All Chapters of Bankrupting the Alpha: Crowned by the Dragon King: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Sol POV We had searched everywhere. Three days. Three days of tearing through the academy grounds, interrogating prisoners, tracking every possible lead we could find. And nothing. No Maxwell. No Eclipse cell. No insider. No clue where Aella had been taken. I was going insane. I paced back and forth beneath the Imperial Tower, my boots ringing sharply against the metal flooring of the underground structure. We had dismantled almost every hidden passage and chamber beneath the academy, but this one felt different. Older. Deliberate. Empty. Completely empty. Except for two rune-covered posts standing in the center of the chamber. They were tall black pillars carved with spiraling symbols that faintly glowed against the dim lighting of the underground hall. The runes pulsed slowly, like a heartbeat buried deep in the stone. I had never seen runes like these before. My first thought had been ritual. Something ceremonial. Something Eclipse related. Maybe a sacrifice p

Sol POV Everyone had gathered in the Silver Tower. Specifically, in Aella’s penthouse. It felt wrong being there without her. The place still smelled like her—pine forests, cold mountain air, and the faint metallic edge of the shadows she commanded. The scent made my chest tighten. Three days. Three days without a trace. We were all leaning over the large table in the center of the room, studying the ancient parchment Pamela and Molly had translated from the Sanctuary archives. The instructions for the Bond Trial were written in a script so old that half the symbols had required interpretation. But now we understood enough. Enough to try. “The ceremony must take place where the ley lines converge,” Pamela read again, her finger tracing the faded ink. Linus glanced at the map beside the parchment. “That’s the Silver Pack lands,” he said. “Always has been.” I nodded. The heart of the Highlands. The place where Aella’s power had always felt strongest. But that wasn’t th

Aella POV My shadows slipped deeper into the prison. They moved silently through cracks in the stone, sliding along walls and beneath heavy steel doors like threads of living night. And then they found him. Maxwell stood in the center of a massive underground chamber. The room was carved directly into the bedrock beneath the prison, its walls covered in old runes that pulsed faintly with crimson light. At the center of the chamber, a ritual circle had been etched into the floor. Blood filled the grooves. Maxwell stood barefoot inside it, shirtless, his skin carved with fresh ritual markings. The cuts along his chest and arms were still bleeding, feeding the circle beneath him. Around him, several women were strapped into iron chairs. Their wrists were bound above their heads. Thin glass tubes ran from their arms, draining their blood slowly into the channels carved in the stone floor. Eclipse soldiers surrounded the circle. Not guards. Participants. High-

The shadows coiled slowly around my feet. Will you sacrifice others… or yourself? “Neither,” I replied. The word echoed through the endless darkness. “I will not sacrifice someone just so I can gain power.” The shadows shifted, listening. “But I will not sacrifice myself either. My loved ones need me.” My voice grew stronger with every word. “I will not die for them.” I lifted my head, meeting the unseen presence of the void itself. “I will live for them.” The darkness trembled faintly around me. “I will surpass the pain. The obstacles placed in my path.” My fists clenched as the thought of Sol, my pack, and the children burned through me like fire. “So that I can go back to them.” The void fell completely silent. As if the entire abyss was considering my answer. Aella — The Void’s Question Suddenly, the darkness disappeared. I found myself sitting in a white room. There was no ceiling. No floor. No walls. Only endless white stretching in every direction. I co

I turned toward Chaos. “Chaos… I have to go back,” I said quietly. The thought of the prison, the children, and the monsters waiting above the cages tightened in my chest. “How do I come back here again?” Chaos chuckled softly. The sound echoed through the void like wind moving through ancient halls. “You simply wish it,” Chaos replied. “Ask for it… and the shadows will answer.” The simplicity of the answer made me smile faintly. “Thank you,” I said. “I promise I will return soon.” For a moment the darkness around us warmed. Chaos smiled. Or at least… that was how it felt. “Oh no, no, no, my Queen,” Chaos said playfully. “I am going with you.” Before I could react, Chaos stepped closer again. Cold hands touched my cheeks once more. And the world shattered. The endless void collapsed into darkness. Then— Stone. Cold. Damp. The smell of rust. My body was lying exactly where it had been before. Back on the prison floor. In the same position. The same cage. Th