The frost valley lay silent after the collapse of the demon fragment. Not even the wind dared speak.
Aarav stood still, his aura slowly dimming as equilibrium receded. Lunaris clung to his sleeve tightly, her breath warm and uneven — a mixture of fear, awe, and something unspoken blooming behind her eyes.
But Aarav wasn't looking at her.
He was watching the sky.
Because he felt it.
A ripple.A pull.A tear running through the edges of reality.
[System Warning][Spatial Disturbance Detected][Source: High-Level Blood Cult Dimensional Spell][Threat Level: Extreme]
Aarav whispered, "They're not retreating."
Lunaris stiffened. "More are coming?"
He nodded."More dangerous than projections."
The sky darkened.Clouds split apart like torn skin.And from a rotating crimson gateway descended nine figures — each cloaked in blood-red robes and bone masks carved with crescent symbols.
Their aura was suffocating.Their malice was sharp.
Lunaris recoiled instinctively. "That symbol…!"
Aarav narrowed his eyes.
"The Blood Crescent High Council."
The nine figures floated in a perfect circle, forming a blood-red halo. Their voices merged, echoing like a chorus of dying souls.
"Balance Walker.""You have interfered.""You have weakened an awakening long foretold.""You purified our corruption.""You destroyed our Herald.""You shattered the Demon fragment.""You must be… corrected."
Aarav stepped forward calmly, hands behind his back.
"I won't be corrected," he said softly."Not by you. Not by your prophet.""Not by anything born of corruption."
The council trembled.
"You speak boldly," one hissed."Few dare.""Fewer survive."
Aarav's gaze sharpened.
"Then count me among the rare."
The nine robed figures snarled, merging their qi into a swirling crimson storm. Their hoods lowered — revealing nine different faces: young, old, beautiful, monstrous, each marked with blood sigils.
But one among them did not activate the storm.
She stood at the back.Silent.Still.Her mask uniquely shaped — not a crescent, but a full eclipse.
Her aura was cold… and beautiful.Unlike the others, her energy held no hate.
It held sorrow.Depth.A calm darkness that reminded him of shadow lakes beneath moonlight.
Aarav's Spirit Sense touched her lightly—
She flinched.Her body shivered as if she felt something intimate.
The council roared:
"Do not sully the Shadow Maiden with your will!"
Aarav blinked.
Shadow Maiden?
His system pulsed.
[New Individual Detected][Designation: Shadow Maiden – Umara][Role: Blood Cult's Silent Priestess][Threat: Unknown][Potential: Extraordinary][Affinity: 41% → 49% (Reactive)][Warning: Emotional Instability Detected]
Aarav's eyes narrowed.
Umara.The woman with eclipse eyes.A soul tied to shadow, not corruption.
A rare existence — a dark-type inheritor capable of healing, binding, or breaking crimson laws.
She wasn't Blood Cult by choice.
She was trapped.
Forced.
Bound.
The council addressed Aarav again.
"You will surrender your techniques.""Your comprehension.""Your authority.""Your balance.""And your life."
Lunaris stepped forward, blue eyes blazing.
"You think you can order Aarav?! This land rejects your presence—!"
Aarav gently placed a hand on her shoulder.She quieted instantly.
He looked at the nine elders.
"You came prepared to kill me.""Yet you brought a woman who hasn't raised a hand against me."
The Shadow Maiden stiffened.
"You dragged her into a war she didn't start."
The council sneered.
"She is the Prophet's chosen.""His vessel.""His shadow bride."
Aarav's aura spiked so sharply the frost cracked beneath him.
Shadow bride?Of the Prophet?
Aarav's voice dropped.Soft.Deadly.
"That explains her sadness."
The council faltered.
"You—do not speak—of what you do not comprehend—!!!"
Aarav took a step forward.A single step.
Golden and black aura swirled together behind him, forming a spiraling storm that made even the frostlands bow.
"I comprehend her heart better than any of you."
Umara's breath caught.Her body trembled.Her hands gripped her cloak tightly.
"You…" she whispered softly, voice shaking, "…you can see me?"
Aarav turned toward her.
"I see the woman behind the mask," he said gently."The one who longs to choose her own path."
Her masked gaze softened.Her shadow quivered.Her heartbeat raced.
"Enough!" the council roared."She belongs to us!""She is bound by the Prophet's blood!""She is the key to awakening the Demon's Heart!""She cannot be freed!"
Aarav whispered:
"That's why… she will be."
The council unleashed their attack.
Nine beams of corrupted qi tore through the sky, twisting reality, turning frost black, making the world scream.
Lunaris cried, "Aarav—!!"
But Aarav raised his hand.
Not in a violent gesture.
A gentle one.
As if calming a child.
"Equilibrium State."
The world fell silent.
The crimson beams froze midair — trembling like insects caught in amber.
The council screamed.
"He stopped it! He stopped NINE beams!""Impossible!""He uses the Heavenly Demon's principle—WITH the Divine Sword's precision!""He walks both paths! He defies natural law!"
Aarav looked at them calmly.
"You challenge balance with chaos.""You challenge understanding with madness.""You challenge me… with weakness."
He closed his hand.
Light and shadow spiraled.
The beams shattered like glass.
The council staggered back, horrified.
"What ARE you?!""Which path do you walk?!""How do you balance opposites without tearing your soul apart?!"
Aarav smiled faintly.
"I listen to the universe."
His gaze flicked toward the Shadow Maiden.
"And to the hearts hidden in shadows."
Umara flinched — unable to tear her gaze away.
The council regrouped, retreating slightly.They were losing control.
"We will not defeat him today.""We must retreat.""The Prophet must hear this.""Awaken the Crimson Moon.""Begin the Ascension Ritual."
A crack opened in space.The elders began stepping through.
But Umara hesitated.
She looked at Aarav.
Really looked.
As if seeing the first ray of hope in her life filled with captivity.
She whispered — barely audible—
"…save me."
Aarav's heart stilled.
His system pulsed violently.
[Affinity Surge Detected][Umara — Shadow Maiden][49% → 61%][Bond Type Unlocked: Shadow Redemption Path]
Aarav stepped forward—
But the council yanked her through the rift.
"No!" Lunaris cried.
Aarav's eyes darkened, aura spiraling like a storm compressed into silence.
They had taken Umara.They had attempted to awaken the Demon fragment.They had tried to bend the frostlands.
They had crossed too many lines.
Aarav whispered,voice calm, controlled, terrifying—
"Then I will break the Prophet's future."
The frost trembled beneath him.
And far away, in a crimson throne room, the Prophet felt a shiver of fear for the first time in centuries.