A soft melody hummed through the white smoke. The woman did not slow down.
Her long dress swept through the air in wide, fluid arc as she moved, each kick snapping out with killing intention. The pointed corner of her shoe struck again and again, driving Ben backward until his shoulders met the curtain wall.
Fabric rustled. She reached and seized the curtain tassel—a thin cord ending in a small decorative sphere—and in one smooth gesture, she looped it around his neck. Her grip tightened. The man's breath hitched.
"Lady-in-waiting." His voice came out strangled. "Your appearance threw me off from the very beginning. I was right to suspect you!"
Her ponytail swayed as she tilted her head, the curls at the end bouncing lightly. Something shifted in his eyes.
"You… you're not with them. Are you..?"
Faint glimmers sparkled behind her spectacles while a chilly grin spread across her features.
"Let's put oour thinking caps on for a minute." Her voice was soft, gentle, at odds with everything her hands were doing. "Think carefully about how I managed all of this." Just before she could tighten her grip to finish off Ben, a movement snagged at the edge of her attention. She turned.
Anny stood there, gripping a piece of wood in both hands.
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I raised one arm to shield my face and pushed through the smoke. Each step felt haevier than the last as I neared the stage, like the air itself was thickening against me. When I finally broke through he densest part, the scene snapped into focus.
Victor was the first thing I saw—crumpled on the floor, a pipe driven straight through his abdomen, rusted and bent.
I called out his name, but no response.
I lifted my gaze toward the center.
The woman in the green dress stood at the center of the stage, her silhouette deceptively small. I knew her. I recognized the shape of her before I recognized her face.
Anny was no longer in her hands. She hung suspended in the air, feet kicking at nothing, fingers clawing at an invisible grip around her throat. The smoke curled around her.
The breath left my lungs. My legs went numb beneath me.
Then she turned her gaze at me. Our eyes met, and something cold poured down my spine. That sound rose again—sharp, brittle, a crackling buzz that crawled through my ears until every other sense was swallowed by it.
She stepped toward me. The hem of her dress dragged across the floor.
"Hello, brother."
Her voice was smooth, calming. The smile she offered me had no value behind it. "What made you change your mind about rescuing Mei?" She asked. "Your path was so clear."
My vision began to smear at the edges. I tried to speak, but my jaw didn't anwer me. My thoughts were all smudged, my tongue got wrapped around itself, and I could feel like my body did not belong to me. I was sinking into mud.
She reached me and set a hand on my shoulder. My body flinched involuntarily, almost like a reflex.
"Do not worry, brother," she murmured under her breath. "I'm not here for Anny." Her fingers pressed down, gently until my knees met the floor.
"However… The next time I come—I'll come for her daughter. And I won't spare you, or your lousy friends." She leaned close to my ear. "Get lost."
The smoke around Anny unraveled. She dropped, hitting the floor hard, coughing and gasping in ragged bursts.
Raily turned and walked out.
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Above the fortress walls, arrows flew in without warning the remaining people. They cut through the night air in streaks of pale light, released from the high parapets with a precision that allowed no chance of escape. One by one, the nobles and the soldiers escorting them fell, mid-step, mid-scream, until the only sounds left were the wind and the chatter coming from the balcony.
Edward watched the scene being fold with a distant aura. One hand rested on the railing, his composture relaxed. Behind him, the King and the Duke stood, they had stopped moving as they silently watched by his side.
The white fog began to lift forever. It rolled away from the fortress in slow, silent waves. The shapes of walls, archways, and scattered bodies resolved from the haze one by one, solid and irreversible.
Then there was Raily. She walked across the grounds with grace, almost taking her time as she observed the aftermath with a calm smile on her face. The hem of her dress trailing through the settling dust. She passed Cody's body without glancing at it, as if he was just another dead body.
Mei pressed against the corner of the far wall. She had not moved from her position. She was not going to. Her eyes followed Raily from the distant. Her back was entirely flat against the stone, she focused with stillness of someone who instinctively knew what the future upholds. Her hands clenched the robe, grounding herself and fighting to shake off the rising panic. She did not dare to speak and remained silent as Raily stopped barely a few feet from her.
Then a sword appeared in her hand. Dark flame flickered along the blade in deep violet and black flames, curling off the edge in slow, crackling sparks that radiated no warmth.
The space between them vanished beneath her step. Her blade sang out in a smooth arc, dragging a wake of dark abyssal flames that twisted and lashed at the strike's edge, biting into the space before sinking into Mei. Her breath left her in a single, soundless exhale. Her fingers opened before her knees gave away. The dark flame snapped forward at the edge of her swing, carving into her flesh—then tore free, flaring upward into the air in a violent manner.
Raily stood over her as her head hit the stone. Her sword extended behind her in a clean trailing line. The dark flame still curled off the edge in dying sparks. She didn't look down at Mei.
As the violet light faded from the blade. Someone had made their entrance at last.
⪻────────𖤓────────⪼
The last remnants of flames bled off the blade, fading into the cold air like dying embers. The air carried a heavy weight until the soft echo of footsteps began to approach from the far end of the main building.
Raily's eyes narrowed. A moment ago she'd been distant and entirely detached. Now, her gaze was drawn toward the figure emerging in front of her. Her posture straightened, her attention locking onto Edward with a focus she rarely granted anyone.
Edward stepped into view. His hands were clasped neatly behind his back, the long white robe trailing across the stone floor. He came to a stop a few paces away, tilting his head to study her.
"Do you know," he began, without preamble, "which person holds my respect the most?" He didn't wait for her to answer. He paused to look around the center, to observe the consequences and the results. "That one that everyone looks down on."
"Mertha and Sen never saw you as equal. They didn't think anything of you; instead, they looked down upon you. You were just an abandoned dog they took shelter from. Sen kept you under his basement, with no proper tools—no enchanted table for you to craft with for them."
"You've proved yourself worthy. Why don't you join us? I can easily get you into the
Raily cleared her throat. "Ehem, we've already come this far, and I'll forever be grateful for the support you've shown me during my dark period."
Edward paused. He unclasped his hands. Folded them in front of him instead.
"I don't owe anything to you—not to Duke Renardo. We've all made our fair share of this deal. But I had no intention of joining you any further. The
Edward stroked his beard gently. "I see. So that's the option you chose."
He closed his eyes. "Very well, my dear. Just to let you know, you just rejected joining the