The next morning broke with the sound of distant bells—deep, metallic, warped by the wind. Cinderguard didn't follow the rhythms of a living city anymore. It pulsed with memory, with systems too old to forget their programming.
The team moved quietly through the underlayer's corridors, following Seris toward the old surface court. She had warned them that a formal audience with the Heraldic Court required decorum. What she hadn't warned them about was the ambush waiting behind diplomacy.
They emerged into the Court of Gold, an ancient plaza surrounded by statues of monarchs past, now cracked and moss-ridden. The Heraldic knights stood in formation—blades gleaming, armor polished with ceremonial pride. And in the center of the court, seated beneath a broken sun-disk, was Lord Haleric.
He rose slowly. His cloak shimmered with embedded system runes, and his voice carried like oil through the air.
"So. The thieves of the Crown arrive in peasant garb."
Kian didn't flinch. "We didn't steal it. We unburied it."
"A matter of phrasing." Haleric descended the stone steps. "You trespass in sovereign lands. You carry systems not of Braelthorn. And worst of all, you refuse to kneel."
Kess muttered, "Here we go…"
Haleric gestured, and a tall figure stepped forward—a young man, maybe Kian's age, clad in ceremonial dueling armor. His chest bore the crest of the Heralds: a golden tower atop a burning field.
"This is Sir Erynd Kaelthorn," Haleric said. "My heir by combat, and your reckoning."
Jerie blinked. "Wait, we're doing trials by duel now?"
Seris, beside them, sighed. "The Court has… traditional tastes."
Erynd drew a slender blade, its edge rippling with light. "One-on-one. No aid. If you fall, your party surrenders the Crown."
Kian stepped forward without a word.
Gellon caught his arm. "You sure?"
"I've built worse odds."
Veyna narrowed her eyes. "Don't die looking clever."
The court cleared. Kian and Erynd stood on opposite sides of the marble ring. Silence fell.
[System Mode: Duel Protocol]
▸ External interference locked
▸ Codex access restricted to internal schematics
▸ Predation system unlocked
▸ Memory system: Echo-loop enabled
Erynd bowed stiffly. "Do you know the rules?"
Kian lifted his spear. "I don't play by them."
The duel began.
Erynd struck fast—his blade a blur of gold light. Kian barely dodged, instincts flaring. The Predation system surged through him, adrenaline forming predictive vectors. He twisted, blocked with the spear's haft, and rolled back.
[Predation Reflex: Adaptive Guard activated]
"Fast," Erynd said, circling. "But still wild."
"Keep talking," Kian replied. "I like watching nobles try to sound smart while bleeding."
Erynd lunged again. This time, Kian stepped forward—inside the arc—and slammed the spear's butt into his opponent's ribs. The crowd gasped.
But Erynd didn't fall. Instead, he smiled—and vanished.
Kian's eyes widened. "What—"
[Memory Echo Displacement Detected]
Too late.
The real Erynd reappeared behind him and slashed.
Pain ripped across Kian's back. He staggered, vision reeling. Blood soaked into his tunic. Erynd didn't follow up—just watched.
"You're not the only one who's touched memory."
Kian coughed, steadied his breathing. "Yours is just a parlor trick."
He reached inward. Not into Codex. Not into instinct. Into something deeper.
Into the echo of himself.
[Memory System: Phantom Trace initiated]
▸ Predictive Replay: Last 4 seconds
▸ Reverse Anchor Planted
As Erynd lunged again, Kian disappeared—just a flicker—and reappeared behind him with spear raised. The strike landed clean across Erynd's shoulder, tearing armor and cloth.
The noble stumbled, fury in his eyes. "Cheap tricks."
Kian breathed heavily. "Then don't fall for them."
The duel continued, faster now. Steel clashed. Light burned. Blood marked the floor in circles.
The crowd murmured as the tide shifted—Kian's strikes becoming sharper, more fluid. He blended spearplay with sudden redirection, predicting feints before they formed. Erynd pressed harder, but his confidence began to crack.
[Codex Sync Temporary Override Granted]
▸ Reinforcement Loop: Kinetic Anchor
▸ Stability: 12%
Kian felt his stance root to the ground like stone.
Erynd rushed in for a finishing blow.
Kian didn't move.
Then, in a blur, he pivoted, redirected the strike with his shoulder, and drove the spear tip into the gap beneath Erynd's chestplate.
A sharp exhale.
Silence.
Erynd collapsed to one knee, coughing blood.
Kian stepped back, panting, covered in ash and sweat.
Lord Haleric's face was stone.
"The duel is yours."
Kian turned away. "Keep your throne. Keep your rituals. I came for something older than both."
Later, as they walked back through the underlayer tunnels, Jerie whistled low.
"Remind me not to insult you again."
Gellon muttered, "Too late."
Kess smiled faintly. "You know, if you keep this up, people might start thinking you're important."
Kian gave her a tired look. "Let's hope they're slower than that."
Veyna, at his side, said nothing. But she handed him a fresh bandage with a faint, almost reluctant smirk.
"Show-off."
Far above, in the ruined towers of Braelthorn's upper ward, The Inheritor watched through a scrying lens of bone.
"A fighter," he mused. "And a builder."
He leaned back into the dark.
"We'll see how long he can hold both."
End of Chapter 36