The guardian's eyes flickered. "It could wound her. Perhaps. The First Kaelen created it for that purpose. But she never had the chance to use it."SYSTEM: VOID MOTHER — LEVEL: UNKNOWN ESTIMATED 500+ — KAELEN'S WRATH: EFFECTIVE LEVEL 300 — GAP: SIGNIFICANT"Not enough," Leo said. "Level three hundred against level five hundred. I'd wound her. Then she'd kill me."The guardian nodded. "That is why you must find all twelve vaults. Kaelen's Wrath is only the beginning. The final vault contains the true weapon."SYSTEM: VAULT 12 OF 12 — CONTENTS: UNKNOWN — CLASSIFICATION: ULTIMATE WEAPON — REQUIREMENT: ALL PREVIOUS VAULTS COMPLETEDLeo looked at Nura. She was watching him, her silver eyes steady. "One vault at a time," she said. "Let's get this one first."Leo turned back to the guardian. "Open the vault."The guardian stepped aside. Behind it was a door of black stone, carved with the same symbols as the others. Leo pressed his palm against it.SYSTEM: VAULT 5 OF 12 — ACCESS GRANTED — KA

The journey north took them through hell.Five hundred miles of swampland and ruins and places where the ground itself seemed to remember the void. The Void Vipers had left a trail not just of stolen relics, but of corpses. Villages burned. Cultivators slaughtered. The land poisoned.SYSTEM: VOID VIPER TRAIL — FOLLOWING — DISTANCE TRAVELED: 200 MILES — TIME ELAPSED: 5 DAYS — REMAINING TO STRONGHOLD: 300 MILES — VOID CORRUPTION LEVEL: INCREASINGLeo walked at the front, Kaelen's Eye pulsing in his palm. The golden orb showed him the path a thread of darkness leading north, through the swamps and across the rivers."The relics are close," he said. "The Vipers are slowing down."Nura walked beside him, her silver eyes scanning the horizon. "Why would they slow down?"SYSTEM: VOID VIPER STRONGHOLD — PREPARING FOR RITUAL — RELICS REQUIRED FOR SUMMONING — TIME WINDOW: 7 DAYS"A ritual," Leo read. "They need the relics to summon something. Something big."Lira's hand went to her blades. "Wha

The Southern Desert was a graveyard of civilizations.Two thousand miles of sand and sun and bones. Cities buried beneath dunes. Temples crumbling into dust. The remnants of empires that had risen and fallen while the Kaelen bloodline slept.SYSTEM: SOUTHERN DESERT — ENTERED — TERRAIN: SAND DUNES — TEMPERATURE: EXTREME HEAT — ANCIENT RUINS: NUMEROUS — THREAT LEVEL: MODERATELeo pulled his hood up against the sun. His ancestral armor was hot too hot—but it kept the worst of the heat from his skin. Beside him, Nura walked with renewed strength, her silver eyes scanning the horizon."How far to the vault?" she asked.SYSTEM: VAULT 8 OF 12 — LOCATION: 500 MILES SOUTH — BENEATH ANCIENT TEMPLE — GUARDIAN: ACTIVE — THREAT LEVEL: UNKNOWN"Five hundred miles," Leo said. "Beneath an ancient temple."Lira kicked at the sand. "Why does everything have to be beneath something?""Because my family liked hiding things."The Dawn Guard knights said nothing. They had learned to conserve their energ

SYSTEM: DEEP SEA CREATURES — DETECTED: 12 — LEVELS: 80-120 — DISTANCES: VARIOUS — STATUS: CIRCLING"Twelve," Leo said. "They're circling."Lira drew her blades. "Let them come."SYSTEM: CURRENT DEPTH: 1,200 FEET — PRESSURE: HIGH — DIVING BELL INTEGRITY: 72% — OXYGEN REMAINING: 4 HOURS 30 MINUTESThe creatures attacked one by one.Each time, Leo activated the defense protocol. Each time, the golden shockwave drove them back. But each time, the bell's integrity dropped.SYSTEM: DIVING BELL INTEGRITY — 72% → 65% → 58% → 51% — OXYGEN REMAINING: 4 HOURS — CURRENT DEPTH: 1,800 FEET"We're not going to make it at this rate," Nura said.Leo looked at the cracks spreading across the glass. "We don't have a choice."SYSTEM: UNDERWATER CITY — DETECTED — DISTANCE: 20 MILES — CURRENT DEPTH: 2,000 FEET — OXYGEN REMAINING: 3 HOURS 30 MINUTESThrough the darkness, Leo saw it.The underwater city rose from the ocean floor like a mountain. Spires of black stone. Buildings covered in Kaelen symbols. Str

He grabbed the Heartstone.SYSTEM: HEARTSTONE DIVINE — USED BY LEO KAELEN — CULTIVATION LEVEL: 135 → 185 — BLOODLINE RESPONSE: MAXIMUM — KAELEN'S FORTITUDE: 50% → 60% — KAELEN'S SPEED: 50% → 60% — KAELEN'S STRENGTH: 45% → 55% — BLOODLINE AMPLIFICATION: 70% → 80% PERMANENT — EFFECTIVE LEVEL: 333"Level one hundred eighty-five," Nura said. "Effective level three hundred thirty-three. You could fight a level three hundred fifty now."Leo picked up Kaelen's Blade.The sword was beautiful gold and silver, with a crystal in the hilt that pulsed like a heartbeat. It was lighter than Frostbane, sharper, more alive.SYSTEM: KAELEN'S BLADE — LEVEL 500 WEAPON — BLOODLINE LOCKED: KAELEN ONLY — CURRENT USER LEVEL: 185 — EFFECTIVENESS: 37% — FULL EFFECTIVENESS AT LEVEL 500"I can only use thirty-seven percent of its power," Leo said.The First Kaelen nodded. "But thirty-seven percent of a level five hundred weapon is still level one hundred eighty-five. Enough to hurt the Void Mother.""Not enough