"What have you done?" Leon asked again.
His friend’s hand stayed near the seal, and he was avoiding meet Leon’s eyes. In all their years of friendship, Leon had rarely saw him like this.
"You invited me here under false pretenses," Leon said, squinting his eyebrows. "You cleared the headquarters, then sealed it, and cut off my way home. What are you planning?"
His friend finally looked at him. "I wanted you to listen before you decided to walk away."
"You could have asked me to listen."
"I have asked you for years." His voice tightened, but he kept it low. But every time, you had refused."
Leon stared at him as their old friendship made the betrayal harder to accept. "So this is what our friendship has come to?"
He could not meet Leon’s eyes, and turned from Leon and took a long breath, preparing for the next words. "Join my guild, Leon. I’m asking for the last time."
Leon almost laughed. They had circled this argument for years, usually ending with an insult and a shared drink. But his friend did not smile now.
"You sealed an entire compound just to ask me that?" Leon said.
"It isn’t just me asking anymore."
As soon as he said that, multiple presences were detected by Leon. The chamber’s door opened, and four people walked inside.
Leon recognized the insignias of the continent’s largest guilds. And more powerful presences were also settled outside, spreading through the compound. This had not been arranged by one guild alone.
His friend remained by the table, looking at him guiltily.
"The guilds have tolerated your independence long enough," said Varek, a broad guild master whose silver crest marked his authority.
"You take individual commissions, refuse our offers, and encourage others to do the same. Many adventurers who once understood the value of a guild now believe they can stand alone because you have made a life of it."
"I’ve never asked anyone to follow me," Leon replied. "They made their own choices."
"And those choices weaken the order that gives the guilds their influence."
"Then perhaps your influence was always weaker than you thought."
A few faces hardened. His friend closed his eyes briefly, as though he had expected Leon to say exactly that and wished he had not.
"We offered you a place among us," Serik said from the side. "You could have been respected, protected, and rewarded. But, you made a mockery of every guild that tried to bring you in. Now others point to you whenever they wish to reject our authority."
"So you gathered your armies to force me into one?" Leon asked. "Or did you bring me here to kill me?"
No one answered immediately, their silence already answering some questions. Leon looked back at his friend. "You knew from the start."
Darian jaw tightened before he spoke. "Yes, they intended to take your family hostage to force your hand, but they would release them once you agree. I thought if you came here and understood how serious this had become, you might finally accept."
"You brought me here so they could corner me." Leon’s voice had lost its warmth. "You let me leave my family believing I was visiting a friend." His friend flinched, but he did not deny it.
Then Varek raised his hand, and a projection formed above the table.
Leon saw his home, or a room within it. Mira and Lyra were pressed close, and many armed figures blocked the doors and surrounded the whole place. The essence restraints were bound to their wrists.
Mira was exhausted and bloodied. She fought against these army of soul forge warriors but she was cornered when their daughter were captured. His daughter’s face was pale, but she was trying to stand.
For a breath, Leon could not understand what he was seeing. Then his wife turned toward the person holding the projection, and she went still.
"Let them go." The words came out quietly. "This has nothing to do with them."
"You said they were only being held as a guarantee. You said no harm would come to them," his friend said, turning towards the others.
"They are a guarantee," one of them replied. "His cooperation would have kept them alive."
Leon searched for a path home, testing every point he could reach, but the seal was like an unbreakable barrier.
Leon struck the seal with his power, but before he could try again, Malrec, another guild master, warned, "Destroying it will take time, and the moment we sense the seal weakening, your family dies." Leon stopped, his gaze fixed on the projection.
"Tell me what you want," Leon said, almost in a pleading tone. "You want me to join? I’ll join. You want my commissions, my territory, or my treasures? I will give you all, but let them go first."
His friend stared at Leon, he had never seen Leon like this. "Release them," Darian insisted. "You have his answer. There is no need to take this further."
"We did not gather five guilds and their armies to leave a loose end," the other master replied. "If he lives, he remains a threat. If his family lives, they remain a threat too."
"That was not the agreement." His friend stepped between the man and the projection. "I agreed to bring Leon here. I did not agree to murder his wife and child."
"You agreed to secure the future of the guilds."
"Not like this!"
Varek gave a small gesture. In the projection, one of the guards seized Leon’s daughter. Her mother fought to reach her, but another guard forced her back.
Leon was forcing his way out with everything he could release, but the chamber’s seal swallowed the force he had held. He could see them clearly. He could hear them, but could do nothing.
His friend lunged toward the table, but Malrec and Odran intercepted him. "Stop them!" he shouted, struggling against their grip. "You have what you came for. Don’t do this!"
But the orders were already given, and the guards moved.
Leon watched Mira fight long enough to pull Lyra against her, shielding her with her own body. She looked down at her, holding her close as one of the guard raised his weapon.
The strike came down before Leon could force another breath into his lungs. His wife collapsed around the child she had tried to protect. Their daughter’s small hand slipped from her mother’s grasp, and neither rose again.
The projection remained until Leon had seen enough to know there could be no mistake, then the projection ended. For a moment, he did not move. The room and the masters faded behind as the image of his wife and his daughter surfaced in his mind. He had kissed his wife’s forehead and promised to return.
Then, he slowly looked back at the man who had stood in his home, shared the meals, and watched his daughter grow.
Leon’s power erupted all at once. The guild chamber started shaking and the runes shattered under his pressure. He had lost everything he once held dear, and there was no threats, no promises, and nothing to hold him back.