Smaller than I thought? Is she trying to make mad…?
My eyes narrowed as I stared back at her.
Azaila.
Taller than , her crimson hair spilled behind her like liquid fire. Her eyes deep, vivid red—t mine without hesitation, calm and cruel.
Then, I looked up.
Floating above her, watching , was the thing I'd sensed earlier.
A god or maybe an angel, depending on who you asked.
Three heads.
The right wore a golden crown.
The left, a smaller silver one.
And the center…
It didn't need a crown. You could feel what it was just by looking.
"And you're weaker than I thought," I said.
She didn't flinch.
I nodded toward the beast above her.
"I know what that is. Your follower. The one watching this world like it's already judged."
I raised my hand, pointing.
"That right head? King of a kingdom. The left? Queen of a realm. But the middle—"
I locked eyes with it.
My Mythrigan pulsed. Pain blood behind my temple, but I didn't break. I didn't look away.
"The middle head belongs to a fallen angel."
"As expected of the Eyes of a god," Azaila said, finally giving her full attention. Her gaze dragged across my fra, lingering. "But it's a sha the body doesn't match the title."
I didn't flinch.
"Funny. I was thinking the sa. I expected the Red Cosmos to be… taller. More divine. Less petty."
Azaila laughed not loudly, but enough to sting.
"You think too highly of yourself, Kael Valery. That god in your head won't save you. You don't even understand it yet."
"I don't need to understand it," I said, stepping closer. "I just need it to see you clearly."
Her Saint shimred above us, triple-headed and silent.
"Still clinging to your Eye like it's a shield," she said, her voice lowering."What happens when it turns on you?"
"Then I'll rip it out and keep going."
I t her gaze without blinking.
"Can you say the sa about your god?"
She went still.
The wind moved around her like breath held too long.
"…No," Azaila said, voice low. "That's why I beca sothing else."
Then her gaze locked onto mine, burning red and rciless.
"When I kill you," she said softly, "I'll let that Eye stay intact. As a relic. Sothing they can pray to, when the real gods are gone."
"You'll try," I said, voice quiet but certain. "But rember this when judgnt cos, red burns first."
"Is that the future you see, Kael?" Her voice was quiet but beneath it, a sharp defiance simred. "If that's the so-called fate you're clinging to…"
She turned.
Red mist coiled around her like breath in the cold, wrapping her figure in pulsing warmth and silent fury. The rooftop stone beneath her feet cracked ever so slightly.
"…Then I'll break it."
As the red mist faded, I stared at the space she had stood then slowly, I lifted my gaze to the moon above.
Its light was pale, distant… but still there.
"If you're set on changing fate…Then I'll shape it into sothing worth living under your sky."
And with that, I let myself dissolve fading into the night, leaving only silence behind.
As I reappeared beneath the stronghold's hall, I moved quietly making sure not to disturb the celebration still alive around . No one noticed. Or maybe they pretended not to.
I found the soda I had left earlier, still chilled, still fizzing.
I picked it up and walked up the stairs to the overlook, where I could see everything—students laughing, dancing, shouting, spinning with a kind of reckless joy only victory could bring.
"They're calling him Cendric the Tricky One now," I murmured to myself. "And Silas… the Strong One."
I took another sip. Sweet. Crisp. Almost too perfect.
At least the earlier song was gone.
It had been replaced with a bass-heavy beat, sothing faster, sothing easier to forget.
Luckily
I leaned against the rail and let my gaze wander one last mont of peace before the world started shifting again.
At the center of the hall, Cendric had sohow gathered everyone into a near-perfect circle
the music soon lowered down to hear his tale. I could hear it his loud voice from above.
Down in the hall, Cendric had sohow pulled off the impossible.
He'd gotten everyone dozens of students into a loose circle around him. The music faded out like it knew he was about to start talking.
And sure enough, he raised both arms like a prophet.
"It all began the mont we reached the Crimson Stronghold," he declared, pacing in a wide arc. "We were outnumbered. Outgunned. The trees whispered death. But did I flinch?"
He stopped, dramatically placing a hand on his chest.
