Sovereign of Forbidden Spirits

CHAPTER 6 THE NIGHT OF EXECUTION

Three royal executioners entered Ashveil City under the cover of darkness.

Their mission was simple: kill Jesse Fletcher.

Rain poured heavily across the outer walls while the city guards remained unaware of the danger slipping silently through the northern gate. The three figures wore black ceremonial cloaks lined with silver beast-thread, their faces hidden beneath hooded masks engraved with the symbol of the Holy Beast Council.

Nobody stopped them, nobody questioned them, because only fools interfered with Council authority.

The guards lowered their heads immediately as the executioners passed. One of the guards swallowed nervously. “We weren’t informed the Council was sending envoys.”

The tallest executioner stopped briefly. “We are not envoys,” he answered coldly. Then they continued walking into the sleeping city. Far above Ashveil, thunder rolled across the clouds while blue barrier sigils flickered weakly against the storm. The entire city felt tense tonight, as though something beneath the streets had begun breathing again.

Inside the academy’s upper sanctum, Headmaster Alric Dane stared grimly at the sealed document resting across his desk. The wax insignia alone made his stomach tighten. Holy Beast Council Priority Black Order.

The Headmaster broke the seal carefully and read the contents in silence. The color slowly drained from his face. A moment later, the chamber doors opened sharply.

Silas Mordane entered without ceremony. “You felt it too,” the old Beast Monarch said quietly.

Alric lowered the document. “They activated the Divine Alarm.”

Silas’s expression darkened. “And now they want the boy dead.”

The Headmaster exhaled heavily before handing over the decree. Silas scanned the contents.

“Potential Sovereign-Class Threat,” he read aloud. “Authorization granted for immediate execution of contracted host and associated beast.”

The room fell silent. Even Silas looked disturbed now, Alric rubbed tiredly at his forehead.

“The Council doesn’t issue Black Orders unless they’re terrified.” Silas folded the document slowly.

“They should be.” Meanwhile, Jesse knew nothing.

He sat alone inside the abandoned eastern ruins beneath the academy cliffs while rainwater dripped steadily from broken stone arches overhead. Noxaris rested nearby beside a cracked pillar, its golden eye partially closed, while faint black-gold energy pulsed beneath the chains embedded around its body.

The creature looked stronger tonight, not healthy, but recovering. Jesse leaned back against the cold stone wall and stared at the rain. “You still haven’t told me what you are,” he muttered quietly.

Noxaris slowly opened one eye. Their strange mental connection flickered faintly again. Not words this time: Emotion, Weariness, Pain.

Jesse sighed softly. “Yeah,” he murmured. “I’m tired too.”

The creature weakly shifted closer beside him, protective again. That behavior unsettled Jesse more every day.

The bond between them deepened far too quickly. He could feel it now in small moments, brief emotional flashes, instincts bleeding between their thoughts, the strange sense that Noxaris could recognize his moods before he spoke. It felt dangerous, not because he feared Noxaris, but because he feared himself.

Power changed people

Jesse had spent his entire life watching nobles become monsters simply because strength allowed them to.

What would happen if he became strong enough to stop caring about others, too? The thought lingered heavily inside him. Suddenly, Noxaris lifted its head sharply. Its chains rattled softly. The creature’s golden eye narrowed toward the darkness beyond the ruins.

Jesse immediately noticed the shift. “What is it?” Noxaris slowly stood.

A low growl escaped its throat. Danger. The emotion slammed into Jesse through their bond so violently that he rose instantly. At the same time, footsteps echoed somewhere above the ruins. Several Heavy Controlled.

Jesse’s pulse quickened.

Meanwhile, several academy levels above them, Elysia Valerion stepped silently through the upper corridor halls after finishing late-night combat meditation.

Then voices stopped her. “…the boy dies quietly.”

Elysia froze near the hallway intersection. Another voice answered coldly.

“And the beast?” The first speaker did not hesitate.

“The beast dies screaming.” Elysia’s eyes narrowed instantly. She stepped closer silently until she spotted three hooded figures standing inside the restricted council chamber, Executioners.

