The mist within Valeshroud thickened like curdled breath, curling around their ankles and obscuring the path ahead. A hollow wind howled across broken spires, and the once-grand valley had become little more than an open grave. Shin led the way, the pulse of the Kagetsu no Men still echoing in his soul like a second heartbeat.
Zera marched beside him, eyes sweeping the ruinous terrain. Her silence was no longer one of suspicion, but of resolve. Laverna was a step ahead, flickers of wind and ice trailing from her hands. Her jamadhars hummed faintly, their magic synced to her heartbeat. The cold kiss of elemental magic clung to her every movement.
Laverna looked at Shin, with him looking like a human once more. She brought it up briefly. "Hey. You're back to normal."
Shin touched his head, feeling that his fox ears weren't there. He took the orb in his pocket and used it as a mirror.
Indeed, Shin's fox form is hidden once more. "You're right. Although I don't understand why, it's better this way." Shin said.
Yuri brought up the rear, arrows at the ready, eyes sharp despite the ache in her bones. "This place feels like it's watching us."
"It is," Zera replied flatly. "Falzath's eyes are never blind."
A whisper floated through the air, low and melodic, a chant in a tongue ancient and wrong. Shapes stirred in the fog. Cultist scouts, draped in robes stitched from flayed skin, slithered from the ruins. Their eyes were glazed over, but their movements were precise, fanatic.
The pulse of the mirror led the cultists to their group. When they saw Shin, they didn't see his human form, but his fox form and the mirror floating behind him. One of them said. "The fox is in the possession of the mirror. Get them!"
Laverna moved like lightning, her jamadhars slicing an arc of wind. Her magic crackled to life. One blade shimmered with frost, the other whipped with howling gales. She danced through the ranks of the cultists, her footwork honed by kunoichi discipline, her power amplified by the Crest still etched upon her lower abdomen.
"Contain the fox, quickly!" One shouted, with the others chanting something, the others stalling for the spellcasters to complete their magic. A cultist raised his staff, surging energy as it pulsed towards Zera's direction.
Shin saw this and shielded her from the arcane blast. With it, they're surrounded in darkness.
Shin and Zera found themselves trapped together within a dome of void—no light, no sound beyond the pounding of their hearts. It was Zera who broke the silence, tears glistening down her cheeks as the vision of her fallen kingdom returned like a dagger to the soul.
"Why am I the only one who lived…?" she whispered, her voice cracking with guilt. "As a knight princess, it was my duty to protect them. My family. My home. And I failed."
Shin, still shielding her, looked into her broken eyes and placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "You didn't fail them, Zera. You survived. That takes strength. And it's what you do with that strength now that defines who you are."
She met his gaze, breath trembling.
"I was the only one left from my clan too," Shin said softly. "The Soma Clan was everything to me. And yet… I lived. That guilt, it never fully fades. But I know this much: If they're watching, they're proud of who you're becoming."
He offered a small smile. "The decisions you make and the actions that follow is a reflection of who you are."
Amidst the storm of sorrow in her mind, Zera turned to him, her eyes wide, lips quivering. "You gave me purpose again," she said, voice low.
Before Shin could respond, she closed the distance and kissed him—firm, fiery, unyielding. The world blinked white for a moment, and something deeper locked in place between them.
Shin's left hand flared with heat, the seal etched upon it glowing with a new mark. Zera gasped lightly as warmth flooded her chest, euphoric and magnetic.
When the kiss broke, she smiled faintly. "Now I fight for you."
Her sword's blue aura surged, light spiraling along the blade. With a vertical slash powered by the bond and resolve in her heart, the dome shattered into fragments of dissipating shadow.
Light flooded back in as Shin and Zera emerged.
She dove back into the fray with renewed fury, her movements a blur of light and discipline.
Zera's aura ignited, a flash of sapphire flaring around her like a star being born. She moved with newfound precision, her longsword glowing with light-infused energy. With every swing, a crescent of searing blue carved through the corruption.
Shin saw it.
Her body pulsed with magic—not just technique, but empowerment. The Servant Crest blazed along her ribs, etched like fire in the skin. And she was faster. Stronger.
Laverna noticed. Her eyes flicked to Zera, a flash of irritation tempered by understanding.
