Kieran stood nonchalantly, waves of heat radiating off his body.

"I won't be able to keep my promise if you die here, so if you want me to keep my promise, you'd best be alive till the end of this," Kieran said calmly. 'I can't give you the permission to determine my fate.'

Kieran already knew quite well what she was trying to do.

She felt guilty, and he could tell it. He could see the guilt in her eyes even as she stared at him blankly.

She felt the only way to redeem herself from the guilt was by her death.

She wanted to take the blame. She wanted to take all the curses for her brother.

But there was just one problem.

Her death also meant that the idiot brother she was trying to save would only become more broken.

And there would be no hope for redemption for him.

With her death, Castan would be completely gone.

He wouldn't have any thread of sanity left within him.

Kieran knew better than to let that happen.

'Two kids just gambling with everyone's life. We're not some pile of chopped wood,' Kieran thought, a vein on his head twitching slightly.

The two were playing with the lives of all those present, and he was involved.

They didn't have the permission to decide his fate.

Mira felt her knees give in. They buckled, finally falling under the weight of the gravity pulling at her.

Tears streamed from her eyes. She didn't know what to do... How was she meant to handle the situation?

'If only dad was here... this wouldn't be happening,' Mira thought, feeling conflicted.

Utterly confused by the choices she had before her.

She was meant to be the calm and smart one, but ever since their parents' death, she became unstable, always looking for something to lean on.

She couldn't just change on the spot—

'What do I do?' Her thoughts were in turmoil, self-guilt and powerlessness ripping her from the inside.

"And later you argue that you both aren't kids? You both act like one," Kieran's voice broke her from her thoughts, slowly pulling her back to reality.

But for some reason, she didn't hear just Kieran's voice... she also heard a familiar voice.

'Dad?' she thought, looking at Kieran.

For a moment, she could see him, his long golden hair.

There he stood, right behind Kieran like a ghost.

Kieran dragged a tired sigh. "You don't have to fight alone... all you have to do is ask, then let the strong one handle it. There's more strength as a group than just alone. You're a beast tamer, you should know that's our advantage."

Kieran's voice was calm and calculated.

And each word sounded eerily familiar to Mira.

'These words... it was exactly as dad said,' Mira thought, a flicker of a memory crossing her mind.

She could see her childhood again.

In that moment, Kieran's words stirred something in her.

A vulnerability she only showed in front of her dad.

A reminder that she was never alone. "Please help me... please, fight with me," Mira said, cleaning the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Now that wasn't hard, was it? Now you can rest and leave the rest to me," Kieran said with a bright smile.

Mira was left in a daze by that smile.

It was the first time she had seen him smile, a genuine smile.

A smile filled with warmth.

A smile that radiated like the sun, the waves of heat radiating from him only complimented it.

For some reason, she was very close to him, but the heat didn't affect her even slightly.

Instead, it was like a warm blanket covering the entirety of her body.

Amidst all the spiraling thoughts in her mind, she could only think of one thing as she looked at Kieran.

'How can a human be more handsome than any elf?' She looked at Kieran in awe as he turned to face Castan.

"Well, I've gotten my permission... I guess I can interfere with the family reunion now," Kieran said calmly, and his suit hummed quietly.

'As someone who has been alone all my life... I'm certain that you won't want to lose your brother as well, and he won't want to lose you.' Kieran could even see the hesitation before Castan even attacked Mira.

'I never got the chance to enjoy what you have. Don't throw it over a stupid quarrel!' Kieran tightened his fist with anger as he glared at Castan.

He turned his head to Alexa and Bethar, and the two beasts nodded their heads quietly.

*'I have a limited time. My greatest weakness was my lack of Aetheris, but learning to use mana has helped with that. However, using my abilities without Aetheris will reduce the strength drastically...' * Kieran's brows furrowed with seriousness as the thought crossed his mind.

'However, to win a fight between gods, using Aetheris is unavoidable.' Kieran stepped forward.

Castan looked down at Kieran with a confused expression.

'Are my senses deceiving me? How did he stop my attack?! I can barely sense any Aetheris from him.' He was left in confusion.

And just then, a surge of energy exploded from Kieran, and in a blur, he completely disappeared from his spot.

'He's fast,' Castan thought. 'I should dodge—'

He was still in his thoughts, only a millisecond spent to think, and a fist was already being hurled towards his face.

Covered with hot, blazing flames that charred his skin in an instant.

Castan's gaze widened as the flame-covered fist closed the short distance.

'Block! Block!' His instincts screamed, and he raised his hands. But just then, the punch connected.

For a moment, there was silence, and then—

BOOM!

The earth shuddered.

The air split apart as a figure shot out like a rocket. A massive flame covered the sky, searing everything, the clouds evaporating from a simple touch, the earth turned to char.

"You're a King! Not a kid, you idiot! Come back to your senses!" Kieran's voice echoed right as the punch connected.

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