Vale instinctively took a step back as Evelyn advanced on Barbatos. Any trace of restraint was gone from her expression now, what remained was naked malice, sharp and unfiltered. The air itself felt heavier around her, as if the room were bracing for something catastrophic.
Callum watched from the side, his posture tense, eyes filled with nervous anticipation. Despite that, he made no attempt to intervene. He knew better than to step between Evelyn and the source of her anger, not yet.
Vale glanced toward Barbatos. The towering man stood his ground, meeting Evelyn's glare with a stern, unyielding expression.
"I understand your anger," Barbatos said calmly. His gaze briefly flicked to Vale before returning to her. "However, we had everything under control. Once we became aware that he was inside, we would not have allowed him to die."
Evelyn's head tilted slightly.
Then her shadow exploded outward.
Darkness spilled across the floor, stretching far beyond her feet until it swallowed nearly the entire room. The temperature seemed to drop as she stepped closer to Barbatos, her voice trembling, not with fear, but with fury barely held in check.
"Is that your excuse?" she demanded. "My little brother almost died, and you stand there telling me you had everything under control?"
Vale's eyes widened.
'Little brother…?'
'Is that really how she sees me?'
The thought struck deeper than he expected. They were technically family, yes, but hadn't Evelyn been the one to say it wasn't a real family at all? That blood didn't bind them? That they were little more than strangers forced together by circumstance?
Yet here she was, furious, shaking, ready to tear the world apart.
Before Vale could process it further, he felt a hand settle firmly on his shoulder. He turned to see Callum beside him.
"Let's take a step back, shall we?" Callum said quietly.
Without waiting for an answer, he guided Vale away, pulling him just beyond the reach of Evelyn's spreading shadow. The moment they moved, the oppressive weight eased, slightly.
Rikin observed the confrontation for a long moment before rubbing a hand over his face and letting out a deep, weary sigh.
"I'll allow the two of you to talk," he muttered.
Then he stepped backward and walked out of the darkness its reach.
Barbatos nodded once and turned fully toward Evelyn.
She wasted no time.
"What if Chimera had tried to kill him instead?" she asked, her voice breaking despite her effort to remain composed. "What would you have done then? Would you still have been able to save him?"
Barbatos didn't hesitate.
"That did not happen," he replied coldly. "Therefore, the question is irrelevant."
Evelyn froze.
Her eyes widened in disbelief before her teeth clenched hard enough to creak.
"…Fine," she said.
She looked down, fists clenched so tightly her hands trembled. When she raised her head again, her voice was calm, but dangerously so.
"Have it your way."
The shadows obeyed.
Darkness surged upward, swallowing the pristine white ceiling tile by tile until the entire room was drowned in black. The light vanished, replaced by an all-consuming void.
Vale barely had time to gasp.
From the shadows, shapes began to emerge, countless abominations formed entirely of darkness. Some resembled massive lizards dragging themselves forward on clawed limbs. Others were twisted humanoid figures, hollow and wrong. Dragons unfurled shadowed wings, skeletal monstrosities followed behind them, their empty eyes fixed on nothing and everything at once.
They crawled, slithered, and rose from both floor and ceiling, half-formed yet unmistakably real.
Barbatos scanned the room once before turning back to Evelyn.
"Really?" he asked flatly. "Here?"
Evelyn answered with a sharp, vicious grin.
"Of course."
Vale's heart pounded. Panic flared through him as his eyes darted from creature to creature.
Ember, who had been perched on his shoulder, suddenly launched into the air. The small wyvern flew straight to Barbatos and landed on his shoulder, wings flared as it locked eyes with Evelyn. A low, threatening hiss rumbled from its throat.
Around them, the ravens erupted into violent, frantic chirping, sensing the overwhelming danger.
Rikin lifted a hand to his face and sighed deeply.
"You have got to be kidding me."
He turned toward Callum, who stood protectively near Vale.
"Stillrose."
Callum's usual smile was gone, replaced by sharp focus.
"Yeah."
"Break this up," Rikin said. "I don't want the building destroyed."
Callum blinked, clearly surprised.
"Why me?"
Rikin scoffed.
"You're her fiancé, aren't you? Do something about it."
Then his gaze snapped to Vale.
"And you, don't sense her energy. She's dropped most of her suppression. Your brain won't be able to handle it."
Vale swallowed and nodded slowly, unable to look away from Evelyn and Barbatos as they faced each other like opposing forces of nature.
More shadows stirred.
