Reginald carried Isolde as he ran alongside Lucius and the other two boys, fleeing the battlefield. He was the only one who truly understood the danger: he had faced the dragon before.
Isolde, curled in his arms, was lost. Drowning in turbulent thoughts, she couldn't grasp what she had just done. Terrified, in shock, trembling, and restless.
"I…" she whispered, barely audible, rubbing her hands in circles, shuddering. The image of that head exploding spun in her mind like an obsessive specter, clinging to her consciousness with invisible claws, eager to torment her until someone set her free.
Lucius watched her, worried, haunted by echoes of his past life. He had never seen someone react this way after killing. When he was Ha-Neul, his first kill had left him satisfied… even exhilarated. Of course, there had been fear. Nervousness. But nothing like this.
Seeing Isolde so broken forced him to think too much. Far too much. About himself. About who he had been. About how he should have reacted that day. That first kill that marked him forever.
And now, seeing her in this state… it made him reflect. If a single kill could shatter her like this, he had to act. He didn't want his sister to kill again. But he didn't want to either.
He didn't want to return to the habits that defined his old life.
He stood on an invisible precipice. If he stepped back, he'd let Isolde bear that trauma alone. But if he leaped… if he intervened, he'd have to dirty his hands again. Kill. Again. And in his mind, the only way to stop Isolde from killing… was to do it himself.
Then, the hooded figures appeared.
Gareth charged, knocking one down with a punch. Leonard fired an arrow, striking another in the shoulder. But Lucius… Lucius didn't move.
Reginald, holding Isolde, stood firm, fending off attackers with kicks, their smiles carrying a near-playful violence.
One hooded figure appeared right behind Lucius, sword raised, ready to plunge it into his back.
Lucius didn't even blink. He stood frozen, eyes fixed on the ground, trapped in his own abyss.
"Lucius!" Reginald shouted, dodging blows, trying to reach him.
"Move, Lucius!" Gareth roared, running toward him with his rifle drawn.
Leonard turned, ready to fire another arrow. But the world… slowed.
Lucius's hand began moving toward his pistol, agonizingly slow.
What was happening inside him?
Lucius was dead on the outside.
Because Ha-Neul had called him to the depths of his consciousness.
To Lucius, everything was oppressive darkness. A world where the ground was covered in stagnant water, and the only figures visible were himself—his current self—and Ha-Neul, his past self.
Ha-Neul stood stern, upright, radiating a dominating presence that forced Lucius to remain seated, powerless.
"You know what you have to do, don't you?" Ha-Neul asked, with his characteristic indifference.
"What do you mean?" Lucius murmured, hunched on his knees, gaze fixed on nothingness. In the distance, a lone light shone. To him, it represented Isolde… at that very moment.
"You can't let that girl kill again. She's not like you. She's not used to it. You saw her: she's delirious, lost. And, by the way," he added, almost as an afterthought, "there's a guy about to stab you in the back. You won't survive. Shouldn't you do something?"
"I… I can't go back to being like you."
"I never said you had to be the same. But it's up to you. You still have time. You can dodge the hooded guy. Kill him. Kill all of them. Just remember how you did it… when we worked for Jace."
"Doing that won't save Isolde. I have no reason to listen to you."
Both remained unchanged. No raised voices. No shifting expressions.
Even across two different lives, Lucius couldn't change his essence.
"Sure about that?" Ha-Neul asked, pointing upward. Lucius looked up. The image of Isolde, out there, aiming her shotgun, materialized above him. "She's about to shoot. Blow that man's head off to save you. Think she can handle another death?"
Lucius clenched his teeth. He tore at his hair. He didn't want to. He couldn't let Isolde bear that. He didn't want to see her become what he was.
He was lost. Utterly trapped. Anxious. Broken.
He didn't want to kill again. He didn't want to be the serial killer he once was. He had promised himself redemption. Promised to be someone new in this world.
But… sometimes, the true sacrifice isn't dying for someone. It's living with something that breaks you inside… just so they don't have to. Because some guilt weighs heavier than any wound. And some wounds you'd rather carry than see on the one you love.
Lucius knew what it meant to kill. He knew what it was to live with that memory. And that's exactly why he didn't want Isolde to know it.
There are things you don't come back from. And though he didn't want to be that person again…
He was willing to stain himself again. If it saved her.
Not out of strength. Not out of courage. But because he understood that to love… truly… sometimes hurts. Hurts in silence. Without medals. Without witnesses. Because protecting someone sometimes means bleeding for them… so they don't have to.
And maybe no one understands. Maybe no one sees. But those kinds of sacrifices… they're love too.
Lucius clenched his fists. He was decided.
He wouldn't let Isolde bear another kill. If someone had to do it, it would be him, even if it meant becoming the monster he once was.
He couldn't let the light of his life fade. He couldn't let Isolde—his world—crumble under the weight of guilt.
Ha-Neul smiled.
