A vicious slap cracked across Kazuya's cheek. His head snapped to the side, blood scattering across marble.
When his vision steadied, he realized he was kneeling—his arms wrenched apart, bound by two spears crossed in an X that pinned him to the floor like a beast to slaughter. The iron pressed against his shoulders, heavy as a coffin lid.
The throne room reeked of incense and arrogance. Golden banners fluttered along the towering walls, and at their center sat the one who ruled this hall:
Prince Charles of Eryndor.
Draped in emerald and gold, his mere presence suffocated the air. His voice thundered from the throne, shaking the chamber.
"For killing your commander. For striking at the capital. For murdering your own sister in cold blood—Kazuya Sato, you are hereby sentenced to death by public execution."
Gasps erupted like a flock of vultures, nobles whispering and shrieking.
Kazuya froze. Murdering Sora? His stomach clenched, his chest hollow. His sister. His family. All pinned on him.
And then—like lightning—the truth struck.
It was Charles.
Charles who had sent the assassins.
Charles who had erased his family.
Rage erupted, molten, devouring. His head rose, his cursed eye igniting in crimson light.
"Why?!" Kazuya roared, his voice tearing through the chamber.
"Why erase every trace of the old royal line—even though my parents, my sister, lived as commoners, never seeking the throne?!"
Charles' smile was thin, mocking, cruel.
Kazuya's voice cracked the marble beneath him.
"You bastard! You parasite! You are the disease I will cleanse from this world—Charles!"
The guards shoved the spears harder against him. But Kazuya only laughed—ragged, broken. Then, with a roar, he seized one spear in his bare hand. Veins glowed with Malevolence, and the iron shattered like glass. Shards clattered across marble as nobles screamed.
Gasps filled the chamber.
Rin's whisper trembled: "He… broke it with his bare hand."
Euphemia's lips parted, heart sinking. This is not the Kazuya I knew.
Charlotte clutched her chest, torn between horror and pity: "Kazuya…"
The second spear snapped like brittle wood. Kazuya rose, trembling with crimson light, and snatched up a jagged spearhead.
One motion—too fast for the eye—beheaded the nearest guard.
Blood fountained. Screams erupted.
Two more soldiers conjured fireballs, hurling them across the throne room. Two charged with Spirit Essence blazing in their veins.
But Kazuya was already gone.
A blur of crimson cut through their ranks. His blade flashed once, twice.
Hands fell. Throats opened. Four bodies hit the ground before anyone could blink.
He turned to the throne, blood streaking his cheek, his voice like a curse.
"I command you—kill your prince."
The remaining guards froze, their minds resisting, but their bodies betraying them. Blank-eyed, they turned their blades toward Charles.
The nobles panicked, gowns tearing as they fled.
Charles did not move.
A sudden gale howled. Invisible blades of wind carved through the entranced soldiers, splitting them apart mid-charge. Their corpses scattered like broken dolls.
Charles rose, cloak billowing, laughter sharp as knives.
"You foolish boy. Do you think the title of Prince is just for show?"
"I am Charles, Twelfth Knight of the Heavenly Rounds. Tell me, boy—are you prepared to die?"
The weight of his words froze the chamber.
Charlotte stumbled back, hand over her mouth.
Euphemia trembled, torn between blood and friendship.
And Rin clenched his fists, fury and despair twisting inside him. This is it. The point of no return.
The duel began.
Charles' first strike split the air. Invisible blades of wind shrieked, pillars collapsing in halves, shockwaves hurling Kazuya across the room.
Kazuya roared, charging. His jagged spearhead met Charles' sword, sparks exploding as Malevolence clashed with compressed wind. The marble split beneath their feet.
Charles smirked as his winds sliced Kazuya's flesh, leaving bloody lines across his arms and chest.
"Pathetic. All that rage, and this is what you amount to? An ant at a lion's feet."
He unleashed a cyclone. Kazuya slammed into the wall, stone cracking around him.
"Rin!" Euphemia screamed as the ceiling buckled. Debris collapsed, burying Rin beneath rubble. She rushed to his side, cradling him through her tears, hands glowing faint with healing light.
Rin coughed blood, his vision blurry. Kazuya… don't…
Charlotte darted forward—but a shadow barred her path. A masked figure in black. A hidden blade glinting, keeping her from Kazuya.
The throne room became a storm of ruin. Charles' winds tore apart marble and banners, while Kazuya clawed forward, half-broken, half-consumed.
"You'll join your parents. Your sister. Buried beneath my rule."
Those words shattered the last chain of Kazuya's sanity. He threw his head back and laughed—ragged, unholy.
His cursed eye blazed brighter, crimson bleeding from the corner, streaking down his cheek.
He pointed his blade, voice like a death sentence.
"Kneel, Charles."
The Malevolence pulsed. Charles' smirk faltered. His knees slammed into the marble, his body betraying him.
His eyes widened.
"W-what… what did you do to me?!"
Kazuya stepped closer, laughter echoing like madness.
"Tell me why, Charles!"
Charles snarled, forced to bow.
"Because your bloodline had to be erased! You are stains of the past!"
Kazuya tilted his head, voice soft, cold as the grave.
"Tell me, Charles—when you walk, do you care if you step on an ant?"
Charles' lips moved, trapped by Malevolence.
"No… I don't."
Kazuya's smile widened voice low, calm and cold.
"Neither do I."
The wind fell silent.
And in one merciless stroke—his blade swept.
Charles' head rolled across marble.
Blood gushed, pooling beneath the throne.
Euphemia froze mid-healing, her hands trembling over Rin's shattered body. Her scream tore through the silence.
"Brother!"
The nobles had already fled. The only sounds were Euphemia's sobs, Rin's ragged breathing… and the sound of blood dripping from Kazuya's blade.
Rin's eyes fluttered open for a moment. Through blurred vision, he saw not the boy he once called friend—only a silhouette bathed in crimson, his cursed eye bleeding as he laughed.
That laughter—mad, broken, triumphant—seared itself into Rin's soul.
Kazuya had won.
But in that victory, he had become the very monster he once swore to destroy.
He spoke then, his voice low and terrible, each word a verdict.
"The world is filth.
And only I can cleanse it."
And as his laughter echoed across the shattered throne room, Chapter 4 came to a close.