#148

Lasano and everyone else were aghast. Kiyen’s face, in particular, turned pale. Yurisis, upon hearing Iris’s words, was the first to react.

He, who had been standing beside her, unable to move like a puppet, contorted his face in pain. Perhaps a temporary emotional outburst broke the restraint, and his scream echoed.

“Mother!”

At his cry, Iris scowled. She clutched her head as if suffering from a headache and turned to Yurisis.

“What are you doing?”

“This was not in the story. Did you not promise! You said you would only touch those involved and related to the artifacts. This, this… this is repeating what happened to you. How can you, of all people, Mother…!”

“Silence!”

Iris’s eyes flashed.

“Do you know what your name means when you say such things! Didn’t I tell you repeatedly? Yours means subversion!”

“This is not subversion. It is nothing more than revenge beyond retribution!”

While the two argued, Kiyen backed away. His wings fluttered precariously. He opened his mouth.

“You are no different from Velemyr. No, you are worse.”

At Kiyen’s words, following Yurisis, Iris erupted in a fit of rage.

“How dare you compare me to that name!”

Kiyen continued, his face pale.

“Is it not so? Why do you not know? I did not do that by choice. I tried to refuse, but I could not. Because the bonds you are using now held me captive.”

“Silence! You, you…!”

“I am no different from you. I am not a murderer who rejoices in taking lives.”

As if she hadn’t lost all reason, she reacted sensitively to Kiyen’s words. Covering her ears, she panted and turned her gaze back to Helen. Though she didn’t know the exact mechanism, the control over the connection between Yurisis and her seemed to have shifted decisively.

Yurisis seemed to want to say more, but he closed his lips tightly.

“You didn’t want to? You tried to refuse? Fine, let’s see!”

Iris shouted at Kihelene.

“Give the command.”

Kihelene immediately refused. She shook her head resolutely.

“I cannot. That is madness. I will not kill my people.”

She looked determined, though frightened.

“To speak of your people as a mere figurehead ruler! Did you know nothing until this situation arose?”

Iris’s reactions became sharp to every word. Amidst the chaos, Lasano slowly approached Helen. Iris did not stop him. She seemed confident they could not leave Yurisis behind. And indeed, they could not. Lasano had left everything behind for his cousin.

For those who were not blood-related but were the only exceptions who cared for him.

A dazed realization dawned. The only ones who had looked after him in his life were his mother, his blood relative, and Yurisis. But his companions, without any of that…

Lasano shook his head. This was not the time to be swayed by such emotions. For now, he had to stay by Kihelene’s side as Yurisis had asked.

“Say whatever you want. I will never give such an order.”

Kihelene continued, her voice trembling. Lasano, feeling a flicker of hope from her unexpected fortitude, stood beside her. Kihelene glanced at the approaching Lasano with a subtle expression, then spoke to Iris again.

“That is a dreadful act, one that no human would commit.”

As Kihelene finished speaking, Iris burst into a mad laughter. The cackling sound echoed and then subsided.

“Too much courage becomes recklessness. It is laughable, laughable, that the descendant of a dreadful being says such things. Fine, let’s see how long you hold out.”

She said so and raised her hand. Yurisis’s hand holding the sword moved in unison. Kihelene flinched violently.

“When you see the person you love being brutally cut down, you will understand me.”

Iris whispered, making a gesture of placing her right hand on her left shoulder. Then Yurisis’s sword touched his left shoulder. She saw him grit his teeth, but it was useless, whether the Golden Seal had taken hold properly or not.

No way.

She thought that her trying to kill her own son was purely for intimidation. She hadn’t actually cut him. It couldn’t be. How could she do such a thing to her own son…

“No!”

But Iris really did it. As her hand moved a little further, the sharply honed sword began to dig into Yurisis’s shoulder.

The flesh split at once, and blood flowed out in an instant. A metallic scent spread. It was contradictory that Yurisis was the only one bleeding in this place where a fight was happening.

“Don’t, don’t! I told you not to!”

Before Lasano could stop her, Kihelene rushed towards Iris. Iris shouted.

“If you come any closer, I’ll kill you!”

Kihelene, stopping at Yurisis’s feet, burst into tears. Lasano approached her, who was gasping with her hand over her mouth, and looked down at Iris.

“You’ve gone too far. You’ve obtained the sword, so you should leave now and kill the goddess, Duchess Jenix.”

Iris didn’t budge at Lasano’s words. She seemed determined to let go of everything and leave as she pleased.

As she applied more force, white bone appeared beneath Yurisis’s clothes and flesh. A groan of pain escaped Yurisis’s gritted teeth. If she truly applied force, his arm would be severed. He, who had seen all sorts of injured people, knew it instantly.

“Please, please, please stop… Please, don’t hurt Silfi…”

“My son does not have the dirty name Silfir. He is Yurisis.”

At her words, Kihelene sobbed and nodded frantically. Seemingly overwhelmed, she sank to the ground and begged, forgetting her elegant position as royalty.

“Don’t hurt Silfi, Yuri, Yurisis… He’s the one I love… He’s your son…”

As Kihelene began to cry like a child and let out a wail, Yurisis’s expression turned devastated. He looked like he was going mad.

“If you don’t like it, give me an order.”

