Kael Lanpar's POV
After returning from Matías's past, I believed I would never again witness such concentrated misery within humanity.
I was wrong.
Now I had to watch, with my own eyes, as yet another world was slowly consumed by the insatiable fire of war.
Nothing here resembled the beautiful city the merchants spoke of when they arrived at the kingdom's capital. Those stories were dead—buried beneath ash, blood, and screams.
Compared to Luzarion, the human capital, and Noblesia, land of noble clans, this city felt as though it did not belong to our kingdom at all.
It was foreign ground, severed from all law, ruled by anarchy and abandoned far from the protection of its king… of my father.
"Kael, are you even listening to what I'm saying?"
Amid the cries of children and the desperate wails of mothers, I barely managed to distinguish the voice of the elf who had kidnapped me. His words were swallowed by the chaos, just like everything else.
It wasn't until my body reacted on pure instinct—forcing me to dodge a carriage charging out of control—that I snapped back to reality.
My jaw remained tense, but my thoughts were no longer scattered. They focused on the disaster that had just unfolded.
The carriage that had nearly crushed me slammed into the wall of a house.
The horses broke free in time, rearing and neighing in terror, but those traveling inside the cabin were not as fortunate.
Seeing the rubble collapse over the shattered noble wood, I stepped forward, determined to help the passengers.
I didn't get far.
The elf's hand clamped down on my shoulder, stopping me cold.
"Don't even think about taking another step, brat."
My eyes sharpened as I turned toward him. I was desperate to help… but then I understood.
Reflected in his pupils, I saw hooded figures descending swiftly from the rooftops—human shadows gliding between buildings like omens of death.
I barely managed to steady my trembling hand when I felt the heat of spells slamming into the carriage.
An instant later, screams erupted from inside the cabin—muffled, torn, inhuman.
"If you want to keep your identity hidden—and avoid dying right here—you need to stay unnoticed."
I accepted reluctantly and continued walking beside the elf, whose expression remained unmoved, almost inhuman.
As we moved away, the noise gradually faded, but the feeling of helplessness lodged itself in my chest like a thorn I could never pull out.
"How can you be so indifferent to what's happening around you?" I said, restraining my anger. "I'm sure that if they were of your race, you'd have acted already."
The elf let out a sigh before answering, not even glancing at me.
"Do you really think throwing ourselves headfirst into the wolf's jaws would have accomplished anything?"
He raised his hand toward my face. My body tensed instantly, but I was surprised to realize he was only adjusting my hood. The gesture was brief… and calculated.
"I'm sure you've already noticed this place is nothing like your hometown. There are no rules here, because there's no one left to enforce them."
A man's pleas caught my attention.
He was kneeling before a group of hooded figures, his back hunched, his voice broken by fear.
I saw one of them raise a whip.
I almost moved. Almost intervened.
I didn't.
My eyes shifted to the elf's face.
He nodded solemnly, as if he had read my thoughts.
I could do nothing but lower my head, feeling the crushing weight of my own cowardice.
No matter how much I resisted admitting it, he was right.
Drawing the enemy's attention was foolish… especially on their own territory.
A week had passed since I returned to my world.
My body was slowly recovering from the effects of Avella Citra, though every movement still reminded me how close I had come to collapse.
During that time, the only thing I could do was pace back and forth inside the cave where I had taken refuge, waiting with forced patience while the elf went out in search of food.
Time there did not move forward.
It dragged.
One of those days, sitting on the edge of the mountain with my legs dangling over the abyss, I watched the landscape stretch out before me. That was when I noticed several carriages advancing along the road leading to the city of Calaris.
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have paid them much attention.
After all, the kingdom's merchants depended on Calaris for food supplies. It was a common sight.
But the ones driving those vehicles were no merchants.
They were the damned revolutionaries.
The same ones who had attacked the capital years ago.
