Camilia’s chamber was nothing like the throne hall or the war council rooms. Those places were built to intimidate.

  This one was built to comfort.

  Dark red velvet curtains draped the walls. A large circular table made of black ironwood sat in the middle, engraved with ancient blood sigils of her lineage. The air was scented faintly with moon orchid and cold metal.

  Camilia gestured them in.

  “Come. Sit.”

  Kevlar sat first, with a calm presence that made even the shadows hesitate. Lilith took her usual place beside him—hands folded, posture perfect, though her golden-red eyes darted around with the intuition of someone expecting trouble.

  Draculius remained standing.

  He always preferred standing when he felt something was wrong.

  And tonight… something felt very wrong.

  Camilia sat only after her father did, a gesture that Royal One tradition would have fainted over—but Kevlar noticed she didn’t care for tradition when he was present.

  She leaned forward.

  “Let’s begin.”

  Her expression changed—softer, more analytical.

  “Kevlar. Tell me everything that happened at the realm border.”

  Kevlar inhaled slowly.

  “When we approached the realm border,” Kevlar began, “the atmosphere was wrong. Thicker. Heavier. Even the air felt strained. Then the Vatican made their move.”

  His tone hardened.

  “They didn’t simply collapse the rift. They forced it open.”

  Camilia’s brows rose slightly. Draculius’s expression darkened.

  Kevlar continued, “From our side — the Shadow Realm — the rift didn’t fold or decay. It was torn apart. As if something from the other side hooked its claws into it and ripped it open.”

  Lilith frowned, arms crossed. “That alone means they found a method to bypass a barrier that existed long before even us.”

  Kevlar nodded. “Exactly. But there’s more. When the rift finally collapsed…” He looked down for a moment, recalling that moment in chilling detail. “I felt the realm tremble.”

  Camilia tilted her head. “Spatial instability?”

  Kevlar shook his head. “No. Not spatial. Not magical. It wasn’t even elemental. It was…” he hesitated, visibly unsettled. “It felt alive. Like a deep, ancient howl echoing across the entire realm. As if something beneath us screamed.”

  The chamber fell silent.

  “…conscious?” Lilith whispered.

  Kevlar nodded slowly. “Yes. Conscious.”

  A faint rumble of unease passed between the others.

  Camilia was the first to speak, her tone grave.

  “Then it is as I feared.”

  Draculius lifted an eyebrow. “You’ve deduced something.”

  Camilia stood, moving toward a tall shelf filled with dust-laden tomes. She withdrew an old, heavy book bound in aged vampyric hide and placed it onto the table.

  “This,” she said, “is a record older than any of us — even older than Father. It was discovered long ago in one of the old city ruins located in Shadow realm”

  Lilith blinked. “Impossible.”

  Draculius’s expression tightened. “I know the book. The Chronicles of Tenebris. One of the relic with record of that predate our era but it record is more related to the shadow realm itself. However i remember the sections mentioning the Slumbering Maw were believed incomplete.”

  Kevlar tensed. “Slumbering Maw?”

  Camilia opened the tome to a page inked with circular, spiraling symbols.

  “We believe there is an ancient existence buried under the Shadow Realm,” she said. “A being so old that its origin predates our civilization. Even the third cycle or perhaps the second cycle as well”

  Lilith’s eyes widened. Kevlar leaned forward.

  Camilia continued, voice low:

  “We call it the Slumbering Maw. An ancient entity hibernating in the abyss below us — and tethered to the rift as a living catalyst.”

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  Kevlar frowned. “A being powerful enough to serve as the keystone for a dimensional barrier that lasted for… eons. That’s impossible.”

  Draculius shook his head. “No, not impossible. Merely ancient.”

  He folded his hands on the table. “I believe a Shadowborn preceding our cycle sealed this being. Perhaps it couldn’t be killed. Or perhaps… it was chosen. A being with enough power to anchor the rift barrier between realms.”

  Lilith whispered, “A prison and a wall combined…”

  “Precisely,” Draculius said. “The barrier did not just isolate the Shadow Realm from the human world. It kept this ancient being from waking.”

  The implications hit the room like a silent thunder.

  Camilia looked at Kevlar. “When you said the realm felt like it was howling… it wasn’t the realm. It was the ancient being stirring.”

  Kevlar exhaled sharply. “Then the Vatican…” His fists clenched. “Those madmen tore down a barrier without knowing what it held back?”

  Draculius shook his head. “I fear they did know. Their recent behavior — the assassination attempt, their unnatural experiment, the attempt to revive and manipulate Serena, the tearing of the rift — all point to one thing.”

  “They’re certain,” Camilia added, “that they have a way to handle what awakens.”

  Lilith scoffed. “Or they’re fools who think they can tame fire with bare hands.”

  Kevlar’s voice was deep. “If the Vatican has a hidden card… then we exploit it.”

  Camilia smirked. “A bold strategy.”

  Kevlar shrugged slightly. “Better than sitting and waiting for an ancient calamity to crawl out of the abyss.”

  Draculius sighed. “If this truth spreads among the Royal One, they won’t even consider working with humans.”

  Camilia rolled her eyes. “Hah. They only ever obey power. Authority to them is just a mask worn by whoever can crush them hardest.”

  A moment of silence settled — until Lilith took a breath.

  “Sister,” Lilith said quietly. “There’s something I never told you.”

