Luke and Aliana's Past:
It was six years ago.
The forest was alive with the soft hum of summer, birds darting between the branches, sunlight filtering through the emerald canopy like liquid gold. Aliana was bouncing on the tips of her feet, the new dress gifted by our queen—Sylaphine herself—fluttering with every movement. Green and gold, braided with strands of silver, it shimmered in the light like sunlight captured in fabric.
I watched her, trying not to let my lips curve into the smile that threatened to betray me. She was… happy. Truly happy. And after everything, I didn't expect to see it.
"You think I look like a proper wing now?" she asked, eyes wide and sparkling, voice trembling with excitement.
"You look like trouble wrapped in sunlight," I teased, folding my arms, pretending to be unimpressed. "Careful, one day your sparkling charm will get you eaten alive by some demon idiot."
Aliana scoffed, though it barely masked her grin. "Stop teasing, Luke! I'm serious. Today… I finally feel like I belong somewhere. With Sylaphine, with all of them. I'm going to be one of her wings… I'm going to serve her and protect her!"
Her words hit me harder than I wanted them to. Her loyalty, her love for Sylaphine—it wasn't just admiration; it was reverence, almost blind, almost beautiful in its intensity.
She had been through so much, and still, she chose light over despair.
I shook my head, trying to mask the knot in my chest. "You know, you could've saved yourself before anyone else. You've got that bright, reckless heart of yours, little sister."
"I'll save her, Luke," she said suddenly, her voice firm, unyielding. "Just like she saved us when we had nothing left… I promised her I'd never let anything happen to her."
Her words brought back memories I hadn't wanted to revisit. Memories of a time when our world wasn't consumed by blood and torture.
We had a home once—a forest that stretched for leagues, rivers glinting like liquid glass, the air filled with the scent of pine and honey. Our parents laughed often, their voices echoing through the trees.
We were happy. Aliana was happy. And I… I wanted to be there forever.
But demons don't wait for anyone to be ready. They hunt relentlessly, and they are merciless.
I remember the first strike. The blackened sky, the crackle of energy, the shriek of tearing wings. We had no chance. Our parents fought valiantly, holding the demons off just long enough for us to escape.
"Run," they had said, their faces bathed in smoke and fire. "Run, and live… we'll keep you safe from afar."
I can still hear their screams, still feel the ground shaking beneath me as I carried Aliana, her small hand clutching mine, dragging her through the undergrowth. Every step, every stumble, every cry—I swore I would never be powerless again.
That failure would never be repeated.
We ran until the forest gave way to mountains, until exhaustion and hunger made our legs falter. Darkness threatened to swallow us entirely. And then… the light came.
Sylaphine.
I'll never forget her first appearance: a figure hovering above the treetops, her wings like a halo of emerald fire, eyes bright and warm. She had seen us, lost and trembling, and extended her hand—not just as a queen or a ruler, but as a protector.
"You're safe now," she had said softly, but there was no question in her voice. "I will not let them harm you again. Come with me."
I wanted to refuse. Wanted to tell her we were capable of surviving on our own. But Aliana pressed herself against me, whispering: "We have no one else…"
So we followed her.
And thus began our lives in the Labyrinth. A place that was both cage and sanctuary. Sylaphine trained us, fed us, protected us. She taught us to fight, to strategize, to endure. Under her guidance, we grew strong, but the memory of our weakness—the moment we had lost everything—never left me.
Aliana, though, blossomed differently. To her, Sylaphine was a beacon, a promise that even in a world marred by cruelty, there was still light. She loved her, feared for her, and devoted herself with a pure, unshakable loyalty.
I envied that, in a way… envied how her heart could still trust.
I learned the harsh lesson of life early.
Power is survival. Strength is respect. Without it, the weak perish. And those who cannot defend themselves… are meaningless. That belief shaped me. That fear of helplessness, of failing those I care for, drives me to this day.
Aliana learned a different lesson. Even when everything was lost, light could find you. Even when the world seemed cruel beyond repair, someone could lift you out. Sylaphine became her anchor, her reason to fight, and in turn, she became mine.
Yet… even now, when I look at her, I see both the child who laughed in a new dress six years ago and the wing she has become.
And I know: no matter what happens, I will protect her. I will uphold that promise, even if the world tries to tear us apart again.
Back to the present
Sylaphine's Perspective:
2:28 AM - 31/12/2017
Did I fail as a queen… by letting my wings be sacrificed again?
