Rise of the Broken Warrior

Chapter 5

The heavy stone courtyard of House Morana was in complete chaos as morning arrived. Dozens of guild soldiers sprinted between the iron barracks, banging on iron shields and shouting into the cold mountain fog. Captain Bruce was nowhere to be found, and his post was left empty with only his dropped sword belt on the path.

Inside the outer stables, two armored guards gripped their swords with white knuckles. They kept their eyes fixed on the dark corner where Lucas sat huddled under a dirty wool blanket. They believed the broken youth was terrified out of his mind, completely unaware of the glowing blue window floating inside his soul.

“Open the Heavenly Vault,” Lucas commanded silently, ignoring the angry shouts from the yard outside. “I have one hundred and ten Karma Points ready to burn. Give me the skill that will get me through those iron bars without alerting these two watchdogs.”

The transparent screen spun like a wheel of silver light before slowing down in front of his eyes. Three different technique scrolls appeared in the air, each glowing with its own distinct color. The first two were battle arts meant for direct warfare, but his gaze locked firmly onto the third scroll that pulsed with dark mist.

[Skill Option: Shadow Twin Clone.]

[Cost: 100 Karma Points.]

[Description: Creates a living physical copy of the host to remain behind, while granting the true body the divine power to turn completely invisible at will.]

“I choose the Shadow Twin Clone,” Lucas thought without a single second of hesitation. “Clara is running out of time in the dark, and every wasted breath brings her closer to death. Take the hundred points and split my body right now.”

[100 Karma Points Consumed. Remaining Balance: 10 Points.]

[Shadow Twin Clone successfully acquired and deployed!]

A cold shiver rolled down Lucas’s spine as his dark shadow peeled away from the wooden wall. The shadow quickly took on solid flesh, messy hair, and torn clothes, becoming an exact copy of his ragged body. The fake Lucas curled up tightly in the straw, letting out a weak, raspy cough to fool the two guards outside.

Lucas’s real body faded like smoke, turning completely invisible under the bright morning light. He stepped lightly through the dirt, slipping right between the iron bars without making the slightest sound. The guards never even blinked, their eyes glued to the fake figure shivering beneath the dirty blanket in the stall.

Guided by the thin red thread of karmic energy in his blood, Lucas moved like a silent phantom across the estate. He avoided the shouting squads of enforcers and slipped down into the damp stone cellar behind the kitchens. The air grew colder with every step, carrying the foul smell of wet moss, rusty iron, and dried blood.

He walked past two guard posts, his silent footsteps leaving no trace on the slippery stone floor. After descending three steep flights of stairs, he reached the lowest iron gate of the dungeon, where red blood runes flickered with deadly heat. Lucas placed his invisible hand on the cold iron, letting a tiny spark of black dragonfire melt the internal gears.

The heavy lock clicked open without triggering a single defensive formation on the wall. Lucas slipped inside and closed the door behind him, but the horrible sight before his eyes made his breath freeze in his throat. A giant stone basin sat in the center of the dark vault, carved with deep channels that glowed with sickening purple light.

Clara was suspended directly above the stone bowl, her thin wrists locked into heavy iron cuffs that hung from the ceiling. Clear glass tubes were drilled into her bruised arms, pulling out drops of glowing silver-blue blood that dripped into a glass tank. Her small head hung low, and her face was as white and cold as winter snow.

"Clara..." Lucas choked out, dropping his invisibility as a wave of burning fury rushed through his veins. He rushed forward across the wet stones, catching her limp, shivering body in his arms before she could fall. "Clara, wake up! It is Lucas! Your brother has come to take you away from this nightmare!"

He grabbed the thick iron chains on her wrists, snapping the metal links apart with his bare hands. The glass tubes shattered against the granite floor, spilling drops of precious silver blood into the dust. He pulled Clara’s tiny body against his chest, his hands trembling as he felt how cold and hollow her cheeks were.

Her heavy eyelids fluttered open, but there was no light or warmth in her blue eyes. Instead of the cheerful smile she always gave him, her eyes were pitch-black and completely empty like bottomless wells. She stared straight through Lucas’s face as if he were nothing more than a dead tree standing in the dark room.

Before Lucas could say another word, Clara’s small hands shot forward with terrifying, inhuman strength. The heavy chains still dangling from her wrists wrapped around his neck like iron snakes, squeezing his throat until his skin bruised. A dark, evil chill rushed through the metal links, greedily drinking the life force from his chest.

"Clara, stop... it is me..." Lucas choked out, his fingers gripping the chains as his vision swam with dark spots. He could easily tear her tiny arms off with his Spirit Realm strength, but he refused to use force against his master's child. "Do you not recognize me? I am your brother Lucas!"

Clara’s lips parted, but the sound that came out was a raspy, demonic hiss that chilled the cold air. "Kill the trespasser... protect the sacred basin... feed the altar with warm flesh..."

Lucas’s eyes widened with horror as he realized the sickening truth behind Morana’s cruel work. They had not merely erased the poor girl’s memories with a simple cup of sleeping draught to keep her quiet. Morana had planted a living soul parasite deep inside Clara's mind, turning the innocent girl into a mindless, bloodthirsty monster.