The hooded figures lying sprawled across different parts of the city belonged to that radical group. The symbol on their backs was impossible to forget.
A sword piercing a heart.
Whatever its exact meaning was, one thing was clear: they were not good people.
"They're following us, aren't they?"
I barely whispered the words.
The elf gave a slight nod.
It made sense. We couldn't wander around for long without raising suspicion—not in a city like this, wrapped head to toe in hoods foreign to the place.
I carefully slid my hand to the sheath of the dagger my grandfather had given me. My fingers closed firmly around the hilt, steady, waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Stop right there!"
The shout came from behind us.
We didn't obey.
Instead, we exchanged a brief glance—just long enough to share the silent signal we both understood.
I still didn't understand why the elf had agreed to my request to come to Calaris and investigate what had happened. He openly despised the human race, and yet when I asked him for that favor, he accepted without hesitation.
"Don't try anything stupid," a voice warned. "You're surrounded, idiots."
Frustration gnawed at me from the inside.
I couldn't use astral magic. I could barely keep my cascade functioning long enough to stay conscious.
I slowly turned the blade of my dagger.
In its reflection, I made out three figures behind us.
I felt elemental mana being torn from the air, dragged toward the hooded figures. Their spells were only just beginning to take shape…
but I had already moved.
I drew the blade fully and lunged at the one gathering fire in the palm of his hand.
Using my smaller stature, I slipped between his legs and appeared behind him. The dagger cut through the air with a clean whistle.
A second later, his body hit the ground with a dull thud.
The impact alerted the others.
They tried to react.
It was useless.
The elf disposed of them in the blink of an eye.
I didn't know what to feel.
Watching him use his power was as awe-inspiring as it was unsettling.
He didn't move. Not a single step.
And yet, the hooded figures began to suffocate. The elf absorbed the wind mana around him, draining the very air itself.
He tore the oxygen from their lungs.
They barely managed to clutch at their throats before understanding their end.
"Brat," he said. "A few steps ahead of you there's a fork that leads into an alley. It'll take you away from here."
I raised my dagger to face level.
I didn't want to retreat.
But his next shout made me hesitate.
"You're just dead weight to me. You're a latent… not a mage."
The urge to unleash the power of my corrupted awakening burned in my gut.
But I knew the truth.
In my current state, I wouldn't keep my sanity long enough to finish the fight.
"Damn it…"
I accepted the obvious.
I ran toward the alley.
Behind me, several auras flared one after another… only to be snuffed out instantly under the elf's attacks.
If merely enhancing my reflexes with a tiny fraction of mana already left me exhausted, I didn't want to imagine what would happen if I tried to materialize an element.
I turned into the alley.
A stone spike burst from the ground and grazed my calf. The cut made me lose my balance.
I rolled over the damp stone until my back slammed into the wall. The impact knocked the air from my lungs.
"I see you're just a child…" a voice said. "What do you think you're doing, boy?"
I bit down on my lower lip to contain the pain.
I was lost.
I knew it the moment I heard the sound of metal sliding away from me—my dagger had fallen during the fall.
"Don't you think you're too young to be risking your life?" the hooded man added.
I forced my body upright. I braced myself with one hand on my thigh and, with the other, pulled down my hood, revealing my face.
"I don't care if you find out who I am," I said firmly. "After all… you won't survive."
The hooded man smiled when he recognized me.
That twisted grin was identical to all the ones that appeared whenever a Lanpar was present.
Did they truly crave my clan's annihilation that badly?
"Looks like I hit the jackpot," he laughed. "Kid… I can't let you live."
His words only sharpened my survival instinct.
I stepped forward and assumed the basic stance of Moikido, Marcois's combat technique.
I had already used it against Alfin.
Now it was time to see how much I had evolved over the years.
I still had the body of a child, yes… but my coordination was no longer the same.
The hooded man charged without hesitation.
