"They sacrificed," Bordon repeated.

Elisha frowned. "Sacrificed…?"

Bordon exhaled, his expression tightening.

"When the demons invaded the world, everything fell into chaos. Kingdoms collapsed. Armies were wiped out. No one could stop them."

He looked around the table. "Except the Holy Empire."

Celestia leaned in, listening intently.

"The Holy Empire's doctrine was simple: eradicate evil. So they were the first to respond. The paladins—blessed with divine strength—fought at the front lines of every battlefield. The clerics were sent to heal the dying wherever demon traces appeared."

He paused.

"And they won. They beat back the invasion."

Kael's eyes widened slightly.

"But… if they won, how did the empire fall?" Mariella asked softly.

"That," Bordon said grimly, "is where the tragedy begins."

He placed the parchment on the table, fingers tracing the faded symbol of the crossed guns.

"Their intervention made them the primary target of the demon forces. Demons began pouring everything into destroying the Holy Empire first."

Elisha swallowed hard.

"And then… it happened."

Bordon's voice lowered.

"It was during the final desperate retaliation of the demons that, for the first time ever, a Demon Lord was summoned into the world."

The air around the table seemed to still.

"The Demon Lord was… unstoppable. Lands turned barren from his footsteps. Cities burned just from his presence. The world itself trembled."

Even Kael looked shaken.

"He led the attack on the Holy Empire personally. Entire provinces vanished. Tens of thousands died in a single day."

Celestia's hands trembled around her cup.

"And in the end," Bordon continued, "the Pope, the saints, and every last paladin sacrificed their lives to push the Demon Lord back into hell… and seal the rift behind him."

Silence.

Complete, suffocating silence.

"And the empire?" Elisha whispered.

"Destroyed," Bordon said. "Utterly. In a single week."

They all stared at him, stunned.

Bordon added, almost reluctantly:

"Records say some survivors managed to escape. The clerics. The templars. The inquisitors. Those who weren't on the front lines at the moment of the attack."

He met their eyes.

"They're said to still walk the world… hiding themselves. Their identities buried. Their power concealed."

The silence that followed was heavier than before.

No one could speak.

Because the weight of history—of unimaginable power—hung in the air like a storm.

And then the realization struck all of them at once.

The Eldric monster—

That abomination—

He had looked at Lucien Ashborne, a boy everyone mocked as "trash," and mistaken him for one of those beings.

A holy inquisitor.

A remnant of a force so divine that demons sought to exterminate it completely.

Kael's throat tightened.

Lucien Ashborne—

Trash Lucien—

The boy everyone despised—

Had been mistaken for one of the strongest beings in the world's history.

A heavy silence swallowed the table whole.

Even if that is not true, but still been mistaken for one is a big deal.

*****

Strange things began happening.

People around me suddenly started treating me like… a child.

At home, Alicia clung to me like a shadow.

Wherever I went—

she followed.

If I stood up, she stood up.

If I walked, she walked.

If I breathed, she breathed a little too close.

"Master, don't strain yourself."

"Master, let me handle that."

"Master, don't lift heavy things. Actually, don't lift anything."

She even rushed ahead to pull a chair out for me whenever I tried to sit.

And she wasn't alone.

Lily—normally glued to the kitchen—had abandoned all her duties, pushing them onto her apprentices.

"Boss, rest. I'll do it."

"Boss, here's warm water. Drink it slowly."

"You want to scratch your nose? Boss, allow me."

"GET YOUR HAND BACK, LILY."

"But boss—"

"No."

They hovered. Like two mother hens who had decided their chick was made of glass and liable to break at any moment.

I was this close to snapping and asking what any of this had to do with them, but…

I stopped.

They were terrified.

They'd been terrified for the last two days.

I had been unconscious the entire time, lying pale and unmoving in the academy infirmary.

They must have been scared out of their minds.

…Still. This level of care was absurd.

After using every ounce of acting, persuasion, and subtle threats, I finally managed to shoo them out of the room—

"Boss—"

"Out."

"But—"

"OUT."

They reluctantly left, constantly peeking back like worried mothers leaving a toddler alone with scissors.

I shut the door, locked it, and—

A grin spread across my face.

Time for the real reason I needed privacy.

I approached the cupboard, pulling out the lacquered box Samantha had given me.

Inside—

A transparent glass vial filled with swirling purple liquid.

The Berserk Potion.

"Ho ho… it's time."

With the dramatic flourish of a lunatic king, I popped the cork and chugged it.

Instant regret.

"G-HAAAACK—WHAT THE—what is this taste?!"

It was like someone had liquefied expired medicine, fermented it in demon sweat, then boiled it with the sins of humanity.

But the taste quickly stopped being the issue.

Because the pain hit.

Extreme pain was an understatement.

My veins bulged, glowing a harsh, violent purple under my skin.

Fire shot through every nerve.

My bones felt like they were being filed, pulled, stretched, and broken all at once.

My vision reddened.

Steam rose from my skin.

I couldn't even scream properly.

"A—agh…! K—kuh—!"

I writhed on the floor, fingers clawing at the wood, throat choking on half-formed gasps. My muscles spasmed uncontrollably.

At some point, I lost all sense of time, thought, and sound.

The world dissolved into pain.

And then—

Nothing.

Darkness swallowed me whole.

When I opened my eyes, I wasn't on the floor anymore.

I was in my bed.

Warm blankets.

Soft pillow.

A faint scent of herbs.

And two figures sat beside me, staring with eyes so wide they almost sparkled with panic.

Alicia.

Lily.

Both pale.

Both trembling.

Both on the verge of tears and murder.

Ah.

So that's how it is.

I'm never escaping them again, I thought bitterly.

No amount of excuses was going to convince them to give me even one second of privacy ever again.

Lily leaned forward, voice shaking:

"Boss… w-why were you screaming like a dying cow?"

I closed my eyes.

I was doomed.

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