The silvery moon hung high in the sky, storm clouds passing before it from ti to ti, alternately hiding and revealing its pale light.
"Everyone should be asleep... it’s ti to act."
I said as I threw myself from the top of one of the castle towers, my feet connecting with the snow-covered ground in a delicate, smooth motion.
Step by step, I headed toward the castle’s exit and soon crossed it without a care.
"Stealthy escape mission, successfully completed!" I laughed cheerfully.
"Unbelievable, but sohow expected..."
However, the mont I passed through the entrance, my senses sharpened as I felt a gaze fall upon .
’Shit...’
"You never change, big brother," Gravis sighed, leaning against the wall. "Always sneaking off on nightti adventures no one would approve of. Wasn’t it enough to worry our late mother? Do you really need to worry all of us who care about you too?"
Sigh.
I stopped amid the snow, my face becoming as cold as the ground beneath my feet.
"That’s exactly why I go out at night. That way, no one worries. I’ll be back before anyone even notices I was gone."
Gravis let out a deep sigh.
"You’re that confident in your victory? Aren’t you afraid that death’s scythe might be waiting just around the corner? Don’t you think about us, who would have to bury a body torn apart by so random beast? Don’t you think about our pain and suffering if you die? Do you really want to make us suffer that much?"
My face remained frozen.
"Don’t try to hold back by using your emotions as an excuse. Don’t try to make feel guilty for doing exactly what everyone knew I would do."
I turned and stared deeply into Gravis’s eyes, making him flinch—my gaze as deep and empty as the abyss.
"Why should I even care about your emotions? I’m not responsible for your feelings, Gravis. Nor for Raiden’s, Laxus’s, the Mad King’s, Agnes’s, or even Euphy’s."
I began walking toward him, one step at a ti, once again making him swallow nervously.
"Tell , Gravis—who among you was forced to love ? Who was compelled to grow attached to ? Didn’t you know from the very beginning that I walk the earthly path? Didn’t you know it’s a path filled with treacherous, selfish demons who constantly put their lives on the line? If, knowing all that, you still chose to cling to , then you can only bla yourself. I owe nothing to you—or to anyone."
"..."
Gravis lowered his gaze, his hands gripping his clothes tightly.
"I didn’t choose," he said through clenched teeth. "I’m your family. We’re brothers... we’re supposed to face adversity together. It’s only natural... it’s only natural. No matter what I do, I’ll always like you and admire you because you’re my older brother."
"..."
I sighed, holding back a laugh, my eyes returning to their usual sparkle as I placed my hands behind my neck.
"Oh heavens. You’ve been spending far too much ti with humans." I laughed lightly. "I don’t think there’s anything natural about that. In fact, it’s pretty strange and weird for a tiger to act that way."
"Shut up," he muttered, on the verge of tears. "Don’t tell what I should or shouldn’t feel. If I’m the only one responsible for my emotions, then it’s only fair that I judge what I can or can’t feel. You don’t have the right to mock ."
"Sure, sure," I waved dismissively. "Anyway, I might die before dawn or be reborn by the afternoon. Wish luck!"
I took a step forward as Gravis rely waved back.
"Co back safely—and try not to die, please..."
I just laughed in response as I used consecutive [ Quick Step ] bursts, vanishing into the forest like a ghost.
Trees and animals blurred past .
Quickly, I began orienting myself toward Shattered Sky, which wasn’t all that far by demonic standards.
The truth was that both Euphy and I had taken too many detours and traveled at mortal speed...
Still, it was a considerable distance to go and return within a single day, which was my plan—unless, of course, you had a private jet in a fantasy world.
Which was unthinkable.
Or maybe not.
I laughed.
Taking a deep breath, I stirred my Primordial Force and lifted off, my body shooting rapidly toward the skies.
’First gear.’
Almost instantly, my feet ignited with flas, propelling forward as my speed accelerated to frightening levels.
’Second gear.’
But this wasn’t the limit. I imdiately infused even more air into my flas, turning them from orange to a deep blue.
BOOOOM
’Third gear.’
My body shot across Axel so fast that the entire scenery beca completely indistinguishable, except for faint streaks of color from the sky, forests, and lakes.
’I hope the general direction is right...’ I thought, trying to avoid mistakes.
Before long, the sky began turning red, making sigh in relief.
Even so, the heavens took on a macabre appearance.
The moon no longer shone with subli beauty, instead bearing a ruined face, fragnts scattered across the sky.
