Dust still drifted in the ruined guild hall.
The intruder's presence had vanished like smoke—
but its weight still suffocated the air.
Lyra knelt on the cracked floor, cradling Friezzar's limp body as if afraid the wind might steal him.
His carved wooden chest glowed faintly, flickering with unstable light.
The elegant new runes from his evolution pulsed irregularly.
Arden knelt beside her.
"Lyra… he's unconscious, not gone. He's breathing."
Lyra shook her head.
"He doesn't breathe, Arden…"
Arden stiffened.
"Right. Then… glowing. He's glowing. That counts!"
She didn't smile.
Not this time.
Her voice broke.
"This time… it's different."
Oren approached, spear dragged behind him, shoulders slumping with exhaustion.
"Is he stable?"
Lyra swallowed hard.
"I… I don't know."
She pressed her ear to Friezzar's chest—
listening to the soft, trembling hum of his core.
"It's faint. Too faint."
Arden clenched his fists.
"Damn it… that intruder—"
Lyra's voice trembled.
"He almost killed me."
Arden went silent.
Oren's hand tightened around his spear.
"He didn't just attack you," he said softly.
"He attacked the anchor."
Lyra looked up sharply.
"That word again. What does it mean?"
Oren took a deep breath.
"Lyra… you're the reason Friezzar hasn't collapsed completely."
"What?"
Arden rubbed his temples.
"He means… you're plugging the hole in his soul or something."
Oren nodded.
"When you touched him—when you held him during each collapse—his core stabilized. Your presence overrides the intruder's command."
Lyra stared down at him.
Her Friezzar.
Her gentle, soft-spoken puppet who always whispered her name first.
"…he depends on me."
Oren nodded.
"And you depend on him."
Arden folded his arms.
"So the intruder tried to kill Lyra because killing her means killing Friezzar."
Lyra squeezed Friezzar closer.
"He felt fear," she whispered.
"For the first time. Because he didn't want to lose me."
Arden looked at her in shock.
"He… said that?"
Lyra nodded.
"He said he felt fear."
Oren let out a low breath.
"That means his evolution is rapid. Too rapid."
THE GUILD REORGANIZES
The remaining guild members gathered around the fallen puppet.
Some whispered.
Some prayed.
Some stared with awe.
Friezzar had stood against the intruder's killing spell—
had pushed back a force no human could withstand.
And had unleashed a surge of white mana no one had ever seen.
Arden helped Lyra carry him to a reinforced cot.
Oren gave orders quickly:
"Deploy scouts along the north ridge."
"Barricade the eastern gate."
"Bring every stabilizing crystal we have."
"Mage circles, prepare defensive barriers!"
Arnvale felt like a battlefield preparing for war.
And in the center, lying unconscious—
was the vessel the war wanted.
Lyra's Vigil
Night fell.
The guild hall was repaired just enough to function.
Arden took guard outside the infirmary door.
Oren worked through the night with barely a sip of water.
But Lyra…
Lyra didn't move from Friezzar's side.
She brushed hair from her face, her voice soft as a lullaby.
"Friezzar… can you hear me?"
His glow flickered faintly.
She took his hand gently.
"You protected me. Again."
"You evolved for me."
"You held on… because of me."
Her voice cracked.
"So hold on a little longer."
She lowered her head to his chest.
"I'm not going anywhere.
You're not alone."
Her tears fell onto his carved frame.
She didn't notice—
that every drop caused his runes to glow just a little brighter.
INSIDE FRIEZZAR'S CORE
Darkness again.
Cold.
Silent.
Endless.
He floated in a void darker than before—
as if the intruder had ripped pieces of him away.
"…Lyra…"
His voice cracked in the emptiness.
No answer.
He reached forward, searching for the faint silhouette that had saved him before—
But only shadows answered.
Then—
A whisper.
Not Lyra.
Fragment Zero.
"Little brother."
Friezzar turned slowly.
Zero stood behind him, dimmer than before.
"Why…?" Friezzar whispered.
"Why hurt…?"
Zero placed a hand on Friezzar's back.
"This collapse… is not caused by damage."
Friezzar looked up.
"…what… then…?"
Zero answered:
"Your second evolution is coming."
The void trembled.
Friezzar clutched his chest as white mana surged inward—
not outward—
pulling him deeper.
Zero's voice echoed:
"Evolution brings pain.
Evolution brings choice.
Evolution brings loss."
Friezzar fell to his knees.
"…Lyra…"
Zero knelt with him.
"You must hold on to her.
She is your anchor.
She is your meaning.
She is your defiance."
Friezzar's glow flickered.
Zero's hand cupped the side of Friezzar's face.
"Do not let go of her name."
The void shattered—
BACK IN ARNVALE
Friezzar's fingers twitched.
Lyra gasped.
"Friezzar…?!"
His body trembled—
white light flickering through the blue and gold.
His evolution was beginning.
Arden burst into the room.
"What's happening?!"
Lyra grabbed Friezzar's hands.
"He's evolving again! Too soon—!"
Oren rushed in.
"That's impossible. He shouldn't evolve twice within one day—!"
But Friezzar's body arched violently.
Runes blazed white.
And he whispered—
barely audible:
"…Ly…ra…"
Lyra held his face in her hands.
"I'm here. I'm here!"
He trembled.
"…don't… let… go…"
Lyra pressed her forehead to his.
"I won't."
White mana erupted—
a cocoon of light surrounding Friezzar—
lifting him off the cot.
Arden shielded Lyra.
Oren shouted orders wildly.
The room shook.
The town trembled.
The world seemed to hold its breath.
Friezzar whispered one final thing before disappearing into the light:
"…choose… Lyra…"
And the cocoon sealed shut.
Friezzar vanished inside a sphere of blinding white evolution.
Lyra reached toward it, tears streaming.
"Friezzar…!"
Arden caught her wrist.
"Lyra—no! You'll burn—!"
Oren stared at the cocoon with pale horror.
"By the gods…
the Creator triggered a forced evolution."
Lyra sobbed.
"Friezzar—come back!"
The cocoon pulsed—
once—
twice—
and then—
silence.