The fortress loomed silent, its halls unnaturally clean. The stone floors shone, the cells were empty—it was as if the place had been scrubbed of all trace of life.
Lainas advanced with his men, armor tightened, every step cautious.
At the inner gate, two Black Order sentries stood guard.
Assassins from the Luminous Tree dropped from the shadows above, silencing them instantly. Lainas stepped over the bodies.
Lainas:
---
Inside, the corridors stretched into an eerie silence. Lainas ordered two men to guard the entrance, while eight followed him deeper into the dark.
Then, he froze, pressing his back against a pillar.
Footsteps echoed from the floor above. A familiar, arrogant voice drifted down the stairwell.
Lainas:Reiz
Upstairs, Reiz wandered the hallway, kicking at a locked door.
Reiz:Valon
He peered through a narrow window, scowling at the endless white fog churning outside.
Reiz:
Below, Lainas gestured for his men to move. They slipped into a side chamber.
At the center of the room, resting on a pedestal, pulsed a Violet Gem
As Lainas approached, a whisper filled the air.
Voice:"Break it... break it... break it..."
Lainas stiffened. The voice was deep, rough—familiar.
Lainas:
The whispers grew louder, chilling the air. His men looked around nervously, gripping their swords.
Soldier:
Lainas lifted the gem. It was cold to the touch. Again, the voice hissed in his mind:
Voice:"Break it..."
Lainas raised his hand to smash it—but stopped. He inhaled deeply, his healer's instinct kicking in.
Lainas:
He tucked the gem into his pouch.
---
A sudden sound—steel scraping against stone. Lainas spun toward the door. Nothing.
But the gem in his pocket flared, pulsing heat against his leg. It wasn't warning him of the door; it was pulling him downward.
Lainas crouched, pulling aside a heavy crimson carpet. Beneath it lay a hidden trapdoor.
Crewman:
Lainas:him to hear?"
They descended into the darkness, leaving one man to conceal the entrance behind them.
Below, the air was thick with the metallic scent of blood and ozone. The walls were lined with strange wards and ancient scrolls.
At the center of the room, suspended in a glass container, pulsed a Grotesque Heart
Lainas's breath caught in his throat.
Lainas:Mowj's
He reached for it—when the trapdoor above creaked open.
Lainas:
His men melted into the shadows of the room, blades ready.
---
Reiz dropped into the room. He didn't look at the corners. He didn't check for enemies. His eyes locked instantly on the beating heart.
He smiled—a cruel, bored expression.
Reiz:
Lainas's eyes widened from the shadows.
Reiz raised his sword.
Reiz:
With a single motion, Gray Fire
Leonithra — The Illusion Shattered
The clash tore through the chamber. Lainas leapt aside, the heat singing his cloak as he narrowly evaded the surge of gray fire. His men burst from cover, blades drawn, surrounding the intruder.
Reiz didn't flinch. He clapped mockingly, the sound echoing unnaturally in the clean stone hall.
Reiz:Luminous Tree
His sword ignited once more, gray entropy licking the steel.
Reiz:
He lunged.
Assassins hurled smoke bombs, choking the air with thick gray clouds. But the smoke swirled and parted as tears in reality appeared. Portals
From them surged Dark KnightsAzalor
Azalor:
Reiz charged with the knights. The assassins and Luminous Tree warriors met them in a desperate, losing battle. Steel rang against dark magic.
Assassin:
Lainas:
Assassin:
The warriors of the Tree formed a wall, raising their weapons. They smiled grimly—the smile of men who had already accepted their death.
Warrior:GO!
---
Lainas's heart clenched, but he didn't waste their sacrifice. He seized the Grotesque HeartViolet Gem
But the fortress seemed to fight them. The corridors twisted. Dark Knights appeared from side passages, blocking their path.
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Lainas:
Three of his remaining men stopped, turning to face the armored giants.
Warrior:
Lainas didn't look back. He heard the clash of steel and the screams of his men echoing behind him as they bought him seconds with their blood.
Lainas pressed on, sprinting with a single assassin at his side.
Suddenly, a Sorcerer appeared at the end of the hall, chanting. He hurled bolts of violet shadow.
Assassin:
The assassin vaulted along the ceiling, striking down with dual daggers—but the Sorcerer's staff unleashed a pulse of darkness, hurling the assassin back. He hit the wall with a sickening crunch.
Lainas didn't stop. He lunged through the smoke, his blade piercing the Sorcerer's chest.
The Sorcerer didn't scream. He smiled.
Sorcerer:
His body convulsed—then exploded
The blast hurled Lainas backward. The chest hit the floor. The Violet Gem
Lainas:
The injured assassin staggered up, bleeding heavily, and dragged Lainas to his feet.
Assassin:
He stopped.
---
The gem dissolved into nothing. And as it faded, the world shifted.
The grand, polished hall melted away like wax. The clean stone walls rotted in seconds. The torches flickered and died, replaced by a cold, pale light.
The True Fortress
It was not a stronghold; it was a tomb. The walls were broken and covered in black mold. The air reeked of decay, old blood, and sulfur.
Lainas:
They stumbled forward—and froze.
The "cells" they had passed earlier were not empty. In the true vision, they were filled with bones
The floor was littered with dried herbs, shattered vials, and scrolls covered in frantic writing.
Lainas:
The assassin looked at a table covered in surgical tools.
Assassin:
He pointed to a pile of bones that looked too small to be adults.
Assassin:
Leonithra — The Phantom Battle
The corridors of the rotting fortress echoed with screams—not from the living, but from the stone itself. Phantoms of torture, the death cries of sailors long gone, reverberated off the moldy walls.
