Vincent.
I rushed straight down the corridors toward the hidden chamber, my heart hammering violently in my chest, only to be met by a roaring wall of flame. It was indeed on fire.
How on earth had it gotten to this?
How was this even possible?
No one in the entire territory knew about the existence of this particular place—aside from Alaric, of course. And he was standing right beside me at this very moment, shouting orders and delegating desperate tasks to the guards as they tried frantically to put out the raging blaze.
This was just so absurdly, brutally unfortunate.
Was the Moon Goddess trying to send me some kind of cosmic sign?
Was this cruel twist of fate the reason why I had been experiencing that sharp, sudden pain in my chest earlier at the altar?
’Arrrrghhhhh!’ I screamed inwardly, squeezing my eyes shut for a brief second as sheer frustration burned hotter than the inferno before me.
I really couldn’t tell what exactly was going on any longer. Everything was spinning wildly out of my control.
I folded my arms tightly across my chest, standing back to watch as the guards hauled buckets and threw everything they had at the flames to extinguish them.
But something was deeply, terribly wrong. The more water they tossed, the more they desperately tried to put it out, the more the fire seemed to roar back, increasing in size and intensity with every passing second.
There had to be something actively regenerating this fire, fanning the flames from within. It was unnatural. It felt almost deliberate—as though this inferno had been set for the sole purpose of keeping me trapped right here, wasting precious time. Yet, despite knowing it might be a distraction, I couldn’t just abandon this chamber to be completely consumed by the flames. The stakes were far too high.
Realizing I couldn’t leave the area myself just yet, I raised a hand and signaled for a nearby guard to step forward.
The guard immediately hurried over, bowing his head in deference.
"Escort Luna Maria back to her room this instant," I ordered, my voice cutting sharply through the crackle of the blaze and the chaos of the shouting guards. "And ensure she is heavily protected until I return."
"Yes, Alpha!" he answered without a moment’s hesitation. He bowed his head low and turned, rushing off immediately to carry out my command.
I stood completely still, my eyes narrowing behind my mask as I kept watching the guards desperately attend to the fire. Rather than joining the frantic chaos, I tried to locate the actual source of the blaze.
It was utterly unnatural—no matter how hard they tried to smother the flames, the fire would inexplicably resurface just a few minutes later, roaring back to life with renewed fury.
After what felt like thirty agonizing minutes of watching this endless loop, exhaustion and frustration began to set in. I was just about on the verge of giving up and accepting that I was stuck here indefinitely when a subtle detail caught my attention. Tucked away near the edge of the corridor, partially hidden amidst the tall grass on the ground, lay a thin, combustible thread soaked in a flammable substance.
"Pause!" I ordered, my voice booming over the crackle of the blaze.
Immediately, every single guard halted in their tracks, freezing instantly at my command.
Without waiting a second, I stepped forward to inspect the discovery. But just as I reached out my hand, aiming to pull the thread clear of the area, a sudden wave of heat surged upward and the flame flared back to life.
I reacted on pure instinct, my body moving before my mind could even process what was happening. Throwing myself backwards with every ounce of strength I had, I narrowly dodged the violent burst just in time.
The sudden wave of heat rushed past me, close enough for me to feel its scorching intensity against my skin. My heart lurched violently inside my chest as the terrifying realization struck me.
Had my reflexes been even a fraction of a second slower, I would have been severely burned.
"Listen to me, everyone!" I barked, my voice ringing through the chaos with sharp, unquestionable authority, as every word cut cleanly through the surrounding noise, demanding immediate attention. "The very moment the fire goes out again for those few seconds, pull out that flammable thread!" I ordered firmly, making sure there was no room for hesitation or misunderstanding.
"Yes, Alpha!" they answered in perfect unison, their voices loud and resolute.
Without missing a beat, every one of them sprang back into action. They immediately resumed throwing water onto the flames, working relentlessly to force the fire down while carefully watching for the brief opening they needed.
Every movement was precisely timed as they waited for those precious few seconds before reaching in to yank at the flammable thread.
Again and again, they repeated the process, enduring the relentless heat and thick smoke while narrowly avoiding each dangerous flare-up. They refused to stop, persisting through countless attempts until, at last, the fuse tore free.
The cycle was finally broken, and the flames were extinguished for good, and as the last of the flames died down, I released a heavy sigh of relief. Leaving the guards behind, I barged into the hidden chamber alone.
The atmosphere inside was thick with dense smoke and swirling dust, and several sections of the interior were already charred and burned.
Ignoring the lingering heat, I marched over to the hidden panel on the wall and pressed a specific sequence of buttons. With a low rumble, a secret passage slid open.
I stepped through the doorway, navigating the hidden corridor until I reached the inner vault. As I looked around and realized that everything inside was completely intact, a wide, triumphant smile deepened across my face once more.
"Good!" I muttered inwardly, a wave of dark satisfaction washing over me. "Things can still fall into place."
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