"What⦠What is this?!"
"Whatâs happening!?"
"What'sâ!!"
People screamed. Chaos erupted in the plaza. Ferdie and Ludian instinctively pulled Tiel close, shielding her with their arms.
A thick, dense smoke spread from the center of the plaza, swallowing up the citizens, then Tiel, Ferdie, Ludian, and even Karsus.
The Asterian knights immediately shifted into a defensive stance, their weapons at the ready, all eyes locked onto the center of the disturbance.
That was where the heads of the five noble families, the emperor, and the crown prince had been standing.
Grandfather! Lord Ian!
Tiel fought against the choking smoke, straining her eyes to make out familiar figures.
But the smoke was so thick that it refused to let go of whatever it had swallowed, forcing Tiel to blink rapidly as she coughed.
And then, before longâ
The smoke cleared.
"â¦What is that?"
"Thatâs insaneâ¦!"
A collective gasp of horror spread among the citizens.
The five noble lords stood frozen, their faces conflicted as they stared toward the dead center of the plaza.
At the center of their gazeâ
â¦Lord Ian?
Ian Dross Crassion.
The crown prince of the empire stood with his right hand extended, wielding his ability as he stared directly at the gathered citizens.
The white void of Ianâs subspace, which was always large and round, had now turned an eerie, pitch-black, dyed in ominous shadows.
Ian swept his hand through the air.
"!"
A dark streak slashed through the void, and suddenly, as if reality itself had been torn open, objects from within the plaza began to be sucked into the subspace one by one.
The emperorâs face turned deathly pale.
"Evacuateâ Evacuate everyone at once!!"
Alpheus, too, had lost all color from his face.
Without hesitation, both he and Karsus turned to the Asterian knights and commanded,
"Half of you, help the citizens escape! The rest, guard the children. We are leaving immediately!"
The moment even the head of the Asterian family spoke of retreat, the already panicked citizens began pushing and shoving in desperation, trying to flee the plaza.
"Donât push!"
"That was His Highness the Crown Prince, wasnât it!?"
"It was His Highness! But what is he doing?!"
People stumbled and fell as they tried to escape. Knights from every noble house scrambled to maintain order and guide the evacuation.
Ferdie scooped Tiel into his arms and hurriedly followed after Karsus and Alpheus, while Ludian stuck close behind.
For some reason, everyone was running away from Ian Dross.
"W-wait!"
Tiel cried out, her voice shaking as she called for Alpheus and Karsus.
The two men, who had been moving quickly, turned back to her.
"Tiel, thereâs no time to explain. We must get out of here," Karsus said firmly.
"Butâ Lord Ian is using his ability?"
"Thatâs notâ¦"
Karsus hesitated for a split second before speaking in a level voice.
"Thatâs not him using his ability. Thatâs him being consumed by it."
Tielâs golden eyes widened as far as they could go.
"Being⦠consumed?"
"Yes. Thatâs why we must leave. We canât afford to harm the crown princeâs body, either."
Consumed by his ability?
Tielâs mind struggled to make sense of the words.
She turned to look at Ian again.
By now, everyone near him had evacuated, leaving him utterly alone.
Yet, Ian made no move to chase after them.
Instead, he simply stood in place, steadily absorbing every object in the plaza into his subspace.
And then, a thought crossed Tielâs mindâ
What if I go to him?
If I leave, then Lord Ian⦠will be left standing there, completely alone.
It was an absurd thought.
Who would consider running toward someone who was losing control of their power?
And yetâ
Tiel, who was still just a child, and who had always liked Ian Dross for being a bit foolish yet kindâ¦
Suddenly struggled in Ferdieâs grip.
"Whoaâ Tiel! Tiel, stop!"
"W-wait, hold on!"
Ferdie, unable to keep a firm hold on his small sister, lost his grip.
Tiel dropped lightly to the ground and quickly turned to face Ferdie, Ludian, Alpheus, and Karsus.
"If I leave, Lord Ian will have to be alone."