"See you."
Lucius's body was dragged back to the surface of his consciousness. He awoke right where everything had gone dark. Before him, Isolde, shotgun raised, about to pull the trigger.
Lucius reacted instantly.
He drew his pistol, dove to the side, dodging the sword aimed at his back, and fired. The bullet pierced the hooded figure's head.
The body fell lifeless. Lucius stood, panting. Isolde watched, frozen, slowly lowering her shotgun.
Another hooded figure lunged at him.
Lucius fired again. Another body hit the ground.
Reginald, Gareth, and Leonard stood speechless.
A third appeared behind him, but Lucius spun without hesitation. He delivered a brutal strike to the jaw, then fired. The head exploded.
"Lucy…" Isolde whispered, horrified.
More hooded figures charged.
Lucius didn't stop. His pistol, though drained of mana, was still lethal. Every shot was precise. Deadly. Unwavering.
He remembered everything. Every contract kill for Jace. Every fight before he lied to himself, claiming he didn't know how to fight. Every time he seduced women from enemy factions to weaken and distract them.
He… remembered.
He grabbed a piece of wood from the ground, struck a hooded figure, and finished them with a shot. He reloaded with surgical precision, wasting no time. Not a single bullet missed, to the boys' astonishment.
A hooded figure appeared behind Reginald.
Lucius fired before they could even raise their weapon. The body collapsed. Reginald turned, staring at the corpse.
"What are you…?" he muttered, not understanding. Lucius stepped beside him.
"Let's go. They'll keep coming," he said in a low voice, like a whisper… like a stifled sob beneath a mask of seriousness.
And they ran.
Lucius led, clearing the path, firing with surgical accuracy. Reginald followed, kicking enemies aside. Gareth toppled them with mana-formed rocks. Leonard pinned others with arrows to the legs.
Meanwhile, Elias stood before the dragon.
He gripped his sword with both hands, ready to drive it with all his strength, hoping the blade could withstand the scales. He infused it with mana, strengthening it.
"So long, you piece of shit," he muttered, preparing.
An electric hum erupted from the dragon's mouth. It spread its wings violently.
Elias hurried, swinging the sword down with a roar. But as it touched the scales, the blade shattered.
The dragon rose and roared. A roar that shook the air and ground, sending sonic waves that pushed Elias back.
Erika appeared, landing a punch to the dragon's stomach. It didn't flinch.
Instead, it used its tail. It struck her with such force that she flew, spitting blood that splattered a nearby rooftop. She landed and stood instantly, healing herself at once. But when she looked up…
The dragon was aiming at the sky.
Its open mouth filled with lightning. The clouds above writhed with bolts, converging into a single point.
Frederic arrived, standing beside Elias.
"What's it doing?" he asked, voice trembling.
"No idea," Elias replied, equally nervous. "Where's Lady Floiyo?"
"Coming with Leo. They were far. They'll take a bit."
Elias's instinct flared.
"We have to go!" he shouted, turning and running at full speed.
"What? Damn it, don't leave me here!" Frederic followed without hesitation.
Lightning poured into the dragon's mouth, generating waves that tore the ground. The dragon ascended, its wings beating powerfully.
And then… it vanished into the clouds.
From her position, Erika could see it clearly. Silhouetted by lightning, the dragon seemed unscathed. The bolts struck its body without causing damage.
Everything darkened again. The dragon was out of sight.
Until a figure descended. Fast. A comet of light spiraling down.
The dragon.
It crashed into Elias, seizing him in its jaws. Frederic was thrown back by the impact's gust, unable to react.
"Son of a bitch…" Elias muttered, gripping the beast's scales tightly.
Erika saw the dragon approaching. She leaped, dodging with trained reflexes. But the dragon, agile, turned its wing vertically, catching her too.
Erika clung tightly. She knew falling would be lethal.
The dragon ascended with both, vanishing into the sky again. Frederic lost sight of them.
He ran. Climbed a fragile structure, seeking height.
Then, Leo and Floiyo arrived.
"Did that thing get stronger?" Floiyo asked, panting.
"Clearly," Frederic replied, squinting to focus.
"This is beyond our strength…" Leo said, eyes fixed on the sky.
Above, Elias and Erika clung as best they could. Lightning enveloped the dragon, charging it with energy. They could only shield themselves with mana. The blows were brutal.
Then, Erika let go. She fell… and propelled herself with wind magic, reaching the dragon's back.
She clenched her fist.
Activated her blood control. Then mana. Then gravity.
All her strength, all her rage, all her power.
Her fist descended.
The impact was so violent the dragon began to plummet. In a dive.
From below, Frederic, Floiyo, and Leo saw it: a blur falling from the sky at full speed.
Elias leaped from the dragon's jaws, diving. Using wind magic, he propelled himself faster, closing in on the beast while readying his fist, clenching it tightly. With raw strength, he landed a direct hit to its face, violently altering its trajectory.
