A single tear of water dropped from the sky, dark clouds forming, blocking the morning sun.

As lightning flashed on the weary and bloodied face of Alva, thunder cried the betrayal of the Blood Rose Clan... drenching both her and Lidien with heaven's cry.

The river beside the Dark Wolf Palace, their only path to the Rift and safety, had swollen into a raging, impassable torrent, definitively blocking their escape.

Alva, now fighting the relentless tide of soldiers with her claws, did not escape. For every one she felled, two more took their place, their boots churning the bloody mud around Lidien's still form.

Lidien lay on his back, unconscious... drenched with the blood of would-be assassins, now being washed away by the sudden rain.

Yet, Mad Dog stood atop the roof... with Xyon, biting his lips... as he watched the Prince and Alva being cornered by the rats hunting a tiger.

"He's not your Master, Xyon. Lady Rose is..."

Xyon gripped his hands, his mind racing...

Should he help Lidien, or should he stay put and watch them die...

Xyon knew, no matter what choice he made, he was doomed.

As his own heart beat like a drum echoing in his mind, something... somewhere... deep inside his heart was opening... a crack, thin and small that was slowly... corrupting him.

Then...

His thoughts stopped when he heard a familiar voice--not calling him--but laughing.

Amidst the chaos and never-ending fight, a laugh so maniacal crescendoed with the thunder like an opera.

"Ahhh... The morning light never came..." said Lidien, as he exhaustedly forced himself to sit... watching Alva fight and rip apart the soldiers he once commanded.

Then as Xyon, high on the roof, met Lidien's stare from the bloody mud below, he flinched from his smile.

"So, what is my General doing here... was it already a week? or... did Lady Rose send someone..."

Lidien rubbed his chin while smiling, a knowing smile that only Xyon and Alva knew. His hand trembled slightly with the effort, but his eyes were sharp as shattered glass.

"Aria, maybe? or... did she include Azer?"

Mad Dog laughed, as his own hands gripped at the on-the-spot conclusion that Lidien made... then relaxed as he smiled.

"Add Kyer to the list, My Prince... your own family wants you dead."

Lidien then stared once more at Xyon, this time... Xyon met his eyes, as his dedication was once again brought back to life... trusting Lidien's judgement that seemed to see everything, even the surprise ambush by his family.

"Xyon... I already told you, right? No matter what happens, you need to survive... even if it means stabbing me in the heart."

Xyon gripped his hands, confused... and just stood there, hardly analyzing what Lidien's command was.

Then...

A vibrant laughter joined the symphony of the rain, contrasting Lidien's maniacal laughter.

Azer appeared on a separate, adjacent rooftop... watching Lidien sitting in blood and mud while being protected by Alva.

He was holding a Relic, the Chest of the Undying Lich... along with Aria, now restraining Lily, who was covered with a dilapidated cloak, staring at Lidien intently as her own nails wounded her palm from how firmly she gripped it.

"Lidien... you have nowhere to run, why not accept your Death... like the Blessed you are."

Lidien closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his face towards the sky feeling the drops of rain.

And when he opened them, his dark eyes turned crimson, as he smiled back at Azer mocking him.

"Should've killed you last time in the Training Hall..."

Sighing, Lidien then stared at Mad Dog and Xyon, digging his claws into the bloody mud, and said.

"At least, let me personally kill those traitors standing proudly on that roof. I'll let them join me in the end."

Azer laughed, and stared at Mad Dog boredly.

"Go kill him. Now is the chance to prove your worth."

Mad Dog laughed maniacally, and jumped down below... he ran with moderate speed as his Great War Axe trenched the bloody ground.

Xyon closed his eyes, took a deep breath and blew it out, steeling his resolve... he pulled the sword from his waist and jumped down, rushing towards Lidien... still unsure of what to do.

Lidien glanced at Alva still protecting him from the soldiers who continuously rushed.

"Alva... give me a clearing, I need to at least kill those traitors before we die."

Alva didn't bother to look at him and just spread her single emerald wing, slashing every soldier in half that got near them. Using her own claws, she ripped apart everyone that got near her and ate them, chewing their flesh while fighting.

Azer eyed Alva then clapped, pointing at her while smiling at Aria.

"I should've taken her from Lidien at first, I didn't know she was a Prime Stage, Blessed of Life... well it's too late to regret it now."

Aria gave a curt, mechanical nod, her gaze fixed on Lidien with a mixture of venom and longing as she reminisced about her time with him feeding him when his Sparkline almost burst, the time she taught him how to enter Dreamflow.

Yet, in the end... her jealousy of his effort to revive Lily prevailed, it even advanced her to Blood Stage as a Greater Demon of Envy... wanting to kill him more, than to let him be with Lily.

Lidien raised his arms, and the blood separated itself from the mud... but now, mixed with the crimson were faint, glittering motes of starlight, the last dregs of the cosmic essence he had siphoned. It floated as a mist in the rain.

Then...

Boom!

Hundreds, no, thousands of limbs scattered! Soldiers who survived didn't even have an intact body, raining down upon the area alongside the heavy rain.

Lidien knelt on the ground, panting... retching, his eyes losing focus from too much consumption of verve, added to the toll on him that didn't even have the time to recuperate from the fight with the Matriarch, along with his resurrection of Lily.

Everything that he had planned... was coming to fruition, but not this outcome... not this overwhelming toll on his body that only his will--screaming not to die a second time--kept him surviving.

He coughed up a last black blood and heard the screaming of Mad Dog, still rushing at him, now missing an arm and an eye from the bloody explosion... still wielding his Great War Axe.

"ah ha! haha! AHAHA! Come Mad Dog! Let's see who's madder between us you mutt!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.