By Zephyria 
Since it was the first time a look of contentment had spread across the child’s face, Leonardo stared at her blankly for a moment.
“…Love?”
She was clearly looking at him, yet it felt as if she were gazing somewhere else entirely.
Blinking slowly, Leonardo chewed over the meaning of her words once more.
‘Residual thoughts stemming from love are clinging to me and protecting me?’
As he parsed the sentence word by word, his eyes naturally drifted toward the source. Though unintentional, Nero, who was standing closest, entered his field of vision first.
Nero, who had also been staring blankly, wore a puzzled expression when his eyes met his captain’s.
“W-Why?”
Seeing the hint of fluster and bashfulness in Nero’s demeanor, Leonardo’s expression became quite subtle.
Does he think he is the subject of this love? No matter how much we care for each other… it’s too cringeworthy to label that emotion as “love.”
Just applying that word to their relationship made his hands and feet twitch instinctively.
Leonardo immediately denied it, shaking his head as if it were nothing.
‘Then who is…?’
Just as Leonardo turned back to the child to ask about the source of the residual thoughts—
Whoosh—
A sudden gust of wind blew, causing one of his eyes to squint shut. Simultaneously, a gentle spiral whirlwind formed along the circular trajectory the child had drawn. The densely grown grass and shrubs lay flat in one direction, revealing the flow of the air.
The wind brushed against the cheeks and hair of the confused Leonardo and slowly ascended. It felt so much like the touch of someone familiar that Leonardo instinctively closed his eyes and surrendered himself to it.
Right then, the child gave an instruction in a low voice.
“Breathe slowly. Think of nothing. The residual thoughts protecting you will guide the way.”
This time, it was the voice of a dignified middle-aged woman. At the irresistible command, Leonardo’s chin lifted. His chest expanded, and his stifled airway finally opened.
As he repeated the cycle of inhalation and exhalation, the unbearable hunger gradually subsided. It was a strange phenomenon.
‘It’s warm.’
Along with this, the yellow flowers scattered over his body slowly floated into the air, following the wind. As the fluttering petals emitted light like fragments of the sun, the entire area was dyed in a brilliant golden hue, matching his fluttering blonde hair.
He wondered if this was what it felt like to witness the descent of a god.
Taylor and Finder, watching the wondrous sight, rose from their seats as if possessed.
“…What’s happening?”
Taylor muttered anxiously as she watched Leonardo being enveloped by countless petals. She wondered if he could even breathe amidst them. The captain’s entire body was being filled without a single gap by the fluttering golden shards. At this rate, even his face seemed likely to be covered. Meanwhile, Leonardo’s eyelids, barely visible, were drooping weakly. She worried he might lose consciousness in that state.
“Captain—”
She didn’t know why she felt this way, but she was afraid he might suddenly vanish somewhere.
“Captain!”
Just as Taylor reached out and attempted to trespass onto the altar, a wooden ladle was thrust in front of her. Stopping reflexively, she looked down.
The child, eyes fixed on her, was blocking her path with a single outstretched arm.
“Do not go near. If you wish to help that fellow.”
“But—”
Taylor tried to protest, but Finder, who had followed her, grabbed her shoulder and shook his head. His look suggested they should trust the process since it was for the captain’s sake. Taylor bit her lip in anxiety.
Meanwhile, a black aura shimmered around Leonardo’s neck. While the residual thoughts had previously lunged to tear him apart, they were now clamoring as if trying to break free toward the outside. The tassels on the shawl, which had been neatly aligned, shook violently, as if signaling the presence of a being from another dimension.
The rustling of leaves reminded him of the piercing screams he had heard in the swamp. Amidst the intensifying wind, Leonardo’s consciousness was on the verge of being swallowed once again.
However, this time the feeling was different. There was no urgency or anxiety.
‘Just like this….’
Rather, his mind became so clear it felt as if the inside of his brain was being aired out.
‘I want to sleep.’
Becoming addicted to the strange sensation, he lowered his eyelashes loosely, like someone who had reached a state of enlightenment.
