The wind cut like razors.

Kael plummeted. The portal had closed behind him with a deafening roar, and now all there was was falling—falling and darkness.

For a moment, he thought hell would pull him back. That Lilith would reach out and drag him into the abyss. But no. The sky around him began to change. The incandescent red gave way to gray, the heat dissolved into cold, and before he could understand, he broke through the clouds.

The impact came like thunder.

CRASH!

His body tore through the canopy of three trees before crashing face-first into the ground, scattering leaves, branches, and dust everywhere.

Silence.

Only the distant sound of the wind in the leaves. And then, a hoarse groan.

"...Ow... you son of a—"

Kael rolled onto his side, coughing up dirt and blood. His ribs screamed, and the world spun in circles. He blinked, trying to understand where he was. The forest was familiar. The twisted trees, the damp smell, the distant cawing of crows.

Azalith.

He was back.

"...Heh. It wasn't... so bad." he muttered, still lying face down.

A shadow slid over him. Literally.

"'It wasn't so bad'?!?"

The voice echoed in his mind and in the air, as if the wind itself had decided to scream.

Kael closed his eyes. "Oh, no..."

Umbra appeared before him—her form projected amidst the mist. No longer that calm and ethereal presence from hell, but a living storm. Her silhouette flickered, eyes blazing like two furious purple suns.

Before he could say anything, the slap came.

SLAP!

The impact was so strong that Kael flew several meters, crashing against the trunk of a tree.

"WHAT THE— UMBRA!!!" he shouted, rubbing his face. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

"ME?!" the shadow roared, floating towards him. "ME?! YOU'RE THE CRAZY ONE HERE, YOU WRETCHED FOOL!!!"

Kael raised his hands, backing away as she advanced like a storm.

"YOU WENT INTO HELL, KAEL! INTO HELL! WITHOUT A PLAN! WITHOUT AN EXIT! WITHOUT ANYTHING!"

"I had an exit!"

"OH, YOU DID?! WHERE?! WAS IT FALLING FACE FIRST ONTO THE GROUND AFTER A PORTAL EXPLODING?! BRILLIANT, GENIUS!"

Kael tried to speak, but Umbra wouldn't let him. She gesticulated with her arms—or the equivalent thereof—as she circled around him, her voice turning into thunder.

"What do you think I am? Your spiritual babysitter?! You dive into the abyss, provoke the Queen of Demons, AND I HAVE TO GET YOU OUT OF THERE?!"

Kael opened his mouth, weary. "Look, I—"

"DON'T FINISH THAT!" she screamed, her aura vibrating with pure rage. "Do you have any idea what I spent to make this work?! ALL the mana I spent WEEKS accumulating! ALL OF IT!"

She pointed at him as if accusing him of murder. "YOU MADE ME BURN MY OWN ESSENCE TO SAVE YOUR IDIOTIC BODY!"

"Umbra..."

"AND NOW I'M EMPTY!" she shouted, shaking her arms. "Look at me! I can't even maintain a decent form! I'm flickering like a candle on a windy day!"

Kael sighed and sat down leaning against the tree, resting his elbows on his knees. "Okay, okay, I get it."

"YOU GET IT?!" She exploded again. "YOU DIDN'T UNDERSTAND A DAMN THING! YOU'RE CRAZY! CRAZY! FUCKING CRAZY!"

Kael closed his eyes, exhausted. "Uh-huh."

"You should have died! DIED! But no, of course, the hero thinks he can defy fucking Lilith!"

"Umbra—"

"Oh, and you still have the nerve to laugh in her face! TO LAUGH! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO THAT WOMAN IS?!"

"...I got a slight impression that I do."

"SLIGHT?! SHE COULD HAVE RIPPED OUT YOUR SOUL, REBUILT IT, AND DESTROYED IT AGAIN JUST TO SHOW YOU HOW IT IS!"

Kael raised a finger. "But she didn't."

Umbra froze.

For a moment, silence.

The shadow blinked, her gaze flickering between disbelief and despair.

"...You get on my nerves."

"I know."

"YOU GET ON MY NERVES!!!"

Kael covered his ears with his hands as she started her outburst again, her voice echoing in all directions, screaming and cursing in ancient languages, some of which he was sure didn't even exist anymore.

"YOU BRAINLESS IDIOT! I WARNED YOU NOT TO MESS WITH HIGHER ENTITIES! I WARNED YOU! 'Oh, Umbra, everything will be fine, trust me!' – TRUST ME! TRUST MY FUCKING ASS, KAEL!"

He took a deep breath, burying his head between his shoulders, like someone trying to weather a storm.

"Umbra..."

