Lucius returned home and chose to lay on his bed. Sia was still asleep — her condition forced her to sleep most of the time, which, in a way, was preferable. Since he'd be heading out tonight, he planned to leave after preparing dinner for her.
There were other tasks at hand as well, but the most important one now was figuring out how to accomplish the biggest hunt he'd ever attempted — alone.
There was a reason Sonic, despite his many contacts in the Guild and military, still chose him. If Lucius succeeded, he'd get to keep the core — a standard clause unless someone made a special request. And when that happened, hefty compensation would be required in exchange. Sonic made it clear: he didn't want the core. He wanted the entire body.
Why? Research? Crafting? Something else?
Lucius didn't care. As long as he got what he needed — his weapons, his conditions — Sonic could do whatever he wanted with the corpse.
But that wasn't even the biggest concern right now.
Lucius had officially pulled himself out of the adventuring role due to his injury. The Guild would never allow him to re-enter the Beast Rim this quickly, not without raising suspicions. Even if he showed proof of healing, the timing would be too perfect, too convenient. People would talk.
He couldn't ask the Guildmaster Dargan for a favor, either. While Dargan had favored him many times in the past, today wouldn't be one of those days — not without informing Sia. And that would only add another layer of complications.
Sara and Lavya?
Lucius would rather die than involve them.
Not because he didn't trust them — but because he wouldn't be able to fully focus on the monster if he had to constantly protect and cover for them. Involving others meant splitting compensation, sure — but more importantly, it meant risking exposure. If he had to go all-out, his true nature, his real strength — the kind that could rival those with elemental affinities — would no longer stay hidden.
So yes. Lucius was going alone. No team. No backup.
And since he couldn't request an official entry permit from the Guild without a group or a valid excuse, he'd have to bypass that entirely. Being seventeen meant Dargan would never issue such an absurd solo clearance. And even if, somehow, Dargan did — the man wouldn't keep it secret. Eventually, Sia would find out. And that would come back to bite him hard.
Now, onto the positives — which were... scarce.
His weapons would be ready and upgraded by sundown.
He was well-rested, with no training today.
Sonic would provide high-quality recovery potions.
And Crimson Ultima would be by his side.
"Great... I'm so screwed on this."
The biggest question now was how to cross the city walls. Through the gates? Absolutely not. The Knights would chase him down within minutes. And with people like Captain Mercy or Vice-Captain Ronith around, it would be less of a chase and more of a voluntary arrest.
Lucius, now in full planning mode, smiled to himself.
He knew exactly what he had to do — the one thing he loved more than anything: breaking established rules.
He was going to sneak out at midnight.
Just like he had the night before when he tailed Mercy.
With the plan now fully constructed in his mind, Lucius stood up and left his comfort zone — to prepare dinner for Sia.
Sia stirred awake. "How long did I sleep for?"
Her voice was soft and dry, eyes watery and struggling to open.
"For an additional three hours," Lucius replied, seated on the chair beside her bed, pretending to read a book — a book whose title he didn't even know.
Sia tried to rise from the bed, but her body wouldn't cooperate. Just shifting positions proved a challenge. Lucius was by her side instantly, helping her up and gently lifting her into his arms — princess-style again.
"Again?" she whispered, cheeks burning with embarrassment.
She buried her face into his chest, refusing to look up.
Lucius found it amusing. Honestly, adorable.
"You know," he began casually, "this is exactly how I used to feel back then... when you used to carry me around like a baby. For no reason."
"..."
"Although," he added with a smirk, "I never buried my face into her chest... now that I think about it... Guess I should've done that too."
"Shut up!" Sia barked, her face disappearing even deeper into his chest.
Lucius chuckled. He carried her around the room in a slow lap, like old times.
These moments — quiet, playful, and intimate — he cherished the most.
***
"Sia, there's an urgency. I need to leave in an hour," Lucius said softly while feeding her dinner.
Sia blinked, immediately narrowing her eyes. "Urgency?" she echoed, clearly unconvinced. "Where to?"
Lucius didn't flinch. He was prepared, and his answers came smooth — measured, precise, crafted to perfection. There was no hesitation in his words, no gaps in his story.
But Sia had raised him.
She didn't need gaps. She just needed his face.
