Chapter 11 The Backlash of Fate

The dining hall was still filled with the low murmur of whispering nobles when Rudy decided to slip away. He didn't want to be in the room when his father returned from guiding the prince. He needed a moment to check his system and clear his head.

He walked out into the central courtyard. The night air was crisp and cool, a welcome relief from the stuffy ballroom.

Before he could even draw a full breath, a bright, angry red light flashed in his peripheral vision. The yellowed parchment appeared in the air, but this time, the edges looked slightly burnt. The ink wrote itself in jagged, aggressive strokes:

Warning: Severe narrative disruption detected. The fated death of Rudeus Vance has been bypassed. The world is correcting the timeline. Threat level: High.

Rudy’s heart missed a beat. "Correcting the timeline? What does that mean?"

A loud sound of metal clashing against metal answered him.

He looked across the courtyard. A group of five family guards, dressed in their dark iron armor, were standing near the weapon racks. Suddenly, their bodies went perfectly stiff. Their eyes rolled back, showing only a creepy, blank white, and a thick red vapor began to drift from their helmets.

They drew their iron swords all at once, turning their heads slowly to fix their blank stares directly on Rudy.

"Rudeus Vance," one of the guards said. His voice didn't sound human. It sounded like three different people speaking in a dry, hollow echo. "The script must be fulfilled. Die."

"Hey! What is wrong with you guys?" Rudy shouted, taking a slow step back. "Put the weapons down!"

They didn't answer. They rushed forward with unnatural speed, their heavy boots pounding against the dirt. The lead guard swung his heavy blade straight at Rudy's neck.

Rudy ducked, the metal blade slicing through the empty air just inches above his hair. He rolled across the ground, scrambling back to his feet as two more guards lunged at him, their weapons aiming for his chest.

He didn't have any Ink left to change the words. He was completely on his own.

Rudy closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, tapping into the cold pool of energy near his heart. He remembered the lesson from his bedroom. He couldn't chant, and he couldn't let the magic explode outward. He needed to compress it. He focused the fluid energy down into his fingertips, squeezing it until it felt like a tiny, dense needle.

He opened his eyes just as a guard stepped into his personal space.

Rudy pushed his open hand forward, aiming directly at the guard's iron chest plate. He released a tiny flick of his compressed kinetic magic. There was no sound, no bright flash, but the invisible force struck the guard like a rushing train. The heavy man flew backward across the courtyard, crashing hard into a stack of wooden crates and passing out instantly.

"Four more," Rudy gasped, his chest tightening. The pressure from using the silent magic was already building behind his eyes, making his head throb with pain.

The remaining guards didn't care that their comrade had just flown through the air. They surrounded him, swinging their swords in a coordinated circle. Rudy dodged left, then right, his modern reflexes barely keeping him ahead of the sharp metal. He used another small burst of his efficient magic to strike the knee of the second guard, dropping him to the ground with a dull thud.

But his arm was beginning to shake violently. The purple veins in his wrist were swelling again, the heat threatening to burn him from the inside out.

"Stop!" a sharp voice yelled from the edge of the courtyard.

Bella was standing near the hall entrance, her face pale with horror. She saw the guards attacking her brother with lethal force, and her hand immediately dropped to her waist, a faint, dark purple spark dancing around her fingertips. She was about to reveal her forbidden magic to save him.

"Bella, don't!" Rudy screamed, his voice cracking. "Stay back!"

If she used her magic here, the entire empire would hunt her down by morning. He couldn't let her ruin her life because the system was trying to kill him.

With a final burst of desperation, Rudy drew every single drop of fluid energy left in his soul. He didn't throw a spark. He compressed the air directly in front of his chest, creating an invisible wall of pure kinetic pressure.

The remaining three guards lunged forward at the same time, their blades striking the invisible barrier. The air warped between them, and then the compressed force snapped. A silent shockwave blasted outward, knocking the guards completely off their feet and sending them sliding across the dirt until they lay still, unconscious.

Rudy collapsed to his knees, hacking violently. A warm drop of blood fell from his nose, soaking into the dirt. His vision went completely dark for a long three seconds before slowly clearing.

"Rudeus!"

Bella rushed over, her silver dress rustling as she fell to her knees right beside him. Her hands hovered over his trembling shoulders, her dark eyes filled with a terrifying amount of worry and confusion. "What was that? What did they do to you? Are you alright?"

"I'm... I'm fine," Rudy wheezed, wiping the red from his lip. "Just out of breath."

"That wasn't normal magic," she whispered, her voice shaking as she looked at the five unconscious guards around them. "You didn't say a single word. How did you do that?"

Before Rudy could answer, the loud sound of clapping filled the quiet courtyard.

Lord Alistair walked out of the shadows, followed by a dozen more imperial guards. His face was twisted in absolute disgust and anger. He looked at the ruined courtyard, then down at his bleeding son.

"You absolute disgrace," Alistair hissed, his deep voice shaking the air. "The Crown Prince is resting inside, and you are out here picking fights with my personal guards? You have embarrassed the Vance name twice in a single night."

"They attacked me, Father," Rudy said, his voice weak but firm as he forced himself to stand up. "Look at their eyes. Something was wrong with them."

"I don't care about your excuses!" Alistair roared. "You insulted our future king, you ruined our family's future, and now you cause chaos in my compound. I should have thrown you to the dogs years ago."

Alistair turned his back on him, looking at the lead guard captain. "Lock him in the lower quarters. He is a public disgrace. Tomorrow, I will decide how to punish him so the Prince sees we do not tolerate fools."

The new guards stepped forward, grabbing Rudy’s arms. Rudy didn't fight back; he didn't have the strength left to move a single finger. As they dragged him away toward the dark cells, he looked back over his shoulder.

Bella was still standing in the center of the courtyard under the moonlight.