The roar of battle faded behind them, but Lucia didn't hear anything anymore.
Her whole world was the limp body in her arms.
Morix's skin was cold.
His breathing shallow.
His pulse weak and fading under her fingers.
"Hold on… please…" she whispered again and again as the carriage raced toward the capital.
Facilia sat beside her, pressing cloth on Morix's wounds, though each time she touched him, tiny sparks of red lightning stung her hands.
"He's burning from the inside," she muttered, voice thin with worry. "His aura is unstable. We need the grand healers now."
Lucia wasn't listening.
She kept brushing Morix's hair back, speaking softly like he could hear her.
"Morix… you promised you wouldn't leave me again…"
Her voice cracked.
"Please wake up…"
The red storm clouds above them flickered. Even unconscious, his aura kept twisting the sky.
Rales rode beside the carriage, shouting orders to the soldiers escorting them.
"Hurry! Form a full wall around the carriage! Move!"
But even his strong voice trembled.
He kept glancing at Morix like he couldn't accept what he had just seen his brother crushed by a single man.
Gabriel's hammer blow still echoed in his mind.
The Capital in Panic
When the gates of the capital opened, healers rushed forward instantly.
"Move him! Bring him to the inner chamber! Use the stabilizing stones!"
But the moment four healers touched Morix—
CRACK!
A surge of red lightning burst out.
Three were thrown into the walls.
One screamed as his hands burned black.
Lucia held Morix tighter.
"STOP TOUCHING HIM! YOU'RE HURTING HIM!"
Facilia pulled her back.
"No… he's hurting them. His aura won't let anyone inside."
"So what do we do?" Lucia asked, voice breaking. "No one can reach him!"
Facilia looked at the faint black mist still clinging to his chest—the final touch of the Faceless Lady.
"That… thing is calming him," she said slowly. "If it fades, he'll explode from the overload."
Lucia froze, eyes wide with horror.
"He'll… die?"
Facilia didn't answer.
Inside the Council Hall
Meanwhile, news of Morix's fall reached the council.
Nobles yelled. Generals argued. Advisors panicked.
A trembling officer rushed in.
"General Morix is unconscious! His condition is unstable! The sky itself is reacting!"
Another officer ran in right after him.
"Lord Rales is still fighting at the battlefield! Mammon's army is pressing harder!"
One council member slammed the table.
"We cannot win this war without Morix!"
Another one shouted, "And Gabriel didn't even help! He just walked away!"
Fear spread through the hall like poison.
For the first time in years, they realized—
The kingdom was one breath away from breaking.
Rales Holding the Line
Far from the capital, Rales cut down three demons at once.
Blood sprayed across the dirt.
His breath was heavy but steady.
"COME ON!" he roared. "I'm not dying until my brother wakes up!"
He clashed against demon soldiers, pushing deeper into the chaos.
He wanted to cry.
He wanted to run back to Morix.
But he stayed.
Because someone had to hold the line.
Every few seconds, he glanced at the sky.
Red lightning flickered in distant clouds.
"Morix… I hope you're fighting in there…"
Damion's Breaking Point
Not far away, Damion fought too—but his movements were sharp and angry.
He slashed a demon in half with one strike, then another, then another, more violently than needed.
Blood coated his face, but he didn't blink.
"So… everyone cares for Morix," he muttered, voice dark.
"Lucia cries for him… Rales fights for him… Facilia protects him…"
He stabbed a demon through the neck.
"But what about me? I also bleed. I also fight."
His teeth clenched.
"Why does no one look at me like that…?"
As he pulled his blade out, a cold whisper flowed through his ear.
"…you deserve more."
Damion froze.
A man in a hood stood behind him, face hidden completely.
"Who are you?" Damion growled, raising his blade.
The hooded figure lifted a hand.
"Someone who sees what others ignore."
Damion's grip tightened.
"What do you want?"
The whisper came again.
"Not me… you.
You want to be seen.
You want to be more than Morix's shadow."
Damion's jaw locked, but he didn't deny it.
A faint red glow flickered in his eyes.
The hooded man chuckled softly.
"Good. Then your path begins soon."
And just as suddenly as he appeared—
He vanished.
Damion stood in the middle of corpses, breathing hard, heart racing.
He didn't know why… but he couldn't shake the feeling that someone had reached inside him and touched something he didn't know existed.
Morix's Pulse Begins to Change
Back in the capital, Lucia kept wiping Morix's sweat as the healers circled his bed helplessly.
Red lightning flashed under his skin.
His veins glowed like burning lines.
The Faceless Lady's mist had thinned to almost nothing.
Facilia frowned deeply.
"Something's wrong. His mana core is shaking… too violently."
A healer shouted, "Get the stabilizing rune!"
Another yelled, "The pressure's too high! His aura is leaking into the entire room!"
The walls vibrated.
Windows cracked.
Books fell off shelves.
Lucia leaned close, pressing her forehead to Morix's.
"Please… please stay with me…"
His heart beat fast. Then too fast. Then irregular.
Facilia grabbed Lucia's arm.
"If this continues, his core might"
She didn't finish.
She didn't have to.
Lucia's tears fell on his chest.
"No… no, please…"
Something Wakes Before He Does
Suddenly.
Morix's body jerked.
Everyone froze.
His fingers twitched.
His breathing stopped
just for a heartbeat
then started again, slower… deeper… heavier.
A healer whispered shakily, "Is he waking up?!"
"No…" Facilia said softly.
Her voice shook.
"His aura is moving on its own. Something else is waking."
Lucia held his hand tightly.
"Morix…?"
Morix's eyelids opened slightly
but his eyes were not his.
They were empty.
Dark.
Like someone else was looking out of them.
A cold whisper escaped his lips.
Not Morix's voice.
Something deeper.
Older.
Calmer.
"Be still."
Every healer stepped back at once.
The ground shook beneath the bed.
Lucia's breath caught.
"Morix…?"
The voice spoke again, soft like shadows spreading across water.
"He is resting.
I am simply watching."
Lucia trembled.
"Who… who are you?"
Morix's lips curved into a faint, unnatural smile.
"I am the part of him…
he fears the most."
The lights in the room flickered red.
A chilling wind blew.
Facilia grabbed Lucia's shoulder.
"Lucia… step back."
Because the thing inside Morix…
turned its head slowly toward them.
And whispered:
"His Wrath… has finally opened its eyes".