The atmosphere settled.

Terror receded like a tide withdrawing from a ruined shore, leaving only silence behind.

Kiaria fell.

Not violently–but as if the weight he had carried no longer had reason to hold him upright.

The shield remained.

Translucent, unwavering, enclosing his unconscious body even as he descended.

Before he struck the ground, space folded.

The Yaksha Queen appeared beneath him and caught him gently, as though afraid even gravity might wound him further. She lowered herself and sat, placing his head upon her lap.

Careful. Reverent.

The shield began to thin.

Layer by layer, it dissolved into the air like breath fading from glass.

Diala ran.

She ignored the surrounding army. Ignored the Dragon Emperors. Ignored the Queen herself. She dropped to her knees before him, hands trembling as they hovered over his chest.

"What happened to him?" she asked urgently.

"Is he… alright?"

No one answered.

White mist began to spread across the ground.

Not violently.

Not suddenly.

It seeped outward from Kiaria's body, rolling across crystal and stone like morning fog. Wherever it touched, fractures sealed. Scars softened. Residual corrosion evaporated.

Healing.

A murmur rippled through the Yaksha Ant Army.

"It's healing…"

"It's healing…"

The words carried disbelief. Awe. Fear.

Hylisi stepped forward.

"I have a suggestion."

Every gaze turned toward her.

"Why not let him rest properly?" she said calmly. "This bed will stabilize him better than the floor."

No one objected.

Without a word, the Yaksha Queen lifted Kiaria again–slower this time–and laid him gently upon the bed Hylisi had arrived with. She adjusted his posture herself, ensuring his breathing remained steady.

Then she stepped back.

And waited.

Like a servant.

Like a guardian.

Like someone afraid the world might take him away if she looked elsewhere.

Diala had not yet stepped into the Nascent Realm.

Yet the presence of a Beast God did not make her heart tremble–not even once.

Her focus never left Kiaria.

The Yaksha Queen observed her silently.

"True love…"

The words escaped her as a whisper, unheard by others.

Without warning, the Queen lowered herself.

She kowtowed before Diala.

The movement stunned the chamber.

Diala froze–not from fear, but from shock. She already knew why the Queen had tried to kill her. She understood the reason without needing explanation.

Diala had never known a mother's love.

She grew up without it.

Because of that, she understood something others might not–the inevitability of the Queen's rage. A mother cornered will always fight, even when the world calls it wrong.

But this kneeling…

It was different.

In Diala's eyes, this was not submission. It was a mother laying down everything she had left before something she did not believe deserved to be bowed to.

The weight of that kneeling crushed her chest.

It carried the grief of countless lives.

The pain of waiting.

The silence of loss before birth, before eggs cracked, before hope ever had a voice.

Diala moved.

She rushed forward and dropped to her knees as well.

The chamber fell into stillness.

Two figures knelt facing each other.

One–burdened by guilt for irreversible mistakes.

The other–bowing because the gravity of that guilt was too heavy to let stand alone.

The Yaksha Queen's eyes widened.

"Are all humans like this…?" she wondered.

Diala repeated softly, again and again,

"Please stand up."

The Queen did not respond.

Her thoughts spiraled inward.

Was I truly wrong this time?

Was I reckless… not as a ruler, but as a mother?

Diala crawled forward on her knees and grabbed the Queen's shoulders, shaking her with all the strength she could muster.

"Look at me."

The Queen blinked, pulled back from her thoughts.

"My lady… what are you doing?" she asked instinctively, lifting Diala back to her feet.

"I'm doing what should be done," Diala replied.

She inhaled slowly.

"I grew up without a mother," she said quietly.

"So I carry many expectations about what that love should feel like."

Her voice did not waver.

"And because of that… I understand you."

The Yaksha Queen trembled.

This time, she knelt again.

Not by order.

Not by fear.

By choice.

Acknowledged.

Judged–truthfully, not cruelly.

Tears welled in her eyes.

She did not let them fall to the ground.

Instead, they dropped into the acid pool beneath.

Instantly, the green corrosion began to fade.

The poison receded.

The stench vanished.

The liquid cleared–slowly, completely–until nothing remained but pure, drinkable water.

And at that moment–

Kiaria stirred.

His eyes opened.

Kiaria raised his right hand to his head.

Pain exploded.

Not sharp.

Not sudden.

A deep, crushing agony spread through every nerve, as if his body remembered breaking long after it had healed. Even pressing his fingers to his forehead felt impossible.

The crown above his head pulsed.

Monochrome light swept across his consciousness like a scanning wave, again and again, clearing away the residue of the Blood Moon trauma. Each pulse peeled back pain, memory, and distortion.

Minutes passed.

Then silence.

His body healed completely.

Only then did he realize–

He was lying down.

