Adam gave Lilith a curt nod. "Good catch."

A faint, pleased smile touched Lilith's lips before melting back into her usual mask of serene observation.

'They lied,' Adam's mind raced, cold and clear. 'They claimed to be the Duke's men, but the Duke's own captain is apprehending them. That means they're someone else's agents, trying to frame the Duke or simply use the confusion as cover. Which means the real threat is still hidden, and their target was never just me and Lilith.'

A cold spike of dread shot through him. 'If this was a diversion... or part of a larger plan... Ignis is back at the inn with Elise and Seraphina.'

"Hey," Adam said, his voice urgent, cutting through the noise as the guards secured the now-gagged assassin. "We need to return to our inn. Immediately."

Gareth turned from his men, his expression stern and unyielding. "Your concern is noted, but it changes nothing. You are both material witnesses and participants in an act of lethal violence within Oakrest's boundaries. You will accompany us to the garrison for a formal statement and questioning. Now."

Adam's posture shifted from urgent to dangerously still. The air around him seemed to grow heavier. "No."

The single word, flat and final, hung in the alley. Several guards' hands went to their weapons.

Gareth's eyes narrowed. "This is not a request. Refusing a direct order from the Duke's Guard is a crime. Do not make this more difficult than it has to be."

"My companion and I were attacked," Adam stated, each word sharp as a blade. "We defended ourselves. We have even helped you preserve a prisoner for your investigation. But we are not suspects, and we are not your subjects. Our party is incomplete, and their safety is my priority. I am leaving. Now."

He took a deliberate step back, his gaze locked on Gareth. It was not a retreat; it was a declaration. Lilith fell in beside him, her movements silent and fluid, a shadow ready to become a storm.

Gareth's hand tightened on the hilt of his greatsword. The guards formed a looser, hesitant half-circle around them. They had seen how easily these two had handled the assassins.

"You would raise arms against the Duke's authority in his own town?" Gareth's voice was low, dangerous. "That is a line, once crossed, from which there is no return. Think carefully."

Adam's crimson eyes glinted in the lantern light. A trace of dark energy, like oily smoke, began to wisp from his free hand. "The only line I care about is between me and my people. Get out of my way, Captain. I won't ask again."

The standoff was absolute. Violence, this time against the legitimate authority of Oakrest, teetered on a knife's edge. Gareth had to decide: enforce the letter of the law and potentially lose men in a bloody fight, or let them go and deal with the political fallout.

The choice was ripped from him a second later when a frantic, panting town guardsman came skidding into the alley from the direction of the main square.

"Captain! Captain Gareth! Fire and a disturbance at The Traveler's Rest! Reports of a fight, screaming, and then a… a flash of light! The innkeeper says a whole room is empty—the guests, his door, everything is just gone!"

All the color drained from Adam's face.

'Ignis.'

He didn't wait for Gareth's reaction. He didn't say another word. With a speed that blurred perception, he turned and sprinted into the darkness.

In an unknown place.

Ignis panted, sweat mixing with soot on her brow. The restraint was the hardest part—holding back her full draconic strength, limiting her flames to controlled bursts to maintain the human facade, all while protecting two others.

It was exhausting in a way dungeon brawls never were. Beside her, Elise's face was pale as parchment, her breathing shallow as she leaned heavily against the wall, her magical reserves clearly drained. Seraphina stood between them and the assassins, but her stance wavered; her sword arm trembled, and the stain on her leg had grown. She was operating on sheer will, her eyes glazed with pain and fatigue.

The two remaining assassins, though showing the sickly pallor of the pill's backlash, sensed the precipice. Their leader wiped blood from a split lip, his voice a ragged but triumphant rasp. "Lay down your arms. This struggle is pointless. You only prolong the inevitable and make your final moments more pathetic."

Elise lifted her chin, defiance glowing faintly in her eyes despite her weakness. "The only pathetic ones here are mercenaries who must kidnap a 'weak' woman because their master lacks the courage to face her kingdom openly."

Ignis spat to the side, a small ember sizzling on the stone. "And you fight like cowards! Ganging up, using tricks and pills! Is that all you have?"

"It's called strategy, little girl," the second assassin sneered, hefting his dagger. "And it's about to end."

They attacked as one, a final, coordinated surge. The leader went low, aiming for Seraphina's injured leg to cripple her completely. The other went high, his blade a silvery streak aimed not at Seraphina, but past her—a throw aimed directly at Elise's exposed shoulder.

Seraphina saw it. Her body screamed in protest, her vision swimming. She knew she couldn't move fast enough to block both.

'No. Not like this. I swore an oath. I will not fail her. NOT AGAIN!'

The thought was a white-hot brand in her soul. And something within her—something locked deep behind duty, discipline, and a lifetime of training—shattered.

A brilliant, silver-gold light erupted from Seraphina's body. It wasn't fire like Ignis's. It was purer, sharper—the visible manifestation of a knight's sworn oath, made tangible by sheer, desperate will. The light formed a concussive wave that blasted outwards.

The assassins were caught mid-lunge. The wave hit them like a physical wall. They were thrown backwards, crashing into the far wall with bone-jarring force, their weapons clattering from their hands.

Elise stared, her exhaustion forgotten for a moment. "Sera…?"

Seraphina stood amidst the fading glow, her breathing harsh but steady. The trembling in her limbs was gone, replaced by a profound, solid certainty. The light had healed nothing—her leg still bled, her fatigue remained—but it had ignited something else entirely. Her eyes held a new, piercing intensity.

