The moment those words fell, the figure atop the mountain disappeared.
Below, Dragon's silhouette carrying the two infants vanished into the smoke and chaos.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
CP agents in pursuit—white-clad shadows flickering like ghosts—eyes locked on their target:
the fleeing Marine and the two infants of noble blood.
They darted past the mother's lifeless body,
the wind from their steps stirring her matted hair…
Not one of them looked down.
Not one spared a glance.
Their eyes held no emotion.
No pity.
No hesitation.
Not a shred of humanity.
To them, the woman in the bloodied mud wasn't a person—
Just an obstacle.
They sped off in pursuit, vanishing into the fog of war.
Silence returned.
Only one body remained in the corner of the battlefield,
half-buried in blood and grime.
Her life force… was fading.
The light in her eyes dimmed,
her consciousness sinking into darkness.
And yet—
A smile lingered on her lips.
One of peace.
A mother's smile, having traded her life to secure her children's.
It was enough.
She had no regrets.
Just then—
Without the slightest distortion in space,
Lucian appeared silently at her side.
He lowered his gaze.
Reflected in his golden eyes—
was the bloody, tattered figure of a mother.
Her elegant clothes were shredded,
her body stained with mud and blood.
But that serene smile on her lips—
shone brighter than any jewel.
Lucian's eyes settled there—
on that pale, smiling face.
He knelt slowly, speaking softly to himself.
"You're a pitiful one too..."
"Of all the people you could've loved...
why did it have to be that bastard Garlin Saint?"
His voice carried a strange complexity—
Pity.
Resignation.
And that detached aloofness of someone who stands above it all.
He raised his right hand.
Palm facing upward.
A golden light bloomed in his palm—
not blinding, nor scorching.
It was gentle.
Warm.
A ball of energy quietly rotating—
radiating a healing, divine aura.
Even the stench of blood and smoke in the air began to fade.
It was the divine healing power of Apollo, the Sun God.
Lucian stared at the golden flame, then looked at the broken woman before him.
That mischievous smirk returned to his lips.
"Ah well.
Since I'm in a good mood today…"
"I'll give this poor woman—and the future red-haired Emperor—a little surprise."
He snapped his fingers—
As casually as flicking away dust.
The golden orb of light gently sank into the woman's lifeless chest.
And then—
A miracle.
BOOM.
A massive golden cocoon burst outward,
centered around her body, engulfing the blood-soaked ground beneath her.
On its surface, ancient runes formed from pure life energy flowed like living creatures—
each flicker pulsing with creation energy.
Through the translucent cocoon,
a reversal of death unfolded inside.
The fatal stab wound.
The shattered bones.
The ruptured organs—
All of it—
Healing.
Her bones snapped back into place with crisp clicks—
stronger than before.
Her flesh and tissue regenerated,
nourished by divine light, restoring without even a scar.
Thump.
A single, deep heartbeat echoed.
Thump. Thump. Thump!
Her heartbeat surged—
life returning from the abyss, stabilized at its peak.
Within seconds, the body was whole again.
Though she remained unconscious—
Lucian had, without question,
wrenched her soul back from the jaws of death.
He stood up and rubbed his chin.
"Saved her... sure.
But now what?"
He muttered.
"Can't just leave a living, breathing person lying around a war zone..."
"If CP0 or some Marine idiot stumbles through here,
one cannonball and—boom—back to square one."
"That'd be a waste of a miracle."
Lucian raised a brow.
"System, got a question for you."
"Can I store... this thing... in the system space for now?"
[Ding!]
[Permission check... complete.]
[Response: Affirmative. System space can store any non-hostile lifeform lacking resistance.]
"Perfect."
Lucian snapped his fingers.
That troublesome look vanished.
He waved lazily toward the golden cocoon.
And just like that—
The radiant cocoon, along with the woman inside,
vanished.
No space distortion.
No energy fluctuation.
Just—
gone.
Lucian's consciousness dipped into the system space.
A boundless void.
No direction.
No time.
And in the middle of it—
A single glowing golden cocoon floated silently,
casting a soft light,
the only thing that existed in that empty plane.
Lucian stood before it.
Watching the woman sleep within.
And left a promise—
one only he could hear.
"Just rest here for now."
"Once I wrap up the mess in God Valley...
I'll take you to the place where you truly belong."
"A place...
where a mother can see her children grow up."
He withdrew from the system space.
Back on the battlefield—
Lucian straightened his body,
brushed the nonexistent dust from his collar.
He looked up.
Those golden eyes pierced through layers of smoke and flame,
fixated on the heart of the God Valley battlefield.
The roars.
The carnage.
The deafening clash of Haki and fury—
"Alright.
The little side story's over."
"Time to check on the real stars of the show."
That playful smile returned to his face.
"Rocks...
Garlin Saint...
Roger...
Garp..."
"And lurking behind it all—Imu."
"You'd better put on a good show for your only VIP viewer."
As the words left his lips—
His figure vanished,
fading into a ripple of warped space.