The days passed heavily, and Arius's absence turned into a mystery that gnawed at the palace walls. A week, then two, and silence was the only news. Clarice was withering away with every passing hour, sitting with tension ravaging her features as she clutched a picture of him, while Nahira would walk past her, coldly spewing her venom: "If only you had tied him up well like a dog, he wouldn't have escaped like this... it seems your bird has found a wider sky than your prison."
In a moment of despair, one of the servants burst into the living room, panting: "My lady! Master Arius has returned!"
Clarice did not wait to hear the rest; she shot like an arrow toward the palace courtyard. She saw Arius staggering on the horizon, his clothes torn as if he had emerged from the heart of a cosmic hurricane. She threw herself into his arms, hugging him frantically, but he remained rigid, looking at her with a strange, hollow coldness, before his body suddenly collapsed, and he lost consciousness in her arms from sheer exhaustion.
Arius was taken to his suite and fell into a deep sleep that lasted for three whole days, during which Clarice never left his room. When he finally opened his eyes, he found her asleep on the chair beside his bed, signs of fatigue and dark circles surrounding her eyes. In a rare moment of tenderness, Arius carried her and placed her on the bed to rest, then quietly left the room.
As he walked through the corridors to regain his balance, he found Nahira standing in his way, as if she had been waiting for him to come out. She looked him up and down and said in a tone tinged with sarcasm: "You are very late... and your condition when you arrived was so wretched that it arouses pity. Tell me, where were you?"
Arius replied in a calm voice: "I was subjected to a sudden attack, and I had to stay away for a while until I recovered."
Nahira burst into laughter, a laugh that rang out in the empty corridor: "And do you think I will believe this act? And do you think that I am the one who sent someone after you to do that?"
Arius looked at her deeply and said in a decisive tone: "No... because whoever did it did not want to kill me, but wanted something else. And you, Nahira, wish for my destruction at every moment, so it is impossible for you to be the one behind this attack."
Nahira's laughter gradually faded, replaced by a sharp, questioning look; who was this third party who had the audacity to attack the future rulers' brother-in-law without wanting to kill him? Arius moved away from Nahira, paying her no attention, leaving her standing in the corridor shouting sharply after him: "Where are you going?", but he continued walking until he left the palace completely.
He stood alone in the middle of the spacious courtyard, where silence enveloped the place. He closed his eyes, and images of those treacherous attacks rushed into his mind. He remembered how he was tearing through intergalactic space, when suddenly those strange shadows appeared out of nowhere. They were not mere creatures; they were more like spirits that hunted him for weeks without stopping.
Arius whispered to himself as he clenched his fist: "The one who sent those creatures must be someone who knows me very well, otherwise they wouldn't have insisted on tracking me down with all this malice... But why didn't they kill me? They were scratching me with minor wounds or altering the path of their fatal blows at the last moment... Damn them! Whoever this person is, they are playing a dirty game with me."
Arius realized that his current situation did not allow him to relax. He took a deep breath and said strictly: "I must develop myself... I have to reach that strange state I used in the Grand Tournament that gathered the Sixth, Ninth, and Tenth worlds... that massive power that suddenly exploded from me and saved me from certain destruction."
He tried to remember the details, but his memory was hazy. "It was called Rhea... or something like that. The important thing is that I need that advanced energy. I have tried for long months to reclaim it or see any sign indicating it, but my body does not respond... It is as if it is a power that refuses to come out except in moments of absolute despair."
Arius began to focus the "Ryzo" in the center of his body, trying to stimulate that raw energy, hoping he would succeed in opening that gate again; because he knew for certain that the coming enemy would not settle for mere scratches next time. After exhausting and frustrating attempts to summon that "Rhea" energy, Arius felt a lump of despair choking his chest. He sighed with distress and decided to set basic training aside to pour his anger onto his body, beginning a violent physical training regimen the palace had never witnessed before.
He was moving with lightning speed, throwing punches at the air that tore oxygen molecules, putting pressure on his muscles until they almost exploded. He did not stop for a moment; he was punishing his body because it did not respond to that great power, sweat pouring from him profusely like rain until his torn clothes were completely soaked.
