"NOOOOO!"
Time seemed to freeze. Kaelira's shrill shriek of horror echoed through the city, raw fear and anguish mixing into a potent cocktail that only heightened Sylas's euphoric high.
Staring into Vairon's wide eyes, Sylas searched for the fear and resignation he so desperately wanted to see. He found the pain he wished for—but also something else.
Something that shouldn't have been there.
Determination.
A fierce will blazed like primordial fire within Vairon's verdant green eyes. His gaze never wavered. Never faltered. Not even for a second.
Sylas stood shocked, frozen mid-laugh, his mouth agape. Disbelief twisted his face before it contorted into a hurricane of fury.
"Why… WHY WON'T YOU GIVE UP!? JUST DIEEE!"
Having had enough, Sylas resolved to erase the insect before him. He raised his other hand, claws of pure darkness forming as they encased his fingers. Their elongated tips gleamed with sinister light as they shot toward Vairon's forehead.
Just as they were about to pierce his skull, Sylas' hand stopped—mere inches from Vairon's face.
A sense of danger unlike anything he had ever felt filled his soul with primal fear.
Alarmed, Sylas ripped his arm from Vairon's torso, letting him fall to the ground, and flashed away from the spot. His hair bristled like that of a cornered beast as he turned to face the source of the threat.
When he identified it, his shock quickly morphed into perverse joy. His venomous gaze locked onto the woman who had haunted every thought and dream.
"Kaelira~! My love, I've been searching everywhere for you. You aren't trying to hide from your husband, are you~?"
His playful, predatory voice bounced off her harmlessly. If she heard him, she didn't react.
Her gaze was fixed on one thing.
Vairon.
He lay on the ground, surrounded by a pool of his own blood. He looked like a corpse—save for the faint rise and fall of his chest.
Even that weak rhythm seemed to drain the last of his strength, growing fainter with each passing second. Kaelira stood frozen, trembling violently as disbelief hollowed her eyes.
Using the last of his strength, consciousness fading, Vairon turned his head toward her.
"You… you should have left. He's too strong."
His whisper pulled Kaelira back to herself as her eyes moistened. She took slow, uneven steps toward him. Each one heavier than the last.
Before she could reach him, Sylas appeared before her, blocking her path.
"Now, now, it isn't good to ignore me. You should respect your husband's feelings and save me some face. Honestly, what—"
He didn't finish.
Kaelira had already stepped around him, treating him as if he didn't exist.
Seeing her ignore him yet again—just as she always had—Sylas snapped. Rage boiled over, darkening his face. Without hesitation, he lunged toward her, a sphere of pure dark energy gathering in his palm as he thrust it forward.
Kaelira didn't even look at him. Didn't register the danger.
Just before the attack struck her, a figure appeared between them, taking the full force of the blow.
With a deafening bang, the figure was blasted back into Kaelira, sending them both hurtling through the air before crashing to the ground near Vairon.
The impact jarred Kaelira's mind back into clarity. When she looked at her unexpected protector, confusion swept through her.
Though their faces and auras were nothing alike, their hair and figures were strikingly similar.
"Who are you?"
The silver-haired beauty spat out blood, then fixed Kaelira with a weary, hostile stare.
"I should be asking you that. What are you doing with my fiancé?"
Lunara was furious. After finally finding Vairon again, not only was he still with this home-wrecking bitch—he had the nerve to lay there dying.
"Fiancé!?"
Kaelira's disbelief was instant. The beautiful woman before her calling herself Vairon's fiancée immediately put her on high alert.
She narrowed her eyes. Just as she was about to put the audacious wench in her place, a piercing scream split the air.
"ARGGGHHHH! W-WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?"
Both women snapped their attention to the source—one shocked, the other filled with mocking satisfaction.
Before them, Sylas writhed on the ground, clutching his face as his body spasmed. His legs kicked violently as agony consumed him.
The cause?
Though nothing remained on the surface, his corroded robes and smoking, rotting flesh revealed the torment he was enduring. His skin bubbled and charred as the remnants of Lunara's attack faded.
"…What the hell did you do?" Kaelira asked.
"Nothing. Just poured some Nether Yin Water on him." Lunara shrugged. "Tsk tsk, making such a fuss. What a baby~"
Hearing this spoken so casually by the beauty beside her, a chill climbed Kaelira's spine. She gave a solemn thumbs-up.
"Damn fine job, mini-me. You and I are going to get along just fine."
Lunara shot her a baffled look—'What is this bitch talking about?'—before struggling to her feet and moving toward Vairon.
Seeing that, panic seized Kaelira again. She rushed after her—only to stop short when she saw Vairon's body encased in a cocoon of healing water, glowing softly.
The sight eased her pounding heart.
"When did you—"
"From the moment I arrived and blocked that attack."
Kaelira's shock deepened. The concentration required to maintain the technique while analyzing the battle and shielding her was monstrous.
'In that split second, she understood everything happening and stabilized Vairon while protecting me… This girl… she's a monster.'
Newfound respect filled her eyes as she studied Lunara. She knelt beside Vairon, heart tearing apart at the sight of him. As she reached a trembling hand toward his face—
A murderous aura crushed the air.
Startled, she looked at Lunara, who wore a smile that was very clearly not a smile.
"Why… are you trying to touch my husband, bitch?"
A vein bulged on Kaelira's forehead as her own smile tightened.
"First fiancé, now husband? I think you hit your head earlier. Or maybe you've always been mentally defective. Vairon isn't yours, Squirt."
Lunara's aura grew heavier, her weariness replaced by pure hostility.
"Our parents blessed the betrothal. That makes him my future husband. As his future wife, I hold sole dominion over his body!"
"And did Vairon also agree to this?"
"…"
"…hehe."
"BITCH!"
"WHORE!"
"HOME-WRECKER!"
"SIMP!"
""HUMPH!""
Both snapped their heads away, refusing to look at each other.
Forget everything I said. Fuck this bitch!
You think traveling with Vairon for a few weeks gives you a chance? Dream on, whore!
As they cursed each other's ancestors, a violent eruption of qi made them snap their heads toward its source.
Sylas rose from the ground, hands still clutching his face as disheveled hair hid his expression. A pitch-black aura writhed around him, infesting the very air.
"How dare you… how dare you… HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME!!"
His aura exploded—raw, unrestrained power of a peak Soul Expansion cultivator washing over the city.
Neither woman flinched.
They exchanged a glance—sharp, cold, and strangely synchronized.
"Together?"
"Together."
Both stepped forward. Lunara's sword appeared in her hand, her eyes flashing with icy resolve. Kaelira's calm twisted into a manic grin as her halberd materialized, slamming into the ground with a thunderous crack.
Sylas lifted his head slightly, exposing his venomous green pupils. The sclera of his eyes now filled with an inky black.
As both sides prepared to clash—
Kaelira, the icy Northern beauty, suddenly remembered something.
"Hey, Squirt—you never told me who you were!?"