Gently lifting Jupiter by the shin, Percival peered into his eyes with a softness that cloaked the venom in his words. His voice was smooth, eerily comforting, soaked in false sincerity.
"I know many things about you, Jupiter. About who you are... and what you're destined to become."
His smile widened as he tilted his head slightly. "You said it yourself, remember? 'I need more power.'"
He let the words hang in the air, like bait in still water.
"And that, I shall grant you."
Percival's voice dropped to a gentle whisper. "All your heart's desires... I can give them to you. Whether it's unimaginable power to fill the emptiness you feel, or... the chance to see your mother again."
Jupiter's eyes twitched.
"You blame yourself, don't you? For being too weak to protect her from your father. You've replayed that moment over and over, wishing—no, begging—for a way to change it."
He leaned closer, barely audible now. "That's impossible... unless you have me by your side."
"So, Jupiter," Percival said, slowly extending a hand, "take it. Everything you long for will be within reach. All you have to do is trust me. Be with me."
"Because I see in you what no one else does. Potential. A power worthy of standing next to Xavier—not beneath him. You could be his equal. A rival... maybe even became the brother you wish you were."
He gently opened Jupiter's left eye, which had remained shut until now. Darkness pulsed within it—a swirling, void-like corruption.
Jupiter stood frozen, lips parted but unable to speak. Percival's words dug deep, stirring wounds the boy didn't even know still bled. He was only nine, after all. Too young to carry the weight of loss. Too young to be the target of such manipulation.
Yet... he raised his hand, trembling. For a brief second, doubt wavered in his gaze.
Then he slapped Percival's hand away.
"I will never betray my friends for power," Jupiter spat, voice cracking. "And I won't hurt Xavier more than he already has been."
His small fists clenched. "I don't need anything from you. So get lost."
Percival's smile never faltered. "Is that so?" he murmured, voice honeyed with amusement. "Very well. But remember—I'll be here. Waiting. With open arms."
He stepped back casually, glancing up toward the sky. "It seems our conversation is being... interrupted."
A faint glimmer streaked across the sky—a lightning bolt, descending with blinding velocity. It struck Percival, who caught it mid-air like a thrown spear. The force sent a violent gust ripping through the street as it dragged him backwards, feet carving through the ground.
Moments later, Misaki, Elowen, and Jasmine arrived atop a massive tree root, conjured by Elowen.
Far off, Percival casually shattered the bolt of lightning in his grasp, his grin unwavering. "Oh, look who decided to join us."
He chuckled. "The two princesses and their loyal friend, come to rescue their dear ones. Took you long enough."
Tree vines erupted from beneath the stone, coiling around Percival's limbs. Elowen's power held him, at least for now.
Misaki leapt down from the vine, eyes blazing with fury. "You'll pay for what you did to Xavier, you devil bastard!"
"Misaki, wait! Don't rush in without a plan!" Jasmine called out, but it was too late.
Meanwhile, Elowen rushed to Jupiter's side, her hands glowing softly. "Are you alright? You're covered in injuries. Let me heal you."
Jupiter blinked out of his daze. "I-I'm okay... but Jason... he needs help more. He protected me. Please, help him first."
Elowen followed his gaze to Jason's battered form and nodded, sprinting over. Flowers bloomed from the ground, wrapping him in their gentle glow as healing energy began to work.
But Misaki continued her reckless assault, every strike fueled by rage. She wasn't thinking, only feeling. And that made her vulnerable.
Percival dodged effortlessly, side-stepping bolts of lightning as though they were falling leaves. He didn't even break a sweat.
"Still so impulsive, Lady Misaki," he said with a mocking smile. "You've grown. Last time I saw you was... ah, yes. Your family's royal banquet. Wonderful feast. I remember waddling away with a stomach full of heaven."
Misaki grit her teeth, furious at how calm he remained. She swung her katana in a perfect arc toward his neck—and missed. Percival leaned back ever so slightly, their eyes locking for a chilling heartbeat.
Jasmine rushed forward and yanked Misaki away just in time as Percival flicked his wrist, sending a sharp burst of air their way.
They landed and immediately countered, attacking in tandem without a word. Years of training stitched into every move. But Percival wasn't flinching. If anything, he was playing.
Especially with Misaki.
Her strikes were erratic. Unlike her usual, composed style. She was strong, talented—a genius prodigy, even. But right now? She was broken by emotion.
And Percival was exploiting it.
He moved like a ghost, dancing between her attacks, brushing aside her rage as if it were a summer breeze.
To him, it wasn't a fight.
It was a lesson.
And they were his students—whether they liked it or not.
However, Jasmine, in stark contrast to her partner, appeared calm. Her eyes, however, told a different story—a quiet storm simmering just beneath the surface. Though rage brewed within her for all the pain Percival had caused Xavier, she knew better than to let it cloud her judgment in a moment this critical.
They could die here, she thought.
Despite her strength—greater than Misaki's by a landslide—even with Misaki's support, Jasmine couldn't so much as scratch Percival. They were completely outmatched. It wasn't just a gap in power; it was a chasm—impossible to bridge. And Percival wasn't even trying. He dodged everything they threw at him with a smug expression, like a bored deity toying with mortals.
It was like a god with sand. A giant with ants. A human with crumbs.
He was operating on a scale beyond them, beyond anything they could even dream of reaching.
Then, Percival noticed something.
Elowen was kneeling beside Jason, healing him.
Percival's lips curled into a smile—one that was both sinister and composed. Calmly, he slipped his left hand out of his pocket and aimed it directly at them.
