Chapter 276: When The Night... Falls (5)

"You..."

When Melvin removed his Dreamer’s Mask, there was no dramatic pause, no slowing of time—nothing like that.

Because standing before him wasn’t the Princess of Loria at all, but the Ancestor, the very hand behind the destruction of his home.

By now, he had carved a trail of blood from the world of Kalpa to Loreua, claiming the lives of countless Loria humans.

He had slain their Prince, their King, and every soul he could find on Kalpa, yet there had always been two who slipped through his grasp—the Queen of Loria and Milan.

But now, the Queen was no exception; she stood among the many lifeless ice sculptures, long since claimed within Melvin’s Sword Domain.

"You will pay!!!!" Melvin roared, and he made a direct beeline toward Princess Milan, who in truth was only Amber trapped in flesh she could not command.

HUMMMMM!!!!!!!

In that moment, his Sword Aura that had already been activated suddenly erupted again.

Instantly, the pressure of his domain flattened the forest canopy and made the blood-red sky ring like a struck bell.

Countless pale, illusory blades burst into existence, drifting through the air above the trees and across the frozen ridges, until it seemed as though the entire world outside the cave had been suddenly blanketed by a swirling, unexpected blizzard.

Feeling the sudden eruption of power and seeing Melvin for the first time since everything had begun, Liliana felt her heart sink.

It was clear to her that Melvin’s grudge was perhaps stronger against Princess Milan than the Empire itself, as he made certain she saw his face.

Yet, after witnessing the ruthless efficiency of what he had done to the rest of the Empire, she knew with certainty he was closing in for the killing blow.

"Melvin! Wait!" she shouted into the wind, her teeth clenched. "Don’t kill her yet!"

If Melvin had killed Princess Milan before she could even utter a single word, Liliana would never have easily found out about her mother’s situation.

She could, of course, resort to using Divinity, but the last time she had tried during her travels here, it seemed the amount required had grown even greater, and she couldn’t risk losing her one real chance at a lead.

However, as soon as the words left her mouth, they seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Even though he was slightly ahead of Liliana, Melvin’s focus had already narrowed to a single point.

HUMMMMM!!!!!

SWOOOOSHHH!!!!!!

In an instant, the swords shot from their mounts in a single, synchronized drop, like a blizzard of steel accompanied by the sharp rip of something tearing.

Within the endless white void of the mind-space, Amber walked with trembling steps toward the two shadowed eye sockets until the blinding glare of the outside world finally broke through.

In that moment, the only sound in her mind was the echo of the last words the real Milan had left her:

"Suffering... in silence."

The phrase repeated again and again in her thoughts, each repetition sinking deeper into her chest.

Beyond her sealing, she found herself utterly frozen.

Standing before her was Liliana—the woman who had adopted her, who had walked beside her through every step of her childhood, who had never left her to struggle alone.

Her mother stood right there, yet her face held no warm smile or playful teasing Amber had always known.

Instead, it was the hard, unyielding look she’d only ever seen when Liliana confronted her enemies—when something truly serious was at stake.

"Stop!" she screamed without thinking, her voice bouncing back at her in the endless white void, the sound reaching no one but herself.

"Melvin! Mo... Mother, it’s me, Amber!" she called out, her voice cracking as tears began to blur her vision.

Right then, it felt like the entire world was collapsing on top of her, the weight of it all pressing down until she could barely breathe—and the worst part was knowing there was no one else to blame but herself.

That truth, more than anything, cut the deepest.

"Ca... can’t you hear m... me?" she tried again, her voice trembling as a single tear slid down her cheek.

----

As Amber’s grim reality finally began to sink in, Salvatore, flying behind Melvin and Liliana, found his thoughts aligned closely with Liliana’s.

If Princess Milan were to die here, in this very instant, then everything they had done—everything they had fought for—would be meaningless.

Well, meaningless for them, at least.

"These... kids are really absurd," he muttered, shaking his head.

[Blood Affinity]

In the next breath, in the middle of his flight, he dissolved into a swirling mist of blood.

He had already been surprised by how formidable and efficient not only Amber, but also Melvin—someone he had nearly forgotten was even present on the battlefield—had been against the Empire.

