling with a mix of fear and hatred, but on the energy she radiated.
Vex: "Her anger is so intense that it vibrates the mana in the air. Look around you, little girl... These 'things' you see were those with weak wills. They broke. But you... You are different."
Darven approached the table with heavy steps, took off his helmet, and slammed it onto the table. A test tube on the table trembled.
Darven: "I do not want an ordinary soldier, Vex. Master Rrnaun desires not just brute force, but absolute will. This girl has that potential. Do not touch her body. Physically, she is flawless. But her mind... I leave that entirely to your art."
Kaeltryn went to Lysera and grabbed her chin. He was entirely unaffected by the horrific scenes they had just witnessed. He examined the girl with the eye of a professional killer.
Kaeltryn: "There is death in her eyes, Vex. Don't dull it, just turn its barrel towards us. I need such a weapon in my unit. If she turns out like those drooling sacks of meat in the back, I will strangle her with my own hands."
Kaeltryn forced Lysera into Vex's operating chair. As soldiers strapped her arms and legs, Lysera tried to banish the image of the man with the exposed brain from her mind.
She fixed her eyes on Vex's single good eye. She suppressed her fear with her hatred.
Lysera: "...I will hunt you even inside my mind... I will never forget... Never..."
Vex touched Lysera's temples with his long, slender fingers. He smiled. This was not the smile of a madman, but the satisfied smile of a genius about to solve a difficult puzzle.
Vex: "Ah, little lady... 'Forget' is the wrong word. We call this 'purification'. You will be purified of your unnecessary burdens; pain, love, your brother... all of them."
Vex took a special cylinder from the shelf behind him. Inside was a dense fluid, glowing a bright neon purple. The liquid moved inside the tube as if it were alive.
Vex: "This is my masterpiece, General. 'Essence of Void'. It does not break the will; it rewrites it."
As he prepared the needle, Kaeltryn and Darven stood back, arms crossed, waiting as if watching the unveiling of a work of art.
Vex plunged the needle into Lysera's neck.
Lysera gritted her teeth. She did not scream. She would not give them her dignity. But the moment the liquid entered her veins, her whispers ceased.
The purple fluid spread through her veins not like a poison, but like an invader. First, the veins in her neck turned purple. Then it climbed towards her face.
Vex whispered in admiration:
Vex: "Her resistance... Incredible. A normal mind would have liquefied by now. But she is fighting. And the fluid is adapting to her."
And in that moment, the transformation occurred. Lysera's beautiful light copper hair changed color starting from the roots. A vibrant, electrically charged, deep purple flowed down her hair strands like a waterfall.
Her eyes... Those rage-filled pupils trembled, dilated, and were painted completely purple. The natural structure of the human iris vanished, replaced by a pure, magically enhanced purple light.
Her body tensed, then relaxed. Her head dropped forward. The whispers had completely fallen silent.
The hall fell into silence. There was only the hum of machines and the moans of the failed subjects nearby.
Vex waited. He waited for Lysera to surrender completely, for that purple light to take over her entire body.
But Lysera did not surrender.
Her body trembled, her veins bulged, but then suddenly stopped. She lifted her head slowly, with an almost noble movement.
The image that emerged was unique and shocking enough to mesmerize everyone in the room. The hair on the right side of her head had turned into that terrifying yet mesmerizing, shiny neon purple from root to tip. However, her left side… Her left side was still her natural copper color, shining like the sun.
The contrast of these two colors gave her an air that was not just terrifying, but exotic and lethally attractive.
When she lifted her face, Vex stepped back in admiration. Lysera's right eye looked out with a soulless, jewel-like purple light, having lost its human quality. But her left eye… That left eye was still that warm, human hazel color. And in that hazel eye, there was no fear, but pure, sharp hatred. Her will had stopped the void injected into her veins right in the middle.
Lysera (in a dual-toned, echoing but calm voice): "You cannot… take me… completely…"
Kaeltryn whistled. He couldn't take his eyes off Lysera.
Kaeltryn: "Damn it... Look at that. Half night, half day. In this state... she is frighteningly beautiful."
Vex shook off his surprise and smiled with a sickly admiration. He walked to the massive metal cabinet behind him. He threw the cabinet doors wide open. Inside, stacked from floor to ceiling, hundreds, perhaps thousands of Essence of Void tubes glowed. The room was bathed in purple light.
Vex took three more tubes from the shelf and turned to Lysera.
Vex: "Ah, darling... This image... This aesthetic... Even more magnificent than I expected. You resisted one drop, and a masterpiece emerged. But what about ten drops? A hundred drops?" He rattled the tubes in his hand. "I have plenty of time. And my resources are unlimited. There is no escape from here. But honestly, I hope you resist. Because this version of you... will be Valerium's most dazzling weapon."
As Vex prepared the second needle, a tear rolled down from Lysera's single hazel eye. But this was not a tear of surrender; it was a silent promise sealing an oath of revenge.
At the same hour, miles away, a completely different atmosphere prevailed in Aethelgard, the capital of the Luxaris Empire.
The city had turned into a festival ground. Magical fireworks were being launched into the sky, and the people had poured into the streets, shouting.
Crowd: "RRNAUN! RRNAUN! ARCHITECT OF VICTORY!"
