2026-09-08 01:07:25
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42
"Bring the accused forward and bind their feet to the central trial glyphs!" Magistrate Julian shouted from the high obsidian gallery, his heavy gavel slamming against the marble railing with a sharp, deafening strike.Lucas stepped into the center of the Supreme Spire's circular trial floor, his black boots leaving faint, glowing purple footprints on the cold dark stone.Beside him, Patriarch Vane fell to his knees, his hands trembling violently as he pressed his forehead against the freezing floor.Damon stood five paces away, held upright by two gold-armored imperial guards, his face pale as chalk, his right shoulder bound in blood-stained bandages from the failed ritual."Heir Lucas Peterson and Patriarch Vane Peterson of the outer Peterson Clan stand accused of high treason, illegal core alteration, and defying royal summons!" Magistrate Julian declared, his voice amplified by the court's sound arrays. "Representing the First Throne's high bench today is Lord High Investigator Ma
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"Step down from the black carriage and present your soul tokens for high security inspection," the lead gate warden roared, his heavy iron spear slamming against the stone threshold with a deafening crash.Lucas pushed the heavy carriage door open and stepped onto the ancient flagstones of the High Spire's outer plaza, his leather coat snapping in the cold mountain air.Esther stepped out right behind him, her right hand resting flat against the hidden daggers at her waist, her dark eyes darting across the high granite walls.Sixteen gold-armored guards lined the narrow archway, their hands gripping heavy spirit-suppression staffs that hummed with a low, oppressive blue frequency."The Peterson Clan carriage carries two prisoners under royal summons," the Grand Imperial Herald announced, riding his warhorse up to the iron gate post. "Hand over the spatial suppression shackles immediately.""There will be no shackles placed on my wrists, Herald," Lucas said, his dark eyes fixing on the
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"Get up from the floor, Vane, or I drag you through the clan gates by your collar," Lucas said, his dark eyes fixed on the trembling old man kneeling beside the ancestral altar.Patriarch Vane pushed himself up with his iron cane, his gold-embroidered robes covered in white dust, his breathing shallow and ragged."The capital guard escort is waiting at the outer gates, Lucas," Patriarch Vane whispered, his cloudy eyes filled with absolute dread. "If we step out of this manor under a royal death warrant, neither of us makes it to the court alive.""The guard escort isn't here to kill us on the road," Lucas said, his voice cold, flat, and dead. "First Prince Valerius wants us breathing when we enter the Supreme Spire so he can execute the Peterson bloodline in front of the entire assembly.""You don't understand the power of the First Throne!" Vane choked out, clutching his chest as his heart hammered wildly. "They have three Saint-realm grandmasters watching the high court! Your spatia
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"Pick up the signet ring, old man, or I crush your neck right here on the public flagstones," Lucas said, his tone dead, cold, and flat as his boots pressed harder against Damon's bleeding back.Patriarch Vane did not reach for his iron cane. He bent his back slowly, his wrinkled, liver-spotted fingers picking up the bloody blue-falcon ring from the dirt."Dismiss the spectators and clear the inner ancestral hall," Patriarch Vane commanded the surrounding guards, his voice raspy and hollow. "The First Heir and I will speak alone."Ten minutes later, inside the heavy obsidian doors of the Peterson Clan's private ancestral sanctuary, the roar of the public arena died away into absolute silence.Lucas stood five paces from the high altar where hundred of ancestral spirit tablets rested under glowing blue protective array lamps.Patriarch Vane closed the heavy iron doors behind them, placing the royal signet ring onto a silver tray resting beside the main spirit tablet."You think you won
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"Guards, arrest the Vice-Patriarch for treason against the high council!" Magistrate Julian roared from the elevated box, his hands slamming against the balcony rail so hard the wood split down the middle.Lucas didn't wait for the capital guards to move. He slammed Vice-Patriarch Damon into the stone altar floor, his boots crunching down on the Vice-Patriarch's ruined, bleeding right shoulder.Damon gasped, coughing up thick globs of black blood as the violent energy backlash tore through his internal meridians."You think a forged projection saves you, coreless trash?" Damon choked out, his eyes bloodshot as he pointed his broken left hand at the side columns. "Malakor, activate the secondary blood-drain! Kill every witness in the tiers!"Chief Alchemist Malakor scrambled toward the brass control pedestal, his hands shaking as he reached for the central blood stone.Lucas didn't even turn his head. He flicked his left wrist, firing a three-inch needle of compressed spatial force str
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"Bind his wrists to the iron pillars and ignite the blood-curse cauldrons before the capital envoy takes his seat!" Vice-Patriarch Damon shouted, his voice echoing across the wide, circular stone plaza of the Peterson clan's main ritual grounds.Lucas did not struggle as four gold-armored executioners dragged heavy iron chains across his shoulders, pinning his body against the central sacrificial pillar.The morning sun hit the high spectator tiers, illuminating hundreds of capital nobles, regional clan patriarchs, and guild elders sitting in rigid, silent formation.In the elevated imperial box, Mid-Level Capital Magistrate Julian adjusted his blue velvet robes, eyeing the glowing crimson runes etched into the plaza stone below."Is the exiles' core truly neutralized, Vice-Patriarch Damon?" Magistrate Julian called down, his tone dry and clinical. "The High Council will not tolerate a chaotic outburst during an official clan purification.""The coreless trash is completely bound, You
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