The thought burned in my chest, sharper than any frost shard the creature had unleashed. I should've been the one struck, the one flung into frozen agony… yet why—why did I feel so safe?
A voice, calm but teasing, cut through the chaos.
"Careful now, someone could've been frozen alive."
Kaiser.
The warmth of him hit me before the words fully registered. Hot air, radiating through his coat, and the undeniable presence of someone who didn't flinch at the frost, didn't waver at the horror surrounding us.
My eyes opened, and for a fleeting heartbeat, the world paused. He was holding me. Not violently, not possessively, but protective—his hand firm on my back, his coat wrapped around us both like a shield against the snowstorm and death itself. My own hands rested on his chest, feeling the steadiness of his heartbeat beneath my fingers.
Then, almost instinctively, he let me go. I leaned forward, stealing a glance at his face. Calm, collected, unshaken—his blue eyes caught mine with an almost mocking amusement, as if he were silently saying,
I've got this, don't panic.
I forced myself back to reality.
Everything was still chaos.
Erynoder's scream tore through the storm. "Aliana!"
My heart jumped into my throat. There she was—my precious, steadfast Aliana—lying on the snow, blood glistening on her wings, shards embedded in her arms and legs. Her eyes were wide with pain and fear, tears tracing rivulets over her cheeks. Every second she lingered there without protection felt like an eternity.
"NOOOO!" Luke's roar shook the forest.
Rage ignited him like fire in the wind. He surged forward, staff in hand, roots erupting from the earth in a desperate barrier, trying to shield her from the shards that rained down. Even slowed by frost forming over his legs, he moved with unrelenting fury.
And in that instant, the battlefield shifted.
Lucas, pale and trembling from exertion, his breath ragged, fired three beams of concentrated light toward the frost crawler's head. Mirrors above him glinted and refracted, amplifying the strike.
A critical hit.
The creature shrieked—a sound that seemed almost sentient, pain and rage rolling off it like a storm. It recoiled, retreating toward the frozen pond. The icy water hissed as it slipped beneath the surface, seeking to heal itself.
But there was no time to celebrate.
I moved instantly, wrapping Aliana in my arms, feeling her tremble. My hands shook, cold and warm at once, as I cradled her body against my chest. She was breathing, faintly, but barely. Each heartbeat of hers was a fragile drumbeat in the snow.
Velith's was in a similar state.
The illusive fairies had frozen, their magic throttled by the frost crawler's blizzard, leaving gaps in our defenses. The stormed forest seemed to close in, snowflakes slicing like needles, the cold biting deeper than usual.
"Get away from me!" Luke roared, his voice raw. Nature itself obeying him in bursts, yet the frost crawler's icy spears seemed relentless, as if mocking the very ground he tried to command.
"Mother!" came the stuttered whispers of the illusive fairies, frozen and struggling, echoing around me.
I gritted my teeth.
No… I cannot lose them. Not now.
And in the chaos, I felt the weight of my responsibility heavier than ever. Every life in this snowstorm, every beat of wing and flash of magic, was a reflection of my failure and my duty.
I held Aliana tighter, drawing warmth into her, as my eyes swept over the battlefield:
Lucas and Luke—the aces—were relentless, their attacks punishing, precise. Celia's chains whirled like thorned hurricanes, thorns sapping the frost crawler's strength with every strike. Velith and Caelum were providing cover and suppressing the creature's power with finesse that kept our lines from breaking.
And yet… the frost crawler healed faster than anticipated, its regenerative fury and ice-cold malice like a living calamity.
My heart ached, watching my people—my wings—fighting, bleeding, freezing, and yet still moving forward. And despite my centuries of command, of strategy, of battle, I could not stop the pang of helplessness, of pain.
This was war.
And yet… in the midst of carnage, one fleeting thought intruded, almost selfishly, into my mind:
Why do I feel so safe with him here?
I took a glance at Kaiser. His eyes were sharp, fixed on Aliana with an intensity that made my chest tighten. Something in the way he watched her—so calm, so focused—made the chaos around us fade for a heartbeat.
Luke's voice shattered the momentary pause.
"Aliana! Open your eyes! Please… stay with me!" His hands shook as he cradled her, his fury barely contained, the world around him blurring under the weight of desperation.
Caelum carried Velith with grim determination, his wings limp, feathers dusted in snow and blood. The frozen white had crept over his skin, frostburns spreading like creeping shadows.
Even Caelum's breath came in ragged gasps; the storm seemed to suffocate us all, every inhale like knives of cold.
