Ellie walked for hours without slowing, her steps steady, her expression unchanged.
Rina had already returned to her shadow, silently following from the darkness. The shopping district was empty. Deserted. Shops that should have been buzzing with life stood shuttered, silent. No people. No guards. Not even voices.
Ellie glanced around with a flat gaze—then noticed several buildings at the far end that had been reduced to rubble, collapsed into unrecognizable piles of stone and wood. This wasn't the place Rina meant. Aeren wasn't here. But Ellie knew exactly where she needed to go now.
She continued forward, following the trail of destruction—and the deeper she walked, the heavier the air became. The silence thickened. The atmosphere warped, pressing against her skin like an invisible force. And then she smelled it.
Blood.
The metallic scent grew stronger with every step. Finally—Ellie saw someone standing in the distance. A girl. Stone-still. Unmoving. As if frozen in place by fear.
Ellie narrowed her eyes. "…Princess Olivia." She whispered the name, instantly recognizing her. And in that moment, Ellie confirmed she had come to the right place. A small smile—barely noticeable—touched her lips.
Then she ran.
It didn't take long before Ellie reached her. She approached from behind and gently placed a hand on Olivia's shoulder.
The moment Ellie touched her—Olivia's entire body shuddered violently. And Ellie felt it instantly. Terror. Shock. Something broken inside her.
Ellie's brows drew together slightly.
She tightened her grip, steady but gentle. "Oh my… are you scared, my lovely sister?" Ellie's voice carried a soft, teasing lilt as she withdrew her hand from Olivia's shoulder.
The moment Olivia heard her, she exhaled in relief. A familiar voice—one that had pulled her out of panic more than once. She steadied her breath, glanced around, then finally turned toward Ellie.
Ellie stood at her side, her gaze drifting toward the battlefield.
Aeren was still trying—again and again—to reach Samarth. But every time he lunged forward, space snapped him back to where he started. It looked almost childish…If not for the fact that Samarth was bleeding as a result of being possessed by a Cosmic being—bleeding more than Aeren is bleeding.
Olivia's brows tightened.
Why is Ellie here? No one told her anything about Aeren or the plan. They had all assumed Ellie, of all people, would side with Aeren—or at least interfere. But Ellie simply watched, unbothered, as if Aeren's life-or-death struggle meant nothing.
Samarth looked like he would collapse and die at any moment. Aeren, despite near-mortal blood loss, kept moving—kept fighting—kept being pulled back, unable to even touch his opponent.
It was absurd. It was terrifying. And Olivia had seen this strange "stop-start" rhythm before: Aeren standing still like a statue… Then suddenly attacking… Then frozen again.
She returned her attention to Ellie, taking a step back to look her from head to toe. Ellie is fully prepared, dressed sharply for battle…Yet she carried no weapon. Not a blade. Not even a hidden knife.
The realization made Olivia's skin crawl. Still, she forced her voice to stay steady. "Why are you here?" she asked sharply. Then added, "And don't call me sister."
Because if Aeren had not been trapped in this bizarre spatial loop, he would have slaughtered everyone here—including her. And now Ellie—Ellie, who was destruction in the shape of a girl—was suddenly standing beside her.
There was no scenario where this ended safely.
None.
Ellie turned her head toward Olivia, breaking her brief daze as she watched the frozen battle. "They're speaking to each other," she whispered, sensing the silent exchange between Aeren and Samarth.
Olivia, confused, looked back at them.
Aeren and Samarth stood unnaturally still, eyes locked, as if a conversation was taking place beyond sound. The thought unsettled her, but before she could fully grasp it, Ellie's attention had already shifted.
Her gaze sharpened. This is it… the perfect opening. He's weak. Barely standing. One clean strike…I can end him. Ellie didn't voice the thought, but the intent flickered across her expression—cold, decisive, calculated.
Olivia's breath caught. She could feel it. Ellie wasn't here out of worry or curiosity. She had come prepared… for something else entirely.
She wants to kill him.
But how?
Aeren's body couldn't be pierced by magic, mana, aura—nothing. Even divinity, which once worked, no longer affected him. Without anything capable of harming him, killing Aeren is impossible.
So what is Ellie planning? What does she know that we don't?
Olivia's suspicion deepened as she stared at Ellie, who remained calmly focused on Aeren—less like a sister and more like a hunter waiting for her prey to finally stop moving.