He used wind magic again, catching up to the spinning dragon as it fell. Erika, falling from above, raised debris with her magic, forming makeshift platforms to aid Elias.
Elias landed on one, crouched, and focused all his strength into his legs. The fragment beneath him cracked, beginning to break. Then he launched himself, shooting skyward with such force he broke the sound barrier. He readied his fist, gritted his teeth, and growled… knowing his arm wouldn't hold much longer. The blow struck the dragon violently, hurling it farther.
Erika conjured another platform to assist him. Elias leaped upward, and instantly, another platform appeared beneath him. This time, he used it to descend at maximum speed. With his fist charged and brute strength at its limit, he struck the dragon's stomach. The searing pain in his arm drew a grimace, but the blow was enough to send it crashing downward.
Elias accelerated his fall with wind magic, outpacing the dragon in the race to the ground. He glanced at his arm: bruised, feeling hollow inside. His bones were shattered. But Erika could fix it. He smiled.
He looked up. His eyes widened.
The dragon had opened its mouth, charging a lightning blast straight at him. But in the distance, Floiyo launched a fireball, amplified by Frederic and Leo. The flaming sphere crossed the sky and collided with the lightning in the dragon's mouth, triggering an explosion. A cloud of smoke poured from its throat, and the dragon began to fall, dazed.
Elias crouched, readying his fist again. Erika cushioned her descent with wind magic. She ran to Elias, who stood motionless, focused. The dragon was about to hit the ground, so Erika moved away from the impact zone.
Elias gritted his teeth, muscles tensing, hair rising with energy. A gray aura enveloped him, smoke rising from his skin as if his insides were on the verge of collapse.
The dragon's body crashed before him. Elias threw the punch. The collision created a star-shaped flash, accompanied by a gust that distorted time.
Elias roared with effort, pushing the dragon's body centimeter by centimeter. His bones broke, his arm already in pieces.
"Aaaahhh!" he roared, a cry of pure will, breaking the sound barrier. The impact launched the dragon upward, piercing the sky with unimaginable force.
In seconds, it reached the troposphere. Then the mesosphere. Finally, the exosphere, where the cold of space began to invade its body. Without oxygen, still dazed, the dragon couldn't fly. It died silently, floating beyond the clouds.
Elias collapsed, exhausted, his arm completely shattered. Panting. With his other arm, he tried to ease the burning pain coursing through him.
Erika and the others ran to him.
"Darling!" Erika cried, sliding across the ground to reach him. She placed her hands on his broken arm, beginning to heal it. "Does it hurt much?"
"No, actually. I can't feel it," Elias replied with a faint smile. Slowly, the broken bones began to mend until he was fully healed.
"Try moving it."
Elias obeyed, cautiously raising his arm. He opened and closed his fist twice, confirming it was fine.
"Thanks, love."
Erika smiled and kissed him. She helped him stand, but Elias wavered, exhausted.
"How the hell did you send that thing so high?" Frederic asked, staring at the sky where the clouds remained parted by the impact's wake.
"Brute force," Elias replied, lips curling into a smug smile.
"I'm sure I could've done the same," Frederic said, puffing out his chest with pride. "Ouch!" he yelped, after Floiyo smacked him.
"Yeah, yeah. We'll believe you when you prove it," she said, sighing. "Still… good work, Elias, Erika."
Floiyo placed her hands on their cheeks, smiling with the pride of someone who's watched her children grow.
"Thanks, Mother," Elias replied, accepting her affection warmly.
Quite the revelation, isn't it, Reader?
"Hey! You know you can't call me your mother…"
"Sorry, Lady Floiyo," Elias said with a mischievous grin.
Leo approached, placing a hand on Elias's shoulder. His voice, soft but heavy with gratitude, seemed to carry a thousand emotions.
"I owe you, friend. Thanks to you… that dragon's finally gone."
"It was all because you helped. Still, we've got a lot of cleanup ahead."
They all looked at the rubble. Nearly the entire kingdom was reduced to ruins, but it was rebuildable. They'd need help from Aeloria, that was certain.
"Could've been worse," Frederic said, shrugging.
Elias sighed.
"Still, we can't relax yet. We need to find Reginald and the kids. Then we can deal with this mess."
"Agreed."
"Do you think the kids are okay?" Erika asked quietly, worried.
"You worry too much, love. They've got your blood. It'll take a lot to hurt them."
Erika smiled, though her relief was faint.
"Frederic," Floiyo called, grabbing his shoulder.
"Yes, old lady?" he replied, turning.
"I hope when classes resume at the academy, you'll handle their training. I've been watching them for two months."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll take care of it. What a hassle… and here I was enjoying my naps as director…"
"You should stop slacking so much," Erika complained.
"Hey! It's not my fault. I'm a very busy man."
"Alright, let's go," Elias interrupted, starting to run. He closed his eyes, trying to sense Reginald's mana and that of his twins.