Roxana had already explained everything to Seris and Astrid when she'd first approached them to follow.

Going directly to her kingdom would be useless. Her sister, Queen Sylvie, had never accepted defeat in her entire life. But now? Now she'd accepted her fate. Written a goodbye letter. Was planning to die fighting.

'My addition wouldn't do anything good. Just one more body on the pile.'

But THIS? Helping them free Seris's kingdom first? That could work. The opponents would be spread thin, less cautious in a conquered territory. If she could help free Veldora's forces, get Queen Adelina out safely, then the tables could turn.

With Adelina freed, the nations that were still standing could band together. Form a united front. Free the world from these new threats.

It was strategic. Logical. The right move.

Now Roxana sat in the carriage, looking at Jax's back. His attention was focused anywhere but on her. She got absolutely zero acknowledgment. Not even a glance.

'Fine. If he won't listen to me, I'll tell him indirectly. He'll hear it that way.'

She looked to Seris and Astrid, cleared her throat. "I am following you all because—"

"Tssk. How much more time will it take to reach?" Jax interrupted, his voice sharp with impatience.

Seris blinked. "Approximately one hour."

"Damn it."

Jax leaned forward and shoved the front window slat aside, revealing the driver's back. The poor man was focused on the road, completely unaware of the storm about to hit him.

"You!" Jax barked. "You have half an hour. If you don't get us there in half an hour, you'll become my personal driver. And you'll ride me on a whole tour around Veldora."

The driver's shoulders tensed.

"But instead of those horses pulling this carriage?" Jax's grin was pure evil. "YOU'LL be pulling it. And if you fail even that, the whip you're using on those animals? It'll be reshaping your dirty ass into something resembling modern art."

The driver gulped so hard his throat clicked audibly.

Then, after a moment of processing the absolute nightmare Jax had just painted for him, he let out his frustration on the horses.

"HYAH! HYAH! MOVE YOUR LAZY ASSES! FASTER, YOU FOUR-LEGGED BASTARDS!"

The crack of the whip echoed. The carriage lurched forward, picking up speed dramatically.

Jax sat back with a satisfied expression, like he'd just solved world hunger.

Astrid and Seris exchanged glances. Their faces said: 'Yeah. That's normal for him. Nothing surprising here.'

Then their eyes drifted to Roxana.

She looked... sad. Defeated. Like she'd been trying to say something important but kept getting shut down. Ignored back at the academy. Ignored here. Completely dismissed.

'Wait,' Astrid thought, her eyes narrowing. 'Is there something going on between them?'

Seris was thinking the same thing. 'A lover's quarrel? Couple fighting? But...'

Both their minds arrived at the same conclusion simultaneously.

'No way. There's no way someone SANE would actually love Jax.'

They looked at each other. Their bond was so strong, so attuned to each other's thoughts, that they both realized they'd been thinking the exact same thing.

Despite everything, despite the chaos they were heading into, despite the war and the danger and the uncertainty, they smiled.

Small. Brief. But genuine.

-- -- --

Many hours had passed.

Jax stood over the corpse of a boy, maybe sixteen or seventeen years old. His boot was pressed firmly over the kid's mouth, silencing any final sounds he might have made.

A stealth kill. Clean. Efficient.

They'd successfully entered the kingdom. Not just the kingdom, but the royal palace itself. And now they stood in the prison compartment, deep in the bowels of the castle.

The entry had been too easy. Almost suspiciously so.

Most of the guards were soldiers from Veldora and other conquered kingdoms who'd surrendered to stay alive. When they'd seen Princess Seris and Princess Roxana approaching, recognition had flashed in their eyes.

They hadn't just surrendered.

They'd fallen to their knees and apologized. Begged forgiveness for their sins. For betraying their kingdoms. For serving the invaders.

"We just wanted to live, Your Highness. Please. We're sorry."

And then they'd helped. Told them the safest paths. Pointed out where the "god-sent heroes" were stationed so they could avoid them.

To be honest, those heroes were pretty sparse in this area. Most of their forces had moved on, already planning their next conquest.

Only a skeleton crew remained to guard the conquered territory.

One of those crew members was currently beneath Jax's boot.

He'd wanted to ask so many questions. Wanted to make this bastard suffer. Give him a hellish, drawn-out elimination from this world.

But time was running out.

So he'd given this one and three others a silent death. Quick. Quiet. No screaming to alert anyone else.

Others were suprised to see a new type of death body turning to blue particles but Jax knew it all.

Now his heart was pounding against his ribcage like it was trying to escape. Each beat felt like a hammer blow. Because they'd reached it.

The cell the soldiers had described.

He took off running, leaving Seris, Astrid, and Roxana behind. They watched him go, saw the desperate impatience in every movement.

Jax reached the first cell and pressed his face against the small window, peering inside.

Empty.

Second cell. Empty.

Third. Fourth. Fifth.

He moved faster, checking each one. His breathing was getting harder, panic starting to creep in at the edges.

Ten cells. Twenty. Thirty.

'Where is she? WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?!'

Thirty-five. Thirty-eight. Forty.

Then he stopped.

Cell forty-one.

He pressed his face against the small barred window and looked inside.

It was her. He knew it was her even though he could only see her back.

A woman lay on the cold stone floor, motionless. Her clothes were torn, stained with dirt and god knows what else. Her hair was matted and tangled.

He couldn't tell if she was alive or dead.

"Adelina," he whispered.

Then louder: "ADELINA!"

No response. No movement.

Pure terror shot through him.

He stepped back and kicked the metal door. Once. Twice. His stats were at their peak, his strength enhanced by his level-ups.

But it wasn't enough to just break through.

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

Each kick punched a dent into the metal. Small at first, then bigger, deeper with each impact.

His leg started screaming in pain, but he didn't care. Couldn't care.

When his leg gave out, he switched tactics. He threw his entire body at the door, shoulder-first. Again and again.

CRASH. CRASH. CRASH.

The lock mechanism was built INTO the door itself, integrated into the metal from both sides. Not some simple external lock you could pick or break off. It needed a key, and the key was somewhere Jax didn't have time to find.

So he kept ramming. Kept breaking himself against the door.

Finally, with a screech of tortured metal, the internal mechanism shattered.

The door swung open.

The momentum of his last charge sent Jax tumbling to the ground inside the cell. He hit the stone floor hard, the impact knocking the air from his lungs.

But he didn't stop.

He started crawling toward her. Toward the motionless figure on the ground.

His crawl grew slower with each movement. Not from physical exhaustion.

From fear.

Pure, absolute, paralyzing fear.

'What if she's dead? What if I'm too late? What if—'

He reached her finally.

His hand trembled as he extended it.

Slowly, so slowly, he placed his palm on her back.

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