At that moment, Nero’s eyes twitched.
“Hyung, your neck—”
The black choker that had lived as a part of his skin for the past few years, digging into the captain’s life. That symbol of oppression and bondage was becoming transparent like a mirage amidst the golden light. The black border split into tiny particles like ash and began to scatter in all directions along with formless smoke.
It was around then that Leonardo’s hazy eyes regained their focus.
Unconsciously, he brought his hand to his neck.
‘…!’
It wasn’t clear, but he could definitely feel it.
The shapes that had shimmered in the swamp were violently undulating between his fingers. Because of that, his skin stung as if carved by a knife, but he could not pull his hand away.
It was because he saw a possibility.
And with that, a surge of euphoria rushed in.
‘If it’s now….’
The sensation of his neck being strangled hadn’t vanished completely, but the pressure was definitely loosening. It was evidence that the steadfast curse was weakening. If it was now, he might be able to tear it off.
Leonardo’s sharpened gaze gleamed with intense hope. It resembled an uncontrolled desire.
This thing that prevented him from living as himself, and prevented him from fully enjoying his freedom even after obtaining it. An opportunity to escape the leash he had once hated so much that it had sparked impulses to decapitate himself.
Unconsciously, his grip tightened. It was the moment a crack formed in his peaceful heart.
“No! Maintain your breathing!”
The child’s urgent cry rang out. Leonardo, who had been attempting to draw out his Magic Power at rapid speed, paused for a split second.
In that instant, the petals gathering at the center froze in mid-air as if time had stopped. Then, they trembled in the air like a spreading wave before plummeting vertically like fallen leaves in autumn.
As an eerily destructive energy condensed around the captain, Finder, who sensed it first, reacted. He threw himself toward Leonardo.
“—!”
Taylor and Nero also leaped onto the altar without hesitation. The basket Nero tossed aside bounced low, and the flower blossoms spilled unsightly across the dirt ground. In the moment the spinning petals rolled like a slow-motion scene—
Screeeeeech—
The air boiled rapidly, and a white flash exploded blindingly. The destructive power swallowed not only the altar where Leonardo sat but also the massive tree Taylor had been leaning against.
The fragile petals vanished without leaving a trace in the white thermal flare.
The strange silence and dry dust that followed eventually covered the thread-like hope.
Leaning against Nero’s back, Leonardo hung limp with only his arms draped over, his face vacant. Because of his uncooperative captain, Nero had to readjust his grip several times, but he didn’t utter a single complaint.
Rather, he walked as steadily as possible so as not to upset the captain’s mood.
This was because the depth of disappointment was conveyed clearly through the sigh tickling the back of his neck.
Leonardo blamed the failure of the ritual entirely on himself. He pushed himself into a swamp of self-reproach, claiming he had ruined everything due to his stupidity, impulsiveness, and lack of judgment, even in a situation where his head had nearly exploded. But to Nero, that wasn’t the problem.
The real problem was the fact that if they hadn’t all rushed in together to use magic to divert the shock outward, they might have lost the captain right then and there.
The black choker, when one attempted to force it open, acted as a detonator toward the wearer in proportion to the force applied. This was a fact that even the Dark Silver members, including Nero, had not known—and coincidentally, Leonardo said he had already known it.
He had attempted it before, and he had tried to tear it off despite knowing the risk.
The desperation to be free, even if a part of his body were blown away, was something anyone from the Dark Silver 11th Unit—who had tracking chips embedded in their bodies—could not fail to understand. However, putting that into action was another matter.
After realizing the horrific reality, there was absolutely no conversation between them as they moved toward the child’s house.
A silence deeper than the one immediately following the explosion lingered in the forest where gnarled tree roots were entangled.
Only the occasional fluttering of birds or the cries of wild animals made them aware that time was passing.
Then, the child leading the way spoke.
“The failure of the ritual is not your fault.”
The half-closed Gold Eyes rolled to one side. The child, stopping in their tracks, delivered a belated certainty.
“Someone interfered with the ritual.”