The world was quiet.
Too quiet.
Ever since the Protector bowed to the infant prince of **Aelthrys**, the continent behaved like a wounded animal—silent, trembling, waiting for judgment.
But fear never breeds stillness for long.
It breeds desperation.
It breeds madness.
It breeds plots whispered in darkness.
And now, after weeks of tension, the shadows finally stirred.
---
## **THE DEMON LORDS' LAST GAMBIT**
Far beneath the cracked obsidian surface of the Abyss, in a cavern lit by writhing hellfire, the surviving Demon Lords gathered around a massive stone altar carved with the names of the slain.
Dozens of names.
Including one in particular.
"Khar'Zuun," a demon hissed, baring jagged teeth. "Destroyed by the infant prince… the moment he stepped near him."
"Not destroyed," another corrected bitterly. "Erased. Nothing left. Not even a soul fragment."
The chamber vibrated as demonic mana pooled like blood.
A tall demon with six horns slammed his claws into the table.
"We cannot let that child grow."
His voice echoed like thunder.
"If the Protector kneels now, what will happen when the child reaches adulthood? When his true nature awakens? He will become a god that rules us all!"
A smaller demon whispered:
"He… he is still only a baby… helpless…"
The six-horned lord snarled.
"FOOL! He erased one of our princes with a **pulse**. And the Protector—our planet's executioner—swore fealty!"
Silence followed.
Heavy. Suffocating.
Finally, the eldest demon—the one called "Old Night"—leaned forward, voice cold.
"There is only one path… assassination."
The room froze.
"Send our best. Our absolute best. A shadow that even the Protector cannot detect."
Whispers erupted.
"Are you insane?"
"Nothing escapes Elyndor's eyes!"
"He watches the elf child constantly—"
Old Night hissed sharply, cutting them off.
"You forget. Protectors watch the **world**, not the shadows between dimensions."
The demons leaned closer.
"We will send the Nightcrawler. A being born from void, not bound by this world's mana layer."
Even the six-horned demon swallowed nervously.
"That creature… hasn't been used in a thousand years."
"Yes," Old Night rasped. "Because it is a weapon of extinction. It can slip between space and shadow—completely invisible to mortal senses."
He lowered his voice to a whisper.
"And perhaps… even invisible to Elyndor."
It was a gamble.
A dangerous one.
But demons, pushed into a corner, always gambled.
---
## **THE DRAGONS' COWARDICE AND PRIDE**
In the volcanic peaks of Drathkar, dragon elders argued until the mountain's crust trembled.
"We should flee to the outer islands!" a blue-scaled wyrm roared. "The elves will one day unleash their prince upon us!"
Another slammed his tail into the stone.
"Do you think running will save us? The Protector kneels! That means the child is above all life on this world."
The golden elder—Molthrax—exhaled smoke that smelled of fear.
"We must bow."
The chamber erupted.
"BOW!?"
"NEVER!"
"We are DRAGONS!"
Molthrax narrowed his glowing eyes.
"You are dragons who are terrified. You feel it just as I do—the mana tremors every night. Something inside that child is not asleep. It is stirring."
Silence.
He continued:
"We offered war. We spilled elvish blood. We nearly crushed their cities. If the prince ever learns what we did…"
Another elder whispered:
"…we are already dead."
---
## **THE HUMAN KING'S BETRAYAL**
Inside the marble halls of the human kingdom's central palace, King Aldros paced furiously.
His advisors knelt, trembling.
"We cannot anger the elves further," an advisor pleaded. "If their prince wields divine power—"
"Divine power?" the king snapped. "He's a child! Still bound to a cradle!"
A mage coughed softly.
"Your Majesty… he erased a demon prince while asleep."
Aldros threw a goblet against the wall.
"Exactly! If we let him grow, we stand no chance. Our only hope is—"
He hesitated.
A chilling silence followed.
The advisors lowered their heads.
One whispered:
"…to kill him now."
Aldros exhaled shakily.
"Before he becomes unstoppable."
A dark agreement settled over the room.
Even the bravest humans feared the future.
---
## **BACK IN AELTHRYS — A STORM GATHERS**
Liam sat in his cradle, chewing gently on a carved wooden bead Seraphielle had given him.
To anyone watching, he looked adorable.
To anyone who understood mana, he was terrifying.
Because around him, mana behaved… unnaturally.
When he breathed, the air trembled.
When he blinked, light bent.
When he cried, the room's temperature shifted.
When he smiled, the winds along the palace rooftops calmed.
Seraphielle noticed everything.
And she hid her fear well.
