Editor : Amethyst00



Leah's eyes trembled uncontrollably.

Staring at Leo in disbelief, she let out an awkward, hollow laugh.

"Is this… a dream…?"

She couldn't bring herself to feel pure joy.

She was afraid.

Afraid that the figure before her might vanish like a mirage.

Afraid that if she allowed herself to be happy, she'd be plunged into endless sorrow.

That fear compelled her to deny the man standing before her.

Yet Leo simply smiled in silence and held out his hand.

After a long pause—

Leah gritted her teeth and asked, "Are you really Kyle?"

"What, do I look fake?"

That blunt, slightly irritable reply—

So very Kyle—that Leah's vision began to blur with tears.

Struggling to hold them back, she managed to speak.

"Then why… why now…? Why are you showing up only now…?"

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Do you know how much I've… all this time…"

Her voice trembled, her body shaking as she barely choked the words out.

Leo extended his hand and touched her cheek.

Leah flinched.

'Warm…'

The warmth on her cheek calmed her spiraling emotions.

"So you really are… Kyle…"

But before she could finish—

Yank—!

Leo, who had been gently caressing her cheek, suddenly grabbed it and pulled.

"Hey. Swindler lizard."

"W-What?"

"You conned me into signing that marriage vow, so you clean up the mess. I'm not dealing with that lunatic Luna."

Leo growled viciously.

"Not only did you scam me, now you're pinning it all on me too?"

"…"

Leah could only open and close her mouth like a fish.

And in that moment, she was 100% sure.

'This bastard really is Kyle.'

That nasty temper, that absolute lack of timing—

Ruining a tearful reunion just like this—

He couldn't be anyone else.

Chirp—chirp—

The morning birdsong tickled her ears, and the long lashes of a beautiful elven girl lying on a bed began to flutter.

With a blurry expression, Rune sat up.

'Ugh… did I drink so much yesterday I blacked out?'

She scratched her stomach and yawned like a lazy cat.

It seemed she'd truly overdone it in a long-overdue drinking binge.

And then—

'I talked with Leah… and then…'

The moment her thoughts reached that point—

Rune's drowsy eyes flew wide open.

"Right!"

Her eyes narrowed, sharpened with fury.

"What? Marriage? MARRIAAAAGE?!"

Shaking with rage, Rune hung her head.

'…So that's the kind of relationship they had.'

Honestly, even as a woman herself, she could admit that Leah was charming enough to fall for.

A wave of hollowness washed over her.

But then—

Her ears twitched and perked.

'So that bastard toyed with my innocent heart?'

A rage burned in her—hot enough to reduce anything in its path to ash.

Rune was not the kind of elf to wallow in despair.

No, her rage simply redirected—straight at Leo, whom she now suspected of hiding the truth.

"That damn bastard is so dead!"

She leapt to her feet and burst out the door.

"You're a dead man!"

Snarling like she'd breathe fire any second, Rune stormed out—and spotted someone.

Right on cue, Leo was exiting the room next door, lazily scratching his head.

"You're up?"

"Oh ho? And who might this be? The married man himself?"

A vein popped on Rune's forehead.

Leo calmly shut his door, unfazed.

"Calm down. Lysinas just fell asleep. I was with her all night."

"All night, huh? Sounds real hot. Did you have a nice little married couple's reunion?"

Rune growled, practically gnashing her teeth.

Leo sighed.

"It's not like that."

"Oh please! You played with a sweet, innocent elf's heart, you womanizing bastard!"

Rune grabbed him by the collar.

"You're not exactly innocent."

That stopped her.

It was… hard to deny.

But being right only made her more annoyed.

"Take responsibility! You led me on, now take responsibility, you cheating scumbag!"

"Anyone overhearing this would get the wrong idea…"

Leo muttered and let out another sigh.

"Let me be clear about one thing."

"What?!"

"I didn't even know that was a marriage vow."

Rune froze.

"…What do you mean?"

"I was tricked too. By that damned con artist."

He stared her straight in the eye.

Rune, scanning him for any hint of a lie, soon realized he was telling the truth—and let go.

Then, smiling sweetly, she made for Leah's room.

Leo grabbed her by the scruff.

"Leave her be."

"Why? That's total betrayal! I've gotta give her a piece of my mind!"

"She's exhausted. There'll be time for that later."

"You're taking Leah's side now?"

"If us two clash now, she won't be able to rest with all the noise."

Leo rubbed his temples, clearly drained.

Rune paused.

Leo looked completely spent. Enough that lying down right there on the floor wouldn't have surprised her.

And this side of him—this raw fatigue—wasn't something he let others see.

