Rise of the Devourer
Book 4: Chapter 33 — Lunar Cultists Pt 1

"Are you insane?" Seraphina's voice cracked with stress as she spoke up. "The castle is the most heavily defended location in the kingdom right now! It's suicide!"

"No," Aurelia replied firmly. "Noah’s right. What's suicide is sitting here doing nothing while people suffer for our supposed crimes. If Zax is missing, then something is seriously wrong. More wrong than just a misunderstanding or political maneuvering. The Zax I know wouldn't abandon us unless he was physically incapable of helping."

Erwest stepped forward, his hand moving to his sword hilt. "As a paladin of Hellion, I cannot stand by.”

"And I won't let Snow rot in a dungeon," Noah added, his eyes flickering with determination. "We've saved her once. We'll do it again."

Valros studied them for a long moment. Finally, he sighed. "If you're truly determined to do this, then I can help. There's a passage known only to the king's most trusted advisors—a route that bypasses the main defenses and leads directly into the castle's inner sanctum."

"You'd risk that?" Kaelan asked, staring at his uncle in shock.

"My brother is in those dungeons because he spoke truth to power," Valros said quietly. "His children are imprisoned because they bear his name. And if Noah is right about Lord Zax’s situation..." He shook his head. "I've served this kingdom for all my life. I know when something is fundamentally wrong."

Noah felt a surge of gratitude toward the older man.

"What’s your plan once we get in?" Valros asked, looking up.

"We split into three groups," Noah said, moving to the map table. "We have too much to achieve for one team to be able to handle it alone. Me, Erwest, and Aurelia will go directly to the king. Find out what's really happening, locate Zax if possible, and try to restore sanity to this situation."

“And what’ll you do once you go to the king, even assuming he’s present? Isn’t it likely he’s being controlled?” Valeria asked.

“We can deal with that then,” Noah replied.

“That’s…” Seraphina began.

“Do any of you have a better plan?”

At this, there were no further protests.

He pointed to a different section of the map—the section that was marked as ‘prison’. "Kaelan, Seraphina, and Valeria will infiltrate the prison. Free the prisoners, including Kaelan’s family and Snow. Get them to safety."

"And Valros?" Aurelia asked.

"I'll rally the loyal guards and military officers," Valros said. "There are still good people in the ranks who know something is wrong. With the dragon attacking and lunar cultists running rampant, the kingdom needs every capable fighter. I'll organize them into a coherent force."

"What about Vion?" Noah asked. "Do we know anything about what happened to her?"

Valros's expression darkened. "That's the strangest part. No one will talk about her. Not even the ‘guard’ who supposedly witnessed her death. I… don’t know if she’s still alive, or actually dead. Anything could be possible."

"When do we move?" Aurelia asked.

"Now," Noah said. "Every moment we delay gives our enemies more time to consolidate their position.”

***

Reaching the hidden passage—it lay near the kitchen, towards the south east of the castle—had been surprisingly easy. Due to the sheer numbers they wielded, all of them being capable of putting up a good fight, none of the lunar cultists or their spirits stood much of a chance.

The hidden passage itself was a maze of ancient stone corridors that had been carved into the bedrock beneath the castle centuries ago. The walls bore the scars of time, with moss creeping through cracks and the occasional drip of water echoing in the darkness. Valros moved with practiced familiarity, his hand trailing along specific stones to navigate the branching paths.

Both Noah and Kaelan, like Valros, were holding maps—maps drawn by Valros of these networks of passages. All three of them had goals that required them to traverse different sectors of the castle, after all.

"This network was built during the Third War," he explained quietly as they walked. "When the castle was under siege for months, these tunnels allowed supplies and reinforcements to move unseen."

The air grew thicker as they descended deeper, until they reached a junction where the tunnel split into three distinct paths. The one in the center continued going straight, the one to the left continued moving even deeper, and the one to the right when upwards.

Valros consulted his map, his expression grim. "This is where we separate. Kaelan, Valeria, Seraphina, take the path to the left, it leads to the prison levels. The guards will be lighter there—most of them are focused on the external threats."

Kaelan nodded, gripping his weapon tighter. "We'll get them out." Valeria and Seraphina nodded along with him, once more.

"Noah, the path to the right should go directly towards the guest chambers, and also the King’s chamber itself," Valros continued. "I’ll go straight; it leads to the barracks."

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Noah clasped Kaelan's shoulder, before looking at Seraphina and Valeria. "Stay safe, all of you. We need to have another duel after all this."

Kaelan grinned, trying to project confidence he clearly wasn’t feeling. “For sure, Noah.”

Valeria winked at Noah before glancing at Erwest. “Rutha won’t let me die too soon,” she said, “And I have things to do, y’know?” Erwest didn’t meet her gaze.

Seraphina chuckled too, “There’s so much magic I’ve got to learn, still! No way I’m going down here. You guys stay safe too, yes?”

Aurelia chuckled. “We will, Seph, we will.”

***

The lunar cultist’s energy pulsed around them more and more, the farther they ascended up the path. They’d chosen to not engage with most enemies, instead taking alternate paths or dodging according to the map—at least, until the corridor they were going in opened into a wider chamber.

Noah, thankfully, did not enter immediately, peeking from the side. His blood ran cold at what he saw. Three lunar spirits floated in the center of the room, their forms more solid and defined than any he'd encountered before. These were clearly at least as much if not stronger than the spirits they’d seen on the streets—these ones were clearly royal guards before they’d died, their ethereal bodies encased in spectral armor that gleamed with silver moonlight.

