"There's no such thing as some predetermined fate. They hate you because they're too blind to see your worth."
Luke waved his hand and slashed several times. Sword energy screamed through the air, striking different parts of the courtyard with explosive crashes. The foundations of the formation were destroyed, causing the entire thing to collapse from within.
The Spirit-Binding Formation could indeed suppress magical power, but its effect on Luke was negligible.
As the formation shattered, Syndra felt her body return to normal. Looking at Luke beside her, a sudden surge of grievance rose inside her for no apparent reason.
"Who are you?"
Konigen's expression darkened. He stared at Luke with wary eyes, clearly realizing that an unexpected intruder had appeared.
This man had suddenly materialized without him noticing anything, then destroyed the formation he had painstakingly prepared with a casual wave of his hand.
Suddenly, Konigen seemed to understand.
"So you were the one who told her about the magic-suppressing medicine. What do you hope to accomplish by interfering in the internal affairs of my temple? What hidden purpose do you have?"
"Don't start slapping such a serious accusation on me. I just don't like you." Luke chuckled, his eyes filled with mockery and disdain. "Tricking a little girl into drinking poison every day isn't something I could ever do."
Then he looked at Syndra.
"Do you still want to stay at this temple?"
Syndra immediately shook her head, her refusal written plainly across her face.
Luke turned back to Konigen. "Then this isn't an internal matter anymore."
Konigen continued staring at him. "You have no connection to her, no reason to involve yourself. Why would you stand up for her unless you wanted something? Do you even realize how much dark power exists inside her?"
Syndra's heart suddenly tightened.
Her eyes involuntarily turned toward Luke.
That was right.
Why had he approached her?
What did he want from her?
She was afraid.
Afraid this would turn out to be another lie, another deception.
Afraid the light she had found was fake.
"Of course I know."
Luke didn't deny it. He looked calmly at Konigen.
"I also know she has talent that everyone else can only look up to. And I know you're afraid of her power, so you've refused to teach her any real skills because you're terrified of raising a threat you won't be able to control."
"A motive? Of course I have one. My only reason for being here is to steal her away."
Syndra froze blankly.
Steal her away?
He didn't even have to steal her.
She was already willing to leave with him.
"Even if your intentions are truly that simple," Konigen said coldly as he stood in the rain, "do you think I am unaware of her talent? That power comes from darkness. One day, the darkness within her, enough to destroy everything around her, will break free. When that happens, there will be no turning back. The sacred cannot tolerate such a future. Therefore, I will not allow you to take her away."
"And how can you be certain any of that will happen?"
Luke scoffed at his argument.
"A blade can hurt people. Does that mean no one should ever pick up a sword? A sword can also be used to protect others. A tiger cub might grow up and eat someone, so why not kill it immediately and save yourself the trouble? Better yet, kill every tiger in existence and everyone will be safe. People hurt other people too. Why not kill everyone?"
"If you destroy something in advance simply because you're afraid of what it might become, aren't you also destroying every other possibility it could have had?"
"Even if she does fall into darkness someday, as far as I'm concerned, it'll be because all of you pushed her there."
"The truth is, you're afraid. You're terrified that her power might overturn everything you understand. That's why you ignored every humiliation she suffered for the last three years. All this time, you've simply been looking for an excuse, a reason that would let you get rid of her while still convincing yourself you were justified."
"Stop pretending you're righteous."
"You're just an old man scared out of his mind."
Luke's mocking words continued to rain down on him.
"Perhaps I am afraid," Konigen replied calmly, without becoming angry. "There may indeed be countless possibilities for the future, but I have no desire to gamble. If that gamble is lost, the consequences could be irreversible."
Sparks of magic began surging around his body.
"There is no point in saying more. Today, I must eliminate her here. Since you have chosen to protect her, you have made yourself an enemy of my temple. I will not hold back."
His magic appeared extremely powerful. The pouring rain was repelled by an invisible field around him, while his robes whipped violently from the fluctuations of magical power.
As his presence continued to rise, thunder exploded across the sky.
Boom!
Lightning flashed and thunder roared, illuminating Konigen's face and making his expression appear extraordinarily cold and terrifying.
Watching him, Syndra involuntarily took a step backward, her eyes trembling.
Then Luke remembered something.
This was a dream.
More precisely, it was a nightmare.
And if it was a nightmare, there had to be a source.
Clearly, that source was Konigen standing before him.
But since this was a dream...
Luke was the one in charge here.
He stepped forward.
In an instant, his figure appeared directly in front of Konigen.
A flash of swordlight tore through the air.
Konigen was blasted dozens of yards away, disbelief filling his eyes at Luke's incredible speed.
His body had been enhanced with magic, yet even then, he had been completely unable to react.
