Camila shook her head."They're worse than that."
She pointed to the jagged mountains in the distance—sharp, twisted, wrong.
"They don't just control skeletons. They control bones. Period."
Liam's eyes narrowed."What does that mean?"
Camila's voice dropped.
"They can pull the bones out of your body
Without laying a finger on you."
Silence.
Amelia tilted her head, strangely impressed."So they don't need soldiers."
Camila nodded.
"They are the soldiers.
Every dead body.
Every living person.
They're all weapons, just waiting to be used."
Arthur let out a low breath."Sounds fun."
The Ember Clan
"And then," Camila said, voice flat, "there's the worst of them."
She didn't need to raise her voice
Everyone felt it.
The wind changed.
The ground warmed.
And somewhere out past the horizon, the sky started to dim.
Athena stiffened.
"Fire users, right?"
Camila looked at her, eyes gleaming gold.
"Fire's just their starter kit."
She turned to face the group.
"They don't just burn things. They burn truth."
Lucius raised an eyebrow."Meaning?"
Camila's voice dropped to a whisper.
"They rewrite reality with their flames."
"They can erase your memories, twist time, torch entire timelines until no one remembers what used to be true."
She paused.
"If the Blood Clan owns life…"
"And the Bone Clan owns death…"
She stared out toward the horizon.
"The Ember Clan owns everything in between."
No one said a word.
Because now?
They understood.
This wasn't a fight they could win.
This wasn't even a fight that was still happening.
The war was over.
They just hadn't gotten the memo.
The Blood Clan had a grip on every heartbeat.
The Bone Clan had every corpse in their pocket.
The Ember Clan controlled memory, time, meaning.
No one was fighting back.
Because the whole world had already lost.
They were just walking through the ruins of a graveyard that didn't know it was dead yet.
"We need shelter," Camila said.
"There's a city nearby. It's not ruled by any one clan—it's… shared."
"Neutral ground," she added. "People live there pretending the war never happened."
Lucius grinned.
"A whole city in denial."
Camila nodded.
"And that's why it works. That's exactly why we can use it."
Arthur's grin returned.
"Then what are we waiting for?"
His Eyes of Sloth gleamed faintly.
"Let's go bend reality until it snaps."
They walked.
Through valleys littered with the bones of old wars.
Through forests that watched them.
Down roads no one had touched in years
Where ghost footprints never faded.
And finally
They saw it.
A city of gleaming towers. Silver streets. Shining walls.Perfect. Peaceful.
Fake.
A place that didn't look like a battlefield.
But it was one.
Liam exhaled slowly.
Camila's voice was barely above a whisper.
"The City of Unseen Chains."
They stopped at the gates.
Arthur smirked.
"Let's burn it down."
And then
They stepped through.
The gates loomed
Massive, silver, carved with glowing runes that pulsed like heartbeats.
Not to keep threats out.
To keep people in.
Liam's eyes narrowed.
"This isn't defense," he muttered. "It's a cage."
Arthur grinned.
"Exactly."
Camila stepped closer.
Ran her hand along the etched surface.
The spell hit her immediately
Subtle, quiet, buried in the air itself.
It didn't erase memory.
Didn't force loyalty.
It just... softened you.
Blurred the edges.
Inside this city, no one felt like fighting back.
Not because they were controlled.
Because they were tamed
The guards at the gates didn't say a word.
No questions.
No checks.
No reaction at all.
Their eyes were empty—blank, unfocused.
Like they weren't even really there.
They didn't notice power.
Didn't notice danger.
Didn't notice anything.
Athena swallowed hard."This place is… wrong."
Camila nodded."They've already lost."
And yet
The city looked alive.
Crowded streets.
Vendors yelling over each other.
Kids running through alleys, laughing.
It was too normal.Like a world that should've died a long time ago—but didn't.
Not because it survived.
But, because it forgot how to die.
As they walked, nobody looked twice.
No fear.No awe.
No curiosity.
Just indifference.
Lucius scanned the crowd, eyes sharp."Usually, someone notices us."
"They should," Arthur muttered.
