THE LAST HEIR OF ORCUS

CHAPTER 4: THE COMEDY OF THE ELITE

"Am I in a museum, or did I accidentally die and wake up in a royal tomb?"

I rubbed my eyes, staring up at an intricately painted antique ceiling depicting ancient wars. I tried to stretch, but my hands hit soft silk. I looked to my left, then to my right. The bed was absolutely ridiculous. It was easily large enough to hold fifty people without anyone touching.

"You're awake," Elenore’s voice cut through the quiet room. She was standing by a massive set of reinforced double doors, her arm wrapped in clean medical bandages. "Welcome to the heavily fortified Raizen Family Manor. You’ve been out for twelve hours."

"Twelve hours?" I sat up, the latent density in my muscles making the massive mattress groan under my weight. "Where's Lumiere? Did his family come after us?"

"Lumiere is alive, but his jaw is in pieces. The Sungate family is furious, but they can't strike openly inside our territory," Elenore said, tossing a set of high-end black clothes onto the foot of the bed. "Put those on. Right now. You don't have time to lounge around."

"What's the rush?" I asked, swinging my legs over the edge of the giant bed.

"My mother, Matriarch Lilith Raizen, is hosting an official political dinner downstairs," Elenore explained, her expression turning dead serious. "Every high-ranking alliance lord is in that room. And she wants you there. Immediately."

"A political dinner? I just blew up a meteor, Elenore. I'm not really in the mood for small talk and soup."

"It's not a request, Lux. You showed a power that terrified the Sungate heir. The lords want answers, and my mother wants to see exactly what you are. Don't keep her waiting."

Ten minutes later, Elenore escorted me down a grand marble hallway and pushed open two towering oak doors. The dining hall was massive, filled with long tables overflowing with extravagant food. But the moment I stepped inside, the temperature in the room seemed to drop to freezing.

Dozens of alliance lords sat in high-backed chairs, their eyes locking onto me instantly. The glares were heavy, dripping with intense hostility and aristocratic disdain.

"So, this is the stray boy you brought home, Elenore?" a bloated lord at the end of the table sneered, swirling his wine glass. "He doesn't look like a savior. He looks like a peasant who stole a nice suit."

"Watch your mouth, Lord Vance," Elenore snapped, stepping forward. "He saved my life."

"Silence," a sharp, commanding voice resonated from the head of the main table.

Matriarch Lilith Raizen sat perfectly straight, her silver hair styled elegantly, her piercing green eyes scanning me like a predator assessing prey. She waved a hand, dismissing the murmuring lords instantly.

"Sit, Lux," Lilith said, gesturing to an empty chair directly across from her.

I walked over and sat down, refusing to flinch under her intense gaze. "Matriarch Lilith. I assume you didn't invite me here just to let your lords glare at me."

"Straight to the point. I like that," Lilith smiled, though her eyes remained entirely cold. "Let us be frank. You destroyed a Blazing Meteor and shattered a Sungate heir's face. A boy with no recorded background shouldn't possess that kind of density or power. The Raizen Alliance can offer you protection from the Sungate family's wrath. We can give you wealth, status, and resources."

"And what do you want in return?" I asked, leaning back.

"Simple," Lilith leaned forward, her voice dropping to a smooth, manipulative purr. "You will swear allegiance to the Raizen faction. You will operate as our hidden asset. When we need a problem eliminated quietly, you will be our weapon. In exchange, you become a permanent part of the elite."

The surrounding lords nodded approvingly, murmuring about her generosity. They thought I should be begging for the chance.

*BANG!*

I slammed my crystal water glass down onto the table so hard the hairline fractures spider-webbed across the polished wood. The entire room went dead silent.

"Are you out of your mind?" I said, staring directly into Lilith's eyes. "I just got out of a system that treated me like trash, and you think I'm going to willingly jump into another cage? I am not your political pawn. I don't belong to your faction, and I never will."

"How dare you?!" Lord Vance roared, slamming his fists on the table. "You ungrateful brat! You are speaking to the Matriarch!"

"Let him speak, Vance," Lilith commanded, her eyes narrowing as she studied my face. "You refuse my offer, Lux? You realize the Sungates will hunt you down the second you step outside these walls?"

