Erza stood frozen, her hands clenched into fists at her sides, her nails digging into her palms so deeply that blood began to seep through her fingers.
She had watched the entire day unfold, hour after hour, cycle after cycle, the scientists forcing serum after serum into Yuuta's broken body, each one more volatile than the last.
She had watched him vomit until his throat was raw and bleeding, until his stomach was empty and still he heaved, until his body convulsed with nothing left to expel.
She had watched them heal him, only to break him again.
She had watched them hope, only to be disappointed.
She had watched them curse him, mock him, dismiss him as worthless.
And through it all, she had learned the truth.
The mixed dragons, the ones who had been born from the dark crimes of the First Dragon War, the ones who had been bred in camps and raised as weapons, they were the reason this place existed.
They were the reason Yuuta had been created.
