Episode 29: The Heart of the Vault
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The Silent Vaults were no longer silent.
A storm of magic pulsed through the air like thunder, and the very walls of the realm seemed to tremble. Faint echoes of ancient whispers swirled in the winds, pulling at the minds of Kael's team. It had been hours—maybe days—since they crossed into the cursed domain, and still, the air smelled of ash, blood, and something older. Something wrong.
Kael stood at the front of the group, his cloak torn and his skin bruised. The veins around his eyes shimmered faintly with a silvery blue light—traces of the wolf's power inside him still swirling, trying to adapt to his body.
Beside him, Lana clutched a glowing relic, one stolen from the altar of Varnyx to slow the decay. Her hands trembled—not from fear, but from what she had seen in the heart of the vaults.
And behind them…
Felix, breathing heavily but grinning like he just finished a hotdog-eating contest, despite the fresh burn mark on his neck.
"I swear if one more demon spider jumps at me, I'm setting this whole place on fire," he grunted, adjusting the weird iron-bladed shotgun he'd looted from a summoner they'd defeated earlier.
Tunde laughed as he limped forward, one eye swollen shut but with his usual crooked smirk. "Set it on fire? Bro, you couldn't set toast on fire without burning your eyebrows. Let the grownups do the blasting."
"I AM the grownup!" Felix shot back.
"Okay, Felix," Lana said calmly, "You once got trapped in a revolving door. Let's focus, yeah?"
Kael smiled faintly. Despite the madness, this was his team. His people.
But now, the time had come to end it.
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The Vault's Core
They finally reached it—the Heart of the Silent Vaults.
A massive chamber stretched ahead of them, carved from obsidian stone, runes of dark origin glowing dimly on the walls. In the center was the vortex—swirling black and crimson, its pull strong enough to bend sound and light. Chained within the vortex was something ancient, monstrous… and angry.
The Nameless Demon—called only by sounds that twisted the tongue and shattered glass. Its mouth never opened, yet its voice seeped into their heads.
> "Th̶e͘ C̡h́o̵s͠e͟n h̵a͡s̛ ár̷r͘iv͠ęd…"
Kael stumbled backward, clutching his head. His mark—his chosen mark—glowed violently, surging with the same energy that twisted the vault.
Tunde summoned a barrier around Kael and Lana. "I don't speak cursed demon. Somebody throw hands or say something before I pee my pants."
Lana's eyes widened. "This... This isn't just a prison. This whole vault—it's a binding ring. That vortex is bleeding into the real world."
Felix scratched his head. "Well, we can't just throw a fireball and hope it goes away. What's the plan, Chosen One?"
Kael's eyes lifted, glowing now with an unnatural hue. His voice deeper, echoing with something else inside him.
"We don't destroy it. We unseal it."
Everyone froze.
"Kael, are you insane?!" Lana shouted.
"No." His voice was calm, certain. "This demon… it's not whole. This vortex is being fed by the Blood Rituals the opposing team has been performing with human sacrifices. But it's unstable. I can reverse the flow—but only if I step into the core."
"You'll die," Felix said. "Like, not in a cool 'sacrifice for humanity' way. In a burn to ash in seconds way."
Kael looked at each of them, lingering on Lana. "Then let me leave you a world worth burning for."
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The Trial of Binding
Kael entered the swirling vortex. The moment he touched it, lightning slammed from above. The Vault roared.
He screamed—not in pain, but in release.
His mark glowed brighter. The wolf within stirred violently, the chosen energy merging. His skin cracked with white fire, his veins burned gold and blue, and his eyes turned pure silver.
The vortex fought back.
Demons surged out from the walls. Horrific creatures with backwards limbs, screaming teeth, and names no man could call. Each one summoned a cursed weapon: scythes that bled shadow, blades that vibrated with sorrow.
Tunde went full war-mode. "Alright, it's demon-smashing time, baby!"
He created a portal of energy and kicked a demon through it—only for it to appear behind him. Felix leapt in, blasting it point blank with his shotgun-blade hybrid.
Lana, with her hands stained in magical runes, called a shield spell around them all. "Protect Kael! He's almost there!"
Inside the vortex, Kael was facing his own trial—a mental and magical battle in a realm that didn't obey logic. He saw illusions: his mother, dead on the floor. Lana turning away from him. His own hands stained in blood. But he pushed forward.
He muttered words not from any language—words burned into his soul from the moment the werewolf alpha bit him.
> "Velmorth'Rael…"
Suddenly, a blade of thunder and divine light slammed into his hand. Forged between Heaven and Heart, by the 9000-year-old Thunder Dragon that once ruled the Sky Realms. The sword pulsed with power, its name not just whispered, but respected.
Lightning surged from the blade. The vortex screamed.
Kael raised the sword. "You're not welcome here."
And he struck.
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The Aftermath
The vortex collapsed. The Heart of the Vault shattered.
A wave of blinding light tore through the realm. The creatures vanished. The whispers stopped. The darkness withdrew like a tide pulled back into a hellish sea.
When it was done, Kael stood in the center, smoke rising from his skin. He fell to one knee, the sword buried in the ground beside him. His friends ran to him.
Lana held him close. "You idiot… You absolute, beautiful idiot."
Tunde wiped his eye. "I told y'all I wasn't crying. Just… dust, you know?"
Felix was shaking his head. "Next time, can we fight a demon that drops loot at least?"
Kael smiled, though his body trembled. "We're not done yet… but this vault… it's sealed."
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Final Scene
Back in the real world, the skies began to calm.
The bleeding of magic into reality halted. The humans involved in the rituals were arrested by magic enforcement. And across the lands, those who had been marked for sacrifice felt a heavy weight lift from their souls.
But something deep underground—something ancient—shifted.
A whisper echoed, soft but terrible.
"The Chosen grows stronger… good. Let him become a god. So we can destroy one."