Kael Lanpar's POV — (Matías Van Geast)
The eyes of that goddess never left mine. Her face was so close I could feel her breath—an aroma of roses drifting through air frozen in time.
I tried to form a word in my defense, but my voice trembled, and nothing came out.
"Did you bite your tongue or something?"
Her voice was soft, almost kind, yet anyone listening closely could hear her patience beginning to wear thin.
"I already told you. I don't know where Matías is."
I struggled to rise from the frozen ground. As I took in the horrific landscape surrounding us, I couldn't help but ask myself, once again, what she was even doing here.
"I promise that if I knew where he was, I'd tell you without hesitation," I added with a shrug. "I'd like to know where he's hiding too."
I stepped forward to retrieve my sword, but my right leg gave out. Even though time itself was frozen, the pain still burned fiercely across my skin.
The blood had stopped flowing from my knee, suspended in the air like a frozen image. Still, the sensation remained—the horrible certainty that I was bleeding out.
Just as I was about to collapse to my knees again, a hand caught me mid-fall. Dextrina had grabbed me firmly by the hair.
"Ouch… that hurts," I muttered, trying to pull away.
Without a word, she allowed part of her power to flow through my body. Instantly, a warm sensation traveled from my feet to my head.
I watched as the dead tissue of my skin returned to life, the wound sealing itself as if it had never existed. Strength flowed back into a body I had thought completely spent.
"I see that even you, despite being a part of him, can't escape his selfishness."
This time, there was something different in her voice.
Pain.
That surprised me more than anything—especially coming from a goddess.
"Sorry for pulling your hair," she added. "Without my ability active, my reflexes aren't exactly great."
With my energy restored, I began moving each part of my body, making sure everything was back in place.
My bones cracked. My body relaxed.
Just as I was about to ask what she was really doing there, she spoke first.
"I don't understand how, even with his memories, you can still be so naïve."
Her words caught me off guard. I didn't understand what she meant.
"Are you really wondering why I'm here, when this is the past of another timeline?"
"But how did you—?"
Before I could finish the sentence, one of her fingers struck my forehead with force. The impact left me frozen, my mind blank, trapped in confusion.
"Kael, I'm the one who gave Matías the Calur. What he possesses is a fragment of my power."
Awkwardly, I lowered my head in shame. She was right. I had forgotten something essential—everything had begun because of her.
As I kept my eyes fixed on the ground, I noticed a shadow overlapping my own.
I turned around in alarm.
Matías was there, standing behind me. His eyes looked tired, dull, and his body was covered in open wounds and fresh scars.
"Speak of the devil," Dextrina spat angrily.
She lunged at him with clear intent to strike, but before she reached him, his body gave out. Dextrina caught him midair, and the surprise on her face immediately turned into anguish.
I didn't understand what was happening, but seeing him like that—so badly wounded—was a terrible omen.
Instinctively, I stepped closer. Matías tried to say something, but all he managed to do was cough up blood. Thick blood, darker than it should have been.
"What happened to you?" Dextrina asked, her concern impossible to hide. "Who the hell did this to you?"
Matías ignored her words. He tried to stand, but failed. He fell again, then looked at me.
His eyes were half-lidded, on the verge of going dark.
"I—I never tried to make you change your opinion of me."
He could barely speak between ragged breaths, yet he forced himself to continue, pushing each word out with effort.
"I know I'm the kind of person people should hate. But like I told you before, there are things beyond my control."
"Kael… I have nothing against you."
For reasons I couldn't understand, tears began to well up. They slid down my cheeks uncontrollably, betraying me.
If he truly had nothing against me, then why had he done all of this from the very beginning?
Why intimidate me?
Why change the way he treated me so suddenly?
"Dextrina… we don't have much time."
Forcing himself upright, Matías let out a cry of pain that made my body flinch. To suppress it, he bit down hard on his lower lip, and blood slowly trickled down his face.
"They're already coming. If they see Kael, everything we've done up to now will have been for nothing."
Dextrina's gaze shifted toward me. Her eyes immediately filled with concern—one that looked far too much like a mother's.
She let out a heavy sigh and raised her hand in my direction, her movements almost solemn.
I had no time to react. I felt my body freeze from the extremities inward, leaving me barely able to breathe or see.
Doubt began to suffocate me again, but when I saw Matías approach with effort, I knew this wasn't cruelty.
"You are the most innocent part of me," he said. "You're the only thing I want to save from everything that I am."
His hand rested against my chest, right over my beating heart. A strange sensation rippled through every fiber of my being.
Without warning, unbearable pain tore through me. A brutal burning, as if my own blood were igniting from within.
"You may possess my memories, but that doesn't make you untouchable," he continued. "You have no real experience. Only images."
I could barely hear his voice. The pain distorted everything—my ears rang, the world blurred.
Before I could stop it, my eyes snapped shut. Darkness swallowed me whole.
And yet, in the middle of the blackness, the desperation and confusion, I heard him one last time.
"You'll return to your world soon. Forgive me for how I treated you… I'm not good with words."
After that, everything sank into an empty silence.
I felt my mind drift through an invisible ocean, moving without direction… until, in the distance, a light appeared.