Ethereal energy suddenly erupted around him like a tidal wave. Jasmine and Misaki both froze, their assault halted by the sheer weight of the power now radiating from him. It was suffocating.
Percival's eyes closed.
He began chanting in a low frequency, barely above a whisper. Symbols started glowing around his body—ancient letters. No, runes. The Runes of Eldoria.
As his incantation deepened, the letters shimmered and began to merge, forming words that hovered and circled around him:
"DRAGON. DESTRUCTION. WAVE."
Jasmine's heart skipped.
She didn't understand the full extent of what was happening, but she knew one thing with absolute clarity—whatever he was summoning was dangerous. Then she realized who he was aiming it at.
Jason. Elowen.
Her mind went blank for a heartbeat, then raced. She wouldn't make it in time. Even her speed wouldn't save them now.
Her lips moved before she could stop herself, a whisper barely carried by breath: "Master... please, I need your help."
At that very moment, Percival's eyes flashed.
"Eldrun Sorcery I," he declared softly. "Dragon Surge of Dread."
The earth cracked apart beneath him. Rifts opened like wounds, and from them emerged serpentine dragons, each one roaring with dreadful power as they surged forward—straight at Elowen and Jason.
Misaki's eyes widened in horror. She tried to react, but she was too late.
Until—
"Almighty Aionel: Finality."
"Domain of Time."
In a blink, time shattered.
Everything stopped. The dragons froze mid-flight, suspended like insects in amber. Even the dust in the air stood still. It was as though reality itself had forgotten how to move.
And in that silence, Jasmine moved.
But she wasn't Jasmine—not entirely. Her white hair now shimmered with streaks of deep blue, and her presence had shifted into something ancient, something regal. Something terrifying.
As time resumed, Percival's attack surged forward with explosive force—only to find no targets.
Elowen, Jason, Misaki, even Jupiter… all were gone.
The spell tore through the streets of London, annihilating everything it touched, melting steel, cracking stone, reducing entire buildings into dust and ash. The ground glowed red-hot, silent and ruined.
And then he saw her.
Floating in the air like a vision of divine judgment. The figure looked young, but the weight of her presence said otherwise. Her white-and-blue hair danced in the wind, and her eyes—no longer Jasmine's hazel—were now clock-like, ticking in opposite directions.
Percival raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"And who may you be?" he asked.
The figure—Jasmine, yet someone else entirely—held the others in a suspended time bubble. They floated like stilled raindrops, conscious and aware, but unable to move.
"Well, aren't you a charming devilish bastard in disguise?" she sneered coldly. "Willing to murder children just for your own amusement?".
"And yet, somehow, you not only cast Sorcery… you comprehend its roots.".
Percival's expression hardened.
"Who are you?" he asked again, this time more seriously. "Why did you possess the princess' body?"
The voice that answered was older, wiser, colder:
"I usually don't converse with devils, but to humor you..."
"I am one of the Great Heroes who defeated Hell's incarnation ten thousand years ago."
"Consul of the Future. Elder Wiser of Tempos."
"Grand Herrscher of Time."
"Ancestor of the body I now inhabit."
"Former Princess and Queen of the mighty Empire of Korea."
"Merlin of the House of Yi."
Percival's eyes lit up, a grin breaking across his face. "So you must be Jasmine's Contractor," he said smoothly. "It's an honor to meet one of the Great Heroes. Truly."
"A pleasure… Lady Yi Merlin."
Her stare pierced through him like the ticking of judgment. Cold. Final.
Then she turned her back to him, her voice a blade wrapped in velvet.
"Let this be the last time we meet, Percival," she said, her words heavy with divine threat. "Because next time… I won't let you walk away."
Percival didn't flinch.
With a cold, almost dismissive tone, he replied, "There won't be a next time. Because that vessel of yours—the girl you cling to from beyond the grave—will be dead before then."
"Whether by my hand… or someone else's."
Empress Merlin clicked her tongue, turning her head away in cold dismissal, the air around her pulsing with quiet tension. She had finally decided to leave. But just as she began to step away, Percival's gaze slid from her and landed on Jupiter.
The young man stiffened.
Jupiter tried not to meet his eyes—he couldn't. His fists clenched at his sides, his jaw tight. That same pit of doubt he hated so much opened inside his chest again. Nervousness. Unease. He hated feeling this way, especially in front of him.
"Remember my offer, Jupiter," Percival said smoothly, his voice like silk wrapped around thorns. "I'll always be here waiting for you, whenever you need me. With open arms—no matter what."
Jupiter didn't speak. He heard the words. They echoed in his mind like a curse, yet he found himself frozen—caught between anger, confusion, and something else he couldn't name. He didn't know how to respond… or if he even should.
Then, without warning, Empress Merlin and those she held under her protection vanished—like shadows burned away by sudden light. One second they stood there; the next, they were gone. No sound, no ripple in the air. As if they had never existed in the first place.
Silence followed.
Percival chuckled.
He turned his head ever so slightly, clearly entertained by the spectacle that had just unfolded. There was something mocking in his amusement, something cruel.
"Now," he said, his eyes gleaming with a strange anticipation, "I suppose there's one more person I need to see before I take my leave."
He paused, savoring the moment like a wine long aged.
"And that one… that one is truly going to be a poetic and marvelous moment to remember."
The wind picked up slightly, rustling his coat, and yet he stood still—smiling.
Like a man about to write the final lines of a story only he could see coming.