Chapter 159

Chapter 159
Alexander's POV

Deep within the Greater Caucasus Mountains, the wind cut like a blade through bare rock. This was the Arctic Wolf Clan's most ancient forbidden ground, a frozen abyss forgotten by the world.

I knelt alone on the layers of frozen earth, my hands long since torn and bleeding. But I felt no pain—only mechanical, frenzied digging until my fingertips touched that ice-cold, biting stone.

It was a Wolf Crystal Soul Stone, sealed for three hundred years.

Through the clouded surface, I could clearly see fine, sand-like golden particles swirling within.

That was the wolf spirit of the Gold Wolf Clan's last Luna—the resentment and power of one betrayed by my ancestors and forcibly imprisoned here.

Three hundred years ago, the Gold Wolf and Arctic Wolf Clans had been bloodlines intertwined. We hunted together in the bitter cold, shared glory beneath the blazing sun.

Yet the Gold Wolves' overwhelming power eventually sparked fear in the Arctic Wolf ancestors. They dreaded that bloodline capable of quelling all frenzy, and feared even more what would happen if such power spiraled beyond control.

So they listened to a witch's slander. On that snow-torn night, they lured the Luna with her sacred golden wolf spirit to this place, using this soul stone to forcibly extract her essence and imprison it.

Stripped of their guardian, the Gold Wolf Clan descended into uncontrolled madness overnight.

Their bloodline passed down through generations, carrying the curse with it.

This was a deadlock.

The only solution: sacrifice the wolf spirit of a pureblooded Arctic Lycan King to exchange for that ancient soul trapped in stone.

Life for life. Blood for blood.

"Fiona..."

I murmured her name and drove my boiling wolf spirit against that frozen soul stone without hesitation.

The agony of having one's soul torn apart, extracted, forcibly stuffed into another vessel—

I saw Darius's final look of shock. I watched as his form was gradually compressed, trapped within that small, confined space.

I had no other choice.

...

I bolted upright in bed, gasping for air.

Outside the window, the palace dawn was breaking.

That nightmare had been six months ago now.

That brutal, decisive ritual. That sacrifice known to no one.

I walked to the mirror and looked at the pale yet still imposing man reflected there.

My disguise was flawless. With Cyril and Fendia's full cooperation, the entire kingdom still believed their Alpha King remained supreme, strategizing from on high.

No one knew that within this shell, the wolf spirit had been completely sealed away...

But that didn't matter.

Over these six months, news from the Underground City had flowed steadily back to the palace. I knew Fiona had established order there, built schools, even raised an army of her own.

I knew she wouldn't disappoint me. She would stand at power's summit, looking down upon all.

She would become the alpha everyone willingly submitted to—not through bloody violence, not even through dependence on the Arctic Wolf family.

A knock interrupted my thoughts.

"Come in."

I coughed lightly, swallowing that familiar, weak taste of blood.

Mother pushed through the door, brow furrowed, expression anxious.

"Alexander, have you been in contact with Diana recently?"

I paused, picking up the cold tea on the table. "No. Isn't she on a graduation trip north with classmates?"

Mother's voice trembled slightly. "I haven't been able to reach her for three days. Her mental link seems completely severed."

The teacup in my hand shattered with a crack. I couldn't even dodge in time—shards sliced my ankle, drawing blood.

Not daring to let Mother see this fragility worse than a human's, I stepped back.

"Severed?"

Diana was pure royal blood. Her mental link was extremely stable, unless...

That afternoon, Cyril's people gave me a definitive answer.

Diana's last known location—

Was the Underground City.

Or rather, what should now be called Sunlight City.

Fiona had renamed it. That name represented her aspirations and ambitions—a people and regime destined one day to walk in the light.

She believed it so deeply, worked toward it so diligently.

"Why would Diana go there?"

Guilt crashed over me like a tide. These past six months, busy suppressing the internal backlash, busy maintaining appearances at court, I'd truly neglected this sister for far too long.

"Could it be she missed Fiona too much? They were close, like Kelly is with her."

Cyril thought of his own wife, constantly talking about Fiona. Honestly, he was somewhat worried about her emotional fluctuations during pregnancy.

I stood, grabbing the coat draped over my chair. "Arrange the official guard. I'm going myself."

"Your Majesty."

Cyril's brow immediately furrowed. "Your condition isn't suitable for such a long journey, let alone entering that chaotic place. Let me arrange an elite squad..."

"To go as spies?"

I cut him off, my gaze unwaveringly firm.

"This matter requires my personal attention."

Only I understood the true significance of going there.

Its meaning for me, and its meaning for Fiona.

The convoy stopped on the wasteland five kilometers from Sunlight City.

To avoid unnecessary panic, I dismissed the main force, keeping only twenty of the most elite shadow guards to approach that once-defiled place without a sound.

When I stood on the high ground and looked through my monocular telescope at this city's true form for the first time, my breath caught.

The once-exposed rock walls had been reinforced into orderly ramparts, gray boulders stacked into an impregnable defensive system. Outside the city gates, the previously muddy roads had been paved with smooth stone slabs, and the drainage ditches on both sides were designed with remarkable precision, completely solving the water accumulation problem.

What shocked me even more were the guards.

No longer ragged exiles with clouded eyes, but a disciplined army.

They wore uniform dark blue uniforms, carried regulation weapons, stood straight as pines. Those mixed-bloods once trampled in humble dust—on their faces I saw not a trace of servility. Instead, there was an expression that felt foreign to me: dignity.

Yes, dignity.

"Is this... the world she created?"

I murmured, fingers gripping the telescope's edge tightly.

My gaze slowly rose, finally fixing on the flagpole atop the highest gate.

There flew an enormous banner.

The flag's base was deep indigo, symbolizing the Underground City's eternal night; and at the flag's center was a golden bird spreading its wings for flight.

The Freedom Bird.

The emblem of the Gold Wolf Clan.

The Freedom Bird snapping in the wind seemed ready in the next second to break through this oppressive darkness and soar toward the vast sky.

In that moment, my heart surged with violent emotion—an indescribable mix of pride and bitterness tightening in my chest.

I wanted to turn and shout into the empty void behind me: "Darius! Do you see? This is her!"

I wanted to see those eyes of his, always carrying a teasing smile, show shock. Wanted to hear him say in that lazy drawl, "Hey, looks like you really struck gold this time. This little golden wolf is even more dazzling than you imagined."

But my heart was hollow and empty.

Only the howling wind, stirring up the yellow sand.

I instinctively pressed my hand to my chest.

There should have been a burning, beating wolf spirit heart. There should have been Darius's chattering soul resonating with mine.

But now, there was only a void.

Wind poured in, making a mournful echo, as if mocking my foolish delusions.

Darius would never appear again.