The dark room started distorting, warping into a surreal space filled with ticking clocks hanging in the void. "Welcome to my domain," Sara said, a predatory glint in her eyes as she looked at Lynn and Cairo.
Meanwhile, in the room where the Queen and Azerion were still talking, the atmosphere was heavy. "Even if I look different, why can't you recognize your sister?" the Queen asked, her voice turning frustrated and childish.
"It's because of your new vessel," Azerion replied in a gentle tone. "Anyway, what do you want from me, my beautiful little sister?"
"What? You don't want to be resurrected?" the Queen said, her piercing red eyes searching Azerion's face.
"Not like this. Helios's body is too weak right now; he needs to get stronger, or his body will collapse," Azerion said, looking down at his hands with a look of detached calculation.
"Why don't you just train on your own?" the Queen asked, her expression shifting to one of genuine interest.
"I don't have a human soul, so this body can't be used to its fullest potential," Azerion explained.
The Queen leaned in, a look of concern crossing her features. "Well, if you give the body to Orion, then how can you come back? You only won the body because Orion and Helios's souls were distracted."
"I have a plan to handle that, so you should give his sister back. She's part of the plan," Azerion said. He walked to the window, the moonlight illuminating his pale face as he watched the Seekers fighting the Morpeths below.
Back in the domain, Sara suddenly appeared between them, snatching Riku out of Cairo's hands.
"It seems like she's gotten faster," Cairo noted, staring at his empty hands with an eerie, emotionless stare.
"Faster? I haven't gotten faster. You guys just got slower," Sara mocked, a cruel smile playing on her lips.
"It seems like her summon realm can control time," Cairo whispered to Lynn.
"And her time control ability hasn't gotten any better," Lynn snapped. She gripped her bone whip, which shifted and hardened into a sharp sword. With a determined scowl, she charged, swinging the blade to slash Sara.
Sara simply raised her hand. In a flash, Lynn reappeared exactly where she had started, her whip back in hand, repeating the same words she had just spoken. Lynn prepared to lung again, but Cairo placed a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Why are you holding me back?" Lynn asked, her face flushing with frustration.
"You didn't let me finish talking. Her ability can affect us now," Cairo said, his voice dropping to an icy whisper.
"You guys have talked for long enough," Sara interrupted, pointing a finger at Lynn. Suddenly, the chest wound Lynn had previously sustained reappeared, blood soaking her clothes.
"You little bastard!" Lynn hissed, gritting her teeth. She tried to heal her wound , but the wound stubbornly kept reopening.
"Sorry, but in my realm, I make the rules," Sara said. She blurred through the air, slowing time to a crawl and cleanly severing Cairo's arm.
Cairo didn't flinch, even as his arm failed to regenerate. "You are strong within your realm, but what are you without it?" Cairo asked, his gaze chillingly calm. "You're going to lose more spiral energy because you are using an ability related to the laws."
"It seems like Cairo and Lynn are here too," Azerion remarked to the Queen.
"You still remember those two?" the Queen asked with a smirk.
"Yes. And it seems like they have gone beyond the rank humans call the Monarch stage."
"They have," the Queen agreed, looking impressed. "And it seems like they have some interesting abilities too."
"It's time we end this game. It's been going on for long enough," Azerion said, the darkness in his eyes momentarily fading.
"Bye, brother. See you later," the Queen chirped.
Back in Sara's domain, Cairo narrowed his eyes. "It seems like the Queen has finished talking, and we can go back now."
"Where do you think you're going?" Sara yelled, summoning a spiral sword. Cairo blocked the strike with ease.
"Human, your realm is pretty interesting, but if you want to seal us in here, you need a few more thousand years of mastering your abilities," Cairo said. His skin began to crack as bones erupted from his torso, and massive wings tore through his back.
Sara jumped back in alarm as Cairo's form expanded, transforming into a gargantuan bone dragon. The sheer pressure of his size caused Sara's realm—and the mansion itself—to begin crumbling. Cairo let out a roar so deafening it echoed across the entire kingdom. Below, the Morpeths froze, stopping their assault on the Blackthorn members and Helios's nightmares.
