Restart: the ultimate system

Chapter 31: The Duke's Trap

Face to Face with Lucian Ravencourt

The temperature in the vault seemed to drop as Duke Lucian Ravencourt emerged from the shadows. His cold, calculating gaze swept over the intruders, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"You should have stayed in the dark where you belong," he said, his voice carrying the weight of absolute authority.

Kai tensed, gripping his sword. They had been too slow. The Duke had expected them.

Selene's fingers twitched toward her daggers, but Lucian simply raised a hand. A powerful force pinned them all in place.

Magic. Dark and ancient.

Kai struggled against the invisible weight pressing down on him. Lyra gritted her teeth, her daggers slipping from her grasp. Vale clutched his head, his knees nearly buckling.

Lucian stepped closer, eyes gleaming with amusement. "You think you can steal my power? That you can defy me?"

Selene, breathless but defiant, glared at him. "Your time is up, Lucian."

The Duke chuckled. "No, dear Selene. Yours is."

With a flick of his wrist, a black chain materialized in the air, snapping around her neck. She choked, eyes wide, her body suspended in midair.

The Heart's Corruption

Kai's eyes darted to the Heart of Dominion, still pulsing with power on the pedestal. The artifact was fueling Lucian.

He had to act—now.

Forcing every ounce of willpower into his limbs, Kai pushed against the crushing magic. His system flared.

[System Override Activated]

The pressure weakened. His body moved.

With a surge of speed, Kai lunged forward, slashing at the chains holding Selene. His blade, glowing with his system's energy, cut through the dark magic. Selene collapsed to the ground, gasping.

Lucian's eyes narrowed. "Interesting."

The Duke raised a hand toward Kai—a blast of dark energy shot forward.

Kai barely dodged, rolling across the stone floor. The spell obliterated the spot he had just stood in.

Lyra and Vale regained movement, scrambling for their weapons. Selene forced herself up, rage burning in her eyes.

Lucian sighed. "Enough of this."

He lifted his other hand—and the Heart of Dominion floated into the air, crackling with malevolent energy.

"I am done playing."

Destroying the Heart

The vault trembled as Lucian channeled his magic. The artifact pulsed, tendrils of red lightning lashing out, burning into the stone walls.

Kai's instincts screamed at him—he couldn't let the Duke unleash its full power.

He locked eyes with Vale. "The Heart! Destroy it!"

Vale hesitated only a second before nodding. He sprinted toward the pedestal, dodging flying debris and crackling energy.

Lucian snarled. "No!"

He thrust his palm forward—a blast of pure darkness hurled toward Vale.

Lyra intercepted it, throwing herself in the way. The impact sent her flying back, crashing against the wall.

"Lyra!" Kai shouted.

Vale didn't stop. He reached the pedestal and drew a small glass vial from his belt—explosive alchemical fire.

With all his strength, he hurled it at the Heart of Dominion.

The vial shattered—a blinding white fire engulfed the artifact.

The Heart let out a shriek, as if the stone itself was alive. Cracks formed along its surface.

Lucian's face twisted in rage. "You FOOLS!"

The artifact exploded.

The Collapse

The entire vault shook violently, pillars crumbling as shockwaves blasted outward. The Duke staggered, his connection to the Heart severed.

Selene wasted no time. She lunged.

Before Lucian could react, her daggers sank deep into his chest.

He gasped, eyes wide with shock. "You… will regret this…"

With one final breath, the Duke collapsed.

The vault began to collapse.

Kai forced himself to his feet. "We have to go—NOW!"

He rushed to Lyra, pulling her up. She groaned, clutching her side, but managed to stand.

Vale and Selene ran toward them as the ceiling began to cave in. The entire manor was coming down.

"GO!" Kai shouted.

They sprinted toward the exit, dodging falling debris. The ground cracked beneath them as they barely made it up the spiral stairs.

Behind them—the vault imploded.

The Aftermath

They stumbled out of the manor just as the entire east wing collapsed in on itself.

Smoke and dust filled the air. The once-mighty Ravencourt Manor—a symbol of the Duke's power—was now nothing but ruins.

Kai took a shaky breath. The Heart was gone.

