The stone elevator descended into the tower’s depths with a heavy, steady sound.
The further down it went, the less light there was, and the mana pressure changed.
Here, there was no trace of the free, living currents that moved through the walls in the tower’s upper floors.
Mana in this section was suppressed; stifled, heavy, and still, as if the tower itself did not want any force to breathe within these depths.
Daniel stood motionless in the center of the elevator, looking at the black walls around him.
Complex runes were carved into the stones; runes designed to silence mana, block spiritual connections, and prevent any type of teleportation spell from activating.
Some of them were so old that the shape of their lines even differed from today’s magical language.
The central dungeon of the tower was not just a prison.
This was a place where the tower not only imprisoned its most dangerous enemies, but also isolated them from the world.
After a few minutes, the elevator stopped with a short jolt.
The two stone doors slowly moved aside, and a long hallway appeared before Daniel.
The walls were made of black, matte stone that swallowed the light of the magical torches.
Along the hallway, thick metal doors were placed at regular intervals, with several layers of magical seals visible on each one.
Two guards stood at the hallway’s entrance.
Both placed their hands on their weapons upon seeing Daniel, but when they saw the tower leader’s seal, they immediately stepped aside. He asked about Lioran.
"The prisoner is being held in section seven." One of them said in a formal tone.
Daniel just nodded without answering and began walking. The sound of his footsteps echoed in the empty hallway.
With each step, the dungeon’s silence grew deeper.
In the first few cells, no sound could be heard. It was not even clear whether anyone was imprisoned inside them.
But the further he went, an irregular sound reached his ears. At first, it sounded like metal being dragged across stone.
Then the sound of broken breaths, and finally weak, agitated whispers.
"This is not possible."
Lioran’s voice came from the end of the hallway. Daniel did not change his pace. Instead, he decided to enjoy the ravings of a madman.
"He won’t abandon me."
The sound of chains was heard again.
"This is just a test."
After passing the last turn in the hallway, Daniel stopped in front of cell seven.
Before him was a wall of black bars, each covered with dozens of silver runes. Behind them, Lioran paced inside a small, windowless cell.
He no longer resembled the flawless heir of the tower.
His hair, which was always carefully styled, was disheveled and fell over his forehead.
His formal robe was wrinkled and untidy.
His eyes were red, and the dark circles beneath them showed that he had not been able to rest for even a few minutes since entering the prison.
Every few steps, he would stop, close his eyes, and try to activate the mark within his soul.
Then nothing would happen, and he would start walking again.
"He can’t set me aside."
The chains around his wrists rattled with every movement.
"I was chosen."
"All these years were for me."
"I must become the tower’s heir!"
"I must become the next leader!"
Daniel watched him in silence for a few moments.
Seeing Lioran in that state was interesting even for him.
Throughout his stay in the tower, Lioran had always had a calm, confident, and untouchable face. Even when he was under pressure, not the smallest crack could be seen in his mask.
But now all that calmness had crumbled. Lioran was no longer the tower’s heir. He was no longer the founder’s chosen one.
He was no longer even sure he would be alive tomorrow.
All that remained of him was a terrified young man whose entire identity and future had been destroyed in a single day.
The sound of Daniel’s footsteps finally caught his attention.
Lioran suddenly stopped. He turned his head toward the bars and stared at the person who had come to see him for a few seconds.
There was no emotion on his face.
Then, the scattered pieces of the past three weeks came together in his mind.
Daniel’s entry into the tower.
Breaking the tablet’s record.
The collapse of the Trial of a Thousand Spells.
The reopening of the murder cases.
Ryndor’s death.
The founder’s silence.
His own arrest.
Lioran’s eyes gradually widened. His face shifted from confusion to disbelief, and then to insane anger.
Suddenly, he rushed toward the bars.
"It was you." He reached his hands through the bars and pulled at the chains.
"All of this was your doing."
The runes on the bars lit up.
A wave of suppressing force struck Lioran’s body and threw him several meters back.
His back hit the stone wall, but he almost immediately got up again.
"Ever since you entered the tower, everything has fallen apart." His breaths were broken and irregular.
"What did you do to the founder?" He came toward the bars again, but this time he stopped just before touching them.
