Lenko stumbled, the remnants of his burned 'help' parchment crumbling into ash under the pulse of his own mana, just as the arrow struck his chest.

Keiser skidded to a stop, spinning around the moment he felt Aisha's mana flare behind him.

He let the dragon child dart past him toward Lenko's fallen body while he held his ground, stance firm, shielding them both.

From the edge of his vision, Keiser caught sight of movement up on the rim of the crater. The princess stood there, her mana weaving through strips of the carpet that now wound tighter and tighter around Olga.

The archer, in turn, had her bow drawn, arrows trained directly on him. She was fighting the restraints, snarling through the struggle, trying to break free just long enough to take another shot.

The fallen mercenary, now a puppet under Aisha's mana manipulation, clawed at the writhing fabric, trying to tear it off Olga again with stiff arms.

Further up the ledge, Keiser could see Tyron trembling, his knuckles white as he clung to the princess. His wide eyes were fixed on them below the crater.

The princess's hood had fallen back, and beneath it, her hair shimmered, her once blonde strands fully deepened into a vivid, green.

Keiser raised his dagger, the runes etched along its blade flared to life once again, swirling around him in a pulse of light before darting outward. He tried to reach the arrow already in flight, but it was too late. The shot had struck its mark.

The dagger instead circled defensively, intercepting the knives Aisha had thrown toward them when they'd made their move toward Lenko, trying desperately to shield him from his sister's shot.

When he caught his dagger again, Keiser's gaze snapped upward, just in time to see Aisha leap down from the ledge of the cage she was on before. She landed lightly, standing beneath the shaft of light that poured through the gaping crater above. The pale glow of mana light washed over her, outlining her.

She tilted her head slightly, an almost curious expression on her face. He scowled back, his grip tightening around the dagger until the runes along its blade pulsed red. His glare met hers, burning, defiant. He ground his teeth cause, he knew what was coming next.

He realized it only when he didn't hear Lenko's body hit the floor. The dragon child must have caught him, or at least softened his fall. But what followed was worse... the ragged, wet sound of coughing, the harsh hacking that echoed. From the reflection on his dagger, Keiser could see the spreading pool of blood around, dark and thick against his gleaming red runes.

He caught a glimpse of the dragon child's silhouette kneeling beside Lenko, her hands trembling, glowing faintly as she tried to pour her mana into him. And behind her, another light began to form.

Aisha's expression shifted, brows furrowing as she glanced past him, toward the flicker that had begun to stir. Keiser followed her gaze.

The parchment Lenko had burned, the one marked 'help'. Its ashes shimmered with life, rising in faint trails of gold. And from that glow, tiny motes began to gather and swarm, their wings catching the mana light.

The pyre bugs had come.

The guiding light.

When he heard the sharp swoosh of twin blades slicing through the air, and caught the flash of purple fire trailing along their edges, Keiser knew that Jim and Jill had arrived with the 'help' he'd told them to fetch.

Back when they'd returned to Hinnom, he'd made sure they had the sixth princess's gift... a damned fine wagon and the fastest horses in her stables.

Two days, he'd told them.

'Two days, tops, to reach Hinnom and bring them.'

Without looking back, he knew who came to help. They flew straight toward Aisha, who barely managed to twist away, startled, leaping clear just as the two short blades struck the ground where she'd stood.

He didn't wait to see the aftermath. Turning sharply, he slid to Lenko's side.

One glance was enough. The boy's eyes were unfocused, his mouth half-open as blood spilled down his chin. The arrow was buried deep, right over his heart. His skin had already gone pale, the color draining fast. Beside him, the dragon child stared, trembling, her expression hollow and hunted.

Keiser's throat tightened. Without a word, he reached out and covered the child's eyes.

A rush of wind followed, a heavy thud as someone landed beside him, dropping down from the edge of the crater.

"What the fuck happened here?"

Yona's eyes widened, she hissed, sharp and breathless.

She simply caught her short blades without looking back up from where her eyes were now glued on, spinning one of her blades, before hurling them straight at Aisha, who answered with a string of frustrated curses.

"Why the hell is the Hinode's youngest princess here?!" Aisha snapped, her voice echoing through the crater.

