Complete silence filled the carriage.

Not the comfortable kind. The suffocating kind. The kind that pressed down on your chest and made every breath feel like an effort.

It had been an hour since they'd left for Veldora, and the questions had been relentless for the first thirty minutes. Question after question about the exile, about what really happened, about why he'd thrown away everything.

Finally, Jax had sighed so hard it sounded like his soul was trying to escape through his mouth.

"Fine. You want to know? Here's the summary."

He'd leaned back against the carriage wall, his voice flat. "I gently approached Lysandra and asked for leave. Explained the situation very politely. She rejected it. I told her what was happening, the war, the queen in danger, all of it. She didn't give a single fuck. That pissed me off."

His jaw clenched at the memory. "So I asked her, obviously in a very good and respectful way, if I could resign instead. She escalated things. Terminated me on the spot. And in the academy, termination means exile. Banned from the grounds. Forever."

The three girls had exchanged glances throughout his little speech. Their eyes said everything their mouths didn't.

'Bullshit.'

'Gently approached? Yeah, right.'

'Asked in a good way? This asshole doesn't know what polite means.'

They knew him well enough by now. The rage inside him. The way he operated. The "asking in a good way" part? Total lies. Not "would be" lies. They WERE lies, and they were absolutely certain of it.

But what confused them more than his obvious bullshit story was something else entirely.

The dedication. The protectiveness burning in his eyes when he'd read that letter about Adelina. The way he'd been willing to destroy everything he'd worked for.

For a woman.

But why?

Seris was the most confused of all. She'd seen Jax desperate his way into the academy. She knew about his reward that he got from saving her mother back then, for that he didn't even cared for a lottery which was in front of him. The academy professorship had been his dream position, his golden ticket.

And now it was gone.

Gone for her mother.

'He threw it all away. For her. Someone he barely knows. Why would he do that?'

The carriage rattled on, each person lost in their own thoughts, their own confusion, their own attempts to understand the enigma that was Jax.

Meanwhile, Jax's mind was already three steps ahead, calculating, planning, strategizing.

'Alright. First things first. Leveling up.'

He pulled up his system interface mentally, reviewing his DP balance.

[Devotion Points: 208]

'Before Zharina, I had 30 DP. That dragonkin professor gave me 178 more in one night. Not bad for a hate-fuck.'

He navigated to the level-up option. The cost structure was clear: each level required exponentially more DP.

[Level 33 → Level 34: 100 DP]

[Level 34 → Level 35: 100 DP]

'Better than nothing. I need every advantage I can get.'

He confirmed the purchase.

[Level Up! You are now Level 35]

'Good. I'll need that.'

Now for the actual plan.

Step one: Use Seris to sneak into the kingdom. She'd be the key. This was her domain, her territory, her home. She'd know the layout, the hidden passages, the weak points in whatever security these "hero" bastards had set up.

Step two: Seris feeds him intel. He goes in alone. Handles it solo.

No attention. No spectacle. Complications would only slow him down.

Step three: Find Adelina. Bring her to safety. Treat her wounds. Make sure she's okay.

Step four: Hunt down every single motherfucker who touched her. Who hurt her. Who threw her in that cage. Who paraded her through the streets like an animal.

And they wouldn't just die once. Oh no.

'I'll kill them in this world first. Then I'll use that Dimensional Teleport ability. After I've conquered every race, collected enough power, I'll cross over to their world. And I'll kill them AGAIN. Every. Single. One.'

He could feel his hands shaking slightly at the thought. The anticipation. The promise of violence.

But then another thought crashed into his mind like a wrecking ball.

What if she was already dead?

The shaking got worse. His breathing became shallow.

'No. No, no, no. Don't think like that. She's alive. She has to be alive.'

But if she wasn't...

His mind spiraled down that dark path. If Adelina was dead, he'd already made his decision. He'd cash in every favor. Use every DP point. Drain his entire system dry if necessary. Hell, he'd use that wish the Goddess had promised him.

He'd revive her.

And then he'd slaughter everyone. Not just the heroes. Not just the soldiers. Everyone who'd had even the smallest hand in her pain.

Kings. Generals. Gods themselves.

His resolve was absolute. Unshakeable. Forged in pure obsession and rage.

'Why am I doing this? For a woman who didn't even accepted my love? We don't even have a relationship. I don't know what we are.'

But that was the thing about Jax. Once he marked someone as HIS, as belonging to him, he'd go to any length. Cross any line. Break any rule.

And apparently, even gods weren't safe from that possessiveness.

His plotting finished, Jax finally looked up at the three girls sharing the carriage with him.

His voice came out cold, sharp as a blade. "It's understandable for Seris since her kingdom is involved. But why the fuck are the other two of you here?"

His eyes locked onto Astrid, completely ignoring Roxana's presence like she was invisible.

Astrid straightened up, meeting his gaze. "How's it not my business when my stupid friend is throwing her life away? The worst part is she believes in gods and their slightest hope. And the worst part?" She gestured toward Jax. "I'm pretty sure she's seeing YOU as that hope. And I'm absolutely certain that the hope she's seeing will throw her right into danger. Like, if you had a choice to survive by baiting her, you wouldn't hesitate. So I'm here for that. To support her when you inevitably use her as bait."

Jax's expression shifted. Not quite a smile. Not quite his usual coldness. Something in between.

"So you're here to support her when I bait her," he said, his voice carrying a hint of dark amusement. "Good. At least that'll leave me with only one arrogant royal to deal with."

Both Astrid and Seris immediately understood he meant Roxana. They exchanged confused glances.

'What did she do? How does he even know her that well?'

"Professor, how dare you!" Astrid pouted, her cheeks puffing out slightly.

Jax's expression softened for just a fraction of a second. "If it weren't for this mess, I'd smile at that cute little face of yours. But right now?" His face went back to stone. "I'm in no mood for it."

He turned to Seris, his attention shifting completely. "I read the letter. Didn't that Peric guy tell you to seek academy help? So why are you here with me instead of going through proper channels?"

Seris hissed through her teeth, frustration clear in her voice. "I TRIED. But my request never reached the higher authorities. They told me to write a formal application for emergency intervention and wait for them to respond through the proper bureaucratic process." Her fists clenched. "I'm running out of time. My mother doesn't have time for their fucking paperwork!"

Jax didn't respond. But his expression said everything.

'Understandable.'

The silence settled again.

And through all of this, through every question and every answer, one person remained conspicuously unaddressed.

Roxana.

No one had asked her why she was here. Why she'd come along to Veldora when she had absolutely zero benefit from this journey. Her kingdom was in danger too. Her sister was literally planning a suicide mission.

She should have gone home. Should have tried to help Queen Sylvie.

But here she was. In this carriage. Heading toward someone else's war.

And nobody questioned it.

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