Aetheric Chronicles: Reborn As An Extra-Chapter 567: (Don’t Read Yet)

Sia clenched her jaw. "Enlighten me."

The traitor exhaled, as if this was all so exhausting. "Loyalty? What is that to someone who has already lost everything? You spoke of reclaiming our home, but deep down, we both knew that was nothing more than a dream." He gestured at the Black Star Lord. "He promised me something real."

Sia's nails dug into her palms.

A dream? That was all their struggle had been to him?

The Black Star Lord sighed dramatically. "Come now, Sia, don't take it so personally. A good strategist knows when to cut their losses." His crimson gaze flickered with amusement. "It's just a shame you never realized that until now."

Sia inhaled sharply, forcing herself to push past the rage curling in her chest.

The situation was dire, but she wasn't done yet.

Far from it.

A flick of her fingers sent a pulse through the communication link between her remaining forces.

A single command.

Survive.

No matter what.

Because she wasn't going to let it end here.

"Are you truly so confident?" she asked, lifting her chin. "You act as though you've already won."

The Black Star Lord chuckled. "Haven't I?" He extended a hand toward her. "Join me, Sia. We could do so much more together. You know it."

Her lips curled into a humorless smile.

He thought she was like Veyron. Thought she could be turned.

How foolish.

"Burn."

A single word—spoken not as a threat, but as a decree.

In the next instant, the darkness around her exploded into flames.

Her fire didn't spread like normal flames—it devoured.

The Black Star Lord's shadows recoiled, twisting away from the inferno. Some of his forces weren't fast enough—their forms were swallowed by the hungry flames, reduced to ash before they could even scream.

The Black Star Lord's smirk faltered for the first time.

Sia didn't waste the moment.

In a blink, she was gone.

Her body blurred, dashing forward with inhuman speed. Straight for the traitor.

Veyron barely had time to react before her blade was at his throat.

"Give me one good reason," she hissed, "why I shouldn't end you right here."

Veyron's expression remained calm, but she saw the flicker of something in his gaze.

Fear.

And the Black Star Lord—

He was smiling again.

Sia's instincts screamed at her.

Move.

But it was too late.

A shadow burst from Veyron's body—not his own.

A parasite. A hidden force lurking beneath his skin.

Sia barely managed to twist away before black tendrils lashed out, striking where she had stood a mere second ago.

She landed a few feet away, skidding to a stop.

Veyron exhaled, rolling his shoulders as the shadows coiled around him. "You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"

The Black Star Lord let out a low chuckle. "Ah, Sia. Always so dramatic. But you forget…"

The shadows surged again, pressing in from all sides.

"This is my domain."

And with a snap of his fingers—

The entire battlefield shifted.

The castle, the ruins, the very ground beneath them shattered, melting into an abyss of darkness.

And suddenly—

They were falling.

It was the one thing she had no knowledge of. The final mystery surrounding him.

He had never revealed his domain and had never used it in any previous battle, event. He was a four-star awakened, maybe even near peak level, and yet no one—not even the most trusted aides of his knew the full extent of his power.

A cold realization gripped her.

We may have already walked into his trap.

Her fingers clenched at her side as she sent a silent order through the communication link to her forces.

'Overwhelm them. Now.'

They had no time to waste. If there was even a chance that he was playing them, they had to end this as quickly as possible.

Even if it meant sacrificing the brainwashed ones.

'They aren't my people,' she told herself, a bitter truth she had long accepted. This wasn't their world. These weren't her citizens.

Not for long.

Today, it would end.

Either him, or her.

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Only one would remain.

—---

Sia stepped forward, her red eyes gleaming with cold determination as she closed the distance between them.

"Why do you still stand there, you fake?" she asked, voice sharp as a blade. "Your people are falling. Your constructs are dying. Your darkness is fading. Shouldn't you be running by now?"

His crimson eyes flickered, amusement still dancing in their depths. "Running? From you?" A soft chuckle escaped his lips. "Sia, Sia, Sia… I thought you were smarter than that."

Her jaw tightened.

She hated the way he said her name. Casual, almost affectionate, as if they were old friends sharing an inside joke instead of sworn enemies standing on a battlefield soaked in blood.

"I am not an idiot," she said coolly. "That's why I know you're stalling."

A pause.

Then he let out another laugh, shaking his head. "And yet, here you are, still playing right into my hands."

Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

He tilted his head, studying her like one might a particularly interesting puzzle. "Tell me, Sia," he murmured, voice almost gentle. "Did you ever stop to wonder why I let you get this far?"

Her breath caught for a fraction of a second.

No.