Keiser didn't answer, didn't care. His gaze flicked up to Yona, whose expression had hardened into fury after the initial shock. Her teeth clenched as her eyes remain on Lenko's lifeless form.

"Shit," she hissed. "When I heard what you were planning from the coachmen who brought you back to the capital, I didn't think teaching you how to summon my pyres would guide me straight to your failure."

She turned sharply, parrying Aisha's incoming knives with a flare of motion. Her blades blazed to life, purple fire spilling across their edges as they struck, the heat licking through the air and catching the nearby crates. The flames spread, painting the scene in light and warmth, a brief, furious glow against the gloom.

Keiser gently closed Lenko's eyes this time, his other hand still holding the dragon child eyes, who clawed and struggled against his grip to see.

"…Not a failure," he muttered under his breath. "It's a success."

Yona shot him a hard look. "Yeah, right," she snapped. "If you call this a success, with Lenko lying there like that, you'd better get you checked for your head sickness again."

Without waiting for a reply, she dashed forward, charging toward Aisha, who had already begun to reanimated beasts, her mana forcing the dead to move like grotesque puppets.

"I'll handle this!" Yona shouted over her shoulder. "That's the whole reason I taught you how to make my pyre bugs, I'm not owing you a damn thing after this!"

Her twin blades flared to life again, purple fire bursting along their edges as she spun through the undead beast. One blade flew from her hand, embedding itself in one of the lunging beasts before erupting into fire, engulfing it completely. The blaze spread in a wide arc, swallowing several more puppets in the inferno.

Aisha only laughed, half-frustrated and half-delighted, her expression twisting with mania as she poured more mana into her growing horde. Corpses from across the undercroft stirred, some crawling, others sprinting, rushing toward Keiser and the dragon child.

But the princess was faster. She hurled her remaining blade, catching the closest ones before recalling it back, spinning it again and again, each strike burning through the reanimated dead in bursts of purple light. The air filled with heat, ash, and the shrill echo of clashing mana as she carved her way closer to Aisha.

Keiser let out a shuddering breath.

"Who was that?" the dragon child asked softly, her voice trembling.

"…The help," he said simply, his tone flat, distant.

His gaze lifted toward the Saint. She was being assisted by Diego now, while Tyron stood nearby, probably trying to explain to her who the old man was. The man was clutching the body of the mercenary, dead but still twitching under Aisha's mana, while the princess' runed strips of fabric kept Olga pinned down.

But when the princess's eyes met his, she raised her wrist.

Keiser's breath hitched. A sharp pulse surged through him, the connection. Mana flared along his veins, bright and cold.

Ah. The time.

He had three minutes.

Three minutes before he would die too.

He looked down at his wrists, where faint elven runes shimmered against his skin, the curse he had bargained for with the sixth princess.

The moment Lenko's heart stopped, the seal would begin its countdown. He had exactly three minutes to bring the boy back… or he would follow him into death.

That was the price. That was the limit of what she could grant.

Without hesitation, Keiser reached for Lenko's pouch strapped at his waist. He could feel it, a strong, rhythmic pulse of mana emanating from within. The dragon's heart. The key to his wish.

He needed dragon's blood to complete the binding, to make the artifact work. And he had the little flame right beside him.

He turned toward the dragon child, ready to explain, ready to tell her what they had to do, but a blast hit him before he could finish.

Her mana erupted violently, a surge of raw power that sent him flying backward. He hit the ground hard, rolling through dust and broken stone. Gritting his teeth, he dug his dagger into the floor to stop his momentum, sparks flaring as he skidded to a halt.

The pouch, he checked, it was still intact. Safe.

When he lifted his gaze, his blood ran cold.

Standing over Lenko's body was Mr. Genevra. His hand was tangled in the dragon child's hair, yanking her upward. His eyes were wild, empty and feverish. But what struck Keiser most was the faint smoke rising from his body, the dark shimmer of mana crawling over his skin.

Aisha's mana. She had him.

Keiser's instincts screamed. He moved, dagger raised, ready to throw, but then something cold and alive slithered up around him, coiling like smoke. He barely had time to turn when he saw them, those ice-blue eyes filling his vision, freezing him in place.

"…Got ya."

And then everything went white.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.