"I did not expect… to expend it all in one burst," Seraphina said, her voice ringing with a strange, resonant authority. "So I require support. Your Highness, now! An enchantment for piercing and binding!"

Elise, jolted into action, nodded sharply. Her hands flew up, weaving a complex, shimmering pattern of crimson light. "Crimson Sigils of Submission!" she chanted, and the glowing runes shot forward, swirling around the dazed assassins.

Ignis stared at Seraphina, her own fiery aura guttering in surprise. "Whoa… Sera, you're shining!"

A fierce, competitive grin split Ignis's soot-streaked face. "If you're gonna get all flashy… then I'm not holding back either!"

She stopped suppressing herself. The air around her warped with sudden, intense heat. A soft, glowing pattern of crimson and gold scales shimmered into visibility across her skin—not just on her arms, but tracing her neck and cheeks. Her pupils elongated into fiery slits. When she bared her teeth in a snarl, they seemed sharper. Two small, knobby protrusions at her temples became more pronounced, like the beginnings of horns. An aura of palpable, predatory heat rolled off her, making the very stone groan.

The assassins, struggling against Elise's binding sigils, looked up and their eyes widened in genuine, primal terror. The injured knight had become a beacon of formidable will. But the fiery girl… she was no longer just a strong brawler. She was shedding her human skin, revealing something older and far more monstrous beneath.

"W-What are you…?" the leader stammered, his confidence finally cracking.

Ignis cracked her neck, the sound like popping embers. "Tired of playing nice," she growled, her voice layered with a deeper, draconic rumble. She raised a hand, and the fire that coalesced there was no longer just orange and red, but tinged with the blinding white of a star's core. "Let's finish this."

With Ignis no longer restraining herself, she became a force of pure, draconic wrath. Her punches carried the weight of falling boulders, shattering the stone floor where they landed. Gouts of white-hot flame, hotter and more intense than before, seared the air, forcing the assassins into a desperate, panicked defense. Seraphina moved with her newfound, oath-forged clarity, her sword a silver blur that seemed to predict their movements, each parry followed by a punishing strike that cracked armor and bone.

The assassins were overwhelmed, their coordination broken. The leader took a glancing hit from Ignis that spun him around, his arm hanging at a sickening angle. "The girl… she's some kind of dragon-kin! Damn it, she was holding back this whole time!"

The second assassin, bleeding from a dozen cuts, spat out a tooth. "The plan! We have to move to the contingency! Now!"

"The contingency? Are you insane?" the wounded leader hissed, his face pale. "That's… we'd be dealing with him directly! That lickspittle Lich could just as easily discard us!"

"Do you see another way?!" the other screamed, ducking a slash from Seraphina that took a chunk from his hood. "If we stand here, we die! If we follow the contingency, at least we might survive! He needs us to deliver the package!"

A look of utter resignation and terror crossed the leader's face. He gave a sharp, jerky nod. "Do it!"

The less-injured assassin disengaged with a desperate roll, putting distance between himself and Ignis's flames. From within his ruined tunic, he yanked out a small, obsidian-black crystal, veins of sickly green light pulsing within it.

"They're planning something!" Seraphina yelled, lunging forward to stop him.

She was fast, but the assassin was committed. With a cry of despair and defiance, he smashed the crystal against his own chest.

There was no explosion of light. Instead, a horrible, swallowing silence fell for a split second. Then, a thick, oily black mist erupted from the shattered crystal, not dispersing, but coiling like a living thing before surging directly into the assassin's open mouth, nose, and eyes.

The man's back arched violently. A guttural, choking scream was torn from his throat, only to be cut off abruptly. His body went rigid, then slumped for a moment.

When he straightened up, his movements were all wrong. Jerky, then too smooth, as if a new puppeteer was testing the strings. He flexed the assassin's hands, opening and closing them, a look of profound distaste on the man's borrowed face.

"Pathetic vessel," a new voice said, layered over the assassin's own, cold, dry, and echoing with ancient malice. "Brittle, untrained, already damaged. It will hold for a few minutes at best. A waste of a soul-crystal." The possessed assassin—or the entity now wearing him—turned its hollow gaze to the other assassin. "You were supposed to secure a more suitable host. One of strong will, of noble blood. You have failed even in this basic task."

The remaining living assassin fell to his knees, trembling. "M-master! We were overwhelmed! The target's protectors are stronger than anticipated! We needed your aid to secure the princess!"

"Needed my aid?" the entity sneered, taking a step forward on unsteady legs. "You needed a crutch. Incompetence should be purged, not rewarded. I should have hired more… professional help."

Elise had been staring, frozen, since the mist had appeared. The aura radiating from the possessed man—cold, hungry, a void that sapped hope and warmth—was horribly, intimately familiar. It was the same feeling that had haunted her dreams, that had clung to her since the curse was placed. A whisper of despair that lived in her blood.

Her face lost all remaining color. Her body began to tremble violently. "N-no…" she breathed, the word barely audible. "It's… it's him." She clutched her chest, as if in physical pain. "He's here. The Deathless King… he's here."

The entity's head swiveled towards her, a grotesque smile stretching the assassin's lips. "Ah. The little princess recognizes me. Good. It saves on introductions. Come along now. This crude flesh is already decaying. Your cooperation will make this less… messy for what remains of your friends."

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