Zamasu halted, his arm still raised, ki pulsing in his palm like a miniature sun.
The silence that followed Lefiya's scream was tense, the kind of quiet that hummed with potential violence.
Golden light flickered, lighting up his face and the torn remains of his pants with a soft, dangerous glow.
Filvis was on the ground, barely conscious, blood coming from her mouth. Her eyes were empty, unfocused.
Lefiya knelt nearby, shaking, dirt and tears streaking her face. She clung to her staff like it was the only thing keeping her upright.
"Please! Don't kill her! She's down! She can't fight anymore!"
Zamasu didn't move. The ki blast stayed in his hand, pulsing with quiet, dangerous energy.
His eyes, calm. She was still a threat.
The solution was simple: end it. That would remove the risk.
Still, something in Lefiya's voice cut through. The fear, the urgency—it stood out. It didn't fit into the clean logic of the moment.
Zamasu didn't drop the blast, but his attention shifted. He turned his head slowly, eyes settling on Lefiya.
His stare was heavy, steady, and silent. It made her feel even smaller than she already did.
"Why?" His voice was calm, steady, cutting through the sound of Filvis struggling to breathe. There was no emotion behind the question—just a need for an answer.
"She attacked first. She's quite dangerous, you know. Taking her out is the best move right now. So tell me—why are you stopping me?"
Lefiya flinched under his stare. His calm, almost clinical tone was unsettling. He wasn't questioning what was right—he was just doing the math. And she was trying to change the answer.
She swallowed hard. Her mouth tasted like blood.
"B-because she's not evil!" Lefiya forced out, voice shaking. "She's being controlled! Her god, Dionysus, he's making her do this! The Filvis I knew… she'd never act like this on her own!"
Zamasu looked at Filvis, then back at Lefiya.
"Doesn't seem like she was forced," he said. He nodded slightly toward the injured elf. "She knew what she was doing. Talked like she believed in it. That attack wasn't some accident."
He paused. The glow in his hand stayed steady.
"Everything she did says this was her choice."
Lefiya's heart hammered against her ribs. He was right, from a purely surface view. Filvis had seemed resolute, coldly certain.
But Lefiya knew the truth festering beneath.
"It's a lie!" Lefiya insisted, her voice gaining strength fueled by desperation.
"A mask! Dionysus twisted her! Used her grief, her loyalty! He's working with Evilus — the terrorists! Knossos… it's their base! My Familia, the Loki Familia… we're raiding it! We found proof! Proof of the collusion! Proof that Dionysus Familia is orchestrating attacks, manipulating the Dungeon, using monsters!" (Is this gaslighting🤔)
The words tumbled out, fragmented but urgent.
"Filvis… her whole Familia… they're part of it! Dionysus commands them! He forced her into this! Made her believe this… this destruction is necessary! She doesn't have a choice!"
Zamasu processed the torrent of information. Raid. Knossos. Evilus. Collusion. Manipulation. New data points.
His eyes remained fixed on Lefiya, analyzing her expression, the tremor in her voice, the desperation in her eyes. She believed what she was saying. The details were specific: Familia names, locations, factions.
It wasn't a generic plea; it was an intelligence report delivered under duress.
"Loki Familia," Zamasu repeated, his voice flat but edged with verification rather than curiosity. He had met their god.
Their reputation as a primary defense force was known.
"You are a member?," he asked. "So you guys operations include surveillance, threat elimination, and tactical raids. And this "Knossos" fell under that jurisdiction."
Lefiya nodded frantically, wincing at the motion. "Y-yes! That's why we went after it! That's why Filvis tried to stop me… because I saw too much. Because we found out what Dionysus was doing."
Her voice broke, trembling with a mixture of fear and pleading. "He's working with Evilus. Filvis… she's trapped in it. She didn't want this!"
Zamasu paused, thinking it over. What she said actually made some sense.
If her group, Loki Familia, really was one of the city's main forces for keeping order, then her warning about a hidden threat couldn't just be brushed off.
