CHAPTER 195: 195. THAT’S WORSE...

I walked out, leaving the narrow stone path behind—leaving him behind.

That man... there was something unnerving about him. Not just in his presence, but in what he represented. Someone who had lived for epochs yet bounded by strange oaths. There was no doubt about his strength... He was strong.

Yet he was bound, shackled by something. He was someone whose strength terrorized people soo much so that they made him... chain himself up.

One thing had become painfully clear from my interaction with him: history—at least the one we knew—was flawed. Incomplete. Or worse... deliberately altered.

Someone had tampered with it.

Erased truths. Buried people. Killed names.

But then again... those guys—Evelyn, Freya, Zyon, Art—they seemed to know. Not everything, but something. Pieces, at least. Maybe hints passed down through their bloodlines and ancestral tales. Something only they knew to look for.

Then shouldn’t I... shouldn’t I have something too? A fragment? A tale? A whisper from Cassius’s family?

The thought lodged itself in my chest like a splinter.

Maybe I shouldn’t have brushed off Miss Celia’s proposition so casually. Maybe I should have just accepted her proposition. But then again, searching for something here was bound to happen anyways.

"Hey, Cass?"

I stopped.

Kaelira’s voice pulled me from the spiral.

I turned to her. "Yes?"

She hesitated, eyes shifting left and right like she was trying to catch a thought mid-flight. Her fingers fidgeted restlessly, a nervous energy about her that didn’t quite fit the usual calm she carried.

Then, she paused. Took a deep breath.

And looked me straight in the eyes.

"Was everything you said back there true?"

I blinked. "What do you mean?"

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, fiddling again. "About... about being alone. That no one is there for you. Not your family. Not your sister. That you’re always by yourself..."

Ah. That.

I chuckled softly. A low, humorless sound.

"You didn’t get it?" I tilted my head. "I was trying to get that guy to lower his guard. Throw him off. None of it was serious. It’s quite a pity he didn’t fell for it."

"But you didn’t lie."

Her voice was quiet, but firm.

I looked at her. Really looked. Her eyes didn’t waver this time. There was something raw in them. A flicker of guilt.

"What do you want from me, Kaelira?" I asked, not coldly, but plainly. "What are you trying to get from these words?"

She looked away. Couldn’t hold my gaze anymore.

"I’m ashamed," she muttered. "Of how I acted. I was... more interested in your fog form. In what you could do. I ignored you. What you might be feeling. What you needed. And maybe you were just playing a part back there, but... it resonated with me. It made me think about the things I’ve conveniently ignored. About you."

I didn’t respond immediately.

Instead, I raised my hand and placed it on her head. Gently.

A soft pat.

"Don’t think too much," I said. "Really. You’re worrying over things that don’t matter to me."

She clenched her jaw, eyes shining with something unsaid. "That’s what makes it worse... the fact that it doesn’t matter to you. The way you talk... like none of it affects you. It makes you feel less like you’re faking and more like you’re truly—" she stopped, biting her lip. "Like you’ve already given up."

I looked at her for a moment, then turned.

"I haven’t given up," I said quietly. "I just stopped expecting."

I started walking again, not looking back. "So stop dwelling on it. Let’s move. We’re not going to find anything else in this place."

She caught up beside me. "Then where are we going now? Miss Celia said this place is dangerous. Filled with monsters."

I hummed lightly. "Mm. That it is."

She narrowed her eyes. "You sound too calm about that."

"I am."

"Why?"

"What’s your rank?" I asked.

She answered without missing a beat. "★★★. Why?"

I stopped. Looked her dead in the eye.

"Let’s rank up."

Her eyes widened slightly.

But before she could reply—

A shrill, high-pitched scream echoed through the library halls. It seemed human, yet not.

"Agrhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

It was distant... but not too distant.

I cracked a grin, just barely.

"Well, looks like something found us first."

I was just about to launch myself toward the sound—every muscle coiled, ready to move—when Kaelira’s hand grabbed mine.

I turned, blinking at her, caught somewhere between frustration and confusion. "What?" I asked with my eyes more than my voice.

