Chapter 297: Midnight War

They had finally brought down all three Warden Captains. The hall still vibrated with the echo of spent magic, the metallic tang of blood, and the drifting haze of shattered stone. That victory was the result of sheer effort and willpower. Luke knew full well that not long ago it would have been hard for them to face even a single Warden Captain, but now they had defeated three.

Evangeline sat slumped against the cold stone wall, breath coming shallow and quick. Her fingers trembled against the blood-stained fabric of her kimono while Jack knelt beside her, wand pressed close, a ribbon of green light crawling over her skin to seal cuts. Across the hall, Ronan remained standing before the fallen Warden Captain, eyes locked on the corpse, lost somewhere between shock and the flickering notifications lighting the air.

[Special Event “Third Fortress Mission” Completed]

[You have successfully defeated the three major threats! The Great Serpent, the Fallen Stone Angel, and the Three Warden Captains!]

Luke flipped open his interface. More notifications scrolled past his eyes. One flagged Princess Charlie’s mandatory class evolution. It would take a careful decision later, not now. Choosing a new class required strategy and a cool head.

Another message popped up:

[Your Rank Skill is currently being forged. It will soon be ready…]

He blinked, reading it twice. This was real. At last he had unlocked his epic class skill and, soon, a Rank Skill would follow. For a heartbeat he felt the weight of every risk they had taken click into place and become worth it.

“Looks like we all survived,” Eleanor said, voice raw but steady, glancing from face to face.

Ronan kept staring at the dead Warden Captain. “That thing fought hard,” he muttered.

The hall resembled the other fortresses: mirrored corridors, high columns, shredded tapestries, scorch marks everywhere. Each detail stood as a silent record of the war they had just waged. Allison stepped closer, boots whispering over the stone.

“Nothing’s stopping us from going back to Earth now,” she said, eyes fixed on the corridor’s gate.

“Except, of course, for the damn castle and whatever’s inside it,” Evangeline answered as she rose carefully, bracing against the wall. Her kimono was soaked in red; she wiped her fingers clean before cinching the sash tighter.

“She’s healing up,” Jack murmured, still watching the faint glow on her skin.

“Dying now, this close to home, would be darkly funny,” Evangeline said, gaze sharp but weary.

Luke drew a deep breath. The biggest walls had finally fallen, Bartholomew, the fights with rival survivors, the hunt for three mechanisms. All of it behind him. He was closer to home than ever.

Evangeline scanned the group. “So… anyone here hit Rank cap?”

“I did,” Luke answered without hesitation.

“I’m almost there,” Mason added from where he leaned against a column.

For a heartbeat, silence thickened, everyone feeling the same thing: destiny lining itself up before them.

“Shall we head for the third mechanism?” Luke asked.

“Absolutely,” came the reply, all at once.

***

They left the hall without looking back. None of them wanted to stay another second. Interfaces flicked shut, weapons vanished into inventories, and the sound of boots striking stone echoed down the corridors as they moved toward their goal.

At the main door, Luke pressed both palms against it and pushed. The hinges groaned with a metallic shriek, opening into the chamber beyond.

“So this is the mechanism room? Looks the same as yours?” Ronan’s eyes swept the space, sharp and searching. He’d never seen the inner chamber of either of the other two fortresses.

“Exactly the same,” Evangeline answered.

Ronan let out a low breath. “Five years I lived in a place with one of these mechanisms right under my nose…”

“Two years for me,” Eleanor added quietly. “At least now we know the truth.”

They stepped toward the center. The mechanism itself was stone and steel, like a ship’s wheel laid flat, gears humming with a faint blue glow.

While the others approached, Luke lingered near the wall beside Charlie. Carved into the stone were ancient, cracked reliefs telling some long-forgotten story. Flakes of rock littered the floor, but one section remained intact: two angels kneeling before a throne. Whoever sat on it had been deliberately erased, leaving only a void where the figure should be.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Midnight King… or the Architect? Or were they the same thing? The thought cut through Luke’s mind as he stared at the carving.

Beside him, Charlie radiated happiness. Through the mental link, he felt her happiness like a warm current.

“We made it, Charlie,” he murmured. “We started out falling through the ice, and now we’re here.”

She lifted her hand. He met it, sealing the moment with a quick slap of palms.