The moonlight poured down through the whispering forest, pale and silent, until the calm shattered with Lucas's trembling voice.
"S-Stay back! D-Don't come any closer!" he shouted, his throat raw from fear.
Luminous advanced—a slow, graceful terror. Her bare feet brushed against the moss, her white hair glowing faintly in the darkness. Each step she took seemed to echo inside Lucas's chest.
He stumbled backward, heart hammering. Sweat streaked his temple. The once-arrogant mage now looked like a hunted animal. Then, without a word, he spun and ran—his body blurring into motion, breaking the sound around him.
Leaves scattered in his wake. Trees cracked under the pressure of his speed. He dared to believe he could escape. But the moment he blinked, his blood froze—Luminous stood before him, untouched, unhurried.
His eyes widened. His feet dug into the soil, dragging grooves into the earth as he tried to stop. "H-how did you—?"
The words never finished. Luminous vanished in a blur. In the next instant, her fist pierced the air. A sharp, deafening thud followed. Pain exploded in Lucas's abdomen. Blood burst from his lips as the world twisted.
He was airborne—slamming through trees, bark shattering, trunks splintering in a line of destruction.
'H-how did she get even stronger?!' he thought wildly, spinning through air. 'I'll die… No! Not yet. I have one last card…'
He grinned through the blood, his body grinding to a stop as his feet carved fiery lines into the forest floor. He reached into his coat and pulled out a glowing artifact.
But before he could activate it, another blur—Luminous appeared again, her foot colliding with his chest in a perfect arc.
The impact cracked through the night. Lucas was launched upward at a diagonal, the air whistling past him.
She didn't stop. Her body shimmered,
reappearing behind him midair, her black eyes flashing.
"If your people even touch a single hair of my son," she hissed, "they won't live to see their own downfall!"
Her kick struck his back, and the sound cracked like thunder.
Lucas hit the ground face-first, bouncing and rolling through the dirt. His body skipped like a stone on water—each thud echoing louder than the last until he finally stopped, coughing blood into the soil.
"Kugh… ghh—ugh!" His voice was weak, drenched in panic. Still trembling, he slammed his hand on the artifact. It flashed with a brilliant light. A grin twisted across his bloodied face.
Then—a flash of motion. A kick came from his right, hard and merciless. The artifact spun away into the darkness.
Lucas froze. He looked up—Luminous stood there, half-lit by moonlight, her expression cold and devoid of mercy.
"L-Luminous! Please—please forgive me!" he stammered, crawling to her feet. "I'll tell them to retreat! I swear it! I'll make sure they never touch your son again! Please, I—I'll do anything!"
Her gaze didn't change. Her voice was low, almost emotionless. "You think words can erase what you've done?"
She grabbed him by the throat and lifted him effortlessly. His legs dangled helplessly. His nails dug into her wrist as his voice cracked in desperation.
"Ughh! Luminous—Let me go! Or you'll regret this! You'll face consequences you can't imagine!"
Her grip tightened. The air between them shimmered with power. "...'He' still hasn't given up, has he?"
At that, Lucas froze. He knew exactly who she meant. A flicker of cunning returned to his eyes.
"Haha… Y-you see… 'He' still wants you back, Luminous. So why not make a deal? You know me—when I make a deal, I guarantee it, haha!"
She said nothing. Her eyes burned with quiet fury.
The forest seemed to hold its breath.
Her fingers flexed—ready to snap his neck—when suddenly, the world itself tore apart.
A violent crack ripped through the sky. Space distorted, bending and whining with a metallic shriek—ZZZZT—CHHRIIIKK!
Luminous stopped. Her head tilted upward.
From the rip in reality, a figure descended—tall, regal, wreathed in cosmic light. His presence bent gravity. Even the stars above seemed to tremble.
Lucas's eyes widened in relief and terror. He fell from Luminous's grasp, coughing violently. "Hahaha… My Lord! You came! You came just in time! This bi—"
Swish.