Yet strangely… Lucas. His face, once pale and taut with hyperthermia, was recovering with unnatural speed. The redness of life returning to his cheeks. No explanation, no potion, no reason.
Celia, ever the pragmatic, wrapped herself in her chains and conjured small, crackling flames along the links, keeping herself warm as she trudged back toward the middle, her movements precise but pained.
Eryndor's scream cut through the chaos.
"Mother! Something is wrong!"
Every nerve in me froze. Something else… something unseen.
I closed my eyes, reaching deep into the core of my senses, the magic I had carried for over seven millennia humming beneath my skin.
Inside the labyrinth, I saw it. A dark reddish creature, moving… no, not moving. Flying across the cavern's ceiling, exhaling a snow-like poison that drifted over the fairies, over my wings.
No… this cannot be.
I saw the coughs, the tremors, the shallow breaths. The frost was not just physical—it was magical, spreading faster than even the frost crawler itself could. My vision fractured with panic as Luke's desperate screams ripped through my mind again.
"Mother! Do something! Please, you have to—!"
Caelum coughed, shaking, his voice strained. "What… what can we do?"
And then it hit me.
I can. I can heal them.
Since the day I was born, I carried it—the exclusive gift of my lineage. Not the illusions of battle, not the elemental might, but the pure, unyielding healing destiny.
The magic of restoration, of mending the broken, of bringing life back from the cusp of death.
I let Luke hold Aliana for a fleeting moment. Her warmth was fading, but her life… still flickering. I stood, feeling the snow bite my skin, the cold trying to claw at my resolve, and I clasped my hands together, closing my eyes.
The world seemed to hush.
I called to everything I was, everything I had ever been, and everything that had guided me before.
"By the roots of the earth, the whispering winds, the light of the sun and the hidden stars, the waters that flow, the fire that never dies… I call upon you, gods of nature, guardians of life, lend me your grace! Infuse these bodies, renew these breaths, restore what has been broken! Renasco Vitalis!"
The air shifted. Snowflakes stilled mid-air, frost melting, warmth flowing like rivers into the bodies around me. Injuries closed, frostbite receded, pale skin blushed back to life. Wings flexed as though awakening from sleep, breath deepened, color returned.
I opened my eyes.
I did it. I had healed them.
Luke whispered, voice trembling, "Aliana…"
But even as life returned to her body, she coughed, blood streaking her lips. Her chest rose and fell unevenly, yet her eyes remained closed, as though the light within her had dimmed too far to be coaxed awake.
My hands trembled around her. I had brought life back to many, yet my heart sank into the deep frost of helplessness—one life still dangling at the edge.
And in that moment, I realized the cruel weight of being their mother, their protector, their queen. Healing could restore the body—but could it mend the spirit? Could it shield the heart from the horrors we faced?
No. Not entirely.
But I would not stop trying.
"Aliana!" Luke's voice cracked as he shook her shoulders. "Come on, wake up—your brother's right here!"
Her body was limp, lashes trembling but not opening. Blood slid from the corner of her mouth, stark against the snow.
I pressed my palms above her heart. "Lux Vitae… Cura Aeterna!"
Light blossomed, washing her wounds away until her skin was flawless—too flawless. No cuts. No bruises. Yet she did not stir.
Luke's eyes widened. "Why isn't she moving?!"
"I don't—" My voice faltered. "She should be breathing."
He grabbed my wrist. "You're the queen of fairies! You healed Velith, Caelum, everyone! Do it again!"
I whispered another spell, stronger this time. "Divina Regressa!"
Light flared bright enough to blind. Her chest rose—then fell silent again.
"Aliana, please," Luke pleaded, brushing her hair from her face. "You promised me you'd never leave me alone. Remember the river near our old home? You said we'd go there after this! So open your eyes!"
"Reanimare!" I chanted, hands shaking. "Renasco Vitae!" The air around us pulsed, but nothing changed.
"Why isn't it working?!" His voice broke into a scream. "What good are your spells if they don't save her?!"
I swallowed hard. "I don't know."
"You don't know?" he repeated, tears freezing on his cheeks. "You're seven thousand years old and you don't know?!"
"I've never felt this before…" My words came out as a whisper. "For centuries, I've healed difference races, beings, monsters. I've revived the dying, mended hearts torn apart… but this—this I cannot reach."
He slammed his fist into the frozen ground. "Then what's the point of your power?! What's the point of all your wisdom if you can't save my sister!"
I closed my eyes, forcing another spell through trembling lips. "Anima Flore—Sanctus Vita!"
