CHAPTER 11, THE LESSON

  “Say it!”

  “Who has to die for you to grow up?!”

  “If you don’t say it, I’m going to have to kill more than one of them.”

  “What are you waiting for?”

  “The magic maid who saved you?”

  “Your precious Celesus princess?”

  “Your loyal wizard friend?”

  “Don’t tell me it is the other three!”

  “What, you are going to sacrifice them for your love?”

  “What a good leader! What a good prince!”

  “I bet they love what your decision is.”

  Grant has been silent since then. Camity has been non-stop, bsting him with questions and interrogations.

  “Someone has to die.”

  “Just tell me the name!”

  “Don’t you want to go back to the throne?”

  “How about I give you a suggestion?”

  “Choose the princess so your original team can survive.”

  “Still no? You want her, don’t you?”

  “Fine, I can kill the other three if you insist on keeping the ones you love.”

  “What is your answer? Prince?”

  His saber suddenly slices through Mop’s leg. She screams, muffled. Her tear-gzed eyes gres at me for help.

  “Stop it!” Grant yells.

  “Then give me a name!” Camity roars.

  He stabs into Dominic’s left thigh.

  Another muffled scream.

  He walks toward Ellina with his saber high in the air.

  “Wait, I’ll choose.”

  “Oh, so she is your loved one.” He smugs about it.

  “Fine, who do you want to sacrifice then?”

  Grant raises up his rifle, aiming at himself.

  “Me. People always called me arrogant and a narcissist. That should count, right? I love myself.”

  “No.”

  He swings his saber at Ellina’s stomach. Blood spills.

  “You’ve already chosen for me when you stop me.”

  His demonic grin splits even bigger.

  Ellina screams in a muffle. Pain causes her to cry.

  “How many heroes do you think tried that?”

  “You think sacrificing yourself makes you a hero? It makes you a coward. A true king decides who lives and who dies. And right now, you’re just terrible.” He speaks in trembles. He’s infuriated and frustrated. “You want to die a shameful murderer of your father?”

  Camity moves toward me.

  “How about her? Your father’s gift for you for being an absolute failure.”

  “I’ll shoot myself. Don’t you move!”

  “Then you are a failure.”

  He stabs into my left chest. I cannot scream a single sound. Blood comes from my mouth, as I’m the only one whose mouth is not covered.

  “She is not going to survive another round. These tendrils drain energy from their captives. They won’t be able to do any Shin healing.” His voice has a pretentious concern.

  “These two are the most important to you, aren’t they?”

  Camity’s hands weave through Ellina’s silver-blond strands, gripping a fistful of her hair. He yanks her head back like a prize on dispy.

  Grant instinctively reaches out, his fingers trembling—as if that could stop him.

  Of course, it doesn’t.

  “Look at this pretty face.” Camity tilts her chin with a mocking gentleness. “No wonder you like her so much.”

  His lips curl. “I wouldn’t mind keeping one of these for myself. She’s not a human after all.”

  He smells her neck. “Hmm, delicious. The rumors are true. You have the blood.”

  Ellina's face struggles with even more tears, fearful.

  Grant’s entire body tenses.

  “Here’s an idea,” Camity continues. “I take her home, and the rest of you can rot here.” His eyes shine. “Then you can be the lone hero who saves the princess. Wouldn’t that be poetic?”

  Grant’s fists tighten so hard that his nails bite into his palms.

  He wants to lunge. He wants to scream.

  But he can’t.

  Ellina grits her teeth, trying to wrench herself free, but the way Camity wrenches her hair forces her back down. A sharp gasp escapes her lips, but she refuses to cry out.

  Suddenly, the bck tendrils around Ellina disappear. Ellina kicks her spear onto her hand and stabs it right into Camity’s chest.

  “How?”

  Blood flows out of his mouth.

  “You’re not the only one with gimmicks. Thank you for yanking me up so I can reach this anti-spell magem.” Her face is now calm with tears drying.

  Camity hops back while Ellina pulls out her spear and kicks up the other one. She takes out another magem and ices her stomach. “Argh.” Her eyes lock onto Camity. No fear. No hesitation.