"Let them try," I countered, my voice flat and completely devoid of fear. "If you want my help, we do it on my terms. Independent assistance. I decide who I fight, when I fight, and how I do it. Take it or leave it."

A tense, suffocating silence stretched across the dining hall. Elenore held her breath, her face pale.

Suddenly, Lilith let out a sharp, genuine laugh. "Audacious. Truly audacious. Very well, independent asset. If you want to stand on your own terms, you must prove you actually have the talent to back up that arrogance."

"How?" I demanded.

"Tomorrow morning, the academy talent trials begin. You will take the Totem Talent Test right alongside my daughter, Fedora," Lilith stated, a sharp glint in her eye. "If you fail to impress the alliance tomorrow, our deal is off and you are on your own. Do we have an agreement?"

"Fine," I said, standing up from the table. "See you at the testing stone."

The next morning, the grand testing hall of the Raizen Manor was packed to maximum capacity. Hundreds of students, lords, and masters lined the viewing galleries. To protect my identity from the Sungate spies, I wore a dark, lacquered oni mask over my face, registering under the false alias 'Young Master Sheol.'

"Next up! Fedora Raizen!" the high elder announced, his voice booming across the stone chamber.

A gorgeous girl with long, snow-white hair and an icy, distant expression stepped forward. Fedora Raizen moved with absolute grace, walking straight up to the massive, glowing testing crystal in the center of the room. She placed her pale hand against the smooth surface and closed her eyes.

*VROOOOOOM!*

The crystal violently detonated with light. A massive, swirling vortex of absolute zero frost erupted from the base, freezing the floor for fifty yards in every direction. Deep inside the crystal, a brilliant, top-tier, legendary Purple light blazed with blinding intensity, taking the shape of a magnificent, roaring frost wolf.

"Unbelievable!" the high elder shouted, his hands shaking. "A legendary Purple talent! An internal ice totem! Truly, the young mistress is a genius among geniuses!"

The crowd erupted into roaring applause. Fedora stepped back, her expression completely unchanged by the praise, though she cast a cold glance toward me as she walked away.

"Next," the elder called out, checking his ledger. "The independent challenger... Young Master Sheol. Step forward."

The crowd quieted down, whispering curiously about the masked stranger. I walked up to the pedestal, my heavy boots thudding against the frost-covered floor. I looked at the transparent crystal.

*Time to see what Ladiskha's hell-totem liquid actually did,* I thought.

I placed my palm firmly against the cold stone. I reached deep into my core, feeling the dense, dark energy swirling in my veins.

"Totem Link," I chanted under my breath.

I waited. One second. Three seconds. Five seconds.

Nothing happened.

The crystal remained completely dead. It didn't light up. It didn't turn purple, blue, or even common white. It stayed entirely transparent, dull, and vacant. The ancient stone didn't recognize a single trace of standard mana or standard totem energy inside me. To the testing machine, I was an absolute zero. A blank space.

The silence in the hall lasted for one agonizing second before the entire room erupted into a deafening wave of mocking laughter and pitying glares.

"A total dud!" Lord Vance laughed from the balcony, pointing a finger at me. "He wore a scary mask just to hide the fact that he's a talentless clown!"

"What a joke!" another student jeered. "Young Master Sheol? More like Young Master Garbage! Get off the stage!"

Fedora shook her head in blatant disappointment, turning her back to me. Elenore stood in the corner, her jaw dropped, completely frozen in shock.

I didn't say a word. I didn't argue, and I didn't try to explain the dark entities hiding in my soul. I calmly pulled my hand back from the dead stone, adjusted the edges of my oni mask, and walked straight out of the testing circle under the heavy weight of their endless mockery.

I pushed open the side doors, walking into the quiet, dark corridor leading toward the manor's lower levels.

*WREEEEEN! WREEEEEN! WREEEEEN!*

Suddenly, the ground violently shuddered. The lights in the corridor flashed a frantic, bloody red as a deafening, catastrophic siren began to scream through the walls from the deepest sub-levels of the estate.

"Attention! All units!" an automated magical broadcast roared through the speakers, the voice frantic and laced with sheer panic. "Containment breach in Sector 4! The Class-S prisoners have broken containment! Repeat! The Class-S prisoners are loose inside the manor!"