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POV: Third person
After Arthur took that devastating blow, a heavy silence swallowed the entire place.
No one could comprehend what they had just witnessed.
They had assumed Arthur protected the children out of heroism… or simply because he couldn't bear to watch a child die.
But to throw himself in front of death for someone he didn't even know?
That alone made every gaze fall on the boy dying before their eyes.
Rinara screamed, clutching her face as tears streamed uncontrollably:
"No… no… NO! Why?! Why defend them?! You don't even know them! Is their life more important than yours?!"
But her cry received no answer—
only an attack.
Rosaleen burst forward, surrounded by crimson, blood-like flames. Her spiritual weapon, Blood Star, shifted form violently—it was a weapon that could become anything its wielder desired.
It morphed into dozens of floating daggers that launched toward Rinara.
Despite her panic, Rinara managed to evade some of them thanks to her bloodline and illusions.
Without those abilities… she would have been dead.
On the other side, Celestia knelt beside Arthur and pulled out high-grade healing potions.
But when she adjusted his body so he lay on his back… a wave of guilt and disgust crashed into her.
She should have intervened.
She should have stopped the fight.
Instead, she let him fight alone—let him collapse—because she was too focused on the mystery of his strange flames.
She hated herself for even thinking like that.
She took out different types of healing vials—ones that weren't meant to be drunk—since Arthur was unconscious and couldn't swallow anything.
With each potion applied, his skin and organs began regenerating, but she knew his wounds and mana exhaustion would take much longer to recover from.
Suddenly—
A golden light burst from Arthur's body, specifically from one of his eyes.
Celestia heard a faint cracking sound… and she instantly understood:
Arthur had just broken through to the Basic Trainee stage.
She let out a long breath.
A breakthrough in the early stages restored the body's functions entirely—
a privilege only early-stage cultivators possessed, up until the Awakening stage.
Her gaze drifted toward the child lying behind Arthur—
the one who had fainted from shock.
Her heart tightened.
Her thirst for knowledge had put these children in danger… and the trauma they experienced tonight would certainly mark them.
She gently lifted the unconscious boy and placed him on Arthur's chest, then walked toward the younger child—who, for some unknown reason, was still awake, his eyes glowing like a blue moon.
When she got close, the boy spoke in a cold voice:
"If you had arrived sooner… we wouldn't be like this."
Celestia froze.
The child's words struck her like a slap to the soul.
He was right… or at least, that's what she believed.
---
Elsewhere
Rinara stood in her fox-like form, claws glinting under the moonlight as she smirked:
"You can't win, Rosaleen… this is my domain."
She vanished in an instant.
Three identical clones appeared, moving in unsettling harmony.
They attacked at once, leaving violet lines in the air with their claws.
Rosaleen didn't move.
She closed her eyes and let her mind sink into Blood Star.
The weapon trembled, then transformed into a circular shield that blocked the attack with a sharp metallic clang.
Rosaleen shouted:
"Your illusions won't fool me for long, you damn fox!"
She located Rinara's real body through the faintest fluctuation in her aura.
The shield morphed into a glowing crimson whip, striking one of the clones—it vanished like smoke.
Rinara, the real one, backed away laughing:
"Impressive… but not enough!"
Her illusions multiplied.
The ground shivered.
Trees warped.
The air filled with deceiving screams.
Rosaleen's senses blurred; reality and illusion mixed dangerously.
Rinara screamed:
"Time to end this!"
Dozens of clones emerged.
Rosaleen closed her eyes again.
Took a slow breath.
And let Blood Star respond to her heart—not her sight.
The weapon changed again—
no longer a shield nor a whip—
but a brilliant crystal spear, glowing with a red-turquoise light.
She lifted it and whispered:
"Pure Spirit Wave."
A massive wave of red-turquoise energy exploded outward, slicing through illusions in search of the truth.
Each clone dissolved in shimmering dust, swallowed by the vibrant light.
The real Rinara was hit directly—
her defenses shattered, and a bloody red explosion engulfed her.
She collapsed, screaming in agony as if burning inside a volcano.
Rosaleen stood tall, smirking.
Blood Star reverted into a crimson spear, still glowing with victory.
Rosaleen said coldly:
"Your illusions are weak… and my spirit is stronger. Your heart betrayed you."
She then leaned closer, voice icy:
"Now talk, fox. Who's the idiot who ordered you to kidnap my siblings? And why?"
Rinara lifted her head with a wicked smile:
"Oh… so you didn't know? How unfortunate.
We wanted you… yes, you.
Someone as strong as you—
even the Race Alliance fears you.
They sent you to the academy just to keep you under watch."
Rosaleen's eyes widened.
How did she know those secrets?
How long had they been watching her?
She whispered to herself:
"Am I… really so untrusted? After all these years… do they still fear me?"
In that moment of distraction—
Rinara vanished.
Rosaleen gasped and shot into the air searching for her, but after barely five minutes, she gave up and turned back.
When she arrived…
her heart almost broke.
Her younger siblings were asleep in Celestia's arms, and Arthur was lying on a medical bed, his wounds nearly healed but still in need of care.
Rosaleen told Celestia to take him to a hospital, but Celestia replied:
"We need his ID… and his phone is broken or burned. His clothes are almost completely destroyed too."
They looked at Arthur's body—
the sculpted muscles, the countless scars.
He looked young… but his body told another story.
Celestia whispered in disbelief:
"What kind of life did he live? What battles did he survive to earn all these scars?"
Rosaleen, in an overly admiring tone, said:
"What an incredible boy… look at the definition of his muscles. Perfect alignment. He's—"
Celestia cut her off, yelling:
"Stop! He's still a boy! What is this?! I didn't know you had such pr—"
Rosaleen's face turned red.
"S-stop! I was— I was checking his pulse!"
Celestia stared at her with a dead-pan silence.
(...)
Thankfully, the children woke up at that moment.
The instant they saw their sister, they burst into tears and hugged her tightly.
She knelt and embraced them, apologizing over and over.
After they calmed, they told her everything—
how they met Arthur, how he fought like a hero, how he killed someone at the Small Master rank.
Of course, Rosaleen and Celestia were half-convinced and half-skeptical.
It was impossible for a Basic Trainee to kill a Small Master.
And since they hadn't found another body, they assumed Arthur had only defeated one of Rinara's clones.
After a night filled with chaos and fear…
they decided to head back to Rosaleen's cabin.
Celestia carried Arthur—
and they all took to the sky
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