The prisoner laughed.
A dry, broken sound.
"You think this is just fairy politics?" he spat. "I am Azerion. I'm not a fairy—"
His eyes widened suddenly.
"I am a demon, and I was sent to—"
BOOM.
His head exploded.
Blood, bone, and shattered mana splashed across the stone floor in a violent shockwave.
Lunareth reacted instantly, blade half-drawn, wings almost surfacing on instinct.
"Reeve—!"
But she stopped.
Because Reeve was frozen.
His eyes were wide—not with guilt, not with rage—but with shock.
"I didn't do that," he said quietly.
Lunareth turned slowly back to the corpse.
Or what remained of it.
Then she saw it.
On the fragments of Azerion's skull, partially burned but still visible—
A mark.
Different from the ones in the containers.
This one was damaged.
Cracked.
And now—
It was glowing.
Reeve crouched beside the remains, ignoring the blood soaking into his clothes.
"So that's how it works…" he murmured.
The glow pulsed once… then faded.
Reeve's eyes narrowed.
"Someone triggered it remotely," he said. "A kill-command."
Lunareth's breath caught. "Then that means…"
"He talked too much," Reeve replied. "And someone was listening."
A groan echoed behind them.
The other prisoner.
Alive.
Barely conscious.
Reeve's gaze snapped toward him.
"…He's alive because his mark is broken," Reeve realized. "Incomplete. Unstable."
They wasted no time.
Later — Fairy Castle
The prisoner woke with a sharp gasp.
Golden light reflected in his eyes.
The Fairy King stood before him.
The man froze.
Shock rippled through his entire body.
Before he could speak—
He saw Reeve.
Standing in the shadows.
Eyes cold.
Expression empty.
The prisoner's face drained of color.
Fear seized him completely.
He tried to scream.
Lunareth stepped forward, her presence firm but calm.
"He saved you," she said softly. "That mark in your head was meant to kill you."
The man trembled.
"If you speak," Lunareth continued, "you live. If you lie… you won't die so cleanly."
She leaned closer.
"Tell us where the others are. We can still save them."
Silence.
Then the man shook his head weakly.
"I don't know…" he whispered. "I swear. The others who knew too much already left the kingdom."
The Fairy King's fists clenched.
"What about the demon?" he demanded. "The one who created that base?"
The prisoner swallowed hard.
"He never gave us his true name," he said. "We only followed orders. He alone knows what's inside those containers."
Reeve turned away.
"I'm going to sleep," he said flatly.
The Fairy King looked startled. "Reeve—wait."
Reeve paused at the door.
"Do you know," the king asked slowly, "what was inside those containers?"
Reeve didn't turn back.
His voice was quiet.
Heavy.
"…Yes."