In the darkness…
There was no sound.
No light.
No time.
Sami felt as though he were falling into an endless void.
He wasn’t dreaming.
And he wasn’t awake.
He was just… floating.
Around his body, tiny shards of red and black light drifted slowly, like the remnants of an unfinished explosion.
Whenever he tried to touch one… it vanished.
And whenever it vanished… he heard an echo of a sound.
A scream.
An explosion.
A name calling to him from afar.
…
“My liege.”
He opened his eyes.
The first thing he felt… was not pain.
But weight.
As if his body were no longer his own.
Even breathing became a task requiring focus.
The scent of medicinal herbs filled his nose.
An ancient stone ceiling appeared above him.
He turned his head with difficulty.
He was inside Lisasara’s laboratory.
The same room where he used to train.
But it felt different.
Quieter than it should be.
Even the fire inside the hearth burned in silence.
He tried to sit up.
And suddenly…Crrack…
A faint sound came from his right arm.
Then… an agony tore through him, making his breath hitch.
“…Gh-uh…”
He didn’t scream.
But he squeezed his eyes shut tight.
The pain was strange.
It wasn’t the pain of a wound.
Or a break.
But a feeling… that something inside his bones was slowly cracking.
He raised his arm before his eyes.
And froze.
Black cracks had spread from his fingertips to the middle of his forearm.
Fine black lines… resembling the roots of a charred tree.
But they weren’t stationary.
They were moving.
Pulsing.
As if a living creature resided beneath his skin.
He reached with his other fingers to touch it.
The moment he made contact… a sharper pain shot through him.
He pulled his hand back quickly.
“What is this…” he whispered, barely audible.
“It is the price.”
The voice came calm and quiet.
Sami raised his head.
Seraphine was sitting beside the bed.
As usual… serene.
Her silver hair cascaded over her shoulders.
And her eyes held that calm which resembles a lake before a storm.
She placed a wet cloth over his arm.
But she did not touch the cracks directly.
She stopped just before them.
As if she feared touching them.
Sami looked at her.
“Can you heal this?”
Silence ensued.
Long seconds.
Then… she shook her head slowly.
“…No.”
He furrowed his brows.
“You represent plague and life.” “Even wounds that medicine cannot treat…” “you used to heal.”
She smiled a small smile… but it was sad.
“This is not a wound.” She lifted her gaze to him.
“Nor is it an illness.” She placed her hand over his chest.
“It is something the world took from you…” “…as the price for what you did.”
Elyon entered quietly.
As if his footsteps made no sound.
He held an ancient book in his hands.
He sat on the opposite chair.
Opened the book.
Turned several pages.
Then said without raising his head: “Every power in this world…” “demands a price.” He closed the book.
“The Big Bang Principle technique…” “is no exception.”
Sami asked in a low voice: “What did I pay?”
Elyon looked directly at Sami.
For the first time… his eyes did not hold that habitual coldness.
But something resembling pity.
“Your existence.”
Sami froze.
“…What?”
Elyon said: “When you merged Decay with Manifestation…” “you didn’t just create an explosion.” “You forced two contradictory laws to exist within a single point.” He raised a finger.
“And for that to happen…” “someone had to pay the price.” He lowered his finger slowly.
“And that person…” “…was you.”
Silence fell.
Sami didn’t understand everything.
But he understood one thing.
These cracks… would not disappear easily.
The door to the room opened slowly.
Valdraak entered.
In his black armor.
And his heavy silence.
He stood at the door for moments.
Looking at Sami.
Then he approached.
Sat beside the bed.
And for the first time… he removed his iron gauntlet.
And placed his hand on Sami’s shoulder.
His hand was massive.
Rough.
But it was strangely warm.
He said in a low voice: “You were slower than me.”
Sami smiled despite the exhaustion.
“That’s not an insult.”
Valdraak replied: “It is an admission.” He looked at the floor.
“If I had arrived before you used the technique…” He stopped.
Then completed in a faint voice.
“…you wouldn’t have had to pay this price.”
Sami froze.
He raised his head.
