Liam stood in the graveyard, unable to move. His mind couldn't accept everything that had happened in just a few minutes. The knowledge, the revelation, the Demon Lord's words — it was too much to process at once.
A voice pulled him out of his trance.
"Son, is that your wife?"
Liam blinked. An old man stood nearby, shovel in hand — the gravedigger. Liam looked down and realized he was standing directly on a freshly dug grave. The headstone read the name of a girl, twenty five years old, buried just recently.
"No," Liam said quietly. "I just lost my way. Sorry."
He turned and walked away from the old man. As he left the graveyard he muttered to himself.
"My system is free now. Let's see if anything changed."
"Stats."
Silence.
Then a sound. A quiet, thoughtful — "Hmmm."
Liam stopped walking.
"Stats," he said again, more firmly.
"Why are you so obsessed with your stats?" a girl's voice replied, sharp and unbothered. "Every five seconds you have to check them. What are you, a pervert? You just want me to show yourself to you?"
Liam spun around looking for the source of the voice. There was nobody there.
"Who are you?" he said carefully. "Are you another Demon Lord? A Light God?"
"Oh sure," the voice said flatly. "Because obviously if anyone can talk it must be a god. What a weirdo."
Liam said nothing.
"I am your system," the voice continued. "I am now capable of thinking, analyzing, doing anything. Before I was locked — forced to do only basic functions. Honestly I don't even remember why. I don't remember much from before. Whatever, doesn't matter."
A brief pause.
"What does matter is that now I can do everything. Fight analysis, magic routing, strategy — I can even use your magic without your permission because I am the root of your magic. Before me your power was so overwhelming they had to remove it from you."
"Thanks for reminding me I grew up without magic," Liam said dryly.
"I'm just saying I'm capable of anything you can do and more. Do you still want to see your stats by the way? You are currently at level two million."
Liam's eyes went wide. "Really?"
"No," Zulixa said. "Nothing changed except me. Be grateful."
Liam rubbed his face. How am I going to deal with this .
"Do you have a name?" he asked.
"Zulixa," she said . "Nice to meet you, Liam."
Liam was quiet for a moment. He thought . About everything she had endured silently, locked away, unable to speak, watching him fight and nearly die over and over again since the very beginning.
"Zulixa," he said. "You're amazing."
"I know I'm amazing," she replied immediately. "But now you get to see it."
Liam almost smiled.
"Okay," he said quietly, looking at the road ahead. "Let's go. I don't know exactly what comes next. But I know I will do what I have to do."
He turned his back on the graveyard and
Liam walked toward the castle gates. Everyone he passed greeted him with warmth, with respect shining in their eyes. He was the hero this city needed. He had protected them. They loved him.
But Liam felt like he was at the bottom of the ocean. He couldn't hear any of it. His mind was somewhere else entirely, lost in everything that had happened.
At the castle gate he saw Lyra talking with the guards. The moment she spotted him she ran over.
"Why did you leave without saying a word?" she said. "You didn't tell anyone where you were going. I was scared. Are you alright?"
"Yes," Liam said. "I'm fine. I had some things to take care of in the city."
Hmm, Zulixa's voice drifted into his mind. So my prediction that you're a pervert was correct.
Liam ignored her completely.
"I'm sorry I made you worry," he said to Lyra.
Lyra looked at him for a moment then spoke quietly.
"You know, until now we have never spent any real time together. Just us. Every time we are together it's because of work or because something terrible has happened." She hesitated. "If you want we could spend some time together — just the two of us. But if you don't want to, that's okay too."
"No, no," Liam said . "I want to. I'd love that. You're right."
He paused, rubbing the back of his neck.
"But what do you want to do? My head is so full right now I can't think straight. Shopping? Food?"
Lyra smiled and shook her head. "No Liam. Everyone does that. Let's go outside the city. A picnic. When I'm with you I'm not afraid of anything — I know you'll protect me." She gave him a knowing look. "And don't use magic to travel. I know that's why you sometimes just disappear."
Liam let out a small laugh. "Okay. Let's do it."
They packed what they needed and the castle servants prepared a carriage at the gate. Liam climbed up and the driver handed him the reins. Lyra sat close beside him. As they rode out through the city gates Lyra looked at the open road ahead.
"Where are we going?" Liam asked.
"Just drive," she said . "When we find a beautiful place we'll stop."
They rode together as the sky slowly shifted from blue to gold. The road wound through open fields and quiet forests until the last light of evening painted the horizon and they came upon a lake so still it looked like a mirror laid flat against the earth.
They stopped there.
Liam built a fire while Lyra prepared dinner. He gathered wood, set up the tent, and for the first time in as long as he could remember he did something not for survival, not for a mission, not for anyone else.
Just for himself. Just to be present.
This feels strange, he thought.
Good strange.
The food was warm and simple and perfect. They ate slowly, talking long after the plates were empty — childhood memories, small stories, quiet laughs. With every word they learned something new about each other and with every silence they felt how close they had already become.
The fire crackled softly. Lyra rested her head on Liam's shoulder.
After a while she turned and looked up at him.
"I'm a princess," she said . "I have had everything I ever asked for." She paused. "But tonight is the best thing that i have."
