Silence.
It stretched so long it became unbearable.
The corridor felt like it was holding its breath.
Liora's question hung in the air
"…Who was it?"
Her eyes stayed locked on Cairis.
Waiting.
Searching.
Afraid of the answer.
And needing it at the same time.
Cairis didn't move.
Didn't speak.
But the tension around him
It shifted.
Subtle.
But unmistakable.
And Liora felt it.
Her heart started pounding harder.
"No…" she whispered.
"Don't do that."
"Don't stay quiet."
Her voice cracked slightly.
"Just say it."
Cairis's jaw tightened.
For the first time since she met him
He looked… conflicted.
Not cold.
Not controlled.
But something else.
Something human.
Vael's voice slipped into the silence.
Soft.
Sharp.
Cruel.
"…He won't tell you."
Liora didn't look away from Cairis.
"Be quiet."
Vael smiled faintly.
"But you already know, don't you?"
That made her flinch.
Because
A part of her did.
A part of her had seen it.
Felt it.
In that final moment of the memory
That face
That presence
It had been familiar.
Too familiar.
Her voice trembled.
"…Cairis."
Say no.
Please.
Say it wasn't you.
Say the memory is wrong.
Say anything.
But he didn't.
And that was the answer.
Something inside her broke.
"…No."
She shook her head slowly.
"That's not possible."
Cairis finally spoke.
"…It is."
The words landed like a blade.
Clean.
Precise.
Unforgiving.
Liora stared at him.
Like she didn't recognize him anymore.
"You…"
Her breath hitched.
"You killed me?"
Silence.
Then
"Yes."
The world tilted.
Everything inside her chest collapsed at once.
She took a step back.
Then another.
Her breathing became uneven.
"That doesn't make sense…"
"You were with me."
"You fought with me."
Her voice rose.
Confused.
Hurt.
"You were on my side!"
Cairis didn't move.
"I was."
"Then why?!"
The question shattered through the corridor.
Raw.
Broken.
Desperate.
And for the first time
Cairis didn't answer immediately.
Because this wasn't something simple.
This wasn't something clean.
And when he finally spoke
His voice wasn't cold.
It was heavy.
"…Because you were going to destroy everything."
Liora froze.
"What…?"
Vael let out a soft laugh.
"There it is."
Cairis ignored him.
His eyes stayed on Liora.
"You think you remember everything."
"You don't."
Her chest tightened.
"I remember enough!"
"No."
His voice cut sharper this time.
"You remember the part where you died."
"But not what happened before it."
The corridor trembled slightly.
Not from power.
From tension.
From truth.
"You were losing control," Cairis continued.
"That power"
He gestured faintly toward her.
"…it wasn't stable."
"It never was."
Liora shook her head.
"No…"
"I sealed Azhrael."
"I saved everyone"
"You were going to break the world doing it."
The words hit harder than anything else.
She went still.
"What…?"
Cairis stepped forward.
Slowly.
Carefully.
"You think that war ended because you won."
"It didn't."
"It ended because you stopped."
Her breathing slowed.
"…Stopped?"
His voice dropped.
"…Because I killed you."
Silence.
Heavy.
Crushing.
Liora felt like the ground had disappeared beneath her.
Her thoughts twisted.
Clashed.
Refused to make sense.
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"You're lying!"
Her magic flared suddenly.
Silver light cracked through the corridor.
The walls trembled.
Fragments of energy sparked around her.
"YOU'RE LYING!"
The power surged again
Wild.
Uncontrolled.
Just like before.
Cairis didn't flinch.
"Look at what's happening."
Her magic flickered violently.
Unstable.
Dangerous.
The air warped around her.
"…You think this is new?" he said quietly.
Liora's breathing became erratic.
Her chest hurt.
Her head spun.
Fragments of the memory started shifting again.
Breaking.
Reforming.
And suddenly
She saw something else.
A different moment.
The same battlefield.
But this time
Her magic wasn't controlled.
It was consuming everything.
The sky wasn't just breaking
It was collapsing.
Reality itself tearing apart under her power.
Voices screaming.
Not enemies.
Allies.
Her people.
"…Stop..!"
Cairis's voice from the past.
Desperate this time.
Not calm.
Not controlled.
Desperate.
"You're going to destroy everything!"
"I can fix it!"
"You can't!"
The memory snapped again.
Back to the temple.
Back to the blade.
Back to the moment she died.
But this time
She saw his face clearly.
Not cold.
Not emotionless.
But
Devastated.
"…I'm sorry."
The words she hadn't heard before.
The words he hadn't said out loud.
But felt.
Felt so deeply it broke through time itself.
PresentLiora collapsed back against the wall.
Her magic vanished instantly.
Her body trembled.
"…No…"
Her voice was barely there.
"That…"
"That wasn't…"
Her thoughts fell apart.
Because now
The memory didn't feel like betrayal.
It felt like something worse.
Something far more complicated.
"…You didn't just kill me."
Her eyes lifted slowly to him.
"You chose to."
Cairis didn't look away.
"Yes."
The honesty hurt more than anything else.
Tears blurred her vision.
"You decided I wasn't worth saving."
"No."
His voice cut through instantly.
Sharp.
Firm.
"I decided the world was."
Silence.
That answer
That was worse.
Because it made sense.
And she hated it.
Vael clapped slowly from the side.
Once.
Twice.
Mocking.
"Beautiful."
His voice dripped with amusement.
"A tragic love story."
Both of them ignored him.
Liora's voice dropped.
"…And now?"
Her gaze stayed on Cairis.
"If it happens again…"
Her chest tightened.
"…Will you kill me again?"
The question hung between them.
Heavy.
Terrifying.
Cairis didn't hesitate.
"…If I have to."
That was it.
That was the breaking point.
Liora's expression shattered completely.
Something inside her closed off.
Quietly.
Slowly.
Painfully.
"Then don't come near me."
The words were soft.
But final.
Cairis stilled.
Liora stepped away from him.
Creating distance.
Space.
A barrier.
"I need time."
Her voice trembled slightly.
But she didn't take it back.
"Don't follow me."
And this time
When she walked away
Cairis didn't stop her.
From the shadows
Vael watched everything.
His smile faded slowly.
"…Interesting."
His eyes flickered faintly silver again.
"They're breaking faster than I expected."
He turned his gaze toward the corridor Liora disappeared into.
"…Good."
Because the more unstable she became
The easier it would be.
To finish what started a thousand years ago.
Far away
Azhrael smiled.
Because the moment Liora's heart broke
Her power shifted.
And the seal holding him
Cracked.