The earth trembled again beneath their feet, a shuddering roar that split the air like shattered glass.
The glitch pulsed erratically—a distortion bleeding through the fabric of reality itself.
Around them, Hollowmere twisted and warped.
Trees bent unnaturally, folding into themselves like origami, their bark peeling back to reveal veins of flickering static.
Shadows wavered, detaching from their owners and twisting into grotesque shapes before snapping back like forgotten memories.
Hollowmere was no longer haunted.
It was unraveling.
Alucard stood at the heart of this maelstrom; crimson eyes narrowed against the twisted sky above.
The System's faint glow lingered at the edges of his vision, flickering uncertainly in rhythm with the corruption.
He felt the weight of its presence—silent, cold, a reminder of something ancient and unyielding.
System Notification
Status: Dual Recognition Complete.
Title: Hero of the Crown | Sovereign of the Abyss
Warning: Observed by the Veil.
Lucien's cloak rustled beside him as he muttered arcane syllables, sweat gleaming on his brow.
"This is no ordinary curse," he said grimly.
"This… this is wrong. Fundamentally wrong."
His voice trembled with a mixture of awe and fear.
Alucard's gaze didn't waver.
"It's not just wrong," he murmured, his voice low and distant. It's familiar."
The breeze that swept through the dying village carried whispers—soft, fractured echoes that only Alucard could hear.
They weren't from the Veil, not exactly.
They came from memory.
________________________________________
Flashback — Florealis Royal Palace, One Day After the Summoning
He had stood before an ornate window, the sunlight glinting off the sharp thorns of a rosebush in the royal garden.
Behind him, King Alexander's voice was smooth and rehearsed.
"You are a gift from the heavens.
The prophecy spoke of you.
Let the System guide your purpose, and you shall lead mankind to salvation."
At the corner of his vision, a prompt flickered briefly.
An intrusive whisper from a world behind worlds:
System Override Detected
Behavioral Alignment Suggestion: Accept Royal Command
Alucard's breath hitched.
The subtle tug at the edges of his mind—a pressure, a command wrapped in velvet words.
This was no mere suggestion.
It was control.
"Subtle brainwashing…" he had whispered to himself, horrified.
He'd seen this before—in his ancient life as the Demon King.
Systems designed to shape fate, to twist free will into obedience.
That very night, he had slipped into the palace catacombs alone.
The walls were cold and dark, soaked in the echoes of forgotten rites.
He drew his blade across his palm in a chamber stained by time and pressed the fresh blood to obsidian stone.
A blood oath was born.
Sanctify Will Against External Influence: Yes /No
The instinct to protect his autonomy burned in him like fire.
He chose Yes.
His blood hissed against the cold stone, glowing with runes older than kingdoms.
The System screamed in protest.
Warning: Blood Oath conflicts with Hero Class
Autonomy Confirmed.
External Influence Negated.
________________________________________
Present — Among the Ruins
Alucard whispered, "That oath still holds."
Lucien glanced at him, puzzled.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Just old protections."
Alucard's voice was tight, wary.
There were truths he could never share.
Not yet.
Another tremor rippled through the village, shaking loose a nearby chapel's stained-glass window.
The colors bled and melted into the dirt like spilled paint.
In the shimmering distortion, a small figure appeared—a child, her eyes pitch black, movements jerky and unnatural, as if invisible strings pulled her like a marionette.
She opened her mouth, releasing a metallic shriek that echoed through the warped air.
Then she shattered like fragile glass, disappearing into shards of light.
Lucien paled.
"That was no illusion."
Alucard's voice was a grim murmur.
"The Veil is growing desperate. It's no longer content with whispers. It's using flesh and blood now. Showing me things I hoped I'd never see again."
________________________________________
Flashback — Departure Day, Capital Outskirts
Dawn had been cold when Alucard slipped away from the royal city.
The heroes remained behind, clinging to hope and the narratives forced upon them.
But he had known better.
The System had revealed its true nature—not a guide, but a leash.
Mandatory Objective: Defend Florealis
Mandatory Trust Alignment: Royal Family
The commands had been clear, cold, and unyielding.
But Alucard had chosen differently.
Optional Objective: Disengage System Influence.
Trigger Unaligned Evolution Path.
He had taken the latter and walked away.
________________________________________
Present — The Rift's Heart
They pressed deeper into the ruins of Hollowmere, the earth beneath their feet humming with static energy.
The line between stone and fog blurred, the world folding in on itself.
A distant scream looped endlessly, trapped in the fractured folds of time.
At the center of it all, they found the source: a rift in space cracked like shattered glass.
Within it hovered the distorted royal seal of Florealis, bleeding corrupted light.
Lucien's voice was barely a whisper.
"The Human Kingdom's crest... here?"
Alucard's hand brushed the pendant beneath his cloak—the golden token once gifted by King Alexander.
It pulsed softly, glowing with a faint warmth that resisted the corruption like a ward.
System Alert:
Key Item Detected: Anchor Token of the Human Realm
Purifying anomaly... 23%... 61%...
Suddenly, a vision surged through Alucard's mind.
________________________________________
The throne room twisted into a nightmare.
King Alexander sat impaled on crystalline blades, his eyes hollow and lifeless.
The four summoned heroes writhed inside cages of shimmering dream glass, arcane symbols burning against their chests in rhythmic pulses.
Above them, the Veil coiled like a god forged of chains—devouring souls, rewriting ancient oaths to bind kings and heroes alike.
A voice echoed cold and alien, chanting inside Alucard's mind:
All Paths Serve the Veil.
All Heroes Must Obey.
The Veil pulsed with unreadable intent.
________________________________________
Present
Alucard stumbled, his breath heavy.
Lucien caught him with steady hands, unaware of the storm raging within.
"What did you see?"
Lucien asked, eyes searching.
Alucard inhaled deeply, struggling to push back the surge of urgency.
The instinct to return to Florealis—the city of his past, the center of the System's corrupting grip—was a flame licking at his resolve.
But it was too soon.
He was not the hero they expected.
"No," he said firmly, voice low but resolute.
"It's too soon to go back."
Lucien's eyes narrowed.
"Then what will you do?"
Alucard's gaze drifted toward the fragmented horizon, where the Veil shimmered like a wound in the sky.
"We follow the Veil. We uncover its secrets. The corruption is spreading, but Hollowmere is only a symptom."
He tightened his grip on the pendant beneath his cloak, feeling the pulse of the world's hidden code—the System no one else could see.
"The Viel's hunger grows. The fractures are everywhere. If I rush back now, I'll be walking into a war I'm not ready to fight."
Lucien nodded slowly, sensing a depth to Alucard's words beyond understanding.
Alucard's crimson eyes burned with quiet determination.
He is no longer a summoned hero, nor a Demon King.
He was something else—something unbound by story or prophecy.
And this war, invisible and endless, had only just begun.