The night was silent.
Too silent.
Moonlight bathed the Northern Kingdom of Virelith as smoke slowly rose from the destroyed forest outside the capital.
Alaric Kurohart stood alone on a cliff overlooking the kingdom.
In his hand were two bottles of Demonblood Elixir.
The dark liquid moved unnaturally inside the glass.
Almost as if it were alive.
Behind him, footsteps approached.
"The children are safe," The Silent Widow said calmly.
Alaric remained silent.
Then he asked quietly,
"Did you notice it too?"
She frowned.
"The demonic energy?"
Alaric nodded.
"That wasn't ordinary dark magic."
For the first time since the battle, a serious expression appeared on his face.
"If someone can mass-produce something like this..."
His eyes darkened.
"...then this kingdom is already standing on the edge of disaster."
He stared at the bottles.
"Before this becomes a disaster, I need to find a way to stop it."
The Silent Widow remained silent.
Alaric turned toward her.
"Take the children back to their families. They won't go after them anymore. I've already removed the marks from their bodies."
She nodded.
"I understand."
"And after that, go home and rest."
Then she glanced at the unconscious girl beside him.
"What are you going to do with her?"
"I'll lock her up."
The Silent Widow raised an eyebrow.
"You think she's dangerous?"
Alaric shook his head.
"No."
His gaze hardened.
"I think she's valuable."
The Silent Widow understood immediately.
An informant.
A survivor.
The only remaining clue.
Soon afterward, she left with the rescued children.
One by one, she returned them to their families.
Tears filled the streets.
Parents embraced their children tightly.
Many couldn't stop crying.
Some even knelt and thanked the heavens.
Others thanked Prince Alaric.
"The Prince has returned."
"Things will finally change."
"The Kingdom is safe again."
Meanwhile...
Alaric looked down at the unconscious girl.
"I know you're awake."
Her eyes slowly opened.
She stared at him.
"Why did you keep me alive?"
Alaric folded his arms.
"Why do you think?"
She laughed bitterly.
"You want information."
"Maybe."
"Then are you going to torture me?"
"No."
"Beat me?"
"No."
The girl frowned.
"Then why keep me alive?"
Alaric looked directly into her eyes.
"You saw what happened to your comrades."
Her expression froze.
"You watched them become monsters."
Silence.
"You watched them lose their humanity."
The girl clenched her fists.
Alaric continued.
"The people you worked for never cared about you."
She looked away.
"They gave all of you Demonblood Elixir."
His voice became colder.
"Not to save your lives."
"To erase evidence."
The girl's eyes widened.
Alaric could tell he was right.
"Those drugs were never meant to make you stronger."
"They were meant to turn you into disposable monsters."
The girl lowered her head.
Pain filled her expression.
Alaric sighed.
"You were sacrificed from the beginning."
For a moment...
Neither of them spoke.
Then Alaric struck the side of her neck.
The girl immediately fell unconscious again.
"I'll question you later."
With that, he carried her away.
Toward the kingdom's greatest secret.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
⚔️ NOCTIS SANCTUM
Where forbidden knowledge sleeps beneath silence.
Hidden deep beneath the capital city of Virelith...
Far below the palace...
Far below the underground railways...
Existed a facility known only to a select few.
Noctis Sanctum.
A secret research facility personally created by Alaric Kurohart.
Officially...
It did not exist.
No records.
No public knowledge.
No witnesses.
Its purpose was simple.
To investigate threats too dangerous for the kingdom to know about.
Demonic mutations.
Forbidden magic.
Dark portals.
Ancient curses.
Corrupted mana.
And now...
The Demonblood Elixir.
The moment Alaric arrived, several researchers immediately bowed.
He ignored them and walked deeper inside.
Soon he entered the main laboratory.
"Draven."
A tall man looked up from a table covered with notes and dissected remains.
Draven Vale.
Chief Researcher of Noctis Sanctum.
"Your Highness."
"What did you find?"
Draven wiped his hands and pointed toward several corpses.
"The bodies brought back from the city."
Alaric walked closer.
"Their hearts are missing."
"I noticed."
Draven nodded.
"But that's not the strange part."
He pointed toward several markings.
"The bodies were being controlled."
"Necromancy?"
"Not exactly."
Draven shook his head.
"Necromancy controls corpses."
"These individuals still retained intelligence."
"They fought like trained soldiers."
"They used coordinated swordsmanship."
"They adapted during battle."
Alaric frowned.
"So what are they?"
Draven's expression darkened.
"I don't know."
Silence filled the room.