Light burst again, flooding the clearing. Her veins glowed, her hair lifted as if the world itself was breathing into her—then silence. Only the sound of the wind.
Luke bent over, forehead pressed to hers. "You hear that, Aliana? The wind's waiting for you to laugh again. Don't leave me here, please…"
No response.
I looked at my hands—hands that once brought life to dying forests—and felt them useless. "Why?" I whispered to no one. "Why can I not save her…?"
Luke turned to me, rage and despair tangled in his eyes. "You're supposed to be our queen. Our mother. So do something!"
"I can't."
The words burned my throat. "I don't know why, Luke. I don't know…"
He punched the ground again, the sound dull and final. "Then what good are you… what good are any of us."
I wanted to answer, but no truth would ease that pain. Around us, silence fell heavy. Caelum looked away, Velith wept quietly, even Celia's flames dimmed.
For the first time in a thousand years, I—Sylaphine, Mother of Fairies—felt powerless. And it broke something inside me that no magic could mend.
Caelum coughed violently again, crimson specks staining the snow beneath him. Velith's lips trembled, a thin line of blood trickling down her chin.
"Mother… I… don't feel too good," Caelum whispered, barely able to keep himself upright.
I froze, my chest tightening as the familiar pulse of my healing magic flared futilely. Something was wrong. This should not be happening.
Lucas's voice cut through, calm but grim. "Everyone… they're still dying. Even if the wounds are gone, they're still… hurt."
That cannot be. My magic—my birthright—has healed the incurable, revived the dying, reversed curses older than kingdoms. And yet, here… it falters.
I paused, closing my eyes, letting the currents of mana flow through me, searching, analyzing.
Wait…
The frost crawler. What if... it has been alive for longer than seven thousand years… older than I am. Stronger, more cunning. It carried something with it, a poison… a curse… something I cannot see or touch.
Luke's muttered voice cut through the haze of my thoughts. "Aliana…"
I opened my eyes and saw him—rage coiling his stance, fists clenched, eyes ablaze with fury. Aliana lay on the snowy ground, her breathing shallow, blood staining her hair.
"If you can't save the life of your own kind… you don't deserve to be their mother!" he shouted, stepping forward, anger vibrating with every word.
"I—" My throat constricted.
Why… why was this happening? I, Sylaphine, healer of the impossible, protector of my kind… could not save her.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Luke roared, charging, his fist cutting through the air like a comet aimed at my chest.
I closed my eyes.
Perhaps I deserve this. Perhaps this is my punishment.
Time slowed. I felt the heat of his rage before the strike even landed.
"Careful now," came a smooth, nonchalant voice.
Opening my eyes, I saw him. Kaiser. Standing in front of me, unshaken. His hand rested on my shoulder, steady. His other arm rose with a fluid grace to intercept Luke's punch.
The impact landed against Kaiser's forearm instead of me. A perfect redirection—pivoting on one foot, elbow aligning with the strike, absorbing the force while staying grounded.
"What… how—" Luke faltered, eyes widening in disbelief.
"We're not here to fight each other," Kaiser said, voice almost casual.
"SHUT UP!" Luke bellowed, his rage boiling over, turning his attacks wild.
Roots erupted from the snow beneath Kaiser, jagged and rapid, twisting like serpents aiming to pierce him from below.
Without hesitation, Kaiser grabbed my hand and pivoted, spinning us both out of harm's way. The roots clattered harmlessly against the snowy earth, splintering as we landed two meters away.
Erynder gaped. Caelum froze mid-cough.
Even Lucas and Celia's expressions betrayed their disbelief.
Kaiser didn't flinch, didn't sweat, didn't even breathe heavily. He simply stood there, holding my hand, his gaze calm yet piercing, his aura unshakable.
I took a breath. My hands shook, but the warmth from his presence grounded me.
How can he be so calm?
Luke snarled, growling low, preparing to strike again.
The ground trembled again.
The frost crawler was stirring beneath the ice, its breath hissing like steam under pressure.
"Lucas… it's coming again." Celia's voice cut through the cold, low and tense.
"Yeah… we need to fall back." Lucas' eyes glowed faintly with Celestial light.
But his gaze drifted—toward Luke.
His face was red with fury, his knuckles white around the staff that trembled in his hand.
Even now, even while death crawled toward us, his rage burned brighter than fear.
Kaiser's voice cut through the tension. Calm, calculating.
"You two—take the frost crawler. Lucas, use your electricity. Celia, bind it with your cursed chains. Hit the chains with lightning when she's got them locked.