One by one, my senses reawakened. My eyes were the first to register the world around me.
A blinding light struck my vision brutally, leaving me sightless for a moment. Slowly, the glare faded, allowing my pupils to adjust once more.
When I could finally see clearly, I understood that I had returned to the battlefield. The fight against the bats continued, and the screams of my comrades echoed all around me.
I was still dazed by what had just happened, but my body didn't wait for orders. It moved on pure instinct.
I turned my head just in time. One creature's claw sliced through the air inches from my face.
Without thinking, my sword traced a clean arc and beheaded the beast mid-motion.
As its body fell, I saw Elizabeth behind it, fighting several more, completely surrounded.
Now familiar with the power that had awakened within me, I let my body relax.
The world slowed.
My movements became fluid. Precise.
It was a harmonious dance between the sword and its wielder—a calculated choreography that left the creatures suspended in the air, dead before they could ever touch the ground.
When time began to flow again, I found myself standing in front of Elizabeth. She stared at me in silence, unable to hide her shock.
"Y-you… you were the one who did all this."
There was horror in her eyes.
And, to be honest, watching blood rain down from the sky was far from pleasant.
"I don't think this is a good moment for explanations."
She nodded, aware that I was right.
Even with Dextrina's power still active, I saw one of the bats launch an attack straight toward Elizabeth.
I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against my chest. The creature's claws sliced through the air where she had been a second earlier.
An involuntary smile formed on my lips when I saw her flushed face. And then I understood.
Now I knew why Matías had fallen in love with her in the past.
Those blue eyes were a rarity—simple beauty, almost ordinary, in a world devoured by chaos.
Once I was sure she was safe, I let her go and tightened my grip around the hilt of my sword. I prepared a final attack—one that would carve a path toward the city's ruined buildings and allow us to escape.
My eyes swept over every enemy with surgical precision. I raised my blade, and when the world froze once more, I began to cut.
Flesh gave way beneath the pressure of my strength. There were no screams of pain, no cries of glory.
Only a bitter silence, accompanied by the dull sound of bodies hitting the ground.
I deactivated the Calur and allowed time to resume its course. The price followed immediately—a fierce pain hammering against my skull.
"It's time to move. We don't have much time."
Everyone nodded without hesitation. They lifted the wounded and began running toward our only chance at salvation.
"You're going to owe me a lot of explanations for what you just did," Elizabeth said at my side.
We ran behind the group, making sure no one was left behind. Even so, it was clear that some hadn't made it.
I turned my gaze to the side. Among the bodies scattered across the ground, I recognized the boy I had wanted to save.
Estefano's eyes remained open. His empty stare accused me of having done nothing.
But his smile… said something else.
A simple thank you.
In the distance, members of Group One signaled us with lit torches, marking the fastest path toward their position.
We were about to reach them when everyone stopped abruptly. A sharp scream descended from the sky, freezing the air itself.
My mind went numb for a few seconds—until I understood what was coming. A bat far larger than the others.
The alpha.
"I'll stay and—"
Before Elizabeth could finish, I grabbed her firmly by the shoulders, making it clear there was no room for argument.
"I need you to guide the group to the others. Trust me. I'm strong enough to survive."
I watched her clench her hands into fists before finally nodding, accepting my order reluctantly.
As she moved away, I positioned myself to face the massive creature. Then, a voice caught my attention.
"You were right about what you said. We're no longer civilized… but we're still human."
I turned my head slightly and saw who was speaking—the second-in-command. The same woman who days earlier had humiliated me and insulted my family.
"Let this monster face another monster," she added. "Get out of here, boy, before I change my mind."
Even though I had the power to finish that creature, I was in no condition to fight. My head throbbed violently, and with every step, fainting lurked just ahead.
I accepted her words and resumed running with the group, as her voice reached me one last time from behind.
"My duty is to forge warriors. My mission is to die for them… for our future."
Many of them had lives before becoming what they are now. Victims of the beginning of humanity's decline were still among the living.
No one chose to become a monster just to survive—but as always, life offered no choice.
When we reached the entrance where everyone had gathered, we made sure no one was missing before sealing the door.
My heart was still pounding with adrenaline, but once everything finally calmed down, reality hit me all at once.
My body gave out at last. I let my back slide down the rocky wall behind me and drew in air with difficulty, my eyes scanning the surroundings.
Too many people had died. All because of the decision I had made.
Guilt burned fiercely in my chest. Watching the cadets—no more than teenagers like me—improvise stretchers for their friends shattered something inside me.
In one corner, the sergeant who should have led the mission sat curled in on himself, arms wrapped around his body as fear coursed through him.
When I saw Francis carrying the wounded Zenit, I finally understood the true reason Matías had sent me to this time.
Some things are simply inevitable.
Without warning, I felt someone's head rest against my shoulder. I didn't need long to recognize the blond hair—it was Elizabeth.
"Right now, I don't want you to tell me what you did on the battlefield."
She shifted slightly before continuing.
"I just want to sleep for a while."
I rested my head against hers. I couldn't help but think about what I was truly involved in. It was obvious that Dextrina and Matías were plotting something.
I was at the center of it all.
But why?