Hall of Accord – The Moment Before Blood
Kael
Every step Vrosh took toward me turned the temperature in the room colder.
The flames on my arms flickered, uncertain. This wasn't the heat of battle. This was the chill of something older—the kind of cold that lived in deep places and called itself patient.
"I didn't ask to survive Emberwatch," I said, my voice even. "But I won't apologize for it either."
"You think we care about guilt?" Vrosh sneered. "This Accord stands on blood debts, not innocence. Your survival broke the balance. You tilted the scale—and now it demands payment."
His hands moved, shaping dark glyphs midair—red-on-black, Pact sigil-script. Execution authorization.
I tensed. My fingers itched for the fire, but even I knew the rules.
We were still under the Blood Accord.
Attacking here—now—meant starting a war.
Lyra caught my eye. Her look wasn't fear. It was calculation.
Three seconds to reach him. Two if you bend time.
She was planning already.
But then—
the assassin moved first.
A blur of flesh and bone. Not from the Pact. Not from the Veil.
From above.
⚠️ System Alert: Blood Accord Violation Detected
🩸 Blood-Marked Assassin Identified – Affiliation: UNKNOWN
Target: "Chronomancer"
Status: Assassinate and Extract
The thing came from the ceiling like a spider of rusted glass, dagger raised for Lyra's spine.
I moved before I thought.
The flame poured out of me like a scream I'd held in since Emberwatch.
🔥 Skill Activated: Hellpulse
Radius: 5 meters
🔺 Burn Status Applied
🔺 STUN: 1.5s
The assassin staggered mid-lunge, howling as the fire swallowed his left arm. His hood fell back.
His face was carved with sigils I didn't recognize—but one symbol glowed on his throat:
A shattered circle.
I froze.
Lyra didn't.
She vanished—blinked forward—and reappeared behind the assassin.
🕓 Skill Activated: Slipstream Step
⚙️ Skill Activated: Clockfracture
She froze him in time mid-turn, her dagger pressed to his temple.
"Talk," she hissed. "Who sent you?"
The assassin grinned. "Your fate was sealed the moment you touched the vault."
Then he bit down.
💀 Death trigger activated.
✴️ Memory seal burned. Source wiped.
His body collapsed—rotted to ash in under a second.
Silence reigned.
Until Vrosh stepped forward again.
"No more games," he said. "The Accord is broken."
And the black torches flared red.