Chapter 1053: Too Unstable?

Chapter 1053 – Too Unstable?

Adrian stopped behind him.

For a second, the wind moved through the silver grass, brushing against their legs like the field itself was whispering not to speak too loudly near the tower.

Then Adrian said, "That’s impossible."

Lux did not look back.

His fingers hovered inches from the gray wall. The stone looked ordinary at first glance. Old, weathered, scarred by age and vines. But Lux’s senses moved deeper than sight. Beneath the surface, something twisted. Not like bricks stacked by hands. Not like mortar placed layer by layer.

No.

This was pressure forced into shape.

A body made into architecture.

A will wrapped in stone.

Lux’s eyes narrowed.

"No," he said quietly. "This tower was meant to trap."

Adrian’s face tightened. "Trap what?"

Lux stepped closer.

Naomi felt something in the air change and instinctively held her breath.

Lux pressed his palm against the tower.

The response was immediate.

Not visible.

But the entire field seemed to stiffen.

The grass stopped moving for one unnatural heartbeat. The air thickened around the tower, old and heavy, as if something buried beneath centuries had opened one eye.

Adrian felt it in his bones.

Naomi felt it in her chest.

Lux felt it through his palm.

His fingers spread slowly across the cold stone.

"And..."

His voice lowered.

"I can feel the anger."

Adrian stared at him. "Anger?"

Lux did not answer right away.

Because the feeling was too vivid.

It was not simple residue. Not a curse echo. Not the leftover emotion of someone who had died badly and left a stain behind.

This was alive.

The rage pressed back against his hand like a heartbeat that had learned hatred instead of rhythm.

Old hatred.

Deep hatred.

A fury buried so long it had turned patient.

Lux’s mouth tightened.

This was different.

Aela had been bound by loyalty. Her prison had been cruel because it used something beautiful against her. Duty. Devotion. Responsibility. A debt twisted around her soul until she believed enduring it was natural.

Yue had been bound by a curse too, yes, but Yue had chosen part of her cage. She had trapped herself because waking had consequences. Her slumber had been pain, but also restraint. Dragon pride folded around disaster and called it survival.

But this?

This was neither loyalty nor restraint.

Someone had trapped this person.

Someone had forced her into stone.

And whoever she was, she was furious.

Absolutely, magnificently, murderously furious.

Lux exhaled slowly through his nose.

"Well," he muttered, "someone didn’t forgive."

Naomi stepped closer. "Lux?"

He lifted his other hand slightly. "I’m fine."

That was a lie.

Physically, he was fine.

Emotionally, however, Greed was starting to pace inside his chest like a golden beast that had smelled old theft.

A person turned into structure.

A living being converted into property.

Lux’s jaw shifted.

How very mortal, yet very demonic.

Adrian looked from Lux to the tower, then back again. "You are saying the tower is angry."

"I’m saying the one inside it is."

Adrian’s face paled slightly. "Inside?"

Lux’s eyes sharpened.

"And the structure..."

His system flared in front of his vision.

This time, he allowed the interface to appear openly. A dark-gold panel unfolded beside him, hovering in the air between him and the tower. Adrian flinched despite already seeing far worse today. Naomi only looked at the panel, tense and focused.

[Structural Analysis Initiated]

[Target: Delacour Battle Tower]

[Material Layer: Stone / Binding Mineral / Memory-Infused Mortar]

[Core Structure: Living Soul-Body Compression]

[Primary Binding Source: Demonic Power]

[Age Estimate: Severe Variance Detected]

[Estimated Duration: 700-1,200 Years]

[Guard Layers: None Detected]

[Absorption Channels: None Detected]

[Power Siphoning Traces: None Detected]

[Current State: Active Captivity]

[Emotional Core: Rage / Defiance / Sustained Consciousness]

[Warning: Target Entity Is Alive]

Lux stared at the panel.

No guards.

That alone was strange.

With Aela, there had been systems around the prison. Roots. barriers. A structure that reinforced the debt. With Yue, there had been curse layers, old protections, consequences folded into slumber.

But this tower had no guards, watchers or absorption proof either.

That was the part that bothered him most.

Kaelmor’s style had become familiar in the ugliest way. He drained. He siphoned. He harvested residue. Even when indirect, there were traces. A hunger pattern. A royal theft scent buried under borrowed authority.

Here?

Nothing.

No proof of extraction.

No proof that power had been milked from the imprisoned one.

No evidence of someone feeding on the trapped entity.

Which meant this could be an unrelated case.

A powerful human trapped by a demon, but not Kaelmor.

Or...

Lux’s eyes narrowed.

Or it was Kaelmor, but for some reason he decided not to siphon the power.

Why?

Too dangerous?

Too unstable?

Too angry?

Or had the trap been made before Kaelmor became what he was now?

Lux’s fingers remained pressed to the stone.

The anger beneath it pushed back again.

Not begging or pleading.

Fighting.

Even after centuries, still fighting.

That stirred something unpleasantly respectful in him.

Adrian’s voice came lower. "What does that mean?"

Lux turned slightly. "It means your family’s tower is not a tower."

Adrian’s expression hardened defensively. "It has protected this estate for generations."

"Yes," Lux said. "That is likely the point."

Naomi’s brows drew together. "Point?"

Lux looked up along the tower’s height.

"If you wanted to hide a prison, you make it useful. If it protects land, people maintain it. If it symbolizes wealth, they preserve it. If it becomes family history, no one questions whether it should exist."

Adrian went silent.

The words struck too close.

Because that was exactly what had happened.

The tower had been preserved, restored, included in estate records, displayed in family art, mentioned in private tours as a symbol of Delacour endurance.

A prison disguised as heritage.

Adrian felt suddenly cold.

Lux removed his palm from the stone.

The tower seemed to hum once, very faintly, like something inside had noticed the absence.

He looked at Adrian.

"If I could break the curse..."

Adrian stiffened.

Lux continued, "Would you be okay if the tower disappeared?"