Chapter3:The Forbidden Inheritance.

The ruins trembled as Leonis stepped back from the altar, his arms still crackling with unstable energy. The blood moon's glow pulsed overhead, casting jagged shadows across the shattered stone.

The Syndicate's insignia on the altar seemed to mock him, its edges shimmering with an unnatural light. This was no mere game mechanicit was a deliberate mark, a signature left by the architects of his prison.

A cold wind howled through the ruins, carrying whispers that slithered against his skin.

The system's voice echoed in his skull, detached and clinical:

*"Blood Moon Ritual complete. Forbidden Inheritance unlocked: Duskblade Convergence.' Temporary fusion of dual bloodlines enabled. Duration: 120 seconds."*

Leonis flexed his hands, watching as the opposing energiesshadow and flametwisted around each other, forming a volatile harmony. The pain was excruciating, but beneath it thrummed a power so raw it made his teeth ache. He had gambled, and for now, he'd won.

But the ruins had other plans.

The ground beneath him split with a deafening roar, fissures spiderwebbing outward as the altar collapsed into the abyss.

Leonis barely leapt clear as the stone shattered, revealing a yawning chasm below. From its depths, something stirredapresence ancient and hungry.

"Warning: Anomaly escalation detected. Hostile entity approaching."+

A skeletal hand clawed its way over the edge of the chasm, followed by another, then a gaunt figure clad in tattered robes. Its hollow eye sockets burned with the same crimson light as the blood moon, and when it spoke, its voice was the rasp of a thousand dying breaths.

Leonis's stolen moonlight magic flared in response, his right arm igniting with silver-blue fire. The entitya- Lich, his mind suppliedraised a bony finger, and the shadows at Leoniss feet writhed, snapping around his ankles like chains.

"You have taken what does not belong to you," the Lich intoned,*

"The Blood Moons power is not for the living."

Leonis gritted his teeth and wrenched one foot free, the Duskblade energy in his arms flaring brighter.

"Funny," he spat. "The Syndicate seems to disagree."

The Lichs head tilted, as if considering. Then it lunged,

The battle was a blur of searing light and suffocating darkness.

The Lich moved with unnatural speed, its skeletal fingers lashing out like daggers, each strike dripping with necrotic energy.

Leonis dodged,countering with bursts of flame and shadow, but the creature's magic was relentless. A glancing blow grazed his shoulder, and agony exploded through his nerves- his left arm's shadows recoiled, withering like scorched vines.

"You are an aberration," the Lich hissed.

"A flaw in the system. You will be corrected."

Leonis snarled and slammed his fists together.

The Duskblade Convergence flared violently, and for a heartbeat, the two bloodlines fused completelysh adow and flame becoming a single, devastating force. He lunged, driving his fist straight through the Lich's ribcage.

The creature shrieked, its bones blackening as the conflicting energies tore through its form. But as it crumbled to dust, its final words slithered into Leonis's mind:

"She is not what she seems... and neither are you."

Then it was gone.

The ruins fell silent, save for Leonis's ragged breathing. The Duskblade energy dissipated, leaving his arms seared and trembling. The system's notification flickered:

"Quest Updated: Shadows Touch.' Return to the Village Elder for further instructions."

Leonis exhaled sharply. The Lich's warning gnawed at him. She Eelia.

The woman whod tried to kill him, then spared him. The woman who remembered him, even as she claimed to hate it.

He needed answers.

The village was in chaos when Leonis returned. The blood moon's glow had intensified, painting the streets in lurid crimson. Villanders huddled in doorways, their eyes vacant, their mouths moving in silent unison. At the center of the square, the Elder stood rigid, his milky eyes fixed on the sky.

Leonis approached cautiously. "You called for me."

The Elder's head snapped toward him, too fast, too jerky. When he spoke, his voice was not his ownit was layered, distorted, as if multiple entities spoke through him at once.

"The Blood Moon rises. The Gateway stirs. You have been chosen, Anomaly."

Leonis's skin prickled. "Chosen for what?"

The Elder's hand shot out, gripping Leonis's wrist with bone-crushing force.

A flood of images assaulted his mind:

*A towering obsidian spire, pulsing with corrupted energy. A throne of writhing shadows, atop which sat a figure clad in liquid darknessthe"Shadowweave Sovereign," the game's final boss. And kneeling before it, her silver hair matted with blood, her eyes hollow with despairEelia.*

The vision shattered as the Elder released him, gasping.

"The Gateway... must not open," he wheezed, his voice his own again.

"The Syndicate seeks to merge the worlds. To make the virtual... real."

Leonis's blood ran cold.

The pieces clicked into placethe "Shadowcryst Venom," the games anomalies, Celia's fragmented memories. The Syndicate wasnt just trapping minds in the game. They were *rewriting* reality.

And Celia was the key.

The memory of her scarthe mark of the Syndicates controlftashed in Leonis' s mind. He had to find her before they did.

As if summoned, a flicker of movement caught his eye. A silver-haired figure slipped into the alleyway beside the tavern, her cloak fluttering like a ghost's shroud.

Leonis didnt hesitate. He followed.

The alley twisted into a dead-end, where Celia stood waiting, her blade drawn. Moonlight glinted off its edge, but her grip was unsteady.

"You shouldnt have come back," she said, her voice low.

Leonis stepped closer. "You knew about the Gateway."

Celia's jaw tightened. "I know a lot of things. None of them will help you.""Try me."

For a long moment, she studied him.

Then, with a shuddering breath, she lowered her blade.

"The Syndicate didnt just put you here to die, Leonis. They put you here to *evolve*. The dual bloodlines, the anomaliesits all part of their experiment. Theyre breeding something inside you. Something that can open the Gateway."

Leonis's pulse hammered. "Why tell me this now?"

Celia's hand rose unconsciously to her scar. "Because Im tired of being their puppet." Her voice broke. "And because... I think youre the only one who can stop them."

The admission hung between them, fragile as glass.

Then the ground shook.

From the village square, a pillar of black light erupted, tearing through the blood moon's glow. The air itself screamed as reality fractured, and through the rift, something monstrous began to claw its way free.

Celia's eyes widened in horror.

"Theyve accelerated the timeline. Were out of time."

Leonis turned to face the rift, his arms ablaze with renewed power. "Then we fight."Celia hesitated, then nodded.

For the first time, her blade was raised beside his, not against it.

The Gateway was opening.

And the real game was about to begin.