The only trace they had to go on was in Conrad, a western territory of Lyndis. Given what could be assumed took place there, if Vashas el Lyndis was behind all of it, he had to be completely unhinged.

With his body covered in burns, he likely had no other choice. Despite the circumstances, his obsession went beyond imagination. Even the most advanced healing abilities wouldn’t be able to completely restore such horrific injuries.

They were fatal wounds that made survival nearly impossible.

Even so, he didn’t miss his one chance. He had vomited up the Imperial Emblem he had swallowed long ago as part of the Lyndis royal family, his captors none the wiser.

He’d already known that if he died without that artifact, he’d never be found. Yet he still acted without hesitation.

Smack!!!

Owl, a special ops survivor from the Goran Kingdom, was sent flying into the wall.

“Didn't I tell you to watch him carefully? Do you want to die before him?!”

“Ugh. M-my apologies...” Owl, fatally wounded in a single strike, staggered but still lowered his head deeply. “My apologies.”

“Why don't you understand that if he dies, we're all screwed?!!”

“I'm sorry,” he repeated.

“Haah. So, what has the doctor said about his condition?”

“They said we should take him to the temple right away. Of course, we didn’t, in case the information leaked or his identity got exposed.”

“Can he be saved?” she asked, hopeful.

“We were lucky. He's still breathing, but barely.”

“Haah. Good! With injuries like that, he won't be able to pull any more stunts. So what’s he doing right now?”

“He’s still with the doctor.”

At that moment, the sound of something exploding echoed.

Bang!!!

Owl and the woman both jolted before their heads turned.

“What's going on?!”

Another officer staggered in, saying, “Ugh. We have a big problem, Sir! H-he! He broke his cuffs and escaped!”

Squelsh!!

The man's head burst in an instant.

“Hah. Not only did you mess up once, but now you let him escape!? You lost that walking corpse that was practically dead!? Are you messing with me!?” The woman was beyond furious.

“H-hurry and chase after him! Before the information spreads any further!”

“Y-Yes!”

Watching the others who had come with the messenger run out in terror, Owl nervously bit his nails. “Argh!!! These useless bastards! I'll go after them.”

“Forget it!” the woman shouted, incensed. “Damn it, I'll go myself. You stay here and make sure the surrounding area is locked down so this information doesn't leak.”

“Yes.” When the woman screamed in rage and stormed out, Owl stared at her back with a complicated expression. “Hmm. What to do now...”

There was no guarantee that following her orders would yield a good result.

On the other hand, he had to consider the possibility of saving his own life by defecting and selling the prince's information to Lyndis.

* * *

The woman, who was also the leader of the special forces, went by several code names. Among them, she was most known within the Goran Kingdom as Moonlight.

The name came from a rumor that she moved through the darkness of night, where even the moon didn’t shine. The only light her enemies ever saw was the metallic glint of her blade, like moonlight.

No one had a clue how Vashas was fleeing, let alone moving a single muscle, with such severe injuries. Despite the horrific burns that had ruined his muscles, he was running away at a speed incomparable to that of an ordinary person.

Interestingly, the direction he headed was outside the territory, not to the local lord’s residence. Sure, some might call him foolish, but in a way, he was being smart. After all, there was a chance the ordinary territorial lord could stop him. In the worst-case scenario, they might be connected to Goran’s special forces.

“Hah. Hah.” Vashas, moving through the forest and gasping for breath, was on the verge of dying. Yet, he endured.

Though he was already a wreck, his fierce obsession forcefully awakened his mind and refused to let those bastards get away with it.

However, the injury gnawed at him more than he expected. Since most of the mana inside him had already scattered, he couldn’t precisely control the extent of his injuries.

He heard a distant shout.

“Found him!! Don't lose him!!”

For them to discover him so quickly, he figured they must’ve secured the area already. They were arguably the best on the continent when dealing with manhunts.

He had heard rumors of highly trained operatives being secretly raised within the Goran Kingdom, but they were beyond anything he had expected.

Among them, Moonlight was especially an absolute monster. She was fast, precise, composed, and so terrifying that even he, a Swordmaster, was subdued before he could so much as lift a finger.

Clearly, his original plan of simply fleeing wouldn't work.

‘If I keep running away like this, they’ll eventually catch up to me. Then my last chance will go away.’

He quickly racked his brain to think of the next move, but his opponent was faster. That was the price for running while severely injured and drawing as much attention as possible in the process of escaping.

“Agh. Uuugh.”

“Haah. Damn it, surround him!”

Vashas was a prince of Lyndis. He also stood as the de facto leader of the highly influential noble faction.

Despite being a man of such standing, they slowly cornered him as if they were capturing a pig slathered in oil.

His usual threats based on his status were utterly useless. He had no weapon in his hands. His body didn’t move the way he wanted it to.

Even as a Swordmaster, he saw no way to defeat them.

“You're making this way fuckin’ harder than it has to be, asshole!!” one of the men shouted at him.

Thud!!

“Gasp!”

One of his eyes had been blinded in the initial blast, and while he was lucky to have saved the other, that wasn’t what was important at that moment. There was no way he could fight when even the lightest breeze on his remaining skin—or lack thereof—caused excruciating pain.

He rolled on the forest floor, experiencing a pain that felt like it’d tear him apart.

“Hah. I guess he's still a Swordmaster. I didn't think he'd move this fast even with injuries this bad.”

