Chapter 15: Summons of the Council
The flames of the Mirror Path still danced behind Ren as he was escorted—no, dragged—by two spell-clad enforcers in ceremonial armor. The Council's summons had arrived minutes after Kael fell.
Lira ran alongside him, her eyes sharp with worry.
"You shouldn't have gone that far," she whispered.
"He drew first," Ren replied. "I just finished it."
The massive obsidian doors of the Echelion Hall groaned open. The Council's chamber was a high dome inscribed with ancient runes that rotated mid-air. Seven seats formed a crescent, occupied by the academy's highest authorities.
At the center stood Chancellor Viridelle, robed in silver-blue, her voice like a frozen dagger.
"Ren Kamizuki. You've broken three sacred decrees in a single duel."
"So did he," Ren said. "But I'm the only one here, aren't I?"
A hush.
One of the councilors—an old man with scales across his neck—spoke. "You wield Void-Class authority in a public duel. Why?"
Ren raised the Codex Nullum.
"It acted on its own. I only answered it."
That statement made half the Council lean forward in alarm.
"The Codex has... awakened?"
Meanwhile… Behind Closed Doors
Kael Veylor knelt before a shadowy altar. A red flame flickered in front of him, whispering with a dozen unseen voices.
"You failed," the voice said. "But you survived. That means we still have use for you."
Kael clenched his fists. "He's stronger than we expected."
"No," said the flame. "He's remembering."
Lira's Warning
After the Council dismissed him with a thinly veiled threat, Lira grabbed Ren's hand and dragged him through a hidden passage deep under the east wing.
"You need to see this."
She unlocked a sealed gate made of pale bone and starlight. Inside was a room of floating books—the Forbidden Annex.
Lira handed him a relic-bound tome: The Chronicle of Dead Realms.
"It has your name in it, Ren. Your old name."
"What are you saying?"
"I think… you were someone before you were summoned here. Someone important."
"Or dangerous."
Final Scene Tease: The Order Moves
A figure stepped from a storm-borne carriage in front of the academy. Cloaked in violet flame and bearing a cracked Divine-Class seal.
"Codex Nullum has awakened."
The envoy of the Order of Sealed Flame had arrived.
"Begin Phase Two. The Void Protocol is unraveling."