"Who's General Athure?" Helios asked, his voice carrying a strange, melodic curiosity that didn't quite mask the underlying tension.
"General Athure is the Knight Lord you killed," Circlet replied, the voice echoing within Helios's mind with a cold, metallic clarity. "He is an upgraded version of a Knight Lord. He is a General now," Circlet added, as if explaining a simple promotion rather than the resurrection of a fallen foe.
Helios narrowed his eyes, his mind racing through the graveyard of his past victories. "Oh? So what about the Night Walkers I killed? Did they become Knight Lords, then?"
"Yes, they did," Circlet confirmed. "But you cannot summon them right now because you are too weak. They will break free from your control the moment they manifest."
"How can I control them right now then?" Helios asked in a cautious, guarded voice, sensing a contradiction in the crown's logic.
"That's because they can only break free from your control when you summon them outside," Circlet said, its tone dismissive.
Helios's expression shifted, his brow furrowing as a cold suspicion took root. "I thought you said you don't know anything about my abilities," he said in a serious, low voice that carried a hint of a threat.
"I'm just guessing from the clues I got from the other guy sealed in your body," Circlet retorted, its voice rising in an interested, almost hungry tone. "Enough talking, human. Let's start the fight."
As if on cue, the world around them seemed to react. The Knight Lords and the Targen family guards, who had been moving with a chaotic energy moments before, suddenly froze. They stepped back, forming a wide, silent perimeter. General Athure began to walk, his heavy footsteps thumping against the ground like a funeral drum. Helios followed, led by the invisible tether of the crown's will, as they transitioned from the corridors to the sprawling, desolate training grounds.
The training ground was a vast expanse of grey stone and packed earth, shadowed by the perpetual twilight of the Veiled World. As Helios stepped onto the centre of the arena, he felt a sudden, jarring lightness. He reached up; the crown had disappeared from his head.
"Where are you going, Circlet? I need you to absorb spiral energy from the Veiled World," Helios said, his voice sharp and annoyed as he looked around the empty air.
"You really might be dumb," Circlet's voice rang out, vibrating through the atmosphere itself. "Why would you need my help to link to the Veiled World if you are in the Veiled World?"
Helios opened his mouth to argue, but the crown cut him off with an annoyed sneer. "The reason you need a summon is to get a link to the Veiled World when you are in the physical world. But now that you are in the Veiled World, you don't need a summon to help you absorb spiral energy."
The logic was sound, but the delivery stung. "You're too arrogant for a crown. I feel like melting you," Helios said in an annoyed voice, his fingers itching to grip something solid.
General Athure, standing thirty paces away, didn't seem interested in the internal squabble. He walked toward a rack of blackened steel weapons, his movements fluid and terrifyingly precise for a man of his size. He picked up two massive longswords, their edges gleaming with a faint, ghostly light. With a casual flick of his wrist, he threw one of the swords toward Helios.
The blade spun end-over-end, a streak of silver against the grey sky. Helios reached out and caught the hilt mid-air. The weight was immense, the metal cold enough to bite through his skin.
"Well, Your Highness... it's time to fight," General Athure said. He didn't wait for a signal. He exploded forward, his boots kicking up clouds of dust.
Athure reached him in a heartbeat, swinging his sword in a wide, punishing arc. Helios threw up his blade to block, and the collision sounded like a lightning strike. The force sent a shudder through Helios's entire frame, vibrating through his teeth and down to his heels. He was forced back several feet, his boots skidding across the grit.
Athure didn't relent. He followed up with a brutal overhead strike. Helios rolled to the left, the General's blade burying itself inches deep into the hard-packed earth. The ground cracked under the sheer pressure of the blow. Helios scrambled to his feet, lunging forward with a counter-thrust, but Athure moved with a speed that defied his heavy plate armour. The General parried the thrust with the flat of his gauntlet, stepping into Helios's guard and delivering a shoulder check that sent the young man sprawling.
"Is this the strength that bested me?" Athure's voice was a hollow rasp.
Helios spat blood from his lip, feeling the spiral energy of the Veiled World rushing into his pores like a freezing tide. Without Circlet acting as a filter, the energy was raw, jagged, and overwhelming. He felt his veins begin to glow with a faint, pulsing light.
He swung again, this time putting the weight of the Veiled World's energy behind the steel. The two blades met in a shower of sparks. This time, Helios didn't give ground. He pushed back, his muscles screaming under the strain. He saw the General's eyes—voids of dark energy—flicker with something resembling recognition.
Athure disengaged, spinning his blade into a defensive flourish before launching a flurry of stabs. Helios parried each one, the clanging of metal filling the silent arena like a frantic rhythm. He was learning the weight of the sword, the way the spiral energy flowed through the hilt and into the edge.
The General suddenly changed his rhythm, dropping low and sweeping his leg. Helios hopped over the sweep, but it was a feint; Athure was already rising, his hilt slamming into Helios's ribs. Helios gasped, the air leaving his lungs in a sharp burst, but he swung his sword blindly as he fell back. The tip of his blade caught the General's pauldrons, leaving a glowing white scratch on the dark metal.
"Again!" Circlet barked from the sidelines of the spirit realm, watching with a twisted sort of glee.
Helios stood tall, his breathing ragged but his eyes burning. He realized now that being in the Veiled World meant he wasn't just fighting a ghost; he was fighting the very essence of his own power reflected back at him. He gripped the sword with both hands, the spiral energy beginning to coil around the blade like a serpent.
General Athure settled into a low stance, his sword held pointed directly at Helios's throat. The air between them began to hum, distorted by the sheer density of the power being drawn into the training ground.
"Come then, General," Helios hissed, his annoyance fading into a cold, murderous focus. "Let's see if you're worth the upgrade."
Athure roared—a sound that wasn't human, but the collective cry of a thousand fallen souls—and charged once more. The real fight was only just beginning.
Sup, l hope you guys like this chapter