As Kaito returned to the Darkdawn Citadel with the Obsidian Nest under control, far away in the snowy wastes of the North, two broken souls met in the misery of exile.
Lucius Valerius, the son of the Grand Commander, had arrived at the desolate Monastery of the Dawn, the place of seclusion his father had assigned him. The cold was a physical punishment, but the fear of being a hidden traitor to the Shadow was a mental torment.
The stillness of the monastery was broken by the arrival of another exile. Captain Vorlag, the proud Paladin, had been banished by the High Arcanist after revealing Valerius's lie. Vorlag had lost his rank, his faith in the hierarchy, and his purpose.
The Gathering on Ice
Lucius immediately recognized the Captain. "Vorlag. What are you doing here?" I... I'm not a traitor.
Vorlag, his face hard and emotionless, ignored the plea. "I don't care what you are, Lucius. I know what your father did. And I know that lie destroyed the Conclave."
Vorlag leaned closer, his gaze, though filled with pain, burning with new purpose.
"As the Conclave devours itself and the Queen of Cinder sits on the throne of the Cathedral, only the wreckage remains. I lost my faith in the men of the Light, but not in the Light itself."
Vorlag showed Lucius a small communication crystal, a tracking device he had taken from a prisoner of the Shadow.
"That demon, the Spectre, came for you. He came to dishonor you. He was the hand that destroyed Ren and your father. You are the victim of the Shadow, Lucius."
"And what can we do?" "The Shadow is invincible," Lucius whispered, overwhelmed.
"No. His source of power is one man: the Spectre. And I know who he is. He is the Paladin's brother. Kaito. The Paladin was the traitor who brought him here, but Kaito is the demon who is killing us."
Vorlag offered Lucius a weapon. "You have the rage. I have the training. We no longer serve Valerius or the Conclave. We serve the truth. We will form the last cell of the Light in the North. Our sole objective is to destroy Vice-Commander Kaito."
Lucius, who sought only redemption and clearing his name, nodded. Captain Vorlag, driven by blind loyalty to the concept of the Light, had found in the exile the perfect tool for his revenge.
The Vice-Commander's Dilemma
Back at the Darkdawn Citadel, Kaito sat in his library, analyzing the information he had extracted from Ren's mind. The revelation of his mother's contingency plan—the reincarnation ritual and the ancient entity—was a dead weight threatening his throne.
Lysandra waited for him, impatient for the extraction report.
"What was the Paladin hiding, Vice-Commander? What secret was so important?" Lysandra asked, her voice strained with ambition.
Kaito knew that revealing the secret of the ancient entity and his mother's plan to the Queen would mean a loss of control. The Queen would use him, but she would also see Kaito as a threat inherited from the ancient prophecy.
"The Paladin had created a useless security code to protect an ancient treasure map of the Light. Nothing of strategic value," Kaito lied, projecting the calm of a leader who had not failed.
Lysandra looked at him skeptically, but accepted the answer. Kaito had kept the information to himself.
"Good. The Nest is yours, Vice-Commander. Elora awaits you to begin the energy integration," Lysandra said before leaving.
Kaito was left alone with his secret. The Nest's new power flowed through the Library, but the true power lay in the forbidden knowledge.
He was no longer an agent of the Queen. He was a player for total supremacy. His mother's plan, a final act of love for Etherea, had become Kaito's tool to ascend beyond the Shadow.
The Crown of Shadow weighed heavily on him. Kaito must consolidate his power, manipulate his own Harem, and prepare for the new and desperate threat of the Light coming from the North.