Night draped the corridor in muted gold, the last echoes of the banquet still lingering like fading applause. Kel walked through the shadows with deliberate grace — a performance that refused to end.
His steps were steady. His pulse was not.
Door closes. Light dies.
The moment the latch clicked shut behind him, the mask he'd worn slipped wordlessly from his face.
He did not remove his coat gracefully.
He let it fall.
The Price of Standing
The polished floor caught him by the knees.
"Endure until you can no longer be seen."
– rule he had carved into himself.
His breath came raw, uneven, as if each inhalation fought for ownership of his lungs. The micro-core at his root chakra pulsated like a silent heartbeat, rhythmic… then frantic.
A metallic taste spread across his tongue.
Blood.
He wiped it calmly with trembling fingers.
Then looked at them — red staining pale skin — and exhaled a faint, almost amused laugh.
"So even my blood remembers… that tonight I defied failure."
Mirror of Reality
There was a full-body mirror near his writing desk, polished silver framed in obsidian wood.
He pushed himself up — barely — and walked to it.
He stood there, shoulders trembling, but eyes steady.
His reflection: a boy with snow-pale skin, blood at his lip, suit still immaculate, gaze calm like someone witnessing their own funeral and taking notes.
He touched the mirror.
Not his own reflection.
The blood.
"If survival demands this pain… then let me bleed."
He smiled.
It was not comforting.
System Flicker
The room dimmed.
Not from the candles.
From the edges of consciousness tightening.
He leaned back against the wall, sliding down until his lower back touched the floor.
His vision blurred, sound faded — except for the subtle hum inside his skull, like static breathing.
Then it came.
< System // ERROR // Unverified Evolution Detected > ... ... recalibrating root-based energy circulation ... ... ACCESS CHECK: Failed ACCESS CHECK: Retrying
Then silence.
Just as it faded, one final line flickered at the back of his thoughts.
[ Destiny Override Initializing ]
He did not smile.
But his heartbeat steadied.
Final Thought Before Darkness
Blood dripped from his right hand onto the marble, following the cracks only visible under moonlight.
"I bought time tonight."
"Tomorrow… I begin buying power."
His head lowered.
Body collapsed forward.
But not fully.
He caught himself on one knee — the smallest defiance possible against unconsciousness.
Then he fell.
Not with despair.
But with rehearsed acceptance.
"If death awaits at the end of this road… then it will have to walk faster."
Darkness took him.