Before Lex could even process what was happening, before he could summon his sword or click his lighter or do anything at all, the smiling man moved.It wasn't a punch. It wasn't a kick. It was just a casual flick of his hand, like swatting away an annoying insect.Lex flew.He crashed through the wooden wall of a house like it was made of paper. Splinters exploded around him as he tumbled through an empty room, through another wall, and finally came to rest against the stone foundation of a fireplace. The impact drove every ounce of air from his lungs.Something was wrong inside his chest. Every breath sent fire through his body. His ribs—multiple of them—had cracked on impact. He tasted copper. Blood poured from his mouth, his nose, a dozen cuts across his face and arms.He tried to move. Couldn't. Tried to breathe normally. Couldn't. Every inhalation was a battle, a sharp, stabbing agony that made his vision swim.The smiling man appeared in the hole Lex had made in the wall. He st

After the king left, Lex sat on the edge of his bed for a long time, staring at the ring on his finger and feeling the strange weightlessness of the tank top beneath his shirt. Two new items. Two new chances. He turned his hand over, watching light glint off the silver band.Maybe, he thought again. Just maybe.He stood up, surprised at how easy it felt. No pain. No stiffness. The System's healing had done its work perfectly. He walked to the door, opened it, and stepped outside.The sight that greeted him stopped him cold.He was in Crown's Seat. Inside the king's palace, yes—the architecture was unmistakable—but it was the outside that caught his attention. The palace grounds had been transformed into a massive encampment. Tents stretched in every direction, arranged in neat rows like a small city of canvas and rope. People moved between them—some carrying supplies, others tending to the injured, many just sitting and talking.And the injured. There were so many.Healers in simple r

The trail to the mountains between Brinewater and Oakhaven was rough and unforgiving. Steep climbs, narrow passes, and loose rocks that made every step a gamble. But the army moved through it all without incident, not because the path was safe, but because the monsters knew better.Even the dumbest creatures could sense when death was walking through their territory. The hunting party was a moving wall of steel and killing intent, and every beast within miles hid in its cave or burrow and prayed to whatever gods it worshipped to be overlooked.They marched until the sun stood directly overhead, then stopped for a brief lunch. But even this simple act revealed the fractures in their group.The Heartland warriors sat apart, a tight cluster of dark armor and cold silence. They spoke in low voices among themselves, occasionally glancing at the Aurelian forces with expressions that ranged from disdain to mild amusement.The Aurelian knights split into smaller groups based on rank and famil

Only fourteen of them remained standing.The other fourteen—half their force—lay scattered across the compound. Some were dead, their bodies pierced by those dark projectiles. Others were paralyzed but alive, their eyes still open, still watching, still begging silently for help that wouldn't come.The survivors stood in stunned silence, staring at their fallen comrades. Men who had been laughing around a fire just hours ago. Men who had wives waiting, children hoping, parents praying. Gone. Or as good as.Lex felt it building inside him. Not sorrow. Not pity. Rage. The same cold, burning rage he'd felt when he killed his first cultist. The same emptiness that had taken over when he'd slaughtered the Red Sting in Oakhaven. It rose like a tide, threatening to drown everything else.He didn't fight it. He let it devoured him.Vex's voice cut through the silence like a blade. "No time for emotion. We find them. Now."He glanced briefly at the three Heartland warriors lying among the dead

The barrier collapsed.It didn't shatter or explode—it simply vanished, like a held breath finally released. Vex, Cedric, and the five knights with them surged forward without hesitation, crossing the distance in seconds. They reached Lex's group just as the last echoes of the smiling man's laughter faded.The healers among the knights immediately set to work. Two of them—knights trained in both combat and medicine—knelt beside the wounded, their hands glowing with soft light as they tended cuts, sealed gashes, and pushed healing magic into broken bodies.One approached Lex, his eyes scanning for injuries. "Are you hurt? Do you need—"Lex shook his head. He couldn't speak. His eyes were still fixed on the spot where the smiling man had stood moments ago, holding that severed head like a trophy.Vex appeared beside him, his scarred face hard as stone. Together they stared at the figure ahead, the smiling man, standing alone in the open, completely unafraid of two dozen armed warriors.