Weapons began to rise, blades, spears, jagged constructs of pure darkness, floating in the air as though waiting for a single command. Every one of them answered to Evelyn's will.
Yet Barbatos stood unmoved.
He hadn't revealed even a fraction of his power.
'Just how strong is he…?' Vale wondered.
Beside him, Callum exhaled deeply.
Then he vanished.
In the next instant, he reappeared beside Evelyn. She glanced at him briefly, her expression unreadable, but she did not strike. Callum smiled gently and reached for her hand.
"Come on, dear," he said softly. "Let's not take this too far. Vale is still here."
Her gaze followed his, to Vale.
Vale stood rigid, nerves screaming. Ember bristled on Barbatos's shoulder, utterly fearless. Through their bond, Vale could feel it clearly, the small wyvern was ready to fight Evelyn herself if it meant protecting him.
Evelyn scoffed.
She raised her hand, and as she did.
The shadows collapsed inward. Creatures dissolved back into nothing, weapons sinking into the floor as though they had never existed. Even those only partially formed were dragged screaming back into the dark.
She turned to Barbatos, irritation etched into her face.
"Apologize," she ordered coldly.
Barbatos stepped back and bowed his head slightly.
"I am sorry."
Evelyn snorted and brushed past him, walking directly toward Vale. Barbatos straightened and spoke once more.
"And to answer your question," he said evenly, "I would have killed Chimera before allowing him to be harmed."
Evelyn stopped.
She acknowledged his words with a moment of stillness before glancing back at him, her expression unreadable.
"…Thank you," she said.
Then she continued forward, Callum walking beside her.
Although the shadows had vanished, Vale felt no sense of relief.
If anything, his nerves were worse.
Evelyn was marching straight toward him, her mood unmistakably sharp, annoyed in a way that felt far more dangerous than outright rage. Vale stood frozen, barely daring to breathe as she closed the distance between them.
She stopped directly in front of him.
Her eyes traveled slowly from his head to his feet, sharp and assessing. Then she began to circle him. Vale turned his head awkwardly to follow her movement, his shoulders tense.
"H-Hey, sorry, but what are you-" he started.
"Shut it," Evelyn snapped, cutting him off instantly.
She glanced up at him, her expression hard and unyielding.
"You don't deserve to be the one talking right now."
Before Vale could react, she grabbed his arm and began sliding her hand over him with deliberate care, checking his shoulders, his sides, his back. Her touch was firm but controlled, more inspection than comfort.
Vale stood stiff as a board, heart pounding, afraid that even breathing wrong might set her off.
After a long moment, Evelyn stepped back and let out a slow, exhausted sigh.
"…Nothing's wrong," she said.
She looked up at Vale again, her gaze piercing.
"Don't expect to be that lucky next time."
Vale swallowed hard and nodded, choosing silence over the risk of saying something foolish.
The tension hung thick in the air, until Yuki's voice suddenly broke through it.
"U-uh, hey guys," she said loudly, a note of nervous urgency in her tone. "You might want to see this."
Evelyn turned first, followed by the others. They gathered around the monitor Yuki was staring at.
The screen displayed Chimera.
Vale's breath caught.
Chimera was no longer lying down.
The massive wolf stood upright, muscles tense, head raised. Her eyes were wide open, unblinking, fixed on something beyond the screen, staring into nothing, or perhaps something far too specific.
Vale glanced at the others. Every face was tense. Even Rikin and Barbatos, figures who rarely showed unease, looked unsettled.
After a moment, Vale spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.
"…Where is she looking?"
Rikin turned to him slowly.
"This very building," he said.
He straightened his posture and lifted an arm, rubbing the back of his neck as he sighed.
"I honestly can't tell whether that's good news or very bad news right now."
Vale tilted his head, confusion and worry mixing together.
"What do you mean, sir?"
Rikin met his gaze, his expression serious.
"You shared your energy with her," he explained. "That means she's aware of your current condition."
He paused briefly.
"Tell me, were you afraid just now?"
Vale hesitated, then nodded.
Rikin gave an awkward, uneasy grin.
"Well, she sensed it," he said. "And from the looks of it, she was more than ready to strike."
Vale's eyes widened.
'Is it like Ember?' he wondered silently.
He turned his gaze back to the monitor.
As if in response, the giant wolf shifted. Chimera turned her head and stared directly into the camera, her massive eyes locking onto it with unsettling precision.
Then she tilted her head, slowly, and curiously.
Watching.