Chapter Two

Before the morning mist had even dissipated, the mirrored projection of the Eternal Throne Palace had already spread out within the fortress.

On the screen, the audience hall of the Eternal Throne Palace appeared exceptionally empty. Empress Iserlin's figure was hidden in the shadows behind the throne, only her cold eyes visible. Selena Ironheart knelt on one knee on the cold stone slab, like a newly drawn sword . The metallic gleam of the "Shield of the Empire" medal shimmered in the reflection, stinging my eyes. Although I couldn't hear the specific conversation, I knew Selena too well; the tension in her back and the slight bow of her head in that instant were clearly a declaration of allegiance to the Empress. Her deep-seated hatred, that resolute desire to escape the shadow that had long loomed over her, seemed to overflow even through the reflection.

I forced myself to turn off the screen, but the dull ache of being abandoned by the times clung to me like a leech.

That afternoon, the heavy iron gates of the fortress were forcibly pushed open, the ear-piercing scraping of metal shrieking through the corridor. The Imperial Finance Minister, accompanied by a personal guard known as the "Twelve Statues," barged into the palace hall, a place strictly off-limits to outsiders. He didn't bow; his arrogant demeanor was as if he were looking at an antique nearing its end.

He slammed a wax-sealed document onto the mahogany table before me, the force so great that the teaware rattled.

"General Ironheart," he said, "according to the newly issued emergency financial cut order from the Imperial Household and the Imperial Security Department's reassessment, your 'Soul Elixir' quota will be further reduced, effective immediately." He didn't even look up, his gaze sweeping over the mottled battle scars on the fortress walls, his mockery undisguised. "The national treasury must now prioritize supplying the 'Twelve Statues' with their psionic weapons. His Majesty has instructed that if you still consider this ancient sustaining agent necessary, then purchase it yourself. Or, choose the most dignified way—abdicate and make way for the new generation."

I sat amidst a mountain of tactical scrolls, silent as a stone. His bureaucratic demeanor was like a death knell. Unbeknownst to him, every single second, I felt a strange, chilling cold piercing my spine. I gripped the armrest; the wood groaned and cracked under my pressure, splinters piercing my skin. Aldrich gasped in the corner—he must have seen the barely concealed gray mist in my eyes. I forcefully channeled the last vestiges of my spiritual energy, pushing that deathly aura back into its depths. As I slowly raised my head, an amber light forcefully obscured the chaos in my eyes. The minister was gone; he had no idea how close he had come to being swallowed by the void in that instant.

Night fell, and the fortress fell into deathly silence. Only the candle Aldrich had left flickered. Looking at its faint light, I felt an unprecedented loneliness. Just then, the blue light of the mirror communication began to flicker eerily in the center of the hall.

Selena's face appeared on the screen. She had already shed her heavy formal attire and donned a crisp general's uniform, the backdrop being her apartment filled with her mother's old belongings.

"Father, abdicate," she said bluntly, her voice chillingly calm.

"You don't understand," I began with difficulty, "The void hasn't been destroyed, the rhythm of that abyss has never ceased, if that threshold isn't maintained..."

"Enough!" she interrupted coldly, "For the past fifty years, all the empire's suffering has been defined by you. You've been up there, watching the people starve, watching resources be poured into your bottomless pit of medicine! Your so-called protection is just sitting alone in this tower for a lifetime?"

"About your mother..." I tried to bring up that taboo subject, but she abruptly cut me off.

“Don’t mention her!” Her eyes were as cold as knives. “Where were you when I needed my father? You guarded that empty wall, pushing me towards it too! Now, both the Empress’s decree and my own military orders demand you relinquish your seal. Father, don’t let me be the one who pulls you down.”

The mirror went out. With a soft click, the communicator went completely dark. I realized this wasn’t just a power struggle, but a complete denial of my role as a father.

In the dead of night, the psychic energy within me finally spiraled out of control. It felt like a thousand cold, venomous snakes were crawling through my veins. I tried to get up to ease the pain , but when my fingers touched the exquisite silver furniture , they instantly rusted into powder between my fingers. Looking at my hands covered in rust powder, I felt a wave of despair.

In the mirror, my reflection was undergoing a startling distortion. The signature amber of my right eye was shattering, replaced by a thick, stagnant gray. Deep within those pupils, an endless vortex seemed to be slowly opening, greedily peering into the world.

"Kill them all..."

the succubus's voice rang out once more. This time, she didn't come from the distant void; she stood right behind me, her icy breath brushing against the back of my neck. Her tone was seductive, each word searing into my consciousness like a branding iron: "Look at your daughter, look at those ants you once protected... They drove you to despair, they wanted you to die of hunger and shame. Kill them, Darius , return to nothingness, and you will find liberation..."

A beastly growl escaped my throat, and with a sudden burst of strength, I punched the bronze mirror before me.

The sharp sound of the mirror shattering shook the entire fortress. Countless shards of glass cut my cheeks and palms, warm blood dripping onto the cold granite floor with a soft thud. I stared at my shattered self, roaring at the empty fortress.

"I will not... become your weapon!"

But my trembling right hand wouldn't stop; the hunger emanating from my bones, from the depths of the abyss, like a rising tide of black seawater, slowly washed over my reason. I looked at the gradually blurring gray shadow in my glasses, knowing full well—my time had completely run out.