Chapter 209: The Pale Court

The darkness lasted exactly one heartbeat.

Then, the heavy black air shattered, and Nathan stepped into a massive, blindingly pale hall. The floor was made of smooth white stone, polished so perfectly it looked like a frozen mirror reflecting their boots. The high walls were lined with massive, hanging tapestries that didn’t just hang there—the threads shifted and crawled, moving like living pictures. The ceiling was lost in a thick, grey fog high above.

At the very back of the hall, sitting casually on a throne made of smooth, twisted white bone, was a figure.

It wasn’t the Shepherd. Not the real one. Nathan’s [Hunter’s Insight] told him that immediately. This was just another mask. Another puppet. But it was vastly more powerful than the Emissary they had killed in the ruins. This thing was solid. Real.

It wore clean, pale robes draped over a tall, skinny frame. Long, bone-white hair fell around a face that looked almost human. Almost. The skin was too smooth, and the eyes were completely wrong. They were pitch black, ancient, and totally empty.

"Nathan Cross," the figure said.

The voice was soft, almost polite. But it echoed through the giant hall like dry leaves scraping across a tombstone.

"You have walked a very long way," the vessel continued, resting its pale chin on its hand. "Through so many broken Worlds. Through so much pain and dirt. And now, here you finally are. Standing at the dead center of it all."

Nathan didn’t say a word. He raised Moonlight, locking his grip on the silver riser. The party immediately fanned out behind him, forming a tight combat wedge. Garrett planted his boots, Elise raised her glowing staff, and Dillon drew his katana with a sharp clack.

"Are you the Shepherd?" Nathan demanded.

The pale figure gave a slow, terrible smile. "I am what the Shepherd chooses to let you see. A fragment. A puppet. The true Shepherd is... busy elsewhere. But I will do just fine for right now."

"Where is he?" Nathan stepped forward, his B-Rank core humming warmly to fight off the freezing pressure of the room. "I’m sick of talking to pieces of him!."

"Patience, little rabbit king. You will meet him soon enough. But first..." The vessel slowly stood up from the bone throne. It didn’t move like a person. It moved with the slow, lazy confidence of a predator looking at trapped food. "First, I really want to understand you. Why do you keep fighting? Why do you keep trying to climb? Why do you absolutely refuse to break?"

Nathan kept Moonlight aimed dead at the thing’s chest. "Because we actually have something worth fighting for. But you wouldn’t understand what that means."

"Oh, I understand it perfectly," the vessel said smoothly. "I understand sacrifice. I understand loyalty. I understand love." It tilted its head, its black eyes locking onto Nathan. "I just see them for what they really are. Weaknesses. Heavy chains tying you to a world that is about to burn to ash."

’He is stalling,’ Kuro’s voice sliced through Nathan’s mind. She was already melted into the shadows near the pillars. ’This body is just a shield. He is trying to buy time for something.’

’I agree,’ Shiro added, her golden eyes burning. ’The Young Lord should strike right now, before he springs the trap.’

Nathan knew they were right. The Shepherd was a god of rot and ruin. If he was standing around talking, he was hiding something.

"We’re done here," Nathan said coldly. "We came here to end this war. Not to chat."

The figure let out a soft, hissing laugh. "Fair enough. But before you try to kill me, there is one last secret you really need to hear."

The vessel lazily waved a pale hand.

All along the walls, the living tapestries began to spin and shift. The threads rapidly rewove themselves into massive pictures. Nathan recognized them instantly. It was the Tower of Beginnings. The bloody fight with Derek. The brutal Cleansing of Ashwick. The Sunken Temple. The Shattered Throne. His entire life, perfectly painted in silk and thread.

"I have been watching you since the very first day, Nathan Cross," the vessel said, stepping down from the platform. "Since long before you becane a Climber even. Do you remember the corrupted portal in the flower field? The voice that whispered to you in the Frozen Throne? That was me. I wasn’t just watching you. I was guiding you. Testing you. Aiming you."

The vessel’s terrible smile grew wider. "You didn’t get here by accident, boy. You are standing in this room because I wanted you here."

Nathan’s blood went ice cold. "What are you talking about?"

