(Narrator POV)
Elga’s eyes blazed with fury. "You devil! Why would you deceive them?"
"Deceive?" Allen asked, tilting his head, amusent curling on his lips. "What exactly did I deceive them about? I only told them about the Nova World... about their powerful beasts... about Beast-humans who sought strength and Human intelligence. And, of course, those fools tried to recreate themselves."
Elga’s teeth clenched. "Do you think I’m stupid? You purposely guided them. You wanted them to co to you for help. You knew exactly what would happen."
Allen’s smile widened, almost proud. "Hmm... you know well. Very well. Yes... I never deceive. To be honest, I only pushed them to form Contracts—to release my kind from Geta’s cursed control."
He leaned back, eyes glinting. "Further more, I never lied to them. See for yourself." He pointed at her with eye. "They even brought back one of the half-beasts... here on Earth. And that... is you...Am I wrong Elga."
Elga stared, heart hamring. It was true. She—the culmination of cruel experints—stood in front of the very architect of her suffering.
The air between them thickened, almost tangible, heavy with tension, as if the next breath could spark a bloody battle.
Elga’s hand rose slowly, her fist clenched, every muscle coiled like a spring. The sheer power in her aura made the floor tremble beneath her. She was about to strike.
But then—
A presence sharper than any blade cut through the tension. Both of them froze.
Erza.
It was sharp. Crushing. Absolute Authority.
Her presence rolled across the chamber like a tidal wave, pressing on every chest, stealing the breath from every throat. The stone beneath their feet seed to groan under the weight of her aura.
Her violet eyes narrowed, gleaming with cold fury. When she spoke, her voice carried no tremor, no hesitation—only finality.
"If you dare to fight in my presence..." she said slowly, her tone like a blade drawn in silence, "...I will end you."
No one doubted her. Not for an instant.
The atmosphere grew unbearable. Even the highlevel guards, hardened by battle, felt their knees weaken under her will. She wasn’t threatening them. She was making a promise.
And above all, her ssage was clear:
No one would disturb Yuuta’s slumber. Not while she stood here.
Allen, however, did not bow. Instead, a low chuckle slipped past his lips. His grin spread wide, sharp with mockery.
"Ah... my eternal mistress seems a little angry."
The words fell heavy, echoing through the chamber like a stone cast into still waters.
"Mistress...?" Fiona’s voice cracked with disbelief.
Gasps rippled around the room. Sara’s eyes widened, her breath catching in her throat. For a mont, she thought she’d misheard him—but the weight in Allen’s voice told her otherwise.
Her gaze darted to Rika, the one person in the room whose gift could cut through any lie. Rika closed her eyes, sensing the flow of truth, then whispered, "He’s telling the truth."
The words struck Sara harder than any blade. Her world tilted. The hope she’d clung to—the hatred that kept her standing—all of it shattered in an instant.
The demon who’d slaughtered her comrades... the monster she had sworn to destroy... was not only telling the truth but served the very people she now called her Queen.
Her fingers trembled. The weight of realization pressed on her chest until breathing beca a struggle. If Yuuta and Erza were truly his Master and Mistress, then raising her hand against him ant suicide—against them ant betrayal.
But Erza paid them no mind. Their doubts, their fear, their disbelief—it was nothing to her.
Her hand moved instead to the crystalline cocoon beside her. She traced her fingers gently along the ice, as though touching Yuuta’s skin through the fragile barrier. His breath rose and fell steadily, proof that he was alive, still healing in his sleep.
Relief softened the queen’s expression. Her aura, which monts ago threatened to shatter the room, began to ease. The storm that had shaken everyone now ebbed quietly, its rage dissolving into calm.
For the first ti since the battle began, Erza allowed herself to exhale.
For the first ti, she allowed herself to breathe.
The glow of the ice cocoon pulsed softly in the dim chamber, each flicker casting blue shadows across the shattered floor. The light was weakening—lting, almost—as though its purpose had finally been fulfilled. Inside, Yuuta’s wounds closed at a pace no human body should ever endure. Torn flesh wove together, bones straightened and fused, the color slowly returning to his once-pale skin.
