Chapter 2515: Story 2516: The Traitor Within the Walls

The Hollow King’s laughter echoed across the mountains long after the crimson vortex faded into the storm.

An uneasy silence settled over Blackstone Ridge.

No one spoke.

The King’s final words lingered in every defender’s mind.

It might already be inside Blackstone Ridge.

Victoria Kane slowly lowered the Marshal’s sword.

She looked toward Gideon Black.

"Do you believe him?"

The old Marshal remained silent for several moments before answering.

"The Hollow King rarely lies."

"He twists the truth."

"But every lie he tells contains a fragment of reality."

Cole Mercer frowned.

"So someone inside the fortress helped break the prison?"

Gideon’s expression darkened.

"Perhaps."

"Or someone long forgotten."

Father Gabriel Ward looked toward the ancient chapel.

"There may be answers hidden within the remaining records."

Victoria nodded.

"We search every room."

"No one moves alone."

Lucas Reed immediately organized small patrols throughout the fortress.

The defenders split into teams, searching abandoned towers, forgotten tunnels, and centuries-old storage chambers.

Meanwhile, Dr. Evelyn Brooks spread Elias Crow’s maps across a large table inside the library.

Her finger stopped at a section beneath the fortress marked only with a strange symbol.

"The Heart Forge..."

"There has to be another entrance."

As she carefully compared the ancient map with the fortress blueprint, she noticed something unusual.

Several corridors drawn by Elias did not exist on Gideon’s map.

"They’ve been erased."

Cole looked over her shoulder.

"Why would anyone erase them?"

Gideon slowly stepped forward.

"They were sealed after the first war."

"I believed they had collapsed."

Evelyn shook her head.

"They didn’t collapse."

"They were deliberately hidden."

Suddenly—

A loud scream echoed through the fortress.

Everyone rushed into the courtyard.

One of the defenders lay unconscious beside the western watchtower.

His weapon had been snapped cleanly in half.

Lucas knelt beside him.

"He’s alive."

"But he didn’t see who attacked him."

Victoria examined the dusty ground.

"There are footprints."

Cole crouched beside her.

"They’re fresh."

"But..."

He frowned.

"Only one person."

The mysterious tracks crossed the courtyard before disappearing against a solid stone wall.

Victoria touched the cold granite.

"There’s something behind this."

Gideon searched the wall with his weathered hands until his fingers found a nearly invisible carving shaped like the Black Star crest.

He pressed it.

A deep grinding sound echoed beneath the fortress.

The stone wall slowly slid aside.

A narrow passage stretched into darkness.

Cold air flowed from the hidden corridor.

Lucas lit a lantern.

"No one’s used this tunnel for years."

Victoria stepped inside first.

The passage descended deep beneath the fortress.

Old torch brackets lined the walls.

Strangely...

One torch was still burning.

Cole stared at the fresh flame.

"Someone’s here."

The group advanced cautiously.

After several minutes, the tunnel opened into a forgotten command chamber.

Dust covered ancient tables filled with faded battle maps.

Broken armor lay scattered across the floor.

At the center of the room stood a massive stone statue of the thirteen Marshals.

But something had changed.

One face had been deliberately destroyed.

Marshal Elias Crow.

Father Gabriel sighed.

"Someone erased him from history."

Then Evelyn noticed movement.

"The floor..."

Fine grains of dust were slowly falling into a narrow crack.

She knelt and brushed away the dirt.

Hidden beneath the table was a newly opened trapdoor.

Fresh boot prints disappeared into the darkness below.

Victoria drew her revolver.

"They’re close."

As the group descended the second staircase, they reached a circular chamber illuminated by crimson candles.

The room was empty.

Only a single object rested upon a stone altar.

A weathered leather journal.

Victoria carefully opened it.

The first page was written in fresh black ink.

To the bearer of the Black Star...

If you are reading this, then I have already escaped.

Every page that followed had been torn out.

Only the final sentence remained.

The Heart Forge no longer belongs to the Marshals.

Before anyone could react, a hidden bell began ringing throughout the fortress.

Lucas’s voice echoed from the tunnel above.

"Victoria!"

"The eastern wall has been breached!"

At the same moment, somewhere within Blackstone Ridge, an unseen figure pulled back a dark hood and smiled.

The traitor had been waiting inside the fortress all along.