Lilithia woke up…
She opened her eyes slowly. The darkness was close. Her black hair slid over her face, stuck to dried blood, covering one of her eyes. As for the other it was open wider than it should have been.
Metal restraints encircled her wrists, her neck, and ran along the length of her spine.
Then,
"Ah… finally."
The voice came from in front of her. It wasn't loud. Not angry. Not arrogant. It was steady.
She lifted her head with difficulty.
There was only one person. Standing unbound. Dressed in dark clothing, with a faint smile utterly out of place. He spoke calmly:
"I feared I might have to address you while you were unconscious. That would… be rather tasteless."
He paused for a moment, then added:
"Atsuro Kanami. Deputy of the Eclipse Vanguard."
He didn't extend his hand. He didn't step closer. And yet Lilithia felt that he was closer than any restraint binding her.
She laughed. A short, broken laugh, blood spilling with it instead of sound. She whispered in a fractured voice:
"Do you think I… care?"
Atsuro blinked. His smile didn't change, but his eyes grew cold.
"No."
He said it simply. Then he took a single step forward.
"I was sent to watch you. Not because you're dangerous."
He leaned slightly, until his gaze aligned with the eye hidden by her hair. And he spoke in a low voice, as if planting a thought into her bones:
"But because you're the only one who knows what happened before the seal broke."
Silence followed. Then that faint curve returned to his lips but this time, it was heavier.
"And the problem?"
he continued with lethal calm,
"is that you're still alive."
The restraints tightened suddenly. Lilithia gasped. Blood streamed from her nose. But she smiled. Not in defiance. Not in mockery. It was an acknowledgment… of something unspoken.
They both fell silent. The silence wasn't empty it was waiting.
Atsuro broke it first.
"It seems you find what's happening to you… strange,"
he said, as if speaking to a thought.
"You're right. Isn't it strange, the matter of the Drakhaens?"
She didn't answer immediately. Her breathing was uneven, but her open eye remained steady.
"I don't care,"
she whispered.
"All I care about… is Villiam."
Atsuro paused for a fraction of a second. A tiny moment… but real. He took another step forward.
"Villiam? Do you know him well?"
He tilted his head slightly.
"Then let me introduce you more to him… and to the world that still breathes within him."
He advanced. Shadows brushed the tips of his shoes.
"A million years ago… when humans decided they would no longer live under the dragon's shadow."
He raised a finger slightly, as if sketching something in the air.
"Everyone wanted the same thing: the Cube of Hell."
Silence followed.
"Among all the sorcerers, there was only one who didn't seek power… but fracture."
He looked at her. Her eyes widened.
"Arkam."
The restraints trembled without moving.
"He cursed the White Dragon. Stripped it of its power. And with the disappearance of the Dragon Stones, the balance collapsed."
He lowered his voice.
"Then the Great Dragon vanished. And with the approaching convergence of the Sun and Moon Stones… it will be a disaster."
Lilithia lifted her head despite the pain. The restraints screamed with her.
"And what do I have to do with all of this?"
He took another step forward.
"Villiam is not dead."
He said it coldly, asking for no belief.
"Kaguchi's blood awakened the curse within him. Both of you are targets."
He paused.
"Don't you want to save him? Bring him back?"
He leaned slightly.
"Even his own brother didn't care. He threw him into a cell and ordered others to guard him."
He raised his gaze.
"Indeed… Drakhaen Kingdom will not welcome you. You're a demon in their eyes."
A faint smile.
"But… you have no choice."
Another silence fell. Then Lilithia laughed. A quiet laugh. Heavy.
"Villiam?"
she said calmly, as if testing the name.
Then she lifted her eye to him.
"I'm ready to burn the world for his sake."
Silence fell. But this time the silence changed. For the first time… Atsuro didn't smile immediately. Something in her tone was hidden.
A faint whisper collided with her consciousness from within. Not a voice… but a sensation.