"What are you looking at?" Olivia questioned, her eyes still fixed on Aeren and Samarth. Her words came flat, almost disinterested—yet something beneath them betrayed her true focus. She was sensing something. Something she wanted to hear. Something she wanted to see.
"That bastard brother," Ellie responded truthfully, her gaze never wavering from the battlefield. "I'm thinking of killing him."
The words hung in the air between them like a blade suspended mid-fall. Ellie could sense it immediately—Olivia's internal calculation, the rapid shifting of her loyalties. She would help. She would have to. The alternative was struggling against Aeren with nothing left to lose.
"How are you going to kill him?" Olivia's voice trembled, thin and defeated. "You can't use mana, magic, aura—nothing works on him. Even divinity failed." She paused, searching Ellie's face desperately. "It's impossible. Everyone who tried is dead."
She wasn't challenging Ellie. She was stating a fact she had learned through terror and near-death. Aeren's body was beyond steel—untouchable. Even the single moment they had managed to sever his arm felt less like strategy and more like a freak coincidence created by divinity itself.
Ellie blinked at her, genuinely confused. "What are you talking about?"
And then—shhiiing—
A sword materialized in the air beside her hand. It didn't fall. It didn't descend. It simply appeared, as if the space around Ellie had decided to reveal something it had been hiding.
Olivia's breath vanished. Her lips parted in pure shock.
"I'll kill him with this," Ellie said casually, as if she were discussing a dinner knife and not a cosmic mystery. She lifted the blade effortlessly. "One clean strike is enough. But I need to get close before that bastard senses me at the time of attack. If he senses me, we're both dead."
Olivia couldn't look away from the sword. "How… how did it appear out of nowhere?" she whispered, voice shaking. A sword emerging from thin air wasn't magic. It wasn't skill. It was something else—something terrifying.
Ellie shrugged.
"What are you reacting for? My bastard brother gave it to me so I could kill him when the time comes." Her tone stayed emotionless, almost bored. "Of course it can appear from thin air. It's a consciousness sword. Once it accepts its master, it can come from anywhere. Whenever I call."
Olivia's heart froze. Ellie had just said it plainly—Aeren gave her the sword that could kill him. He planned his own death.
"What do you mean your brother gave you a sword to kill him?"
Olivia's voice cracked. At this point, she didn't even know what she was supposed to ask. If Aeren wanted to die, then why did he slaughter so many people? Why not kill himself? Why drag the world into it? Monsters like him didn't deserve to breathe, let alone choose how they died.
Ellie didn't flinch.
"It was a knife before," she said calmly, lifting the blade. "But I prefer swords, so it changed. Consciousness weapons do that." Then, without hesitation, she added, "And since nothing in this world can kill him—as you said—he gave me one chance. If I'm able to kill him, he dies here. If not, he kills me. Simple."
Her tone didn't waver. Not once.
"And if I miss," Ellie continued, "the world dies with us. Or I save everyone. Not that I care about the world." She exhaled harshly, eyes narrowing. "But I've always… wanted to kill him. I don't know why. Every time I see him, the urge gets worse. Like he's standing in a place that should've been mine."
There was no hatred in her voice. No anger. Only absolute honesty—cold and terrifying.
She needed Olivia's help, but not because she valued her. Ellie simply couldn't get close alone. Aeren would sense her intent immediately.
Olivia rubbed her temples, overwhelmed. She didn't understand this insane family. A life-or-death bet between siblings? Seriously?
Fuck it… they're both crazy.
Ellie spoke so casually about killing Aeren—and dying herself—that Olivia almost felt dizzy. Even the sword in her hand sent a chill down Olivia's spine. Something about it felt… wrong. Dangerous. Alive.
But what choice did she have? Her eyes drifted toward Aeren and Samarth. Aeren was bleeding and stumbling, barely standing.
Samarth—possessed or not—looked even worse, swaying, his body tearing itself apart from within.
The opportunity was real. The danger was realer. And Olivia realized with a sinking heart—If she helped Ellie, she might survive. If she refused, Ellie might kill her first.
Ellie's fingers tightened around the hilt, knuckles whitening. Aeren was ruined. Barely standing. Blood soaking the ground, body swaying like he could collapse any second.
It was everything she had ever wanted. Everything she had ever waited for.
She should have been asking questions: How did they injure him? How did they fight him at all? How was he missing an entire arm—him, of all people?
It should have been impossible.
But Ellie's mind didn't care. Her excitement drowned out logic, details, explanations—everything. All she saw was Aeren. Her chance. Her purpose. Her victory.