The ruined tower offered poor shelter against the cold. The brazier crackled softly in a corner, casting shifting shadows across the black stone walls. Kael leaned against a broken pillar, arms crossed. Kaelan remained standing near the entrance, as if he still struggled to believe the confrontation was over.
"Speak," said Kael.
Kaelan ran a hand through his dark hair. He seemed to be searching for where to begin.
"First, you need to understand… what happened after the battle."
"I'm listening."
"When Elara cast the Soul Prison, everyone believed she had weakened you. The heroes were exhausted. Many were wounded. Some wanted to deliver the final blow."
"And they didn't."
"No. They couldn't."
Kaelan crouched near the brazier, stretching his hands toward the warmth.
"Your body remained standing. Even unconscious, even with your mind imprisoned, it continued to emit an enormous pressure. A raw, almost instinctive energy. The heroes tried to finish you off. Swords, spears, offensive magic. Nothing worked."
"Nothing?"
"Your shell became a fortress. A dense layer of demonic mana closed around you, like an autonomous shield. The more they tried to break it, the stronger it grew. It was as if your body had decided to survive without you."
Kael said nothing. He remembered the sensations of the dream. That false life, those fragments of memory, that feeling of being trapped in something immense and suffocating at once.
"How long?" he asked.
"The attacks lasted three days. Then they gave up. They brought you back to the palace and sealed the throne room. They thought the spell would eventually consume you. They were wrong."
Kaelan reached into his coat and pulled out a worn notebook with yellowed pages. He opened it to a marked page.
"I spent years gathering fragments from their archives. The heroes' reports, their mages' journals, soldiers' testimonies. They all describe the same thing: a black and golden energy that repelled all aggression. No spell reached your flesh. No blade could cut your skin."
"And now?" Kael asked slowly.
"Now it's different."
Kaelan looked up.
"Since your awakening, that layer has dissipated. As if it had held throughout your sleep and extinguished itself once your mind was freed. That's why you've been able to move, travel, take human form again. But before… before, you were untouchable."
Kael pried a piece of crumbly stone from the wall and ground it to dust between his fingers.
"So my own body protected me. Even when my mind was imprisoned."
"Yes."
"And that was before or after the spell?"
"Before. During. After. Ten years. Without interruption."
Kael closed his eyes. He felt a cold anger rising within him. Not against the heroes. Not against Elara. Against himself.
"Ten years. I was there, trapped in a dream, while my shell fought alone."
Kaelan did not answer immediately.
"Elara's spell was never designed to kill you. It was designed to neutralize your mind."
"Why?"
"Because they couldn't destroy your soul. It's too ancient, too dense. So they locked it in a custom-made prison. They thought that by controlling your mind, they would control your body."
"Except the body refused."
"Exactly."
Kael pushed away from the pillar. He paced the narrow room. The runes on the walls glowed faintly as he passed, as if they recognized his presence.
"And Noctyra? What happened during my absence?"
Kaelan closed the notebook.
"The Neverdie Realm held. The other Demon Kings observed, then sent emissaries. Some wanted to absorb your territory. Others sought to know if you had truly fallen."
"And?"
"Your officers refused all offers. They maintained the borders. They even consolidated some alliances. The Realm remained autonomous, but it lost influence. Other powers took advantage of the vacuum to expand elsewhere."
"And the humans?"
"They celebrated your fall for months. Then they built defenses. They were preparing for a demon counterattack that never came. The war stopped. Not officially. But the fighting ceased."
"Because no one wanted to take my place."
"No one could. You were too feared, even unconscious. The other Demon Kings didn't dare attack the Realm. And the humans didn't dare invade Noctyra."
Kael stopped near the entrance. The cold wind swept into the tower, making the brazier's flame flicker.
"So everyone waited for me."
"Yes. But not to welcome you."
"To test me."
Kaelan nodded.
"Your return will change everything. The demons will want to know if you are still the Demon King you were before. The humans will want to know if you represent a new threat. And there's something else."
Kael turned to him.
"What?"
"Elara's spell left traces. Fragments of dream in your mind. Altered memories, emotions that don't belong to you. You lived ten years in an illusion. No one knows what that has changed in you."
"What do you think?"
Kaelan looked at him for a long moment.
"I think you are no longer the same. And I think that's why I'm still here."
There was a silence.
Kael returned to the brazier and sat on a stone block.
"Tell me everything you've learned about the spell. Every detail. Every weakness. I want to know exactly what they did."
Kaelan pulled out more documents. Maps, notes, reproductions of formulas. He settled across from Kael.
"Elara's spell is based on three pillars: soul isolation, illusory reconstruction, and selective memory suppression. She didn't just imprison your mind. She tried to make you forget who you were."
"That's why I thought I had lost my infinite mana."
"Exactly. She replaced certain memories with others. Weaker, more human memories. She attempted to reduce you to a version of yourself that would no longer pose a threat."
"But it wasn't enough."
"No. Your mind resisted. It created fractures. Inconsistencies. The system, Valerius, cultivation… all of that was your mind fighting to reclaim the truth."
Kael felt an icy shiver run down his neck.
"And now?"
"Now the spell is broken. But fragments remain. Pieces of the dream still clinging to your memory. Some memories may still be false. Others are missing."
"Can you help me retrieve them?"
"Yes. But it will take time."
Kael stood once more.
"Then let's not waste time."
He extended his hand.
Kaelan took it.
"Welcome to the North, Kael."
"We have work to do."