There are duels, and then there are Royal Duels—formalized, sanctioned by a House, and witnessed by elite nobility and high-command figures from the Kingdom's military and magical councils.
Sanctum rarely allows one. But Coren's defeat at the hands of a Threadless commoner? That was enough of a spark.
House Vastelune claimed House Honor Violation.
And invoked Duel Code Astra-Lumen, an ancient royal clause used only when a noble heir's loss threatens the perceived power of their bloodline.
Ari didn't even know such a rule existed.
Until they summoned him to the Court of Radiant Judgment.
It wasn't the usual training platform.
This one was shaped like a starburst—eight points hovering around a central disk, all powered by radiant spell-core engines and guarded by celestial constructs. Everything shimmered in polished gold and sharp runework.
Ari stood at the center in reinforced dueling leathers—hastily stitched and wholly outclassed.
In the crowd:
General Cindrel of the Flameguard Legion Magister Thyas of the Royal Spell-Echelon.Five House heads, including a representative from the Duskreign and Obelmar families.And, high in a balcony of white marble, the Crown's Watcher: a silent figure representing the royal family itself.
And somewhere below, trying to look invisible: Cerys Aetherrose, arms crossed, seething.
The Challenger: Lysira Vastelune
Name: Lysira Vastelune
Rank: Ascendant Duelist, Luxthread Specialist
Age: 17
Status: Heiress Proxy of House Vastelune
Affinity: Radiant Sigilcraft, Judgmental Light, Dispel Shaping
Lysira floated down in a trail of cascading golden glyphs, her long silver hair braided with light threads. Her armor glowed with divine radiance, each step echoing with choir-toned sigils.
"I am Lysira of Vastelune," she spoke. "Bearer of House Flame and Law. You, Ari Solen, have struck our bloodline unprovoked. You will answer under Astra-Lumen."
Ari looked up, steady. "Coren challenged me."
"Irrelevant. He was not defeated in combat. He was humiliated. That is blood-debt."
Threadless Condition: Ari is forbidden from using any spell not registered through official channels. His Echo System is locked to Level 1 mimicry unless reactivated under extreme stress.Time Limit: 10 minutes.Stakes
If Ari loses: banishment from Sanctum, memory-locking enchantment, and full severance of his magic connection.
If Lysira loses: House Vastelune faces formal House Audit, risking military favor.
Lysira opened with a Judgment Halo, a complex Luxthread construct that created a rotating ring of lightblades and displacement runes. Each glyph struck faster than most could see.
Ari dodged, slid, but couldn't block all of them. A blade sliced across his arm—light burned instead of bled. His system stuttered.
ALERT: Internal damage approaching sync threshold
Suggestion: Activate System Echo Tree: Tier II [LOCKED]
"Come now," Lysira said coldly. "You're not even worth the echo of your defiance."
Then it happened.
As Ari stumbled, memories not his own flickered—visions of spellforms, voices, runes spiraling from dreamlogic.
Override Detected
—Echo Tree Tier II: UNLOCKED via Adversarial Stress—
New Ability: Spellfract Mirror
New Protocol: Glitchcasting (Low Stability)
Ari didn't cast back—he reflected. A copied version of Lysira's own radiant blade struck outward, reversed in polarity.
Lysira's ward flared, but cracked.
"He's mimicking live-cast code—that's impossible."
Ari moved, not faster, but smarter. He used incomplete glyphs—half-spells, broken logic strings. Attacks that shouldn't work, yet did, because the system recognized intention over design.
But Lysira wasn't an heir for nothing.
She shed her outer shell—a Luxthread technique called Radiant Unbinding—and revealed her inner spellframe: pure condensed light surrounding her like an angelic wraith.
"If I burn your name from the record," she said, "does your system remember who you were?"
Ari was forced to his knees. Health critical. No mana left. Even Echo Memory began fragmenting.
System Failing...
And then a glitch:
NEW INPUT DETECTED.
EXTERNAL SIGNATURE SYNCED: [Aetherrose Vector]
Cerys Aetherrose: Observation Link Triggered
Somehow—just watching him—Cerys activated a shared memory-thread.
Spell Construct Rebuilt: AERIS.PULSE.FOUR (Stabilized)
Glitchcasting Efficiency Increased 14%
"I don't need a Thread," he muttered. "I'm not a branch from a bloodline tree."
"I'm the root system they forgot was still alive."
His last spell fractured the arena platform—not in power, but precision. It knocked Lysira off balance just enough to cancel her finishing spell.
Ari didn't win.
But he didn't lose.
"Stalemate," declared the Crown's Watcher. "Per Astra-Lumen, both parties retain position. No loss. No gain."
Lysira bowed—barely. Her pride scorched.
Ari collapsed.
Back in the infirmary, Cerys sat beside his bed.
"You're insane," she whispered.
"I'm alive."
"You broke Duel Code logic. Half those nobles want your system dissected."
"Let them try," he said, closing his eyes. "I've got more echoes left than they have rules."