  Camilia turned to her. “What is it?”

  Lilith hesitated, then spoke with unusual seriousness.

  “The reason I left. The real reason.”

  Kevlar and Draculius both straightened.

  Camilia blinked. “I thought you simply disliked court politics.”

  “That was a part of it, but…” Lilith exhaled. “Among your higher echelon — Count Arcus.”

  Camilia’s expression went blank.

  Lilith’s voice grew tight. “He hid it well, but once in a while… I sensed something twisted in the way he looked at us. Assessing. Calculating. Like we were—”

  “Prizes,” Kevlar whispered.

  Lilith nodded. “Exactly. And one day, he acted. He approached me when I was alone. Said he wanted me as his partner. Promised he would place me on the throne and lead the vampire race to evolution.”

  Kevlar’s expression shadowed with fury. Draculius’s pupils thinned with rage — but both held back.

  Lilith placed a calming hand over Kevlar’s. “I rejected him. Told him he was delusional. And that’s when I knew I needed to leave.”

  Camilia clenched her fists.

  “Sister… why didn’t you ever tell me?”

  “Because,” Lilith said softly, “you always wanted to prove your capability. I didn’t want to cast shadows over your reign. And… I knew the throne belonged to you.”

  Camilia’s eyes softened with hurt — then hardened with fury.

  “That filthy vermin,” she growled. “How dare he think he is worthy of even breathing near you?”

  Her aura burst uncontrollably. Windows cracked. Shadows trembled. The floor vibrated.

  Lilith placed a hand on her shoulder. “Calm, sister. Because there’s more.”

  Camilia’s eyes snapped to her. Lilith continued:

  “Your insiders were right. Count Arcus hasn’t been seen. With the rift crisis… he’s going to make a move.”

  Camilia inhaled deeply, then smirked with sinister elegance.

  “Then let him strike. It will make erasing him far easier.”

  Lilith grinned wickedly. “If he dares touch us, then we obliterate him.”

  Kevlar’s thought as he looked at the two sisters: I must never get on their bad side…

  High above the citadel towers, Count Arcus watched through a slit window, red cloak trailing behind him. Another Royal One bowed.

  “Count. The preparations are complete.”

  Arcus smirked, eyes gleaming with sick anticipation.

  “Good. After so long....It finally ends tonight.”

  He lifted his hand.

  “Activate the Blood Eclipse Array.”

  Across the citadel, hidden red-cloaked vampires stepped out from alleys, rooftops, and tunnels — forming a massive circle around the citadel.

  Their chanting began.

  A guard on patrol noticed the array forming and froze.

  “…Blood… Blood Eclipse Array!!!”

  Another shouted, horrified. “Protect the Duchess! We’re under attack!”

  “By who!?” a guard screamed.

  The first guard pointed, rage boiling in his voice.

  “BY OUR OWN!”

  Chaos erupted. Guards clashed with robed chanters — only to be ambushed by a new force. A unit of elite combatants wearing the mark of Count Arcus.

  An entire hidden army.

  Arcus walked calmly through the battlefield toward the citadel gates.

  “Let us begin,” he whispered. “And see what makes you so special, Shadowborn.”

  Camilia stiffened suddenly.

  “He’s attacking now.”

  Lilith rolled her eyes. “Of course. So convenient of him.”

  Draculius stood, cracking his knuckles. “Younglings these days think they can touch the sky.”

  Kevlar smirked. “Then let’s show them the cost of reaching for an untouchable sky.”

  BOOOOOM!!!

  The chamber doors exploded inward.

  Smoke and debris filled the room. Silhouettes stepped through.

  Count Arcus.

  And the ten remaining Royal One — the highest echelon under Camilia — all bearing the red sigil mark glowing on their foreheads.

  Arcus bowed mockingly.

  “Greetings, Duchess Camilia. Lord Draculius.”

  Then he turned to Lilith with a disgusting smile.

  “And my beautiful Lilith.”

  Kevlar stepped forward, voice cold.

  “Save your dirty mouth for when you beg for mercy.”

  Arcus ignored him.

  “I’ve waited long for this moment. And when you returned, Lilith… I could no longer restrain myself.”

  Lilith’s face twisted in pure disgust and Camilia stared with anger.

  Arcus chuckled. “You still think you rule us, Duchess? You think you know everything about the Blood Eclipse Array?”

  Camilia glared. “It has been our offensive amplification array for centuries. There is nothing you know that I don’t.”

  Arcus burst into manic laughter.

  “THAT arrogance! That delusion! That belief you control and know everything!!”

  He pointed to the glowing sigils on their foreheads.

  “This array is not the same! The modified version only strengthens those who bear my mark. And weakens EVERYONE else!”

  Kevlar’s eyes narrowed. Draculius raised a brow. Lilith and Camilia looked unimpressed.

  Arcus spread his arms wide.

  “We are now a hundred times stronger than our base form! And your loyal guards below? They are just weakened prey!”

  He leaned forward, sneering.

  “We inherited our pride from you — but today, we surpass you.”

  His gaze finally locked onto Kevlar.

  “And you — anomaly. The so called Shadowborn. You are nothing. And after tonight… you will remain nothing.”

  He smiled with confidence.

  Kevlar, Draculius, Lilith, and Camilia all exchanged a look.

  None of them even blinked.