Elga and Sara stood nearby, holding their breaths. Neither dared speak. The silence in the room was so fragile that even a whisper felt like it could shatter it. Every few seconds, their gazes shifted—first to Erza, then back to the cocoon—as if waiting for her command to move.
Ti stretched. Minutes blurred into an hour, and when the last sliver of ice finally cracked away, Yuuta lay motionless but whole. No scars. No trace of pain. Just peace in Crystal Shield.
Erza’s lips parted slightly, and a long, unsteady breath escaped her. She hadn’t realized how long she’d been holding it. The iron tension in her shoulders began to ease, and for the first ti since the battle, her expression softened.
He’s safe.
Only then did she notice the wreckage surrounding her—the blood-stained marble, shattered glass, and scorch marks crawling up the walls. Sara and the others stood at a distance, their faces pale and uneasy. And at the far end of the chamber, seated and bound to a heavy iron chair, was a man—his wrists locked in enchanted chains that humd faintly with sealing runes.
Elga stood in front of him, like a wolf ready to tear into its prey.
Erza’s brows knitted. "What is going on here?"
The question fell like thunder. No one dared to answer. Even Elga hesitated, her claws twitching slightly as if gauging Erza’s mood.
Sara swallowed hard. She knew better than anyone: when a dragon was consud by worry, they saw nothing else. Erza’s entire being had been focused on Yuuta, blind to everything outside his recovery.
Taking a steadying breath, Sara bowed slightly. "My Que—" she stopped herself, correcting, "Erza... we captured this demon king at last after thousand of year." She extended her hand toward the chained figure. "That man is Allen Manster, son of Veronica."
Erza’s gaze snapped to Allen. For a long mont, she simply studied him, A fragnt of mory—dusty and half-forgotten—echoed in the back of her mind.
Erza moved in a flash—one mont she stood still, the next she was standing right in front of Allen.
The speed was terrifying; even Elga instinctively stepped back, a thin line of blood trailing from her chin.
But Erza didn’t notice. Her eyes were locked solely on Allen.
"Veronica..." she murmured. "I’ve heard that na before."
Allen lifted his head. Despite the chains binding him, his composure was unnerving. His smile was calm, almost reverent. "Yes, my Mistress," he said, his tone smooth and deliberate. "She was my mother. Once, she served under the Founder of Zani."
The chamber went utterly still.
Erza froze, her eyes narrowing, the faintest tremor touching her lips. "Founder of Zani..." The word alone seed to drag centuries of history into the room. "You an—you’re from that generation?"
Her voice dropped lower, heavy with disbelief and a shadow of awe. "The Age of Silent War..."
Allen’s smile deepened, eyes glinting with an emotion none of them could read. "Yes, my Mistress," he said softly. "I am."
Erza’s gaze lingered on Sara, her expression unreadable. The revelation still echoed in her mind—soone surviving from the Age of Silent War was already beyond belief, but Allen’s claim of witnessing it all—the rise of Zareth, her fall, and the chaos that followed—was almost impossible to accept.
And yet, deep down, she knew it wasn’t a lie.
Her thoughts stirred uneasily. His Mother once served Zareth, she rembered. And now, his son stands before .
Erza exhaled, a quiet, weary sigh. The puzzle finally made sense—why Sara couldn’t destroy Allen despite her hatred, why the air itself seed to resist his death.
"I understand now," Erza said, her tone even but edged with fatigue. "I can’t kill this demon. It would trouble far too greatly to even try."
Sara blinked in disbelief. "What... what do you an by that, Erza?"
"If I kill him," Erza explained, her voice low and steady, "it will cost too much of my power. The mont my strength collapses, my body will be forced into an Crystal Shield to heal—and that slumber would last for months." Her gaze flicked toward the crystal cocoon where Yuuta slept peacefully. "In that state, I’d be powerless. And I can’t risk that... not now. Not when Yuuta has only just survived."
Sara felt her stomach twist. She knew exactly what Erza ant. The dragons of Altanis—the royal bloodline—had a survival chanism beyond mortal understanding. When their power reached its limit, their own mana would seal them in layers of sacred ice, preserving life while restoring strength. It was the sa phenonon keeping Yuuta alive now, though his was rely a reflection of the dragons’ divine version.