"'Umbra', my ass! You burned the runes of the seal, summoned a beam of primordial energy, and then made me fuse with a collapsing demonic entity! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?!" Kael looked up, tired, and answered with all the calmness in the world:

"That you'll need to sleep for a week to recover."

"THAT I'LL NEED TO SLEEP FOR A CENTURY, YOU IDIOT!"

She slapped him again—this time, spiritually. Kael was thrown to the ground again, rolling among leaves and roots.

He raised one hand, without moving. "Okay… that hurt."

"GOOD!" she shouted, crossing her arms. "MAY THAT SERVE AS A LESSON!"

Kael lay there for a moment, looking at the sky through the treetops. The forest was calm, and the wind was now blowing gently. He let out a long sigh.

"Umbra…"

"Don't call me."

"Umbra."

"I told you not to call me."

"Thank you."

Silence.

She blinked, confused. "…What?"

"For getting me out of there." He turned his face, staring at nothing. "I know what it cost."

For a second, Umbra seemed to hesitate. Her form flickered, the anger receding for a brief fraction of time.

But, true to her own stubbornness, she grumbled:

"You're still an idiot."

Kael gave a half-smile. "Probably."

"And the next time you try to play the hero, I'll leave you there."

"I doubt it."

"You doubt it?"

"You like the sound of your own voice too much not to have someone to yell at."

Umbra blinked. Then she glared at him with renewed fury. "YOU—!"

Before she could finish, Kael covered his ears again. "There. Tantrum mode activated. Go ahead."

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, KAEL!!!"

He simply leaned back against the tree, closing his eyes while she screamed. The entire forest seemed to vibrate with the timbre of the furious shadow, scaring birds and making leaves fall from the trees.

But, deep down, between the shouts and insults, there was something different in her tone.

It wasn't just anger.

It was fear.

Fear of having lost him forever.

And Kael knew that.

That's why he just let her scream until she got tired. When Umbra finally fell silent, the wind began to blow again.

Kael opened one eye. "Is it over?"

Umbra crossed her arms, muttering. "…For now."

"Great." He slowly stood up, cracking his neck. "Because if we're going to stay here, I at least want to find some food."

Umbra floated beside him, muttering softly. "You should find a brain first."

Kael smiled. "I already have one. The problem is, it likes to ignore common sense."

She sighed, exasperated. "I really hate you."

"I know."

They walked in silence through the forest.

Light filtered through the treetops, and the distant sound of running water mingled with the rustling of leaves.

Umbra still muttered low insults, but her voice already sounded tired.

The silence between them lasted a few minutes. Only the sound of the wind and Kael's slow footsteps broke the monotony of the forest.

Umbra, still floating beside him, seemed to wilt little by little—the anger giving way to that irritated but resigned expression of someone who already knows that the idiot will mess up again sooner or later.

Kael stopped, leaning against a moss-covered rock. He took a deep breath. The pain in his ribs was still there, throbbing, but it wasn't anything that would bring him down.

"…Right," he murmured, adjusting his torn cloak. "Time to go back."

Umbra turned her face to him, suspicious. "Go back? To where exactly?"

"To the Azalith Academy."

"You just fell from hell, almost died, broke half a dozen bones, and you want to… go to a meeting?"

Kael shrugged. "I like to keep to a routine."

Umbra let out a sound that was both a laugh and a groan at the same time. "You're insane."

"Probably." He ran a hand through his hair, brushing away clinging leaves. "But the longer I delay, the more trouble will be waiting for me there."

Umbra narrowed her luminous eyes. "Trouble like… political trouble?"

"Politics, wounded egos, the board freaking out, and a princess who's probably about to break half the council in two if I don't show up."

"Ah. So, a normal Tuesday."

Kael managed a slight smile. "More or less."

He looked up at the sky for a moment. The sun was low, filtering through the leaves, tinging everything golden. It was strange—after so long immersed in the suffocating red of hell, that soft light seemed almost… unreal.

"Besides," he continued, his voice now lower, "I want to see how the princess is."

Umbra crossed her arms, hovering in front of him. "The one whose name we don't even know?"

Kael nodded. "She must be with the director now. And, honestly… after everything, it's better to resolve this quickly."

"You're barely even standing, Kael."

"I've been worse."

"That's not a compliment to yourself, it's just depressing."

"Depression is when I stop. I'm still walking."

Umbra watched him for a few seconds. "You have an absurd habit of pretending you don't feel pain."

Kael gave a tired half-smile. "It's not pretending. It's… practice."

"Terrible practice."

"It works."

Umbra sighed, her shadow flickering. "You're going straight to the Academy, then?"

"Yes. I need to understand what's left of the administrative structure, see if the council survived… and make sure no one is trying to shift the blame onto someone else."

"Like you?"

"Like me."