Even from this distance, she recognized the silver Council markings hidden beneath their cloaks. One of the assassins noticed movement immediately. “Who’s there?”

Elysia stepped into view calmly. The executioners stiffened slightly. “Lady Valerion,” one acknowledged carefully.

Elysia’s icy gaze moved between them. “What exactly are you people afraid of?”

The tallest assassin answered quietly. “You have no idea what sleeps inside that creature.”

Elysia crossed her arms. “And you intend to murder a student because of fear?”

The assassin’s eyes hardened beneath his hood. “If necessary.” Something dangerous flickered across Elysia’s expression, then, but before she could press further, a pulse exploded through the air, Noxaris

All three executioners turned instantly toward the eastern ruins. “He sensed us,” one muttered sharply.

The tallest assassin cursed under his breath. “Move.” The executioners vanished into the darkness immediately.

Elysia stared after them for only a second before turning toward the eastern cliffs herself. Below the academy ruins, Jesse backed away slowly while shadows shifted between the broken pillars surrounding him.

Three figures emerged silently from the darkness: Black cloaks, Silver masks, Spirit blades glowing faintly beneath the rain.

Jesse’s stomach tightened. Council executioners, one stepped forward calmly.

“Jesse Fletcher,” he said. “You are hereby condemned under the authority of the Holy Beast Council.”

Jesse forced himself to stay calm. “For what?”

The assassin tilted his head slightly. “For existing.”

The answer chilled him more than the rain. Noxaris stepped protectively in front of Jesse, chains rattling softly.

The executioners immediately drew weapons. “The boy dies quietly,” one repeated. “And the beast dies screaming.” Spirit pressure exploded across the ruins.

Jesse barely reacted in time. A silver blade tore through the air where his head had been seconds earlier, smashing through stone behind him.

“MOVE!” Jesse shouted

Noxaris lunged sideways as another assassin descended from above. The ruins erupted into chaos instantly. These were not academy students. These people fought to kill.

One executioner summoned a massive white falcon beast that screamed through the rain while razor-sharp feathers blasted across the battlefield like arrows.

Jesse rolled behind a collapsed pillar, barely avoiding death. Stone exploded beside him. Another assassin appeared directly behind him. Too fast.

Jesse turned just as the spirit blade drove toward his chest—

CLANG!

Black chains burst outward instinctively from Noxaris’s body and intercepted the strike. The assassin stumbled backward in shock. “What?”

Noxaris snarled violently now. The creature’s golden eye glowed brighter in the darkness. One assassin immediately raised his hand.

“Kill it now!” The white falcon dove downward. Then black fire exploded across the ruins. Shadow flames erupted violently from Noxaris’s mouth, consuming the air itself as they collided against the falcon mid-flight.

The divine beast screamed, not from ordinary fire, but from corruption. The black flames spread instantly across its wings.

The executioners froze. “That flame…” one whispered. Impossible Noxaris collapsed to one knee immediately afterward, breathing raggedly. The attack had drained nearly everything it possessed.

Jesse rushed toward it. “Noxaris!”

A blade flashed toward his back. Too late.

Jesse twisted instinctively, but the strike still sliced across his side. Pain exploded through him. He hit the ground hard. The executioner raised his weapon again, then hesitated. His eyes narrowed beneath the silver mask.

“…Fletcher?”

Jesse looked up sharply despite the pain. The assassin stared at him differently now, not hatred, but shock.

“Impossible,” the man whispered. Another executioner barked sharply, “Finish him! But the assassin didn’t move.

Instead, his gaze locked onto Jesse’s face with growing disbelief.

“…that bloodline…” Jesse’s heartbeat quickened.

“What are you talking about?” The assassin slowly lowered his blade. Rain poured heavily around them while Noxaris growled weakly nearby. Then the executioner spoke again, and this time, genuine horror entered his voice.

“Fletcher…?” he whispered. His grip tightened around the weapon.

“That bloodline still exists?”