Just how fast was this man?
Boom!
Luke stood suspended in midair as magical power continuously surged around him. An instant later, an enormous bolt of lightning burst from the dark clouds and crashed down.
The ground trembled.
At the center of the lightning strike, Konigen let out a horrifying scream.
Then several more explosions followed.
Luke hovered in the air as lightning rained down around him. He resembled a deity descending from the heavens, radiating overwhelming divine might.
Syndra looked up at him in a daze.
The sight etched itself permanently into her heart.
By the time Konigen managed to recover from the barrage, he was already severely wounded. His aura was nowhere near as powerful as before. Blood spilled from his mouth, and disbelief filled his eyes.
"Who are you?!"
He raised his head and shouted at Luke in the sky.
Someone this powerful could never have remained unknown in Ionia.
Where had he come from?
"The one who will end all of this."
Luke looked down from above like a god-king, his voice indifferent.
Konigen coughed up another mouthful of blood.
The magic throughout his body began fluctuating uncontrollably, destroying everything around him without rhyme or reason.
"I am an executor of the sacred will! I will never permit the power of darkness to exist in this world!"
Konigen's magic had gone completely out of control.
He roared like a madman, his eyes bulging and filled with bloodshot veins.
Then his power erupted completely.
Magical energy enveloped him as his body rapidly swelled.
Black shadows wound around him, while his roar echoed through the clouds.
In the blink of an eye, he transformed into an enormous living creature.
Part demon, part vengeful spirit, part monster, he existed as something twisted and unnatural, horrifying beyond description.
The real Konigen would never have transformed into such a thing.
But this was a nightmare.
What stood before them now was the manifestation of Syndra's fear.
The monster charged at Luke in a frenzy. Every step made the earth quake, and terrifying attacks came crashing toward him.
Luke's expression did not change.
The Void Riftblade suddenly shattered into hundreds of fragments.
Then he raised Snowglance.
Every fragment shot through the air and gathered around Snowglance, forming a new blade around it.
In an instant, the two swords became one.
An enormous greatsword appeared.
Luke released every trace of his sword intent at once. The tremendous force tore through the clouds, whipping the wind into a roaring gale.
Facing the charging monster, Luke neither dodged nor retreated.
He swung his sword.
BZZZ!
As the greatsword descended, an immense wave of sword energy tore through the sky.
It formed a vast crescent, like a gigantic half-moon, brilliant white and dazzling beyond measure.
The sight was breathtaking.
And in Syndra's eyes, it became something she would never forget.
The slash tore straight through the monster's body.
But it did not stop there.
It continued upward toward the heavens.
The dark clouds blanketing the sky were split apart by a massive fissure, and brilliant sunlight poured through, bathing Syndra in its glow.
That single sword strike seemed to cut through even the storm itself.
For the first time, the clouds parted.
The monster's roar disappeared.
Its body froze in place and began dissolving.
Konigen's human form fell out from within it and crashed to the ground.
Luke quickly descended and walked toward him.
By the time he arrived, Konigen had already managed to sit upright, but the life within him was fading rapidly.
Clearly, he was dying.
Luke did not strike again.
He knew the other man had nothing left.
After all, this was merely the incarnation of a nightmare within a dream.
He was not the real Konigen.
The real Konigen had died hundreds of years ago.
Looking down at his ruined body, Konigen seemed to realize something.
Or perhaps he remembered something.
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
"So... she was never able to let go."
Luke replied flatly, "Did you really think it would be that easy?"
"You're right."
Konigen did not directly answer him.
He began coughing violently, spitting out a large mouthful of blood. His smile became increasingly miserable.
"I truly was afraid. That darkness was simply too powerful, something I had never encountered before. People always fear what they do not understand. I spent years cultivating myself, yet I was no different."
"I was afraid I would fail to teach her properly. Even more than that, I was afraid she would grow too quickly and that one day even I would no longer be able to restrain her."
"Every time I looked at her, I could never bring myself to see her as an ordinary child."
"And yet... she truly was a good child."
Luke looked at him. "At the very end, did you regret it? Did you regret hurting her? Did you regret being the one who pushed her this far?"
"I regretted it every moment."
Konigen closed his eyes.
"If I could return to the past and choose again... perhaps I would try to treat her with kindness."
"It's too late."
Konigen opened his eyes and sighed.
"Yes. It's too late. I kept her trapped for far too long."
"I don't know how you came here, but I hope... you can undo what I did."
"And if you ever have the chance, tell her I'm sorry."
After saying those words, his body began to dissolve.
His smile suddenly became strangely peaceful.
An instant later, he disappeared without a trace.
In the final moments of his existence, he had realized where he was.