Liam exhaled, his golden gaze peeling back layers most people couldn't see.
"It's not just the gate spell," he said."They've been like this for centuries."
Not brainwashed.Not controlled.
Just... resigned.
This wasn't a city under siege.
It was a city that had given up.
Camila pointed to the skyline.
Three towers.
One black, veins glowing red, pulsing like a heartbeat.
One bone-white, cracked and humming with death energy.
One grey, flickering with ember symbols that glowed and faded like dying coals.
Blood Clan.
Bone Clan.
Ember Clan.
Their presence wasn't looming.
It wasn't resisted.
It was normal.
And that? That was the scariest part.
Liam clenched a fist."So where do we start?"
They found a tavern tucked between buildings.
Wooden walls.
Dim lights.
Quiet conversations and the sound of cheap drinks hitting the table.
Lucius smirked and stepped in first."Let's make some friends."
But the moment they walked inside—Something shifted.
Not tension.Not suspicion.Just... nothing.
People glanced.
Then looked away.
No fear.
No curiosity.
No questions.
Just blank dismissal.
Amelia frowned."This place is suffocating."
She turned to Arthur."You think you can crack it?"
Arthur grinned.
"I can break anything."
But even as he said it
His Eyes of Sloth and Wrath flickered.
Because deep down?
Even he wasn't sure.
They grabbed a table.
Then someone approached.
Not the bartender.
Not a waitress.
Just an old woman.
Worn clothes.
Lined face.
Movements slow, deliberate.
She shouldn't have noticed them.But somehow, she did.
Her eyes were clear.
Awake.
She leaned in close
And whispered three words.
"They are watching."
Silence hit the group like a punch.
Liam's aura sparked.Camila tensed.Arthur's grin? Gone.
Because this place?
This wasn't just a dead city.
Wasn't just another stronghold.
It was something else entirely.
And the game had already started.
From the moment they stepped inside
It had already started.
They weren't guests.
They were targets.
And the hunt was on.
The tavern went still.
Not because anyone shouted.
Not because people noticed.
But because something shifted.
Like the air had weight now.
Like the world was holding its breath.
Something that had been hiding?
Was now watching.
Arthur tapped his fingers on the table.
No grin.
No smirk.
Just tension.
The old woman
The only person in this whole city who had dared to acknowledge them
Was already walking away.
No glance back.
No follow-up.
She'd said her piece.
And it was enough to seal her fate.
Camila leaned in close, her voice barely a whisper.
"Don't react."
Liam's golden aura flickered.
Amelia's nails dug into the wood.
Lucius let out a slow, controlled breath.
"I'm guessing we're not walking out of here," he muttered.
Camila nodded once."They're not just watching."
"They're here."
Arthur felt it now.
Not eyes.Not hate.Just... certainty.
Like the city had already decided how this story ends.
The second they passed those gates
This place made a call.
And it decided they lost.
Not a spell.
Not a trap.
Something worse.
Belief.
This city didn't resist.
Didn't question.
Didn't run.
It had already accepted its own death.
Now it wanted them to do the same.
Arthur stood.
No one moved.
No one noticed.
Not the bartender.
Not the crowd.
Not even the thing that was watching from above.
Because in its mind?
It had already won.
Arthur smiled.
And in that moment
The city screwed up.
He raised his hand.
The air cracked.
Eyes of Sloth
burning low
.Eyes of Wrath
lit up.
"Alright," Arthur said calmly.
"You wanna play games?"
Snap.
Reality broke.
It all happened at once.
Illusions collapsed.
The silence shattered
.And the tavern
Exploded into memory.
People screamed.
Not out of pain.
Not fear.
But because they were remembering.
The streets soaked in blood.
The houses full of ghosts.
The bodies no one mourned.
And the chains
Tight around their minds
Suddenly visible.
Above them.
From the sky that had been watching this whole time
A voice cut through.
"How... annoying."
The tavern didn't fall apart.
It just stopped meaning anything.
The walls? Gone.
The tables? Dust.
The people?
Erased.
Not killed.
Not burned.
Just removed.
And in their place