Behind them, twisted creatures that had also once been royal guards shambled in formation. The Watcher's influence had transformed them into something hideous—their eyes replaced with swirling galaxies of red cosmic void, their armor fused with their flesh, and their weapons crackling with energy.

"Blessed Hellion," Erwest breathed, his sword already blazing with holy light.

Aurelia gasped too, but she readied herself, clearly ready to attack.

The world slowed down around Noah as he examined his surroundings. The chamber was roughly circular, with their tunnel entrance at one end and the exit they needed at the other. No cover, no alternate routes. They'd have to fight their way through.

"Let’s take the corrupted guards first," Noah said, feeling his heart beat faster at the thought of a battle, making a manic grin take over. "Then, we’ll target the spirits. They are vulnerable to your holy magic, Erwest, and you should be able disrupt them easily with your flames, Aurelia. Not to mention with my chains… The spirits should be easy."

The battle erupted the moment they stepped into the chamber.

The first corrupted guard rushed forward with inhuman speed, its lade crackling with silver cosmic fire as it swung toward Noah's head. Noah triggered Arcane Step, his form blurring as he phased through the attack and reappeared behind the guard. His runic chains erupted from his arms, the enchanted links wrapping around the guard's corrupted form with binding force.

The guard thrashed against the chains, its energy sparking and failing as he absorbed it. Noah channeled Void Annihilation through his spear, the weapon's tip blazing with destructive energy as he thrust it into the guard's back. The void energy tore through the corrupted armor like paper, causing the twisted being to let out a wretched wail before collapsing.

But the other two guards were already moving. The second one flanked left while the third went right, trying to overwhelm Noah with coordinated attacks. He spun his spear in a wide arc, the weapon's reach forcing them to maintain distance while he backed toward his companions.

Aurelia met the second guard with a roar of fury. The guard's blade met her burning fist, and the collision sent shockwaves through the chamber.

The guard's strength was formidable, but Aurelia's berserker rage made her relentless. She ducked under a sweeping strike, her movement fluid despite her bulk, and drove her flame-wreathed elbow into the guard's corrupted midsection. The energy surrounding the guard flickered and died as her fire burned through him.

Erwest engaged the third guard with divine precision. His sword blazed with pure white light as he parried the creature's desperate attacks, each strike calculated to maximize the purifying effect of his holy magic. The guard's corrupted armor began to crack and splinter under the assault, unable to withstand the concentrated divine energy.

"By Hellion's grace, be cleansed!" Erwest shouted, his blade describing a perfect arc that caught the guard across its chest. The corrupted guard screamed before he simply faded into ash.

All of this was done within a second.

Noah then turned towards the encroaching spirits, letting his chains run wild around him as he grinned.

***

This process repeated multiple times as they pressed on through the tunnels—encountering a few groups of corrupted guards and spirits that they dispatched with growing efficiency. The closer they got to the king’s chamber, the more oppressive the atmosphere became, until the very air seemed to pulse with energy.

As they were about to pass by a door, Noah paused. Through the stone walls, they could hear something that made his blood run cold—chanting in a language that seemed to bypass the ears and speak directly to the soul.

"Lunar cultists," Erwest whispered, his holy aura flickering in response to the dark magic. "They're performing some kind of ritual."

Noah peeked through the gap the stone ‘door’ provided at its edge, looking inside.

The passage opened into a vast circular chamber that had clearly been carved out specifically for ceremonial purposes. At the center, thirteen robed figures stood in a perfect circle around a massive altar made of what looked like silver crystals. The cultists were chanting in unison, their voices making reality itself seem to bend and warp.

But it was what floated above the altar that made Noah's breath catch in his throat.

A spirit was being born from pure lunar energy—not a corrupted soul like the others they'd encountered, but something that had never been human at all. It was massive, easily three times the height of a man, its form constantly shifting between solid matter and raw magical energy. It had eight eyes like a genie arachnid, and the sheer cold it was emanating was so potent that Noah could feel it despite being outside the chamber itself.

The lead cultist, his hood thrown back to reveal a face covered in silver tattoos that seemed to move and writhe across his skin, raised his arms toward the manifestation. "Come, Selethara, herald of the Silver Void!" he proclaimed, his voice sounding like a thousand people speaking at once. "Through you, the barriers between realms shall be shattered, and the lunar dominion shall reign supreme! Through you, we shall achieve the true dream!"

Noah realized with growing horror that if this spirit was summoned, then it would likely wreak proper havoc—not only just a pain to deal with, but something that could genuinely kill them.

"We have to stop them," Noah whispered urgently. "If that thing fully manifests—"

"The ritual is nearly complete," Erwest said as he pushed him aside and looked through the gap, his voice tight with concern. "Look at the altar," Saying so he moved aside and gestured for Noah to do so.

The crystals were beginning to pulse with increasing intensity, and cracks were appearing in the air itself around the spirit. Each pulse sent waves of cold mana through the chamber, and Noah could feel even his own body straining against the assault.

"Thirteen cultists, one cosmic horror," Noah said quickly, his enhanced eyes already analyzing the chamber's layout, allowing him to form a plan. "Should be doable. We need to disrupt the circle before—"

The lead cultist's silver tattoos flared with light as his gaze fixed on their position. "Interlopers!" he snarled, "You dare interrupt the sacred transformation? Kill them! Feed their life force to great Selethara!" As he said so, he lifted his hand and pushed, making the stone door act like a projectile that shot out.

If not for their quick reflexes that made all of them leap to the side, at least one of them—with how close they’d been standing to the door—would have turned into bloody mush.