๐ate: Night of the 15th โ Blood Palace
The ritual restarted.
The harpy boy stood beneath moonlight dripping through enchanted ruins, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ด 1001 ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ด .
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง 1 ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ -
"Tomorrow, the 1002nd ritual ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฑ๐บ will succeed. ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ With treasures gone today, magic won't interfere."
The three thieves smirked.
From the shadows walked a masked man. His boots thudded through blood. Joseph Ortho.
"I've never failed a kill. You managed this palace's treasure for a year. And now, your crime ends."
He turned to the harpy.
"You were ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด . Useful. But I helped these three escape five years agoโand now it's my turn to ascend."
Suddenlyโclapping echoed.
Lucifer Kaito, cloaked in red and dust, emerged from stealth.
"So these are my culprits. Four shadows behind a year of bloodโฆ"
Joseph snarled.
"Step no further, boy. One more move and you die. I am Joseph Ortho, thunder mage of Team A. The last teamโbut soon, I rise in rank."
โ๏ธ He drew twin blades and shouted:
"Thunder Charge โ Circle 8!"
Lightning roared.
But Lucifer whispered to Viron:
"Take out the three thieves. I'll handle the thunderstorm."
Viron soared ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ 9๐ต๐ฉ - ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ , striking the culprits mid-sprint. Lucifer removed his mana tie and whispered:
"You don't know me yet."
Joseph launchedโblade slashing again and again. Lucifer dodged each attack, then stomped the ground.
"Earth Spell โ Circle 3: Ground Hand!"
A surge of sand gripped Joseph's blade mid-swingโshattering it.
Lucifer kicked his chest, thunder sputtering. Joseph bent low, gasping.
"Is this humiliation?" Lucifer asked calmly.
๐ช๏ธ With a twist of his fingers, he summoned:
"Mana Crown โ Circle 27๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต Slayer Arrow."
Lucifer aimed from a bow formed of ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ-๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ธ and fired.
The arrow pierced.
Joseph's body droppedโhis soul expelled.
Lucifer stepped closer, picked up one blade, reforged it with flame magic. He sliced downwardโ
Joseph's head fell. The sword rested in his heart.
Lucifer turned to Viron.
"Tie the thieves. Judgment begins."
He raised a message spell:
"Summon King Kaitya. The game ends. Blood has a witness nowโand truth ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ "