They ran.

Alvian walked into the VIP room and locked the door. Seraphina was holding the Prince down on a velvet sofa.

"Now," Alvian said, equipping his dagger. "Let's talk about the weather."

---

The VIP room was lavish, decorated with velvet drapes and expensive liquors that likely cost more than the lives of the gladiators fighting below. Now, it was an interrogation chamber.

The Golden Prince struggled under Seraphina's knee, his golden mask askew.

"You're making a mistake!" the Prince spat. "The Syndicate is eternal! Killing me changes nothing!"

"I'm not here to kill you," Alvian said, sitting in a leather armchair opposite the captive. He cleaned his fingernails with the tip of [Voidpiercer]. "I'm here for access codes."

"I won't talk," the Prince sneered. "My mind is shielded by a Grade-A psychic block. You can't verify anything I say."

Alvian looked at Seraphina. "Is that true?"

"Yeah," Seraphina admitted. "Standard Syndicate protocol. If we try to probe his mind, his brain melts."

"See?" The Prince laughed. "You have nothing."

Alvian stood up. He walked over to the Prince.

"Pain bypasses logic," Alvian said. "But fear bypasses loyalty."

He activated [Runic Aegis +2].

Fourteen runes appeared, glowing ominously.

"Do you know what this spell does?" Alvian asked.

"It's a shield," the Prince scoffed. "A defensive spell. You going to hide behind it?"

"It has a modification," Alvian corrected. "[Reactive Force]. It reflects damage."

Alvian picked up one of the runes. It was small, dense, and hummed with kinetic potential.

"I'm going to insert this rune inside your suit," Alvian said calmly. "And then I'm going to punch you."

The Prince's eyes widened behind the mask. "What?"

"The punch will hurt," Alvian explained like a teacher to a slow student. "But the rune will detect the damage. It will trigger the reactive force. The explosion will happen inside your ribcage. It won't kill you immediately. My [Voidpiercer] prevents healing, but I can control the output. I can keep you on the edge of death for days."

Alvian leaned in close, the violet light of his eyes burning into the Prince.

"I have infinite mana. I have infinite runes. Do you have infinite ribs?"

The Prince began to sweat. He looked at the rune, then at Alvian's fist. He saw no bluff. He saw only the cold efficiency of a machine.

"Okay! Okay!" The Prince screamed. "I'll talk! What do you want?"

"The plan," Alvian said. "The Shadow Dragon is dead. Subject Zero is destroyed. What is the endgame?"

The Prince swallowed hard. "The Dragon... Subject Zero... they were just containers. Vessels."

"Vessels for what?"

"For the soul," the Prince whispered. "When the SnowMages summoned the Avatar of Engels in Silverwood... it wasn't fully banished. A fragment of the Demon God's consciousness remained. We captured it."

Alvian froze. A fragment of a Calamity God.

"We tried to put it in the Dragon. Too feral. We tried to put it in Arthur. Too weak. But we found a new host. A perfect host."

"Who?" Seraphina demanded, pressing her dagger deeper.

"The Vice-Headmaster," the Prince gasped.

Alvian frowned. "He's in prison. I interrogated him myself."

"That was a clone!" The Prince laughed hysterically. "A Simulacrum! The real Vice-Headmaster has been in the Deepest Chamber for weeks! He volunteered! He wants to become the new God!"

Alvian felt a chill run down his spine. The Vice-Headmaster he had spoken to... the one in the glass cell... it was a fake. A distraction to keep them looking at the prison while the real ritual happened beneath their feet.

"Where is he?" Alvian demanded. "Where is the Deepest Chamber?"

"It's not under the Undercroft," the Prince said. "It's not in the ground."

He pointed up.

"It's in the Sky."

Alvian followed the finger.

"The Moon Tower," Seraphina realized, her face paling. "The highest point of the Academy. The antenna used for global communication."

"He's going to broadcast the Awakening," the Prince giggled. "He's going to use the tower to amplify the Demon God's frequency. It won't just corrupt the Academy. It will corrupt every mage connected to the global network. It's a mental virus. The Convergence... he's going to trigger it globally."

Alvian stood up. The scale of the threat had just multiplied. It wasn't just physical destruction. It was a memetic hazard. If that signal went out, millions of mages around the world would go insane or be possessed.

"When?" Alvian asked.

"Tonight," the Prince checked his watch. "In one hour. The eclipse begins then. Maximum mana conductivity."

Alvian looked at Seraphina.

"Kill him," Alvian ordered.

"Wait! You promised!" The Prince shrieked.

"I promised I wouldn't put a rune in your ribs," Alvian said, turning away. "I didn't promise you'd live."

Seraphina slit the Prince's throat.

[Target Eliminated.]

Alvian walked to the window, looking up at the ceiling of the cavern. Somewhere, miles above, was the Moon Tower.

"We were looking down," Alvian said. "We should have been looking up."

He activated his comms.

"Valeria. George. Code Red."

"We're ready," Valeria's voice came back instantly. "Did you find the target?"

"The target is the Moon Tower," Alvian said. "The Vice-Headmaster is there. He's going to summon Engels properly this time."

"The Moon Tower?" George gasped. "That's heavily guarded by the Royal Guard! We can't just storm it!"

"We don't have a choice," Alvian said. "Valeria, get the Vanguard to the base of the tower. Create a distraction. Seraphina and I are going to the top."

"A distraction?" Valeria asked. "Against the Royal Guard?"

"Yes," Alvian said. "Start a riot. Start a fire. Start a war. I don't care. Just get their eyes off the sky."

He looked at Seraphina.

"Ready for a climb?"

Seraphina wiped the blood from her dagger. "I hate stairs."

"Good thing we're taking the express."

Alvian grabbed Seraphina.

"System. Activate [Frost Heart]: Avatar State."

Blue wings erupted from his back.

"Hold on."

They shot out of the VIP room, smashing through the glass, and rocketed upward toward the surface, leaving the chaos of the Undercroft behind. The final battle was not in the dark. It was in the stars.

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