novelblue
Chapter 240 – The Elder’s Reckoning
Chapter 240 – The Elder’s Reckoning
The air was thick with tension, the kind that settled deep into one’s bones before a storm.
Veylan moved like a shadow through the ruined city, his steps soundless on the cracked stone streets.
Ahead, the fortress loomed—a relic of an empire built on blood and forbidden magic.
Inside was his next target.
Another Elder of Valefor.
He tightened his grip on his twin blades, their edges glinting beneath the pale moonlight.
Beside him, Lilith adjusted the straps on her gauntlets, her crimson eyes locked onto the fortress’s towering gates.
"How much resistance do you expect?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Veylan exhaled slowly. "Enough to make this interesting."
The fortress was not unguarded.
Figures clad in dark armor patrolled the perimeter, their movements precise, their weapons sharp.
Veylan counted twelve in his immediate view, but he knew there were more lurking beyond the walls.
Lilith smirked. "Then let’s not keep them waiting."
With a silent nod, they moved.
Like twin specters, they descended upon the first two guards.
Steel whispered through the air—
Two bodies crumpled, their throats opened before a sound could escape.
The rest had no time to react.
Veylan was a storm of blades, his strikes cutting down his enemies before they could even lift their weapons.
Lilith was a dance of death, her fists shattering armor, her daggers slicing through the gaps with ruthless precision.
By the time the last body fell, the courtyard was painted in crimson.
But the true battle had yet to begin.
Beyond the heavy gates, their target waited.
"Let’s move," Veylan said, already stepping over the corpses.
Lilith followed, wiping her daggers clean on a fallen soldier’s cloak.
With a forceful kick, Veylan sent the doors bursting open.
Inside, torches lined the grand hall, their flickering flames casting long shadows against the marble pillars.
At the far end, seated upon an obsidian throne, was their target.
Elder Kaelmont Valefor.
His robes were midnight black, lined with silver embroidery that pulsed faintly with enchantments.
His hair was white as fresh snowfall, his eyes as cold and empty as the abyss.
He did not flinch at their arrival.
"You’re finally here," Kaelmont murmured, his voice smooth as silk.
Veylan did not waste time on words.
He moved.
The distance between them vanished in a heartbeat.
His blade descended—
Kaelmont raised a single hand.
A wave of pure force exploded outward.
Veylan was flung backward, crashing against the marble floor with a grunt.
Lilith lunged forward, her gauntlet glowing with dark energy—
Kaelmont barely glanced at her before shadows erupted from the ground, wrapping around her limbs like serpents.
She struggled, but the darkness tightened.
"Pathetic," Kaelmont sighed.
Veylan was already on his feet.
His eyes narrowed. This was no ordinary mage.
Kaelmont did not bother with incantations. He merely lifted a finger—
A storm of black lances shot forth.
Veylan twisted, dodging between the deadly projectiles.
One scraped past his shoulder, searing pain flaring as it cut through his armor.
Lilith snarled, breaking free with a burst of strength.
She closed the distance between them—
Kaelmont flicked his wrist.
A wall of shadows erupted between them.
She crashed into it, her momentum shattering, forced to leap back.
Veylan saw the flicker of amusement in Kaelmont’s gaze.
"You fight well," the Elder mused, rising from his throne.
"But not well enough."
A dark mist poured from his body, pooling around his feet like living smoke.
Veylan could feel it.
The pressure.
A force so suffocating it was like being trapped beneath an ocean of darkness.
Lilith clenched her fists. "I hate mages."
Kaelmont raised his hands, and the entire hall trembled.
Shadows came alive, slithering across the walls, writhing like twisted phantoms.
And then—
They attacked.
The tendrils lashed out, striking like whips of pure darkness.
Veylan dodged left, barely avoiding a strike meant to crush his skull.
Lilith rolled forward, slicing at the tendrils with her daggers, but they merely reformed.
"This is pointless," Kaelmont said with an almost bored sigh.
His fingers curled—
And the shadows thickened.
Veylan felt the floor disappear beneath him.
A void swallowed him whole.
For a moment, there was only nothingness.
Then—
Pain.
He was slammed back into reality, his body crashing against the cold stone.
Lilith was on her knees, panting, her limbs trembling under the weight of Kaelmont’s power.
"I expected more," Kaelmont murmured.
Veylan wiped blood from his mouth.
"Then you’re an idiot."
He vanished.
One second, he was kneeling.
The next—
He was in front of Kaelmont.
His blade plunged forward.
Kaelmont’s eyes widened.
For the first time—
He was too slow.
The sword pierced his side.
A sharp, guttural sound escaped the Elder’s lips.
Veylan twisted the blade—
But Kaelmont vanished, dissolving into shadows before he could deal the final blow.
A laugh echoed around the chamber.
"Well done."
Veylan and Lilith turned, eyes scanning the darkness.
Kaelmont’s voice was everywhere.
"But this game is far from over."
The shadows surged again.
And the battle continued.