As the Sun God said, the emptiness that had no known cause disappeared like a lie the moment he saw Lou.

[Do you want me to tell you what happened during your time with her that you don’t remember? You want to know, right?]

“I’m not curious.”

Even if the wolf’s words were true, it didn’t matter. To Shahar, the present, where she was alive and breathing, was more important than lost memories.

The wolf, failing to shake him, grumbled in boredom.

As soon as the conversation ended, the fight resumed.

The second battle between the brothers was far less grand compared to the past when they shattered the earth and split the sky.

One had lost his body, and the other had someone to protect, so he had to be cautious. It was an inevitable result.

Nevertheless, they were still powerful.

Knowing that dragging out the fight would be pointless, Shahar launched a series of attacks from the start.

The startled wolf hastily surrounded himself with flames like a barrier.

[You’ll end up killing that girl too. It seems you want to drag her to the Underworld yourself, so there’s no need for me to dirty my hands.]

Despite his words, the wolf had been targeting Lou from the beginning. The bright red flames fiercely burned, threatening to melt the shield. However, the flames gradually weakened, blocked by Shahar’s cold aura.

Lou, caught between the cold and the flames, suffered in agony. Eventually, she coughed up blood.

Seeing this, Shahar hesitated for a moment, and the wolf took the opportunity to break through the shield and grab Lou.

[Noble Shahar. You have two choices. Watch me drag this girl to Tartarus or destroy me and lose her forever. Do you think the King of the Underworld can set foot on this land again after committing such an atrocity?]

For a moment, Shahar hesitated. It was only a brief moment, but the wolf didn’t miss it.

[You may despise me as an eternal sinner, but at least I never deceived my brother like you did.]

Contrary to popular belief, the loser of their first battle was Shahar, not the wolf. But the wolf was not given the chance to savor his victory.

Shahar, who reached the Underworld first, became its king. Meanwhile, the wolf, guilty of killing two relatives, lost his body and was cast into Tartarus.

The wolf could never forgive Shahar for perfectly deceiving him. With undiminished resentment, he wielded the flames like a whip.

At the same time, Iscallion’s vow to protect Lou was broken. His eyes quickly turned bloodshot and eventually burst. Even as blood tears streamed down his face, the wolf didn’t let go of Lou.

“Ugh, what…!”

Lou woke up screaming in pain from the burning flesh.

Ignoring his own burning body, Shahar immediately lunged at the wolf, but the flames were not easily extinguished.

[Goodbye, Shahar.]

The wolf, who had been laughing leisurely, suddenly frowned. The flames had unexpectedly turned towards him.

[What…?]

The wolf soon realized why. The shock of the broken vow had awakened Iscallion’s consciousness, resisting his control.

He staggered greatly for a moment and then roughly pushed Lou away.

Thanks to this, Lou was freed from the flaming whip.

The wolf hurriedly tried to reignite the flames, but once the initiative was lost, it was hard to regain. As he panicked, the flames engulfed him.

[What is this…!]

And Iscallion briefly regained full consciousness.

“I should have listened to you, Sister. I’m sorry, Sister….”

I guess I was beyond saving.

Muttering, Iscallion went limp. Then the flames began to consume his body.

His soul would shatter into pieces and be annihilated. Unfortunately, there was no way to stop it.

“Shahar? What just happened?”

Lou, now fully conscious, still didn’t understand what had happened.

Her face, looking around the void, was so lovely and dear. He was sure that no matter the time or place, it would always be like this.

“You.”

“Yes. I’m here. And so are you, right, Shahar?”

Shahar looked at Lou one last time.

Sensing something was wrong, she groped through the air and grabbed Shahar’s hem.

“Don’t go anywhere, okay?”

Just looking at a living being was dazzlingly beautiful, and Lou was the most radiant of all.

Sharing even a part of her life was enough for Shahar. So, he didn’t hesitate.

Finally, darkness swallowed everything.

* * *

“Lou!”

A deafening roar shook the ground. I wanted to see what was happening, but the dust storm made it hard to open my eyes.

Someone grabbed my head tightly. The familiar scent immediately told me who was holding me.

Even in my dazed state, I frowned.

Where did Shahar go, and why was the first person I saw that guy?

Finally, after the dust settled, I suppressed my discomfort and asked what had happened.

The last thing I remembered was calling Shahar.

“Shah, where is Shahar? I called him….”

“I know.”

The voice answering was unusually cautious.

“You didn’t see him?”

The Crown Prince silently shook his head.

“Then what about Leon? What happened to Leon?”

Again, he shook his head.

“Don’t just shake your head, speak clearly… tell me.”

Seeing the Crown Prince evading my question, I had a bad feeling.

“Are you awake?”

Gined’s face looked relieved as he looked down at me. Pinion was the same.

‘They were definitely seriously injured…?’

I soon found out why.

High Priest Dominique and Margarita were there.

I didn’t feel any pain, so I must have been healed too, but I couldn’t remember if I had fainted again.

And surprisingly, Janet had returned. When our eyes met, she gave an awkward smile.

“If it weren’t for that vampire, we wouldn’t have found you so quickly.”

Ignoring the Crown Prince’s explanation, I struggled to vent my frustration at Janet.

In the process, the cloak covering me slipped off. The elaborate embroidery in gold thread made it clear it belonged to the Crown Prince.

Underneath, I saw my scorched and tattered dress. It had been a rag for a while, but it was more ruined than I remembered.

While staring at it curiously, I recalled the burning pain.

I lifted the dress slightly to check, and thankfully, there were no burn marks. Not wanting to show my petticoat in front of everyone, I wrapped the cloak around me again.

Not far away, Iscallion lay asleep.

Had he been treated too?

“Don’t move.”

I forced myself up, ignoring the restraint.

“Are you still not fully conscious?”

“He… has no hope.”

“No hope?”

Gined averted his gaze and spoke in a dark tone.

“We don’t know how to mend a shattered soul.”

A shattered soul?

I couldn’t understand. I was perfectly fine.

Tilting my head, I looked back at Iscallion.

Though he was scorched and battered, he didn’t look as devastated as Gined said.

With his lips slightly parted and his eyes closed, he looked like he was just asleep.

“Leon… wake up.”

No matter how much I shook him, he didn’t wake up. Maybe he was pretending to sleep to avoid getting scolded.

After trying to wake him for a while, I suddenly remembered something and hurriedly searched my pocket.

It was the Narcissus Elixir I had saved for Seren, whose condition turned out to be better than expected.

When Ines first summoned the water ghost, I gave her half of it, and the other half was left.

An elixir that could bring the dead back to life—wouldn’t it work?

Gined shook his head sadly.

“A damaged soul cannot be healed by any elixir.”

“But you never know.”

When I insisted, Gined didn’t stop me any further.

I opened the bottle and poured the remaining elixir into his lips.

A large hand suddenly grabbed my wrist. And Leon, who supposedly had no hope, opened his eyes wide.

“Leon?”

The moment I called his name in delight, I met his completely ruptured eyes.

I got chills. The wolf’s soul was still in his body.

He muttered blankly.

[In the end, this time too… Would it have been different if I were born as Shahar…?]

“Lou!”

The Crown Prince pulled me away like lightning.

The wolf muttered in pain.

[Why did Mother—]

Before he could finish, he vanished.

But it was too early to be relieved. Though the soul had vanished, his resentment remained, pulling me in.

Meanwhile, sparkling fragments were seeping out from Iscallion’s lips.

I didn’t know exactly, but I had a strong feeling I shouldn’t leave them as they were.

Before the last fragment escaped, I quickly pressed my lips to his.

Something burning hot rushed down my throat. Startled, I swallowed it.