Realm Lord
Chapter 94: And So It Begins

Chapter 94: And So It Begins

The air hung heavy with tension as Lara and the others gathered in a tight circle, their expressions betraying the anxiety that coursed through each of them. The dolls had been destroyed. Now came the moment of truth: had their efforts actually worked?

"Do you think we did it?" Kay whispered, his voice barely audible in the stifling silence of the room. The stone walls seemed to absorb his words, leaving nothing but the faint echo of uncertainty.

Jonas shifted his considerable weight from one foot to the other, the floorboards creaking beneath him. "I don’t know," he muttered, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "I hope so."

Aziel’s fingers crackled with faint blue electricity nervously. Tiny sparks danced between his fingertips as he struggled to maintain his composure. "Only one way to find out," he said, nodding toward the wooden door.

It couldn’t be this easy, could it? The thought hung unspoken between them, a collective doubt that none dared to voice aloud.

Lara was swallowing hard as she stepped forward. The weight of everyone’s stares pressed against her back as she approached the door. Each footstep echoed through the now dead silent room, the sound unnaturally loud against the stone floor. The distance to the door seemed to stretch endlessly before her, though in reality, it was merely a few paces away.

When she finally reached it, Lara stood frozen before the weathered wood for what felt like an eternity. Beads of nervous sweat trickled down her temples, tracing cool paths along her flushed skin. She inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with the musty air of the ancient room, trying to steady her trembling hands.

She slowly extended her arm, fingers outstretched toward the worn brass handle that gleamed dully in the lamplight. Time seemed to slow as her hand inched closer, the anticipation building to an almost unbearable intensity. When her fingers finally made contact with the cool metal, she paused, gathering her courage for one final moment.

With a swift and decisive motion, the handle began to turn—

Problem was... Lara wasn’t the one turning it.

Her eyes widened in horror, her gaze snapping upward as she felt the door begin to open from the outside. Her mouth opened to scream a warning, to tell the others to run, but it was as if time itself had congealed around her. Everything moved in agonizing slow motion—her attempt to turn, to yell, to warn everyone frozen in a moment that stretched beyond the boundaries of normal perception.

Until suddenly, it wasn’t.

The door exploded inward with violent force, slamming against the wall with a thunderous crack that reverberated through the chamber. An invisible wave of energy surged through the opening, catching Lara full in the chest and hurling her backward as though she weighed nothing at all.

She sailed through the air, unable to even draw breath to scream, before colliding brutally with the back wall. The impact drove the air from her lungs in a spray of crimson as her head snapped back against unyielding stone. Stars burst across her vision as her body crumpled lifelessly to the floor, consciousness threatening to abandon her entirely.

Through dimming vision, she saw Kay and Jake meet similar fates, their bodies flung across the room like discarded ragdolls. Jonas, with his substantial frame providing some resistance, wasn’t thrown as far but still tumbled across the floor, his bulk offering little protection against the supernatural force that had invaded their sanctuary.

Aziel, quick-thinking even in crisis, summoned his lightning abilities to cushion his fall, electric blue energy crackling around him as he managed to land in a somewhat controlled manner near the center of the room. The electric glow from his power cast eerie shadows across the walls, illuminating the chaos that had erupted around them.

Arthur had been propelled sideways, his body colliding with shelves lined with ancient tomes and fragile vials. Books and glass containers crashed down around him, adding to the cacophony of destruction that filled the chamber.

Then, as suddenly as the chaos had begun, every light in the room extinguished simultaneously. Pitch darkness enveloped them completely, the absence of light so profound it seemed almost tangible.

’What the hell is going on!?’ Arthur’s thoughts screamed as he fought to regain his bearings. His lungs burned as he struggled to recapture his breath, the impact having knocked the wind from him. Gradually, his eyes adjusted to the darkness thanks to his ability making the room appear no darker than it was moments ago.

To his surprise and mounting dread, he saw nothing but the wide-open door and his companions scattered across the floor, groaning in pain. No visible entity, no tangible threat to explain what had just happened.

A blue glow suddenly illuminated the space as Aziel activated his abilities fully, summoning his spear with lightning dancing across his body. The electrical discharge cast harsh shadows across the room as he turned to face the others.

"Everyone okay?" he called out, concern evident in his voice as lightning crackled around his form.

Arthur grunted, slowly rising to his feet among the debris of fallen books and shattered glass. "Yeah, I’m good," he managed, wincing at the pain that radiated through his ribs.

Similar sounds of discomfort echoed around the room as the others tried to clear their heads and stand, each movement accompanied by pained gasps and muttered curses.

Arthur’s gaze returned to the open doorway, watching it with intense suspicion. Something wasn’t right—he could feel it in the prickling sensation at the base of his skull, the instinctive warning that danger remained imminent.

"What the hell was that!?" Aziel demanded, scanning the room for threats. "I don’t see anything."

Arthur straightened, his eyes still focused on the doorway as he began to respond, "I don—" His words caught in his throat, terror rising like a tide within him. His eyes widened in horror, body tensing in alarm. "AZIEL, NO!"

In an impossible blur of motion, Aziel’s body was yanked violently backward, as if seized by some invisible force. One moment he stood bathed in his own electric light, the next he was being dragged through the air like a marionette with cut strings, disappearing through the doorway faster than human eyes could track.

Arthur didn’t hesitate, his body already in motion before his mind could fully process what had happened. He sprinted toward the door, heart pounding against his ribs. ’No, no, no... please,’ his thoughts pleaded as adrenaline set his nerves on fire.

"Arthur, no!" Jonas shouted from behind, his heavy footfalls indicating he’d given chase, desperate to stop Arthur from rushing headlong into unknown danger.

The door slammed shut with supernatural force just as Arthur reached it, but desperation had overridden reason. He grabbed the handle and wrenched it open with frantic strength, charging through the threshold without hesitation. Jonas followed close behind, his attempt to stop Arthur resulting in both of them crossing into the new room—and whatever awaited them beyond.