Looked at Valdraak.
“Do you…” “blame yourself?”
He didn’t answer.
But his silence… was the answer.
On the other side of the room…
Lyra sat atop a cabinet, hugging her knees.
Contrary to her habit… she didn’t speak.
She didn’t tease.
And she didn’t laugh.
She was only looking at Sami.
With red eyes… filled with guilt.
Sami noticed her.
He smiled at her.
“Why that face?”
He repeated the question.
“Lyra.”
She bit her lip.
Then whispered: “…I was afraid.”
Silence ensued.
She slid down from the cabinet slowly.
Walked until she reached the bed.
Sat on the floor.
Leaned her head against the edge of the bed.
And said in a broken voice… no one had heard from her in a thousand years: “When I saw you gathering the two forces…” “I knew…” “…that you wouldn’t stop.”
She closed her eyes.
“I wanted to stop you.” “But I couldn’t.” Her voice trembled.
“And for the first time in a thousand years…” “…I felt powerless.”
Sami looked at her for a long time.
Then he reached out his left hand with difficulty.
And patted her head.
As she always used to do to him.
He smiled wearily.
“I’m okay.”
She raised her head quickly.
And looked at him with anger mixed with tears.
“No…” she said forcefully.
“You are not okay!”
Her voice rose for the first time.
“Stop saying that sentence!” “Every time you were bleeding…” “…you said you were okay.” “Every time you were dying…” “…you smiled.”
She hit the bed with her fist.
“I hate that!”
Silence fell.
Even the fire inside the hearth… seemed to have stopped moving.
Sami looked at the four faces around him.
Valdraak… who blames himself.
Seraphine… who cannot heal him.
Elyon… who finds no explanation to change reality.
And Lyra… who tries to hide her tears failing.
In that moment… he understood something he hadn’t thought about during the fight.
He… was not the only one who paid the price.
Every single one of them… suffered with him.
Before he could say anything else…Baaam!
The door to the lab burst open violently.
And the place was overcome with… a silence heavier than the pain itself.
Lisasara entered.
…
The door opened.
And no one rushed in.
But a woman entered… whose presence made the room seem smaller.
Lisasara walked with steady steps.
No rush.
No hesitation.
But every step made the air heavier.
Even Lyra… sat silently.
And Valdraak straightened his posture.
As for Elyon… he closed his book without uttering a word.
They all knew… she was angry.
Truly angry.
She stopped before Sami’s bed.
She said nothing.
She only looked.
At his arm.
At the black cracks.
At his fingers that no longer moved as they used to.
Then she raised her eyes to him.
“How do you feel?”
Sami smiled a small smile.
A smile he tried to make reassuring.
“Better than I expected.”
…
Slap.
It wasn’t hard.
But it was real.
Sami’s face turned slightly to the side.
And the room remained silent.
Even the fire inside the hearth… seemed to have forgotten to blaze.
Sami raised his hand slowly to his cheek.
He looked at her in surprise.
“…You hit me?”
She answered him without her expression changing.
“Yes.” “Why?”
She stepped closer.
Until the distance between them was no more than a span.
“Because you lied.”
He furrowed his brows.
“I didn’t…”
She cut him off.
“You do not feel okay.” She pointed to his arm.
“And your body is collapsing.” Then she placed her finger over his chest.
“And your soul is more tired than your body.”
Sami lowered his gaze.
He didn’t find what to say.
Lisasara sat on the opposite chair.
She took a long breath.
Then said in a calm voice… but it was heavier than a scream.
“Tell me.” “Why did you do that?”
He looked at her.
“Because Mira was going to die.” “So?” “I saved her.” “Then?” “It ended.”
She shook her head slowly.
“No.” “It did not end.”
Silence ensued.
Then she said: “If you had died…” She raised her gaze to him.
“how many people would you have left behind?”
He answered directly.
“I don’t think that way.”
She smiled a faint smile.
“And therein lies the problem.”
She stood up.
And walked toward the window.
It had started to rain over the academy.
She stood looking at it for moments.