Even her feelings toward Filvis, while maybe not the most logical from a combat standpoint, made sense if they had a history together—especially if that bond had been twisted by someone else's influence.
It didn't seem likely she was making all of this up, not with the kind of detail she gave.
Not while clearly struggling just to stay on her feet.
It felt more like she was telling the truth—maybe emotional, maybe a little messy—but real.
Zamasu changed his mind.
Lefiya Viridis, a mage from the Loki Familia, was probably a trustworthy source about what was really going on around them and who was involved.
Her reasons for wanting to keep Filvis alive weren't just emotional—they were based on real information about how Filvis was being controlled.
If Zamasu killed Filvis now, he'd lose a valuable chance to learn more about what Dionysus and Evilus were up to.
Also, Lefiya was the only other person there who might help with getting out or finding more information.
Killing Filvis would likely make Lefiya upset and less willing to cooperate.
The ki blast in his palm disappeared.
The crackling energy faded quickly, leaving only the dull green light of the cavern and the heavy silence broken by Filvis's weak, ragged breaths.
Zamasu lowered his hand slowly, just like everything else he did—calm and deliberate.
He wasn't moved by mercy or forgiveness. Instead, he'd changed his mind after thinking through the situation with the new information.
Keeping Filvis alive could be useful. It might help him learn more later, and it kept Lefiya on his side.
Lefiya let out a shaky breath, relief flooding her. She hadn't really expected him to listen. "Th-thank you," she said quietly, tears still running down her face.
Zamasu didn't answer. He stayed focused. "She's in bad shape," he said, nodding toward Filvis.
"Her vitals are weak. She needs to be healed right away or she'll die."
He looked at Lefiya, waiting. "You know how to heal, don't you?"
Filvis was close to dying, and that scared Lefiya into action. She knew the break wasn't going to last long.
"Yes! Healing magic! Potions!" she said, fumbling at her bag. Her hands shook from pain, fear, and relief all at once.
Finally, she pulled out a small cracked vial glowing faintly blue. "But the magic first! I have to stabilize her!"
Ignoring the pain in her leg, she pushed herself up on her knees.
Clutching Forest Teardrop, she closed her eyes and gathered what little mana she had left.
Her staff glowed softly as she whispered, "O gentle spirits of renewal, hear me. Mend the broken, ease the pain. Close the wounds, bring back the fading life. Heal!"
A warm light spread out from the crystal on Lefiya's staff and covered Filvis's broken body.
Lefiya pushed all her strength into the spell, even though it made her dizzy. She kept going, biting back the pain.
The magic wasn't strong enough to fix everything, but it stopped the bleeding, helped with the broken bones a little, and kept Filvis alive for now.
Her breathing got a bit easier, and her twitching slowed down. She was still out cold and pale, but at least she wasn't slipping away.
Lefiya dropped down, breathing hard as the light from her staff faded. She was sweaty, dirty, and shaking because her magic was almost gone.
Without wasting time, she grabbed the potion and poured half of it into Filvis's mouth, rubbing her throat to help her swallow.
Almost right away, Filvis's skin started to look a bit better, and her shaking calmed down.
Lefiya finally brought the vial to her lips and drank the rest. The potion kicked in fast — a cool, almost burning sensation rushing through her body and wiping out the worst of the pain.
The deep cut on her thigh closed up quickly, leaving behind some nasty-looking red skin, but it wasn't bleeding anymore.
The sharp pain in her ribs faded into a dull, throbbing ache. The dizziness lifted, though she still felt completely wiped out.
Still, she could stand. She pushed herself up, testing her leg. It held steady.
Zamasu had been watching the whole time, silently observing like he was studying something new.
He seemed genuinely interested in how it all worked — the magic, the potion, how fast Lefiya moved despite being in rough shape.
She'd put Filvis first, even when she was barely hanging on herself.
It told him a lot about her. More than her words ever could.
