The enchanted light from the grandiose opal chandelier poured out, illuminating the once darkened hall. Magnus chuckled at the display. Typical. Pompous bastards. He shifted his gaze towards the large throne at the hall's center—a bizarre fusion of natural rock formations and jagged metal plates. Magnus sighed, lamenting the fact that the one who sat on the throne was no less strange.

  Gray, lifeless eyes peered down at him from behind a dark veil, carrying within them the superior air of a noble. A large flowing gown completely obscured the monarch's lower body. This wasn't going to be easy.

  Assassinations rarely were.

  Time to get this over with...

  His lips parted, and a string of ancient syllables poured out from his mouth: a decree.

  "Omniasqu? obstet, 'twixt caelum et terra, corrix injustari. Vincula divin? signantur."

  The air shuddered. A deep, resonant hum pulsed through the hall like the tolling of some unseen bell. Then, from the very ground beneath the throne, crimson chains erupted—coiling, writhing, slithering like living things. They moved with purpose and precision, lashing around the monarch’s wrists, her throat, her ankles, forcing her still.

  She did not flinch. Not even as the chains began to shift, their surfaces writhing with eldritch glyphs before burrowing into her flesh. A faint hiss filled the air as the chains sank in, their color bleeding away as they disappeared beneath her skin.

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  Where the bindings had once been, dark sigils now marred her skin, their inky presence pulsing in defiance of the opulent glow above. A mark of limitation. A brand of weakness. A flaw, imposed by something greater than power alone.

  Magnus exhaled, flexing his fingers as the weight of the decree settled over the chamber.

  Let’s see you try and ignore me now, Your Highness.

  A strange chill ran through Magnus' spine—a warning. He leapt to the side, shoes skidding against the polished floor. A few seconds later, it erupted.

  Shards of rock burst from the ground, razor sharp and flying out at deadly speed. Magnus barely had time to react, his fingers snapped together, and a writhing mass of crimson chains materialised, twisting around him like a metal cocoon.

  —Boom!—

  —Boom!—

  —Boom!—

  The shards struck the barrier, each impact ringing like the crash of a hundred blades. The force behind them was monstrous, threatening to rip through his defenses. Sparks flew as the chains strained under the pressure, groaning from he onslaught.

  Magnus frowned. She still has this much strength? Even after the flaw was imposed?

  The air shifted, and Magnus felt it—something wrong, the heat of an unfamiliar presence. Soft arms wrapped around his waist, drawing him into a hug. There was a scent of something faintly floral. A silk veil came into view, then a soft voice.

  "I meant to kill you with that."

  —Crack!—

  His chains shattered. The world tilted. Darkness swallowed him whole.