"Burning… is a good beginning."
Her eye widened slightly. Atsuro slowly lifted his head.
"…?"
Lilithia smiled. A tighter smile. More dangerous.
"But let me make one thing clear to you, Atsuro."
She tilted her head despite the restraints.
"I don't burn the world to save someone."
She looked straight at him.
"I burn it… because it deserves it."
His silence lingered this time. Then he finally spoke, in a voice lower than before:
"Then… I won't be your enemy."
He paused.
"I'll be the first to walk with you… to the very end."
Silence fell once more.
_
Meanwhile, in another nearby cell…
Daemon leaned against the stone wall, his eyes half‑open. Skyler sat on the floor, his back to the wall, his fingers moving slowly across the ground, drawing circles that never completed.
The silence stretched. Then it broke. Footsteps echoed. The drawing stopped. Daemon lifted his head. The voice came from behind the iron bars:
"Open it."
It wasn't a loud command. The guard entered first, then immediately stepped aside. The shadow that advanced did not belong to the guard.
The Black Dragon.
It stood before the cell, watching them without a word.
Daemon broke the silence first:
"Either you've come to carry out the sentence… or to tell us the delay was meaningless."
The dragon didn't answer immediately. Then it spoke, in a voice carrying neither threat nor apology:
"Lilithia… was not executed."
The air froze. Skyler slowly lifted his head. Daemon's eyes widened for a moment then narrowed again.
"Repeat that."
Daemon said it not as a request… but as verification. The dragon repeated it, exactly as before, unchanged:
"Lilithia was not executed.The sentence was halted by my order."
Silence.
Skyler finally exhaled. A short, soundless laugh escaped him.
"So… this world still errs, slowly."
The dragon didn't comment. It made a simple gesture.
"Release them."
Daemon stood. One step. Then stopped.He looked directly at the Black Dragon.
"Is this mercy? Or delayed use?"
The dragon answered without looking at him:
"You're free. But you're not beyond reckoning. And Lilithia… is under direct supervision."
Then it left.
Daemon finally stepped out of the cell. Paused at the threshold.
"He said… she wasn't executed," he said quietly.
Skyler nodded.
"Good…"
The word remained unfinished.
—
An alarm echoed. A metallic voice spread through the hall, the corridors, and the lower levels:
< Urgent warning. >>
Everyone froze. The soldiers. The guards. Then the announcement:
< A distorted silence fell.
Then:
< Daemon clenched his jaw. Skyler lifted his head sharply.
"…On its own?"
No one answered. The voice continued, slower… heavier:
< If the Dark Points exceed the safe threshold and surpass the Light Points the target will be classified as a collapse risk.>>
A brief pause. Then the sentence that made some soldiers step back without realizing:
< —
In another corridor. Kai lay injured on the bed.He didn't move. Unconscious yet… breathing. His fingers trembled.The stone pulsed. Slow… heavy… pulses.
The soldiers didn't approach. They didn't raise their weapons. But their eyes… said everything. Then he heard it, even with his eyes closed:
"Kai."
The voice wasn't from the system. It wasn't from the guards. At that moment the restraints moved. Not on him. Around the space. A red circle rose from the ground.
Transparent walls, the color of blood, closed in around him. A room. The red room.
The system's voice returned, closer this time:
< Skyler clenched his fist.
"Kai, listen to me," he said quickly.
"Don't resist. Don't think. Don't let the stone..."
The automated voice cut him off:
"Final warning. If the increase continues and Dark Points exceed the Light reserve euthanasia will be executed immediately."
Silence. Then, without tone:
<< Remaining time… undetermined. >>
Kai remained unconscious.
Skyler shouted:
"Don't say that!"
Daemon didn't speak. But his gaze… was a silent admission of the truth.
The pulse quickened. The stone darkened further. The points… were moving.
And somewhere far from the red room… something in the darkness smiled.
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-To be continued...-