I slid one hand toward my leading leg. My muscles relaxed. Just as he was about to grab me, I pivoted on my axis and offered him my back for a single instant.
The lowered hand transformed into a blade.
I drove it straight into his armpit.
The blow wouldn't hurt right away.
That was the point.
To wound without the opponent ever realizing it.
The art of silent death: Moikido.
"What kind of joke is this?" he sneered. "Kid… my grandmother hits harder than you."
I repeated the movement, but this time I didn't wait for his charge.
I was the one who closed the distance.
I brought my fingers together, forming a precise blade.
I saw him smile…
and then lose sight of me.
Forcing my senses with mana is a death sentence in my current state, but I can still manage brief intervals. Tiny windows.
Enough.
And this was an enclosed space.
I used a reduced variation of the Gale Step. I leapt between the walls trapping us in. My body moved with the lightness of a feline.
When his guard dropped, I acted.
It was strange to perceive it so clearly: his level was even lower than that of a high-ranked fighter.
He could barely be considered a real threat.
"Damn br—"
His voice died as my hand struck precisely against his Adam's apple.
The second blow, straight to the solar plexus, finished shutting him down.
He had lost from the very first contact.
The human body is full of fragile sanctuaries.
I took a step back as his body pitched forward. His eyes rolled white.
I hadn't killed him.
There was no reason to.
After all… he was just a child too.
It seems the revolutionaries are running out of soldiers.
Now they recruit adolescents.
Breathing heavily, I leaned against the walls as I made my way toward the alley's exit.
In the distance, classical music played. Laughter. Trivial conversations. The city breathed normality.
Commerce was present as well: spices, freshly baked bread, ripe fruit. The aromas reached me without warning, like a cruel mockery after what I had just left behind.
And then I saw it.
I could do nothing but drop to my knees.
Before my eyes stretched a part of Calaris completely different from the dark side I had fled. Clean streets. Lit lanterns. Relaxed, carefree faces.
Even the hooded figures—ferocious in the shadows—here displayed human expressions, almost kind.
My mouth fell open.
I couldn't understand it.
How could two cities coexist in the same place?
A rag ball rolled forward until it bumped against my legs.
I looked down. My vision wavered.
"Are you okay?"
A child's voice forced me to look up.
"M-Mom… I think he's our age. Why is he hurt?"
A girl, hiding behind her mother's dress, watched me with open curiosity. Her words snapped me back to reality.
I was exposing my identity.
"Sweetheart, are you all right?" the woman asked. "Where are your parents?"
I adjusted my hood and stood up clumsily.
I had to leave.
Now.
I took a step… and tripped.
The girl had stuck her foot out.
When I looked up, she smiled mischievously.
Something about that expression stirred childish instincts I had forgotten were still there.
I almost responded with violence.
"Jessica! What is wrong with you?"
Her mother's scolding came with a pinch that drew an indignant squeal from the girl.
I couldn't help but let out a fleeting smile.
I tried to stand again and flee, but this time my legs refused to respond.
My mana was running out.
Fatigue pierced through me like red-hot iron.
I was about to collapse when the boy who had spoken to me first caught me before I hit the ground.
I trusted that, before my energy fully ran dry, I would reach some corner where I could hide.
But I was exhausted.
And confused.
Between the two, the pain of exhaustion won out.
"Mom… I think we should take him home," the boy said. "He doesn't look well."
The woman nodded.
Before I could protest, she lifted me into her arms and began rocking me as if I were a baby.
Sometimes I forgot.
I was still seven years old.
I weighed nothing. I was… like a feather.
"So then, little one… will you tell me where your parents are?"
I barely paid attention to her words.
From the forced safety of her arms, I spotted a familiar figure in the crowd.
The elf.
Hidden among the passersby, he gave me a thumbs-up before vanishing into the sea of people.
A grimace of disbelief crossed my face.
That bastard…
he had abandoned me.
"Jessica, su rasca no tori."
"Mom… misu rere tori."