He didn't raise his tone, yet somehow everyone listened.
Eryndor stepped forward, hesitant. "I can help too—"
"You stay here and maintain the barrier," Kaiser said without even turning. "Keep her safe."
But Luke snapped before another word could be said.
"SHUT UP! THAT DOESN'T MATTER!" His voice cracked with grief.
"WHAT'S THE POINT?! SHE'S GONE!"
The air vibrated with his magic. The vines beneath the snow twisted and erupted—razor-sharp, lashing toward me.
I moved to counter, but Kaiser's arm caught my waist, pulling me aside before the thorns split the air where I stood.
"Sylaphine, listen to me." His tone was firm, unshaken.
"You're the only one that can help us right now. Take a deep breath and focus."
I exhaled, my pulse thundering in my ears. My heart—still not calm after what happened to Aliana—ached beneath the weight of his words.
"Your people need you," he said again, locking eyes with me.
"You have to be the strongest one here."
He was right.
I couldn't let despair cripple me.
"DIE!" Luke screamed.
Earthen spikes shot from the frostbitten ground. I raised my palm instinctively, shaping the flow of water around me. A barrier spiraled upward—liquid, fluid, alive—then froze instantly in the biting wind. His spikes shattered against it like glass.
"Luke! You have to stop this!" Caelum shouted, stepping forward.
"This isn't like you!" Eryndor pleaded.
Luke's expression twisted—anger, grief, desperation all collapsing into one.
"It doesn't matter… I lost the only person that kept me going…" His staff trembled in his hand.
"It's all because of her!"
He pointed directly at me. His eyes—once bright with hope—now burned with hatred.
"She calls herself the Queen, yet she can't even save her own kind!" he shouted, voice breaking.
"All of you are worthless! Because of you—I lost her!"
Each word hurt..
And before I could respond, another voice whispered from the storm—quiet, deliberate, cold.
"...And who exactly are you blaming?"
Kaiser's voice.
He stood behind Luke now—how he moved there, I didn't see. His presence was like a shadow that decided to speak.
Luke turned to strike him, fury clouding thought.
But Kaiser caught his wrist mid-swing. Effortless. The motion so calm it almost looked gentle.
Then, slowly, Luke's wrist began to pale—drained of blood under the sheer force of Kaiser's grip. His rage faltered for a moment, his breath sharp.
The air froze around them. The others hesitated, none daring to move.
Even I, ancient as I am, couldn't tear my gaze away.
Kaiser's hand gripped Luke's wrist tighter—lifting him until his boots barely touched the ground. His shadow stretched long beneath the flickering frostlight.
Luke struggled, breath ragged, eyes wide with fury and confusion.
"Let me go—!"
Kaiser's voice was low. "You want to blame someone?"
"What—"
"Then look at yourself." His tone dropped colder than the air around us. "Your inferiority killed her, not us."
Luke froze, his mouth half open.
"Your pride made you blind. You'd rather fight the ones who tried to save her than face the truth—that you weren't strong enough to protect her."
"Shut up!" Luke screamed, but Kaiser's eyes didn't waver.
"Even now, while she's dying, you're wasting what little time she has left." His words came slow, deliberate.
"Blaming others lifts your responsibilities. That's easier, isn't it?"
"I—she—It's hopeless!" Luke's voice cracked. "If Sylaphine's healing magic can't save her… nothing can!"
The silence that followed was heavy—so heavy even the frost crawler's rumble felt distant.
Then—Caelum collapsed beside us, coughing violently. Blood dripped from his lips onto the snow. Velith knelt beside him, trembling, her hands uselessly glowing with faint healing light that did nothing.
Eryndor's voice shook. "Luke is right… our mother has the strongest healing magic among all races. Nothing compares to her power. If even she can't heal Aliana…"
He looked at me—with quiet despair. "…then no one can."
I wanted to speak—but before I could—
"That's where you're wrong."
The voice came from behind them—steady, calm, almost defiant.
Lucas.
He stepped forward, green eyes glinting under the frostlight, his hand lifting as a small vial shimmered into existence above his palm—materialized from thin air, a distortion of light bending into form.
Kaiser turned his head slightly, the faintest smirk tugging at his lips.
"Oh? So you've figured it out, genius?"
Lucas nodded once, tilting the vial toward the light. Inside swirled something faintly blue—alive, pulsing like breath caught in liquid.
"Yeah. Exactly."
Kaiser's grip loosened, and Luke dropped to the snow with a grunt.
