"M-Mom, NO!"
Uru’en’s shout was too late.
Risha’s palm, glowing with condensed light, connected with the center of Bane’s chest. But instead of a sickening crunch, her hand passed through him. His body dissolved into wisps of inky shadow that scattered like smoke.
"H-Huh?" Uru’en’s eyes widened in utter shock. Risha merely frowned, her now silver eye narrowing. Her fingers curled in a grasping motion. The air around the dispersing shadows plummeted in temperature, aiming to flash-freeze the darkness itself.
The shadows flowed, recoiling and coalescing ten feet away. Bane reformed, his easygoing facade gone. His expression was cold, sharp, devilishly charming, and eerily calm.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, his voice flat. "I just saved your daughter. And you repay me with a killing blow?"
"Drop the act," Risha said, her serene voice cutting like ice. "Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been doing."
She flicked her fingers.
VWOOM.
An immense dome of perfect, blue-white ice erupted from the ground, sealing their section of the area. It trapped Bane inside with Risha, Uru’en, and the core group of warriors.
Bane looked around the glittering prison, unbothered. He sighed, a sound of genuine disappointment. "I was going to spare you all. Your daughter has been... helpful. But I’ll have to rethink that decision, it seems. You will—"
He didn’t get to finish his words. Risha didn’t let him.
Ice spikes, sharp and vicious, erupted from the floor beneath his feet, aiming to impale him from below.
"...Sigh," Bane merely sighed.
At the critical moment, he vanished again. In his place, a small, sleek black catlike creature appeared.
Swoosh-!
The spikes speared through it.
But the cat didn’t bleed, let alone die. Heck, it didn’t even flinch.
Under the barbarians’ and Uru’en’s astonished gazes, it simply stepped through the solid ice as if it were mist, its form slightly translucent. It sat on a spike-tip and licked a paw, its eyes glowing with the same eerie violet as the dome outside.
"...He’s dangerous," Risha muttered, the chill in her voice deepening. If she were to guess, he was the real mastermind behind that red-robed guy. Given how he used darkness and this strange creature, he must have come to tame the Night Devourer. As for them, they were nothing but chess pieces on his board.
’...We need to leave.’ Risha didn’t hesitate anymore. She turned to the stunned warriors—Salom, Frostwalker, Stonehide alike. "Everyone! We are leaving! If you want to live, follow me now!"
There was no argument. They had just seen their chieftain become something akin to a spirit of the mountain. They had seen a charming man turn into a ghostly cat. The authority in her transformed voice brooked no dissent. Even Laura, her face pale with a mixture of fear and bitter understanding, gave a sharp, reluctant nod.
Risha turned last to her daughter. Uru’en stood frozen, her face a mask of confusion and betrayal, her gaze locked on the spectral cat.
"Don’t worry," Risha said, her voice softening just a fraction. "You will understand everything later. But for now, your only task is to survive."
"..." Uru’en stayed silent, barely processing her mother’s words.
Risha pressed a finger on her forehead, momentarily freezing her, which, in a way, woke her up. "If you don’t want to, then do not hinder others," Risha said in a cold but still gentle tone. "But you have to realize this: this is the moment to prove yourself."
"Y-yes, Mother..." Uru’en replied weakly, the mental fog clearing into cold, sharp dread.
She tore her eyes from the cat and fell into step behind her mother, moving silently, her mind reeling.
’...Bane.’
’...Lumin.’
She repeated the names in her mind, a mantra of confusion and guilt.
’Just what is happening?’
Behind them, within the ice dome, the violet-eyed cat stopped licking its paw. It watched them go, its head tilting with idle curiosity, as the first hairline cracks began to spiderweb across the pristine ice of its prison.
______ ____ _
Meanwhile, a fair distance from the chaotic battlefield, Bane sat lazily on a snowdrift, his chin propped on his palm.
The violent clash between his servant and his soon-to-be servant lit up the night sky in washes of bloody red and devouring violet. He watched it with a bored expression, like someone viewing a mildly interesting play.
He even yawned, looking sleepy. Well, it wasn’t completely his fault. The stress of the Second Trial had worn him out quite a bit.
"Hmm..."
’How did that woman see through me?’ he mused, shifting his gaze to the black dome. ’Could it be because of... my acting?’
He stayed silent for a moment, then dismissed the idea internally. No way. His acting was one of his finest skills. He could charm a court of nobles or play a lost traveler so convincingly that even he sometimes lost track of the line. No, he didn’t even know whether he was acting or not anymore. It felt as natural as breathing.
’Then, it must be related to that relic,’ he muttered to himself, a thoughtful glint in his eyes. ’It reacted when the girl was nearly charmed. And that woman had a matching piece...’
The relics likely had a sentinel function, a way to detect deceit or hostile intent directed at their bearer. Or even a surveillance feature, controlled by the other person.
Well, since the cat was out of the bag, quite literally, there was no more need for pretense. But...
A faint smile touched his lips at the memory. Uru’en’s fiery, straightforward personality had been refreshing, a stark contrast to the haughty, scheming noble ladies he usually dealt with.
’What a waste,’ he sighed internally. ’But it’s not like I can’t find another interesting woman.’
He let the thought go, his gaze drifting back to the warring domains.
Yet one peculiar detail hooked his attention, refusing to let go.
One person’s unexpected presence in this frozen chaos felt entirely out of place.
"Lumin..." he breathed, the name escaping like a whisper riding the wind.
The half-elf healer.
The man who had been instrumental in helping his dear little sister secure first place in the First Trial. After some investigation, the truth emerged: a wandering healer, adept yet humble. His arrival in this frozen wasteland felt like a colossal coincidence, as if fate had spun a cheeky yarn.
But now, the monster had him in its terrible grip. The poor guy had truly wretched luck.
A pang of genuine regret swept through Bane.
He had truly wanted to save the man, if only to repay the profound debt his sister owed him for his life-saving help. But intervention would have meant exposing his own capabilities prematurely, and at the time, that was an unacceptable risk.
The irony tasted bitter now; he had been exposed in the end anyway, making his caution a wasted opportunity.
He let out a soft, barely audible sigh.
"Well, Lumin," he said to the distant, churning darkness. "All I can do for you now is offer my condolences."
A slight, empty smile played on his lips.
"Rest in peace."
________ ___ __
Author’s Note:
[ Title: An End and a Beginning ]
[ This Chapter marks the end of our mass release.
However, I cannot let the year end without saying this: my deepest gratitude to you.
Thank you all!
This story exists only because you kept turning the page.
Your time, your curiosity, and your support are the true magic that bring it to life and motivate me to keep moving forward.
As we turn the final page of this year, I wish for you a story of your own in the coming year — one rich with new adventures, fruitful endeavors, and Chapters of joy and peace.
And as a hint of what’s to come... a little surprise is waiting for you all in the New Year. So stay tuned!
Wishing you a joyful and prosperous New Year.
Let’s make it a great one together.
All the best,
Peace_in_Chaos ]