The battle was over.

  But the silence left in its wake was heavier than the csh of spells and steel that had come before.

  Cracked stone and scorched earth spread beneath them, remnants of the corrupted leyline pulsing faintly in the deep below. The oppressive miasma had finally faded, but unease clung to the air like ash.

  Kagami sat in the dust beside Elias, who y unconscious—still breathing, but barely.

  Bandages were wrapped tight around the elder mage’s midsection, stained with dark red. Kagami kept his eyes fixed on him, barely blinking. Even now, it didn’t feel real. Elias—his mentor, his anchor—had stood against Fenric's final strike for him.

  The cost of that act now y in front of him.

  Minna, a short distance away, knelt beside the bound figures of Shei and Fenric. Though both were unconscious, their bodies twitched with dark residue—echoes of the Shattered Veil’s influence. Frowning, Minna pressed both palms to the ground and whispered a series of yered incantations, her hands glowing with cool blue mana.

  “Aqua Veil: Siren’s Embrace. Mirrorke Prison: Aqua Reflection Bind… and again…”

  Water surged like transparent vines, binding the enemies tighter within rings of glimmering aqua light.

  She wiped sweat from her brow. “This’ll hold them… I think. At least until the academy’s squad arrives.”

  Seraphina stepped up quietly beside Kagami, watching him without speaking at first.

  He didn’t notice—his attention remained on Elias, jaw clenched, fingers trembling slightly from the aftermath of power he hadn't unleashed in years.

  “You changed,” Seraphina finally said.

  He didn’t move.

  She continued, “Your eyes. They weren’t normal. And when they changed—so did everything. You were faster than Fenric. Your movements were like… shadows and fme. And that illusion…”

  Her voice faltered.

  “…That illusion tore into Shei’s mind like nothing I’ve ever seen. That wasn’t just mana. Was that—your eyes? Was that you?”

  Kagami remained silent. For a few seconds, the wind was the only thing that answered her.

  Then, slowly, he nodded once—but said nothing more.

  Seraphina frowned. “Kagami, what was—?”

  He cut her off quietly. “One day.”

  She looked at him sharply, but his gaze stayed on Elias.

  “…One day,” he repeated, softer this time. “Just… not now.”

  She studied him for a long moment, searching his face for something more. But whatever truth y behind those crimson eyes—it wasn’t ready to be shared. Not yet.

  Minna approached with careful steps, her voice gentle.

  “I reinforced the binding seals,” she said. “But… they were infused with something. Something beyond just dark mana.”

  Kagami looked at her, nodding faintly. “Then we did the right thing stopping them now.”

  “Elias will make it, right?” Minna asked, her voice small.

  Kagami didn’t answer.

  Instead, he turned back to Elias, gently adjusting the bandage again. His hands moved with quiet care, as if afraid the slightest pressure would break him.

  “Minna,” he said suddenly, “please use your healing spells again. Just enough to keep his vitals steady.”

  She blinked, then nodded quickly. “O-Of course.”

  She knelt beside him and raised a hand over Elias’s chest.

  “Aqua Veil: Siren’s Embrace…”

  A soft mist of healing light washed over Elias’s body.

  Seraphina stood beside Kagami once more, arms folded tightly. She didn’t press him further.

  In the distance, a fre of light—arcane and bright—rose into the sky.

  Help was coming.

  But as they waited in the shattered ruins of battle, Seraphina and Minna couldn’t help but gnce at Kagami—at the boy who had moved like lightning and fme, who had cast illusions beyond their understanding.

  And whose red eyes burned with secrets he wasn’t yet ready to share.

  ---