The woman slipped the silver bracelet over the sword's hilt.
For a moment, the metal trembled.
Tick… tick…
The fine lines on the bracelet glowed—
Boom!
A small but concentrated explosion. A short wave rippled through the chamber, raising dust from the floor.
Without hesitation, she gripped the sword firmly. This time, the blade offered no resistance.
It was as if the bracelet had stifled it… restrained it.
Without looking back, she stepped out of the room.
Zeno scratched his head lightly, eyes scanning the corpses, the half-burned door.
Under his breath, he muttered,
"Why would a servant carry knives…?"
The woman turned down the left corridor. Her steps were silent.
When she reached a window, she paused for a moment.
The wind stirred the curtains…
The sunset light reflected off the sword.
She leaped onto the window ledge.
Before letting herself drop, she turned her profile slightly.
Under her breath:
"Lucky… or maybe… I was too weak in front of you… Shinigami."
And with a smooth motion, she vanished into the darkness.
The mysterious girl—the only one who had seen Zeno's true, hidden face—
vanished as silently as she had appeared.
A few minutes later—
Two soldiers who had previously passed by the door returned.
"Why… why is the door open?!" one said.
Cautiously, they entered.
Their eyes widened.
Sweat poured down their faces.
No one was there.
But the floor was littered with corpses.
Black armor split open.
The commander's bones lay dried inside his armor.
And worse—
The Demon King's sword, the Shinigami's blade…
The holy sword… was gone.
One soldier whispered with a trembling voice:
"What… what happened here…?"
Fear pierced their throats like a dagger.
Both ran out in panic.
But suddenly, one stopped.
"Come on! Why are you standing there? We have to report this!"
The soldier standing shivered.
Tears welled in his eyes.
"I… I can't… If we tell, we'll be punished… sent to the Forbidden Forest… exiled… No… I won't say…"
The other snapped:
"You're crazy? The sacred sword was stolen! The empire is in danger!
Fine… if you won't say it, I will."
He turned and started running.
But—
Shinnkkk… Shqqq… Oooogh…
Behind him, the air split.
Armor tore apart. Blood erupted.
He fell to his knees.
In disbelief, he turned.
"What are you doing… friend…?"
The trembling soldier now held a bloodied sword.
Tears streamed down his face.
"Forgive me…
I've worked years to get here… I can't let it go…"
He raised the sword. His bloodied hand held it high.
"Don't… we've been together all these years… please…
If we explain to the prince, he'll forgive us…"
But the sword came down.
Shqqq!
One strike to the chest.
A second.
A third.
The soldier's chest ripped open, blood pouring out.
His breath left him. His eyes went dark.
The killer soldier's face was covered in blood.
He cried… and laughed at the same time.
"Forgive me, friend…
This has to end here…
I had no choice… to protect my place… I had no choice…"
He dragged the corpse of his friend.
A trail of blood remained on the floor.
He threw the body into the same room of death.
Closed the door.
Dropped the chains.
And placed a large lock.
The sound of the lock echoed through the corridor:
Clang.
And the secret of the holy sword…
was buried in the bloody silence of that room.
Zeno walked calmly through the castle's long corridors.
Torchlight danced across the stone walls, his shadow stretched and distorted on the floor.
His gaze fixed on his hand; fingers opening and closing, clenching, releasing… as if the warmth of that strange power still ran beneath his skin.
He muttered under his breath:
"What were those two swords… one gave me power… the other burned it away…"
The memory replayed in his mind; a wave of force coursing through his veins… followed by a savage burning, as if fire had erupted from his very bones.
He clenched his jaw and made a fist again.
As he passed the left corridor, suddenly something glowed in the darkness.
A blue eye.
Cold, merciless light, like moonlight on a sword's edge.
The air grew heavy.
A deep, terrifying, trembling voice echoed from the shadows:
"Zeno…"
His body shook involuntarily. Hair stood on end. His heart skipped a beat.
He turned slowly, as if his neck had frozen.
And from his lips escaped only one word:
"I… made a mistake…"
BANG—
A heavy fist, moving faster than the eye could follow, struck his face.
The sound of bone cracking echoed through the corridor.
His vision darkened. Balance lost, he fell hard onto the stone floor.
For a few moments, only his breathing could be heard.
A shadow emerged from the darkness.
Arisa.
Eyes glowing with fury, hands on her hips, standing over him.
Her hair spilled over her shoulders, that blue eye still burning with intensity.
She said angrily:
"How many times do I have to tell you?! You've exhausted me… You need to rest!"
Zeno groaned and tried to sit up, but collapsed back onto the floor.
Arisa stepped closer. Her shadow fell over him.
"Brother… If you hadn't stopped, you would have killed Itsuki before my father could! Do you understand what you did?!"
Zeno's eyes were half-open. His lip split, blood pooling at the corner of his mouth.
In a hoarse voice, he said:
"Forgive me… I don't know… whenever I fight… when I hear the word 'weak'… I get a little angry… and I lose control…"
He pressed his hand to his forehead. His breath was heavy.
Something inside stirred; something even he feared.
The corridor fell silent again.
But that silence… was not calm.
It was the silence before a storm.