Erika, Elias, and the others kept running until Frederic stopped abruptly.
Everyone turned.
"What's wrong?" Floiyo asked, stepping closer.
Frederic crouched and picked up something large from the ground. He grinned, holding it up for the others to see.
"A dragon scale," he announced, displaying the gleaming white piece.
"What? And what do you want that for?" Floiyo's voice carried impatience, her anxiety to reach the twins evident.
"Ugh, what a temper," Frederic teased. "I mean, we could study it. A thorough investigation. We could even use it to reinforce our weapons: better armor, stronger swords, more powerful guns."
Elias looked away, restless, his worry for his children still pulsing. Erika, noticing his anxiety, gently squeezed his hand, calming him.
"Good idea," Elias nodded. "But don't you think one scale won't be enough?"
"You're right…"
"No worries," Leo interjected, taking the scale from Frederic's hands. "Once things stabilize, I'll send a team to analyze what these scales are made of."
"Planning to replicate and mass-produce them?" Elias asked, tilting his head.
Leo nodded firmly.
"Won't that require too many resources?" Erika asked, her voice trembling. The worry for the twins still pressed on her chest. "The nearby caves and mountains are nearly depleted. And we can't cut down the forests surrounding the kingdom…"
"Don't worry," Leo replied calmly. "I'll talk to the dwarves to supply what we need. I'm sure they'll help. After all, we've been a pillar for them with magical resources and potions."
"You say that… but potions haven't advanced much. Since their discovery, there's been no significant improvement," Elias countered, his tone colder.
"It's hard to improve something you're not an expert in. And our potion expert became a General Sergeant… she's far away now."
Elias sighed.
"Fine. Can we keep moving?"
"Of course…"
Leo tucked the scale inside his shirt. And they ran on.
Meanwhile, Lucius kept fighting. He fired with lethal precision, killing hooded figures with direct shots to the skull. The ground was littered with bodies, one after another.
Reginald watched in silence, unsettled. He knew he should do something… but the sight of a child executing so many enemies with such coldness left him in a trance he couldn't break.
Gareth and Leonard fought beside him, though the sheer volume of death began to sicken them. Still, they didn't back down. To do so would mean surrender.
Isolde, still in Reginald's arms, kept her gaze fixed on her brother. Lucius didn't hesitate to shoot. Didn't hesitate to kill.
In her mind, the story of his past life surfaced… the murders, each more horrific than the last. Though different, the ghosts of those acts still haunted him. And now, killing again, he was piling more weight onto his shoulders.
But what affected her most was something else. She kept seeing the corpse of the man whose head she had blown apart. His blood still stained her body. The scene replayed in her mind, growing more vivid each time.
"Why did you do it!?" "Did I really deserve that!?" "What about my family!?"
Mental shadows began to invade her. Voices that wouldn't stop. It was a form of torment she didn't know. They struck chords so deep she didn't even know they existed.
When trauma breaks the human mind, it becomes its own enemy. Images distort, thoughts corrupt. Experts called it "post-traumatic stress disorder."
Lucius kept shooting… until he looked at her.
Isolde covered her ears, her face contorted with fear. Lucius understood instantly. He had been through it too, the first time. And that enraged him.
He reloaded his pistol. His movements grew faster, more violent. He fired at breakneck speed, taking down several enemies in seconds.
He ran to Isolde. He tore her from Reginald's arms, who barely had time to react.
He knelt, holding her.
"Issy… Issy… It's okay. I'm with you."
Isolde trembled. Her hands still covered her ears, tears falling relentlessly, sharpened by pain and fear.
"I… I didn't want to do it… I didn't mean to… He forced me…" she sobbed, curled up.
"I know… I know… You don't have to carry this alone. I'm here… with you."
Reginald watched, tense. Two hooded figures approached from behind. He reacted, kicking them with inhuman speed, sending them flying. Then he joined Gareth and Leonard, dispatching enemies with a speed even they couldn't follow.
More hooded figures arrived. Reginald braced himself… but suddenly, the enemies froze. They stood still for a moment… then smiled.
They turned and fled in the opposite direction.
Reginald chased one, grabbing them by the hood and slamming them to the ground. They fell right beside Lucius.
Lucius, still holding Isolde, turned his head. He grabbed the hooded figure by the hood, preventing their escape.
But the enemy drew a knife, aiming to stab him in the back.
Lucius reacted instantly. He fired before the blade could touch him.
The hooded figure fell, dead.
He shifted Isolde, keeping her from seeing the body.
