"Hey, Artemis. Nyx. You two are okay?" I asked, glancing at the sisters beside me.
"We're fine," Artemis replied stiffly. "But this is going to be a big problem for the Dragon Clan."
Nyx gave a silent nod beside her.
I raised an eyebrow. "I mean, I get why… But what does that have to do with you two, personally? Aside from the obvious fallout."
Artemis sighed. "Well… I'll probably lose my job."
"And I'll likely be stripped of my general status," Nyx added flatly.
I blinked. "Wait, why? You didn't do anything wrong. You two didn't order Spark to attack. You didn't kill him. And it's not like either of you got weaker overnight."
"Ren," Artemis said with a weary shake of her head, "politics don't work that way. And it's not entirely about what happened today. It's about appearances. Clan pride. That kind of bullshit."
"Tsk." I clicked my tongue. "We won't do anything to you."
Nyx narrowed her eyes on me. "And what makes you so sure of that?"
I grinned, shrugging. "Well, I am courting you both."
Artemis immediately stiffened. "I haven't accepted anything," she snapped—but the blush spreading across her cheeks betrayed her.
I smirked. "Thing is, Artemis, where I come from, you can pursue whoever you want. If they say no, you back off. But you, my little cutie, haven't said 'no' even once."
I reached out, gently tilting her chin. Her blush deepened.
"Hey! I'm still here," Nyx interjected, stepping in and pushing us apart.
I caught her hand, spun her around once, and teased, "There's no need to be jealous."
"Don't," Artemis muttered, folding her arms with a huff.
"You two shouldn't be fighting," I said lightly. "You're sisters, remember?"
A sharp cough from behind made all three of us turn.
"Ahem," Leah said, standing with her arms crossed. "Are you three done?"
I turned around, blinking as I took in the scene—Leah looking mildly annoyed, Lina trying not to laugh beside her, and Uwe dragging Spark's limp body behind him with a disturbingly pleasant smile.
"Demon King," I said, grinning, "you look very creepy dragging a corpse while smiling like that."
"Oh?" Uwe chuckled. "I thought you'd be interested in his sword. But maybe I was wrong?"
My eyes lit up. "No, no, give it here!"
"Haha. I thought so," he said as he tossed the sword toward me.
Nyx blinked. "Wait, doesn't she already have a soul-bound sword?"
"She does," Uwe said casually. "She has three, in fact."
"Three?!" Artemis and Nyx exclaimed in unison!
I held up the new blade and twirled it. "Make that four."
As I gave it a practice swing, the golden blade shimmered, releasing a thin arc of light across the air.
"What—" Nyx started to ask, but Leah cut her off.
"We'll talk about it later. For now, let's wrap up and head inside."
"Alrighty. See you guys later," I chirped, letting the new sword hover behind me. I grabbed both sisters' hands and started pulling them toward the castle.
"Wait," Leah said firmly. "Leave those two behind. I want to speak with them."
"Ugh. Seriously?" I muttered, letting go with an exaggerated sigh. There went my flirting time...
"Don't worry," Lina said gently. "We won't keep them long."
"Yeah, yeah…" I waved them off and continued walking alone.
'Nyx'll probably spill everything they talk about later anyway,' I thought with a smirk.
As I strolled toward the drawing room, I muttered to myself, "Maybe Nyx will finally start using her room… It's probably not a good idea for her to keep sharing mine. Not that I mind."
Reaching the drawing room, I flopped down cross-legged on a couch. Holding the new sword in my lap, I stared at the glowing blade.
"All of them have the same design… Only the difference being their color," I murmured. "Then again, I don't even know if this'll be my last one."
The sword didn't weigh heavily on my soul. No pain. No drain. It was still a mystery.
Knock knock.
"Hmm? Come in?"
The door creaked open, and a bulky man stepped in, muttering, "Oh. This time, they actually provided me with the correct room number.
I stared. "Huh. I didn't expect the Red Dragons to still have the guts to show up.
"You've got a mouth on you, brat," the man growled.
"Old man, who are you even?"
"I'm the head of House Crimson. How do you not know that?"