  “Shall we, demon?”

  Camity wipes the blood from his lips, inspecting it with mild amusement.

  “I should’ve known… you’re a de Nova.” His grin sharpens. “But tell me, how long can you fight when your body’s already breaking?”

  His body is healing.

  Grant is in awe.

  “What are you waiting for?” Ellina shouts at him. “Shoot him.”

  Grant grips his rifle and fires.

  BANG!

  It’s a miss.

  “Do you really want me to order you again? I can’t believe you’re acting like you’ve never been on a battlefield before. It’s either us or him.”

  She grins at him.

  “If you cannot die trying, I’ll never let you date me.”

  “What? Who says I want to date you?”

  “Great, that’s the Grant I know. Your people- no, our people are counting on you. As you see, he can be hurt.”

  Ellina dashes to Camity, trying to pin him down.

  They csh multiple times with their weapon, but Ellina is forcing herself to be even faster.

  Ellina uses her signature move, Spear Rain, forcing the demon to be on the reaction side.

  “Take your best shot!” Ellina yells.

  BANG!

  Grant shoots a bullet straight through Camity’s leg, slowing him down.

  “Take this!”

  Ellina spins with her spears, and with the move like a dancer, Spear Flower, she knocks him onto the wall.

  Grant takes another shot.

  BANG!

  An ice bst covers his face, making it hard to move and see. It’s a magem bullet.

  Camity loses his usual grin.

  “Enough!”

  “You’re not supposed to be the hero!” He kicks Ellina out to the other side. “You’re ruining my story.”

  He dashes toward Grant with his saber.

  Grant takes one shot.

  Hit.

  He’s still coming toward him.

  Another shot.

  He takes it directly just to arrive at Grant, choking him up.

  Ellina throws her spear at him.

  His wing fps the spear down to the ground.

  He raises his finger, summoning the energy bst again.

  Grant’s face is lit up by the concentrated energy.

  This is death.

  A silver dash.

  BOOM! Ellina stands between Grant and Camity, energy concentrated on her chest, taking the hit for Grant.

  “Take… the SHOT!” She screams with her st breath.

  Grant shoots Camity in the head.

  Camity’s head explodes in front of them.

  His body colpses to the ground, twitching.

  All of them fall to the ground.

  Grant crawls to Ellina quickly.

  “Why? Why are you doing this for me?”

  “I haven’t… won the duel… yet.”

  Her voice is weak and fading.

  “No, stay with me! I took the shots like you asked, so don’t leave me now!”

  “You… really… want that… date, don’t you?” She coughs blood out.

  “Stop talking. I… I don’t deserve—”

  “Shush, if you want to… be a king, then… take it.”

  Suddenly, Shin energy is concentrated. It’s under…

  I try to move my body to raise their attention.

  Camity’s dead body moves again. It’s expanding. His body grows bigger and bigger. Soon, a gray dragon-like monster shows up in front of the two royalties.

  “How can we end this?” Grant mutters.

  “You think that was the st of me?”

  Camity stomps his giant foot onto Ellina’s leg.

  “ARGH!”

  More blood spills out from her bloody mouth.

  “Stop it, please!” Grant begs.

  “No, you need to hate me, so she has to die. I love broken couples.” He speaks with his monstrous voice echoing his original voice.

  He raises his foot.

  STOMP. STOMP. STOMP.

  He raises again.

  However—

  The cave starts vibrating slightly.

  The magem veins in the walls lose their glowing instantly like their energy is drained in a second.

  His body stiffens. His eyes twitch.

  He puts down his leg.

  Dominic, Mop, and I all notice the extraordinary energy shift happening.

  A flicker of something crosses Camity’s face.

  A shadow of uncertainty.

  What… is this?

  BOOM!

  The cave wall detonates.

  Light spills into the underground.

  A female silhouette stands amidst the dust, a longsword gleaming with golden rims and embedded magems.

  She lifts her bde, casually, effortlessly.

  One swing.

  A ssh too fast to see.

  Camity gasps. Blood spills from his gigantic dragon body.

