The underground bunker beneath the Draven estate was lined with anti-magic lead. Its heavy iron doors were built centuries ago to withstand a full demon siege.
Right now, it wasn't holding back an army. It was holding two terrified kids.
Seven figures sat around a circular stone table in the center of the damp room. They wore pitch-black robes, their faces hidden deep beneath their cowls. The pressure leaking from their bodies marked them as elite killers. Five were at the peak of the Adept rank. The other two, seated near the head of the table, carried the sharp, dangerous weight of Early Expert-rank mages.
Shadow Assassins.
*Creak...*
The stone wall groaned, and a hidden panel slid open. An eighth assassin stepped into the room and slumped into a wooden chair.
"Status," one of the Expert-rank leaders demanded.
"The territory is completely locked down," the newcomer reported, his voice tight.
"The First Legion is deployed. Twenty-mile perimeter. It's a total quarantine. Every knight out there is a Master, and a Grandmaster is leading the hunt."
A heavy silence fell over the stone room.
Then, a low chuckle broke the quiet.
"Who cares if the escape is hard?" one of the Adept assassins laughed, leaning back.
"The bounty on this contract is astronomical. We could buy a private island and live like kings for the rest of our lives."
"It's a suicide mission if Cassian Draven finds us," another muttered.
"Do you know who might have hired the Guild to kidnap the Demon's own blood? It has to be someone with a death wish. Or someone with an army."
The lead Expert slammed his fist onto the stone table.
"We don't care who issued the contract," the leader hissed.
"We take the gold, we finish the job, and we vanish. Figure out the patrol routes."
In the corner of the room, two small bundles lying on a pile of rough burlap sacks began to move.
Caelum groaned. His head throbbed from the sleeping powder. Beside him, little Lyra blinked her bright blue eyes open, looking around the dark, damp room.
They didn't cry. They were Draven children.
Caelum sat up and pulled Lyra securely behind his back. He glared at the cloaked figures. There was no paralyzing fear in his dark eyes, only profound annoyance.
One of the assassins noticed them moving. He pushed his chair back, drew a curved dagger from his belt, and walked over to the corner.
"The little lord and lady are awake," the assassin sneered, twirling the blade. "Stay quiet. Make a sound, and I cut out your tongues."
Lyra peeked out from behind Caelum's shoulder. She stuck her bottom lip out in a stubborn pout.
"My big brother is going to beat you up."
The assassin barked a cruel laugh.
"Your brother is crying into his mother's skirts. Shut up."
Before Caelum could snap back, a bright light flared on the stone table.
A communication orb hovered slightly above the surface, pulsing with a sickly green glow.
The lead assassin quickly placed his hand over it.
"What are the orders? The extraction point is compromised. What do we do with the assets?"
The voice from the orb was heavily distorted by encryption magic. It sounded like grinding metal.
"Change of plans. The Duke moved too fast. Extraction failed," the metallic voice grated.
"Kill them. Leave their heads. We will make a statement."
The green light faded. The orb dropped back onto the table.
The mood in the room instantly shifted. The nervous chatter vanished. The cold professionalism of the Guild took over.
The assassin standing near the children flipped his dagger into a reverse grip and lunged forward.
Caelum didn't freeze. He threw his hands up.
A violent gust of wind erupted from his palms, aimed directly at the assassin's chest.
But the leader at the table was faster. He pulled a small black talisman from his robes and crushed it.
A wave of grey energy swept across the room. The wind magic instantly fizzled out, the air returning to a dead calm. It was an anti-magic field.
Caelum gasped, feeling his connection to his mana violently severed. He spread his arms wide, trying to physically shield Lyra with his own body as the assassin raised the dagger.
*BANG!*
The entire underground bunker shook.
The assassin paused, his dagger hovering in mid-air. All eight cloaked figures spun around, drawing their weapons. Their eyes locked onto the heavy, reinforced iron door.
*BANG!*
Another massive strike hit the thick metal from the outside. The reinforced iron actually buckled inward. A fist-shaped dent appeared in the dead center of the door.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
The strikes were relentless and terrifyingly heavy. The iron hinges screamed. The stone frame cracked, raining dust onto the floor.
The assassins formed a defensive semi-circle, ready to ambush whatever monster was trying to punch through a solid vault.
Then, the punching stopped.
The bunker fell dead silent.
"What is—" one of the Adepts started to whisper.
*BOOOOM!!!!*
The iron door didn't break. It was completely atomized.
