The battlefield was a crater of smoke and broken stone, charred by fire and seared by radiance. The worms were gone burned into ash that scattered like black snow on the wind. The abomination's roar had fallen silent, its body ripped apart from the inside out.
For a long mont, there was only stillness. The echoes of the Final Severance lingered in the fractured air, like a hymn carved into the world itself.
Rael staggered first, knees trembling as the Judicator sigils across his body dimd and cracked. His chest heaved, erald light leaking faintly from the fractures in his armor.
Kaen was worse off—half his torso seared red and black, blood pouring from his mouth. Yet his grin split wider, even as he nearly fell flat on his face.
"Hah… told you I could tank it." His voice rasped, broken but full of smug fire.
Rael gave him a sidelong glance, face pale but sharp.
"…Idiot. You almost got yourself killed."
Kaen chuckled through blood.
"Almost. But not quite. That's called durability, Rael. Look it up."
Lira ca running, blossoms scattering from her palms as she pressed healing Shinrei into both of them. Her hands glowed soft green, her voice strained.
"Don't talk—just stay alive! I can't nd idiots if they keep trying to explode themselves!"
But Rael caught her wrist, shaking his head.
"…No need. I can heal myself."
Before she could protest, his aura shimred erald blossoms sprouting from his chest wounds, roots stitching across his cracked skin like living veins. His Judicator glow dimd, replaced by the gentle, natural radiance of Bloom Affinity. The Eluron clan's legacy pulsed within him.
His body began nding faster than Lira's blossoms could keep up. Even the fractures in his armor smoothed over with green light.
Lira blinked in disbelief.
"…You've been holding out on us?"
Kaen's grin faltered, his eyes narrowing at Rael.
"Wait. You can heal yourself? Since when?"
Rael exhaled slowly, the pain fading from his voice.
"…Since always."
Kaen's jaw dropped.
"Since—ALWAYS?! Then why the hell did I almost burn myself alive covering for you?!"
Rael's eyes glimred faintly as he straightened his back, voice calm but smug.
"…Because you're reckless. Soone had to keep you busy."
Kaen's face turned red.
"YOU—!" He nearly lunged at him, but his body gave way, and he collapsed back to the ground. "Tch… damn it. Can't even punch you right now."
Rael almost smirked almost. But then Kaen's gaze flicked to the sword in Rael's hand. It wasn't the Lun Blade most knew him for. Instead, the spirit-bound Seireiken glowed faintly, its surface etched with reflective sigils, mirroring even the dim flas still smoldering nearby.
Kaen narrowed his eyes.
"…Hey. Why are you using a different sword? I thought it was that Lun blade of yours."
Rael's expression turned flat.
"…Nosy, aren't you."
Kaen sat up, scowling despite the blood on his lips.
"Hey!! I'm just asking!"
Rael looked away, tightening his grip on Seireiken. His tone softened only slightly.
"…This one is… different. Not ant for every fight. Seireiken is bound to my family… to Seraphis."
The spirit's voice stirred within him, serene and distant. The Verdant Mirror reflects not the enemy, but the wielder. He must not know everything, not yet.
Kaen caught Rael's hesitation, and his grin returned, sharp as ever despite the pain.
"Hah. So even perfect Rael's got secrets, huh? Good. Would've been boring if you didn't."
Rael's gaze snapped back, his pride stung.
"…Perfect? Don't mock ."
Kaen coughed blood, laughing weakly.
"Not mocking. Just saying… if you're hiding cards, then I can keep hiding mine too."
Lira groaned, throwing her hands in the air.
"Unbelievable. You two just blew yourselves half to death, and the first thing you do is argue like children."
Kaen leaned his head back, still smiling.
"He started it."
Rael folded his arms, the blossoms around his body fading as his wounds finished closing.
"…No. You did."
Lira facepald, muttering under her breath.
"I should've let the worms eat you both."
The three of them sat in the crater, battered but alive. For a mont, the chaos outside felt far away though the distant booms of Captain Kaedros and Lady Sythen clashing still rattled the sky.
But Rael's eyes narrowed, his expression grim once more.
(That thing wasn't just a puppet… He ntion a na Lady Sythen… Which ans… there's more. Khael's words weren't just paranoia. If Veymorr was sealed… then this Sythen is moving behind the curtains.)
Kaen noticed the distant look and tilted his head.
"Oi. Don't go spacing out on , Rael. You're not the only one allowed to brood dramatically."
Rael blinked, then exhaled slowly.
"…Shut up, Kaen."
Kaen grinned wider.
"That's better. ans you're back to normal."
And despite herself, Lira laughed quietly.
The laughter died as a new voice rolled across the battlefield, smooth and venomous, dripping with delight.
"Hoh… so you actually managed to beat my right hand."
The three froze. Slowly, their heads turned upward.
Above the crater, drifting down like a phantom draped in erald mist, stood a woman. Her presence was suffocating—like jealousy itself had been given form. Her hair shimred black-green, cascading like liquid glass, and her eyes were shards of fractured erald, gleaming with malice. Every breath around her tasted bitter, like envy gnawing into their veins.
Kaen's grin faltered. His chest tightened.
(This aura… it's worse than the right hand. Way worse…)
Rael clenched Seireiken, the spirit sword humming violently in warning.
(No. Not just a puppet. This is her. The Cursed Eclipse herself…)
The woman's lips curved into a smile too sharp to be kind.
"I am Sythen… the Eclipse of Jealousy. Cursed Lord of envy's chains. You three… amuse ."
Kaen spat blood to the side, raising his hand to wipe his mouth. His glare burned hotter than his wounds.
"A… cursed lord?"
Rael's teeth ground together. His aura flared despite his fatigue.
"…Damn it."
Lira's voice cracked as she looked around, panic seizing her.
"Where is… Captain Kaedros?"
Sythen tilted her head in mock thought, then lazily raised a finger. Her erald nails shimred as she pointed toward a shadow on the ground.
"Ah. You an that one lying over there."
All three turned. Not far off, half-buried in rubble, was the still form of Captain Kaedros. His armor shattered, his greatsword broken at his side. He wasn't moving. His chest barely stirred, if at all.
Lira gasped, voice breaking.
"No… no, no… Captain—!" She stumbled forward, desperate.
Sythen's grin widened, cruel satisfaction dripping from her voice.
"Oh, don't be so dramatic. He fought well. For a mont, I almost thought he might entertain longer. But… jealousy devours even the strongest, eventually."
Kaen's body trembled as heat surged through his veins. His aura lashed out, unstable, veins glowing as if fire itself burned inside him.
"You… bastard!!"
He launched himself forward like a cannonball, his fist wreathed in the roaring gate's energy. His voice cracked with fury as he roared.
"I'LL TEAR YOU APART!!"
Rael's eyes widened.
"Kaen—wait!"
But Kaen was already upon her, reckless and blazing, his fury hurling him straight into Sythen's shadow.
The cursed lord only smiled.
To be continue
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