Softness beneath him. Warmth. Familiar comfort.

For a fleeting moment, he thought he had returned to the Enlightenment Sect.

"Dia…" he murmured.

His eyes opened fully.

A hatchling.

Hylisi.

Confusion rippled through him.

Why is she here?

Shouldn't she be with the Chief?

The thought didn't fit.

Pain stabbed behind his eyes again–and with it, memory surged back.

The anthill.

The Queen.

The Blood Moon.

His gaze snapped sideways.

The Yaksha Queen stood beside Diala.

Fear surged instantly.

Before thought could intervene, Kiaria moved.

The Sky Crystal–Shadow Severer Sword appeared.

In a breath, its edge rested against the Queen's neck.

She did not flinch.

Instead, she lifted her chin and leaned forward slightly–offering her throat.

Diala's voice came too late.

"No!"

The blade cut.

Skin split.

Blood surfaced.

Kiaria froze.

Diala's cry reached him fully now, anchoring his will. He pulled the sword back at once, the tip trembling.

Why…?

The question echoed only in his mind.

The Yaksha Queen lowered herself.

"I ask for forgiveness," she said quietly.

Diala knelt beside her.

"I forgive you."

Kiaria clenched his jaw.

He could not refuse her.

"I… forgive you," he said at last.

Only then did the Queen turn toward him.

Her expression changed.

Instantly.

The softness vanished, replaced by something colder–sharper.

"Appear in your true form," she said.

It was not a request.

It was not a suggestion.

Kiaria felt a chill crawl up his spine.

That was a command, he realized.

Without resistance, his form shifted.

The crown vanished.

The aura faded.

He stood there as he truly was.

A boy.

The same boy she had met months ago in her father's tavern.

Her hand shot out.

She grabbed his ear and twisted it hard.

"Ah–!"

Kiaria yelped, spinning involuntarily as she pinched until his ear turned red.

"Apologize," she ordered.

"To her."

The Yaksha Queen stared.

She could not believe what she was seeing.

What kind of bond is this…? she wondered.

What kind of relationship allows this?

Warmth stirred in her chest.

If our ants had something like this… how different things might have been.

"Sorry!" Kiaria blurted quickly, bowing toward the Queen before his other ear could suffer the same fate.

Diala released him at last.

The Yaksha Queen almost laughed.

Almost.

But she restrained herself.

As a maid, she kept her composure.

"I accept your apology," she said softly.

Even though…

She knew the fault had never truly been his.

Everything finally settled.

The anthill no longer trembled.No rage. No pressure. No looming will pressing down on existence.

Diala exhaled softly.

"Finally… everything is settled."

Kiaria nodded. His body still felt heavy, but the weight was no longer hostile–only exhaustion. Together with Diala and Hylisi, he turned toward the tunnel leading out of the anthill.

Then–

"Little freak, shouldn't we join you anymore?"

Kiaria stopped.

He turned.

Two familiar figures stood behind him, arms crossed, expressions half-amused, half-indulgent.

The Golden Dragon Emperor.The Azure Dragon Emperor.

"Grandfathers," Kiaria greeted naturally. "If you like this place, I won't force you to come."

Azure Dragon raised a brow.

"So," he said lightly, "you don't need our help anymore?"

Kiaria tilted his head.

"Hm. I'll think about it."

Golden Dragon snorted.

"Brat."

Before anything more could be said–

"Please… wait."

The voice was calm.Respectful.

The Yaksha Queen stepped forward.

She rose into the air slowly, her presence no longer oppressive–only solemn. Her gaze swept across the ruined chamber, then settled.

She raised her hand.

The ground responded.

Black crystal fragments trembled. Acid receded. The dead stirred.

One by one–

The Yaksha Ants rose.

Bodies reformed. Wounds sealed. Eyes opened. An entire army returned from death in silence. They moved into formation instinctively, encircling Kiaria and the others with absolute precision.

Kiaria's instincts flared.

The Sky Crystal–Shadow Severer Sword appeared in his hand.

He stepped forward, taking a defensive stance.

No one else moved.

Not Diala.Not Hylisi.Not even the Dragon Emperors.

Kiaria glanced sideways, confusion flashing through his eyes.

Then–

The Yaksha Queen descended.

She knelt.

One knee to the ground.Head lowered.

"Greetings," she said clearly."Master."

A heartbeat passed.

Then the army moved as one.

Thousands of voices echoed in perfect harmony.

"Greetings–

Yaksha King."

Silence crashed down.

"King…?" Kiaria echoed slowly.

He looked down at himself.

"Me?"

"Yes, Master," the Queen replied without hesitation.

Kiaria's expression tightened.

"…This is the Heart Demon's doing again, isn't it?"

He turned his head.

The Dragon Emperors nodded at the same time.

Kiaria sighed deeply.

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