> System Notice
[Companion Affinity: Silna Farros — Status: Guarded Respect]
[Passive Unlocked: Residual Flamewake]
[Warning: Unknown Signature Detected — Shadow-Tier Entity Scanning...]
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The tomb's silence vanished behind them, swallowed by the howling wind of the Forsworn March. Ash drifted across the sky like dying snow. The air was dry, scorched, and carried the metallic scent of something ancient and unkind.
Kael stepped forward, boots crunching over charred gravel. His cloak rippled behind him, catching the breeze as if it too had something to flee from. The memory of the Warden's fall lingered—like ghost-fire curling behind his eyes.
Silna trudged beside him, calm but vigilant. Her white dreadlocks were tied back in a rough knot, revealing the faint scarring across her jawline. Her armor, singed and dulled from the last battle, clinked softly as she moved.
"Welcome to nowhere," she muttered, narrowing her eyes at the horizon. "Watch your step. Things out here don't die easy."
Kael didn't respond immediately. Instead, he studied the plateau—a sprawling wasteland of jagged stone and blackened dust, a battlefield that had outlived its war.
Something stirred within him. A hum. Not quite audible. Not quite physical. It was the system again—no longer dormant.
He raised a hand. A flicker of orange danced across his fingers.
"Residual Flamewake," he said, almost to himself. "A gift from the Warden, apparently."
Silna tilted her head. "Then I'd hate to see what he left his enemies."
A sudden whistle sliced through the wind.
Kael's hand dropped to his sword. Silna moved beside him, already in a low stance. Figures approached—half-shadow, half-mutation. Humanoid, but wrong. Their armor was rusted, fused with organic sinew. Some bore the faded insignias of fallen noble houses.
"Deserters," Silna said, disgust curling in her voice. "Mana-corrupted. Starved for blood."
Kael exhaled, steady. "Then let's feed them fire."
The first charged.
Kael met it head-on, blade flashing upward. Sparks flared. The creature shrieked, its body splitting with a hiss of superheated flesh. Beside him, Silna moved like silver lightning—each strike lethal, each step measured. Her expression was blank, focused, like violence was simply muscle memory.
Three fell. Four. Five.
The sixth turned and ran.
Kael's blade lowered slightly. "That one was watching," he murmured.
"Not just that," Silna said. She pointed ahead.
A figure stood across the ridge—cloaked in robes stitched from bone and ash. Its helm gleamed like silver, shaped in the image of a shattered crown. It didn't move. It simply stared.
Then it vanished.
But the pressure it left behind remained.
"That wasn't one of them," Kael said.
"No," Silna said quietly. "That was worse."
They both stood still. Listening. Waiting.
Finally, Silna muttered, "You're attracting things again, Crownless."
Kael turned from the ridge. His grip tightened on his sword.
"I always did."
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> System Log
[Entity Profile: UNKNOWN]
[Designation: Possible Herald-Class]
[Observation Status: Passive]
[Memory Record Locked Until Class Advancement]
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> System Prompt
[Main Questline Resumed: Echoes of the Crownless Path]
[Next Objective: Reac
h Sanctuary Point – 7.2 km South]
[Tracking Activated]
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[End of Chapter 15]