Lefiya was still trying to steady herself when Zamasu finally spoke, his eyes slowly scanning the weird-looking cavern around them, filled with warped crystal formations and scorched walls.
"Alright… so how do we get out of here?" he asked, voice calm, like he was just checking off a list. "What's the best way out?"
Lefiya bit her lip, glancing around the eerie space. Her stomach sank.
"I… honestly? I have no idea," she said. "Knossos isn't like the regular Dungeon. It's way worse. The tunnels shift, the walls move—it's basically a giant trap."
She turned in a slow circle, taking in the damage and creepy green glow coming from the crystals. None of it looked familiar.
"I got cut off from my captain and the rest of the Loki Familia during an ambush. We got split up, and I ended up here," she explained, rubbing the back of her neck.
"I don't even know what floor we're on anymore. Best case? We find our way toward the main areas… or maybe bump into another group."
She let out a frustrated sigh.
"But honestly, this place changes so much, there's no telling if the way we came from is even still there."
Zamasu took a second to think it over. So the place was a moving maze? Great. That complicated things. And with Filvis out cold. Their options were even more limited.
He looked over at her. Yeah—she wasn't walking out of here anytime soon.
Without saying anything, he walked over and crouched down next to her. No drama, no hesitation. Just doing what needed to be done.
He slipped one arm behind her shoulders, the other under her legs, and picked her up like it was nothing.
He didn't flinch at the blood or the way her body sagged—he just adjusted his grip and shifted her into a fireman's carry, careful not to block her breathing.
It wasn't gentle in a comforting way, but there was a kind of calm focus to it. He wasn't trying to be nice—he was just being careful because it made sense.
Her staff got left behind. Too bulky. Not important right now.
Lefiya stared for a second, caught off guard by how casually he picked up Filvis—the same woman he'd nearly blown apart minutes ago.
There was no anger in him, no hesitation. Just… getting things done.
Zamasu stood up and shifted her weight on his shoulder like it was routine. Then he looked at Lefiya, those strange silver eyes steady.
"Pick a direction. Chances are we'll run into something. Stay alert."
Lefiya swallowed hard and nodded, clutching Forest Teardrop a little tighter. Her mind spun as she tried to piece together anything useful.
She thought back—before the fight, before that weird vortex dumped Zamasu into the middle of it all.
She'd been running… which way? She tried to trace her steps.
The last place she remembered heading toward was where she hoped the rest of the raid team was pushing through.
It wasn't much. But it was the only lead they had.
"That way," Lefiya said, pointing toward a wider tunnel on the opposite side from where Zamasu had shown up.
The entrance was darker than the rest, almost swallowed in shadow. "I think it leads to a bigger chamber. We were trying to get there before the ambush split us up. But… I'm not totally sure."
"Understood," Zamasu said without hesitation.
He turned and started walking in that direction, completely unfazed, like carrying an unconscious person was no big deal.
Lefiya scrambled to keep pace beside him. Her legs were still shaky, but at least they were moving.
The soft green glow from the crystal walls lit up the path just enough, stretching their shadows weirdly as they left the destroyed battlefield behind.
Lefiya glanced at Filvis, still knocked out and slung over Zamasu's shoulder, then at Zamasu himself.
He was so calm it was eerie. She had stepped in and stopped him from killing Filvis, and now here he was, just… carrying her like it was nothing.
She felt a mix of relief and unease. Sure, they avoided one disaster, but they weren't in the clear yet. Not even close.
They were still deep inside a twisted, ever-shifting maze. Filvis was badly hurt. Zamasu was powerful, yeah, but also kind of unnerving.
Too quiet. It was like he ran on logic instead of emotions.
There were still enemies out there. Their allies were scattered. And this whole situation could fall apart at any moment.
Lefiya tightened her grip on her staff and kept her eyes on the dark path ahead, walking beside the silent, strange man.
He moved like he knew exactly what he was doing.
And right now, he was the only thing standing between her and whatever horrors waited in the dark—carrying both danger and a fragile bit of hope on his shoulder.
Chapter 43 end