CHAPTER 217: THE ASCENSION OF STEEL

The obsidian arches of Castle Precipice’s subterranean grand hall echoed with the heavy, rhythmic march of armored boots. Grand Commander Teryn stepped through the towering iron doors, flanked by twenty warriors. These were not mere soldiers, they were the absolute zenith of the Obsidian Order, twenty captains who had carved their names into legend during the baptism of the Black Pool, their bodies already vibrating with dense kinetic pressure and dark spatial energy.

As one, the twenty knights halted before the throne. Steel clattered against stone as all twenty dropped to a single knee, bowing their heads in profound, absolute reverence to Caius.

Caius leaned forward upon his seat, his violet-gold pupils burning with cold authority as he looked down at the knelt champions. Beside him, Teryn remained standing at attention, his eyes fixed forward with unwavering discipline.

"Rise," Caius commanded smoothly, his voice reverberating off the black basalt walls.

The knights stood in lockstep, their chests heaving beneath dark-plate armor.

Caius locked eyes with each warrior in turn. "I have summoned you here for a choice that extends far beyond mortal duty. You have already shed your past oaths. Now I ask you this: who among you wishes to ascend beyond your mortal flesh? To abandon human fragility entirely, and be eternally tethered, body, mind, and spirit, to me and the Order?"

Silence hung heavy in the hall for less than a breath.

Without a single micro-second of hesitation, all twenty knights took a single, thunderous step forward in absolute synchronization. Heavy gauntlets slammed against their black breastplates, a metallic crack echoing through the chamber like a thunderclap.

They raised their voices as one, shouting in a roaring, harmonious unison that shook the dust from the rafters: "Flesh is dust! The Sovereign is eternal! Strike our names from the world, forge our souls into your blade!"

Caius’s eyes narrowed slightly, the aura around him shifting into a heavier, darker weight. "Do not answer blindly. Listen to the price."

He stepped down from the dais, his dark mantle trailing behind him as he walked toward the frontline of knights. "The procedure I have designed will tear away your human limits, but it will bring agony beyond anything you have ever conceived. You may lose your memories. Your past, your childhoods, the faces of those you once loved, all of it may burn away in the void. You will shed your mortal bodies entirely. And above all... I cannot guarantee that every one of you will survive the transformation."

Caius stopped inches from the lead knight, his burning gaze pinning the warrior. "If your resolve falters for even a fraction of a second, the energy will consume you from the inside out. Step back now, and there will be no shame in remaining what you are."

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Not a single knee buckled. Not a single boot shifted back. Their breathing remained steady, their eyes burning with a terrifying, unyielding fanaticism.

Then, a metallic footstep echoed from the side.

Caius turned his head. Grand Commander Teryn had moved from his place beside the throne, taking a stride forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his twenty captains. He raised his gauntlet, slamming it against his chest with the exact same violent devotion.

"I do not lead my men into a fire I am unwilling to burn in, Sovereign," Teryn spoke, his voice quiet, steady, and unbreakable. "If my captains are to become your ultimate weapon, their commander walks through the forge first."

Caius stared at Teryn, then looked across the line of twenty-one unshakeable faces. For a fleeting moment, a flash of genuine amazement glinted in his violet-gold pupils. He had engineered puppets, manipulated abyss predators, and bound beasts of myth, but the raw, unforced devotion of human steel willing to burn its own humanity away for his cause was a power entirely its own.

A dark, dangerous smile slowly spread across Caius's face.

"Very well," Caius declared, his dark spatial aura erupting around him like a tidal wave. "We start today."

Standing in the dim shadows along the edge of the grand hall, Old Bones observed the scene with wide, marveling eyes. A quiet shiver ran down his spine. The sheer, unyielding fanaticism of these twenty-one knights was breathtaking, but what awed the old dark elf even more was Caius’s absolute mastery of enticement. He hadn't chained these men or forced them into servitude, he had dangled the ultimate lure, exponential power and ascension beyond mortal fragility, until the kingdom's finest warriors practically begged to throw their humanity into the forge.

Later, after the knights were dismissed to begin their grueling preparations for the transformation, Old Bones followed Caius into the quiet solitude of his private chamber.

Unable to suppress his burning curiosity any longer, the old master bowed his head slightly. "My lord... if I may ask, why bestow such a supreme gift upon these mortals? Rebuilding human meridians into true spatial constructs requires immense energy and focus."

Caius leaned back against his desk, spinning a thread of pitch-black spatial energy between his gauntleted fingers. A low, amused chuckle escaped his chest.

"A gift?" Caius smirked, his violet-gold eyes glinting with cold, scientific curiosity. "It is simple, Old Bones. The Vel'xul were engineered from dead, harvested beasts. I want to test on living subjects whether I can create an even superior, self-evolving puppet matrix, a living weapon tethered directly to my will."

A freezing drop of sweat instantly trickled down Old Bones’ spine. His breath hitched.

Caius wasn't merely granting divine power out of goodwill, he was using his most loyal, elite human commanders as high-tier live test subjects for his terrifying puppet arts. A sudden wave of paralyzing dread washed over the old dark elf, making his knees tremble slightly.

By the ancestors... Old Bones thought, his stomach twisting into knots. What if he decides he needs a dark elf subject next? What if he looks at my breakthrough one day and decides my body needs a crazy spatial upgrade?!

Caius glanced over, catching the pale, sheer terror plastering itself across his former teacher's face. He broke into a loud, genuine laugh that echoed brightly off the stone walls.

"Relax, Old Bones," Caius chuckled, waving a dismissive hand. "I won't be experimenting on your old bones."

Old Bones let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief, raising a sleeve to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Though..." Caius added, a dark, playful glint flashing in his eyes as he laughed again, "'New Bones' doesn't sound half bad."

Old Bones froze mid-breath. His eyes went wide, a strained, deeply awkward smile plastering across his wrinkled face as he let out a nervous, breathless chuckle.

"My lord... he he..."