Meanwhile, Clarice woke up in a panic, looking right and left, but she did not find Arius beside her. Feeling the coldness of the bed, she rushed out calling his name, until she sensed strong and steady Ryzo pulsations emanating from the outer courtyard.
She ran down the stairs quickly and saw him there, a mass of taut muscles and superhuman effort. Arius stopped immediately when he felt her arrival, wiping the sweat from his forehead with rapid breaths.
Clarice approached him, her eyes overflowing with anxiety, and she reached out her hand to wipe his face, saying: "It is good that you are awake... My heart almost stopped from fear for you, my dear! I thought you had disappeared again."
Arius looked at her, trying to paint a calm smile to hide the storms of his thoughts, and said in a tired but stable voice: "Do not worry... I am perfectly fine. It's just that I went to wander a bit and breathe some air, but time slipped away from me... In my absence, I saw countless planets, and I had to release that energy I gathered in a quick training session."
Clarice gripped his hand tightly, as if confirming that he was physical and present before her, and said: "Do not go away like this again without telling me... The world is desolate without you. Now, you must rest, your body is trembling from the exertion."
Arius nodded his head in agreement, but his mind was still soaring out there, in the void where those shadows had attacked him, wondering: If those creatures were that powerful, how will I face their master without "knowing his strength"? Clarice adjusted her posture and said in an enthusiastic tone: "Well, since you are perfectly fine, I have planned for us to go on a trip together today!"
Arius looked at her with distress and said: "But I am very busy, I have to..." He did not finish his sentence, as Clarice shot him a terrifying look, a look that made the Ryzo inside his body tremble slightly before her imperiousness. Arius took a step back and said quickly: "Fine, fine! I will come, just stop looking at me that way!"
Clarice suddenly smiled with a cold and artificial innocence and said: "Good... Today we will have a lot of fun."
And indeed, a huge royal carriage adorned with gold arrived, and they boarded it to roam the streets of the capital all day long. Clarice was in a state of shopping frenzy, buying luxurious clothes and exotic items, with Arius beside her trying hard to keep up with and please her to avoid her terrifying episodes, but his eyes were not on the goods.
Arius noticed that the people in the streets were glaring at him with pure hatred, looks full of contempt and disgust. Suddenly, the voice of Gillion (the King of Prey Dragons) echoed inside Arius's mind, saying with majesty and anger: "My lord... do you see this scum and what they are doing? How dare they look at you like this?!"
Arius replied in his mind calmly: "Yes, Gillion, I noticed. Everyone on this planet sees me as a traitor because I joined those who once crushed them. It's alright... it doesn't matter what they think."
Gillion growled within Arius's consciousness: "Please, my lord! Just let me out for a few minutes... let me burn them all with my black flames and tear their hides for you! I cannot bear to see you insulted by their looks!"
Arius said firmly: "No, we will not do that... stay where you are."
Clarice noticed his distraction and slight whispering, so she looked at him suspiciously and said: "Who are you talking to, Arius?" Arius was flustered for a moment, then looked at her and said: "No one... I was talking to myself about what we will do next on this tour of ours."
Clarice looked at him with disbelief for a few seconds, then clung to his arm and said: "We will go to the jeweler now, I want something worthy of me." Meanwhile, Arius felt the pressure of Gillion's fire beneath his skin, and the weight of the people's stares upon his shoulders.
While Clarice was immersed in trying on necklaces and studded rings, Arius sat on a wooden bench in a corner of the shop, trying to escape the noise with his mind. Suddenly, a woman wearing elegant clothes but carrying a strange boldness in her eyes approached him. She stood before him and said in an audible tone: "So you are Master Arius... the one said to be a traitor to our country because of joining the revolutionary army?"
Arius replied casually and calmly: "Yes, that's me." He expected her to spit in his face or despise him as the rest did, but she surprised him with a seductive smile, leaning closer until her breath touched his face, saying: "I admire you... and your defiance of Nahira herself. I am ready to be completely yours... with everything I own."
The woman clearly began trying to seduce him, even grabbing his hand and starting to pull him firmly while whispering: "Come on, come with me... there is a hotel nearby, why don't we spend the night together away from everyone's eyes?" Arius tried to pull away gently, saying: "Thank you, but I am not interested... please let go of my hand."
