Chapter 4 The Silver Promise

The cold blue screen flashed once, and then the dark world rushed back to life.

The heavy boot was still pressing on Kaelen’s back, and the cold metal was still cutting into his neck. But Kaelen did not try to crawl away anymore. He stopped moving completely. With all the strength left in his body, he forced his head up and looked straight into the eyes of the lead assassin.

"What are you looking at, boy?" the assassin muttered, tightening his grip on Kaelen’s hair.

Kaelen did not answer. He just kept his eyes locked on the man’s face.

One second passed. The assassin frowned, feeling a strange chill in the room.

Two seconds passed. The assassin tried to press the blade down to finish the job, but his arm suddenly felt heavy and numb.

Three seconds passed.

A clear sound rang directly inside Kaelen’s mind.

[Target Subjugated. One year of lifespan deducted.]

Instantly, the anger in the assassin’s eyes vanished. The red light of the torch caught his face, revealing eyes that had gone completely dull and blank, like a man walking in his sleep. His arm went limp, and the dagger slipped away from Kaelen’s throat.

"Hey, what are you doing?" one of the masked men by the window whispered loudly. "Hurry up and kill him! We need to leave before the guards come."

Kaelen pushed himself up from the floor using his hands, his dead legs dragging behind him. He climbed back into his wheelchair, his movements slow and calm. He wiped the tiny drop of blood from his neck with his sleeve. Then, he looked at the lead assassin, who was standing completely still like a loyal dog waiting for a command.

"Turn around," Kaelen said. His voice was incredibly soft, but it filled the small room. "And slaughter your partners."

The lead assassin did not hesitate. He did not say a word. He picked up his fallen dagger, turned around, and lunged at the nearest masked man.

"What the—! Are you crazy?" the man screamed, but it was too late. The blade sank deep into his chest. He gasped, choking on his own breath, and fell heavily to the ground.

The third assassin widened his eyes in horror. He stepped back toward the broken window, lifting his own weapon. "You trapped us! You took their money!"

Before he could jump out, the lead assassin rushed forward and drove the blade straight through his neck. The room fell into a heavy silence, broken only by the sound of dripping blood.

Kaelen watched the whole thing from his chair without blinking. His face was entirely relaxed.

"Clean the floor," Kaelen ordered the remaining man. "Take these two bodies down to the basement vault beneath the mansion. Dump them in the dark where no one will find them."

"Yes, Master," the lead assassin replied in a flat, empty voice. He picked up the heavy bodies one by one, dragging them out of the room without making a sound.

Kaelen sat alone in the darkness, breathing a little hard. His body felt lighter, but inside his chest, a strange, freezing coldness was starting to spread.

Suddenly, heavy footsteps hurried down the stairs from the second floor. The door to Kaelen's room was kicked open with a loud bang.

Lady Aurelia stood at the entrance. She held a small silver dagger in her right hand, her raven hair messy from sleep. Her violet eyes scanned the dark room, checking the corners and looking at the broken window. She expected to see a pool of blood and her useless husband dead on the floor.

Instead, she only saw Kaelen sitting quietly in his wheelchair, looking out at the night sky through the shattered glass. The room was clean, and the air was still.

"What was that noise?" Aurelia asked, her voice sharp and full of suspicion. She stepped closer, her eyes fixing on his pale face. "I heard shouting."

Kaelen turned his head slowly, forcing a trembling, scared smile onto his lips. He let his shoulders shake a little, looking like a helpless boy who had just survived a fright.

"I... I am sorry to wake you, Lady Aurelia," Kaelen said, making his voice shake. "A wild animal broke the window. I think it was a stray dog or a large bird. It scared me, and I accidentally knocked over my washbasin trying to get away."

Aurelia looked at the broken glass on the floor, then at Kaelen’s trembling hands. She let out a long, disgusted breath and lower the dagger.

"A stray animal?" she scoffed, her voice full of deep disappointment. "And you are shaking like a leaf because of a broken window? You truly are a coward, Kaelen."

"I am sorry," Kaelen whispered, lowering his head so she could not see his eyes. "The darkness out here is very loud."

"Do not scream like a baby next time," Aurelia said coldly, turning her back to him. "You chose to come to this lawless place. If you cannot handle a broken window, you will not last a week. Clean this mess up yourself."

She walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. She did not ask if he was hurt. She did not care that the freezing night air was blowing right into his bedroom.

Once the sound of her footsteps faded away completely, Kaelen stopped shaking. The fake smile disappeared from his face, replaced by a cold, steady expression. He rolled his wheelchair over to a small piece of broken mirror that lay on the floor. He picked it up and held it to his face.

Under the faint light of the moon, Kaelen stared at his reflection.

The tips of his pitch-black hair had changed. They were no longer dark. A stark, glowing silver-white color had spread across the bottom of his hair, looking like winter frost. He touched his chest, feeling his heartbeat. It was slower now, and much colder, just as the system had promised.

A slow, dark smile grew on Kaelen’s face. The smile became a quiet laugh that filled the empty, freezing bedroom.

He didn't care about his hair. He didn't care about the coldness in his chest. The power was real. The system belonged to him now.

He dropped the piece of glass, letting it shatter into smaller bits. He looked toward the direction of the Capital City, his eyes shining with a dangerous light.

"Let them look down on me," Kaelen whispered to the quiet room, his voice regular and smooth. "Let them laugh at the cripple. From this night on, this wheelchair is my throne, and I will make every single one of them kneel."