The dungeon was unnervingly quiet. For the first time since I woke up in this body, there were no adventurers screaming in the halls and no sound of steel clashing at the entrance. The "Void Rift" lie had worked too well; the world had simply stopped coming.
The silence of the dungeon was becoming a cage. I sat on my throne, tapping my fingers against the cold stone. Without the constant influx of adventurers, the "Void Rift" lie had turned my home into a tomb. I had power, but no information.
"Silas," I said, standing up. "I'm going out."
"Master? The risks are—"
"I know the risks," I snapped, pulling a plain, dark traveler's cloak over my shoulders. "But I won't sit here blind while the King and the Commander decide my fate. No one in the Capital knows my face. To them, I am just another traveler seeking refuge from the 'Void'."
The journey to the Royal Capital took a day of hard walking through the dense, forbidden forest. When the white stone walls of the city finally appeared on the horizon, I felt a strange surge of adrenaline. I walked through the massive gates, blending in with a caravan of spice merchants.
The Capital was a sensory overload—smells of roasted meat, the clatter of horse hooves, and the constant, rhythmic ringing of the Cathedral bells. I moved through the crowded market, keeping my head down, listening to the gossip.
"The forest is cursed," a merchant whispered to a customer. "The Grand Commander himself says the earth is rotting. We're lucky he's there to guard the border."
I smirked under my hood. The lie was holding.
But as I rounded a corner toward the Grand Plaza, the air suddenly grew cold. I felt a pressure on my chest—the unmistakable weight of a Level 10 aura. I looked up, and there, standing on a balcony overlooking the square, was Grand Commander Kaelen.
He was in full ceremonial armor, looking every bit the hero. But as his gaze swept over the crowd, it stopped. Directly on me.
Our eyes locked. The world seemed to go silent. Kaelen didn't scream or draw his sword—he couldn't without admitting he'd let a monster into the city—but his eyes flared with a murderous, soul-piercing "death gaze." His jaw tightened, and I could see the veins in his neck bulging as he fought the urge to leap down and pulverize me.
You shouldn't be here, his eyes screamed.
I gave him a slow, mocking tilt of my head. I had seen enough. I turned on my heel and began to push through the crowd, my heart hammering. I had pushed my luck far enough for one day.