Julius’s POV

I tried to pry my eyes open, forcing them apart little by little as if they were glued shut.

The moment I did, pain slammed into me all over again.

The impact from earlier still lingered, like something had been ripped straight out of my chest and left a hollow space behind. My ribs ached with every tiny movement, and it felt wrong in a way I couldn’t properly explain. Breathing didn’t come naturally anymore. It felt forced and strained.

I tried to wheeze, but something inside me resisted.

Air wouldn’t pass through properly. It was like there was an invisible wall lodged deep in my lungs, blocking everything. Every attempt to breathe sent sharp pain shooting through my chest, twisting and digging deeper the more I tried. Thinking straight became difficult. My thoughts came out sluggish, scattered, and it was like they were lagging behind reality.

Dust filled the air around me.

It wasn’t just a little either. Thick layers of it hovered everywhere, swirling slowly, and clinging to the air like it refused to settle. My vision was clouded with everything reduced to vague shapes and shifting shadows.

I pushed myself up, my body protesting the entire time.

My legs trembled as I stood, and I raised a hand, waving it in front of me to clear the dust. The movement felt heavier than it should have, like my own body was working against me. Bit by bit, the haze started to thin out, enough for me to see properly again.

"You thought you could just do something like that?!" I shouted, my voice rough and uneven.

The words came out louder than expected, partly from anger, partly because I needed to hear something other than my own ragged breathing.

I lifted my gaze.

There he was.

The person who had completely turned my life upside down was flying there, still fighting Moriarty like nothing had changed. Even with Moriarty’s transformation, even with everything he had unleashed, he was still being overwhelmed.

It didn’t make sense.

At least, logically, I could understand it. Anyone with eyes could see that he was strong. If he could hold his ground against both me and Moriarty in his normal form, then that alone proved it. A part of me knew that. A part of me could even admit it if I really tried.

But I couldn’t accept it.

Accepting it felt like swallowing something bitter that wouldn’t go down. It meant acknowledging that everything he had done to me, everything he had taken, came without consequence. Like it was all just a joke to him.

That thought alone irritated me.

No, irritated wasn’t enough. It burned.

It clawed at the back of my mind, refusing to settle, pushing me closer and closer to the edge. The image of his face didn’t help either. That smug look, like he was enjoying every second of this, like my struggle meant nothing to him.

I couldn’t stand it.

My legs tensed without me even thinking about it. Muscles tightened, coiling like compressed springs ready to snap.

Then I moved.

The ground beneath me cracked slightly as I pushed off, my body launching forward. The air rushed past me, brushing against my skin, and for a brief moment, it felt like I was cutting straight through it.

I aimed straight for him.

There was no hesitation this time.

He was busy dealing with Moriarty. That was my opening. I pulled my arm back and threw a punch, putting everything I had left into it.

Before it could land, something stopped me.

A barrier.

It appeared instantly, blocking my strike like it had been waiting for it. My fist slammed against it, and instead of breaking like before, it held firm.

That same barrier.

Earlier, it had shattered so easily. It felt fragile back then, like thin glass ready to crack under pressure. Now it was completely different.

It was solid. Unmoving. It didn’t even tremble from the impact.

"If you’re going to come at me, keep the screaming to yourself. You’re more annoying than anything when you shout like that," he said.

His voice carried a casual tone, like this was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

The next thing I knew, everything flipped.

My body jerked backward, force hitting me before I could even process what happened. There was no time to react and no time to brace myself. One moment I was there, and the next, I was flying.

Just like that.

Sent away like I didn’t matter.

Like I was nothing more than some insignificant insect that had gotten too close to a fight it didn’t belong in.

As I was thrown back, my thoughts spiraled.

Everything hit me all at once.

I was supposed to become the king of this country.

That was the plan. That was the future that had already been set.

So being kicked away like this... it didn’t fit. It didn’t make sense.

This had to be a joke.

It had to be.

A joke. A joke. A joke.

The word repeated itself in my head, over and over, like if I said it enough times, it would become true.

There was no way I would lose like this.

No way I would be completely defeated by someone like him.

I refused to believe it.

And yet, my body kept flying.

I couldn’t control it. I couldn’t even adjust my position. The air rushed past me, while I remained completely helpless.

It felt longer than it should have.

Two minutes. Maybe three.

Time dragged while I was suspended like that, unable to do anything but wait for the inevitable.

Then I hit the ground.

The impact was brutal.

The moment I crashed, the ground beneath me gave way, forming a massive crater. Debris shot outward, dust erupting once again and swallowing everything around me. This crater was deeper than the last one, wider too, like the damage was stacking with each hit I took.

Pain followed immediately.

It took me a moment just to gather myself again. My body refused to cooperate.

I coughed.

Blood spilled from my mouth, dripping onto the ground below. I wiped at it instinctively, though it didn’t really help.

Still, I forced myself up.

I pushed against the ground, rising to my feet, but my knees betrayed me. They wobbled, shaking under my weight like they couldn’t hold me properly.

Was this fear?

The thought came and went quickly.

Of course not.

Fear wasn’t something I felt. It never had been.

And yet, my legs kept trembling.

They buckled slightly, forcing me to steady myself before I fell again. It didn’t make sense. I had only been hit a few times. That was it. I had landed more hits on him than he had on me.

So why did it feel like this?

Why did my body react like this?

Why did I feel... scared?

My thoughts started to blur again.

Everything inside my head felt distant, like I was losing focus little by little. That strange feeling spread through me, eating away at everything else.

It was unfamiliar.

Unwelcome.

And yet, undeniable.

It felt like the first time I had ever come face to face with something like this.

Despair.

A kind of despair so overwhelming that even my eyes instinctively wanted to turn away from it.