The sky was torn apart, carrying within it storms of flame and clashing shadows.
Sajibro stood in the air, his wings of shadow pulsing as if woven from the smoke of the past, staring upward at the red dragon, whose eyes burned with a fire like none he had ever seen.
Ignos...
The battle companion, the guardian of kingdoms, the dragon of the royal oath… was now roaring like a ghost of betrayal.
At last, I have you alone,"
Ignos spoke in the Whisper of Shadows — a language only those marked by its curse could comprehend.
Do you still think I'm under your command, fallen king?"
Sajibro didn't answer. He only gave a steady look — a silence that was either a test… or a deferred judgment.
Ignos dived from above like an infernal meteor, roaring as his body was cloaked in black flames that danced like imprisoned demons.
Sajibro drew his sword.
"The Oathblade."
Just uttering the name made the sword throb with the pulse of the throne.
But when it struck Ignos's scales — a fragment of the blade shattered.
A shadowed silence passed through Sajibro's eyes...
It was the first time that sword had ever broken.
Ignos unleashed the Flame of Betrayal — a dark blaze that scorched the air and warped the space around it, hitting Sajibro with such force that it tore his shadow armor apart.
The Royal Command was rejected.
A voice echoed inside Sajibro, warning him…
But before he could focus on it —
It stopped.
Emptiness.
A strange sensation... like a hole in his soul.
He turned swiftly eastward — his burning eyes dimmed for a moment.
He could no longer feel Melis… nor Daimon.
Silence crept inside him, but his face remained motionless.
So… they're gone."
Only one sentence left his lips.
No emotion.
No grief.
No expression.
Then he turned his gaze back to the battle.
No matter… everything can be replaced. Except loyalty."
He resumed the fight — seizing his shadow, crushing it into a spiral-shaped spear, and hurling it at Ignos's left wing.
Direct hit.
And with it, a black spike was revealed — buried deep — glinting like the ancient weapons of Raizen.
You're not a traitor…" Sajibro murmured.
"You're just another victim."
Sajibro appeared behind Ignos with speed that no eyes could follow.
He whispered in the ancient Shadow Tongue — words not spoken since the First Age:
Royal Command – Unseal, O sacred flame."
The sword was driven into Ignos's chest.
The dragon screamed, shaking the earth itself with the pain in his voice.
He fell from the sky like a star dropped from a galaxy, flames scattering around him, the black spike slowly burning away.
As he neared the ground, Sajibro caught him with one hand — and gently laid him down on the slope of a dead mountain, where no wind blows.
Ignos, with a torn wing and shattered breath, raised his head with difficulty:
Sajibro... I wasn't the only one whose soul was strangled… there was another voice… a whisper in the dark, promising me freedom… I didn't think you'd come."
Sajibro looked at him, his eyes hiding a fire devoid of mercy:
We're all tested, Ignos…
But some are rebuilt from their ashes."
He stood slowly, gazed at the sky, and whispered to himself:
Melis… Daimon…
If the darkness has swallowed you,
I will either make it spit you out…
Or bury it with you."
The chapter ends with the line:
Every king must face betrayal from those closest to him — or he is unworthy of the throne."