Chapter 5 · Now, let's talk about our guests

He walked over to her, his boots clicking on the stone. He reached down and grabbed her arm, hauling her up with effortless strength. He didn't let go of her wrist, pulling her close enough that she could see the flecks of gold and violet swirling in his pupils.

"Now, let's talk about our guests," Cane said, his tone shifting.

"Guests?" Selena whispered. "Who?"

"The ones who think they can track us," Cane replied. He looked toward the horizon of the Void, where a shimmering rift was beginning to tear open. "Your Paladins are surprisingly persistent. Or maybe they just really miss their little puppet."

Selena's eyes widened. "They'll kill you, Cane! They have the Holy Relics!"

Cane laughed, and this time it sounded genuinely amused. "Let them come. I'm starving, and I've always wondered what a Paladin's soul tastes like. Do you think it's salty?"

He suddenly yanked her closer, his grip tightening. The physical proximity was overwhelming—the smell of cold air and old power, the heat radiating from his body despite the Void's chill. Selena felt a traitorous shiver run down her spine. This was the man she had sacrificed. This was the boy she had discarded. And now, he was the only thing keeping her alive in a world of monsters.

"You're shaking, Selena," he murmured, his eyes dropping to her lips. "Is it fear? Or are you finally starting to realize how much you missed me?"

"I hate you," she spat, though there was no conviction in it.

"Good," Cane said, a dark smirk playing on his lips. "Hate is so much more honest than purity."

Suddenly, a loud, metallic boom echoed through the realm. The rift in the distance snapped wide open, and a squad of armored knights stepped through, their golden armor clashing violently with the purple gloom. At the front was General Valerius, his massive sword glowing with a fierce, blinding light.

"Cane!" Valerius roared, his voice shaking the ground. "Release the Saintess at once, or we will purge this filth from existence!"

Cane didn't flinch. He didn't even let go of Selena. Instead, he pulled her back against his chest, his arm wrapping around her waist in a possessive, crushing grip. He rested his chin on her shoulder, staring at the army with a look of pure boredom.

"Look at them, Selena," Cane whispered in her ear. "All that gold. All that light. They look like appetizers, don't they?"

"Cane, stop this!" she pleaded, her heart hammering against her ribs. "They'll destroy everything!"

"Let them try," he said.

With a flick of his wrist, the shadows beneath the Paladins' feet suddenly surged. Thick, oily black chains erupted from the ground, snapping shut around the knights' ankles with the sound of a closing trap. The golden armor cracked under the pressure.

"What is this?!" Valerius screamed, hacking at the chains with his glowing blade, but the metal simply absorbed the light, growing thicker and darker with every strike.

Cane leaned in, his lips almost touching Selena's ear. "Watch closely, Saintess. This is how your world ends."

He didn't move to attack. He didn't even raise a hand. He just stood there, holding her, while the shadow chains began to drag the screaming knights down into the obsidian floor, one by one.

As the last knight was pulled under, the rift began to collapse, but not before a final message flickered through the closing portal—a magical projection of the High Council's emergency decree.

Cane caught the projection in mid-air, his eyes narrowing as he read the glowing text.

"A bounty," he mused, the light of the projection reflecting in his violet eyes. "The High Council has put a price on my head. A very large price."

Selena looked at the text, her face turning white. "They've labeled you a Void-Sovereign. Cane, if you're a Sovereign, it means..."

"It means I'm not just a monster," Cane interrupted, his voice dropping to a dangerous low. He turned her around to face him, his expression suddenly lethal. "It means I can bring the whole city into this hole. And I think I'll start with the palace."

Just as he spoke, the ground beneath them lurched. A massive, guttural roar echoed from the depths of the Void, and a new rift—larger and more violent than the last—tore open right behind them.

From the abyss emerged a figure clad in armor made of screaming faces, holding a blade that bled darkness.

"The Sovereign has returned," the creature hissed, its voice a chorus of a thousand dead souls. "The Crown demands a tribute."

Cane didn't move. He just tightened his grip on Selena, his eyes locking onto the nightmare creature.

"I don't do tributes," Cane said, his voice echoing with a power that made the Void itself tremble. "I take."

He shoved Selena toward the creature, not to give her up, but to use her as bait. As the nightmare lunged forward, Cane's hand snapped out, not to catch her, but to trigger the Void Pact.

"Now!" he commanded.

Selena felt the brand on her collarbone flare with agonizing heat, and as she screamed, a blast of pure, blinding light erupted from her body, colliding with the nightmare's darkness in a shockwave that leveled the surrounding spires.

In the chaos, Cane stepped forward, his hand reaching for the creature's throat, but his eyes were fixed on something else—a shimmering key hanging from the monster's neck.

"The key to the Inner Sanctum," Cane whispered.

He gripped the key and twisted, but before he could pull it free, the creature's hand clamped around his wrist, its claws sinking into his skin.

"You are not the only one who can eat, boy," the monster sneered.

Cane's eyes flared. He didn't pull away. Instead, he leaned in, his teeth baring in a predatory grin.

"Then let's see who's hungrier," he said, and then he bit down on the creature's arm, not with teeth, but with a surge of Void energy that began to unravel the monster's very existence from the inside out.

As the creature shrieked, the ground gave way beneath them both, plunging them into a deeper, darker layer of the Void.

Selena reached out, her fingers barely brushing his sleeve before they were separated by the falling debris.

"Cane!" she screamed.

But the last thing she saw before the darkness swallowed them both was Cane looking back at her, his face twisted in a smile that was more terrifying than any monster she had ever seen.

And then, a voice—not Cane's, not the monster's, but something ancient and cold—echoed through the abyss:

"The game has only just begun, little Saintess. Who do you think is really holding the leash?"