Chapter 556: The City of Knives

"Every name has a price. Every legacy has a battlefield."

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The morning fog rolled over the city like a burial shroud. No one noticed the man on the rooftop until his scream echoed through the market. By the time the guards reached him, his head was already missing—replaced with a dagger, lodged clean through his spine. Pinned beneath it, a message:

"One by one, the snakes will fall."

Jayden read the note and didn't flinch.

"She's begun," he said to Tielen. "She wants war."

"She already brought it," Tielen replied, tossing him a black coat stitched with obsidian thread. "Now it's your turn to finish it."

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In the Eastern District, Naela infiltrated the glass tower known as the Serpent's Eye—a building once controlled by Jayden's enemies, now mysteriously emptied overnight.

Inside, the walls whispered.

Literal whispers.

Naela paused, pressing her hand against the rune-carved tiles. Voices swirled into her ears:

"The Huntress was never alone."

"The King of Knives has returned."

Then silence.

Until she heard her own name... spoken by something behind her.

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Jayden entered his private chambers, only to find it had been breached.

On the bed was a locket.

His mother's.

He hadn't seen it in years—since the day the fire consumed their estate.

Inside the locket was a single strand of silver hair... and a name scratched in blood onto the glass:

"Say my name again, Ochieng."

Jayden's breath caught.

She knew everything.

And she was coming for the final piece.

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That night, under the guise of celebration, Jayden threw a masquerade.

Everyone who mattered was invited.

So were those who didn't.

And somewhere between the dancers, masked guests, and champagne, a blade moved.

Quiet. Swift. Intentional.

Jeff caught the blur just in time—parrying with his own hidden dagger. Metal clashed. A mask fell.

A familiar face stared back at him.

Gloria.

Alive.

And bleeding.

"Tell Jayden," she rasped, "he's not the only heir anymore…"

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Back in the hidden vault beneath the city, Wendy finally deciphered the ancestral scrolls stolen from the Vault of Ashes.

The Ochieng line was never just one bloodline.

It was two.

Split by betrayal.

Bound by silence.

And only when both halves bled together... could the true heir awaken.

Wendy dropped the scroll as realization hit her.

Jayden... wasn't the only one with the name.

There was another.

And they were already here.

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