The Price of the Escape
The old, dusty infirmary in the lower levels of the Aurekawa Citadel was a place of forgotten silence. Hayate and Neshuda had dragged the wounded traitor, Henudra, down here, seeking a few moments of safety amidst the deafening roar of Narakka's coup raging above them.
The immediate crisis was not the fighting, but the Curse of Reflection. Neshuda's ribs were broken from the ghoul's punch, and Hayate was enduring the agonizing, mirrored pain—a crippling, white-hot ache that threatened to make him pass out. He was fighting a spiritual war, a political war, and a physical war all at once.
They laid Henudra on an iron bed, his ghoul-inflicted wound bleeding steadily. He was pale but still conscious, his eyes burning with defiance.
"First things first," Hayate gasped, clutching his own shattered ribs. "Neshuda, sit down. We have to fix this now."
Neshuda, trying to hide the pain that was radiating through the curse, was still scanning the room, ready to spring up and fight. "No, King. We are exposed. We need to secure the door. I can fight through this."
"You know you can't," Hayate snapped, his voice sharp with desperation. "I feel every gasp of pain. If you move, the reflected pain will break my resolve, and I will be useless. Sit. Down."
Neshuda finally obeyed, collapsing onto a nearby bench, his posture tense.
Hayate knelt before him, placing his trembling hands over the source of Neshuda's injury—the cracked ribs on his chest.
"I am completely depleted, Neshuda," Hayate warned, his eyes holding his Guardian's dark gaze. "The healing will hurt me twice as much as the initial blow. I need you to focus your Life Anchor on me. Give me your determination. Don't let me break."
Neshuda nodded, his face a mask of silent anguish. He couldn't bear to watch Hayate suffer for him again.
The Agony of the Curse
Hayate closed his eyes and pushed his depleted healing aura into Neshuda's body. The energy—the gentle, pure-hearted essence of the Angelic bloodline—began to knit the shattered bone and repair the bruised tissue with terrifying speed.
The effect on Hayate was instantaneous and catastrophic.
He screamed—a choked, desperate sound—as the reflected pain of the rapid healing process slammed into him. It was the physical agony of shattered bone grinding back into place, multiplied by the spiritual strain on his own soul. He felt the terrifying sensation of his own chest splitting open.
Hayate rocked back, sweat pouring down his face, his vision swimming. He forced himself to hold the connection, channeling all his hidden love and resolve into the effort. He pushed harder, ignoring the screaming pain, knowing Neshuda's life and the kingdom's stability depended on it.
Neshuda watched, his eyes wide with horror and a renewed, devastating realization of the curse's true cost. The immense, reflected spiritual weight of Hayate's sacrificial love crushed the last bit of his internal defiance.
"Hayate, stop! It's too much!" Neshuda pleaded, reaching out to pull the King away.
Hayate shook his head, pushing through the final, agonizing moment. With a final, sickening pop, the ribs snapped into place, perfectly healed.
Hayate collapsed onto the floor, utterly depleted, his body shaking violently.
Neshuda was instantly whole—his body repaired, his energy restored. He didn't check his ribs; he crawled to the King, pulling Hayate into his arms.
"Never again, Hayate," Neshuda whispered, his voice thick with unadulterated absolute loyalty. "I will never allow myself to be hurt like that again. Your pain is my pain. It is too much."
Hayate managed a weak smile. "Good. Now, we use that determination to win this war."
The Traitor's Bargain
They had secured the door and patched up Hayate's strength just enough to stand. They turned their attention to the prisoner.
Henudra watched them, his face pale from the ghoul wound, but his eyes still sharp and defiant. He was a master of political chaos, now utterly dependent on the King he had betrayed.
"A touching display of the curse's power, Your Majesty," Henudra sneered, his voice weak. "But I assure you, my secrets are worth far more than your pain. I will not talk."
Hayate walked to the bedside, his expression cold and regal. "I know you will, Henudra. You are a strategist, not a madman. You used me to kill the ghoul summoner because you hate chaos. Narakka is chaos."
Hayate pointed to Henudra's ghoul wound, which was starting to fester. "The summoner left a final curse on you. This wound will turn you into one of his ghouls within the hour. You need my healing aura to survive. We have a bargain: my healing for Narakka's final plan."