"How did you make him abandon me?"
Daniel looked at him for a few moments. Then a short laugh escaped his lips.
Not a loud, mocking laugh. It was more like the reaction of someone who couldn’t believe that the man who had seemed so indifferent and calm just hours ago was now this terrified.
"Calm down."
"Calm down?" Lioran said angrily.
How could he be calm? His entire life, identity, and future had been destroyed!
How could he be calm? Who could be calm in such a situation?
"Every tool has an expiration date." Daniel put his hand in his robe’s pocket and stepped forward.
He looked directly into his eyes.
"Your expiration date has come."
Lioran was silent for a moment. Something between anger and terror formed in his gaze. Daniel continued:
"I made a deal with the founder. In exchange for something better, he gave you up."
This sentence struck Lioran harder than any accusation, any chain, or even the death sentence.
His face slowly went blank. His entire life, he had considered himself the chosen one.
Every resource he had received, every opportunity he had gained, every professor who had trained him.
Every obstacle that had been removed from his path, all of it had been to make him the most complete mage.
But now... the founder, just by finding something better, had cast him aside.
As if his entire life had only been a temporary version of a tool. Lioran stood motionless for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed.
His laugh started quietly, but quickly became faster and louder.
Not from joy, not even from irony. It was a broken, nervous laugh, close to madness.
It was the laugh of someone who had lost everything.
"So I’ve been set free." He slowly sat on the ground and leaned his back against the wall.
He raised his head and stared at the black ceiling of the cell.
"My whole life, I prepared for him." An empty smile settled on his face.
"Every moment of my life."
"Every training."
"Every pain."
"Everything he asked of me." He raised his chained hands and looked at them.
"Now he’s not going to take my body."
He was silent for a few seconds, and then another laugh came from his throat.
"But my freedom has become synonymous with my execution... huh?"
Daniel gave no answer. And Lioran was not a fool. Despite all his turmoil, he knew very well what situation he was in.
The evidence against him was complete. Ryndor’s confession existed. Morcan’s crystal existed. The connection between all the murders and his path to succession had been exposed.
The tower leader would never back down because of Aurelia.
Even if half the Supreme Council opposed the execution, the tower leader’s rage and public pressure would change the outcome.
And the Lionheart family... Lioran thought about his family’s name for a moment.
Under normal circumstances, they might have used all their influence to save him.
But now he was no longer the tower’s future heir. He no longer had the founder’s support. And worst of all, his name was linked to the murder of the tower leader’s daughter and several great professors.
The Lionheart family would not necessarily start an all-out war to save someone who threatened their reputation and position this much.
They might sacrifice him to protect themselves.
This thought silenced Lioran’s laughter.
"From the very beginning, you dug your own grave with your own hands." Daniel finally said.
Lioran turned his gaze back to him.
"You shouldn’t have gone so far as to kill everyone who was a threat to you." Daniel leaned against the bars.
"You thought that because someone was behind you, you would never have to pay the price."
"Why are you doing all of this?" Lioran clenched his jaw. His voice had become quieter, but anger still surged in it.
"We had no enmity with each other. I didn’t even know you before you entered the tower."
"Do you remember when Serys left the tower for a mission?" Daniel was silent for a few moments and then asked.
Lioran’s face changed slightly. It was such a small change that an ordinary person might not have noticed it.
"You sent killers to murder her. They attacked me too."
"That wasn’t intentional." Lioran answered quickly and rose from his seat.
"You weren’t the target. That mission was only for Serys."
"But I could have died." Daniel looked at him indifferently.
Lioran opened his mouth, but found nothing to say.
"And I always take revenge." He added. The simplicity of his tone made the sentence heavier.
He didn’t say it like a threat or a slogan. He said it like a natural truth. As if revenge for him was not an emotional decision, but a fixed law.
Even he himself was surprised by this laugh...
The thing he had done just to end Serys’s life had actually turned a monster into his enemy?
Had fate wanted him to be destroyed from the very beginning...?
If he had known such a thing would happen, he would never have sent killers to murder Serys! He would have just found another way and another time to kill her.
Too bad there’s no cure for regret...
"That was the beginning." Daniel smiled very faintly.