Kaiser looked down at him, expression merciless.
"How long," he asked quietly, "are you going to be utterly useless?"
Luke's breath caught. "W–what?"
Kaiser's gaze hardened. "We can save your sister. So do us a favor."
He leaned closer, his tone venom-soft. "Keep the crawler distracted like a good little distraction you are. Help us win."
"You're lying!" Luke spat, eyes wide. "All of you! I don't trust—"
Lucas cut him off sharply."She's infected."
Everyone turned.
"An ancient disease. An enzyme—it's freezing her vitals from the inside. Not just her." He looked at the others—at Caelum, still coughing, and Velith, pale and trembling. Even the illusive frozen fairies. "They're infected too."
The vial shimmered faintly in his hand, tiny frost particles rising from it.
Kaiser crossed his arms, eyes narrowing. "So. That's what the frost crawler was carrying…"
Lucas nodded grimly. "Seven thousand years sealed in ice. The enzymes mutated—alive, viral. Her body's healing magic keeps repairing the damage, but the enzyme keeps refreezing the cells. She's trapped in a loop."
I felt the air tighten around us.
Kaiser's smirk deepened just slightly. "Then we still have time."
He turned his head toward me.
"Queen of Fairies," he said, his tone halfway between command and trust, "I hope your faith isn't as frozen as this world."
Then he winks at me.
If it truly was something mutated before my birth, then… no wonder my magic failed.No wonder all the spells, the prayers, the divine tongues of nature — none of them worked.
I was never meant to heal what I never knew existed.
The frost crawler's curse wasn't born in my era. It was ancient even before me. Older than my labyrinth… older than the song of the first fairy.
A disease carried through centuries of still ice… adapting, reshaping, twisting itself into something nature itself could not recognize.
But if I could understand its weakness—if I could uncover what this "enzyme" feeds upon…Then I could heal them all.
Caelum. Velith. My people in the labyrinth. Even Aliana.Every life tied to my failure could still be saved.
I turned my gaze to the battlefield.
Luke stood there, trembling—then, slowly, he straightened. His hands shook, but his eyes had changed. They weren't wild anymore. They were determined.
He looked at his sister's still body, then at Kaiser.
Kaiser didn't move. His stance was calm, unflinching—like a man who didn't need to hope, because he already knew.
Luke exhaled sharply. "I can't believe I'm taking orders from an E-rank…" he muttered, then slapped his own face hard enough that the sound echoed. "But you're right."
He turned, jaw clenched, eyes burning. "You two better be right."
Kaiser brushed past him, voice steady, careless. "Yeah, yeah. We get it. Now get back there."
The ground trembled beneath us. The rippling of the blackened water distorted the frostlight, and from its reflection, I saw Celia's chains ignite again—Lucas channeling lightning through them. Luke raised his wand, roots and stone swirling together.
One last stand.One last hope.
Kaiser reached into his overcoat, searching for something, eyes narrowed in thought.
I watched him.
But then—something in my memory… shifted.
Wait.
The color of the snow.
When the frost crawler exhaled, the frost wasn't pure white—it was a darker, sickly shade.
And Kaiser… he had noticed it.
He muttered enzyme.
The moment he noticed it...
My breath faltered. My heart clenched.
He knew.
He knew all along.
If he had spoken sooner, Luke wouldn't have lost himself to despair. Caelum and Velith might not be on the edge of death. I wouldn't have—
…
No.
This wasn't ignorance. It was deliberate.
He waited.He waited for Lucas to realize it.
Why?What could he possibly gain from holding the truth?
Was he… testing us?Testing me?
My gaze locked onto him again.
A man with no magic.
No mana.An E-rank.And yet…
He knew from the beginning they were infected...
The way he anticipated Luke's attacks.The way he moved—silently, precisely.
The way even with this cold, he is unaffected.
The way he handled the chaos, not as a bystander… but as if he were orchestrating it.
When he momentarily covered me in his coat, there was hot air and moisture inside of there... something is not right. That should be impossible with magic.
No, he wasn't ordinary.
He was something else entirely.
A false ranker.
The lowest rank… with power beyond comprehension.
Who—are you, really?
Before the thought could leave my lips, his hand stopped searching. He found what he needed—and pulled it out.
A small, black vial, faintly shimmering with violet veins.
Then the lake erupted.
Water exploded upward, spraying shards of ice like daggers as the frost crawler emerged once again, its scales glimmering with deathly light.
The sky dimmed. The wind howled. The temperature plummeted.
This was it.
I had to figure it out now...