  He stumbles, shrinking—his wings shrivel, his form contorts, until he is back in human shape, kneeling, coughing blood.

  His grin is gone.

  Nanali’s cold voice echoes across the cave.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” She locks eyes with Ellina. “After what you did to my daughter.”

  Ellina’s eyes shine.

  Ethereal beauty. Brunette hair. Emerald eyes like Ellina’s. Pointed ears. Empress Nanali de Nova has arrived.

  Camity groans, wiping the blood from his lips.

  His gaze shifts to Ellina—and his grin returns, weaker, but still there.

  “It’s an honor to meet you in person, Dryhten Killer. I’ll leave this mess to you.”

  Nanali takes a step forward.

  “If you know who I am, do you still think you’ll be walking away?”

  Camity’s smirk falters—but just for a second.

  “Well… your daughter needs major healing. I think you’ll be too distracted.”

  Nanali’s emerald eyes narrow.

  “Tell Judgment and Apocalypse—whatever you’re pnning, I will stop you.”

  Camity gives a small bow, still coughing blood.

  “As you wish.”

  He vanishes into the darkness.

  Nanali jumps down to Ellina.

  She kneels beside Ellina’s broken body.

  “Hold on, Mommy’s going to save you.”

  Her hands hover above her, glowing brighter than Obelius’s did before.

  Ellina glows amber—a star reigniting.

  Her wounds slowly tie up, recovering fast.

  Grant watches in awe, but also… shame.

  He should have protected her.

  Nanali turns to Grant.

  “Take this sword.”

  The bde shines in his hands. It feels… different.

  “Free your friends.”

  Grant cuts through the bck tendrils. Mop and Dominic rush to my side.

  Benica and Baz follow Grant back to Ellina’s side.

  The glow is over.

  “My little star, take some rest.”

  Baz kneels before Nanali, bowing deeply. Benica follows.

  “The Great Star… we owe you our lives.”

  Grant hesitates. Then, awkwardly, he kneels, too.

  He whispers to Baz, “Who is she?”

  Baz barely suppresses a smirk.

  “She’s Ellina’s mother.”

  Nanali locks eyes with him. “Thank you for taking care of her. Lion Prince.”

  Grant lowers his head—

  Not in honor.

  Not in triumph.

  But in shame.

  “It’s… our honor.”

  His voice is small. Formal. Embarrassed.

  ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

  Time drifts into a blur after the battle.

  The Divine Legion arrives before long, their gleaming armor a stark contrast to the blood-stained cavern. Medics tend to our wounds, stabilizing the worst of the injuries. The once-oppressive darkness of the mine is now shattered, filled with flickering torches and the disciplined murmurs of soldiers assessing the aftermath.

  We are escorted back to the Pace of Starry Cape.

  As the healers work, Empress Nanali de Nova stands before us, arms crossed, an air of authority thick around her. Her emerald eyes pierce through the dimly lit war room as she recounts how she arrived just in time.

  “I only found you because of Camity’s final stomp. The sheer force of the energy surge—it was impossible to ignore,” she says, her voice measured but sharp.

  “So I did what had to be done.”

  She gestures vaguely, as if bsting a hole through a mountain was a minor inconvenience.

  Her expression hardens.

  “There have been reports of House of Doom activities nearby. I had my suspicions, but when I heard you were the ones sent for this mission—” she exhales sharply, gaze flicking to Grant.

  “I knew you’d find trouble.”

  Grant looks away, ashamed.

  “I had to act fast,” Nanali continues. “So I did.”

  She doesn’t eborate further.

  She doesn’t need to.

  Ellina and I are pced in adjacent guest rooms in the pace.

  Ellina and Sharon’s conditions are worse—they remain under careful watch. They haven’t woken up yet.

  Grant has barely left our sides.

  He spends his time rotating between all three rooms, checking on Sharon, Ellina, and me. Always restless. Always pacing.

  I heal faster than the others. Faster than I should. Maybe because my wounds weren’t as deep.

  Maybe because I’m just used to recovering quickly.

  Maybe because I have to.

  So, I accompany Grant when he visits them.

  I just stand by his side.

