SSS- Rank Awakening: Soul Devourer

The name hung in the air of the command center. Heavy and cold as a tombstone. Seraphina.

The princess. The prodigy. The woman of principle who had stood between him and the Inquisition. Not for his sake. For the sake of an innocent girl. She was a symbol of the very order he was fighting. Yet she possessed an integrity the rest of her world seemed to lack. And now she was the lamb being led to the slaughter.

Edward's mind raced. Processing the tactical nightmare. A dungeon breach of that magnitude in the capital would be an extinction-level event. Not just kill millions. It would be a decisive victory for the Oblivion Core. A foothold from which it could spread its corruption. He could not let it happen. His vow to protect the innocent demanded it.

"We have to stop them," Fenris growled. She slammed a gauntleted fist on the table. "We find them, we smash them. Easy."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Selene countered. Her voice was sharp. "My best agent just went dark. We don't know the location of the ritual. We don't know their numbers. We don't know their security. If we move Asylum, the entire capital will know we are here. If we send a strike team in blind, they'll be walking into a meat grinder. The cult has eyes everywhere. They'll see us coming a mile away."

She was right. A direct assault was suicide. They were ghosts in the Undercrown. Any overt move would bring the full wrath of the city down upon them. They were trapped. They had the knowledge to prevent an apocalypse but were powerless to act.

Edward stared at the map. At the glowing icons representing the Royal Palace and the Grand Cathedral. He needed a way to get a message to the surface. A way to warn someone with the power to act. The Inquisition was out. They were either compromised or would see any warning as a trick. The Royal Guard was an option. But getting through their layers of command and bureaucracy would take days they didn't have.

He was left with only one option. One insane, desperate, and impossibly risky option. He had to go to the source. He had to warn the target.

"Selene," Edward said. His voice cut through the tense silence. "Can you get a message to her?"

Selene stared at him. As if he had just suggested they try to fly. "To the Princess? Edward, she's the most heavily guarded woman in the kingdom. Her chambers are warded against all magical communication. Her food is tasted. Her air is filtered. Getting a message to her is harder than getting a love letter to the moon."

"I don't need a letter," Edward said. His plan solidified in his mind. "I need a meeting. Face to face."

The silence that followed was even more profound. Sarah looked at him with wide, terrified eyes. Fenris just looked confused. She couldn't understand why he wanted to talk to the enemy instead of punching them.

"Even if I could," Selene said slowly. Spelling out the insanity of his request. "Even if I could find a blind spot in their security, a forgotten servant's passage… why would she ever agree to meet you? You are the most wanted man in the world. To her, you are the kingdom's greatest enemy. She would see it as a trap."

"She will come," Edward stated. A certainty that surprised even himself. "Because she is not a fool. She is a strategist. She knows something is wrong in the kingdom. She saw the corruption in the Inquisition firsthand. She will recognize the truth." He looked at Selene. His gaze was intense. "Find a way. It's the only move we have."

Selene held his gaze for a long moment. She let out a slow, resigned sigh. "This will cost me every favor I have left in this city," she said. "And if this goes wrong, we are all dead." She turned to her console and began to type. Her fingers were a blur. "Give me two hours."

Two hours later, a coded message, passed through a chain of sewer-dwelling orphans and bribed laundry maids, reached one of Seraphina's most trusted handmaidens. The message was simple and unsigned. It named a time—midnight. And a place. The abandoned and supposedly haunted old observatory at the highest point of the Royal Palace. It contained only one other piece of information. A single, crudely drawn symbol of an unblinking eye.

That night, Edward waited. He stood alone in the observatory's dusty main chamber. Cold moonlight streamed through a crack in the domed ceiling. The air was thick with the smell of old paper and decay. He wore no armor. Only a simple, dark tunic. His Sovereign blades were strapped to his back. A silent declaration of his identity and his intent. He was not here as a skulking assassin. He was here as a king meeting a princess.

He heard the faint scrape of a stone behind him. He didn't turn.

"You are either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish to request this meeting, Soul Devourer," a calm, clear voice said from the shadows.

Princess Seraphina stepped into the moonlight. She was not in royal silks. But in practical, dark leather armor. A gleaming rapier was held loosely in her hand. Two of her elite Royal Guards stood behind her in the doorway.

"The feeling is mutual, Your Highness," Edward replied. He finally turned to face her.

Her sharp, analytical eyes swept over him. No fear in her expression. Only a guarded curiosity. "You sent me this," she said. She held up a small piece of parchment with the eye drawn on it. "Explain."

Edward didn't waste time. He laid out everything he knew. The cult. Their worship of the Core. The kidnappings. Their ultimate plan to sacrifice her to tear a hole in reality. He presented her with a copy of the data Selene had found. The ancient texts. The list of influential members. He spoke with a cold, factual clarity. Presenting the information not as a plea, but as a battlefield assessment.

Seraphina listened. Her expression never changed. She took the data-slate he offered and scanned its contents. Her eyes moved rapidly. The mind of the prodigy at work. Absorbing. Analyzing. Searching for flaws.

When she finished, she looked up. Her gaze was piercing. "This is an elaborate story. The names on this list… are some of the most respected figures in the kingdom. You present this with no proof other than your word and data that could easily be fabricated. Why should I believe you? This could all be a trick to sow chaos."

"Because you have already seen the signs," Edward said simply. "You've seen the Inquisition's blind fanaticism. You've felt the rot at the heart of the court. You know something is wrong. I'm just giving it a name."

She was silent for a long time. Her mind at war. Her duty, her training, her entire life had taught her that he was the enemy. The monster. But the evidence, combined with her own suspicions, was undeniable. To trust him was treason. To ignore him could mean the death of millions.

Finally, she lowered her rapier. But did not sheathe it. "If you are right," she said, her voice tight with the weight of her decision, "and we stop this… what then?"

"Then the world will be safer," Edward replied.

"That is not what I asked," she said. Her eyes locked onto his. "This would make us temporary allies. But our war does not end here. You are still a fugitive. A heretic. A threat to the order I am sworn to uphold."

She took a step forward. The tip of her blade rested lightly on the stone floor.

"If I help you," she declared, her voice ringing with the authority of her royal blood, "you must give me your word. When the cult is dealt with, when the immediate threat is gone… you must surrender to me for judgment. No tricks, no escapes. You will face the justice of the crown. Swear it."