As the illusory swords closed in, mere heartbeats away from obliterating Princess Milan—or rather, Amber entirely—General Salvatore reappeared behind her, his hand already gripping the back of her head.

HUMMMM!!!!!

In that moment, as he activated his bloodline trait once again, he detonated in a burst of blood.

Yet, since his target was not an entire world... this barrier forming was much thicker than the first, and wrapped Milan’s body in a crimson dome just as millions of icy blades arrived.

BOOOOOOOOM!

The impact was nothing short of catastrophic, and completely one-sided.

It felt like a raging winter storm smashing into a shield that, impossibly, was also a man.

Salvatore and Milan, sheltered within his dome, were sent hurtling from the sky like stones launched from a sling, crashing through the canopy below.

The protective barrier he had conjured shattered in an instant the moment the blades struck, offering no resistance at all.

"Don’t get in my way!" Melvin shouted as he quickly took off after them.

HUMMMMM!!!!!!

A frown creased his face, and in that moment, the respect and grace he had shown them began to wear thin.

Yet, before he could even think about giving chase, Liliana, who had been just a step behind him, stopped waiting and swiftly activated one of her innate powers.

[Ink of Binding (Above Origin)]

HUMMMM!!!!!

In an instant, a red-and-black illusory Eternal Grimoire unfurled above her head, its pages fluttering wildly in the wind.

Without pause, two massive tendrils of living ink lashed out from its depths, one streaking toward Melvin and the other arrowing straight for Milan... or Amber, lying sprawled on the shattered ground.

And this power... it was far beyond merely binding someone.

Each tendril was woven with layered contracts, terms etched in intent rather than ink, and the moment Liliana chose for them to hold, those agreements became reality.

Instantly, Melvin’s swords disappeared from the air as though the very notion of them had been scrubbed from existence.

"What?" he muttered, his body freezing, white robes snapping once before falling still, the chill in his eyes only sharpening.

On the ground, Milan’s shrouded form was yanked back into the air, streaked with Salvatore’s blood and her own, until she hung face-to-face with Liliana.

Liliana paused there, exuding a calm more terrifying than any scream.

"Milan... where the hell is my mother?"

The voice was cold enough to match the chill of Melvin’s winter.

The instant her words echoed, Milan, for the first time, actually opened her mouth to speak.

Still, her silence until now was understandable—ever since she had arrived, she had been overwhelmed by a force she could never have imagined confronting.

"Well," she said with a frown, her eyes scanning over Liliana.

"You’re going to have to be a bit more specific than that. I’ve been around a long time and had my fair share of women."

Her gaze shifted to Melvin, head tilting slightly.

"Oh? You’re that little monster from Kalpa, aren’t you?"

A short laugh escaped as she gave her shorter hair a shake.

"No wonder you’re so eager to kill me. Just so you know... your mother was absolutely delightful~"

HUMMMMMM!!!!!

In that moment, Melvin’s eyes turned to pure ice. The forest burst into a second winter so fierce that Liliana’s bindings trembled, ink fracturing along the tendril that held him.

Swords began to return one by one, pale points punching back into existence through the failing contract.

However, before they could fully take shape, Salvatore suddenly appeared at Liliana’s side, his white-and-red hair in disarray, his voice erupting with urgency.

"Where is the Death Siren of Loreua?"

"Oh..." Milan muttered as she paused, narrowing her eyes.

She had indeed asked for specifics, and those words couldn’t have been more specific.

In that moment, she wanted to gloat a bit more, maybe even tease them about how the Death Siren had been her favorite—only she’d been needed for greater purposes.

"Well, she’s wherever the Emperor has taken her," she said, and in that moment, those were the last words Amber would ever speak.

That was enough for Liliana—and far too much for Melvin.

SNAP!

SWHOOOOOOSH!!!!!

Thousands of swords tore free as the binding on him finally split. Liliana snapped her fingers at the same instant, having already taken what she needed from the contract.

"Rot in the abyss... bitch."

BOOOOOMMMM!!!!

The figure that resembled Milan fell apart, ink and winter colliding in a strange union.

In that moment, the body exploded into a crimson cascade, swords slicing through the wreckage as it collapsed, red mixed over white snow and splintered trees until no trace remained to despise.

"Mo...ther, no—"

Amber’s voice trailed off, tears streaming down her face as the void around her erupted alongside the body.