Their leader approached, having spotted the struggle. “Did you catch him?”

“Ah. Yes, Lady Moonlight. Over here.”

It would’ve been less trouble for Vashas if only the special forces soldiers were there, but that cursed monster had followed them.

Moonlight coldly glared at Vashas, then kicked him in the abdomen, sending him flying.

“Grrr!!”

“Lady Moonlight! He might die...”

It was an extremely rough blow.

She stared at Vashas, then slowly approached him. “Were you trying to die? To get us caught?”

He didn't respond.

“Still, I've gotta say, you were running pretty hard for someone trying to die. Ridiculous.” She stepped on his face. “Did you really think you could escape? Or is it because you know what’ll happen to you if you don’t?”

Moonlight laughed coldly and ground her foot into his scarred skin.

“Grrr. GRAAAH!!!”

“Within our Goran Kingdom... Vashas el Lyndis, you're number two on our must-kill list. That makes you a person we can't leave any opportunity for, and also a figure of the highest priority.”

“Then why aren't you killing me?” he spat out.

“If we kill you here, our plan will fall apart too.”

Regardless of human rights or anything else, Tionis was ultimately a world governed by the logic of power.

“If you want to die, I'll gladly grant you death. But not now. Come along quietly, and I'll kill you without pain.” She grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up with such ease it was as if she were picking up a bundle of straw.

‘I need to resist.’

He desperately held onto his dizzying mind and struggled to hold out. Yet, the pain gradually plunged his consciousness into the abyss.

Just as his will was about to fade completely, someone flashed through his mind like a fleeting glimpse of his life.

‘I'm sorry, Mother. Your son... won't live a good life to the end.’

He’d known he was foolish to be caught at all and fail in his escape. If he was recaptured, he’d be used as bait with no chance to escape. All that would be left for him is a brutal death at the hands of his malicious captors.

That wasn't the ending he had wanted. Alas, there was nobody left who could save him. He had left a trace behind as a last hope, but no one could arrive to save him at that very moment. It didn’t matter how fast they were.

He desperately wished to see his mother.

‘If I have another chance, I won’t neglect Belluard like that.’

He had been an incompetent father, letting his son end up like that.

Maybe what he was experiencing at his captors’ hands was the punishment he deserved.

As he let out a self-mocking laugh and closed his eyes, he heard the sound of someone running.

‘Who?’

He slowly turned his head and identified the owner of the footsteps with his remaining eye.

With all the strength he could muster, he opened his eyes wide.

‘Why... why...’

“Brother!!” the new arrival called out.

‘I... told you not to... call me your brother...’

Every time he saw her, he screamed in resentment and cursed at her. He discriminated against the beastfolk for no reason and drove her people out.

‘Yet... Why... Why?’

He had no clue how she had found him all the way out in the middle of nowhere.

“Run... Run!”

He didn't think she’d be of any help, whatever she did. Even if she was an elementalist, the moment Moonlight made her move, he knew she’d be dead meat.

‘If Davey O'Rowane goes berserk because of your foolishness, who’s going to handle the aftermath, you foolish—’

Suddenly, he realized he was actually worried for her.

‘Wait, no. This isn’t me worrying... it’s me rebuking her for being foolish, for acting without thinking about what comes next!’

Despite his thoughts, his body was moving in her direction.

‘Still... you’re the only one who came to save me.’

The special forces members, startled by her approach, pulled out their weapons to subdue her.

Vashas, on the verge of death, unknowingly drew out the last of his energy from within.

Perhaps he’d known it all along. The incident back then was truly an accident, and he had no reason to hate Aeria.

Perhaps he just... needed someone to blame. He directed it all at the foolish younger sibling who survived because of their mother’s sacrifice, yet couldn’t even remember her final moments.

Just once was enough. If he could save her stupid life, he thought it might slightly atone for the bad karma of the inadequate father who failed to raise his son, and the price of his own sins for mistreating her all that time.

He tried to burn his vitality to break free from Moonlight's grasp.

Feeling his sudden movement, Moonlight was surprised and quickly tried to restrain him, but Vashas was also a Swordmaster.

Since burning the soul was a one-time act, even someone at a higher level couldn’t perfectly counter it.

Thump!

Falling to the ground, he crouched to spring his body forward.

Royalty, no matter how disgraceful they were, never bowed their head to anyone. Royalty never became a burden to others.

That was the conviction of the Lyndis royal, Vashas el Lyndis.

‘Instead of being saved by you, I’ll save you.’

The moment he tried to leap, the world changed as if time had slowed down. He could see Moonlight reaching out her hand toward him, and the special forces soldiers lunging with their weapons at the charging Aeria.

‘How did that idiot even know to come here?’

It was the very moment he was about to unleash all the remaining power he had stored up.

Whoosh!!

Thwack!!

White things began to pop out of Aeria's shadow.

Kyu.

Kyu.

Enormous muscular rabbits had suddenly emerged, emitting strange sounds as they began to multiply.

They protected Aeria and snatched up the special forces soldiers approaching them.

“Huh?” Vashas, who had been just about to jump and sacrifice the last vestige of his life, watched the scene with a blank face.

‘Am I seeing things? What am I looking at right now?’

Kyuu.

Crack.

He figured he must have been hallucinating. The huge, muscular rabbit snatched the special forces soldiers with its massive, powerful paws and began to snap their necks.

The last thing he heard before finally passing out was Aeria shouting, “Protect my brother!”