"How long has it been?" Tristan asked, his eyes staring down through the windows of the room.

All was painted in black, with minimal furniture.

His question was left unanswered, despite being heard by Saul and Uncle Azad.

Tristan was not discouraged.

"Since the death of Maryam, Zaki barely spoke with us." He continued, his voice anguished, "At the beginning he was still keeping news with us. But now…"

He laughed humorlessly, his right hand balling into itself tightly, "…now he no longer even bothers to act like he cares about us."

"You cannot blame him." Azad said, voice low, "he must be feeling lost and guilty for what happened with Maryam."

"But it's not his fault!" Tristan growled, then turned to face Azad, angry veins slithering on his forehead,

"We all know it's not him! We all know that it was the Order Draco that made him kill our companion! We fucking know that!"

"And we have told him so many times that we do not blame him, that it is stupid! So what is the matter?"

Tristan slammed his hand on the table in front of him, making it a mess of splintered wood.

Azad said nothing. Saul only watched.

It was not the first time they had this discussion. Neither Azad nor Saul remembered how many times they had to watch Tristan throw a fit.

The man was now nothing like the coward he was. He was now a man of anger. But compared to the calm and seething anger of Sky, his own was volatile and dangerous.

Azad and Saul knew that at this rate, Tristan would lose patience. Then he would act, bringing their downfall upon all of them.

The only thing that kept him from making stupid mistakes was the existence of Sky.

'But Sky is ignoring us.' Azad thought, 'Whether it's guilt or something else, it matters not. Tristan is reaching his limit.'

And neither of them could stop him if he decided to act.

They needed a leader. But their leader abandoned them, and instead…

"That fucking girl." Tristan grated next, and immediately Azad and Saul began to feel a rising cloud of bad feeling cloaking the room.

"Tristan, don't—!"

"It's all because of her, right?" Tristan laughed coldly, cutting Saul's slow speech, "What is her name? Katy? Is that why he ignores us? Is that why he seems to have forgotten the sacrifice Maryam had done? For another girl?"

"You know nothing." Azad said with a warning tone, "Don't let your anger cloud you, Tristan."

"Everything points to that!" Tristan barked, "Didn't you hear? They have gone together alone for more than a week, with no one knowing where they have been. And after they came back, they are now always together. Like two sides of a coin that can't live without the other."

He clenched his fists, knuckles going white.

"What am I supposed to believe now, huh?" Tristan demanded, "Tell me, Azad. Tell me, Saul. What am I supposed to believe?"

The two had no answers.

Zaki was now silent on his matter. That made their minds conjure all kinds of reasons to give meaning to his actions.

And those reasons were not always kind.

Tristan was not the only one doubting Zaki. Azad did. Saul did.

But the two knew better than to say what was in their minds, for they knew the fragility of the bond keeping them together.

It was at this moment that Azad realized a chilling truth. One that made him unable to sleep at night. It was something they already knew, but now it was so glaring it hurt their hearts to admit.

The boys were nothing without Maryam.

It was her who kept them together. Because in Maryam, they found something worth protecting. A purity not meant to be tarnished by the ugliness of the world.

It was a common cause they had felt, and they all put their minds and hearts into it.

She was their anchor.

And their anchor was dead.

But for Tristan it was far beyond that. For him, Maryam was more than an anchor. She was the one that made his heart quicken every time she smiled.

The one that healed him with her soft hands when the game almost killed him, all while whispering gentle words to him and crying for his pain.

That was the woman who sacrificed herself for Zaki. A man that now lived his life leisurely with another.

An unreasonable anger and a wisp of hatred began to bloom inside Tristan's heart. He closed his eyes, calmed his breath, then strode away toward the exit of the room.

"Tristan." Azad called him.

Tristan stopped an inch from the door, his back still facing them.

Azad exhaled, the action filling him with unknown dread instead of solace, "Please, don't do anything. We can talk to Sky. We can try to know what he is doing. But please, don't do anything stupid." He said to his friend, almost begging him.

Tristan stayed silent. Next, he wrapped his hand around the handle of the door, yanked it open, then exited the room.

No response was given.

But Azad and Saul felt like a response was given.

They mechanically stared at each other, feeling the last thread tying them all together snap.

"What do we do?" Saul asked, tired and exhausted.

Azad said nothing. Instead, he fell weakly to the ground and hid his face with his two hands.

This place had stolen his freedom.

Now it was about to shred away something more important.

Azad's body trembled as he suppressed tears from gouging out.

Maryam…

Oh Maryam…

'Why did you leave us?'

'You have gone away, and with you our light in this suffocating darkness. I should have died. I am old. I have no one waiting for me. I have nothing to live for. But you were so young, so gentle and sweet. You were full of life and promise.'

'Yet you died. Your light snuffed out by a pitiless dragon.'

'Why do good people always die first?'

Tears trickled down.

'Now we are lost.'

'We are lost, Maryam.'

Saul, meanwhile, lifted his eyes toward the ceiling, deep inside his black eyes a white mask with runic inscriptions standing silently.

'Should I?' He asked himself.

The mask quivered.

He clenched his fist, jaw tightening.

'Should I?'

…

Meanwhile, Sky himself was inside a training ground, his chest bare, dripping in sweat, in the process of meditating.

He had succeeded in earning himself a Scar. Not only him, but Katy too.

But his master had purposefully delayed the Scar ritual, for people might link it with the death of the Red Dragon.

Already, the Fat Amethyst Dragon was in a berserk stage. The rumors said he had killed members of the Order Lyra who delivered him the sad news.

Now, Order Draco's relationship with Hydra and Lyra was volatile. Clearly, one just needed a candle and the whole forest would be turned to ashes.

Sky was very pleased with this news. Knowing the man who organized the death of Maryam had lost his child by his hand made him feel a poisonous sense of happiness.

The only thing he regretted was the fact he didn't kill the Red Dragon in front of his father. He would have relished seeing that scene.

'But patience.' Sky whispered inwardly, 'Things are already in motion. All I need is to increase my strength and get ready.'

The head of the Fat would be his. It didn't matter how or what he was ready to do for that to happen.

The Fat would be dead. And the whole Order Draco would follow.

Then the other Orders would be next.

The Fat killed Maryam. But it was this goddamn place that made it possible.

Sky would tear everything down.

That was exactly why he could not afford to be close to anyone inside these Orders.

The only ones he should care about were the wretched. The ones who wished for freedom but did not have the courage to fight for it. Or the ambitious, who wanted nothing but glory and bloodshed.

They were his men.

And he must be strong to put them under his control.

That was why he was away from his friends. For his path was dangerous. And death would be their closest companion.

He didn't want Tristan dead. Nor Saul. Nor Uncle Azad.

His heart would not bear another one. Another Maryam.

'I only need subordinates.' He whispered to himself, yet all of these whispers and words of conviction faltered the moment he felt another presence inside his training room.

He turned his head and saw the shy and smiling face of Katy, waving at him as she approached.

"Sky!" Katy chirped.

Sky stared at her.

He knew he must not be close to Katy.

He knew.

Yet he found himself taking one step closer to her the more he wanted to take a step back away from her.

He hated it. He hated seeing her smile at him so gently and sweetly.

For he dreaded the day that smile would turn into one of coldness, where the world she lived in since she was born would be destroyed by the poison of vengeance inside his soul.

He feared that future.

And that was exactly why Sky wanted to enjoy this warmth the world allowed him for now. For that was the only one he had in this cold hell.

So he squinted out a smile, waving back at Katy,

"Hey!"

Katy's smile bloomed even further.

Sky's fear increased.

—End of Chapter 374—

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