Another cultist lunged, and Laverna let her jamadhar erupt in fire, sending the zealot screaming through the air. "Show-off," she muttered, eyes narrowing with unspoken challenge.
More cultists began to chant louder, their voices rising into an unnatural crescendo.
Shin stepped forward, drawing Yoshimatsu. The katana's edge shimmered with red lightning, slicing the air in a clean arc.
His body ached. He could feel something siphoning back, subtle, draining. But necessary.
The light burst outward in a dome, searing the fog away and staggering the cultists. Behind them, ancient symbols scorched the ground, wards of purification.
Yuri took advantage of the disruption, losing enchanted arrows that exploded mid-air, vaporizing enemies. "Nice glow-up, Shin."
"Stay close," he said, panting slightly.
A moment later, the chanting stopped.
A figure emerged. Cloaked in ceremonial black and gold, the cultist leader bore a crooked staff and a crown of bone. His face was obscured, but his voice carried clearly and sharply.
"The King knows of your presence. His dominion now spans continents. The Falzath devours, and Valeshroud is the final flame."
Laverna scowled. "Then we burn brighter."
She rushed the leader, her magic flaring. Ice chained around her arms, wind spiraling from her feet as she launched into a spinning strike. The leader deflected the blow with a shield of shadows, but Zera was already behind him, plunging her sword into the ward's heart.
A scream echoed across the ruins.
With their leader felled, the remaining cultists fell into chaos. Shin and the others pressed their advantage. Within minutes, only silence remained. Fog curled once more, yet something in the air had changed. Lighter. Hopeful.
Yuri knelt beside the fallen cult leader. "They really believe Tristan's already conquered the continent."
Zera wiped blood from her blade. "Then they haven't seen us fight."
Shin looked at both Laverna and Zera. "We can't lose Valeshroud. This place… this is where the last light lives."
Laverna exhaled, flicking blood off her blades. Her expression softened just a touch as she looked to Zera. "You're strong, Zera. I see that you're like Shin with the sword."
Zera tilted her head. "Jealous?"
"Motivated," Laverna answered, smirking. "I'll have to train harder if I want to keep up. Guess I'll be adding more drills to my mornings."
Zera gave a short laugh, sheathing her glowing blade. "If you want to train or spar, I can lend a hand. I'm always happy to sharpen an ally."
Laverna raised an eyebrow, accepting the offer with a nod. "Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you kissed our Master."
Shin blinked. "Wait—our?"
Zera smiled wryly. "You noticed?"
He didn't reply. But the mark on his left hand was glowing faintly again. He lifted it, watching the intricate design shimmer in the misty air. A new ring of symbols had appeared around the original seal—the same one that responded to Laverna's crest before.
Another tether.
He didn't fully understand what was happening, but he knew this much: whatever bond was forming, it was real. It pulsed with life. With meaning. But with it came a cost. His limbs felt a little heavier than usual. The strain from channeling his power, plus this deepening connection, tugged at his strength like a subtle tide.
"You look tired," Zera said gently, stepping closer. "We can rest. I'll keep watch."
"I can help too," Laverna interjected quickly, stepping in just as close. "You don't have to coddle him."
Zera's smile sharpened into something sly. "Oh, I wasn't going to coddle him."
Shin glanced between the two of them, sensing the sudden spike in tension, though it was less hostile and more… charged. A friendly rivalry ignited in the embers of war.
Laverna folded her arms, leaning slightly closer to Shin. "I've known him longer. If anyone's helping him rest, it's me."
Zera didn't back down. "And I'm his Servant now. That means I have a duty to look after his well-being."
"Servant," Laverna repeated with a scoff. "We'll see how long that head start lasts."
Shin coughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You both do realize I'm standing right here."
"Good," they said in unison.
He sighed, but the warmth in his chest told another story. Beneath the fatigue, he felt something deeper building. Not just strength—trust. Kinship. Something rarer than even power.
They wouldn't back down. And neither would he.
In the distance, the lunar pulse shimmered faintly through the fog.
Unseen to all, deep within the corrupted throne in Laginaple, King Tristan stirred. His corrupted eyes opened, sensing resistance. His smile was slow. Delighted.
Let them fight. Let them come.
He would be ready.