Dead Dealer released streams of fire toward the walls of the dark chamber—not to destroy them, but to light the vast room.
Flames spread across the stone like burning lanterns, filling the darkness with red and gold. Their light revealed ancient carvings on the walls, symbols from an age long buried beneath the citadel.
Dead Dealer slowly looked around.
The room was enormous.
Silent.
Empty.
Only him…
…and Nora.
He narrowed his eyes.
No guards.
No trap in sight.
Only the teenage girl standing before him with a trembling expression.
Nora kept her breathing steady.
Inside her mind, a voice echoed.
Should I empower your will now?
She wasn't startled.
In fact, she had been waiting for that voice.
It belonged to Vaelith—her mother's brother.
Once known as the Sovereign of Illusions, feared across realms for his mastery over memory, dreams, and madness.
Now he was corrupted, trapped inside a monster void beneath the citadel.
To strangers and intruders, Vaelith was a nightmare.
But to Nora…
he remained family.
Nora answered silently.
Yes. Strengthen my will.
Immediately she felt it.
A surge of cold energy rushed through her mind.
Her consciousness sharpened.
Her essence deepened.
Her will became heavier… stronger… like steel forged under pressure.
Dead Dealer kept observing the room, unaware.
Nora raised her gaze.
Then she cast it.
Her most painful memory.
Her darkest wound.
A memory buried so deep she rarely allowed herself to think of it.
She pushed it directly into Dead Dealer's consciousness.
At once, his expression twitched.
His steps slowed.
His eyes flickered.
A mental attack.
Yet he forced himself to keep walking beside Nora as if nothing had happened.
But Nora knew it had landed.
She stepped closer.
Then drove her will into his mind again.
Like striking a wall with invisible force.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Each strike slammed the memory deeper into his consciousness.
Dead Dealer gritted his teeth.
His veins burned.
The lava-like blood beneath his skin boiled hotter.
Still he resisted.
Then Nora struck one final time.
Dead Dealer suddenly roared.
The entire chamber shook.
He lunged forward and grabbed Nora by the throat.
His grip was crushing.
Nora gasped for air.
Yet even while being strangled…
she smiled.
Then with every bit of strength left—
she forced her will into him one last time.
Dead Dealer froze.
His fingers loosened.
His body staggered backward.
Then—
he collapsed.
Hard against the black stone floor.
But Dead Dealer wasn't unconscious.
His body had fallen…
yet his consciousness had been dragged elsewhere.
Into Nora's memory.
---
Darkness.
Then sound.
Breathing.
Movement.
Dead Dealer opened his eyes—
but instantly realized something was wrong.
He couldn't move freely.
He couldn't control his limbs.
He was seeing through someone else's eyes.
Feeling through someone else's body.
He tried to speak.
Nothing.
Then he understood.
He was inside Nora's memory.
And he wasn't merely watching it.
He was reliving it through her.
Dead Dealer thought in fury:
Impossible…
How can an Initiate trap me inside a memory?
This shouldn't be possible.
But no matter how hard he resisted—
he remained trapped.
He looked through Nora's eyes.
She was younger than now—
but not a child.
A teenager.
Perhaps fifteen or sixteen.
Older, yet clearly before everything had changed.
He felt her excitement.
Her heartbeat.
Her anticipation.
She was walking toward a sleeping pod.
Silver.
Ancient.
Covered in runes.
Nora smiled.
"I wonder what my trial will look like…"
Then a whisper came from the system.
Prepare yourself. Trial begins in ten seconds.
10…
9…
8…
Dead Dealer could only watch.
7…
6…
5…
4…
3…
2…
1…
0.
The world vanished.
When vision returned—
Nora stood in a massive forest.
Black trees stretched endlessly.
The sky was crimson.
Above it all hung a blood-red moon.
Its light painted the world in scarlet.
Even Dead Dealer was briefly stunned.
So this was her trial…
Wind moved through the branches.
Nora slowly turned.
Alert.
Careful.
Dead Dealer felt every sensation she felt.
The pressure.
The fear.
The tension.
Back in the present—
outside the memory—
Nora stood over Dead Dealer's fallen body while Vaelith's voice entered her mind again.
He is fully trapped.
Nora exhaled slowly.
"Can you kill him now?"
From the darkness of the chamber, distorted shadows twisted together.
Then Vaelith emerged.
Tall.
Wrapped in torn royal robes made of shadow and smoke.
His silver eyes glowed with eerie violet light.
His face looked almost human—
until the darkness around him shifted unnaturally like living mist.
Vaelith studied Dead Dealer's motionless body.
Then looked at Nora.
"You do realize what you've done?"
Nora crossed her arms.
"I trapped him inside my memory."
Vaelith's gaze sharpened.
"No. You trapped a Sovereign inside your memory."
He stepped closer.
"Do you understand how terrifying that is?"
Nora stayed silent.
Vaelith continued.
"I've ruled illusions for centuries. I've seen dream walkers, memory binders, mind hunters…"
He leaned closer.
"But this…"
He pointed toward Dead Dealer.
"This is something rarer."
Nora looked at him.
"So will he die?"
Vaelith gave a small laugh.
"Most likely."
Then his expression softened.
"But that isn't what interests me."
Nora frowned.
"What does?"
"You."
Nora blinked.
Vaelith circled her slowly.
"When I was younger, I was like you. Curious. reckless. powerful… and blind to the true shape of my abilities."
His tone darkened.
"That ignorance is what corrupted me."
Nora lowered her eyes.
Vaelith stopped before her.
"I don't want the same fate for you."
Nora lifted her chin.
"What I become is my choice."
Vaelith studied her.
Nora's crimson eyes burned in the firelight.
Then she said quietly—
"I am the Heir of Crimson Fate."
"I will fight fate itself if I must."
"I'll shatter whatever future tries to chain me."
For a long moment—
Vaelith said nothing.
Then he smiled.
A rare expression.
"I like your spirit."
Nora smirked.
"That usually means you're about to say something important."
Vaelith laughed softly.
"You remembered."
Nora folded her arms.
"Please. Can you destroy Dead Dealer now?"
Vaelith turned toward the fallen Sovereign.
"His consciousness remains inside your memory."
"His body is empty."
He raised one hand.
Space distorted.
A blade formed from pure shadow and illusion—
long, black, impossibly sharp.
Floating before him.
Vaelith whispered:
"Let this nightmare end."
The blade shot forward like lightning.
And pierced Dead Dealer's chest.
Straight through the heart.
The chamber trembled.
His molten body convulsed violently.
Lava spilled across the stone.
Then—
silence.
Dead Dealer's body began turning to ash.
Burning from within until nothing remained.
Only smoke.
And blackened scorch marks.
Inside Nora's memory—
Dead Dealer was still trapped beneath the red moon.
Still reliving her past…
unaware his real body had already died.
Nora stared at the ashes.
Then slowly breathed out.
"It's over."
Vaelith's voice echoed through the chamber.
"No…"
Nora looked up.
Vaelith's glowing eyes fixed on the distant darkness of the citadel.
"This…"
"…is only the beginning."
And deep within the ancient citadel—
something awakened.