The Last Heir of the Van Declaoria Bloodline - Chapter 12

The road into Arlein stretched long and silent beneath the dim glow of early dawn.

As the golden sunrise lit the eastern sky, an eerie feeling hung in the air.

A black car moved steadily along the empty highway.

Inside, Andre drove alone.

No music.

No distraction.

Only the quiet hum of the engine and the distant sound of wind brushing against the windows.

His eyes remained fixed on the road.

Focused.

Calm.

But beneath that calm…

Something was already calculating.

Arlein.

It had been years since he last stepped into the city.

Back then, it had been just another assignment.

Another target.

Another clean execution.

But this time…

The air felt different.

More… crowded.

Not physically.

But strategically.

Too many game players.

Too many unknown variables.

Andre smiled faintly.

“Good,” he muttered.

“I was getting bored.”

Across the city, inside the Van Declaoria Tower, operations had already begun.

Leticia stood in front of a wall filled with live surveillance feeds.

Cameras.

Traffic systems.

Private networks.

All connected.

All feeding into one system.

“Movement detected,” she said.

Lucia stepped closer.

“Location?”

“Outer highway sector. Entry route east.”

Lucia’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“That’s not a random entry.”

“No,” Leticia replied.

“That’s intentional.”

Behind them, Ludwig watched silently.

“He’s walking straight into the board.”

Lucia shook her head.

“No.”

“He’s not walking.”

“He’s testing.”

Deep beneath the mountains…

Lukas shut down the final layer of the underground system.

Lights dimmed.

Monitors flickered off one by one.

The facility was going dark.

Regna stood near the exit corridor, fully dressed now.

Black tactical jacket.

Weapon secured.

Movements steady.

Controlled.

No hesitation.

Lukas walked toward him.

“This is where things stop being controlled.”

Regna didn’t look away.

“They were never controlled.”

Lukas paused.

Then nodded slightly.

“Fair.”

He handed Regna a small device.

“Tracker disruptor.”

Regna took it.

“And the plan?”

Lukas looked at him carefully.

“We don’t follow their game.”

“We break it.”

In Arnoise…

The wind moved softly through the empty field.

The bodies were gone.

Cleaned.

Removed.

But traces remained.

Footprints.

Broken wood.

Faint marks of struggle.

Lieta stood alone in front of the house.

Her eyes scanned everything.

Every detail.

Every angle.

“They’re adapting faster than expected,” she murmured.

She stepped forward slowly.

Then stopped.

Her gaze shifted slightly.

Something felt off.

Not wrong.

But… observed.

Somewhere not far from the village…

A scope lens reflected a faint glimmer of light.

Andre lay flat against the hillside, watching through the rifle scope.

Steady breathing.

Minimal movement.

His finger rested lightly near the trigger.

Not ready.

Not yet.

Through the lens…

He saw her.

Silver hair.

Calm posture.

Stillness.

“Found you,” he whispered.

But he didn’t shoot.

Not immediately.

Instead, he adjusted the focus slightly.

Studied her.

Movement pattern.

Reaction time.

Awareness.

“She’s good…”

A small smile formed.

“…but not perfect.”

Back in Arlein…

Ewan stood once again near the koi pond.

But this time, he wasn’t feeding them.

He was watching the water.

Still.

Unmoving.

A notification appeared on the small device in his hand.

He read it once.

Then again.

No reaction.

Only a slight narrowing of his eyes.

“Two signals,” he said quietly.

Ludwig stood behind him.

“One from the outer highway.”

“One from Arnoise.”

Ewan nodded.

“So it begins.”

At that same moment…

Lieta moved.

Suddenly.

Without warning.

Her body shifted sideways.

A fraction of a second.

A single movement.

A shot rang out.

The bullet tore through the space where her head had been.

Silence returned instantly.

But the game had changed.

On the hillside…

Andre lowered the rifle slightly.

“…Interesting.”

He hadn’t missed.

Not exactly.

She had moved.

Before the shot fully landed.

That meant only one thing.

“She felt it.”

His smile widened.

“Good.”

Now it was no longer a hunt.

It was a match.

Lieta didn’t run.

She didn’t panic.

She didn’t even look in the direction of the shot.

Instead, she stepped forward once.

Calm.

Measured.

And spoke softly.

“You’re not one of them.”

The wind carried her voice across the field.

Andre’s expression shifted slightly.

He adjusted his position.

Still hidden.

Still unseen.

But now…

Interested.

Miles away…

Regna stepped out of the underground facility for the first time since the explosion.

Fresh air hit his lungs.

Cold.

Sharp.

Real.

He looked up.

The sky stretched wide above him.

For a moment, everything felt still.

Then Lukas stepped beside him.

“They’ve already started.”

Regna nodded.

“I know.”

“How?”

Regna’s eyes sharpened slightly.

“I can feel it.”

Back at the hillside…

Andre slowly repositioned his rifle.

But this time…

He didn’t aim for the head.

He aimed slightly lower.

Testing.

Understanding.

Adapting.

“Let’s see…”

He whispered.

“…how far you can go.”

And far beyond all of them…

Beyond the city.

Beyond the mountains.

Beyond the visible battlefield…

A woman stood in silence, watching a digital map projected before her.

Multiple markers moved.

Intersecting paths.

Colliding trajectories.

Her fingers hovered above the display.

Then she tapped once.

A new line appeared.

Cutting across everything.

A path none of them had predicted.

Her voice was quiet.

Cold.

Final.

“The hunt has begun…”

She paused.

Then added:

“…now let’s see who survives the maze.”

For the first time since the war began…

All players had entered the board.

The hunters.

The prey.

The hidden pieces.

And the one who built the maze.

This is not just some kind of online game, it's a game for supremacy.

The game was no longer controlled.

Now…

It was inevitable.