Klo's hair grew longer as her crimson eyes shifted into an icy blue. While Klo's appearance was changing, the girl mocked Eishin, clapping her hands in delight.
"Haha, listen Klo, even if you change your form into whatever you desire, those people will still turn against you."
The door behind me opened. I heard footsteps approaching, though I refused to turn back and see who they belonged to.
In a moment not far off, silence fell over the place. It felt as though the frost wrapping around me had consumed everything.
"Brother…"
I suddenly heard Lux's voice. I turned my head quickly, staring at Klo's brother standing beside the headmaster of the academy.
The words burst from my mouth as I yelled at that foolish Lux.
"Get away from there, you idiot brother!"
Yet, as if my warning meant nothing, Lux didn't move.
"Idiot brother?… So that's how it is, you piece of trash, Klo Yuthnir."
Lux's tone shifted as he walked toward me, his red eyes glowing with rage. Klo's body froze at his words until he stood right in front of me.
He grabbed a lock of my hair, toying with it as if this situation was the right time for that.
I couldn't understand what was going on, so I quickly reached to push his arm away for his own safety—but before I could touch him, my arm felt paralyzed.
My limp arm fell downward as sweat froze at the top of my forehead. The only thing in my mind were the words he spoke, and the words I expected him to say in the future.
He tugged my hair again, pulling me toward him so that I had no choice but to meet his gaze.
"Listen, Klo. I've always hated you and my sister, Father and Mother, and everyone who lived in that damn mansion."
He released my hair and shoved me backward onto the ground. Was this truly Lux? Hadn't he always been a kind boy? Even when I wrote him, I never made him into a bad person—he was kind and loving.
"What drove you to become like this?" I asked, clinging to the good image I still held of him.
"What drove me… was you! Why is it that only you get to taste evil and its exquisite flavor? Why is it only you surrounded by beautiful women? Why are you the only smart one? Everything you have—I don't. Tell me, why?!"
I think I understood Lux in some way, but supporting him now would be a mistake—especially with two cursed ones eager to tear my soul apart.
I stood from the ground, approached Lux who was seething with rage, and gently patted his head, trying to calm him down.
"Come on, little brother, you know you're my wonderful little brother."
Lux slapped my hand away, stepping back.
"Don't act like a fool, Klo. You have a special power—the power to turn back time."
I froze in place, trying to process the words of this bastard. I hate children like him.
"What do you mean, brother?"
"Shut up, Klo. You… yes, you. Don't you remember your sweet wife dying in the hospital? And the most important event that day—the murder of Elithia and our sister Mari? Yes, all of that was because of me, just so I could drown you in despair, you filthy scum."
I lowered my head, trying to analyze the situation I was thrown into. I felt Klo's body resisting the truth Lux had spoken, shivering with spasms that only fueled my anger.
"Listen, Klo, look at this! Haven't you seen it before?!"
Lux opened his coat, revealing what lay hidden beneath. It was the same emblem I had found carved in the academy hall where I studied.
The others followed his lead, showing their badges. Theirs were different from Lux's—each of them bore a single number, while Lux bore two. That meant he was just a pawn.
I cracked my neck, the sound of bones echoing.
Perhaps you are worse than me, Klo, and without mercy… but I'm sorry for this.
I lunged at Lux, gripping his throat tightly and slamming him toward the wall. He grabbed my face in return, flames erupting fiercely from his palm.
I tilted my head to the side to dodge his fire spell. Before we hit the wall behind him, I pulled my hand back to summon the Ignis Blade.
But unfortunately, it vanished before me.
"Hey, Klo Yuthnir, I never thought you could be this cold. How can you have the heart to kill your little brother?"
"…"
I refused to speak. I focused all my attention on the trio, determined not to let them breathe a single moment without begging for mercy.
I clenched my arm, forming blades beneath them, ready to strike upward. They all jumped high, but I created more blades from above, cutting off every escape route.
Yet they were lucky somehow—when the blades pierced their heads, their bodies crumbled into ash.
Now what?
I heard a sound coming from my right, so I turned my eyes toward it.
"You've improved since last time, Klo."
Their form was different than before. Did all of them—except the hero—form contracts with mythical beings? Even Lux?