I stood before the stunned assembly, the ancient Chronicle of the Ophidian Pact open in my hands. The silence in the grand lecture hall was absolute. Professor Morian struggled against the royal guards restraining him, his scholarly mask completely shattered.
"Let me tell you what the Serpent Below truly is," I began, my voice steady despite the weight of centuries of Thorne family secrets I was about to reveal. "Not a benevolent entity of wisdom as Professor Morian claims, but a world-devouring horror that feasts on human consciousness."
I turned the tome to display the horrific illustrations—intricate drawings showing a vast, writhing entity of shadow and scale, coiled around the foundations of reality itself. Figures in the foreground stood paralyzed in terror, their bodies partially transformed, scales erupting from human flesh.
