Hearing Lady Revenna's claim, Derek stared at her for a few seconds before a short, disbelieving laugh escaped his lips."You're expecting me to believe that?" he asked, shaking his head. "No. I don't buy it."Zora frowned from the doorway, her arms crossed tight against her chest."How exactly do you expect me to accept that one day here is one month on Earth?" Derek spread his hands, his voice dripping with skepticism. "That doesn't make any sense. You're just trying to play smart with me." He glanced around the stone chamber. "I've only been here a short while. You're telling me that if I spend a single day here, an entire month passes outside?"Revenna met his defiant gaze without flinching."That is never going to convince me," Derek added, folding his arms.Silence settled heavy and cold over the room. Then Revenna spoke, her voice cutting straight through his protests. "The only thing you have is brute strength. But you don't have enough sense to think."The insult hit him inst

Lady Revenna continued walking toward Derek, every step she took sending a fresh tremor through the stone beneath her feet. Cracks spiderwebbed outward across the floor while the air pressure in the chamber grew suffocating. Zora watched from the sidelines in sheer terror. She knew precisely how powerful her master was, having witnessed that strength countless times before, but never like this. Never with this magnitude of rage, and never with such lethal intent. Zora swallowed hard, struggling against the heavy atmosphere as she realized she had never seen Lady Revenna in such a volatile state.Derek felt the crushing weight bearing down on him as well. Even with his mastered breathing techniques, his chest tightened as he fought to keep his rhythm steady against the overwhelming force. He knew the situation had spiraled into dangerous territory. He still lacked a full understanding of the ruins, remained unsure of his own true limits, and had no clue what Lady Revenna was fully capa

The deal Derek had placed before Lady Revenna left her genuinely surprised. She had expected something much greater. After all, he was standing before the woman who ruled this world with an iron hand, a woman whose power could crush him in seconds, yet his demand was simple. Tell him the truth about the hatred between her family and the Morrisons, and he would tell her how to break the curse. It sounded almost too easy.Revenna had spent years searching for a way to remove the curse, and countless curse breakers had come before her. Some were powerful, some were highly respected, and others claimed they had broken curses that had existed for centuries, but none of them had succeeded. In fact, most of them had told her the same thing: the curse was unbreakable. What made Derek even more suspicious was that he had identified the curse without her telling him anything, something that had never happened before. The curse breakers who came to her never knew what had been placed on her unle

Derek listened to Revenna lay out her terms, then let out a short, disbelieving laugh. "Another test? To prove myself how?"Revenna met his gaze in silence, letting the question hang between them."Why are you giving me another test?" Derek pressed, stepping closer. "If you're putting another condition in front of me, that changes the deal. If I actually pass this test, I should be able to ask for something greater than what I originally requested." He folded his arms across his chest, his posture growing firm. "Since you're making me prove myself again, I'm increasing my demand."Revenna considered his words for several long seconds, her eyes searching his face before she finally answered. "Well, if you pass this test, you can ask me for whatever you want."Derek shifted slightly, a flicker of surprise crossing his features. "Whatever I want?""Whatever you want," she repeated. She paused, letting the full weight of the offer settle into the quiet space between them. "But if you fail