Henudra hesitated, genuine fear entering his eyes for the first time. To become a mindless ghoul was the ultimate defeat for the brilliant manipulator.
"You would heal me? After everything?" Henudra demanded, disbelief coloring his tone.
"I am a King of justice, not spite," Hayate stated, channeling his charisma. "I need the truth to save the kingdom, not revenge. Tell me Narakka's final move, and I will save your life."
The Final Target Revealed
Henudra stared at the ceiling, battling his pride, then finally broke.
"Very well, King," Henudra whispered, his voice defeated. "Narakka is a brute, but a smart brute. He knew you would think he wanted the Throne Room. He knew the Throne Room is just a symbol."
Henudra looked at Hayate, his eyes wide with urgency.
"Narakka is not at the throne. He is at the Citadel War Room in the West Tower. He is meeting with the Crimson Captain's representative and the rebel leader. He is not seizing the crown; he is seizing the military control of the kingdom."
Neshuda gasped, realization slamming into him. "The War Room! If he controls the War Room, he controls all communication, all loyalist troop positions, and all coastal defenses. He can coordinate the naval attack and the land attack simultaneously! He cuts the Aurekawa Citadel off from any reinforcements!"
"Exactly," Henudra confirmed, coughing painfully. "The Throne Room is empty—a trap for you. Narakka plans to broadcast a false decree of succession to the entire kingdom, claiming the crown legally, while using the War Room's power to crush all loyalist resistance."
"And what about Captain Torvin and The Sea Witch?" Hayate demanded.
"Torvin is trapped in the dungeons—he was arrested when I opened the gate," Henudra revealed. "And The Sea Witch is fighting a losing battle against the Crimson Captain in the harbor. If Narakka gains control of the War Room's signal towers, he will broadcast a fake surrender, confusing the loyalists and turning the tide of the entire War of the Last Kingdom."
The King's Final Strategy
The information was devastating, but it gave them a target.
Hayate immediately put his hand on Henudra's wound and pushed his healing aura into the traitor. He healed the ghoul wound completely, saving Henudra's life, despite the immediate, minor reflected pain.
"Neshuda, chain him to the bed," Hayate commanded. "He is now our highest-value prisoner. We can't let him die, and we can't let him escape again."
Neshuda, moving quickly, secured Henudra. The traitor simply watched them, a mixture of awe and cold defeat in his eyes.
Hayate turned to Neshuda, his gaze intense. "The War Room is guarded by Narakka's best forces. We cannot storm it. We must use your strength, Life Anchor."
"We go through the ventilation shafts," Neshuda immediately offered, his master of stealth mind already working. "The West Tower is old. The shafts should lead directly to the War Room's roof, where the critical signal tower is."
"No," Hayate corrected. "We split up. Narakka will be expecting both of us. If we both go to the War Room, we fall into the trap. If we go to the Dungeons, we free Captain Torvin."
Hayate pointed to the map etched on the wall. "You go to the War Room, Neshuda. Use your master of stealth training to sabotage the signal tower and create a diversion. Once you are in position, I will go to the Dungeons to free Captain Torvin and rally the loyalists. This is the only way to break Narakka's coordination."
Neshuda stared at Hayate, his eyes wide with reflected alarm. "You want to face Narakka's men alone? No! I am your shield! I am your Life Anchor! If I am not with you, your soul is exposed!"
"The kingdom is exposed, Neshuda," Hayate countered, grasping Neshuda's hand. "The curse is a burden, but it is also a wireless connection. I will know if you are in danger, and you will know if I am. We have to trust the bond."
Hayate's eyes were firm, his charisma burning through his exhaustion. "You are the only one who can infiltrate the West Tower undetected. I am the only one who can rally the loyalists with my charisma. If we split up, Narakka will be facing two separate, powerful threats at once, and he won't know which one is the true target."
Neshuda's internal conflict was agonizing—the need to protect the King versus the need to save the kingdom. Finally, the determination won.
"I will go to the War Room, my King," Neshuda vowed, his voice low with absolute loyalty. "But if I feel the slightest flicker of pain from your direction, I will leave the mission and come for you."
"And I will do the same thing," Hayate promised. "Now, go. The throne is waiting for us both."