His head dropped to the ground before the word could finish. His body fell beside it, lifeless.
The man hovered above, expression unreadable. His aura pulsed with ancient power. He looked down at Luminous, his voice calm yet filled with authority.
"So, you still won't come home, my dear daughter? ...So, Where is he? Your son I mean.."
The name—father—echoed in her mind. Luminous's fists clenched, nails cutting into her palms until blood dripped to the ground. Her voice was steady but sharp with fury.
"No. I won't go home. And don't you dare speak of my son."
He studied her silently, eyes deep as space itself. Then he sighed.
"Fine. I won't. But you should know… that child of yours is an Anomaly. If he continues to exist, our entire lineage—our universe—could perish."
His words were calm, but they cut deeper than any blade.
Luminous trembled. Her vision blurred as tears burned her eyes.
Yes, she knew. She'd known since the day he was born. Her son didn't belong to any law of existence—his birth itself defied the cosmos.
Yet the first time she held him, she'd felt an overwhelming pull—a mother's instinct that screamed, protect him, no matter what.
So she did.
She fled across galaxies, from one realm to another, hunted by gods and kings alike. Every door she closed was another war begun. But she never stopped running—not until she found Cassandra.
Cassandra's child, Luna, was also an Anomaly, though far less dangerous. Together they hid, two mothers shielding the last pieces of their broken peace.
And in that sanctuary, Michael and Luna grew—laughing, fighting, living like ordinary children. For the first time in centuries, Luminous tasted peace.
Now, those memories poured through her mind—the warmth of Michael's laughter, the way he smiled every time he ate her cooking. That smile had become her universe.
She looked up at her father again. Her voice cracked, but her resolve did not.
"No, Father. I won't give up on him. Never. So what if he's an Anomaly? So what if every being wants him dead? He has the right to live. You have no right to kill him just because he could become a threat to you!"
Her father's jaw hardened. He descended slowly, his cosmic aura dimming to a faint hum. Standing before her now, his tone turned cold.
"No right? Perhaps. But that's the problem, child. Do those 'higher beings' have a right to destroy me? No. They do it because they can. Because they're strong enough to bend fate."
His eyes flared with divine light. "Power defines right, Luminous. That's the truth you ran from."
Her teeth clenched. Her breath hitched. And then—tears. Silent at first, then unstoppable.
She had fought so long, carried so much.
She'd sacrificed her home, her peace, her identity—all to protect one small life.
Her knees hit the ground. Her head bowed, shoulders trembling as tears streamed freely. The sound of her sobs blended with the rustle of leaves.
Her father looked down, fists tight behind his back. The great being who ruled countless realms stood helpless before the sight of his daughter crying.
His voice, when it came, was quieter—almost human. "Luminous… where is he? Let me see my grandson. Just once. Even from afar. I can't sense him. Not his presence, not his energy. Nothing."
Luminous froze. Her tears stopped mid-fall.
He couldn't sense him? Her father—the being who could feel the heartbeat of dying stars—couldn't detect Michael at all?
Her eyes widened in disbelief. If he couldn't sense Michael… then where was her son?
Her pulse raced. The air felt thin.
Thump… thump… thump…
The sound of her own heartbeat filled her ears. The world dimmed, spinning slowly around her.
Her lips parted as if to speak—but no words came. The last thing she saw was her father's expression shifting from sternness to shock.
Then darkness took her.
Her body collapsed into his arms.
The forest fell silent again, save for the soft rustle of leaves and the faint hum of the torn sky stitching itself closed above.
The great being held his daughter gently, eyes heavy with something even gods rarely feel—fear.
He looked toward the horizon where dawn was beginning to bleed into the clouds.
And for the first time in millennia, his voice trembled.
"What have you brought into this world, my daughter…?"
The wind whispered through the shattered forest, carrying away the scent of blood and the ghost of a promise.
_______________
To be continued…