Chapter 233: The Puppet Brother

Zahliver’s POV

Luna stopped walking right in front of two towering double doors that looked both ancient and ominous. She did not hesitate for a single second she just pushed them wide open like she had done it a thousand times before.

Inside the grand chamber, the atmosphere snapped taut like a pulled thread about to break under pressure.

And there he sat.

"Of course you would be the one to bring him right to me," came that soft, silky voice floating across the room.

At the far end of the chamber, seated like a dark king wrapped completely in shadows and heavy lies, sat Fate. Cloaked in flowing silk garments, his high throne seemed carved from the pure force of his own will. His hair was a tousled brown, his face carved into an expression of calm serenity, and that damned charming smile still sat lazily on his lips like a hidden weapon.

To the average mortal eye, he looked completely harmless gentle, wise, and kind. But I knew far better than that. I had seen the dark monster that lurked beneath that pretty mask. Fate was nothing more than a venomous serpent dressed in celestial silk.

"I simply cannot ever resist getting a front-row seat to a really good brawl," Luna said casually, stepping backward to a safe distance like an idle spectator waiting before a violent storm.

"Fate," I greeted him, my voice dripping with pure venom.

He smiled right back at me, though it looked a bit too tight. I could easily see the heavy tension coiled tightly behind his amber eyes. He was actually nervous. Good.

"Zalvius. I see you finally made it through," he said, the profound disappointment in his tone only thinly veiled. "Just as I expected you would."

"You should have expected a hell of a lot more than that," I snapped back hotly. "Your pathetic little diversions did not even manage to slow me down."

He tilted his head slightly. "Not every single plan of mine has failed, you know."

That specific comment made me pause in my tracks.

The ancient beast resting inside my mind stirred instantly, feeling deeply uneasy.

Luna’s dark eyes narrowed down to slits, her upper lip peeling back in a silent, warning snarl, though she chose to stay quiet.

Whatever dark thing Fate was referring to right now... I did not like the sound of it at all.

And for the very first time since stepping foot inside this cursed room, I felt the icy chill of something unseen slither straight up my spine.

"You killed my brother, Fate," I growled, my voice sounding sharp and raw, thick with centuries of bitter grief.

He rolled his eyes up toward the ceiling, looking as dismissive as ever, and gave a careless wave of his hand. "No, I did not kill him. You did," he said smoothly with a cold, mocking smirk.

I felt that blinding fury rise up inside me once more, burning just as hot as it had on the day it actually happened. "It was all on your direct command and under your damn influence! At least have the decency to be man enough to own up to it, you bastard!"

"Fine," he snapped back, his tone turning suddenly serious. "I had you kill your own brother. And you know what? I will gladly do it again, if that is what it ultimately takes to finally break your spirit."

There was not a single trace of hesitation in his voice. No hint of a joke. Just cold, brutal certainty.

I went completely still.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, barely managing to force the confused words out of my dry throat. Something in his smug, satisfied eyes made my stomach twist into painful knots. That look on his face could only mean one terrible thing.

He had done something truly unforgivable.

"What have you done, Fate?" I growled, the beast inside me inching closer and closer to the surface as it sensed the deadly danger hiding in his silence.

He did not answer me right away. Instead, he just casually snapped his fingers in the air.

I heard the heavy footsteps echoing from behind him long before I actually saw who they belonged to.

A heavy side door creaked open slowly behind the throne, and then someone stepped out into the light.

My entire world instantly cracked right down the middle.

It felt as though the oxygen in my lungs had suddenly turned into heavy stone, and my body completely forgot how to breathe at all. Every single part of me froze in place as a massive tidal wave of raw emotion slammed into me all at once. Pure joy. Deep horror. Total disbelief. Crushing grief. And a piercing, gut-deep need to reach out, to hold him tight, and to see if he was actually real.

My brother.

My little brother.

"Joshula..." I breathed out, his name breaking apart on my lips like a desperate prayer and a cruel curse combined.

He looked just like I remembered him yet he was deeply changed. People had always mistaken us for twins when we were young, though I was older by a few years. Even now, I could clearly see the age gap etched into the hard lines of my face, while his features were still much softer. We shared the exact same deep black hair and striking facial features, though his eyes were a strange mix of green and blue, while my own were icy blue. He stood just a bit shorter than me, leaner in build, but he was still undeniably mine.

Still my little brother.

"Incredible piece of work, is it not?" Fate said loudly, cruelly stealing my dazed attention away from the impossible sight standing right in front of me. "You really did a number on him back then. Ripped him completely apart like a wild, rabid animal. It took me years to stitch him back together, and even longer to finally get him to stop falling apart completely. But just look at him now. Pretty good restoration work, if I do say so myself."

I flinched hard, looking away from Joshula and back up at Fate’s smug, triumphant expression.

"Now then," Fate continued, cheerfully clapping his hands together like he was announcing the start of a grand show, "if you actually want to reach me, you are going to have to go through him first. All over again. Think you can manage to do that, Zalvius? Can you tear your own beloved brother to bloody shreds a second time?"

My heart dropped heavily into my stomach.

I could not find the words to speak.

I just stood there staring blankly at Joshula, who stood quietly by Fate’s side like a mindless doll hollow, unblinking, and acting like an empty shell. His physical body was standing right there, but where was his soul? Where was his mind? Was this even really him at all? Or was he just a tragic puppet wearing my brother’s familiar face?

"I even upgraded him during the process," Fate added with sick, twisted delight. "He is stronger now. Faster, too. He might actually manage to beat you into the dirt this time around."

Luna, who had remained quiet and observant the entire time, suddenly let out a sharp, audible gasp.

"This... this is what you secretly used those missing wolves for? The ones who vanished without a trace? Your sick, twisted experiments?" she snarled out, her voice trembling violently with righteous rage. "No. I refuse to stand idly by and watch you pull this crap."

Her face shifted instantly, the delicate softness of her royal features replaced by something wild, brutal, and profoundly primal. The fierce wolf living beneath her human skin began to break through the surface.

Fate’s amber eyes narrowed down dangerously. "Then that means you are officially standing against me," he said coldly. "Joshua, take care of them both."

The exact second those cruel words left his mouth, Joshula moved forward with terrifying speed mechanical, rigid, and completely deadly.

I still could not bring myself to move an inch.

For the first time in my life, I truly did not know how to react. My survival instincts, my inner wolf, my endless rage everything inside me was in complete, paralyzing chaos.

But Luna did not hesitate for even a fraction of a second. She let out a low, bitter laugh and raised her hands up high in front of her body. Her delicate fingers danced swiftly through the air, weaving complex symbols I could not possibly recognize, as the ancient, powerful magic locked deep within her divine blood began to stir awake.