The great night finally arrived.
Across the capital, lanterns burned like fallen stars, scattering gold across the streets as the young noble heirs stepped out of their mansions, palaces, and clan estates. Carriages lined with clan emblems rolled across the stone roads, wheels humming softly as they headed toward the grandest structure in the kingdom:
The Grand Hall of Asterion.
Built at the very edge of the royal palace grounds bordering the ancient forest where silver-barked trees whispered under the wind the Grand Hall was a monument older than any living noble. Massive, rectangular, and crowned with an open roof that revealed the night sky like a framed painting, it stood as a symbol of the kingdom's unshakable power.
Its pillars were carved from mountain stone.
Its doors were etched with history.
Its floors had felt the footsteps of kings.
Royal inaugurations.
Peace treaties.
Coronation banquets.
War victory feasts.
Birthdays that shaped political futures.
Name any celebration of the kingdom the Grand Hall had witnessed it.
And tonight, it would host yet another historic event:
The banquet that would formally present Crown Prince Kaen to every major young heir and noble of Asterion.
A parade of prestige, politics, ambition… and something darker lurking beneath.
Hours Before the Banquet will Start
While noble heirs were choosing robes and polishing their family tokens, chaos was already moving quietly inside the Grand Hall.
Five assassins the ones Crystal had secretly summoned had infiltrated the hall hours before dawn. Their movements were so seamless that even trained guards would not have noticed anything amiss.
Now, as lanterns were being lit and tables arranged, the five wore the uniforms of servants and palace guards. They carried platters and scrolls, adjusted curtains, polished blades blending perfectly into the living machinery of the palace.
No one questioned them.
They were invisible by acting visible.
At the same time, another wave of infiltrators shadowy figures from unknown factions slipped into the building under disguise.
Servants.
Musicians.
Security officers.
Hall attendants.
Everywhere they inserted themselves, a corpse was hidden somewhere nearby, stripped of its uniform.
It was silent slaughter.
Silent replacement.
Silent positioning.
A spiderweb spreading across the hall without a single strand being noticed.
None of the nobles arriving outside would ever imagine that the banquet hall was already filled with knives waiting to be drawn.
Yet…
Unseen by these infiltrators, two figures had been watching from the beginning.
Perched high above, sitting atop one of the outer roof beams of the Grand Hall, were Rion Kaze and the Wooden Masked Man.
Neither spoke.
Neither interfered.
Neither seemed remotely concerned.
Which, in itself, was concerning.
Rion sat with his legs crossed, staring down at the endless infiltration with an exhausted sigh.
"Master lost one bet," he muttered to himself, "and I'm the one suffering for it…"
The wooden-masked figure beside him remained motionless. The breeze lifted his ponytail slightly, revealing the metal wristbands glinting faintly in the moonlight. His blue star-like eyes hid behind the carved wooden mask, but he did not blink.
He watched.
He noticed everything.
But he did not move.
"Why are there so many of them?" Rion quietly complained, scratching his cheek. "Do these factions think the Grand Hall is a market square? Can't they sneak quietly? At least pretend to be subtle…"
The masked figure said nothing.
Of course he said nothing.
Rion had long since given up trying to understand why his companion cultivated in the strangest places possible on cliffs, rooftops, tree branches, or now on top of the kingdom's most important hall as dozens of assassins crawled beneath them.
A gust of wind passed.
"…This is pointless," Rion muttered. "We were told to protect the crown prince, not babysit the entire kingdom. If shadow groups can infiltrate the royal grand hall itself, that's the kingdom's problem, not ours."
He paused as another man in servant uniform entered the hall below only to be replaced by someone wearing his face a moment later.
Rion clicked his tongue.
"That's definitely not our problem."
The wooden-masked figure still did not respond.
The silence between them was almost comforting now.
But then.
The masked figure suddenly tilted his head, ever so slightly.
Rion noticed.
"You sensed something?"
Still silent.
But something changed.
The masked man's eyes those eerie blue lights narrowed behind the wooden mask.
He saw the infiltrators.
He analyzed their steps.
He traced their patterns.
And then…
He noticed the difference.
Most of the invaders were ruthless killing and immediately taking positions inside the hall.
But among them were five assassins who did not act like the others. They didn't kill. They didn't eliminate anyone. They simply melted into their roles carefully and quietly… and yet never stepped inside the hall.
They remained outside the building, along the walls, by the pillars, hidden in the peripheral shadows.
That was strange.
Very strange.
Rion finally followed the masked man's gaze.
"What is it?"
A moment of silence.
Then, quietly barely audible the masked man spoke three words:
"…Sect disciples."
Rion blinked.
"What? Which sect?"
The masked figure shook his head once.
He didn't know.
Meaning
A powerful sect was trying to influence the kingdom.
Influence the banquet.
Influence the crown prince's future.
"But why and which sect?" Rion murmured
The masked figure didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Both of them understood:
Shadow infiltrators wanted chaos and sect's members being among means something big will happen.
But the five who stayed outside wanted something else entirely.
Observation.
Control.
Timing.
They weren't here to kill.
They were here to wait.
And that…
was far more dangerous.
Rion leaned back, rubbing his temple.
"Great. Just great. Not only sects disciples , not only shadow groups, but now some shady assassins too. This banquet is cursed."
The masked figure remained motionless, his aura steady and unbothered.
Rion glared at him.
"How are you this calm? You don't even want to be here! I don't want to be here! We're both victims! Victims of my master's gambling addiction!"
No response.
Just wind.
Just silence.
Just one master-phase experts and a masked figure sitting above a hall full of ticking knives.
Rion sighed heavily.
"Well… whatever happens next… it definitely won't be boring."
Inside the Grand Hall, lanterns began to ignite one by one, casting golden halos across the marble floors.
The nobles' carriages arrived.
The heirs stepped out.
The banquet was about to begin.
And none of them knew they were walking into a hall filled with.
Assassins.
Shadows.
Sect disciples.
Five unknowns.
Two silent monsters on the roof.
And one girl who intended to rewrite destiny.
The night had only just started.