I thought that once I’d become his guard, I’d have some time to myself. However, the truth was far more cruel than that.

"I might be exposed to danger at any given second. I need you all to be alert at all times. Make sure no issues arise."

He didn’t even give us one day off.

The entire time, we had no choice but to guard him.

I spent several days like this.

Each day, I grew more and more restless.

’Is he here? Could he have already arrived? Damn it... I need to hurry up.’

The only time that I would have for myself was the few hours that he would grant us in order to get some sleep. But even that was relatively short. To make matters worse, it seemed like sneaking out during such a time was impossible.

I wasn’t certain of it, but I had an inkling that he was tracking all of my movements in some sort of way.

...Not only that, but it almost felt as though he had eyes and ears everywhere.

In a way, it was creepy.

In such a way, my routine became fixed.

Wake up, escort him around, oversee the Ranking Battles, handle a few other minor tasks, then go and get some sleep. By accompanying him every day, I was able to memorize his entire schedule, and the only time when I wasn’t able to keep track of his movements was the timeframe when I was sleeping.

’Even after a few days have passed, I still don’t know how he’s managed to get his hands on Noel’s blood. How is he connected to Dawn?

The sense of restlessness only grew.

Every day, every hour... I’d start thinking about Toren’s words.

Anxiety welled up within me as I thought about the vision. Leon’s death. Kiera’s turn, and Toren’s words.

’In the end, I wasn’t wrong. No matter what you do, you’ll fail.’

’You can’t stop it.’

’How troublesome, how troublesome. But I do feel like interfering. Maybe I should. Yes, I will. Or not...’

Biting my lips, I tried to calm my rapidly beating heart. However, regardless of what I did, my heart just refused to settle. Especially when I thought about the possibility of Leon dying or Toren coming.

What would I even do if he came?

’He’s fucking with my mind. He’s not coming. He’s fucking with me.’

I tried to lie to myself.

I tried to tell myself that there was no way for him to come.

However, I knew that I was just lying to myself.

Opening my eyes, I blankly stared at the ceiling of the small room that I was in. Despite my best attempts at trying to sleep, it looked impossible. Blinking a couple of times, I looked around. The room was fairly small, containing just a bed and a wardrobe.

The air was dry, and as I sat up, I looked at my hand.

It was covered in sweat. Just like my body.

"H-ha."

My breath came out rather shaky as the room remained dark.

’I’ve got a couple of hours.’

Taking a deep breath, I put on my clothes while standing up. At the same time, I activated [Lament of Lies] and blended with my surroundings. After remembering Tharvek’s entire schedule, I knew that this was the only time possible for him to acquire the items related to Noel.

’I’m worried that he might know that I’m leaving, but I don’t really have a choice.’

The situation was urgent.

Not only did I not know if Toren had arrived, but I also needed to warn Leon about the current situation.

I had to tell him that I had a vision and that he needed to give up on the ranking battles.

I was sure he’d understand.

Activating [Mana Sense] and the Fifth Level of Emotive Magic, I looked and scanned around me. There were a couple of people monitoring my room from the outside, but outside of that, there didn’t seem to be anyone else.

I tapped my foot against the ground, targeting the figures scattered around me.

[Sever]

At the same time, I dashed out of the room.

Blending with the buildings, none of the people were able to detect me at all. Especially when I had completely severed their sense of hearing. No, it wasn’t just that. I had completely severed their sense of hearing and sight of me.

This was the new spell that I had managed to upgrade.

Advanced type spell [Curse]: Severance

Not only could I sever someone’s senses, but now, I could sever specific things from their minds. In this case, I severed their hearing, smell, and sight of me. In a way, it almost acted like a watered-down version of [Eye of Existence].

It was nowhere near as good, but it didn’t need to be as good.

All that mattered was that it worked as I moved away from my building and navigated through the third level.

As opposed to the first and second levels, the third level was a lot smaller. However, unlike the previous levels, the third level had nothing obstructing the very top, allowing one to have a full view of the grey sky.

The pale white sun hung motionless in the gray sky, its light dull and lifeless as it cast a suffocating, unrelenting heat over everything below, pressing down like a heavy weight.

The buildings on the third level were a lot fancier, and the number of people who were present was also a lot less.

However, I could tell that each person was incredibly powerful.

Despite my extreme caution, each step felt as though I were walking on eggshells.

Just one mistake...

And I was done for.

’Ah, fuck.’

The sense of restlessness within me grew.

***

"How are you feeling, Leon? I saw that you won your fight. Are you tired?"

"I... am fine."

Leon’s voice came out hoarse as he answered Kiera. She stood by the doorframe of his room, her hands crossed. Looking at his pale face and his slightly blue lips, Kiera didn’t believe him at all.

However, despite wanting to say something to him, she closed her lips and decided to step to the side.

Leon merely glanced at her before walking back to his room.

