Void Veins: The Forbidden Ascension

Chapter 40: Devil’s Alliance and the Poisoned Offer

Merchant Chen’s head rolled slowly across the cold black stone floor, stopping directly before Lin Ye’s feet. Its wide, staring eyes gazed vacantly at him, as if the man’s spirit remained trapped there, watching in horror. Fresh blood dripped slowly from the severed neck, mingling with hot vapours rising from the white magma pool to create a sickening stench—rusted iron sharp with ozone. Julian stood before them at his ease, as if he had merely set down a calling card rather than presenting his former ally’s head as a token of friendship.

Beside him stood Viper, his poison-slick whip coiled tight around his arm, ready to strike at any moment. A wooden mask concealed his face, yet every muscle spoke of high alert—poised to lunge or evade. Behind them, crowded in the gloom, dozens of Hollow Ones hissed softly, their needle-teeth glinting faintly in the pool’s glow, their featureless eyes fixed hungrily upon Lin Ye and Shen Kui.

“What is your true purpose, Julian?” Lin Ye asked, his voice low and cold. His hand rested upon the hilt of the Nullification Sword at his hip, fingers tightening. He knew the odds of prevailing in open combat against such a force were nearly zero. Yet he would not yield without a fight.

“Simple enough,” Julian replied, stepping forward calmly, leaping over pools of seething energy with easy grace. “We all know the truth, Lin Ye. The Valerius inside your head is weak—nothing but a fragment, a shadow trapped in a young man’s body. You hold extraordinary potential, yet you are shackled by guilt, outdated morality, and needless doubt. We offer true freedom. Join us. Together we can master this Original Guardian, wield its power, and build a new order. A kingdom where the strong rule, and the weak step aside—or become fuel.”

Lin Ye looked at him with profound revulsion. “You build nothing, Julian. You have sold what remains of your soul to darkness. You are become a puppet to forces you do not understand.”

“And you?” Julian countered sharply, halting a few paces away. “You share a body with the fiend who murdered your parents. You live at his mercy, drawing strength from him, and still you play the hero? Who is the greater hypocrite here?”

The words stung deeper than any blow. Julian had touched his most vulnerable spot. Lin Ye still clung to seeing himself as victim, as rebel—when in truth, he had become the vessel for the greatest evil of his generation.

Shen Kui stepped forward, suppressing a cough of blood. “Do not listen to him, Lin Ye. He has cast his humanity aside. The power he seeks is only a distraction from the emptiness inside him.”

Julian turned to him with a sneer. “Poor old master. Still clinging to fairy tales of goodness? Look at you—broken, betrayed, abandoned. And for what? To protect a boy destined one day to destroy everything you know?”

Lin Ye clenched his fists until nails dug into his palms. Rage surged hot in his chest, yet this time he would not let it blind him. He observed: Julian overconfident, lost in his speech; Viper watching Shen Kui, ignoring Lin Ye; the Hollow Ones scattered, uncoordinated, awaiting orders.

There was a gap. Narrow, dangerous—but there.

“Lin Ye,” Valerius’s voice came suddenly, serious, without mockery or arrogance. “Do not meet them head-on. Use this place. That energy pool is unstable. Trigger a reaction at its base, and the shockwave will swallow them all.”

“And us?” Lin Ye asked inwardly.

“I will raise a shield. We shall survive. They will not.”

Lin Ye took a steadying breath, composing his face, then looked at Julian as if truly uncertain. “Your offer… has merit. But I need proof. How am I to know you truly control the power here?”

Julian grinned, satisfied. “Proof? Very well.”

He raised his right hand, producing a black crystal pulsing with a dismal light. Invisible waves streamed from it toward the sleeping Guardian. The colossus stirred. The slit in its face blazed bright; its five-metre frame rose slowly, blocking the light from above.

“Behold!” Julian declared proudly. “It obeys me!”

Lin Ye did not look at the Guardian. His eyes fixed instead upon the stone floor beneath its feet—where fine cracks spread under the immense weight, running straight toward the magma pool’s edge.

“Impressive,” Lin Ye murmured. “Now—look at this.”

He stamped his foot upon the ground, channelling every ounce of Void energy he possessed into those fissures.

CRACK!

The floor gave way. The Guardian’s footing slipped, and the colossal figure plunged into the pool of pure energy. An explosion followed instantly—blinding light, a shockwave shaking the cavern to its foundations. Julian was hurled against the wall, screaming in pain. Viper drove his whip into a crevice, clinging desperately. The Hollow Ones were torn apart, vanishing before they could cry out.

Lin Ye and Shen Kui were shielded by a violet energy bubble that wrapped around them—warm, unyielding.

When the dust settled, the Guardian was gone, swallowed by the churning energy. Julian lay bloodied on the floor; Viper crawled weakly away. They lived, but helpless.

“You’re mad…” Julian snarled, blood streaming down his face. “You nearly killed us all!”

“Mad?” Lin Ye stepped forward, eyes glowing with soft violet light. “No. I merely played by the rules you set yourself.”

Before anyone could move, laughter rang out—cold, clear, horribly familiar—from the darkness high above.

“Dramatic,” the voice said calmly. “But you have forgotten the most important thing.”

Descending from the gloom came an old man in a blue robe, hair neatly white, face handsome yet without warmth. The Rector. Valerius. In his true flesh.

“I was never truly trapped inside the jade,” he said, a cruel smile touching his lips. “What dwelt there was but a shadow—a decoy to keep you occupied. I have been here all along, waiting for the right moment. And that moment has come.”

His gaze fixed upon Lin Ye, deep and hungry.

“That perfect vessel… is yours, boy.”