A day. A full, agonizing day had crawled by in the heart of the Shattered Spire. The cold, oppressive silence of the Void Arena was broken only by Karnazul's labored breathing and the faint, rhythmic drip of blood hitting obsidian. He lay exactly where he'd fallen, face pressed against the stone, his right arm pinned at a grotesque angle beneath the invisible, impossible weight of the Lord of the East. His ash-grey skin was pale, waxy. Blood crusted around his broken nose and the deep gash on his cheek from Theodric's blade. A dark pool had formed beneath his torso where internal injuries seeped. He hadn't moved, couldn't move, except for the shallow, pained rise and fall of his chest. Humiliation and agony radiated off him in palpable waves through the Primordial Resonance, a constant, grating background noise in Donarstraza's mind.
Theodric lay nearby, equally still, but for different reasons. The Umbral Offer held him in its chilling grasp. He was conscious, his startling yellow eyes open, staring blankly at the cavern ceiling far above. He could speak, but hadn't uttered a word since Karnazul's vicious betrayal. He breathed shallowly, the stump of his left wrist a horrifying, darkly sealed wound thanks to the sacrificial magic. Paralysis held him rigid, a prisoner within his own powerful body.
Donarstraza paced the edge of the arena, her claws clicking on the stone. Her golden eyes flickered between the two broken figures – the jealous general who'd sabotaged her plans and mutilated her source of intel, and the defiant knight whose very presence short-circuited her focus. The system notification pulsed insistently, a crimson stain on her vision:
[Time Update: Orc Invasion - 186 Days Remaining]
[Quest: Interrogation of the Intruder - 48 Hours Remaining]
[Objective 1: Personally interrogate the prisoner within 72 hours - IN PROGRESS]
[Objective 2: Extract verifiable intelligence (Minimum 3 key pieces of information) - 0/3]
Panic, sharp and cold, warred with frustration and the ever-present, inconvenient thrum of attraction whenever her gaze lingered on Theodric's sharp features. Scheiße! I'm wasting time! She needed answers. Now. But Karnazul… his presence was a constant drain, a reminder of her own lack of control over her supposed right hand. His suffering was his own fault, but she couldn't just let him die pinned like an insect. It looked weak. It felt weak.
Stopping beside Theodric, she loomed over him, trying to project the full, terrifying aura of the Fallen Goddess. "Knight," her voice echoed, resonant but laced with an edge of desperation she couldn't fully mask. "Theodric. How is he freed?" She gestured sharply towards the immobilized Karnazul.
Theodric's yellow eyes didn't move from the ceiling. Silence.
Her jaw tightened. "Answer me. How do we release the Lord of the East's hold on him?"
Nothing. Only the sound of Karnazul's pained wheezing.
Frustration boiled over. She leaned down, her face inches from his, her lava-silk hair brushing his paralyzed shoulder. The Primal Seduction skill hummed treacherously, amplifying his nearness, the line of his jaw, the intensity of his trapped gaze. She shoved it down. "Look at me, Dragon Knight!" she commanded, injecting raw power into her voice. "Tell me how to free my General!"
Slowly, deliberately, his yellow eyes slid to meet hers. There was no fear, only cold, unwavering defiance, and a profound weariness. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse from disuse, but clear and resonant, carrying the weight of absolute conviction. "The Blade of the Protector answers only to the Righteous Hand. It will not suffer the touch of the Unhallowed. He is bound by his own corruption."
The words hung in the air, cool and damning. Unhallowed. The implication was clear: Karnazul, by his nature and his vicious act, was fundamentally incompatible with the sword's power. There was no trick, no spell – only inherent opposition. Donarstraza straightened, a chill running through her despite the ambient heat. Theodric's gaze returned to the ceiling, dismissive.
Fine. Karnazul's problem. She had her own. She shifted her focus entirely onto the paralyzed knight. Kneeling beside Theodric, the cold obsidian biting into her knees, she ignored the insistent hum of Primal Seduction and the distracting line of his jaw. Karnazul's pained gasps faded into background noise. Time was bleeding away.
"Look at me, Theodric," she commanded, her voice low, resonant, forcing his yellow eyes back to hers. They held no fear, only icy defiance and a weariness that ran bone-deep. "You know why I'm here. Information. How did Aethelgard learn of my return?" She leaned closer, her golden eyes boring into his. "Specifics. Who sent you? What intelligence networks did you use?"
Silence. His gaze remained fixed, unblinking, giving nothing.
