Chapter 20: Shadows Burn Bright
The chamber was quiet, save for the scratching of a quill against aged parchment. Volundr sat alone in his private sanctum—a place no one entered without his permission, lined with ironwood shelves and hidden compartments.
Before him lay the official record of his first operation, though no council or noble would ever see it.
"Operation: Storm Veil. Result: Successful extraction of Shuri and Akeno Himejima. Casualties: Enemy only. Exposure: Minimal. Emotional Tolls: Significant."
He paused, quill hovering above the parchment, eyes unfocused.
"...Attachment remains the most dangerous form of distraction," he whispered, almost to himself.
He signed the page with a personal seal—one tied to neither his clan nor his status. It bore only a single character:
"Will."
The scroll vanished into a coded containment seal embedded in the wall. Only he could open it.
Sitting beneath the Agares estate's moonlit courtyard, Volundr let the cool wind touch his face. It had been only days since the rescue, yet he felt older. Sharper.
The weight of action had pressed something into his soul—violent, necessary, and still, somehow, right.
He remembered the way Akeno had trembled in Claudius's arms, the fragile weight of her life nearly extinguished by zealotry.
He remembered Shuri's broken whisper—"Why?"—and the way her eyes had searched his, too dazed to speak gratitude.
"Mercy," he said softly, watching the stars. "Isn't always gentle."
In the silence of the night, he felt it—not power, not ambition, but change. An internal evolution.
What had begun as a plan, a mission, a decision made in quiet defiance of politics… had become something far more dangerous.
Personal.
Far across the Underworld, in a healing estate under Gremory protection, Akeno Himejima stirred.
The pain was dull now, muted by magic and medicine. Her small body shivered under warm blankets. Shuri sat beside her, one hand over her daughter's, eyes red from exhaustion.
Akeno's eyes opened slowly.
"Mama... there was lightning," she whispered, voice fragile. "And someone… someone soft. Not like them. Not like the ones who hurt us."
Shuri leaned close. "You're safe now. It's over."
But Akeno shook her head slowly. "It wasn't over. It was… him. The wind was angry, but his voice was calm. He said… I wasn't wrong to be born."
Back within the noble circles of the Underworld, rumors had begun to take root.
The youngest son of Agares had vanished for days—only to return silent, tired, and more composed than ever.
Claudius had taken to walking with his hand over his weapon again, and Lirien was seen once brushing blood from her sleeves.
And the whispers began:
"The Agares boy acts like a grown Lord."
"He's not just preparing for Rating Games. He's preparing for war."
"A strategist, a tactician, a storm waiting to be named."
Volundr stood on a ridge overlooking the distant estate where Akeno and Shuri were now staying.
He could feel them within the web of his Limitless Aura, the soft flicker of growing strength beginning to bloom in the quiet peace of safety.
Shuri had survived.
Akeno would live.
He turned away from the view.
"One down," he whispered, as shadows curled around his cloak and the stars watched in silence.
"Many more to go."