"How long do you plan to lie straight to my face, little one?" she asked, her voice laced with exhaustion — not just from her condition, but from the weight of this exact conversation happening again.
Lucius didn't respond right away. He just kept feeding her quietly, like nothing had happened. But the silence hung between them.
"Is it that dangerous?" she asked.
Lucius paused for only a fraction of a second. "Not really, no."
He was still lying.
This time, though, Sia didn't call him out.
"Then why lie?" she asked again, mid-bite — something she hated doing. "You know I despise liars."
Lucius smiled faintly. For a moment, he said nothing — just looked at her, quietly admiring her. Sia flushed, looking away, clearly flustered.
"It's because you'd worry too much," he finally said. "And you wouldn't rest."
His voice carried a note of regret… or at least the illusion of it. In truth, even this conversation — every pause, every deflection — was part of his escape plan.
"Lucius… of course I'll worry about you. That's my job," Sia said, her tone softening. "Especially when you've got no weapons on you."
Lucius gave a small nod. "I'll be fine," he added calmly. "There's no real danger."
Still unconvinced, Sia reached out weakly with one trembling hand, mana faintly glowing at her fingertips.
"Here," she murmured, "Take this instead. Unlike myself… my weapon isn't weak or pathetic."
She handed him Rare Death — her infamous blood blade, forged in a war most people had forgotten. Her personal weapon, known by name across regions.
Lucius hesitated. He hadn't expected this part to go so easily.
But with her hand barely able to hold it, he had no choice but to accept. Gently, he took the blade from her — not with reverence, but with a quiet satisfaction he quickly masked.
"In my absence," Sia whispered, "this sword shall protect you… in case you run into anything unusual. Which you usually do, my little magnet of trouble."
Lucius swung the blade slowly, testing its weight, letting his mana run through it. It responded instantly, alive in his grip.
'How cute and innocent of you… my little mentor,' Lucius thought with a hidden grin.
She didn't know.
She didn't realize this entire exchange — the conversation, the feeding, the concern — had been orchestrated to get this very weapon.
Rare Death had always been his target.
And now, it was in his hand.
A perfect trap.
And she'd walked into it, willingly.
***
'Finally, now I can focus on my mission, without any distractions.' Lucius thought as he stepped out of his residence, the door closing with a soft but final click behind him. The silence that followed didn't feel cold—it felt earned. Before departing, he'd made sure to contact Lavya and Sara, instructing them to keep Sia company for a few hours. Sia wouldn't mind being alone, of course; she wasn't helpless. But leaving her behind without Rare Death—her most trusted weapon—still gnawed at him somewhere deep. So, this added layer of security was more for his peace of mind than hers. It was a precaution. A gesture. And in its own way… a goodbye.
He moved quickly, steps light and precise through the dim streets of Varis, the city's undercurrent humming beneath his boots. He reached Sonic's workshop in record time. As always, the place reeked of metal, oil, and mana fumes—a scent he had grown oddly fond of. Sonia was already waiting for him, perched on a high stool, tossing a mana crystal between her hands with casual grace. Sonic stood at the bench, inspecting the edge of a weapon with focused intensity.
Lucius wasted no time. He retrieved his stored items—Crimson Ultima, his recovery potions, and a few compact enchantment scrolls. As he checked each item methodically, Sonia approached with a quiet smile, holding one of the high-grade healing potions in her hand.
"I can apply it for you," she offered, voice softer than usual. "Some of those wounds haven't closed yet."
Lucius paused for a moment, then nodded. "Alright."
He removed his upper garments without ceremony. His torso was lean but scarred—etched with the remnants of battles that shouldn't have been survived. Sonia approached and began dabbing the potion gently across the torn skin, her fingers careful but confident. Her expression was unreadable—neither flirtatious nor distant. Just focused.
Sonic, never one to waste time, used the silence to ask what he'd been holding back.
"While I was retreating yesterday… after I crossed paths with that beast," he began slowly, "I stumbled across something strange. A massacre. Nearly 150, maybe 200 knightcrawlers—just gone. All slaughtered. But no signs of a battle."
Lucius's expression didn't twitch. "That so?"
"Any clue what could've done that?" Sonic pressed, eyeing him with growing suspicion as Sonia continued her work.
