Temple of the Demon Lord of Wishes

Darian gritted his teeth, his fingers trembling as he raised both hands toward his mother.

The ethereal chains wrapped around Neli pulsed with energy, tightening their hold.

She struggled, her form twitching as if something inside her resisted violently.

This was his chance.

Steeling himself, Darian stepped forward, his gaze locked on the floating black orb above Neli's head. Its surface rippled, like ink swirling in water, thick with malice.

He reached out, his fingertips barely grazing its edge before he began to chant the acceptance rite.

"I, Darian Valiente... "

"Stand before fate itself and offer my body as—"

The air tensed.

The words left his lips, but the orb resisted.

Neli's body resisted.

Her eyes widened, filled with a mixture of pain and defiance.

The chains shuddered, straining as her resistance pushed back against him.

A sudden force repelled Darian backward.

He staggered, gasping, his chest tightening as though something heavy was pressing down on him.

"No...!"

He uttered in panic.

She was fighting it.

Then, before he could react—

Clang!

A burst of black energy surged from Neli's body, the chains crackling under its force.

Dark tendrils lashed out like whips, shattering the ground beneath them.

Darian barely had time to brace himself before a tendril slammed into his shoulder, sending him skidding backward.

He rolled, barely dodging another strike as Neli's corrupted form twisted unnaturally, her movements jerky, uncontrolled.

Her mouth opened, but the voice that came out was not hers... it was layered, distorted, echoing as if countless voices spoke at once.

"You... will not... take this from me!"

Darian pushed himself up, wiping blood from his mouth.

He had no choice... if she wouldn't submit, then he had to force it.

With a snarl, he lunged forward, ducking under a sweeping tendril.

The moment he got close, he twisted his body, planting his foot firmly on the ground before driving his fist into her stomach.

The impact was solid, a shockwave bursting from the point of contact.

For a brief second, Neli froze.

Then—

Her eyes snapped toward him, burning with something dark and unnatural.

Before he could react, a wave of pressure crushed down on him, forcing him to his knees. It was suffocating... like an unseen force was trying to crush his very existence.

"Why won't you let me do this for you?!"

The distorted voice hissed.
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Darian's vision blurred, his body trembling under the weight.

But he gritted his teeth, forcing himself to move.

With every ounce of willpower, he raised his hand, reaching for her one last time.

"You stubborn old hag...!"

He slammed his palm against her chest.

The chains reacted.

A surge of cursed energy burst forth, wrapping around her body, pulling her down.

The pressure lessened, giving him just enough room to breathe. But before he could solidify his grip—

Clang!

More chains erupted from the ground...

This time wrapping around his right arm.

His arm jerked backward, his hand pulled together as the bindings tightened.

He tried to fight it off, but the chains suppressed his abilities.

His breath hitched.

He was trapped!

[Sync Rate: 65%]

[Due to compatibility, Sync Rate percentage will now increase by three times!]

A sudden shift rippled through the air.

The darkness inside Neli surged... escaping, seeking something weaker.

And then... it's eyes landed on a small figure...

It was Reves.

The young boy, who had been trying to remain unnoticed behind the scattered debris, froze as the dark energy locked onto him.

Neli's disfigured face twisted in a mix of rage and agony.

For a split second, her expression softened... recognition flickering behind her maddened gaze.

Reves looked too much like Darian when he was young.

And the curses' sense of cruelty wanted to erase that image.

A sharp breath left Reves as Neli turned her attention to him.

The shadows around her twisted, forming jagged shapes, reaching for him.

His body locked in place, fear gripping him tighter than any chain ever could.

His heartbeat pounded in his ears, drowning out every sound except the whisper of approaching death.

"No!"

Nathan yelled, thrashing in his own bindings.

"Don't touch him!"

Neli's eyes dark, unfocused, consumed held no recognition.

No warmth.

The creeping tendrils of her curse stretched toward Reves, jagged and merciless.

Just then, a ragged groan tore through the air.

Darian.

Chained to the ground, his body wrecked from the previous struggle, he gasped through gritted teeth. His fingers twitched, reaching for something...

A metallic shard glinted on the floor beside him.

With one swift, brutal motion, Darian rammed the shard into his own right arm, tearing through flesh and tendon.

His breath came in sharp, shuddering gasps, but he didn't stop.