I shook my head, forcing those thoughts aside and focusing on the present.
It took me only a moment to notice the change.
Just seconds ago, they had been speaking in Racing.
Without any warning, they switched to the native human tongue.
Antis.
"Juro restri miru allegri tori osa peri mori."
The woman looked at me with enough clarity to make it obvious she was addressing me directly.
Sometimes I truly regretted never learning Antis.
"I don't understand what you're saying… I don't speak Antis."
She let out a soft laugh.
I mirrored it, tense.
"I know you don't speak Racing," she replied. "Your father would never force you to learn something you don't want to."
My heart slammed violently against my chest.
I had been discovered.
I tried to break free from her grip, but she leaned in and whispered beside my ear:
"I'm not on the revolutionaries' side. And, to be honest… I'm very confused about what you're doing here, Kael."
With extreme care, she covered me with the blanket she carried, leaving only a small opening so I could breathe…
and observe.
I stayed silent.
Throughout the walk, I did nothing but watch her every step, ready to escape at any moment.
Through that narrow slit, I was finally able to see the contrast between the two Calaris more clearly.
In a nearby square, a mage stood at the center of a circle of children. He shaped fire as if it were living clay, and the little ones watched with eyes blazing with fascination.
A bit farther ahead, I discovered the source of the music: a band floated in the air, playing a gentle melody that sent passersby spinning in laughter.
Light.
Order.
Magic turned into entertainment.
Nothing like the shadows I had left behind.
"Mom, his name is Ka—"
The boy cut himself off abruptly. I didn't need to see him to understand what had happened.
"Sebastián," she said with gentle firmness, "this is a secret between us. Don't say his name. Understood?"
I sensed a slight nod.
Minutes later, the street's noise faded, replaced by the dull thud of a door closing.
We had arrived.
The woman set me down carefully. The moment my feet touched the wooden floor, she wrapped me in a sudden embrace.
It was overwhelmingly strong.
For an instant, I thought my bones would crack under the pressure.
"I've always wanted to meet you," she said. "It's a shame I was never able to travel to Luzarion to visit you."
When she pulled away, she lifted the blanket that had fallen over my face.
Only then did she notice the bluish tint of my skin.
"I'm sorry…" she added. "I got carried away. I was just so emotional having you here."
Her expression shifted.
"But back to what matters… why are you here?"
Once we were settled in the living room, I told her what had happened.
I left out what mattered most: the elf… and, of course, everything related to Matías.
Traveling to the past was a truth I had no intention of entrusting to anyone.
Not now.
Not ever.
"I see you still don't trust me," she said as she drew the curtains closed.
The girl kept playing with my hair, gently moving my head from side to side. Even so, I nodded slowly.
"You said you were never able to visit me… yet you knew who I was the moment you saw me. And it's strange that I've never even heard of you."
She handed me a cup of tea. Her smile was soft, sincere.
I couldn't activate my aura perception without exhausting myself, but her gestures were far too natural to be an act.
"Lisa Fun Kang," I murmured. "That's your name."
She nodded and let herself sink into one of the leather chairs.
"Yes. That is my name".
She fell silent, taking a sip of his tea before continuing.
"Your father and I studied at the same academy. And as for how I knew it was you…"
He leaned toward a nearby drawer and pulled out several folded sheets.
When he unfolded them, I held my breath.
They were magical illustrations.
Faintly animated images capturing fragments of my childhood… from when I was still a baby.
Exhaustion washed over me again, heavy as a rising tide.
Even so, I had to accept what was obvious.
He was telling the truth.
After we spoke a little longer, he led me to one of the bedrooms so I could rest.
I thanked him silently.
Staying awake had become a form of torture.
Before leaving, he promised he would inform Alkaster of my whereabouts so he could come for me.
That name brought the reassurance I desperately needed.
And, for the first time since arriving in Calaris… I closed my eyes without fear.