His strides were calm, but one could see the tiredness in them as he walked past Kiera.

"...Take care of yourself."

Though she whispered the words, Leon still managed to catch them as he closed the door behind him.

Clank—!

Closing the door behind him, Leon froze, his body going rigid as a sharp pain caught his mind. A moment later, he brought a hand to his chest and doubled over, coughing violently, each spasm racking his frame as his breathing grew uneven.

"Cough! Cough...!"

From the moment the match had ended, he held his cough back.

He tried his best not to show any weakness to the others, but it was clear that his body wasn’t keeping up with his injuries. This was despite the numerous ’elixirs’ that he had received.

While they did manage to heal his body to some extent, because he spent most of his time studying the runes that were hidden within the blood, he wasn’t able to absorb it properly.

For this reason, the injuries started to accumulate.

But...

"T-twenty seven..."

Leon clenched his fist.

He had finally reached the 27th rank.

His body was breaking down, but he could feel it. He was growing stronger by the day.

’If I can just master the Runes, I might be able to defeat the number one guy and reach the top. I’m not too far from that. Although the road is still long, I believe that I can do it. I’m sure Julien will be happy when I show my progress to him.’

Thinking about his progress, Leon felt happy.

He suffered a lot, but he felt that it was all worth it. He was also certain that Julien would be happy with his progress.

Leon was certain that at this rate, he’d be useful to Julien.

The thought made him happy.

"You look like shit."

A voice suddenly filtered across the room, soft yet familiar, prompting Leon to snap his head up in shock as his entire body tensed.

However, the moment he caught sight of the figure that stood in front of him, he stopped.

"Julien?"

"...You’re pushing yourself too much."

Julien stood in front of Leon, looking around the room before taking a seat.

Leon didn’t move, his lips pressing together as he stared at Julien.

Eventually, Julien spoke.

"Are you mad at me?"

"I..."

"I can understand why you’d be mad at me, but I had no choice but to do what I did. Tharvek is no easy opponent. Had I not done that, you would’ve been targeted by him. Things would’ve been even worse for you."

"...I know."

Leon silently clenched his fists. He had long understood this. Evelyn and the others had made it clear to him. And it was for this reason that he felt so frustrated.

Still...!

"Actually, I’ve made a lot of progress lately. You know, regarding the R—"

"I need you to give up on the fights."

"Huh?"

Leon’s entire face turned stiff as he looked at Julien.

What did he just say?

"No, but..."

"I won’t sugarcoat things. If you continue like this, you’re going to die. You can’t defeat Tharvek. He’s too strong for you."

"....."

"I’ve gone up against him myself, and while I haven’t fought him properly, I can tell that you’re not his match."

Leon’s lips quivered.

What?

Why was he...

No, he still doesn’t know about his progress. Maybe if he knew about his recent mastery over the Rune, he might—

"You’re going to tell me something about your mastery over the Rune?"

"....!"

"It doesn’t matter. You’ll still lose."

Julien suddenly pointed at his temple.

"Because I’ve seen it."

Leon’s breath caught.

"You’re aware of my powers, aren’t you? You know who I am, right?"

Leon opened his lips, trying to say something, but nothing came out. He knew. He was well aware of just who Julien was.

"I’ve seen your death. That’s why you need to stop."

"...Ah."

It was as if the very energy had been drained from his body. Staring in Julien’s direction, Leon didn’t know what to say. Part of him felt overwhelmingly weak, yet at the same time, something else lingered at the back of his mind.

Something like...

Defiance.

After all the work that he had put in, he was just supposed to quit like that? Leon knew that if he fought more and collected more blood, he’d be able to figure something out. He was certain of it.

’And it’s not like the future is set. Julien... has changed it many times. Maybe I can too.’

Leon opened his mouth.

"Let me..."

"Did you not hear me?"

Julien’s voice came out cold, prompting Leon’s lips to freeze.

"Quit."

He repeated. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

This time, his words felt more like a command than anything else.

Leon’s heart grew cold.

"But..."

"There’s no fucking but."

Julien suddenly stood up, walking towards Leon.

"I said quit, so you’re quitting. Aren’t you my knight? Listen to what I’m telling you, damn it."

Something about those words rubbed Leon the wrong way as he frowned.

"I know that. But hear me out first. Let me—"

"Are you fucking deaf!?"

Julien’s voice suddenly bellowed through the room as he grabbed Leon by the collar and yanked him forward, pulling his face close to his own. Leon’s eyes widened as Julien glared at him, his grip tightening.

"I’ve already given you a lot of leeway. Quit. That’s an order."

Leon stared blankly in Julien’s direction.

This time, he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t say anything.

He just stared at Julien.

That was also when he noticed his eyes.

They were shaking.

This felt completely different from the usually composed Julien.

He seemed completely restless.

Just what in the world had him so rattled?