Then Alaric handed him the two bottles.
"Demonblood Elixir."
Draven's eyes widened.
"You obtained samples?"
"Analyze them."
Draven immediately accepted them.
Then Alaric asked,
"What about the mark?"
Draven smiled slightly.
"I was hoping you'd ask."
He led Alaric deeper into the facility.
Soon they arrived at a chamber called:
The Silent Archives.
There, one of the corpses was secured to an examination table.
Draven pointed toward its arm.
Alaric narrowed his eyes.
The mark.
The same mark found on the missing children.
"The mark controls them," Draven explained.
"It strips away free will."
"It allows a single individual to command them completely."
Alaric stared at it.
"I thought it was ordinary dark magic."
"So did I."
Draven folded his arms.
"But there's something worse."
His expression became serious.
"The mark captures fragments of the victim's soul."
For the first time, Alaric looked surprised.
"What?"
Draven nodded.
"When the victim dies..."
"The mark takes part of their soul."
Silence filled the room.
Alaric immediately understood the implications.
Someone was collecting souls.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Hours later...
Alaric left Noctis Sanctum.
The next day, he began investigating personally.
He visited every location connected to the missing children.
Every street.
Every market.
Every district.
Eventually he discovered a pattern.
Candy.
Cheap candy.
Sold near every disappearance site.
The sellers changed.
The locations changed.
But the candy remained.
That evening he found another vendor.
A teenage girl.
She sat behind a small wooden stand.
Selling sweets.
Alaric approached in disguise.
"I'd like to ask you a few questions."
The girl looked him up and down.
Then smiled.
"Give me a few minutes."
After closing her stand, she approached him.
"What do you want to know?"
"Where do you get these sweets?"
She crossed her arms.
"Trade secret."
Alaric sighed.
"Humor me."
The girl stared at him.
Then suddenly said,
"Go on a date with me."
Alaric blinked.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"I'm married."
The girl looked devastated.
"Why are all handsome men married?"
Alaric rubbed his forehead.
Eventually she explained everything.
A friend introduced her to a supplier.
Every weekend they delivered sweets.
She sold them and kept sixty percent of the profits.
Nothing seemed suspicious.
At least on the surface.
Alaric quietly used Abyss Sight.
A technique capable of examining memories.
Everything she said was true.
Which only made the situation stranger.
After gathering enough information, he returned to the palace.
That night...
He sat alone in his office.
Thinking.
The pieces were beginning to connect.
But the most important clue remained missing.
The location of the enemy's hideout.
Then a familiar presence appeared.
"The Silent Widow."
She stepped out from the shadows.
"You're late."
"I had work to finish."
"Any progress?"
She shook her head.
"Nothing."
Alaric sighed.
"Then investigate the guild archives."
Her eyes widened.
"The secret archives?"
He handed her a royal authorization token.
"Show this to the Guild Master."
"He'll let you in."
She accepted it.
Then disappeared into the darkness.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
THE FORBIDDEN LIBRARY
After she left...
Alaric headed toward one of the kingdom's greatest secrets.
The Forbidden Royal Library.
A library hidden beneath the palace.
Created during the founding of Virelith.
Unlike ordinary libraries, this place functioned like a living dungeon.
The deeper someone traveled...
The older the knowledge became.
Ancient books floated through endless corridors.
Living enchantments protected forbidden information.
Some books whispered.
Some moved.
Some even attempted to test the reader.
Only members of the royal family and selected scholars were permitted entry.
Within its depths existed records dating back thousands of years.
Histories of the Four Kingdoms.
Ancient wars.
Lost civilizations.
Forbidden magic.
And knowledge humanity was never meant to discover.
Alaric searched for hours.
Then days.
Book after book.
Record after record.
Nothing.
Until finally...
On the second night...
He reached for one final book.
The moment he pulled it from the shelf—
His eyes widened.
A symbol.
The exact same symbol found on the enemies he fought.
Alaric immediately sat down.
And began reading.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Elsewhere...
The Silent Widow moved through the streets.
Suddenly—
She felt it.
A presence.
Watching her.
Following her.
Even while concealing itself.
She stopped walking.
Slowly turned around.
And spoke.
"Come out."
Silence.
Then a man stepped from the darkness.
His face hidden beneath a hood.
His killing intent was overwhelming.
The Silent Widow placed her hand on her dagger.
The man smiled.
"You've learned too much."
She narrowed her eyes.
"And?"
The man laughed.
"My mission is simple."
His voice became cold.
"To execute you."
END OF CHAPTER 23