Lainas froze. The floor was littered with bones, but they were still clothed in the tattered, rotted uniforms of old Leonithran mariners and pirates.
Then, a massive shadow moved across the wall before him.
Lainas:
Assassin:
They pressed forward, running through the nightmare. The air filled with the phantom sounds of war—the boom of cannons, the clash of steel, and the wet thud of bodies falling. Yet, no living soul appeared.
Suddenly, the spectral visions sharpened. The hallway dissolved into a memory of chaos: Pirates locked in desperate battle with Black Order knights and Leonithran sailors.
Lainas:
Among the chaos, he saw a familiar figure. Lutheralongside the Black Order, cutting down his own countrymen.
And there was Yamen
Lainas:Sawsan
---
The vision shifted, pulling them along. Through a cavern mouth at the island's rear, Lainas beheld the open sea.
In the memory, Yamen stumbled forward toward the docks. He carried a boy—Wasim
Yamen:
The battle outside raged—ghostly cannons thundered, spectral blades clashed.
Suddenly, a Blue Shot
Sawsan wailed, her cries echoing across the shore.
Yamen collapsed, his blood spreading on the stones. Yet, with a roar that shook the vision, he rose again. He laughed, spitting blood.
Yamen:
From the chaos, Luther’s voice rang out, cold and hateful.
Luther:
---
Yamen stumbled toward his ship, his crew fighting desperately to cover him. Pirate vessels retreated from the bay, carrying freed hostages—some of them fellow corsairs, others innocent civilians.
Yamen:Saqr!
In the distance, a younger Falcon
Falcon:
Yamen:
Falcon's ship turned reluctantly, retreating into the fog, firing broadsides to cover the escape.
Yamen reached his vessel. It was battered from every side, splintering under cannon fire. Blood poured from his wounds, staining the deck.
Then, a figure emerged from the smoke behind him—a tall man cloaked in black, wielding a massive Scythe
Yamen's eyes widened. He hurled Sawsan aside, shoving her into the cabin, and raised his weapon to meet the strike that would cost him his leg.
Yamen:
---
Lainas stumbled through the fading vision, real bones scattering at his feet as he ran. He realized with horror: these were not living events, but echoes. The Violet Gem had hidden the bodies, but it had preserved the memory.
Assassin:
Lainas:
They reached the end of the cavern. There, hidden in the shadows of the real world, was a small, battered skiff—likely left behind during that chaotic retreat years ago.
Lainas:
They jumped into the rotting vessel. The spectral winds of the memory seemed to fill the real sails.
As the skiff lurched forward, drifting out of the cavern, Lainas looked back. The vision played its final scene:
Luther
Lainas:
Leonithra — The Last Stand of Yamen
Steel clashed in the heart of the storm.
YamenWasimLuther'sScythe
From Yamen's open wounds, a colossal Blue AuraBlue Star
With a roar that shook the deck, Yamen swung. The strike was so heavy it hurled Luther back in a violent arc, crashing into the railing, and forced even the Scythe-bearer to skid backward.
The Stranger advanced slowly, his voice dripping with malice and boredom.
Stranger:
His scythe glowed with a sickly pale light.
Stranger:
Suddenly, the eyes of Yamen's crew lit with an eerie light. Their souls were visibly tugged from their bodies—misty shapes trying to leave their flesh. Even Wasim’s faint spark flickered.
Yamen collapsed to the deck, his knees hitting the wood. The Stranger laughed.
But the Dark Blue Star
---
Suddenly, the deep ocean erupted.
A massive Blue Whale
Wood splintered. Men screamed. The Stranger glanced upward, wary for the first time.
And then, amidst the spray and chaos, Yamen rose.
He staggered up, his body drenched in blood. Beside him, his crew forced themselves upright—their souls half-torn, anchored only by sheer will.
Yamen:Sawsan!
His daughter, terrified and weeping, sprinted across the slick deck, slamming the cabin door shut.
Yamen's heart clenched as he felt Wasim's body grow cold in his arms. The boy was gone... or close to it.
With a cry of pure grief, Yamen leapt at the Stranger, his undead crew surging behind him.
Meanwhile, Falcon
Falcon:Yamen!
Yamen looked across the waves. He smiled faintly, blood spilling from his lips.
Yamen:
The Stranger raised his scythe, his eyes glowing beneath the hood.
Stranger:
Yamen's aura erupted again, his sword blazing with blue fire.
Yamen:
He didn't slash; he unleashed a shockwave. The strike blasted the Stranger backward, forcing him to vanish into the mist to avoid the direct hit.
Stranger:
---
Yamen collapsed against the mast, gasping, his blood soaking the deck. His crew fell around him, laughing through their agony, defying the Reaper himself.
Yamen:
Even wounded, his men manned the cannons. Their shots tore through Luther's fleet with supernatural accuracy, sinking ships in flames. Their resistance was monstrous, defiant to the very end.
Yamen, vision blurring, cradled Wasim's lifeless body. He drew forth the pendant from his neck, its glow igniting his fading eyes.
Yamen:
The sea convulsed. Waves rose like mountains. Ancient Leviathans
The surge hurled Yamen's vessel forward at lightning speed, cloaked in a storm of fog, leaving the battle—and Falcon—behind.
---
The Present — On the Phantom Ship
The memory ended, but the momentum did not.
Lainas staggered as the ghost ship lurched, picking up incredible speed in the real world. The spectral winds filled the rotting sails.
Lainas:
He looked back toward the island. It was shrinking rapidly in the distance.
Lainas:
Beside him, the Assassin unleashed fiery darts at the rigging, trying to drop the sails, but the magic was too strong. The darts flickered and died as they passed through the phantoms of Yamen's crew—forever locked in their last stand, forever sailing away from the enemy.