  Even if I can’t speak—

  Even if I can’t comfort him—

  I won’t leave him alone.

  Because I know him.

  And he’s carrying too much guilt.

  During the nights, when the pace quiets and the weight of the battle lingers in my bones, I finally have time to breathe. To train. To think.

  Every night since Camity’s attack, I have spent my time refining my Shin mastery and sword skills, repying every moment of the battle in my mind.

  Because I know one thing.

  I saw Benica move first.

  She was going to shield Grant.

  And I—I lost control.

  Is that Felicia or me?

  If I hadn’t thrown myself into that attack, if I had calcuted better, if I had held on just a moment longer—maybe Mop and Dominic could have saved some of the miners.

  We walked into that ir completely unprepared. Against a Lord of Doom. One of the most powerful of the Seven Houses since the Fall of House of Darkness at the start of the Civil War.

  And in the end, none of us were strong enough.

  My sacrifice shifted the mood of the battle. I woke Grant up, but for what? In the end, without Nanali, we would all be dead.

  I clench my grip on the rapier. No use thinking about it now.

  I take my stance. Breathe in.

  Wind of Sibelius.

  The bde slices through the air in a perfect arc, a whisper of steel gliding in a controlled, elegant strike.

  “Nice posture,” a calm voice intercepts my thoughts.

  The voice is unmistakably hers.

  Nanali de Nova.

  I turn.

  She stands in the moonlight, a statue of celestial authority—yet familiar.

  After all these years, she hasn’t changed. Not really.

  Except for her hairstyle.

  I don’t know if it’s the Celesus blood or her supreme mastery of Shin, but time has left no mark on her.

  She is ageless.

  She watches me with knowing eyes.

  “I haven’t seen that move in years,” she muses, stepping closer. “Emperor Aulsman taught you that, didn’t he?”

  A statement, not a question.

  I nod subtly.

  “You must be someone really special,” she states. “He told me that the move was exclusive to family members.”

  The words hit me like a sharp gust of wind.

  Suddenly, I remember—I’m not Aulsman anymore.

  The thought grips me, and before I can stop myself, I kneel.

  “No need for formality,” she says, her voice calm. “I’ll let you get back to your practice.”

  With effortless grace, she turns and walks away, her movements as fluid as the wind itself.

  As soon as she leaves, a small head with white hair peeks around the corner.

  “Mommy. Mop talks?”

  I nod.

  She must be lonely. The only person she’s willing to talk to can’t even give her a single response.

  “Mop dirty.”

  “Mop Knomia?”

  “Mop not daughter?”

  I pull her into a hug, and she starts to cry.

  “Mop not good.”

  “Mop breaks.”

  “Camity breaks.”

  She suddenly stops and looks at me.

  “Mop… Camity?”

  Her voice wavers, barely above a whisper.

  “Mop bad.”

  I understand her.

  Mop has always been strong—her battles like a human crushing ants. But now, for the first time, Camity has shown her what it feels like to be the ant.

  “Mop sad.”

  “Mop knows bad.”

  “Mop bad.”

  “Mop bad.”

  “Mop breaks.”

  “Mop bad.”

  “Mop bad.”

  “Mop bad.”

  Her voice cracks with each repetition, growing louder, as if the words themselves are breaking her apart.

  I tighten my hold around her.

  I shake my head as hard as I can.

  She shakes her head against my chest, refusing my comfort, her small hands gripping my sleeves like she’s trying to hold herself together.

  Now, all I can do is hold her even tighter.

  Camity called her Knomia. That means her behavior is because she hasn’t been human long enough. It expins a lot.

  The Grand Master Chi Shie of the old Shin Academy was a lion Knomia. After the Academy fell, she was never seen again. The others scattered—some returned to Tian Jou, others sought refuge in Uxiospea.

  Maybe Mop should find her kind, learn from them, and understand what she is. Maybe that would be best for her.

  But right now, she calls me “Mommy.”

  And right now, that’s all that matters.

  One day, she’ll find her pce in this world. But until then, I’ll be here.

  I wonder, what animal is she?

  …Does it even matter?

  “Mop bad.”

  No. Mop, good daughter.