"â¦Tiel? No, no. This isnât something you can fix. This is nothing like what happened with Ferdie," Karsus warned.
"But when I was alone⦠Lord Ian saved me."
Tiel lifted one finger.
"When I was running away, he hid me."
Tiel folded down a second finger.
"He escorted me safely to Asterian."
A third finger.
"He helped me when I was in trouble at the templeâ¦"
The little girl smiledâ
It was a smile that, for a child of only seven, was strangely determined and dignified.
"So I think⦠I have to help Lord Ian at least once too."
It wasnât that she believed in some special power.
Nor was it that she was certain she could calm Ian down, just as she had done with Ferdieâs outburst.
Back then, she had been confident she could soothe Ferdie, because a voice had whispered gently in her ear, guiding her.
But nowâ
She had no such certainty.
There was no whisper.
There was onlyâ
"He wonât hurt me."
Ian Dross would not harm her.
No matter what happened, no matter how much he lost himselfâhe would try to protect her.
That much, she was sure of.
A conviction, an absolute certaintyâ
Ian Dross would never do anything to bring her harm.
"Tiel! Donât be an idiot!"
Ferdie reached out for her, but he was too late.
Tiel had already bolted toward Ian.
"No! Stop her!"
Alpheusâs voice rang out in a frantic cry as Karsus lunged forwardâ
But he, too, was too late.
Tiel was already too far ahead.
The small, white-haired figure grew more distant.
And thenâ
"Lord Ian!"
Tiel leaped forward, stretching her tiny hands toward Ian.
Ian turned to face her, startled.
The girlâs white hair shimmered like opal under the sunlight.
Kuuuuuuungâ!!!
Ianâs massive subspaceâ
Shredded and twistedâ
Its gaping maw stretching even wider.
It looked like the open jaws of a snake, fully unhinged to swallow its prey whole.
"Tiel!"
Karsus called out to his daughter.
But Tiel did not turn back.
Standing at the very edge of the abyssâon the verge of being sucked insideâ
Ianâs stunned expression was the last thing she saw before she reached him.
And she wasnât the only one shocked by the sight.
"W-what⦠what is she doing�"
Emperor Wilhelm stammered, unable to believe his own eyes.
That childâ
She was the wielder of the Light Ability, Crassionâs only hope.
She was also the granddaughter of his old friendâ
The precious little girl whom the Asterian family had only just reclaimed after seven long years.
And yetâ
Sheâs throwing herself into that abyssâ¦?
No.
No, she couldnât let herself die like this.
Wilhelm instinctively turned to Alpheus, his gaze demanding, Why didnât you stop her?
But Alpheusâ
Even he, for the first time, looked as though he had lost all words, his eyes locked onto the tiny girl with a dazed expression.
So Wilhelm couldnât bring himself to scold him.
Because if anyone had failed to control the situationâ
It wasnât Alpheus.
It wasâ@@novelbin@@
Noâ¦
Wilhelmâs mouth hung open as he watched Ian Dross and Tiel.
Wilhelm was one of the very few people who knew the exact fate that had befallen Ianâs parents.
And because of that, he couldnât just recklessly interveneâ
He couldnât just stand by and watch, either.
Shouts rang out from all directions, ordering people not to approachâ
But the small girl didnât seem to care.
Fearlessly, she threw herself toward Ian.
"Ian!"
Tiel called his name as she jumpedâ
And wrapped her arms tightly around him.
"â¦!"
At that moment, Ianâs body tiltedâ
And he began to fall into the subspace.
Tielâs small form was pulled in as well.
The little girl, unwilling to let go, clung to him tightlyâ
Choosing to follow him into the abyss.
And thenâ
Thud.
â¦
The subspace closed.
The empireâs citizens, who had been frantically fleeing in terror,
Turned back to look at the now eerily silent plaza.
Just moments ago, it had been filled with raging winds and chaos.
But nowâ
There was nothing.
No one stood at the center of the plaza anymore.
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