Sotis, it’s hard to accept the truth.
Sotis, it’s not easy to recognise the lie.
And sotis... so things... are simply beyond one’s grasp.
That’s the truth and the lie... the sa coin, just shown on different sides.
Leo stood frozen, helpless, as he stared at Ophis... her lifeblood slowly draining over the stone altar. Crimson rivulets traced along carved channels, feeding into the glowing magic circle etched into the ground, which pulsed and fed that power upward... to Dracula, hovering high above like a god awaiting ascension.
The cloaked figure beside him lowered its head.
"It’s over," it murmured. "Let’s go."
What else could they do?
This was it.
The end of Ophis’s story.
Just like she’d once written.
’Sotis... I wonder... am I cursed?’
Leo’s chest tightened. Tears clung to the edges of his vision as he looked at her... so alive yet, so pale.
Her expression was frozen mid-thought, as if her soul had already started to drift.
Everyone who had ever truly cared about him... always disappeared.
As if being near him was a curse.
A curse that pulled the life out of others just by standing close.
A curse that left him alone, over and over again.
A curse that forced him to understand what it truly ant to be unloved.
A curse that twisted him into soone who stole what didn’t belong to him... because nothing ever stayed by his side willingly.
It’s a curse.
No matter which life he lived, no matter which body he wore...
He was always cursed.
Cursed to lose the ones he loved.
That’s who he was... Leo.
He rembered it so clearly.... Watching his friends die one after another. The hospital window was stained with raindrops, his small hands clutching their toys tightly... waiting, praying.
Maybe if he held on long enough, they’d return for them.
But they never did.
All that remained were the toys... and cries.
Was this life going to be the sa?
Was he going to lose the people here, too?
He had already lost sothing he couldn’t get back.
His Pride.
Not just his pride... but Caelindra Pendragon.
Her smile... both the first and the last... was burned into his mind.
Even now, he could feel its warmth... and the coldness that ca after.
Leo clenched his jaw. His teeth bit deep into his lower lip, hard enough to draw blood. The taste was tallic and painful!
He couldn’t turn away.
Not after seeing Ophis like that.... not after losing many things.
His legs moved on their own.
The cloaked figure reached for him again, trying to drag him back.
But Leo jerked free.
The figure flinched, eyes narrowing.
"What are you doing?" it asked, sharp. "There’s nothing we can do now!"
Its voice trembled... part urgency, part fear. It wasn’t wrong.
The ritual was already in motion. Dracula was absorbing the energy, growing stronger with every second. Once it was complete, he’d beco nearly death sentence to both of them.
"You don’t get it," the figure hissed. "Dracula’s almost finished. If we stay, we’re just going to die. It’s suicide!"
Leo didn’t look at them. His eyes stayed fixed on the altar.
"Thank you."
That was all he could offer... to soone who had helped him this far.
But this choice... it wasn’t theirs to make.
It was his.
He turned to it and said with a small bow, "Thank you for until now... You can go and I... I’m going to save her."
The figure blinked. "...You’re serious?"
"I am."
"Stubborn bastard..." the figure muttered, dragging a hand down its hood. There was no anger.... just weary frustration, like soone dealing with a child too brave for his own good.
"Fine. Then tell how you’re planning to do it."
Leo stepped closer to the altar, squinting at the glowing inscriptions. Lines shimred like fire, the air humming with magic.
"If you think you can just rush in, break the chains and pull her out, you’ll die before you even touch her," the figure warned. "The mont you interrupt the flow, the spell collapses. She dies. You die. Everyone dies. You know that, right?"
Honestly, dealing with these kinds of heroic people was really a pain in the ass.
Leo didn’t answer... of course, he understood her point.. This was impossible.
But... there’s nothing impossible as long as you try, right?
Leo’s body had been able to enter the damn barrier that even gods couldn’t pass through... sure, that must be a miracle.
But sotis miracles happen when you push forward... not when you stay there and wait for others to decide your fate.
Leo moved closer to the altar. The altar had etched so strange symbols, and the magic circle etched on the ground... they were different.
Lines on the stone flowed in opposing directions, like two rivers refusing to et.
"Hmm... you said this ritual moves energy from donor to recipient, right?"
"Yeah?" The figure’s reply ca cautiously, watching his hands, his eyes, the exact tilt of his head as he studied the carvings.
Leo humd as he looked up at Ophis and Dracula, who still hadn’t opened their eyes.
The figure noticed his eyes and motions. It had already figured out what he was going to do. "Obviously, that’s not possible. You cannot move them. Moving them is the sa as breaking the ritual... it will kill her."
Leo, however, shook his head. "Who said we’re moving them?" His gaze returned to the Alter and Magic circle.
The figure frowned. "Then?"
Leo gulped as he exhaled, looking at the figure, and muttered, "What if... we rewrite the sa magic circle around the altar and... the altar’s magic symbols around the magic circle?" His finger hovered above the lines.
"You an... like recreating the symbols and magic circles and swapping them to... reverse the function? Without breaking the pact?"
The figure let out a surprised tone.
Leo nodded with a serious face. "Yeah. Is that possible?"
The figure humd.
It’s not like it’s possible, but... it had never thought there would be a way like this... honestly, this had never been done before.
Not sure if it would even work... just because you rewrite it doesn’t an it could reverse the function. But still... the eyes behind the hood sharpened, weighing risk against the smallest thread of hope...
’Give it a try. There is nothing to lose here... even if it fails, Dracula will be heavily backlashed,’ a gentle voice echoed in the figure’s mind.
The figure sighed, nodding its head. "Well, this is the first ti I have heard such a thing... hmm... I cannot promise it works 100% though," it said as it looked behind Ophis. The moon was almost close to her. "We don’t have much ti; the mont the moon aligns with her, the ritual will reach its peak state."
Leo flinched as he looked at the moon that was almost near to Ophis. "Then let’s do it faster!" he said as he took a knife from his backpack and,
Deep inhale~
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