Leo had to be the unshakable one. The anchor.

Only in front of a few, like the great heroes, did he ever show weakness.

Rune grabbed his arm.

"Come on."

"I'm tired. I'll just head to my room."

"Nope. Shut up and come with me."

She dragged him into her room and shoved him toward the bed.

"Sleep here."

"And how do I know you won't try something?"

"I won't pounce on you. Though honestly, wouldn't that be your privilege?"

Rolling her eyes at his suspicion, she pushed him again.

Leo sighed.

'She's not going to let this go, is she?'

"Don't even think about drawing on me."

"I'm not a kid, you know."

Just as he moved to lie down—

Rune quickly plopped onto the edge of the bed.

"What now?"

"Here."

She patted her thigh.

"I'll be your pillow."

"I'm fine."

"Ahem! When someone offers kindness, you accept it!"

She grabbed him and forced his head down onto her lap.

Looking pleased, she beamed down at him.

"It's uncomfortable."

"Even if you were tricked, you still didn't tell me. You deceived me too."

"…"

"But if you just quietly fall asleep like this—I'll forgive everything!"

Now that she knew Leo had been duped too, her mood was much better.

Leo, looking up at her smiling face, sighed and closed his eyes.

Rune gently stroked his hair.

"This is… nice."

"…"

"Kyle?"

She looked at him.

At some point, he'd fallen fast asleep.

Even Leo, known for his light sleeping, had slipped into a deep slumber.

'He probably won't wake for a while.'

After the battle with Erebos's fragment, after channeling the primal purity of mana, the physical and mental toll must have been immense.

Enough to knock out even someone like him.

Rune poked his cheek.

No response.

She glanced toward the window.

Despite the chaos of the previous day—the rebirth of an Erebos fragment—the morning sun cast a warm, peaceful light.

'I hope this moment… lasts forever.'

bl

"Black flames?"

"Yes!"

Kar furrowed his brow slightly as he listened to Aru's report upon arriving in Azonia.

Just the thought of it made his skin crawl.

"According to reports, the student council president of Seiren went to investigate first, followed by the president from Lumene."

"If anything goes wrong, we'll get a request for support. Thanks for organizing the intel, Aru."

"It's nothing! Please don't hesitate to call on me if you need anything!"

With an eager response, Aru exited the student council room.

'That kid was always full of energy… but ever since meeting Kyle, she's gotten even more spirited.'

Kar smiled faintly as he returned to his documents.

The duties of a student council president were enough to give one a headache just from looking at them, but Kar diligently went through each task.

To him, this too was part of the responsibilities of living this life.

As he flipped through the paperwork, Kar suddenly froze.

Something foreign tickled the edge of his transcendent senses.

Sssshhhhh—

Rain began to fall outside.

The sound of raindrops tapping against the windows filled the room.

Even in the desert, rain wasn't unheard of.

So, a sudden shower wasn't entirely strange.

'But… today wasn't supposed to bring rain.'

Kar, attuned more keenly than anyone to atmospheric shifts due to his extrasensory perception, was sure of it.

There were no signs at all of incoming precipitation.

And most of all…

Sssh—plunk—thud thud thud!

Among the rain, something hard began to fall.

Thud-thud-thud-thud! CRACK—!

Chunks of ice—hail.

It was the hailstorm that had slipped past even Aaron's hypersense.

'Cold air…'

A chill that didn't belong in the heat of the desert began to permeate the surroundings.

As the hail subsided, snow began to fall.

The moment he saw it, Kar leapt straight out the window.

Whoooooosh—Thud!

He landed cleanly from a tall building.

"Senior Kar?"

Aru, who had just exited the student council building, stared wide-eyed at the figure before her.

"…Aru."

"Yes?"

"By my authority, issue a summons to the main hall."

"Pardon?"

"Tell everyone to prepare for battle."

Leaving only those words behind, Kar dashed off, feet kicking off the ground.

Moments later, a bell rang across the entirety of Azonia. With the warning echoing in the distance, Kar reached Azonia's front gate in an instant.

And by now, the gentle snow had turned into a blizzard. Kar's body trembled—not from the cold, but from fear.

'What is this presence…?'

"Good afternoon."

A hooded woman stood before him, smiling.

"…Who are you?"

Kar asked, his voice trembling.

"What is your connection to Erebos?"

The woman looked mildly surprised by his question.

"To sense Erebos from me—how impressive."

Kar's intuition made it clear—this woman was not Erebos.

But at the core, she was something frighteningly similar.

"My name is Nyx," she said coolly.

"They call me the Evil God of Frozen Death."