He set her down gently, away from the corpse. He approached the body and carefully lifted the hood, revealing the face…
And in that exact moment, his body reacted. A chill ran down his spine, his skin prickling. Fresh blood… a lifeless woman, her face still stained, warm blood oozing from the head wound.
Her eyes open, empty.
Lucius felt something he thought he'd left behind. A dormant sensation, never forgotten. Something that had haunted him from his past life. When he saw mangled bodies, exposed viscera, blood… and felt no guilt.
He felt satisfaction.
Exhilaration.
His pupils dilated. He reached toward the body, slowly, unconsciously… until his fingers nearly touched the dead woman's chest.
"Lucius…" Reginald's firm voice cut through from behind.
"Yes?" Lucius replied, without turning.
"What did you do?"
"What are you talking about?"
Reginald clenched his fist. He grabbed Lucius by the shirt and yanked him up.
"Why did you kill them? What's wrong with you? You didn't hesitate. You didn't think. You just shot… What the hell is going through your head?"
"I did what I had to… It was them or us. You should know that."
"Even so… you shouldn't have done it. The dirty work should've been mine. Don't be an idiot…"
"But you weren't doing it…"
Lucius was justifying himself. And he knew it. He was lying, not about the hooded figures… but about what was truly at stake: Isolde. Her safety… or the destruction of her world.
"What? What do you mean I wasn't doing it?"
"Nothing. Forget it… Why'd you try to catch him? And let me go already."
"Oh… Sorry," Reginald loosened his grip. Lucius adjusted his shirt collar with a sharp gesture. "I thought it'd be useful to question him. But you already killed him… Anyway, let me check the body."
Lucius stepped aside, letting him pass.
Reginald crouched before the woman's corpse, examining it closely.
Meanwhile, Gareth and Leonard approached Lucius.
"Didn't think I'd see you do something like that," Gareth said, running a hand through his hair, still tense.
"Sometimes it's better to do hard things than get killed. Thanks for the help, though," Lucius said, extending his hand for a friendly shake.
Gareth smiled and returned the gesture.
"This'll be tough to process… but I think I'll get used to it."
Leonard placed his hand over theirs.
"You did what was needed. We won't judge you. But… like Gareth, it'll take me time to process. And get used to it."
"Sorry you had to see that."
"Don't worry. At some point, we'd all have to kill. But…" Leonard glanced at Isolde, still trembling on the ground, hands over her ears. "She doesn't seem to be taking it well…"
"I'll handle it," Lucius said firmly. "I promise, before we return to the academy, she'll be as good as new."
"How can you be so sure?" Gareth asked, tilting his head.
"…Because she's my sister," Lucius replied with a faint smile, before turning and walking toward Reginald.
But Reginald remained frozen before the body, as if petrified.
At that moment, a gust of wind announced the arrival of the twins' parents and the rest of the group. They ran to the children and Reginald.
Erika threw herself at Lucius, and Elias lifted Isolde from the ground, wrapping her tightly in his arms.
"God… I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry we left you alone…" Erika whispered, clutching Lucius desperately. He blushed but accepted the embrace.
"Are you okay, Mom?" Lucius asked.
"You shouldn't be asking me that, my dear… That's my line."
Lucius smiled, hugging her back tighter.
Elias, meanwhile, held Isolde. She was fast asleep after her emotional collapse.
"She must be exhausted…" he murmured, brushing her blonde hair from her forehead. "But… what's all this blood?"
Lucius's eyes widened. His parents didn't know. They didn't know what he and Isolde had done. And he didn't know how they'd take it. Didn't know how they'd react.
Still, he knew he had to tell the truth. He couldn't hide what he was. He couldn't lie.
But just before he spoke, Reginald stood.
"It was my fault," he interrupted, his voice tense. "I had to… do certain things to keep them safe. Some blood must've splattered on them. I'm sorry."
Elias approached, still holding Isolde, and smiled, placing a hand on Reginald's shoulder.
"Thanks, man. I owe you my life."
Reginald returned a smile. A false one… but convincing. Then his expression hardened. He looked at Leo, standing with Frederic and Floiyo.
Without a word, he walked toward him, brushing past Elias slightly. Erika, still hugging Lucius, noticed the shift in his demeanor and approached, uneasy.
Reginald was acting strangely. But no one said anything. Because they knew, without words, that what he was about to say was more important than anything else.
"Your Majesty…" Reginald said, his voice barely trembling. "Do you remember the battle five hundred years ago? The one in the history books. The pivot of global change…"
"Yes… what's that got to do with this, Reginald?"
"Come with me," he urged, walking to the body of the woman Lucius had shot.
He crouched and pulled back the collar of her shirt, revealing a tattoo: a serpent coiling around itself.
"Vritra has returned."