Lord Rrnaun, entering through the city's massive golden gates, did not respond to this flood of affection. He rode his black horse, hiding his wounded shoulder under a magnificent cloak. There was disgust on his face for the people. They were merely sheep to be protected; and he was the shepherd.
Cutting through the crowd, he reached that unimaginable structure in the center of the city, the Sky Palace. The palace was a tower made of white marble and gold, high enough to touch the clouds.
Rrnaun dismounted and stormed in without looking at the guards. He passed the throne room. He passed the ministers' chambers. He passed the generals' meeting halls.
He was constantly ascending. As he climbed the spiral stairs, the sounds diminished, and the air grew colder. When he reached the very top, he stood before that massive, carved door that only the imperial family could enter.
Rrnaun, the most feared man in the empire, bowed his head the moment he entered the room with that heavy black cloak on his shoulders and the deep sword wound on his shoulder. There was no trace of his arrogant stance. He was merely a servant. Trying not to put weight on his injured shoulder, he went down on one knee.
Rrnaun: "Your Majesty..."
The tulles around the massive, pure white bed in the center of the room moved slightly with the wind. The voice coming from within was not a human voice. It sounded like the soothing sound of a waterfall and the terrifying roar of a storm simultaneously.
Valerith (from behind the curtain, peaceful but authoritative): "Rrnaun... Your footsteps are heavy, your breathing is irregular. My invincible sword is damaged."
Rrnaun swallowed hard. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
Rrnaun: "Thalos and Sira are dead, my Lord. Their bodies rot in our vaults. But..." He paused. Saying this was like signing his own death warrant. "Devranna... She escaped my grasp. She threw herself into the abyss."
There was silence. Even the wind stopped. Then, from behind the curtain, a laugh was heard, elegant as a thin crystal goblet breaking.
Valerith: "So it was Devranna... Is that old bitch still alive?"
The moment the laughter ended, the air in the room suddenly became a thousand times heavier. It was as if gravity had collapsed onto Rrnaun. Rrnaun couldn't breathe. His lungs were being crushed, his bones cracking. Without moving a finger, Valerith had pinned Rrnaun to the floor solely with her aura. Rrnaun, that ruthless commander, was now trembling like a dying insect on the ground.
Valerith (her voice ice-cold): "I gave you a task, Rrnaun. And you came to me with half a victory. Give me one reason why I shouldn't disassemble you into dust right now."
Rrnaun couldn't speak, only managing to produce a wheeze. Just as his vision was about to go dark, the pressure suddenly lifted.
The tulle curtains slowly parted to the sides. And Valerith emerged.
She was so beautiful that looking at her burned the eyes. She had snow-white hair that flowed like liquid silver down to her waist. Her skin was as smooth as porcelain. The white silk nightgown she wore rippled in the wind, embracing her flawless body. But most striking were her eyes: They were pure white. There were no pupils, just a pure, divine light.
Slowly, floating as if walking on air, she came to Rrnaun's side. She leaned down. That terrifying aura was gone, replaced by motherly compassion.
She placed her elegant, slender hand on the deep, bloody wound on Rrnaun's shoulder.
Valerith: "Shh... Calm down, my loyal servant."
A white light emanated from her hand. Rrnaun's torn flesh, his severed muscles knitted together in seconds. Not even a scar remained. Rrnaun held his shoulder in astonishment; the pain was completely gone.
Valerith held Rrnaun's chin, lifted his head, and smiled into his face.
Valerith: "You will make up for your mistake, won't you, Rrnaun?"
Just as Rrnaun was about to answer, the room's door opened sharply. A tall man entered, wearing a flawless black suit, a monocle over one eye, his hair slicked back. This was Butler Sebastian. He was one of Valerith's 5 Most Loyal Servants and held the same rank as Rrnaun.
Holding a silver tray, Bastian looked at Rrnaun with disgust.
Bastian: "How dare you! Disturbing our Lady's sleep at this hour of the night, Rrnaun! You have soiled these holy marbles with your bloody boots."
Valerith raised her hand slightly.
Valerith: "It is fine, Sebastian. Rrnaun was leaving anyway."
Rrnaun stood up, bowed, and backed out of the room under Sebastian's piercing gaze.
As soon as Rrnaun left, the motherly smile on Valerith's face gave way to a cold seriousness.
Valerith: "Come out."
The shadows behind Valerith elongated, twisted, and three dark silhouettes rose from the floor. These beings, formed of black smoke, knelt behind Valerith.
Valerith walked towards the balcony with an uncanny smile on her face.
Valerith: "Find me Devranna. Find her in whichever hole in the world she has crawled into, whichever stone she has turned into." She turned her back and looked at the shadows. Valerith: "And I want her alive. Not a single hair on her head is to be harmed."
The shadows received the order and silently vanished.
Valerith sat on the elegant chair on the balcony. The capital lay beneath her feet. The wind tossed her hair. Sebastian approached silently and poured steaming herbal tea from a silver pot into a thin-waisted cup.
Valerith took a sip of her tea, fixing her eyes on the horizon, towards those dark forests where Devranna had fled. A smile appeared on her lips, harboring both longing and pure evil.
Valerith: "So hide-and-seek is over... Even my dear sister has finally decided to reveal herself, huh? Ahh, I can't wait, I wonder what she will do with that dead boy."
She giggled to herself. This sound was the harbinger of the approaching storm.