Despite the cold, calculated precision of the war map lying before them, Hegemon's hands began to quake violently against his wooden crutch. The sheer weight of the impending operation, compounded by the horrifying memories of his previous deaths and the missing fragments of his soul, suddenly rushed over him like a tidal wave. His breathing turned shallow, ragged, and chaotic. A cold sweat broke across his forehead as his mind spun out of control—what if Relay shifted her pendulum a fraction of a second too early? What if Leo killed Lily the moment the seam opened? What if his calculations failed again?
Kenji stepped closer, noticing the butler's unraveling composure. Without a word, the Hero reached out and placed a heavy, firm hand on Hegemon's trembling shoulder. The gentle, steady heat of the Holy Sword's aura radiated through Kenji's palm, cutting straight through the icy panic paralyzing Hegemon's chest.
"Breathe, Hegemon," Kenji said softly, his voice grounded and devoid of any lingering doubts. "Look at me."
Hegemon slowly lifted his bloodshot eyes to meet the Hero's steady gaze.
"You brought us this far," Kenji continued, offering a rare, genuine reassuring smile. "You saved the kingdom's people today when no one else could. Your mind isn't failing you—it's carrying the weight of a hundred battles alone. You don't have to carry this next part by yourself. Rely on me. I will be your sword. We will bring Lily back."
Hegemon took a long, shaky breath, letting the Hero's quiet strength steady his erratic heartbeat. The trembling in his hands slowly subsided, replaced once more by a resolute, hardened focus. "Thank you, Kenji... Let us begin."
Deep within the subterranean dark, isolated within the abyssal altar's folded spatial pocket, the atmosphere was suffocatingly dense.
Lily was suspended in mid-air at the center of a jagged, black-stone circle, bound by translucent, crimson chains of spatial mana that dug painfully into her wrists and ankles. Her silver hair hung messily over her pale, sweat-streaked face, and small cuts marred her arms. Yet, despite her exhausted frame, her blue eyes burned with an unyielding, defiance.
Leo stood a few paces away, his snow-white coat floating weightlessly in the void. He looked at her with an expression of mild annoyance, holding a glowing black orb in his palm that slowly siphoned faint streams of silver informational mana from her body.
"It is utterly pointlessness to resist, little pet," Leo said, his melodic voice echoing unnaturally off the abyssal walls. "Your mana is exquisite, but your stubbornness is becoming quite tedious. Simply submit your will to me. Surrender, and I might allow you to live as a permanent ornament in my estate."
Lily lifted her chin, spitting a tiny speck of blood onto the dark altar floor near his boots. "I would rather... disperse my own soul... than surrender to a monster like you."
Leo's crimson eyes narrowed slightly, the smooth smile on his face beginning to crack. His childlike fascination was rapidly turning into sharp impatience. He stepped closer, reaching out to grip her jaw tightly with his pale, freezing fingers, tilting her head back violently.
"Do not mistake my leniency for infinite patience, girl," Leo whispered, his voice dropping into a menacing, spine-chilling tone that radiated raw pressure. "If you refuse to yield willingly, I will tear your mind apart piece by piece until you are nothing more than a mindless, hollow vessel. I will make you watch as I butcher every knight who attempts to cross that threshold."
Lily winced at the crushing force on her jaw, but her gaze never wavered. "Threaten me all you want," she rasped through gritted teeth, a faint, mocking smile touching her lips. "He is coming for you. And when he arrives... you won't be smiling anymore."