Perhaps he had truly been nothing more than a lingering fragment of Konigen's soul.
There were so many words he could never say anymore.
And the things he had done could never be changed.
Thinking about the smile Konigen had worn at the end, Luke wondered if perhaps he was relieved too.
Relieved that he would no longer be the demon haunting the girl's heart.
Luke returned to the temple and found Syndra standing there alone, her slender figure looking painfully fragile.
He walked over and draped his coat around her shoulders.
"Cold?"
The girl was soaked from head to toe.
She instinctively clutched Luke's coat tighter around herself, then shook her head.
"No."
"Come on. There's nobody left to stop us now. Let's go to the back mountain and eat every last one of those spirit fish he raised. That'll make you feel better."
Luke rubbed her head.
Syndra obediently nodded and followed him.
But she bit her lip as though enduring something, hiding the pain on her face.
Luke still noticed immediately.
He turned around, crouched down, and examined her. His expression darkened slightly.
The Spirit-Binding Formation had placed an enormous burden on her body. She had already been pushed far beyond her limits.
There were multiple fractures in both her arms and knees.
Luke looked up at her.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
Syndra looked away and lowered her head.
"Because I can endure it."
Ever since she was little, nobody had ever cared whenever she got hurt.
Other children might have received concern and comforting words from their families.
For Syndra, even that had been a tiny luxury she could only dream of.
Instead, she would be scolded for being clumsy.
So from then on, no matter what injury she suffered, she endured it silently.
Besides, even severe wounds always healed quickly for her.
She assumed this time would be the same.
"Take this first."
Luke pulled out a medicine bottle and, leaving no room for refusal, gave her a pill.
It tasted terribly bitter, but Syndra swallowed it anyway.
The pain seemed to lessen afterward.
She wasn't sure whether that was because of the medicine or simply because she believed it would help.
Luke then crouched down with his back toward her.
"Climb on. I'll carry you."
Syndra looked at his back for a moment before obediently leaning against him.
Luke stood up with her on his back and began walking forward one step at a time.
"Next time, don't just endure it. If something hurts, tell me. That way I can immediately figure out where you're injured and treat you right away."
"I won't blame you."
"I won't scold you either."
The concern she had never experienced before sent warmth flowing through Syndra's heart.
She silently nodded against him.
Halfway there, after being quiet for a long time, she suddenly asked, "Why do you want to steal me away?"
Luke thought for a moment.
"Because you looked lonely."
"That day in town, I saw a girl carrying all that stuff by herself. She looked completely out of place among everyone around her."
"She was obviously exhausted, but she kept gritting her teeth and forcing herself onward, following everyone as closely as she could because she was terrified of being left behind. She was trying so desperately to earn their approval that she looked pitiful."
"Meanwhile, her companions just strutted ahead like they owned the place."
"So I started wondering... maybe I should steal that poor little girl away."
Luke paused before continuing.
"But now I want to tell you something."
"You're actually incredible."
"You never needed anyone else's approval in the first place. As long as you can accept and believe in yourself, that's enough."
Syndra listened silently.
Then she asked in a small voice, "I'm a huge burden. Even knowing that, you'd still want to take me with you?"
"You're not a burden," Luke replied. "And even if you were, I'd still take you."
Syndra sniffled.
"I'm an omen of disaster. If you stay with me, terrible things will happen to you."
Luke smiled.
"The fact that I got to meet you means something lucky has already happened."
Syndra's voice trembled with tears.
"Everyone hates me. If you stay with me, they'll hate you too."
Luke smiled again.
"Then we'll ostracize everyone else."
As he spoke, he suddenly felt something wet against his neck.
Syndra could no longer hold back.
Her tears poured freely as her small hands clutched Luke tightly.
"They all say I'm darkness. That I'm an omen of misfortune."
"Then they're full of crap."
"What if one day... the whole world wants to hurt me?"
"Then I'll make an enemy of the whole world."
"What if I accidentally hurt someone?"
"As long as I'm here, I won't let that happen."
By now, Luke's neck was completely soaked.
Syndra lay against his shoulder, tears already streaming down her face. Finally, she threw back her head and burst into loud, uncontrollable sobs, as though releasing every grievance she had endured since the day she was born.
She didn't want to endure anymore.
And now, she no longer had to.
Ever since she was little, she had always been the bad child everyone avoided.
It was as though she had committed every wrong in the entire world.
No matter what happened, if Syndra was there, then somehow she was always the one at fault.
Never once had she experienced what it felt like to have someone choose her without hesitation.
Until now.
At this moment, that tiny wish she had always believed was too much to ask had finally come true.
Tears continued streaming down her cheeks, impossible to stop.
So this was what it felt like...
To have someone choose you without hesitation.
It made her so happy.
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