Kihelene continued to shake her head. Iris’s expression turned cold. Realizing she wouldn’t stop, Kiyen, who had been watching, twitched his fingers. However, his magic repeatedly gathered in his hand and then disappeared. Lasano’s heart sank as he witnessed the restraint of Dragon Speech, which he had only heard about.

Everything was horrific.

He couldn’t grasp what he had even agreed to.

“Until you obey.”

With those words, Iris raised her hand once and brought it down. Yurisis’s sword cut through the air.

Thwack.

As soon as the sound of something falling was heard, Kihelene’s eyes widened. Staring blankly with her mouth agape at her left arm lying on the floor, she stopped silently. Her hands trembled uncontrollably, and Lasano couldn’t bear it either.

She’s crazy. Iris had gone mad, truly mad, becoming more wicked than anyone. She hadn’t realized she had gone this far. She couldn’t be left like this.

Lasano tried to cast magic on her in Kiyen’s stead. But he felt no power whatsoever. It was as if the goddess was clearly reminding him that he was no longer the High Priest. He realized what he had lost only when it was truly needed.

The ability he had never needed in his life was desperately needed now. But he had thrown it away with his own hands. He had brought all of this upon himself.

“I… I’ll do it… So, please stop… Stop…”

Kihelene whispered, holding onto Lasano beside her.

“High Priest, please heal Silfi… Silfi’s arm, the blood, so much blood…”

The shocking scene seemed to have shattered half of Kihelene’s sanity. As she babbled incoherently, Iris acted as if she would cut another part. This time, she reached for his right eye.

“My son is stronger than I thought and will survive most injuries. So there are many parts to remove. Shall I try gouging out an eye this time?”

At those words, Kihelene lifted her head. With unfocused eyes, she stared at Iris, then slowly turned her head to look at Kiyen. Helen let out a thin voice, looking as if she wanted to die.

“Guardian Dragon…”

Kiyen shook his head. He stepped back.

“Don’t.”

At her apology, Kiyen’s face contorted with despair. An emotion he had never shown before appeared on his face. It was so shocking that Lasano was also speechless. It was clear terror.

“Helen.”

At the firm command of her name, she closed her eyes tightly and said,

“Go and burn Mount Tesnia… There are… rioters… threatening my life…”

Kiyen froze, staring blankly. His eyes flickered rapidly between gold and blue.

Iris turned and stared at Kiyen, as if to see how far he would refuse. Blue veins appeared on Kiyen’s temples. Gasping raggedly, he slowly crumbled. His wings trembled, and his long hair scattered on the floor.

After a few minutes, Kiyen vomited blood. Coughing, he spat out a mouthful of blood and let out a gasp, burying his forehead on the ground. The agony was palpable just by watching.

He scraped the floor with his hands. An unfamiliar change began to occur in Kiyen. His fingers began to form sharp golden claws.

Scrape, scrape. His claws dug into the floor of the grand hall. Iris stared down at him as he crouched, trying to refuse the command. She looked at the blood Kiyen had vomited and said with a numb expression,

“To call that pain. How weak. Endure it until you can’t.”

She then turned her head towards Lasano.

“Heal him. It would be better to reattach it.”

She said indifferently, looking at her son’s severed arm on the floor. Lasano could not answer. He closed his mouth, ignoring Kihelene’s desperate gaze. Iris, though mad, still recognized what was important. She soon realized it herself.

“Oh dear, you’ve become like my brother. Useless. You can’t heal…”

She looked at Lasano as if he were something useless, then sighed and picked up the severed arm. Then, as if she didn’t remember what she had just done, she whispered,

“Let’s go, my child. Mommy will heal you.”

Anger flashed in Yurisis’s eyes, but he could not open his mouth. Iris turned, holding the dangling arm. Kihelene watched the mother and son disappear with a vacant expression, then slowly collapsed backward and fainted.

Now, only Lasano remained sane. He stared into the darkness where the Jenix mother and son had disappeared and approached Kiyen, who was writhing.

He was changing. His wings began to shed feathers, becoming covered in golden scales and growing larger. Scales were also appearing on his face and wrists.

Lasano stood before him and faced the consequences of his actions squarely.

Saying he didn’t know was no excuse. It was also the phrase he hated the most. He looked foolish, trying to undo what he had already done, but Lasano finally realized.

He shouldn’t have betrayed Cullen.

It would have been better for Yurisis that way. He should have followed his heart when it wavered. If he had stopped, unable to resist Arne’s grasp, everyone would have accepted it somehow. Cullen had tried to persuade him, and Ulli probably… would have understood.

“I will… fix it again.”

Lasano said to Kiyen. Then Kiyen, who had his forehead on the floor, lifted his head. Above his gritted teeth, in his eyes… tears welled up.

He was crying.

“It’s too late.”

He said in a voice seething with anger and hatred.

“It’s too late.”

Even at this moment, he seemed to be fighting against the command, his eyes rolling repeatedly. He slammed his hand on the floor and stood up.

“I thought you would change, but in the end… you’re the same.”

His body began to turn golden. Losing his human form and beginning to revert to his true dragon form, he rose into the air.

“Another nightmare, forever continuing… gained from human conflict.”

After a whisper that sounded more pained than a scream, Kiyen disappeared. Lasano stood frozen, lifting his head in the direction he had vanished. Above the gaping hall, something vast that obscured the sun was visible.

It was the shadow of a dragon, about to burn the northern mountains.