For so degenerate reason, the sun glowed faintly beside it, ignoring its natural cycle, as if imrsed in infinite pain—cracks covering its surface, what looked like blood flowing from them.
BOOM
I landed on the ground like a cot, leaving a blazing trail behind and awakening the seemingly dormant environnt.
Bloody mist quickly enveloped , beginning to poison my body.
"This is annoying, but unfortunately I still haven’t learned how to deal with the mist, unlike the locals."
I sighed as I walked through the poisonous fog, simply accepting the constant poisoning.
As long as I didn’t enter areas where it was too dense, it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
Soon, I found myself in a battlefield—dozens of swords, axes, and spears embedded in the ground.
White rats covered the terrain, analyzing from head to toe with their red eyes.
I smiled when I saw, ahead of , a large, fat rat with unmistakable red fur.
I stopped a little over ten ters away from the Rat King, his eyes studying with curiosity.
The Rat King’s body contracted as he laughed.
"I didn’t expect to et you again," he said, sohow recognizing . "But it’s rather opportune. You know, there’s been sothing hamring at my mind for a long ti."
"Royal Guard!" he suddenly summoned his most loyal servants without malicious intent.
Soon, they lined up in front of , each one with a different color.
I recognized most of them, but one caught my attention—I didn’t recognize it, yet I felt a familiar energy coming from it.
Strange.
"Look at this," the Rat King continued. "These are lightning, shadow, fire, ice, and love. Each one of my beloved children." He introduced them one by one.
Except for one.
That strange one.
He laughed again.
"For a long ti, my conscience weighed heavily on . I needed to show gratitude—I needed to thank you."
He said, sowhat breathless.
"You led to Vlad’s army, granting an opportunity I had long desired. But as if that weren’t enough! You even killed his army and Vlad himself for !"
"What does that an?" I asked expressionlessly. "I certainly killed them for the village, and that has nothing to do with you. Still... what is this?"
"Don’t be hasty! I’ll tell you..." he cackled. "You killed them and went off celebrating with the cultivators... but do you know sothing? After every battle, there are bodies. Many bodies. Rotting, releasing terrible slls."
I frowned as his laughter grew louder.
"No one wanted to clean them up... so the cultivators offered the bodies to ."
"Unbelivable."I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
"Vlad’s flesh and that of his soldiers was burned and damaged, but it still carried a small, precious fragnt that, when united piece by piece like a puzzle... allowed to have one more beloved child—my newest newborn."
A blood-red rat stepped forward, the energy around it resembling Vlad’s.
"Blood, my beloved youngest son. He is everything I ever wanted. Everything Vlad was—now belongs to !"
"I can only thank you, thank you so much! I’m your fan! I love you!"
He laughed insanely while all I could do was sigh.
"Nonsense..."
The omnipresent mist began to stir at the small rat’s command, attempting to poison even more.
Yet it didn’t take much imagination to know this was only the beginning.
The rats would soon multiply, and the mist would grow dense enough to crystallize.
"I thought long and hard!" the rat continued. "What the hell should I do with this endless love I feel? How can I repay you?! But I finally found the answer!"
His eyes widened as the rats began to stir and multiply.
"Integration! Integration! Integration! I’ll devour you—every piece savored delicately until the end—and then I’ll turn you into one of us! You’ll be reborn as one of my children! Isn’t it divine grace? Isn’t it wonderful?! You will be integrated into us!"
He laughed with repulsive insanity as the rats multiplied faster and faster, the Love Myriad Rat accelerating the process even further.
Pink rats spread through the ranks.
Black rats followed, increasing the multiplication even more and strengthening the common Myriad Rats.
White rats surrounded on all sides, taking the vanguard, planning to crush with sheer numbers.
anwhile—
Yellow rats, orange rats, and blue rats multiplied incessantly, surrounding as their bodies glowed with their respective colors.
They occupied all areas above and below the trees, taking strategic positions.
Finally, the blood-red rats multiplied around the king, exerting a pulling force over the mist—each new rat increasing the mist’s attraction even further.
I remained stoic, despite being surrounded on all sides.
"Soldiers! Royal Guard!" the Rat King scread with clear madness.
"Kill him! Attack! Attack!!! Hahaha"
Millions of rats surged toward , swallowing like a tidal wave.
This scenario was the worst possible.
Even, so...
I grinned widely, feeling death’s scythe at my neck.
"I’ve missed a battle like this."
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