บททั้งหมดของ His Dark Covenant: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

The darkness swallowed Elena after three steps.On the fourth, the door behind her disappeared.She stopped.The little girl squeezed her hand.“It's closing.”Elena turned.There was nothing behind them.No chamber.No staircase.No way back.Only endless blackness.She looked at the child.“What's your name?”The girl hesitated.“I don't have one.”“You must have had one.”“They called me Zero.”Elena shook her head.“I won't call you that.”“Why?”“Because you're not a number.”The girl looked up at her.“Then what will you call me?”Elena thought for a moment.“Lena.”The child's eyes widened.“That's part of your name.”“I know.”A tiny smile appeared.“I like it.”Then the darkness whispered.“Sentimental.”Elena froze.The voice was everywhere.“You always were.”She tightened her grip on Lena's hand.“Show yourself.”A low laugh answered.“You wouldn't recognize me.”“Try me.”“You already have.”The corridor illuminated.Elena's breath caught.Every wall was covered with mirr

The eye beneath the floor opened.Elena forgot how to breathe.It was enormous.Not the eye of a creature she could name, but something far older—an iris of silver-black light stretching beneath layers of shattered concrete and steel.For one impossible second, the entire chamber seemed to exist inside it.Then it blinked.BOOM.The impact threw everyone across the room.“Elena!”Adrian's voice cut through the chaos.She hit the floor hard.Lena screamed.Matthew rolled toward them, but another shockwave separated them.Alexander remained standing.Barely.His face had lost every trace of confidence.“No,” he whispered.The Sovereign spoke.Not through the speakers.Not through a machine.Through the walls.Through the floor.Through the bones inside Elena's body.“ARCHITECT.”Elena pressed both hands against her ears.“Stop.”“RETURN.”The black shape beside her—the Hollow—rose like smoke.It wrapped itself around Elena without touching her.“SHE IS NOT YOURS.”The Sovereign answered

“The reason Adrian was never supposed to love you.”The words hung in the air.Elena stared at the woman wearing her face.Her face.Her eyes.Her voice.Even the tiny scar above her eyebrow.But the thing standing before her wasn't human.Adrian rose slowly beside her.“Get away from her.”The double smiled.“You still protect her.”“I always will.”“That's the problem.”The creature tilted its head.“You were never designed to love her.”Adrian's expression hardened.“Neither was she designed to love me.”The creature's smile disappeared.For the first time, uncertainty crossed its face.Elena noticed.So did Adrian.She stood.“You're afraid.”The creature looked at her.“No.”“You are.”Elena stepped closer.“Because if what you said were true, you wouldn't care what we chose.”The creature's eyes darkened.“You don't understand the experiment.”“Then explain it.”A long silence followed.Finally, it spoke.“The Architect and the Anchor were never supposed to develop independent e

The footsteps were getting closer.Slow.Measured.Unhurried.As though whoever was approaching already knew nobody inside the facility could escape.Elena stood in front of the dead console, staring at the black screen where Seraphine's face had appeared.My name is Seraphine Cross.I gave birth to you.The words wouldn't leave her head.Behind her, Claire whispered:“Elena…”She turned.Her mother looked terrified.Not surprised.Not confused.Terrified.That was worse.“You knew her.”Claire's lips parted.“Elena, please—”“You knew her.”“Yes.”The answer was barely audible.Elena's chest tightened.“And you lied to me.”Claire looked down.“I protected you.”“From my own mother?”“From Seraphine.”Elena laughed once, bitterly.“You keep saying that word.”“What word?”“Protected.”Her eyes burned.“Every person who has destroyed my life has used it.”Adrian stepped closer.“Elena.”She raised a hand.“Not yet.”He stopped.She needed answers.For once, she wasn't going to let any

Claire was gone.Elena stared at the empty space where her mother had been standing.For several seconds, nobody spoke.Then Matthew shouted:“Claire!”He ran toward the corridor.Elena followed.“Dad, wait!”But the corridor was empty.No footsteps.No open door.Nothing.Only a single black feather lay on the floor.Elena crouched and picked it up.The moment her fingers touched it, pain exploded behind her eyes.She saw Claire.Not running.Not being dragged away.Walking willingly.Through a white corridor.Beside Seraphine.Elena dropped the feather.“She went with her.”Matthew stopped.“What?”“She wasn't taken.”He stared at her.“What did you see?”“She chose to leave.”Matthew's face fell.“No.”Ele