The border of the Council's territory wasn't marked on any map, but everyone who wandered too close always knew exactly when they had crossed it.
The sky didn't change. The trees didn't twist with ominous shapes. But there was a feeling—a tension in the air that tasted like iron and suspicion. Ryuuji stood at the top of a rocky hill, looking down into a lush valley that rippled with old ruins and rising smoke from distant chimneys. It was beautiful in a way that betrayed the darkness festering beneath it.
"We're here," he said quietly, adjusting the black leather straps of his travel cloak. "This is where Reina and Raphtael were last seen."
Sierra stepped beside him, her eyes narrowed beneath the breeze-tousled fringe of her silver hair. "Velhara, the city that shouldn't have been rebuilt," she said grimly. "This land was dead after the demon war… I never imagined the Council would turn it into their seat of power."
Duncan spat on the ground. "Aye, rebuilt it with the bones of politics and schemes, no doubt. What kind of noble snakes would dare build their court on cursed soil?"
Elysia crossed her arms, her gaze locked forward. She wasn't wearing her ceremonial robes today—only her traveling armor, trimmed in deep azure and black obsidian scale patterns. A crownless queen on a mission.
"Let's not forget," she said, "this is the same Council that dared to hypnotize Duncan, capture Sierra, and hunt two of your closest friends. If this place is the heart of their power, we should tread lightly… or burn it down, depending on what we find."
Ryuuji cracked a half-smile at that.
They descended the slope silently, cloaking their presence with enchantments and their own veteran instincts. These four were no longer mere adventurers—they were legends in quiet exile. Their names, thought forgotten, had only gained power through whispered stories.
The road into Velhara was paved with black stones etched in rune patterns. Duncan scowled at the markings. "Council runes," he muttered. "Looks like they've been using ancient channeling stones as wards. Nasty business."
"We'll avoid the checkpoints," Ryuuji said. "No sense revealing ourselves yet. Not until we know more about where Reina and Raphtael are being held."
"Or what's being done to them," Sierra added grimly.
They moved through the woods, taking side paths and overgrown trails, until the towering walls of Velhara rose before them like the jagged teeth of some enormous beast. Black stone, reinforced with magically hardened metal bands, wrapped the city in an uninviting embrace. Watchtowers gleamed with magical lenses, designed to pierce through illusion and cloak alike.
"We'll have to split up," Ryuuji said as they paused behind a fallen tree just out of sight. "We'll enter separately and regroup at the old church ruins. If things go wrong, signal with a red flare."
"Got it," Duncan nodded, already scanning for his route.
"I'll go through the southern merchant road," Sierra offered. "There's always a crowd. Easier to blend in."
"I'll take the air," Elysia said with a sly grin. "No one looks up."
And just like that, they slipped into the city—phantoms from a forgotten war.
---
Velhara was strange.
It was too clean, too ordered. The streets were paved perfectly, the buildings symmetrical to a fault. No beggars. No vagrants. Just well-dressed citizens who didn't smile, didn't speak unless spoken to. As Ryuuji walked through the market square, cloaked in illusion and using a false identity scroll, he noticed the posters—Council announcements.
"New taxation edict: support the magical progress of Velhara."
"Weekly health check mandatory for all Tier 2 citizens."
"Unauthorized spellcasting will result in detainment."
Tyranny with a pleasant face.
The heart of Velhara was the Spire—a towering black castle that looked like it had been pulled from the demon lord's own fortress. It glowed faintly with a pulse of ancient magic, like a heart beating too slow to notice, but strong enough to shake the ground when stirred.
That was where they were keeping Reina and Raphtael.
Ryuuji waited in the shadows of the ruined church as planned. Sierra was the first to arrive, her footsteps silent as the wind.
"I confirmed it," she said. "Reina and Raphtael are being held in the lower levels of the Spire. The Council has declared them 'non-compliant elite-class citizens.' They're experimenting on them."
Ryuuji's eyes hardened. "What kind of experiments?"
"Magical synergy," she said bitterly. "Trying to forcibly awaken relic-tier spells using live conduits. Raphtael's healing magic and Reina's beast blood—they're trying to fuse it into something new."
Duncan arrived next, his fists clenched in fury. "I nearly gutted a guard just hearing about it. These bastards—these bastards—are doing what the demon lord never even tried."
Elysia landed beside them with barely a sound, her wings folding into her cloak. "They've moved the elite research team from the mage tower to the Spire. Something's about to happen. Something big."
Ryuuji closed his eyes for a long breath. "Then we strike. Tonight."
"But Reina and Raphtael," Sierra asked gently, "what if they're not... the same?"
Ryuuji opened his eyes. And in them was fire.
"Then we bring them back. No matter what."
---
That night, the Spire trembled.
The sky cracked with lightning as ancient enchantments flared to life. Ryuuji led the charge through the upper corridors, his blade humming with condensed light as he cut down magical constructs and corrupted guardians.
Duncan moved like a hurricane, breaking through steel walls and collapsing entire wings with explosive sword techniques that made even Council mages scatter.
Sierra danced through the shadows, her wind-based magic rendering her untouchable. She sealed doors, reversed spells, and redirected deadly attacks.
Elysia took to the air, breaking magical shields with dragon fire that turned the night sky gold and white.
In the lower levels, Reina growled against her restraints, claws sparking with untamed lightning. Raphtael, chained beside her, whispered words of healing in desperation.
"I knew… he'd come," Raphtael muttered, coughing blood.
Reina's eyes glowed with tears. "It took him long enough."
Then the wall exploded.
"Found you," Ryuuji said softly, stepping through the smoke, eyes burning gold with restrained rage.
"R-Ryuuji?" Raphtael blinked.
"It's us," Sierra said, appearing at his side. "You're safe now."
Duncan cut through the restraints with a snarl. "Whoever did this to you... won't see tomorrow."
Elysia wrapped a protective spell around them both. "Let's get out of here."
But the Spire wasn't going to let them leave quietly.
Alarms blared. Magic surged through the halls. The Council had awakened something ancient beneath the Spire—something they couldn't control.
Ryuuji turned to face the rising force with calm fury. "You brought this on yourselves."
He raised his hand. A rune of his own design flared on his palm—an ancient seal of the Dragon-Human pact. A gift from Elysia.
And with it, he collapsed the central core of the Spire.
---
The group escaped into the night, the Spire burning behind them.
Velhara had awakened to a nightmare.
But to Ryuuji and his friends—it was just the beginning of their reckoning