The room had remained unusually quiet since the battle beneath Srivi.
Alaric had been unconscious for an entire day, his injuries severe enough that much of his body was hidden beneath layers of bandages.
Javier sat beside the bed without speaking, one hand resting against his knee as his thoughts returned again and again to what had happened inside the tunnel.
I can still remember that Devil mana.
Even now, the sensation remained disturbingly clear in his mind.
The pressure, the violence behind it, and the way Framon’s body had continued regenerating despite receiving attacks that should have killed him.
Even after I used the spell my master taught me…
the one meant to kill.
Javier lowered his head slightly.
His Ignis Blast had been nowhere near the level his master could produce, but against a creature already torn apart by Hans’s God Sword, it should have been enough.
Instead, Framon had somehow survived long enough to return to his human form.
How?
His fingers slowly curled against his knee.
Perhaps my Mana Control is still insufficient.
My entire body nearly gave out when I used it.
“YOUR HIGHNESS!”
Javier flinched.
Alaric had jolted awake and nearly forced himself upright in a single movement.
Pain immediately crossed his face as the sudden motion pulled against his injuries, but he seemed completely unaware of it.
His attention was fixed entirely on Javier.
“Your Highness is alive! Thank goodness!”
Alaric immediately reached toward him as though he intended to embrace him.
Javier reacted before he could get any closer, placing both hands against Alaric’s face and stopping him there.
“Yes. And you’re alive too.”
For several seconds, Alaric remained trapped between Javier’s palms before apparently remembering the dignity expected of a former Special Commander.
He slowly pulled himself together, straightened as much as his injuries allowed and lowered his head.
“Forgive me, Your Highness. Not only did I fail to defeat him, but my actions also placed your life in danger. I am prepared to accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate.”
Javier was silent for a moment before shaking his head.
“There’s no need. I have nothing to punish you for.” His expression grew more serious as memories of Framon’s transformation returned.
“Framon was only a half-Devil at first. Once blood was spilled, his transformation accelerated until he nearly became a complete Devil. Whatever they did to Vilon, its influence was far stronger than we anticipated.” New chapters come out on novelping(.)com first.
Alaric listened quietly while Javier’s fingers rested against his knee.
One question had troubled him ever since the battle ended.
“Why would anyone create something like that?”
Alaric lowered his gaze.
He had no answer.
“But Your Highness… if only I had been stronger—”
“Yes.”
The quiet interruption stopped him.
Javier turned his face slightly away.
“If only I had been stronger, perhaps my guards would still be alive.”
Alaric looked at him without speaking.
Javier’s hand slowly closed into a fist.
“I have spent my entire life inside a body that cannot even see the world it was born into. I thought that if I became strong enough in every other way, perhaps that would be enough.” His voice remained measured, but the weight behind it was unmistakable.
“Yet when the people serving me needed that strength, I still couldn’t protect them.”
“Your Highness…”
“If I cannot protect my own people, then what is the point of possessing power at all?” Javier’s grip tightened.
“Would it not have been better if I had been the one injured beneath that tunnel instead of the guards who followed my orders… or you, who nearly died carrying out your duty?”
Alaric remained silent.
There was nothing he could say that would erase the lives lost beneath Srivi, and he understood that Javier was not accusing him of failure.
Javier was accusing himself.
“I understand, Your Highness.” Alaric lowered his head.
“I will remember your words.”
Javier then explained what had happened after Alaric lost consciousness: Alice’s sacrifice, Hans’s God Sword, Framon’s regeneration and the Ignis Blast that had finally destroyed his Devil transformation.
When Javier told him that Framon had survived even that attack for a short time, Alaric’s expression hardened.
“He survived the Ignis Blast?”
“Then we cannot simply sit here and do nothing, Your Highness. We have to find Luiss Vyloria and bring him to justice.”
“I know.”
Javier turned his face toward the window, listening to the distant sounds of the city beyond it.
“But not yet.”
Alaric frowned slightly.
“With our current situation, attempting to capture Luiss Vyloria would be reckless.” Javier could already hear the activity outside: carts moving through damaged streets, workers calling to one another, and the distant hammering of repairs that had begun throughout Srivi.
“We’ve lost too many soldiers, and the city was already struggling before this happened. Framon only made everything worse.”
His expression tightened slightly.
“Buildings need to be repaired. The wounded need treatment. Families have lost their homes, and the city still needs enough money to keep functioning.” Javier allowed a brief silence to pass before continuing.
“We need another source of income.”
Alaric slowly nodded.
“I understand, Your Highness.”
“And we still don’t understand where the Vilon truly came from.”
Alaric’s expression became more serious.
“You believe the people behind it are still operating?”
“They have to be.” Javier turned his face toward him.
“Framon’s transformation wasn’t an accident. Someone altered that drug. Someone distributed it, and someone was willing to let people use it without caring what they became.” His fingers tightened slightly.
“Until we discover who is behind it, Srivi will never truly be safe.”
“You’re right.”
Silence returned to the room for a moment before Alaric seemed to remember something.
“Your Highness… what happened to Gardo and his men?”
Javier’s expression hardened.
“We captured all of them after the incident beneath the city. They’re being held in the underground prison.” He paused briefly.
“Tomorrow, they will be executed in the center of Srivi.”
Alaric lowered his head.
“Understood.”
Another thought seemed to occur to him almost immediately.
“And Dolan? Have you released him?”
Javier fell silent.