“System!” Lucas roared inside his mind, his teeth grinding together as the heavy iron chains crushed his windpipe. “Scan her soul right now! Tell me how to destroy this foul curse without hurting Clara’s spirit!”

[Warning: Target's soul is bound by the ancient Blood-Puppet Parasite Curse.]

[Normal removal will shatter the host's fragile mind beyond repair.]

[System Solution: Purification Protocol can burn away the parasite using black karmic fire. Cost: 10 Karma Points.]

“Use every single point I have left!” Lucas shouted in his thoughts, refusing to hesitate for even half a second. “Burn that disgusting bug out of her head right now!”

[10 Karma Points Consumed. Remaining Balance: 0 Points.]

[Purification Protocol fully engaged!]

A microscopic spark of pure black fire ignited at the very tip of Lucas’s right index finger. He ignored the burning pain in his throat and pressed his fingertip right between Clara’s cold eyebrows. The black flame sank through her pale skin like a drop of ink, spreading through her forehead in a wave of golden light.

A tiny, painful shriek echoed inside Clara’s skull as the black fire caught the purple worm and turned it to ash. The pitch-black fog in Clara’s eyes instantly vanished, revealing the soft, bright blue color that Lucas loved so dearly. The heavy iron chains slipped from her fingers, clattering loudly against the stone basin floor.

Clara gasped for breath, her whole body shaking violently as three years of lost memories came rushing back into her mind. She looked up at the familiar face holding her, seeing the blood on his clothes and the fierce love in his eyes. "Brother... Brother Lucas? Is it really you?"

"Yes, little sister, it is me," Lucas whispered, pulling her tiny, shivering frame tightly against his chest. He buried his face in her tangled hair, his shoulders shaking with silent tears that he could no longer hold back. "I am so sorry, Clara. I was a fool. I let them hurt you so badly."

"You came for me," Clara wept softly, clutching his torn shirt with her scarred fingers as if she feared he would vanish. "Morana gave me such bitter medicine, Brother Lucas. My head felt like it was splitting open every night, and they kept taking my blood for Lord Valen to drink."

Lucas wiped the cold tears from her cheeks, his heart breaking at the dark purple bruises marking her skin. "No one will ever hurt you again, Clara. I swear it on Master Vane's soul. We are leaving this dark hole today, and I will take you far away from this city."

Clara grabbed Lucas’s hands, her eyes suddenly wide with desperate panic as she shook her head. "No, Brother Lucas, you must listen to me! You cannot just take me and run away! House Morana is far more evil than you think, and their hatred started twenty whole years ago!"

Lucas stopped, his brow furrowing as he looked down at the terrified girl in his arms. "What are you talking about, Clara? What happened twenty years ago?"

"I discovered that Morana's clan did not just poison my father," Clara whispered, her voice trembling with deep fear. "Twenty years ago, their elders slaughtered my mother’s entire sect in the northern snow mountains just to steal a sacred scroll. That scroll was the divine blueprint for the Heavenly Ascension Array!"

Clara pointed a shaking finger at the glowing stone bowl beneath their feet, her eyes full of dread. "To activate that ancient array and reach the realm of the gods, they need two divine keys. They needed your golden dragon core to fuel the heavenly fire, and they need to drain every drop of my Celestial Blood on the solstice altar!"

Lucas clenched his fists until his knuckles turned pure white, the anger inside his chest burning hot enough to melt iron. "So that was their grand plan from the very start. They never saw me as a husband, and they never saw you as a child. To them, we were just two spirit herbs waiting to be harvested for their glory."

"The solstice is in three days," Clara cried, her fingernails digging into his arms through the cloth. "Lord Valen will stand on the high platform before all nine guilds of the realm. They will bring me up in chains, and Morana will cut my throat to pour my blood over your stolen core!"

Lucas looked down at Clara’s neck and noticed a thick iron collar locked tight around her throat, glowing with sharp red runes. He reached out to smash the metal with his bare hand, but his spiritual sense warned him that the collar was tied to the city alarm. If he cracked the iron now, five hundred elite guild masters would seal the mountain within seconds.

Clara saw the hesitation in his eyes and shook her head, tears falling silently from her pale chin. "You cannot break it yet, Brother. If the alarms sound, Valen will come down with his elders and slaughter you before you can reach the gates. You must leave me here and save yourself."

"I am never leaving you behind again," Lucas said firmly, leaning down to press a gentle kiss against her cold forehead. As his lips touched her skin, he channeled a thread of Stygian karmic energy into her veins, forming an invisible shield around her heart. "This mark will block them from stealing any more of your blood, while making them believe you are still asleep."

He gently placed Clara back against the stone wall, draping the broken chains loosely over her wrists so the guards would see nothing strange. He looked deep into her eyes, his voice dropping into a low, deadly promise that echoed through the dark vault. "Three more days, Clara. When they bring you to the high altar, I will paint the sky in their blood."