The Mythic Defect

CHAPTER 5 The City of Buried Monsters

The executioners attacked before the people of Ashveil fully understood they had already been sentenced to die. Golden spears descended from the towers surrounding the Grand Summoning Plaza, tearing through the sky like falling stars. The weapons carried enough spirit energy to vaporise stone on contact, and their targets were unmistakably clear.

Drake.Azhareth.And anyone standing too close to them. The first spear struck the shattered arena floor beside Lyra, detonating with catastrophic force. Broken stone exploded outward while the shockwave hurled dozens of fleeing spectators through the air.

Screams immediately swallowed the plaza. Parents grabbed their children and ran blindly through collapsing streets. Nobles abandoned dignity in favour of survival. Even trained Beast Tamers struggled to control panicked summons as terror spread throughout the city.

The Heavenly Lock continued glowing above Ashveil like a massive prison cage forged from divine light. Nobody could escape. Drake barely managed to pull Lyra away before another spear crashed downward where she had been standing moments earlier.

“What are they doing?!” Lyra shouted over the chaos. Drake’s expression darkened as he looked toward the executioners lining the towers.“They’re trying to erase everything connected to Azhareth.”No,” Grand Elder Varis said grimly from above. His voice carried unnaturally far through the destruction.“They’re trying to prevent another catastrophe.”

Another roar thundered beneath the city. This time, the sound felt closer. The ground shook violently enough to split entire roads apart while distant buildings collapsed into clouds of dust. Somewhere beneath Ashveil, ancient creatures imprisoned for centuries had begun awakening one after another.

And every single one of them sensed Azhareth. Drake turned sharply toward the chained beast beside him.“You knew this would happen.”

Azhareth remained silent for several moments. Then: “I suspected.”Drake almost laughed bitterly despite the destruction surrounding them.“That’s not comforting.”The ancient beast lowered its gaze slightly.“The prison beneath this city was never designed to contain ordinary creatures. Humanity buried things here that frightened entire civilisations.”

Another spear descended. This time Drake saw it coming. Instinct surged through him before thought could follow. The pact symbol burning across his right arm suddenly ignited with golden light, and for a brief moment, the world around him slowed.

The spear’s movement became visible. Every crackling strand of spirit energy twisting around the weapon entered Drake’s awareness with unnatural clarity. Without understanding how, he moved. He grabbed Lyra and twisted aside an instant before the spear obliterated the ground behind them. The explosion shattered nearby pillars.

Lyra stared at Drake in shock.“You moved faster than before.”Drake noticed it too. His breathing remained steady despite the impossible dodge.

A strange heat flowed through his veins now, spreading outward from the pact mark across his arm. Azhareth spoke quietly inside his mind.“The synchronisation has begun, stabilising your body.”Drake frowned. “You mean you’re changing me.”Yes.”

The answer came calmly. No hesitation. No apology.Something about that unsettled Drake deeply.Not because he feared power.But because he feared losing himself beneath it. That fear lingered only briefly before another explosion rocked the arena.

One of the executioners had descended directly into the plaza. The man wore silver armour etched with glowing scriptures, and behind him floated a massive white-scaled beast resembling a lion with six wings.

A Sacred-Class summon. The pressure alone forced nearby civilians to collapse. The executioner raised his spear toward Drake without emotion.“By decree of the Royal Temple,” he declared coldly, “the corrupted contractor and forbidden entity will be eliminated immediately.”

Lyra stepped protectively in front of Drake.“You can’t just murder innocent people!”The executioner’s gaze never shifted toward her.“Innocence becomes irrelevant during contamination events.”Drake felt anger twist sharply inside his chest.Contamination.That was what they called him now. Not human.Not a citizen.A problem to erase. The six-winged lion suddenly lunged forward. Its roar shook the plaza.

Drake reacted instantly, pulling Lyra backwards while shattered stone erupted beneath the beast’s claws. The Sacred beast moved far faster than anything he had ever encountered before. Too fast. The lion attacked again. Its claws sliced through the air inches from Drake’s throat. He barely avoided the strike, but the pressure alone tore through his coat and sent blood across his chest.

Pain surged through him. The executioner watched calmly.“You cannot survive this,” he said. “Accept death with dignity.”

Drake’s jaw tightened.Dignity.People like these only spoke about dignity after stealing it from others first. The lion attacked a third time and suddenly stopped. A low growl echoed across the shattered arena. Azhareth had stepped forward. The ancient beast’s weakened body still looked fragile compared to the enormous Sacred lion standing before it. Rusted chains dragged behind Azhareth across broken stone while blood dripped steadily from its wounds.

Yet the moment its golden eyes met the lion’s, the Sacred beast trembled violently. The executioner’s expression finally changed.“No…”The lion whimpered. Actually whimpered. Then, to the absolute horror of its master, the Sacred-Class creature slowly lowered itself toward the ground.Submission.Again.The executioner staggered backwards in disbelief.“That’s impossible…”

Azhareth stared at the kneeling beast silently. Then the ancient creature spoke aloud for the first time. Its voice rolled through the plaza like distant thunder layered over countless whispers.“You force descendants to slaughter one another,” it said calmly. “And you still call yourselves righteous.”