"I am saying that every single thing you have done—every monster you killed, every Tower you survived, every friend you saved—was just leading up to this exact moment. You are the final piece on the board, Nathan. You are the key I have been waiting for."

The team shifted nervously behind him. Garrett’s heavy grip tightened on Volcan. "What key?" He growled. "What the hell are you talking about?"

The vessel’s black eyes gleamed with cruel amusement. "The Bunny Girl System. The Demi-Beasts." It pointed a long, bony finger directly at Mirko. "The little fragments of a dead race that you have been carrying in you since the day you woke up. Did you really think they were a gift? A random prize?"

Nathan felt the words hit him like a physical punch to the gut.

"They were never meant for you," the vessel said softly. "They belong to me."

"No," Nathan said, his voice hard. "They are my summons. They are my partners. They are my family."

"They are food," the vessel corrected him sharply. "I consumed the Demi-Beast empire centuries ago. I ate their world. But a few tiny fragments of their souls managed to escape the fire. They scattered across the Babel Towers, hiding deep in the cracks of the system where I couldn’t reach them. The ’System’ you use was just a pathetic escape pod. A way to keep their souls hidden from me."

The pale figure took another step forward. "But you did all the hard work for me. You leveled them up. You brought them out of the dark. And now, you have delivered them right to my front door. I am going to take them back, and I am going to finish my meal."

VWOOSH.

Mirko didn’t hesitate. She stepped right past Nathan, shifting fully into her human form. Her new C-Rank muscles coiled tightly, and Dragon’s Fang exploded into a blinding pillar of wyrm-fire.

"Hmph! You are not taking anything!" Mirko roared, her pink eyes burning with pure, unadulterated rage. "We are not food! We are not tools! We are the Bunny Girl Legion, and we will never, ever bow to you!"

Kuro melted out of the polished floor right beside her, her Veilweave Daggers already drawn and fading in and out of reality. "We have fought you from the shadows since the beginning. We will fight you until the bitter end."

Shiro stepped up on Nathan’s other side. She triggered [Dragonification] instantly. Bright gold scales rippled across her arms, and her wings of golden light snapped open, filling the room with intense, boiling heat. "The true dragon’s fire burns inside us. You cannot put it out."

The pale vessel just smiled again. "We will see about that."

It slowly raised both of its hands.

The shadows in the massive hall suddenly came alive. The mirror-polished floor turned black. Figures began stepping out of the dark corners, Watchers. Dozens and dozens of them. They wore dirty white robes, their empty faces totally blank as they surrounded the party in a massive circle.

And from the darkness behind the Throne, something much larger began to move. The ground actually shook. THUD. THUD. A massive, twisted shape made of jagged bone and black smoke was pulling itself into the light.

"The Shepherd’s personal army," Smithy said quietly, drawing his weapons. His new dark armor shifted slightly as he readied himself to phase. "We are completely surrounded."

Nathan looked at his team. They were outnumbered. They were standing in the heart of the enemy’s own stronghold.

But nobody took a step back.

"Then we fight," Nathan said.

He reached over his shoulder and pulled a single arrow from his quiver. Not a normal mana arrow.

It was the Shepherd’s Bane.

The second the bone-white arrow cleared his quiver, the room reacted. The shifting runes on the shaft glowed with a harsh, violent light that physically pushed the shadows away. The jagged, dark arrowhead hummed so loudly it sounded like a screaming engine.

Nathan locked it onto Moonlight’s string and pulled it back to his cheek.

The vessel’s cocky smile vanished instantly. For the very first time, the ancient, empty black eyes looked genuinely shocked. A flash of pure panic crossed the puppet’s face.

"That arrow," the vessel hissed, taking a quick step backward. "Where did you get that?"

"A very good friend," Nathan said, staring straight down the glowing shaft. "One of the many people you completely underestimated."

He pulled the string back another half-inch. The silver bow groaned under the pressure. The runes on the arrow blazed blindingly bright.

"This is for the Ashen Expanse," Nathan said, his voice ringing through the silent hall. "This is for the Verdant Depths. This is for the Shattered Throne. This is for every single life you threw away."

The vessel threw its hands up, and the dozens of Watchers surged forward all at once.

But Nathan was already opening his fingers.

SNAP.

The Shepherd’s Bane ripped through the air.