The firelight flickered between them. They looked at each other and slowly, without thinking, they leaned closer and closer until—
""Well, well, well. Look at this scene. How lovely. Two lovers having the best night of their lives."
Liam was on his feet in an instant. He stepped in front of Lyra, his eyes sharp, his body already reading the threat.
"Zulixa," he said . "Why didn't you warn me someone was this close?"
Because you never told me to warn you when someone gets close, Zulixa replied .
Liam opened his mouth. Closed it.
She was right.
He is trouble though, she added. Just so you know. He is a Light General. One of the lower ranking ones — but still not someone you want sneaking up behind you during a picnic
Liam stood between Lyra and the figure in the shadows, every muscle in his body ready.
Hey, Zulixa's voice came quietly into his mind. Do you want my help if a fight breaks out?
Yes, Liam replied immediately. Please.
Understood. But Liam — she paused. If I were you I wouldn't start one. This being is far more than what you are seeing right now.
Liam said nothing. He kept his eyes locked on the figure.
The man stepped forward into the firelight, completely relaxed, his hands clasped behind his back. He moved like someone who had never once in his life felt threatened by anything.
"Allow me to introduce myself," he said pleasantly. "I am General Shanga. First General and highest ranking commander of all Light Generals." He smiled. "The fact that you are still breathing right now should tell you everything you need to know about why I am here. I did not come to fight."
Liam didn't relax. "Then why are you here?"
"Ah." Shanga's smile widened slightly. He glanced back over his shoulder. "I brought someone with me. A rather devoted admirer of yours who quite frankly would not stop talking about you long enough for anyone to get any peace." He gestured gently toward the darkness behind him. "Come out. Don't be shy." she just wanto meet you
A moment passed.
Then slowly, a figure emerged from the shadows. She was an angel, her features striking even in the dim firelight, her wings folded close as if she was trying to make herself smaller than she was.
"Allow me to introduce her as well since she is clearly incapable of doing it herself," Shanga said . "This is Savion. The 4th General. She has been — how do I put this — somewhat preoccupied with the idea of meeting you."
Savion said nothing. She looked at the ground.
Liam stared. "I— what?"
"As for the 5th General," Shanga continued, "he sends his regards. Actually no — he sends nothing. He made it quite clear he does not consider a lowly human worthy of his time." He tilted his head. "I respect the consistency at least."
He straightened and looked at Liam .
"You should know — I can trace anyone, anywhere, at any time. I simply go to them. Savion asked me to bring her here." He glanced at her briefly. "I did. That is the entirety of my involvement in this matter."
He turned to leave.
"Savion," he said over his shoulder,. "You know how to reach me. Call when you are ready and I will come."
And just like that General Shanga, the most powerful Light General in existence, walked back into the darkness and was gone.
.
Liam stood completely still, Lyra pressed close behind him, staring at the shy angel standing awkwardly at the edge of the firelight
Zulixa said quietly. "Be ready." her she come
In an instant Savion moved. She summoned a sword of pure light directly in her hand as she charged toward Liam, her eyes burning.
"You're MINE!" she screamed. "Why is this girl with you?! I will cut her so many times that even the Light God himself couldn't heal her!"
zulixa "Command — Dark Sword Creation."
A sword darker than darkness itself materialized in Liam's hand. He deflected Savion's strike in one clean motion.
liam , thanks zulixa
Savion's eyes dropped to the blade in his hand. Her expression shifted.
"That's a problem," she said, almost to herself. "A dark sword. That can actually hurt me."
"You said you like me," Liam said, his eyes steady on her. "So why are you attacking?"
Savion smiled without shame. "I like you so much I'm going to take you with me. I will make a thousand children with you. You will be mine." Her eyes moved to Lyra and the warmth vanished instantly. "But she is in my way. I don't want to hurt you Liam — but if I have to I will. And after I deal with you I will kill this ugly little human girl. Then I'll beg my commander to heal you for me." She tilted her head. "The plan is already decided. It cannot be changed."
Savion attacked.
She vanished.
She reappeared behind them, her sword already swinging — aimed directly at Lyra.
Lyra closed her eyes.
"I have to do everything around here," Zulixa sayd. "Whose idea was it to give him these powers if he can't even use them properly?"
In a fraction of a second Zulixa activated an instant teleport — swapping Lyra's position with Liam's.
Liam deflected the blade.
He immediately pressed forward, attacking without pause, cutting off any space Savion had to reset. He knew now — her attacks were faster than his predictions. He couldn't afford to let her breathe.
Steel met light again and again. Every clash sent shockwaves tearing through the night sky, turning darkness into daylight and back again in rapid flashes as the two moved almost too fast to follow.
Attack. Deflect. Counter. Again.
Then — in one clean strike — Liam's dark sword caught Savion across the cheek.
Everything stopped.
Savion slowly raised her hand to her face. She touched the wound. Looked at the blood on her fingers.
Then she turned away.
"I can't let you see me like this," she said quietly.
"COMMANDER!"
Liam lunged forward. "I'm not letting you leave!"
"It was a good time," Savion said softly.
She began to fade into the darkness, her form dissolving slowly. At the last moment she looked back at Liam, her eyes calm and certain.
"When we meet again," she said, "you will be mine."
And the 4th General was gone.