"See you next time, little miss," Lynn called out with a smirk. Her wound finally began to knit back together as she jumped onto Cairo's back, and the dragon soared into the sky.
"I hope we never see each other again," Sara muttered, her voice ragged as she coughed up blood, looking exhausted.
As the sun began to rise, the surviving Blackthorn members looked around the wreckage. "We survived..." one member whispered, watching the Morpeths retreat into the shadows.
"We did it!" another shouted, and soon the members were laughing and hugging each other in relief.
"So we did it and didn't even have to fight," Ray said, squinting at the rising sun with a tired smile.
"You know that the organization leader is going to find out about this and might decrease our funding," Ray's captain said, primly fixing her glasses despite the chaos.
"Let me have this moment!" Ray snapped, looking frustrated.
A few days after the war, Helios lay in bed. Sara stood by his side, looking uncharacteristically worried. "The leader has been in a coma for a few days now."
"Maybe if you tell him you will go on a date with him, he will magically wake up," Seer teased, leaning against the wall.
"You think I haven't tried that yet?" Sara admitted. Everyone in the room froze, staring at her in shock.
Nova gestured toward the bed where Luna lay curled up. "Luna has been waiting for Helios to wake up and never went outside his room. She's barely even eating or sleeping, saying it's all her fault," Nova added, looking concerned.
"Plus, the royal family is being really annoying after the battle. I still feel like we should start a war with them," Rio grumbled, floating lazily on his pillow.
"Why do you three always have your artefacts on you?" Seer asked, glancing at Nova, Riku, and Rio.
Suddenly, Helios's eyes fluttered open. Why are there so many people, and where am I? Wasn't I talking to the Queen? he thought, dazed.
"The leader is waking up!" Sara exclaimed, leaning over him.
"What's happening? Why are you guys so loud?" Helios groaned, rubbing his eyes.
"Someone fainted, and if it wasn't for Nova, they might have died," Sara said, giving him an annoyed look.
"I feel like you are talking about me," Helios said, trying to sit up. He realized his right arm was pinned down. Turning his head, he saw a girl sleeping beside him. "Luna? But her hair is silver..."
"Nova found her lying beside you," Sara explained.
"Luna had black hair. How did it turn silver?" Helios asked, his expression full of confusion as he looked around the room.
"I don't know, I just found her like that," Nova said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Should we wake her up?" Seer asked, looking down at the girl.
"No, let her sleep. She looks tired," Helios said softly, his gaze turning gentle.
"You're a caring brother, aren't you? Starting a war that killed so many of our members," Sara said, her tone shifting to something more sombre.
Helios looked at her cautiously. "How many people died?"
"We lost more members of the combat facility since they were the ones doing the fighting. Maybe like one thousand or more people, not counting the members that were eaten by Morpeths," Sara said. She paused, then added, "But don't worry about the loss, because we already found new recruits."
Helios looked genuinely puzzled. "Worried about the people that died? Why should I be worried?"
The room went silent. Everyone stared at Helios as if he had just threatened to kill them all.
"Let's just forget that you said that," Riku said quickly, breaking the tension.
"So, what did the Queen look like?" Seer asked curiously.
"I only know she has red eyes and black tentacles. I never saw her face; it's like she was using rune magic to cover her face," Helios said, trying to piece together the memory. Suddenly, a name echoed in his mind. "Orion..." he muttered.
"What did you say, leader?" Sara asked, her interest piqued.
"I was just saying how Luna's hair looks like my mother's hair now," Helios lied, a fleeting memory of a pregnant woman with silver hair and a black-haired man flashing through his mind. I just said another random thing, he thought.
"Your mother had silver hair?" Sara asked, leaning in closer.
"Yes, she did," Helios said, quickly looking away to avoid further questions. "Do you guys have anything else to say?"
"Yes. The royal family invited you to another event, and you can bring a partner," Rio said, dropping a fancy invitation onto Helios's lap.
"I don't want to go and talk to those nobles again," Helios groaned.
Just then, Luna began to stir. "Hello, Moon," Helios said softly as she opened her eyes.
"Brother! You're awake!" Luna cried out, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug.