The forest around Arthen Hollow whispered with wind and watching eyes. Cedric and Lynne moved swiftly beneath its cover, guided by moonlight and instinct. The vault had crumbled behind them, sealing its ancient truths—for now.
They stopped to rest near a crag of stone jutting from the earth like a broken tooth. Lynne unrolled a parchment and spread it out over a flat rock.
"The orb you took—Weaver's Heart—it isn't just a fragment," she said. "It's a key."
Cedric, still adjusting to the rush of his level-up, watched her carefully. "A key to what?"
"To the deeper systems beneath the surface one. A forgotten layer of the Demon Lord System that predates the Church's involvement."
He raised an eyebrow. "You think the Church didn't create it?"
"No," she replied. "They just learned to exploit it."
> SYSTEM NOTICE
Weaver's Heart Recognized. Activating Alignment Tutorial…
Proceed? [Y/N]
Cedric hesitated. Then: Y.
The world around him dimmed, sound and sensation slowing to a crawl. A soft hum filled his ears as the system's screen filled his vision.
> THREADS OF MAGIC: ALIGNMENT TUTORIAL
Magic is not spell. Magic is potential. Threads are its form—raw, chaotic, beautiful.
You may now observe and interact with threads in their unwoven state.
Alignment is balance. To weave, you must see.
Warning: Improper use may result in mana feedback, corruption, or death.
Then came a surge—a flare of insight and blinding sensation as the world lit up in faint strands of color. Lines of raw magic floated in the air like invisible strings attached to everything—earth, tree, stone, sky.
Cedric gasped, blinking rapidly as the glow faded.
"I saw them," he muttered. "The threads."
Lynne looked up sharply. "You activated it?"
He nodded. "Only for a moment. But they were everywhere."
She gave him a sharp look. "Don't rush into manipulating them. I've read what happens to mages who try to weave without training. It's like trying to juggle fire while blindfolded."
"Noted," Cedric said dryly.
They moved again before dawn, trekking toward a hidden ruin Lynne called Stoneglass Hold—a site once used by Threadkeepers to train and archive their discoveries.
But before they could reach it, they felt it: a ripple of power from the south, like the land itself shivered.
Lynne froze. "That was a mana shock."
Cedric clenched his fists. "A battle?"
"No…" she said slowly. "A resurrection."
> SYSTEM NOTICE
Demon Lord Awakening Detected.
Threat Level: Black.
Host Status: Unknown.
Church Response: Mobilizing.
Cedric's heart thundered. The Church believed he had died thirty years ago. They'd waited, expected the system to move on to a new host.
It just had.
And unlike him, this new Demon Lord would be mindless—fully under the system's control.
"What happens if the Church gets to them first?" Cedric asked.
Lynne's jaw tightened. "They'll use them to rally the continent. Prove their divine guidance again. Rewrite history, again."
Cedric stared into the dark horizon.
"No," he whispered. "This time… history writes me back in."