With a final, sickening pull, he severed his arm completely, freeing himself from the cursed chains that bound him.

Blood splattered against the fractured ground.

A lesser man would have collapsed from the pain, but Darian had no time for agony.

Just as Neli's outstretched hand was about to close around Reves—

Darian launched himself at her.

His remaining hand grasped at the darkness swirling around her.

A pulse of deep, black energy surged from his body, and suddenly, chains erupted from the shadows, wrapping around Neli's limbs, constricting her, binding her in place.

A sacrificial ability.

Dark, cursed chains spread from his own bleeding body, coiling around her like a living cage, sealing her movements.

His flesh withered, his veins darkened, his life force pouring into the curse itself.

Neli gasped, thrashing, but Darian's grip remained unyielding.

A bitter, almost knowing chuckle slipped from his lips as he felt his body unravel.

"Ivaim was right… we both really are too sacrificial..."

His voice wavered, a mix of regret and acceptance.

His vision blurred, the last thing he saw was Neli's struggling form.

"I just... wanted to make things right…"

His body shattered into a cascade of black chains, locking around Neli's form completely.

The air trembled with the weight of the binding.

[Sync Rate: 98%]

Ivaim's breath caught in his throat.

"Shit! It's at 98%!"

His voice was sharp, urgent.

"The moment that reaches full, we're fucked!"

Just then, a tiny hand reached up.

Toward the small, black orb hovering above Neli's head.

Reves.

Time seemed to slow as his fingers inched closer to the cursed core.

"Reves, what are you doing?! Get out of there, now!"

Nathan's voice cut through the haze, his tone filled with raw anger, with fear.

Panic, for the first time, had finally set into his eyes.

Reves turned his head slightly, meeting his father's gaze.

His hands trembled, not from fear... but from the weight of everything he had carried for so long.

For years, he had always wanted to prove his worth to his father.

To be seen as strong.

To be needed.

A flicker of memory passed through him.

The ruins of their home.

The lifeless bodies.

The screams that had long since faded, leaving only echoes in his mind.

His mother's gentle voice... gone.

His older brother's joking laughter... gone.

His grandparents, the warmth of their presence... gone.

The Summanus family had been wiped away, and only he remained.

Nathan had never said it outright, but Reves had seen it in his father's eyes...

The burden, the sorrow, the unspoken grief...

In the end, he had always blamed himself for the fall of the Summanus Family.

If I had been stronger… if I had been born different… would they still be alive?

His small fingers curled tighter around the orb, his pulse thrumming in his ears.

This was his chance.

To prove himself.

To finally be more than the weak child left in the wake of tragedy.

"I, Reves Summanus..."

"Reves!" Ivaim's voice tore through his mind, urgent, desperate.

Nathan, on the other hand, fought against his bindings with a raw, frenzied desperation unlike anything before.

The thought of losing his son sent something primal and unbearable surging through him.

"Reves! Stop the chant right now!"

He shouted, but Reves didn't stop.

"Stand before fate itself and offer my body as a vessel. May this burden of power be bound to my soul alone. May its darkness find no place beyond my grasp. By my will... by my blood... by my name..."

The moment the words left his lips, whispers of cruelty crawled into his mind.

"This is all because of you!"

A chorus of voices... sharp, bitter, relentless... all swelled within him.

His breath hitched as memories he had tried so hard to suppress crashed over him like a tidal wave.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?! Because of you, our family is marked for death! The Throne Holders will come for us! They will erase every last one of us from existence!"

Another voice echoed, filled with fury and despair.

He could hear his brother's voice fighting back.

"He's just a kid! It's not his fault!"

But the accusations continued, pounding against his skull, latching onto his heart.

"May the kindness I have learned and the strength I have gained endure within this gift... until the day fate calls it away..."

The final words of the chant left his lips, and for a moment, silence stretched across the battlefield.

Reves remembered what Ivaim had told him before:

"Trust isn't something you wait for. You earn it. Maybe your dad's being overprotective, or maybe he's just scared of losing you..."

"Either way, running off and causing trouble isn't exactly gonna make him see things your way."

Reves knew that he was causing trouble once again.

He knew he was acting recklessly.

But this time, he vowed to himself...

That this...

This would be the last trouble that he would cause for his father...

[Two Entities are now competing for the Sync Rate]

[Sync Rate has been adjusted accordingly]