"No. I held my breath. I told Silas to stay low. I crawled. I planned. I—"
Then he dropped to one knee, lowering his voice to a heroic hush.
"I took a spear. Right through the shoulder. For him."
Then, without warning, he dropped to his knees, clutching his side like a dying soldier.
"—until I was stabbed through the shoulder… to protect Silas."
The crowd gasped.
Silas, standing behind him, nearly choked. "That's not what happened!"
Cendric didn't even pause. "The blade went deep. I saw the blood my blood pooling into the dirt. But I held the line"
"You're the one who got caught and snitched!"
Silas's voice cut through the noise, and the hall burst into muffled laughter.
From the upper level, I took another sip of soda.
Still sweet.
Cendric, undeterred, raised both hands like he was delivering gospel. "It was part of the plan from the beginning!"
He spun back toward the crowd, one fist raised high like a victorious hero returning from war.
"And that—" he declared, voice booming, "was the mont the Red Line knew… they'd made a mistake."
Cheers erupted. Laughter followed. Soone tossed confetti. I had no idea where they even got confetti.
I leaned back slightly, resting one hand on the rail, watching it all unfold below.
Tricky Cendric.
Strong Silas.
Sohow, against every odd, they'd made it.
And now they were ho.
As the group below erupted in muffled laughter, Cendric dove straight back into his heroic tale, arms flailing like a soldier retelling a myth.
"—and that's when I looked the Red Line leader in the eye and said, 'Your first mistake was thinking I wouldn't bite!'"
Another wave of cheers.
Footsteps approached from behind.
Marlen.
She stopped beside . Said nothing. Just watched the celebration with a look i couldn't quite read.
"Didn't want to join them?" she asked.
I kept my eyes on the circle of students. Silas shaking his head. Liora laughing. Cendric standing like he'd just saved the continent.
"They're already celebrating," I said quietly. "If I join in, the mood shifts. It's different when a myth walks into the room."
Marlen glanced at . "You think they see you like that?"
"They have to. That's the weight of hierarchy. No matter how kind a god is… you still bow your head."
Marlen didn't argue. She stood beside for a mont, then said softly,
"But you're the only one who ever made that weight feel lighter."
She handed the file.
Inside was the full report, no dramatic speeches, just the truth.
They'd been caught early. Cendric slipped up while scouting, and both were dragged deeper into the Red Line stronghold.
But sowhere during captivity, Cendric started using his Korigan ability — so form of paper manipulation.
He slipped paper charms into key locations: fuel stores, mana circuits, ventilation systems. Small, precise. He knew exactly where to place them.
It triggered a chain reaction. Machinery failed. Fire spread. Panic broke out.
That's how they escaped.
I closed the file slowly.
So that's what really happened.
Trickery. Timing. Quiet destruction.
Cendric really earned that nickna.
———-
Far from the Stronghold…
In the heart of the Blue Star Faction's command chamber, Selene Dais stood before a sweeping wall of holograms. Thousands of live feeds— student vitals, battlefield maps, elental surges danced across the glass. Compared to this, the Velvet Eye's tech looked almost quaint.
A young strategist stepped beside her, tablet in hand.
"Ma'am," he said quietly, "Kael Valery has neutralized the Red Cosmos."
Selene didn't respond at first. Her eyes stayed locked on a slow-motion replay: Kael standing alone on the rooftop, his Mythrigan Eye faintly glowing.
The strategist continued, hesitant. "Should we move forward with the next operation? So are saying… after what he did, his faction should be treated like a Valkcross-tier faction."
Selene tilted her head, thoughtful.
"He took down Azaila," she said, voice calm. "That's no small thing."
The strategist nodded. "So we adjust the simulations?"
Selene finally turned to face him.
"No. Not yet."
A faint smile touched her lips
"What is arrogance… without Eyes?"
The strategist blinked. "Ma'am?"
She waved a hand, closing the Kael feed.
"Observe him. Quietly. Let the Velvet Eye have their mont. If he becos more than a banner… the Blue Star will respond."
She turned back to the wall of light, her voice soft.
"After all… so stars only shine brightest right before they collapse."
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