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Chapter 169: Complete Collection
Another explosion rocked the dungeon, this one close enough that cracks spread across the ceiling like lightning frozen in stone. The assault team was doing serious damage, pushing deeper into the palace than Jacob had dared hope. But that also meant casualties mounting, lives being spent like currency to buy minutes of chaos."All five artifacts," Jacob said, processing the implications. "You are certain Verons has all five in this palace?"Marcus nodded weakly. "He has been collecting them for years. The first two he acquired a decade ago through various criminal channels—artifacts that had been stolen and resold through black markets after your family's death. The third he purchased from Bishop Nico three years ago when the Bishop needed funding for his Seron operations. The fourth came into his possession just weeks ago when his agents intercepted a shipment you were trying to move."Jacob's blood ran cold. "What shipment? I have had artifacts one, two, and three with me since lea
Chapter 168: The Fifth Artifact
The old man's eyes focused on Jacob with recognition that cut through whatever fog of pain or exhaustion had been clouding his awareness. His face was deeply lined, weathered by years of suffering, but the features were unmistakable. This was Marcus Krigg, Jacob's uncle who had supposedly died in the initial assault on the family compound."Jacob," Marcus said, his voice thin but clear. "You look just like your father did at your age. I had hoped you were dead, safe from all this. But of course you came. The Krigg bloodline never did know when to quit."The guards shoved Marcus against the bars of Jacob's cell so they could speak face to face, though they remained chained and separated. Jacob studied his uncle with a mixture of relief and horror. Marcus had survived, but at what cost? The man before him was a shadow of the strong, confident leader Jacob remembered from childhood."They told me everyone died," Jacob said. "The reports were conclusive. The entire family wiped out in coo
Chapter 167: Familiar Faces
"Barely," came the reply from the adjacent cell. "Some days I wonder if death would have been kinder."Jacob pressed against the bars separating their cells, trying to see into the darkness. "I thought you died at the Battle of Red Gorge. The reports said your entire unit was wiped out when the ammunition depot exploded.""The reports were wrong. Or more accurately, deliberately falsified." A shadow moved in the neighboring cell, and Jacob could make out a figure chained similarly to himself. "Verons captured me and twelve others during the retreat. We have been his guests in this lovely establishment for the past five years."Five years. Jacob tried to process that. Commander Chen had been one of his most trusted officers, a tactical genius who had helped win battles that should have been impossible. The thought of him rotting in Verons's dungeons for half a decade made Jacob's rage toward the tyrant burn even hotter."How many others?" Jacob asked. "You said twelve were captured?""
Chapter 166: Into the Dungeon
Jacob lunged toward Verons, mystical energy gathering in his hands for a strike that would end the tyrant's life. But Verons had not survived decades of brutal politics and warfare by being slow or unprepared.He whistled sharply, and the guards who had frozen in the doorway snapped into coordinated action. They were not ordinary soldiers. These were specialists trained specifically to handle mystical threats, and they moved with the confidence of people who had done this before.Nets woven with suppression enchantments flew through the air from multiple directions. Jacob tried to dodge but the chamber was too confined, the nets too well-coordinated. They wrapped around him, and the moment the enchanted material touched his skin he felt his mystical energy disrupting, fracturing, becoming impossible to control properly.He still fought. Even weakened, even tangled in nets designed to neutralize his abilities, Jacob was dangerous. He threw two guards into walls hard enough to crack sto
Chapter 165: The Truth Revealed
Verons's smile widened, showing teeth like a predator who had finally cornered his prey. "So you do remember. Good. It would have been disappointing if my brother's death meant so little to you that it faded into just another forgotten battle.""He died honorably," Jacob said. "Fighting for what he believed in. His death was clean and quick.""Clean?" Verons's voice dropped to something dangerous. "Quick? You speak as if those qualities make his murder acceptable. As if honor somehow balances the scales of taking my only family."He walked to the wall and selected a long blade from the torture implements displayed there, testing its edge with professional appreciation. "My brother was the finest warrior our family had produced in three generations. He should have lived to lead armies, to shape nations, to father sons who would carry our bloodline forward. Instead he died in frozen mud fighting someone else's war because you were too skilled for him to defeat.""War has casualties," Ja
Chapter 164: Before the Tyrant
The descent seemed endless. Down stone stairs worn smooth by centuries of prisoners dragged to their fate, past cells where skeletal hands reached through bars, through corridors that grew progressively darker and colder until they reached a level that felt more like a tomb than a prison.The guards stopped before a reinforced door. One of them produced an ornate key and unlocked multiple mechanisms with practiced efficiency. The door swung open to reveal a chamber that made Jacob's stomach turn.This was not a cell. This was a torture room designed by someone who understood pain intimately. Chains hung from walls at heights calculated to maximize joint stress. Tables bore implements whose purposes were horrifyingly obvious. Drains in the floor spoke of cleaning blood that flowed regularly enough to require permanent infrastructure."Welcome to your new home," the officer said, showing genuine pleasure at their discomfort. "Lord Verons will be down shortly. I suggest you use the time
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