"Who the fuck cares about politics?" I said, waving him off like a buzzing fly.
He gave me a look. "You were only adopted a few months ago, right? And you're still healing. From what exactly? Care to enlighten me?"
I grinned and leaned back. "Sorry, old man. That's personal. So no, I won't."
He walked over and sat across from me. "So you beat up two of my sons."
I shrugged. "If I were you, I wouldn't admit that in public."
He frowned. "Why not?"
"Because they were weak," I said plainly. "You saw it, right?"
"I did," he admitted. "However, I only saw the ending of it."
"The part where one of them died?"
"Yes."
"And you're not mourning him?"
"No. Like you said. Weak and stupid. Not worth mourning."
My jaw tensed. "…You really remind me of people I hate."
"Oh?" he said, his voice laced with challenge. "Want to test that theory?"
"Heh. You're overestimating yourself, old man."
"Really? Then show me—"
He never finished.
The fight didn't last two seconds.
"What the HELL do you think you're doing?!" Uwe's voice thundered.
He stood between us, my two swords impaled in the Crimson Patriarch's leg and gut. The man's right arm was gone.
I, on the other hand, had a gaping hole in my stomach—bleeding, but nothing vital was hit.
"You!" the old man snarled, realizing how lightly I'd gotten off.
"Stop!" Uwe barked. "You dare raise your voice in my presence?!"
I stood upright, flicked my wrists, and recalled my swords.
"Ren," Uwe warned.
I just nodded silently, pulling my blades back. The Crimson patriarch flinched.
With all three swords now in one hand, I turned to leave—but stopped short.
A wolf demon stood at the door, eyes wide.
"Ren?! What happened to you?!" Marasuki rushed to my side.
"Small scuffle. Dumb dragon," I replied with a grin.
"You're bleeding! Badly! Come on, we're going to Leah."
"No need for—"
"Shut up. I saw the way he hit you. That punch grazed your spine."
I blinked. "…Experience?"
She nodded. "I've seen it before."
As we stepped out, Leah came rushing over, alarmed. "Ren?!"
Marasuki helped me to a bench.
"Just a scuffle," I said casually.
"That's where Uwe went off to?" Leah asked, watching Uwe walk over.
Behind him, the Crimson patriarch stumbled away—his right arm now in his left hand.
"As I said before," Uwe declared, voice like thunder, "no Red Dragon is allowed on royal grounds or near the royal family for five years. If I hear that one of you spoke to my children, I will erase your clan."
"…Did Uwe take his arm?" Leah asked, puzzled.
I grinned. "Nope. That was me."
"…Of course it was," she muttered.
Lina stepped in, arms folded. "So? Learn anything from your power gap?"
I winced. "Yeah. I'm definitely weaker than him. No way I could win in a real fight."
"But you still injured him," Leah pointed out.
I nodded. "Yeah. Red Dragons are tough—but not intelligent."
Lina leaned in, brow furrowing. "You're bleeding again."
"I'm fine."
"You're not. Get up. You're going to the lab."
"I was going to go eventually…"
Leah shot me a glare. "Now."
"…Fine."
Lina wrapped an arm around me, steadying me as I swayed.
"You act tougher than you are," she said softly. "You can lean on us, Ren."
"…I know."
Leah shook her head as she led the way. "First, you flirt, then duel a clan head, and now this."
"You love the chaos," I teased.
"Don't make me sedate you," she snapped.
We reached Leah's lab—quiet, cold, and dimly lit. Leah keyed the door open.
"Lay her down, Lina."
Lina guided me onto the bench like it was routine. She brushed hair from my face and whispered, "We've got you."
Leah snapped on gloves and got to work. "You're lucky it didn't hit anything vital. But the blow is going to hurt."
"Yay," I muttered.
"Next time, don't fight dragons on an empty stomach."
Despite the pain, I smiled as the two women worked—one grumbling, the other quietly steady.
"Thanks… for being here."
Lina squeezed my hand.
"Always."
The room blurred. The warmth of their voices faded into a gentle hum as the weight of the day—and the blood loss—finally caught up with me.
And then, the world went dark.