Silence ruled the Court of Chains.
Nyra's words hung in the air like a blade poised to fall.
Arin felt the chains around his arm loosen slightly—not from mercy, but curiosity. The court was listening now. Watching not a test subject, but a possibility.
"You broke protocol," Kaalith said calmly, though his eyes were sharp. "Interference is not permitted."
Nyra didn't look at him. Her gaze never left Arin.
"I earned the right," she replied. "By surviving."
A low murmur rippled across the platforms.
Surviving a Link process was rare.
Remaining self-aware afterward was almost unheard of.
Arin swallowed, the pull toward his sister still burning in his chest. "What did they do to you?"
Nyra exhaled slowly. "What they're trying to do to you—but cleaner. I agreed. I drank. I thought control was strength."
She lifted her hand.
Crimson chakra bloomed around it—dense, refined, terrifyingly stable.
Gasps echoed through the court.
"This is demon chakra shaped by human will," Nyra continued. "No madness. No collapse. Just… ownership."
Arin felt something inside him react.
Envy.
Fear.
Hope.
"And the cost?" he asked quietly.
Nyra's fingers trembled.
"They erased my anchor," she said. "My family. My name in the human world. Every memory that could pull me back."
The court spoke in unison.
"A NECESSARY SACRIFICE."
Arin's jaw tightened. "You killed them."
"WE REMOVED THE WEAK POINT."
Nyra laughed bitterly. "See how they say it? Like it's kindness."
Kaalith stepped forward. "Enough. The Link must choose."
The chains tightened again, reminding Arin that this was not a debate.
"Arin," Nyra said urgently, "listen to me. They don't need you to agree forever. Just once. One sip. One surrender."
The vision hit him.
His sister—alive, unharmed, standing free beside him.
His body stronger than any demon.
The Demon King silent within him, chained instead of ruling.
It was tempting.
Too tempting.
"What happens after?" Arin asked the court.
The answer came slower this time.
"YOU WILL BE OUR GENERAL."
"OUR BRIDGE."
"OUR END."
Arin laughed softly.
The sound echoed strangely in the vast hall.
"So that's it," he said. "You don't want to save the realm. You want to conquer both."
Nyra's eyes widened slightly.
"You see it now," she whispered.
Arin lifted his chained arm—and instead of resisting, he relaxed.
The chains hesitated.
Chakra flowed—not violently, not corrupted—but aligned. His human chakra wrapped around the demon blood like a sheath, suppressing the pull.
Kaalith's eyes narrowed.
"That control…" he muttered.
Arin looked at Nyra. "You survived by surrendering."
Then he looked up at the court.
"I'll survive by refusing."
He slammed his chakra outward.
Not at the chains—
At himself.
Pain tore through him as the demon blood recoiled, forced inward, compressed under human will. The markings burned white-hot, reshaping, stabilizing.
The chains shattered.
The court erupted.
"IMPOSSIBLE."
"HE REJECTS THE CHAIN."
"KILL HIM."
The platforms shifted violently as executioners rose.
Nyra moved instantly, placing herself between Arin and the court.
"Run," she hissed. "They won't forgive this."
Arin didn't argue.
The floor cracked beneath him as Kaalith raised both hands, opening a distortion gate—but this one was unstable.
"This way," Kaalith said, voice tight. "Before they tear the city apart."
"Why help me?" Arin demanded as they ran.
Kaalith glanced back once.
"Because," he said, "you just proved the system is flawed."
They burst through the gate.
The Demon Realm screamed.
Arin felt himself pulled apart, space collapsing.
As the world blurred, he heard the court's final decree echo behind him:
"MARK HIM."
A burning symbol etched itself deep into Arin's soul.
And far away—
His sister gasped.
The chains around her responded.
The hunt had begun.
To be continue...