The Sinner's Banquet

The Second Betrayal

The mine guard’s laugh echoed in the tight trench as the golden net burned against Lyra's skin.

"Did you really think your sister saved you out of love, Ethan?" the guard asked, tossing the glowing tracker stone up and down in his calloused hand. "Lily sold your exact path to High Priest Malakai ten minutes after you left her cell. She got her seat on the High Council, and we get the bounty for your head."

Lyra twisted on the ground under the heavy net. Her dark eyes flashed toward me with pure fury, completely ignoring the burning heat against her leather armor.

"She set you up," Lyra said, her voice tight from pain. "She used me to get you out of the palace just so the Blood Hawks could butcher us outside the city walls. You fool."

I looked at the mine guard, the same tyrant who had whipped my father and forced my mother to work until her lungs failed in the dark shafts. Seeing his ugly grin wiped away every drop of doubt in my mind. Lily was playing a game with three different sides. She had given me the map so I would break out, but she had handed Malakai the location to ensure she looked completely innocent when the guards caught me. She did not care who lived or died as long as she sat on top.

"I am done being everyone's pawn," I thought.

[Player Status: Extreme Emotional Spike Detected.]

[Void Core Resonating...]

[Gluttony's Maw Unleashed.]

The purple shadow hand erupted from my right wrist without me even calling it. The dark claws grew twice as long as before, spreading thick void energy through the air.

"Kill the boy!" the Blood Hawk captain ordered, swinging his heavy iron mace toward my skull.

I did not dodge. I stepped straight into his attack, raising my shadow hand to catch the solid iron mace. The moment the metal touched my shadow palm, it did not crush my bones. The dark energy ate the metal, turning the top of the mace into soft, gray dust that blew away in the wind.

The captain’s eyes went wide. Before he could pull back the broken wooden handle, I shoved my shadow claws straight into his chest.

[Devouring Target...]

The captain gasped as his body dried up in two seconds, collapsing into a heap of empty armor.

[Level Up! Level 19 → Level 20.]

[New Skill Unlocked: Shadow Step.]

The remaining two Blood Hawk guards took a step backward, their shields shaking. But the mine guard did not retreat. He pulled a heavy silver cross from his belt, holding it out toward me as it began to glow with blinding holy light.

"You think a dark hand makes you a god, slave?" the mine guard spat. "This cross carries Malakai's direct blessing. It will burn your core to ash!"

The holy light shot forward like a solid beam. I grabbed the edge of the leather satchel and activated my new skill instantly.

"Shadow Step," I called out.

My body turned into a black mist, melting into the dark shadow of the trench wall. The holy beam blasted the dirt where I had stood a millisecond ago, blowing a three-foot hole in the stone wall.

I reappeared directly behind the two Blood Hawk guards. With two fast strikes of my shadow hand, I drove my dark claws through their backs. They crumbled into gray dust before their weapons could even hit the floor.

[Stored Essence: 580 Units.]

The mine guard turned around in panic, the glowing cross shaking violently in his grip. I walked toward him slowly, the purple light from my right hand casting long shadows over his terrified face.

"Wait!" the mine guard pleaded, dropping his weapon as he backed against the heavy iron hatch. "I was just following orders! Lily was the one who gave us the location! She told us to kill you and bring your head to the palace!"

"I know," I said, my voice completely flat.

I raised my shadow hand and drove it through his chest, devouring his life force until nothing remained but his empty boots and the tracker stone rolling across the dirt.

[Level Up! Level 20 → Level 21.]

I turned back to Lyra. She was still trapped under the golden net, watching me with a mixture of shock and intense calculation.

I walked over, grabbed the edge of the holy net with my shadow hand, and ripped it off her body. The dark energy ate through the holy spell instantly, shattering the light into tiny pieces.

Lyra scrambled to her feet, checking her scorched leather armor. She looked at the piles of gray dust scattered around the trench, then turned her sharp eyes back to me.

"Your sister is dangerous," Lyra said, rubbing her burned shoulder. "She set up the palace, the rebellion, and the mercenaries all at the same time. If she stays on that council, she will hunt down every enemy Malakai has—including us."

"She thinks I am dead now," I noted, looking down at the broken tracker stone. "Which means she will focus entirely on taking Malakai's power from the inside."

"Then we move fast," Lyra stated, pulling open the iron hatch that led under the wall. "The tunnel takes us to the dark forest. My faction leader is waiting at the hidden camp."

I followed her down the iron ladder, closing the heavy hatch behind us. We ran through the damp stone tunnel for ten minutes until the air changed, turning cool and fresh. We emerged into a dense, dark forest filled with massive ancient trees that blocked the moonlight.

Lyra led me through the thick trees for another mile until we reached a hidden wooden fort built against the side of a massive mountain cliff. Guards dressed in dark grey cloaks stood along the wooden walls, holding long bows.

"We are here," Lyra said, walking toward the wooden gates. "This is the Nightshade stronghold."

The heavy gates creaked open, and we stepped into the torch-lit courtyard. Dozens of rebel fighters were sharpening swords and preparing supply wagons. But right as we reached the center of the yard, the main doors of the wooden hall opened.

A tall man in dark iron armor walked out, flanked by four elite mages. He had long gray hair and a deep scar running from his eye down to his jaw.

Lyra quickly bowed her head. "Commander Vane. I have brought the void user."

My heart stopped in my chest.

Vane. The same family name as Julian Vane, the noble boy I had killed in the lower tunnels.

The Commander walked up to me, his cold eyes locking onto my face. He pulled a small glass crystal from his pocket. The crystal glowed with a dark red light the moment he stepped within three feet of me.

"You carry Julian's blood mark on your soul," Commander Vane said, his voice dropping into pure hatred as he drew his massive broadsword. "You murdered my son."