"It's okay, my love… You don't need to hide from me."
But he did.
For their sake.
A faint whisper brushed against Liam's consciousness.
Not the system—
but something else.
**Killing intent.
Foreign.
Cold.
Non-mana based.**
Something had entered the world.
Something born from a void Liam recognized instinctively as hostile.
His tiny hand tightened around the wooden bead.
His eyes sharpened.
*An assassin.*
Already?
Already.
---
## **THE PROTECTOR'S WARNING**
As Thalorien trained with his generals in the courtyard, a shadow fell over the arena.
Elyndor appeared without sound.
No teleportation flash.
No ripple.
Just existence.
Everyone dropped to one knee immediately.
"Protector!" they gasped.
Thalorien stepped forward.
"What brings you here?"
Elyndor's gaze was like a star collapsing.
"A void-born entity has entered this world."
Thalorien's blood froze.
"Sent for… my son?"
"Yes."
His voice shook with something Thalorien never expected from a cosmic being:
**fear.**
"This assassin… is older than your empire. Older than dragons. Older than demons. It is unbound by mana structure… which means it can bypass wards, barriers, and even cosmic suppression."
"So you will destroy it, yes?" Thalorien demanded.
Elyndor's silence was deafening.
"…I do not know if I can."
The emperor's heart stopped.
"WHAT!?"
"It is invisible to my detection."
"How!?"
"Because it does not exist in this world's reality. It slips between dimensional layers. It is… a shadow borne from nothing."
The Protector faced Thalorien fully.
"Your son is not safe. Not even with me."
---
## **THE NIGHTCRAWLER ENTERS THE NURSERY**
Night fell.
The palace glowed in silver moonlight.
A soft breeze carried petals through open windows.
Everything was calm.
Except Liam.
He sat upright in the cradle—no support, no wobbling—his silver eyes locked on the far corner of the nursery.
A tear in reality opened.
A razor-thin crack.
Black.
Silent.
Hunger-shaped.
A creature slipped out.
Its body was a silhouette, constantly shifting.
A shape with no shape.
Eyes with no light.
A presence that sucked warmth from the room.
It made no sound.
Even Seraphielle, sitting beside the cradle, felt nothing.
But Liam did.
His infant body trembled—
not in fear,
but in focus.
The Nightcrawler glided forward silently, a claw forming from swirling shadow.
Its intent was pure.
Kill.
Erase.
End.
It reached the cradle.
It raised its claw—
And Liam's eyes flashed silver.
A ripple of sealed power burst from his chest, faint but sharp enough to cut space.
The Nightcrawler froze.
Not by choice.
But because something vast stared back at it from inside Liam's soul.
Something ancient.
Something infinite.
Something that did not belong to this world.
The creature shuddered violently.
For the first time in its existence…
It felt fear.
---
## **THE PROTECTOR RUSHES IN**
The nursery door exploded open.
Elyndor appeared mid-stride, cosmic blade already formed—
But he stopped.
Because he saw something impossible:
The Nightcrawler—a creature immune to fear—
was recoiling from an infant.
Its form distorted, twisting as if trying to retreat into the dimensional crack it came from.
Liam raised his hand.
A tiny hand.
Soft.
Warm.
Baby-like.
But the motion carried weight.
Reality trembled.
The Nightcrawler shrieked—
a soundless shriek, felt rather than heard—
and its form split apart like torn fabric.
Elyndor watched in awe.
"...My lord…"
Liam's sealed core pulsed once more, sending ripples of forbidden energy through the walls.
The Nightcrawler collapsed into dust.
Not slain.
Not destroyed.
Erased.
Again.
Just like the demon prince years ago.
Seraphielle jerked awake, startled by the blast of air, but the threat was already gone.
Thalorien burst in moments later, sword blazing.
"What happened!?"
He saw the dust.
The cracked air.
The trembling Protector.
And his son blinking innocently.
Elyndor bowed deeply.
"My lord has defended himself."
Thalorien's sword dropped.
Seraphielle's hand flew to her mouth.
Their baby…
had saved himself…
from something the Protector feared.
---
## **THE WORLD REACTS IN HORROR**
The Nightcrawler's death sent a ripple through the Abyss.
Demon Lords collapsed.
Dragons felt their scales peel.
Humans felt their hearts skip.
In every kingdom, seers screamed the same words:
**"THE CHILD IS AWAKENING!"**
A single prophecy echoed through the night:
**"Hide from him.
Bow to him.
Or be ended by him."**
The world had no idea—
Liam's power was still sealed.
This was only the beginning.