Suddenly, the air split with a terrifying buzzing sound, and a red laser beam pierced right through the girl's heart from directly behind. The blood froze in Arius's veins as he saw the girl look behind her in shock before falling down as a lifeless corpse. Clarice was standing there, her face distorted with intense rage, her eyes burning with a murderous light he had never seen before.
Clarice did not stop at killing her; she pounced on the corpse and began smashing the girl's head frantically and with malice until she made absolutely sure of her death, amidst the screams of panic from the bystanders who fled the shop.
Arius was shocked by the scene of blood and massacre that occurred in seconds. He stepped forward quickly and grabbed Clarice's arm to stop her, but she turned to him and looked at him with literally "murderous" eyes, saying in a voice hoarse with jealousy and spite: "What were you doing with this whore? Tell me!"
Before he could utter a word, she lunged at him and grabbed him by the throat, squeezing it with all her might. Arius felt the pressure of her immense strength, a pressure that surpassed the limits of anger, as if at this moment she had become the embodiment of death. The air began to run out of his lungs, and the bones of his neck were about to break under her fingers, which were trembling with rage.
"You are mine... mine alone! Do you understand? No one has the right to even think of stealing you from me?!" she screamed in his face as she increased the pressure, while Arius began to feel his body collapsing before a "massive" force that had completely lost its sanity. Arius's face began to flush, his veins bulging from the intense pressure, and in a choked voice barely escaping his throat, he said: "Please... ca... calm down... I was trying to get away from her... I swear it!"
She glared at him with deadly looks of suspicion, leaning close to his ear as she hissed in a terrifying whisper: "Oh... really? Weren't you happy while she was praising you just now? Weren't you pleased with her invitation for you to enjoy each other in one bed?! Answer me!" She tightened her grip to the point that the bones of Arius's neck began to make faint clicking sounds, and he felt his soul would leave his body at any moment. At the last second, just before losing consciousness, he uttered words that served as a lifeline: "I... do not love a girl... other than you!"
Suddenly, the burning red aura vanished from her purple eyes, and their natural luster returned to them. Her fingers gradually loosened, and she looked at him in shock and bewilderment as if she had been in a coma and woke up from it. She said in a trembling voice: "And I... I love you too! But you must know... I am a person who is very protective of what I own... I apologize for what I did to you, please forgive me!"
She left him suddenly, throwing herself into his arms, hugging him tightly while sobbing heavily, while Arius staggered, placing his hand on his neck which was stained purple from the strength of the grip, taking deep, rapid breaths as if he had just returned from the dead.
They left the shop amidst the astonishment of passersby and the corpse of the girl left behind them as if she were nothing. While Clarice held onto his arm and wiped her tears, Arius looked ahead with eyes devoid of any emotion, speaking to himself in absolute silence: "I cannot believe it... this lunatic killed a soul in cold blood just for words! She is truly a very terrifying creature... I must beware of her more than any enemy I have faced in my life, for death with her comes from the embrace before the stabs."
Arius realized that staying by Clarice's side was not just an "engagement," but walking on a tightrope in the middle of a forest of fire; a single mistake, or even a word from a stranger, could make her turn the capital into ashes. The two returned to the palace, and the silence between them was heavier than mountains. Arius stepped down from the carriage without looking back, ignoring Clarice's hand which tried to touch him. They entered the grand lobby where Nahira was sitting with her usual dignity, and she asked in a tone carrying much malice: "Tell me... how was your day? It seems you enjoyed yourselves very much in the capital."
Arius did not utter a single word; instead, he bypassed her with quick steps, his gaze fixed on the ground, and went straight up to his room. Clarice felt a sting in her heart as she saw him walk away, but she turned to her sister and painted a fake smile, saying: "Yes, we enjoyed ourselves very much today... I visited every place with my lover, and it was an unforgettable day."
The lie did not fool Nahira, who let out a mocking laugh that shook the corners of the hall: "Yes, right... it is very clear on the eyes of that 'happy' fiancé of yours!" Nahira continued laughing as she left the place, leaving the echoes of her provoking laughs to chase Clarice into every corner.
