The battle had ended with the heavy, blood-soaked victory of the Veil of Shadows Cult.

  Blood seeping from the gang members’ corpses dyed the rainwater pooling on the ground a dark crimson. The earth no longer resembled mud; it was closer to a swamp of crushed flesh and blood. The air carried the taste of iron—each breath burned the throat.

  Tora helped Shinya up from the ground. Supporting him by the shoulder, he spoke briefly but firmly.

  “We won.”

  Then he nodded toward Karhan.

  “He’s the only one left.”

  Shinya wore a tired yet confident smile.

  “It’s pointless,” he said. “He doesn’t stand a chance against Sae.”

  Rain dripped from Sae’s white hair. Between the wet strands, his gray eyes were locked onto Karhan with icy focus. Karhan was barely standing; his body was riddled with wounds, his breathing uneven. It was obvious he was on the verge of losing the fight against Sae.

  He wiped the blood from his mouth with his hand and let out a hoarse laugh.

  “Seriously, Sae… are you even human?” he said.

  “We’ve fought this long and you haven’t even broken a sweat.”

  Sae did not answer.

  In truth, he had no intention of answering. His mind was elsewhere—on Rex. He wanted to kill this freak as soon as possible and return to the infirmary.

  “Shut up,” he said coldly.

  “And die.”

  Karhan merely laughed in response. But what truly disturbed everyone was not his laughter. Beneath the ground where his feet stood, a yellow circle was flickering. Tora instinctively clenched his hand; every nerve in his body screamed that this was extremely dangerous.

  Karhan raised his hand and pointed it at Sae.

  “Soon, the Anti–Veil of Shadows Cult will wipe you out,” he said.

  “And I… as their vice leader, will be one of the main architects of that destruction.”

  He grinned.

  “But look at the bright side. You’ll see an old friend.”

  His gaze briefly shifted to Tora.

  “From this point on, Veil of Shadows will never see the light of day.”

  And then…

  The yellow circle flared.

  A brief flash of light, a suppressed vibration—and Karhan was gone.

  Sae took a deep breath. The gnawing feeling in his chest did not fade. He knew this was not the end; he could sense that far greater troubles lay ahead. But for now, he had only one priority.

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  Rex.

  In front of the infirmary, Kurumi and the others were waiting by the door.

  Ai and Katori were holding each other, silently crying. Kurumi was gripping Amy’s arm; the little girl was trembling, but she wasn’t crying—as if she no longer had the strength to do so.

  Chuya and Rya came running over. Rya kept his head lowered, unable to meet anyone’s eyes.

  Chuya turned to Kurumi.

  “How is he?”

  Kurumi sighed.

  “I don’t know…”

  Then she explained what had happened—how no one could even tell how the wound had been inflicted, how it resisted healing magic, and how Rex was still being kept under treatment because of it.

  Chuya slammed his fist into the wall in anger.

  Everyone was anxious.

  At that moment, Sae entered through the door.

  Chuya and Rya stepped in front of him at the same time.

  “Sae—”

  Sae kept walking.

  “Be quiet.”

  “You’re disturbing the patients.”

  Kurumi stared at him in shock. How could her respected mentor remain so calm while Rex was fighting for his life? It was as if Rex wasn’t lying on the brink of death at all.

  Katori stepped in front of Sae.

  “They said my father’s condition is really bad,” she said, her voice shaking.

  “He might… die.”

  Sae placed a hand on Katori’s shoulder. He stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath.

  “Rex-sensei made me a promise,” he said.

  “I swore I would free these lands from Dravok’s oppression.”

  His voice was calm, but it carried weight.

  “I’m certain Rex-sensei will keep his word.”

  “Crying and lamenting won’t help him.”

  “Just trust him.”

  “That will be more useful.”

  Silence fell over everyone. They were surprised, but it was clear they felt at least a little relieved.

  Kurumi thought about it. She hadn’t expected words like these from someone like Sae. But he was right. Crying for Rex wouldn’t make him recover. The only thing they could do was wait.

  Kurumi smiled faintly.

  Sae really is strong, she thought.

  About an hour later, the door opened.

  The healers stepped out.

  Ai and Katori rushed forward immediately.

  “Is he okay?”

  “Is he alive?”

  The healer nodded.

  “Yes. He’s alive.”

  “His condition is stable.”

  “We used a large amount of mana to heal him, but… it worked.”

  Katori hugged her mother in joy. Amy jumped happily into Kurumi’s arms.

  “Big sis! Big sis! You did it!”

  Chuya smiled.

  “I’ll inform the others,” he said.

  As he started running, he noticed Rya had stopped.

  “Rya.”

  Rya clenched his fist.

  “After everything that happened… I can’t face them.”

  Chuya placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “You did it for Zar. I understand.”

  “But Rex master removed you and the others from duty so you wouldn’t receive a harsher punishment.”

  “That’s the kind of person you tried to kill.”

  “He was trying to teach a lesson while protecting us.”

  Rya froze.

  Learning the truth only deepened his regret.

  “You can apologize later,” Chuya said.

  “To Rex master. To Katori. To everyone.”

  Rya nodded. He wanted to apologize as soon as possible—but he would have to wait.

  The two of them left the infirmary together.

  While everyone else was celebrating, Kurumi thought of Sae.

  He had been here just moments ago.

  Now he was gone.

  Kurumi ran around looking for him and finally found him behind a wall.

  She was about to call out to him, but she hesitated.

  Sae was holding the medal she had seen before. Leaning against the wall, he was staring at it. There was a sorrow in his eyes she had never seen before.

  Kurumi stayed where she was.

  Sae’s whisper reached her ears, carried by the wind.

  “I told you, didn’t I… nee-chan?”

  The powerful, unbreakable voice from five minutes ago was gone. In its place was a weak, fragile tone.

  Sae looked strong…

  But he had been worried too.

  Kurumi could feel it.

  But the strangest thing of all was this:

  Did Sae… have an older sister?