The wind carried the scent of wet earth and rusted metal across the abandoned ferry crossing.
The sun painted the scene in shades of gold and light, illuminating twenty hooded figures standing like gravestones in a forgotten cemetery. Their black robes fluttered restlessly, as if eager for the violence to come.
At their center, the bald nobleman tore away his hood with a violent jerk.
His scalp gleamed like polished ivory under the light, his face clean-shaven and unmarked save for the cruel twist of his lips.
The richness of his garments—black silk threaded with silver, the high collar embroidered with the crest of a fallen house—marked him as a man who had once knelt before thrones.
"You would turn your back on us now?" His voice cut through the air, sharp enough to draw blood.
Aurelius remained still, his breath steady. The dagger hidden in his sleeve pressed against his wrist, its cool weight a silent promise.
Around them, the other hooded figures shifted, their hands drifting toward concealed weapons. The river lapped hungrily at the shore, as if anticipating the feast to come.
The bald man took a step forward, his polished boots crushing the brittle reeds underfoot. "You swore an oath!
At dawn, we were to ride through the palace gates and slaughter your brother's forces. To cut him down as he clutched that mewling infant to his chest!"
A memory flashed behind Aurelius's eyes—his brother's face, weary but smiling, as he cradled the newborn prince last winter.
The way the babe's tiny fingers had curled around his own calloused thumb with unexpected strength.
"I made many oaths" Aurelius said softly. "One includes protecting my brother's son"
The nobleman's face darkened. "Then you'll die here with your pathetic oath, we will move forward without you!"
At his signal, the other figures threw back their hoods as one.
Twenty faces, each marked with the intricate tattoos of the Sealweaver Dynasty, glared at him with undisguised hatred.
Their hands moved in eerie unison, tracing symbols in the air that left faint, glowing trails—like fireflies dancing in the dark.
**HUMAN CREATION**
a divine gift from the High One himself, meant to bind demons and dark magic.
He exhaled slowly, feeling the familiar darkness uncoil in his chest. "Then let's see if your seals can hold true hell."
Human Creation // Demon summoner
Said Aurelius slowly..
The nobleman sneered. "You're just one man against twenty Sealweavers. Even with your little demon trick, you don't stand a—"
Aurelius moved.
One moment, he stood still as a statue. The next, his dagger flashed silver—and the nobleman's head tumbled from his shoulders, striking the damp earth with a dull thud.
The body remained upright for one grotesque second, hands still twitching through the motions of a sealing ritual, before collapsing in a heap of expensive fabric. Blood seeped into the ground, black in the moonlight.
A stunned silence fell. One of the younger Sealweavers—a boy barely old enough to shave—made a choked sound, his face turning the color of spoiled milk.
Another, an older warrior with a scar running from forehead to chin, was the first to recover.
"Steady!" the scarred man barked. "The demon contract is worthless if we complete the seal!"
Aurelius wiped his blade clean on the dead noble's robes. "Then you'd better work faster."
The scarred man—Commander Eldrick, Aurelius recalled—snarled and lunged. His hands moved in a blur, the glowing symbols leaving afterimages in the air.
Aurelius swung his dagger, but Eldrick caught the blade bare-handed, his palm splitting open. Blood, thick and dark, dripped onto the thirsty earth.
"You're too slow, boy," Eldrick spat, even as pain twisted his features. With his free hand, he completed the seal—a brilliant white sigil that pulsed like a living heart.
Aurelius tried to pull back, but Eldrick's grip was iron. The seal expanded, growing until it filled Aurelius's vision, its light burning his eyes.
Eldrick roared..
"**SEAL CREATION!**" "**PURIFY SEAL!**"
The world went white...
Aurelius barely dodged. The seal grazed his shoulder, and fire erupted along his skin. He rolled, coming up in a crouch, just as three more seals streaked toward him.
The air hummed with their power, the scent of ozone sharp in his nose.
He had to think. The Sealweavers were herding him, forcing him toward the riverbank where his movements would be constrained. He could see their strategy unfolding—like hunters driving prey into a trap.
Then he noticed Eldrick, still bleeding, working on another seal. A larger one.
*That can't be good.*
Aurelius changed tactics. Instead of retreating, he charged *toward* the nearest Sealweaver—a broad -shouldered man with a thick beard. The man's eyes widened as Aurelius closed the distance in a heartbeat.
"**DO YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ME THAT EASILY?**"
His fist punched clean through the man's face. Bone cracked. Warm blood sprayed. A shockwave of dark energy erupted from the impact, sending two nearby Sealweavers stumbling back.
Eldrick bellowed in rage. "**DISTRACT HIM!**"
Aurelius didn't let up. He snatched a fallen sword from the ground and spun, decapitating another foe before the body even hit the dirt. The remaining Sealweavers faltered, their confidence crumbling like old parchment
But Eldrick was ready.
As Aurelius reached his destination, that being Eldrick's head...
Eldrick moved his head away in the last second, but the sharp sword and the speed of the attack were enough to cut his left arm clean off.
In that moment, Eldrick felt an intense burning pain, as if his whole body was on fire...
As blood started to spill out everywhere and he felt lightheaded, he was about to fall.
This all happened in mere seconds, but as the hand fell to the ground, Eldrick remembered what he came here for! He remembered his mission! And he woke up from the frenzy!
Even though his entire body was hurting and he was almost unconscious...
But even with all that pain, he still stayed up, grabbed the finished seal, and said: "
As Aurelius saw the commander smiling through the pain of his missing hand. The seal hovering before him was massive now, its glow so bright it hurt to look at.
"**SEAL CREATION//INFERNAL BANE!**"
The Infernal Bane seal hit Aurelius like a collapsing star.
White-hot agony *unmade* him.
His bones screamed as the seal contracted, each glowing line burning through flesh like red-hot wire through snow. Blood erupted from his mouth—thick, black, *wrong*—as the demon inside him shrieked in his skull.
*"FUCKKKK—"*
His knees hit the dirt. His sword slipped from twitching fingers. The Sealweavers circled like vultures, their faces a blur of triumph and terror.
Eldrick staggered forward, clutching his cauterized stump. "Look at him! The great Aurelius, choking on his own—"
**CRACK.**
Aurelius's *spine* bent backward as the seal tightened further. Ribs snapped one by one like dry kindling. His vision swam—
—*his brother laughing as they sparred in the palace courtyard*
—*the newborn prince's tiny fist gripping his finger*
—*his own son, safe in the mountains, waiting for a father who'd never return*
"Pathetic," Eldrick spat. "You had the world in your hands... and you threw it away for *sentiment*."
Aurelius's remaining eye rolled upward. Through the haze of pain, he saw it—the seal's final contraction.
**"I'm... sorry..."**
Not to Eldrick.
To the brother he'd betrayed. To the kingdom he'd doomed. To the son who'd grow up fatherless.
The seal *imploded*.
Aurelius's body hit the ground—empty.
Eldrick prodded the corpse with his boot. "Bury him with the others. The *king* dies today!"
"But what about your wounds?" said one of the men.
"Ah,no worries, i can still perform seals with one hand" and Aurelius created a seal to stop the bleeding and stop the pain.
While
Inside the palace walls, the king stood in the garden, his newborn son cradled against his chest. The blood-demonic fountain bubbled softly beside them, with blood flowing .
One of his advisors cleared his throat. "Your Majesty, it's time. The queen's condition... we must proceed without her."
The king nodded, his grip tightening ever so slightly around his child.