Erza’s eyes hardened, her voice turning cold as frost. "I can’t afford to lose my mana here. But..." she paused, her words slicing through the room, "we can still kill his Contractor."
The chamber fell into dead silence.
A heavy silence hung in the air.
Erza’s eyes slowly swept across the chamber, her gaze sharp enough to cut through stone. Every soul present was frozen—no one dared to move, no one dared to breathe.
And then it hit her.
Like scattered fragnts of a broken mirror, the truth began to piece itself together inside her mind. Every unanswered question, every strange occurrence—all of it started to align with one horrifying realization. Her aura began to pulse, glowing brighter with each heartbeat until the air itself shimred with raw, divine energy.
Her voice ca low, almost a whisper, but it carried like a storm.
"The contractor..." she murmured, "is Yuuta....Am I Right??"
The words struck the room like thunder.
No one spoke. Not even Elga, who had been brimming with questions, could form a sound.
Sara stood rigid, her lips trembling. She lowered her head, unable to et Erza’s gaze. "Yes," she admitted softly.
For a brief, fragile mont, silence lingered. Then—
A sharp crack echoed.
Erza’s hand shot forward, seizing Allen by the throat. The holy chains binding him flared with light before shattering like glass, their fragnts scattering across the floor. Gasps filled the chamber as Erza lifted him effortlessly off the ground.
Her fingers dug into his neck, her eyes blazing with a fury that could turn mountains to dust.
Allen didn’t resist. His face remained calm, even as the veins in his neck strained under her grip. The sight only enraged her further.
The guards raised their weapons, forming a circle around them. Even Elga staggered to her feet, her instincts screaming that the tension could erupt into chaos at any second.
"How," Erza growled, her voice trembling with restrained rage, "did you make my mortal agree to such a contract?"
Her heart pounded painfully in her chest. To her, there could be no other explanation—Allen must have manipulated Yuuta. That cursed demon had found a way to bind himself to the man she loved, using her own emotions against her.
Erza knew the consequence well — if she killed a demon bound by contract, Yuuta would suffer paralysis as the bond collapsed. But she refused to let that creature keep its hold over him. No matter the cost, she would heal Yuuta herself.
Her thoughts hardened with resolve.
I’ll heal him... with my own hands if I must, she vowed silently. Even if it ans sealing his pain with a kiss.
But one thing was certain—she would never allow a re demon to leave its mark on her mortal.
Her hand tightened, the air around her quivering with the raw force of her power.
Then, like a floodgate shattering, mories ca crashing back. The Academy attack. The chaos at the port. And the one she had almost buried deep in her mind—Aaron... the Lion Cage incident, the beginning of her love story.
That wretched day when she first crossed paths with a demon. She had sensed his presence back then, but her focus had been on Aaron. That mistake had cost her dearly. All the series of events that followed—the suffering, the losses—were because of him... Allen.
Her knuckles whitened as she clenched her grip. Frost crawled outward from her feet, spreading along the floor, lacing the walls with crystalline ice. The chamber seed to tremble under the weight of her aura, a living force of wrath and heartbreak.
Yuuta had been hurt because of him. Earlier, Elga had attacked Yuuta, believing he is demon king Contractor and it was Allen who had forced Erza innocent mortal into forming a contract. And now, seeing it all unfold... the anger, the betrayal, the protective fury within Erza—it was almost unbearable.
"I was avoiding... avoiding wasting my mana on you, you evil demon!"
Erza’s voice cracked like thunder, her hands trembling with restrained power. "But the mont... the mont you laid a hand on my mortal—"
Her eyes blazed, aura flaring wildly around her. "You will not receive an ounce of rcy!"
The energy in her palms coalesced into a searing, blinding light. "I will erase you with my Aurora Beam!" she scread, her fury echoing through the chamber.
"So that your soul... your very existence," she continued, voice shaking with rage, "will never—ever—be able to find my husband in this life!"