The Duke was dead.

They had won.

Selene looked at the wreckage, her face unreadable. "It's over."

Vale exhaled. "Then why doesn't it feel like it?"

Kai knew why. This war wasn't over.

It was only just beginning.

Echoes of the Fallen

A Hollow Victory

The air was thick with dust and the lingering scent of burnt magic. Kai took a deep breath, his chest heaving from the adrenaline still coursing through his veins. The Ravencourt Manor—once an imposing fortress—was now reduced to ruins, a fitting grave for Duke Lucian.

But something felt… off.

Selene stood motionless, staring at the wreckage. Her daggers, still slick with blood, hung limply at her sides. Vale's usually bright eyes were dim, lost in thought. Lyra, though injured, kept her back straight, her gaze darting around as if expecting something worse to emerge from the rubble.

Kai finally voiced the thought gnawing at the back of his mind.

"Why did Lucian seem… calm at the end?"

Vale flinched. "He wasn't panicking."

Selene exhaled sharply. "Because he knew something we didn't."

The ground beneath them trembled.

Kai's heart sank. No. It couldn't be.

The Duke's Last Gift

A deep, guttural hum echoed from the ruins. The rubble shifted, stones tumbling away as something massive stirred beneath.

Kai drew his sword, his fingers tightening around the hilt. He could feel it. The remnants of Lucian's power hadn't just vanished—it had gone somewhere else.

The air crackled with dark energy.

Then, the ruins exploded outward.

A massive blackened husk emerged from the wreckage, wrapped in shadows. Its body was twisted and skeletal, its eyes glowing with an unnatural red light.

Lucian was dead.

But his soul was not.

The Phantom Duke

The spectral figure hovered above them, its hollow eyes locked onto Kai.

"You thought you could erase me?" Lucian's voice echoed from the monstrous form, laced with a deep, unnatural resonance. "You have only freed me."

Selene cursed under her breath. "He bound himself to the ruins."

Vale paled. "A Lich…"

Lucian had planned for his death.

His body may have perished, but his soul had fused with the remnants of his domain, turning him into something far worse than before.

He raised a clawed, spectral hand—and darkness swallowed the courtyard.

Desperate Measures

Kai barely had time to react before the shadows lunged at them, taking the form of massive, clawed hands. He rolled to the side, barely dodging as a massive black tendril slammed into the ground where he had just been.

Lyra, despite her injuries, was already moving. She threw a dagger imbued with light magic—it burned a hole through Lucian's form but didn't destroy him.

He laughed.

"You cannot kill a soul," Lucian taunted. "Not unless you shatter it completely."

Selene's eyes widened. "The Soulforge—Vale, do you still have it?"

Vale fumbled at his belt, pulling out a small, rune-etched obsidian dagger.

The Soulforge.

A weapon capable of trapping and destroying souls.

Lucian's hollow eyes flared as he saw it. "No!"

He lunged forward, his spectral body stretching unnaturally as he tried to snatch the dagger away.

Kai acted instinctively—he dashed in, swinging his sword in an arc of pure energy, cutting through Lucian's outstretched form. The attack staggered the Lich for only a moment, but it was enough.

Vale hurled the dagger straight at Lucian's core.

It struck home.

The moment the blade pierced him, the air trembled. Lucian's form twisted, writhing violently. The Soulforge glowed, pulling the fragmented soul inside.

Lucian screamed.

The entire courtyard shook as his spectral body imploded—his soul, dragged into the dagger, sealed away forever.

A Lingering Threat

The silence that followed was deafening.

Kai let out a slow breath. His legs felt like they would give out any second.

Selene picked up the Soulforge, its surface now pulsing with a faint, eerie glow.

"It's done," she muttered.

Lyra, leaning against a broken pillar, wiped the blood from her lip. "Then why do I feel like we've only made things worse?"

Vale swallowed hard. "Because we don't know if Lucian was working alone."

Kai met his gaze. "You think there's more?"

Vale hesitated before answering.

"I think… he was just the beginning."

Kai looked at the dagger, at the ruins, and at the darkness still lingering in the air.

He knew it too.

Lucian was gone.

But something else was coming.