[Mana Cannon!]
A colossal, blindingly bright sphere of sapphire-blue kinetic energy blasted through the entryway. It tore the heavy metal into a thousand pieces of molten shrapnel, obliterating the wall and sending a shockwave of raw concussive force ripping through the chamber.
Dust and smoke billowed into the room, choking the air.
Through the swirling gray haze, a small silhouette emerged.
It was Neo.
He wasn't wearing his pristine white suit. He wore his dark training tunic. His white hair was covered in stone dust.
His face was completely unrecognizable.
The usual calm, pragmatic composure was gone. His deep blue eyes were hollow, devoid of any light or mercy. He scanned the room, his gaze sweeping past the assassins until he found Caelum and Lyra huddled in the corner.
He saw the terror on their faces. He saw the drawn dagger.
The temperature in the bunker plummeted below freezing. The moisture in the damp air crystallized, coating the stone walls in sparkling frost.
Neo turned his head. His hollow eyes locked onto the eight shadow-mages.
He didn't say a word.
He raised his right hand, violent blue lightning crackling across his fingers. He raised his left hand, a massive sphere of freezing frost forming in his palm.
"Kill him!" the lead Expert-rank assassin roared.
The eight shadow-mages surged forward, their dark auras flooding the small space.
Neo moved.
He pushed his Lightning element into his muscles, boosting his Agility to its absolute limit. He became a blur, bypassing the front line of Adepts entirely and appearing right in front of the assassin guarding the twins.
Neo thrust his left hand forward, firing a point-blank shard of solid ice at the man's chest.
The assassin didn't bother blocking. The moment the ice made contact, his body dissolved into a pool of formless black shadow. The ice shard passed harmlessly through the dark mist.
A second later, the shadow rapidly re-formed into a solid body three feet to Neo's right. The assassin brought a heavy broadsword down in a lethal arc.
[Defensive Magic: Frost Aegis!]
*Clang!*
A thick, hexagonal shield of ice materialized in the air. The heavy blade bit deep into the frost, stopping inches from Neo's shoulder.
'Shadow-shifters,' Neo calculated instantly. Physical attacks and direct elemental strikes wouldn't work if they could just melt into darkness to avoid the impact.
Neo dropped the ice shield and spun around. His right hand glowed with pure, telekinetic force. He didn't aim for their bodies. He aimed for their equipment.
He locked his mental grip onto the heavy steel breastplate of an advancing Adept.
[Basic Telekinesis!]
"Crush," Neo commanded.
The steel armor violently imploded. It folded inward with a sickening crunch of metal and bone. The assassin let out a choked scream, dropping to the floor in a broken heap.
But there were too many of them.
While Neo was distracted by the telekinetic crush, the two Expert-rank leaders flanked him. They moved with seasoned, terrifying precision.
One of them launched a highly condensed dark-elemental spell. It wasn't a projectile; it was a heavy wave of pure concussive force wrapped in shadow mana.
Neo didn't have time to dodge. He threw up a desperate barrier of raw mana, but his physical defence was too weak.
*SMASH!*
The dark spell slammed into him like a runaway carriage.
Neo was launched backward. His body flew through the air and crashed brutally into the solid stone wall of the bunker.
*CRACK!*
He fell to the floor in a heap.
His vision instantly blurred. Dark, heavy spots swam in his eyes. The metallic taste of blood flooded his mouth. He tried to push himself up, but his left arm refused to respond. Agony flared across his ribs. He felt incredibly cold.
"Pathetic," the Expert-rank assassin scoffed, lowering his hand. He didn't even check if Neo was dead. The boy had taken a direct hit from an Expert-rank spell. His internal organs were likely mush.
The lead assassin turned away from the broken boy on the floor. He looked back toward the corner.
"The perimeter is breached. The Draven knights will be here in less than two minutes," the leader hissed, drawing a long, serrated blade. He started walking toward Caelum and Lyra.
"Finish the contract. Kill the twins and scatter into the shadows."
Neo lay on the cold stone, paralyzed.
He watched the assassin walk toward his siblings. He heard Lyra crying. He saw Caelum trying desperately to stand up and fight back.
And he couldn't move a single muscle to stop it.
His massive mana capacity meant nothing. His physical body had failed him.
'No...'
he thought, his vision darkening.
Neo's eyes slowly fluttered shut as his consciousness began to slip away, sinking deep into the quiet abyss of his own mind.