Frustration prickled. The system timer pulsed: [47 Hours 55 Minutes Remaining]. "Your defiance is pointless," she hissed, the Goddess persona fraying slightly at the edges. "You are broken. Trapped. Your Princess Evelina," she deliberately used the name, watching for a reaction, "is leagues away, helpless if my legions decide the Treaty of Ash and Iron is kindling. Tell me how you knew!"
A flicker. Just the barest tightening around his eyes at Evelina's name, a spark of protective fury quickly banked. But his lips remained sealed. Pride radiated off him, a tangible wall. Loyalty was his armor, even now.
Think, Elina! Think like a goddess, not a flustered teenager! She changed tack, her voice dropping to a dangerous purr, Primal Seduction subtly amplifying the allure. "Perhaps… a trade? Your freedom for the knowledge? I am not unreasonable." It was a lie, a desperate gambit.
Theodric's yellow eyes held hers, unimpressed. His voice, when it came, was hoarse but clear, laced with disdain. "My freedom was won by rite and steel, Goddess. Stolen by treachery." He glanced, with immense effort, towards the pinned, groaning Karnazul. "You hold nothing I value enough to betray my Kingdom or my Princess."
Princess.He kept saying it. That was the key. The loyalty. The devotion. Donarstraza pushed herself back up, pacing a tight circle around his paralyzed form. Her mind raced. Threats against him weren't working. Threats against his duty… against what he protected…
She stopped, looming over him again, letting the raw power she did possess crackle around her, her wings flaring slightly, casting long, menacing shadows. Her golden eyes blazed. "Very well, Knight-Captain. Play the stoic martyr. But know this: your silence condemns more than yourself." She let the words hang, heavy and cold. "Your… prediction… of my return. If it stemmed from a desire to protect, then protect this: Your silence ensures that within the year, the legions of the demon continent will march. Not just probing raids. Not just border skirmishes. A full invasion. We will cross the Blighted Marches. We will shatter the gates of Aethelgard." She leaned down, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper. "And I will take your precious Crown Princess Evelina myself. What do you think a Fallen Goddess of Ruin does with captured royalty, Dragon Knight?"
The effect was immediate and electric. The icy defiance in Theodric's yellow eyes shattered, replaced by pure, unadulterated terror and rage. A strangled sound escaped his paralyzed throat. His eyes widened, fixed on her with a look of such profound horror and hatred it stole Donarstraza's breath for a second. The Primordial Resonance, faintly touching him through Karnazul's link, screamed with his protective fury and utter desperation.
"NO!" The word ripped from him, raw and ragged, echoing in the cavern. He strained against the Umbral Offer's paralysis with every fiber of his being, muscles trembling uselessly beneath his armor. "You will not touch her!" Spittle flecked his lips. The pride was gone, consumed by primal fear for his charge. "That… that is why I am here! To prevent that!" He gasped, the effort immense. "To stop the drums of war before they beat! My mission… one of my missions… was to offer myself. My life. My service. Anything… in exchange for Aethelgard's safety. To appease your return. To buy peace… for her."
He slumped back, exhausted, the fire in his eyes banked by despair and the crushing weight of his admission. He'd broken. Not for himself, but for the specter of harm to his Princess.
[Quest Update: Interrogation of the Intruder]
[Objective 2: Extract verifiable intelligence (Minimum 3 key pieces of information) - 1/3]
[Information Verified: Primary Mission Objective - Prevent Invasion of Aethelgard via Personal Sacrifice/Appeasement]
Relief, sharp and sweet, flooded Donarstraza. One. She had one piece. The system acknowledged it. But the raw anguish on Theodric's face, the sheer depth of his loyalty and fear, struck a chord deep within Elina. It was terrifying and… perversely admirable. She pushed the feeling down.
"Appeasement?" she echoed, her voice regaining some of its detached coolness, though her heart hammered. "Offering your life? A bold gambit, Knight. Foolish, perhaps. What makes you think your life holds value sufficient to stay the hand of a Goddess?" She pressed the advantage, circling him again like a predator. "How did you predict my return? That knowledge is power. Power I need to understand."
Theodric closed his eyes, turning his face away from her, the lines of pain and humiliation etched deep. The wall of prideful silence began to rebuild itself, brick by shattered brick. He had given her one devastating truth, driven by terror for another. Getting the second piece, the source of his prediction, would be harder. Much harder. The clock kept ticking: [47 Hours 48 Minutes Remaining]. Karnazul groaned pitifully nearby, a constant reminder of the chaos and the cost. Donarstraza knelt once more, the obsidian cold beneath her, facing the defiant profile of the broken Dragon Knight. The real interrogation had only just begun.