The aura radiating from Prince Edward made the surrounding air feel as heavy as stone. Liu Feiyang fought to control his breathing, forcing his trembling legs beneath the tattered dress to take one step forward at a time. The deep violet warning from 'Danger Sense' continued to scream in his head, a visceral reminder that he was facing something entirely non-human.
Feiyang's eyes flicked past the prince toward the ancient stone altar. Atop it sat a bronze bowl filled with a thick, crimson liquid resembling blood, surrounded by a pitch-black magic circle that seemed to actively absorb the light from the torches.
"Your Highness has prepared this ritual to welcome me much sooner than scheduled," Feiyang said, digging up a mocking tone to mask his immense tension.
Edward descended from the altar platform with slow, deliberate strides, his black cloak fluttering rhythmically with his movements. His predatory golden eyes remained locked onto Feiyang's without a single blink.
"So, you have finally stopped playing that foolish part," the prince said, his voice low and echoing through the subterranean hall. "Initially, I thought you were merely a worthless pawn sent by the Liu family. But the fact that you discovered this hidden path... means you already know about the Bloodline Pact."
**[ Warning: Prince Edward has entered 'Ritual Conductor' state. ]**
**[ Your Life Points will decrease by 1 point for every 1 minute spent in this room. ]**
The system screen flashed blood-red, jarring him back to reality. Feiyang had no time to beat around the bush. The diary entries made it clear that the prince needed his fiancée's head to complete the demonic bloodline amalgamation.
"If I didn't know, I would still be lying in my bedroom waiting for death as you ordered," Feiyang sneered, slightly lifting the tattered lace of his dress. "But it seems Your Highness is being far too hasty. The ritual isn't even complete yet. That magic circle is missing its primary catalyst... which happens to be my head tomorrow morning."
Edward halted his advance just three paces away. His longsword, drawn from its scabbard in a flash too fast to track, was instantly leveled at Feiyang's throat.
"And what if you do know?" The prince's voice was bone-chillingly cold. "Since you have walked straight into my trap, I could simply sever your head right now. The ritual might fluctuate slightly, but the outcome remains entirely the same."
**[ Passive Skill 'Danger Sense' Active: Risk Level 99% ]**
Feiyang felt the raw murder aura pressing against his skin, causing a sharp sting at his throat, yet he refused to retreat. Instead, his slender fingers reached out, lightly touching the flat of the razor-sharp blade and slowly pushing it to the side.
"If you take my head right now, the ritual will fail immediately," Feiyang stated, his voice flat but entirely unwavering. "The system... meaning, my intuition tells me that a bloodline amalgamation must be executed at a precise, predetermined hour. If you break the time constraint, the Liu family may still fall, but the demonic blood within you will run rampant and tear you apart from the inside out."
The words caused Edward's golden pupils to contract sharply. The blade froze in place.
Feiyang silently let out a breath. He was taking a massive gamble by piecing together information from the system and the diary—and it looked like his hypothesis was correct.
"I have a proposition," Feiyang said, stepping even closer to the blade, his eyes flashing with subtle cunning. "I will willingly surrender my head to you tomorrow morning without a single shred of resistance... but in exchange tonight, you must grant me access to the 'Deep Precincts' of this castle."
Edward narrowed his eyes, studying the fiancée before him who had changed so drastically she felt like an entirely different person. "What exactly are you after, Liu Feiyang?"
"I simply wish to uncover a certain truth... a fair trade for Your Highness to receive a flawless ritual, wouldn't you agree?"
Silence claimed the subterranean hall once more, punctuated only by the faint, sporadic popping of the torches. Edward slowly lowered his sword, his gaze boring deep into the eyes of his treacherous fiancée, as if weighing the exact gravity of those words.
**[ Your remaining Life Points: 86 points. ]**
The system screen flashed blood-red, a harsh reminder that Feiyang's time was rapidly ticking away. If he stood here debating any longer, he would become a corpse before he could even initiate the next phase of his plan.
"Access to the Deep Precincts..." Edward murmured, mimicking the words before his lips curled into a cold, humorless smile. "Since when did you think you possessed that kind of leverage, Liu Feiyang? Still, this is somewhat amusing. If you wish to struggle before your demise, I shall indulge you."
With a sudden flick of the prince's wrist, a black iron medallion etched with a grim skull design soared through the air, clattering to the floor right at Feiyang's feet.
"This is the Dark Royal Crest. It will render you invisible to the 'enforcers' patrolling this castle until dawn," Edward said flatly. "But mark my words... the moment the first light of dawn touches the horizon tomorrow, if I do not find you kneeling upon the execution altar, I will hunt down every single player in this castle and ensure they die in the most agonizing way imaginable."