The executioner’s face paled. Drake froze slightly. This was the first time he had heard Azhareth speak outside their shared consciousness. The voice sounded inhuman. Ancient beyond comprehension.And strangely sorrowful. The Sacred lion backed away from Azhareth with visible fear. Not hatred.Fear.As though some instinct buried deep within its bloodline recognised the creature standing before it. The executioner clenched his teeth furiously.“You are an abomination.”

Azhareth tilted its head slightly.“So humanity has repeated for thousands of years.”The man roared and thrust his spear forward. Spirit energy exploded outward violently. Dozens of glowing chains erupted from the weapon and shot directly toward Azhareth.

The moment Drake saw those chains, a cold realisation struck him. Seal chains. The same type is embedded in Azhareth’s body. The ancient beast noticed them, too. For the first time since emerging beneath the altar, genuine fury flashed through its golden eyes.

The air changed instantly. Pressure crashed across the plaza hard enough to crack the arena walls further. The Sacred lion collapsed fully against the ground. The executioner himself dropped to one knee beneath the overwhelming force. Then Azhareth moved. The chained beast vanished. Drake’s eyes widened. One instant, Azhareth stood beside him.

Next, the creature appeared directly in front of the executioner. The man’s expression twisted in horror. Too fast.Far too fast. Azhareth’s glowing eyes stared into the executioner’s face while black smoke curled around its scarred body.“You use the tools of my imprisonment,” the ancient beast whispered. Then it raised one claw. The seal chains shattered instantly.

The executioner screamed as an invisible force hurled him across the arena hard enough to destroy three stone pillars before burying him beneath rubble.

The entire plaza fell silent. Even the fleeing civilians stopped momentarily. Nobody could comprehend what they had just witnessed. A Sacred-Class executioner had been defeated effortlessly by a half-dead creature covered in chains.

Drake stared at Azhareth with growing unease. The ancient beast looked calm again. But something about its eyes had changed. The fury Drake glimpsed moments earlier had not looked civilised. It looked ancient.Predatory.And for the first time since forming the pact, Drake understood why entire kingdoms once feared this creature enough to bury it beneath history itself.

Another tremor interrupted his thoughts. This one nearly knocked everyone off balance. The roar beneath the city grew louder.Closer.Then the streets of Ashveil began collapsing inward. Massive cracks spread through roads and buildings while terrified citizens fled through clouds of dust and debris. From somewhere far beneath the city, glowing crimson light erupted upward through the fractures.

A priest screamed in horror.“The lower prison chambers are breaking!”Grand Elder Varis looked toward the collapsing districts with grim realisation.“We’ve run out of time.”Then the elder did something nobody expected. He descended into the arena alone. The remaining executioners immediately protested.“My lord, it’s too dangerous—”

“Enough,” Varis snapped. The old man approached Drake slowly while keeping his distance from Azhareth. His expression no longer carried the same hostility from before. Now it carried exhaustion.Regret.“Young man,” Varis said heavily, “you must listen carefully.”

Drake narrowed his eyes but remained silent. Varis looked briefly toward Azhareth. Then the elder spoke words that changed everything again.“The prison beneath Ashveil does not contain monsters.”Another violent tremor shook the city.

“What?” Drake demanded. Varis’s voice lowered.“It contains survivors.”The plaza became still. Even Azhareth’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Varis continued grimly. “Centuries ago, humanity declared war against ancient beast lineages that refused subjugation. Entire species were hunted to extinction. Those who surrendered were sealed underground where history would eventually forget them.”

Lyra’s face paled.“You buried living creatures beneath the city?”Varis closed his eyes briefly.“I was not alive then,” he said quietly. “But yes.”

Drake felt disgust twist inside his chest. The Temple preached balance between humans and spirit beasts. Yet beneath Ashveil lay proof that humanity had betrayed that balance long ago. Azhareth spoke coldly.“You built your civilisation upon cages.”

Varis did not deny it. Another roar exploded beneath the earth. This time, a gigantic claw burst through the distant streets of Ashveil. People screamed as an enormous creature began pulling itself upward from underground ruins buried beneath the city.

Drake stared in shock. The creature resembled a massive reptilian beast covered in glowing crimson scars and broken chains thicker than tree trunks. Its eyes burned with hatred as it emerged from centuries of imprisonment.

And it was only the first. More roars echoed beneath the city. More prisons are opening. More ancient creatures are awakening. Panic spread completely through Ashveil. The Heavenly Lock above the city intensified brightly as if reacting to the disaster unfolding below.

Then another horrifying realisation struck Drake. The barrier wasn’t trapping the beasts inside. It was trapping the citizens with them. Varis looked toward Drake urgently. “If the prison fully collapses, everyone in Ashveil dies.”Drake’s expression hardened.

“And what exactly do you expect me to do about it?”The elder’s eyes shifted toward Azhareth. A heavy silence followed. Then Varis said the one thing Drake never expected to hear.“Convince the First Beast to help us.”Drake’s heart skipped. The plaza fell completely still. And beside him, Azhareth slowly smiled.