Erza’s grip around Allen’s throat tightened, her aura flaring like a living sun. Every inch of the chamber trembled under the intensity of her Aurora Light, and it felt as if the air itself was being scorched by her power. She was at the pinnacle of her fury, ready to end Allen’s existence once and for all.
But then—a faint, almost imperceptible Crack reached her ears.
Her eyes darted to the ice cocoon. A slender fracture ran along its surface, spreading like a spiderweb. Yuuta’s brow furrowed in pain, his body twisting unnaturally. His breathing ca in shallow, strained gasps, and though his lips were silent, the agony etched across his face scread louder than any voice could.
Erza froze. Her hand, still poised midair, trembled. Her heart constricted as the truth crashed into her: Yuuta was suffering
because of her own actions. Each surge of her power, each violent intention directed at Allen, sent shockwaves of tornt into him.
For a mont, she simply stared, unable to move, unable to think. Then, slowly, almost cautiously, she began to ease her hold. She channeled her energy, not to destroy, but to calm, to soothe. The fracture in the ice cocoon began to close as Yuuta’s body gradually relaxed. Finally, his chest rose and fell evenly, and he slipped back into uneasy sleep.
Erza stepped back, her mind spinning. What had just happened? Her chest tightened as the mory of Yuuta wincing flashed vividly in her mind. Yuuta wasn’t ant to feel pain until the mont Allen drew his final breath—but fate twisted cruelly. The agony reached him early, tearing through the bond that should’ve slept until death. And as his body trembled in unseen tornt, Erza felt it too—the sa wave of pain and regret, binding her to the very demon she despised. The instant her hand moved to strike Allen, a surge of pain had coursed through him—through her mortal, her love.
She stood frozen for long minutes, trying to make sense of it all, her mind still reeling from the shock.
Allen, suspended midair in her grip, still calm despite the chokehold, tilted his head slightly. "I am relieved... my eternal Master is alright."
Her violet eyes narrowed, her voice barely a whisper, trembling with disbelief. "Eternal Master?"
"Yes... my eternal Mistress," Allen replied evenly, his tone devoid of theatrics or exaggeration. The truth in his words pressed down on her like an immovable weight.
mories stirred at the edge of her mind—story from her mother about the Nefarions, the eternal demons. A Nefarion chosen by divine or unholy power was bound to their master for eternal life. Absolute loyalty. Eternal servitude. The master alone dictated their fate.
And Allen... he had declared Yuuta as his eternal Master. Casually, almost flippantly.
Erza’s chest tightened with disbelief. This was no ordinary contract. No fleeting bond where one could strike a demon without consequence. Every strike, every surge of power directed at Allen resonated through the eternal link—and each reverberation struck Yuuta directly.
If Allen were to fall... if the demon truly died... Yuuta would not simply grieve. He would erupt into fury beyond reckoning, driven by the loss of his eternal servant. Madness, pain, rage—all of it would consu him and then Yuuta would witness Allen countless sin as last resort.
Frost ford at Erza’s fingertips as her hands clenched. She could not allow that to happen. Not now. Not to Yuuta.
Her wish had always been to make Yuuta’s life better. But now, she found herself trapped in a worse situation than she had ever imagined. If Allen remained by Yuuta’s side, the world’s organizations would inevitably target him, making his life impossible.
And if she killed Allen right now... Yuuta would feel the unimaginable grief of losing his eternal servant. He might descend into despair, madness of witnessing Allen countless sins, or worse—he could unlock his own traumatized mories that should remain buried.
Erza’s breath caught. What choice could she make? What action could protect Yuuta without destroying him?
The answer... would have to wait.
Next Chapter, the path she chooses will be revealed.
To be continue....
Hey everyone, Yuuta here!
We did it—we’ve officially reached 1k collections! This is a huge milestone for us, and I can’t thank you enough for all the love and support you’ve shown. Seriously, it ans the world to us.
Now, let’s keep the montum going! Last week, we hit 175 Power Strobes—amazing work—but this week, I believe we can push it to 200! I’m counting on you all to help reach this goal, and I know we can do it together.
Let’s make it happen!
Reviews
All reviews (0)