Her grip tightened. "What are you going to do?" she asked sharply. "What if it’s a monster again—like last time? You’ll be trapped. And this time... we don’t have Art to bail us out."

I almost laughed. Suppressed it before it could slip. "Art didn’t bail anyone out. I’m the one who figured out how to deal with that thing. He ran. Like a coward."

Kaelira’s face shifted—horror blooming across her features like frost spreading across glass. "How?" Her voice trembled. "H-h-h-how did you do it?"

I shrugged, like it didn’t matter. "I just did," I muttered. "I don’t really know how to explain it. It’s like... something inside me takes over. This strength—it’s not mine. I don’t control it. It controls me."

Both her hands shot forward, gripping my arms tightly. "Then isn’t that even more dangerous?! Doing this is suicidal!"

I looked past her, down toward the lower floor. My voice was quieter now, almost tired. "Kael, you always said you liked to live in the moment. To follow your instinct. That’s what I’m doing now. So why are you stopping me? Shouldn’t you be the one pushing me forward?"

She snapped. "Because I don’t try to get myself killed, dammit! This is suicide, and you know it! How are you not getting this?!"

I reached out and held her arms this time. Gently. Trying to calm her down. "We don’t have a choice, Kaelira. Think about it. If we don’t fight... we die. There’s no reset button. No easy way out."

She shook her head hard, almost desperately. "There has to be some other way. We can hide. We can sneak around. This isn’t the way. It’s not!"

I exhaled. Then asked, "What’s your EXP at?"

She blinked, caught off guard by the question. Her lips parted, probably checking her system screen. "Eighty thousand... four hundred sixty," she answered slowly.

I grinned. "Aha. You’re right on the verge of ranking up, then. That’s good. Really good."

She frowned. "Why does that matter now?"

"Because," I said, "if I help you rank up, you’ll get stronger. Strong enough to fight beside me. That work for you?"

She tilted her head, lips curling thoughtfully. "If that’s what you want," she murmured. "But if I do rank up... I’m putting everything into speed. I swear. And we’re getting out of this place."

I chuckled under my breath. "Honestly? That sounds great too. Whatever helps us survive. Come on, let’s move."

With a sharp breath, she drew her twin daggers—gleaming edges catching what little light filtered through the window. I summoned the [Null Blade]. It formed in my hand, long and ethereal, almost weightless. But I remembered its edge. The way it carved through that man’s thigh like it was slicing mist.

My feet slammed against the wooden floor, and I dashed forward, my sprint cracking the boards beneath me. Kaelira followed fast behind, her steps light but precise, blades gleaming at her sides. We both bolted straight for the front entrance.

Outside... the world was still.

Too still.

The sun stood high in a pale blue sky, and the air was crisp and silent, carrying the faint scent of dew. The academy grounds—if you could still call them that—looked pristine... Peaceful.

And yet... it all felt wrong.

Kaelira slowed beside me, her brows furrowed tight. "Why is it so calm?" she asked, her voice hushed, almost a whisper. "It feels... off. Should we just make a run for it?"

I scanned the area—open grass, polished stone paths, but not a soul in sight.

I shook my head. "If something is watching us, running blindly into open space is the dumbest move we could make."

She looked at me like I’d lost it. "Who said anything about open space? We sneak. Stealth. Basic survival 101."

"Yeah..." I said slowly, lifting my hand to gesture around. "Sneak... where?"

Kaelira followed my hand—and the second her eyes fully took in the surroundings, her face went pale.

"What the...?" she muttered, then louder, "W-what the fuck?!"

Everywhere we looked—fields. Endless flat plains. No classrooms. No dorms. No library towers or training grounds. Just an empty horizon, stretching endlessly.

Gone.

Everything we knew was gone

I stared at Kaelira. "See what I meant?"

She hummed, gulping as she stared unblinkingly ahead. "What should we do now? Return back to the library... At least we would have some space to hide ourself."

Then—

HISSSSSS~~

A hissing sound came just above us, slowly we moved our heads... Staring up.