**[ You have received a Quest Item: Dark Royal Crest (Valid until 06:00 AM) ]**
**[ Effect: Temporarily prevents attacks from the Black-Armored Knight and other castle enforcers. ]**
Feiyang bent down to retrieve the medallion, gripping it tightly as a profound chill radiated from the metal into his palm. "Your Highness is most gracious."
Without a second thought, he turned on his heel and strode back up the narrow stone steps, leaving the suffocating pressure and those predatory golden eyes to submerge back into the darkness below. Once he cleared the threshold back into the old storeroom, Feiyang immediately shut the stone trapdoor.
**[ You have exited the Ritual Area: Life Point depletion has ceased. ]**
"Feiyang! You actually made it back alive!" Zhang Liyin, who had been shivering in the corner, lunged forward. Her eyes scanned his tattered appearance in sheer panic. "Just a moment ago, my Life Points dropped by 2 for absolutely no reason! What happened down there?!"
"The prince knows everything, and he is currently conducting a ritual," Feiyang said, holding up the black medallion for her to see. "But we just got a free pass. The black knight won't touch us until dawn."
"A free pass? How did you manage to get that?"
"I traded my own head for it tomorrow morning," Feiyang replied nonchalantly, as if merely commenting on the weather. "We have until six in the morning to reach the ancient library and uncover the true objective to clear this game. Otherwise... we all become sacrifices tomorrow."
Liyin's jaw dropped, a fresh wave of panic locking her in place. But seeing Feiyang's gaze—as still and unyielding as a frozen lake—she took a deep breath, fighting to pull her remaining sanity together.
"Understood... Let's go before time runs out."
The two of them stepped out of the old storeroom once more. This time, however, Feiyang didn't need to skulk anxiously through the shadows. The medallion in his hand emitted a faint, wispy black aura that cloaked them both, acting like an invisibility shroud in this domain of death. Their next destination lay right ahead: the doors of the basement library, where the secrets of the Liu family and the system itself awaited exposure.
The corridor leading to the basement remained as dark and bone-chillingly cold as before. However, this time, when the black-armored knight stepped out from the shadows at the sound of their footsteps, it abruptly froze. The hollow entity within the iron suit emitted a low, grating rasp from its throat before turning back to resume its patrol, completely ignoring the two humans who had just walked right past it.
The wispy black aura from the Dark Royal Crest had proven its utility. Liyin quietly let out a long breath, the suffocating tension squeezing her heart finally easing a fraction.
The two accelerated their pace until they came to a halt before a pair of colossal oak doors, carved with intricate thorny vines wrapping around the official crest of the Liu family. A faint blue light from the system blinked rapidly, signaling they had navigated to the correct location.
"This is the ancient library..." Liyin murmured, reaching out to give the door a gentle push.
The heavy doors swung open without a single creak. The interior was as vast as a cathedral hall, lined with towering wooden bookshelves crammed with archaic tomes. The scent of ancient parchment and dust hung thick in the air, while moonlight filtering through stained-glass windows made the library look like a still painting.
Feiyang didn't waste a second. He stroded directly toward a massive desk positioned at the center of the room. The map in his hand dissolved into blue light, and the system interface instantly shifted into a search prompt.
**[ Initiating Data Retrieval: Conditions to Reverse the Liu Family's Fate ]**
**[ Download Duration: 10 minutes ]**
"Liyin, help me look for any books or journals bearing an orange royal seal," Feiyang commanded, his eyes already scanning the spines of the nearest shelf. "The maid's diary mentioned the Liu family holds a secret regarding the bloodline pact. The original contract might be hidden here."
"Understood," Liyin replied, moving quickly to search the shelves on the opposite side. Her initial panic had been entirely replaced by a desperate drive to survive.
Time trickled by in absolute silence, broken only by the intermittent rustling of pages. Feiyang pulled down one thick, leather-bound volume after another, but most were merely trade ledgers and general histories of the kingdom that made no mention of the prince's demonic ritual.
Just as the ten minutes were nearly up, Liyin's voice echoed from the deepest, darkest corner of the room.
"Feiyang! Come look at this, quick! Check out this hidden alcove!"
Feiyang tore his gaze away from the shelves and hurried over to her side. Behind a history bookshelf that had been slid slightly askew, a stone relief depicting a weeping young woman was embedded directly into the wall. The eyes of the carving contained hollow slots, perfectly sized for a specific object.
And more importantly, on the stone floor right in front of the hidden alcove, a long trail of dried blood stretched inward... as if someone had been dragged inside not too long ago.