Lucius let out a light whistle. "Damn... must've been an elite Battleknight squad. Maybe they were sent to avenge the fallen. Sounds about right."
His tone was casual. Too casual.
Sonic squinted. "Could be. But there were no human bodies. No signs of conflict. No mana burns. No broken terrain. No smell of fire or explosives. Just the knightcrawlers… all cleanly executed."
Lucius met his gaze, still calm. "So maybe it was Aerial Knights. Drop in, eliminate, and vanish."
"But there were no craters, no sky-burn marks, no energy discharges," Sonic argued. "And the crawlers—some of them were crushed from within. Like their limbs folded inward."
Before he could continue, Lucius exhaled sharply through his nose and cut him off.
"Why does it matter?" he asked, voice edged with impatience. "Our concern should be what's ahead, not random corpses behind us."
Sonic looked like he wanted to push, but stopped. There was a line, and he had just stepped close to it.
"Yeah… I suppose you're right," Sonic muttered.
The tension hung in the air like dust in sunlight—thick, inevitable, and unspoken.
"Anyway," Sonic continued, shifting gears, "you got a plan for that monster?"
Lucius's eyes narrowed, but he nodded. "Yes. One that guarantees my survival."
Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Not your victory?"
"I'm not cocky," Lucius replied flatly. "Just prepared."
The sun had dipped lower now, its orange hue bleeding through the workshop windows like firelight. The edge of dusk marked the beginning of something darker.
"I'd suggest hurrying then," Sonic said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It'll take you at least six hours to reach where I spotted the creature. But the Golden Gates are still a problem. Captain himself is stationed there today. The Vice-captain too. Both flanks are locked down by sensory-type knights."
He hesitated before asking the real question.
"If you don't mind me asking… how the hell do you plan on getting past all that?"
Lucius didn't answer immediately. He finished fastening his armor, then turned, cloak fluttering behind him with his movements. His blacked-out uniform with crimson lining caught the ambient light like blood stitched into silk.
"I'll worry about that," he said calmly. "You worry about staying alive until I return."
Sonia had just finished applying the potion and stepped back. She gave him a slow, deliberate wink, something that had once made him uncomfortable, but now just felt familiar.
Before leaving, Lucius summoned both of his weapons—Crimson Ultima in his right hand, and Rare Death in his left—for one final inspection. They hummed with mana as he spun them lightly, testing their balance. Sonic's gaze sharpened.
"Wait a second," he said, brow furrowing. "You're a Left Dominator, yeah? Then how come Rare Death is in your left hand?"
Lucius didn't miss the weight of the question. That was no casual observation—Sonic's eyes were too focused, too calculating.
"A summoner always manifests their primary weapon in their dominant hand," Sonic added quietly.
Lucius responded without blinking.
"I don't know why, but Rare Death feels… natural to me. Like it fits. Crimson Ultima's always been mine, but this blade… it listens to me."
Sonic didn't press further, but he didn't look convinced either.
As Lucius prepared to depart, Sonia stepped forward once more and placed something in his palm—a small black and blue mana band, delicate but pulsing faintly with protective charm runes.
"This has always protected me," she said, quieter than before. "Now I want it to protect you."
Lucius didn't say much, but he did offer a quiet, "Thank you." Then, after a pause, "Sorry. For earlier."
Sonia just smiled. "Come back. In one piece."
Sonic reached out for a final handshake. "You're not going to die out there."
Lucius raised an eyebrow. "You sound confident."
"It's because you're a resilient son of a bitch."
That made Lucius chuckle. Not a forced laugh. Not a practiced smirk. A real one—brief, but genuine.
With that, he turned toward the exit.
The moment his boots hit the stone path outside, the winds whispered differently. The energy in the air shifted. He was heading straight for Luna's sacred walls—the Lunar Walls, a place where mortals were rarely welcome and mana itself danced with divinity.
This wasn't just a mission anymore.
It was his chance to go all-out, to unleash every ounce of strength, skill, and cunning in his arsenal.
A lone wolf, armed with two special-ranked weapons, a silent promise in his chest, and a storm in his eyes.
This battle would show the world just how dangerous and unpredictable his true ability was.
A secret not even his closest allies understood.
A power that could shake not just the outcome of one hunt, but the future of an entire empire.