As soon as Arius closed his room door, he did not go to his bed; instead, he summoned Dark (the Immortal King). Dark appeared out of nowhere like a dense shadow, and without a word, Arius ordered him to open his special "energy rift."
The void opened before Arius, so he stepped inside to find himself suddenly in a completely empty space, located in a remote point of the universe where no light reaches and no human resides. Arius threw his exhausted body onto the cold ground and closed his eyes tightly, trying to regain his breath which Clarice had almost stolen forever.
Arius whispered to himself as he sank into the darkness of the place: "I need just one second... one second where I am not a prey for Nahira, or a puppet for Clarice."
"Dark" remained standing like a silent guardian at the edge of the rift, watching his master who began to sink into a deep sleep resulting from psychological and physical fatigue, while the "ring" on Arius's hand glowed faintly. The sun of the next day rose, and Clarice headed with dancing steps and a longing heart to Arius's suite to wake him up, but when she opened the door, she found the room completely empty, the bed made as if no one had slept on it. She went out frantically roaming the corridors, asking the servants sharply and questioning the doctors and soldiers, but the answer was the same: "We haven't seen him, my lady, and no one passed through here." The anxiety in her eyes began turning into sparks of obsession and distraction.
On the other side of existence, in that remote cosmic point, Arius slowly opened his eyes. The air here was pure and free from the noise of conspiracies. He took a deep breath and said to Dark, who stood like a mountain behind him: "I feel truly better... this place grants me the peace that the palace stripped away from me."
Dark bowed his head with dignity and answered in his deep voice: "This place is yours, my lord, as you always want."
Arius sat up, a look of determination filling his eyes, and said: "I have made my decision, Dark... I will not stay in Nahira's palace, and I will not live at the mercy of Clarice's madness. I will become independent on my own somewhere in this vast First World, or perhaps leave it behind entirely."
Dark inquired with interest: "My lord, the idea is excellent, but when do you intend to implement it?"
Arius looked at the dark horizon and said: "Very soon... as soon as I find work to earn a living by my own effort. I do not want to live on Nahira's money or be indebted to anyone for my sustenance. I will look for work that suits my strength, and if necessary, I will depart to the farthest possible galaxy... The important thing is to move away from this hell that I have lived twice in a row."
Dark bowed deeply, his aura of power seeming to increase with pride in his master's decision, and said: "As you command, my lord... we are your army, and we will follow you wherever you choose to be, whether in palaces or on the paths of labor and hardship."
For the first time in a long while, Arius felt in control of his own destiny. He was planning a revolution of another kind; a revolution against the constraints imposed on him by the ruling "family," to begin the journey of the man who shapes his destiny with his own hands, far from being a "ring" on Clarice's finger or a "prisoner of war" to Nahira. Dark opened the spatial rift with silent skill, and Arius stepped back into the heart of the palace, but this time he emerged from the direction of the "doctors' wing" cleverly, to suggest to everyone that he was undergoing examinations or receiving treatment due to his recent exhaustion.
As he walked calmly and steadily, the maid Lorinda caught sight of his shadow, so she rushed toward him, panic filling the lines of her face: "My lord! There you are at last!" Arius stopped coldly and asked her: "What is the matter? Why all this commotion?"
Lorinda said as she caught her breath: "My lord... Lady Clarice has been searching for you for hours, she has completely lost her mind and turned the palace upside down! No one dared stand in her way." Arius asked her in an indifferent tone: "And where is she now?" Lorinda replied: "She is in the outer courtyard... and she is very, very angry, I advise you to be careful, my lord."
A mysterious smile formed on Arius's lips, and he shook his head, saying: "Thank you... I will take care of it." He left her behind as he hummed a quiet tune, the feeling of happiness and liberation he drew from his secret place still enveloping his soul. He was no longer afraid of her episodes; rather, he felt that he now possessed a plan for eternal escape.
Arius headed toward the outer courtyard with confident steps, and the closer he got, the more he felt Clarice's turbulent aura, which almost burned the air around her. He saw her from afar standing in the middle of the courtyard like