Then said without turning around: “Everyone who tries to save everyone…” “will end up saving no one.”
Sami looked at her.
He didn’t understand.
She continued: “When you reach your hand to someone…” “this means your hand will not reach someone else.” “Every choice…” “is a relinquishing of a different choice.”
She turned to him.
“This is not cruelty.” “This is the nature of the world.”
Silence ensued.
Sami said calmly: “So what should I have done?”
She smiled.
But her smile carried no warmth.
“Do you want the answer as an advisor?” “…or as a human?”
He hesitated.
“As an advisor.”
She nodded.
“I would have left the girl.”
The room froze.
Even Lyra raised her head quickly.
As for Sami… he looked at her as if he had never known her before.
“You…” “would you have let her die?”
She answered him without escaping his eyes.
“If her death meant the survival of the Empire.” “Yes.”
Sami stood up despite the pain.
“This is not fair.”
She laughed.
But it was a short laugh.
Painful.
“Who told you the world was built on justice?”
“Justice…” She placed her hand on his heart.
“does not stop wars.” “Nor does it feed the hungry.” “Nor does it prevent cities from burning.”
She lowered her hand slowly.
“There are decisions…” “no matter what you choose…” “your hands will be stained with blood.”
Sami fell silent.
Then he said in a low voice: “But I do not want to become someone who chooses who lives and who dies.”
Lisasara closed her eyes.
And when she opened them… she was not looking at Sami.
But at someone else… from a thousand years ago.
Flashback.
Throne Room.
Empire of Chaos and Disasters.
A General kneels.
“My liege…” “The Eastern City has fallen.” “We can save the capital…” “but we must close the gates.” “A million civilians will remain outside the walls.”
A young man sits on the black throne.
His eyes are closed.
And his silence… was heavier than the decision itself.
End of Flashback.
Lisasara took a deep breath.
“I was there.” She whispered.
“I saw it with my own eyes.”
She looked at Sami.
“There was no right decision.” “There was only…” “a decision that made the number of graves fewer.”
No one was speaking anymore.
She said in a faint voice: “People think victory is glorious.” She shook her head slowly.
“But I have lived long enough to know the truth.”
“Every victory…” “is built upon screams whose owners no longer anyone remembers.”
“And at the end of every war…” “the victor does not remain.” “But only the survivors remain.”
Her words were calm.
But they pierced Sami’s heart.
He said after a long silence: “So…” “do you want me to abandon my humanity?”
She stepped closer to him.
Then… she placed her hand on his head.
As she used to do when he was learning to read days ago.
She smiled at last.
A sad smile.
“No.” “If I wanted an emperor without a heart…” “I would have looked for someone else.” “I want you to keep your heart.”
She stopped.
Then whispered: “But…” “do not allow your heart to lead the throne.”
Sami raised his head.
“What is the difference?”
She answered him after a silence: “The hero…” “dies to protect those he loves.” “While the emperor…” “lives…” “even when he wishes for death.” “Because he knows…” “that his life no longer belongs to him.”
Silence fell.
Sami looked at his cracked arm.
For the first time… he did not feel the pain.
But he felt the weight of the words.
Lisasara approached the door.
She stopped before exiting.
Then said without looking at him: “Today…” “I slapped you because you acted like a hero.”
She gripped the doorknob.
“From tomorrow…” She turned to him.
And in her eyes returned the glint of the advisor who led the greatest empire in history.
“I will teach you…” “…how an Emperor gets angry.”
Then she walked out.
And Sami remained… looking at the closed door… as if for the first time… he began to understand… that carrying the throne… is far heavier… than carrying power.
…
The laboratory door remained open for several seconds after Lisasara left.
Then… the air closed it slowly.Crrack.
That simple sound… was as if it announced the end of one conversation… and the beginning of another.
Sami didn’t move.
He was still looking at the door.
As if a part of him expected her to return.
To say that everything she said was just a test.
To apologize for the two slaps.
But she did not return.
…
A long silence prevailed.
A silence broken only by the sound of rain beating against the windowpanes.
Sami looked at his right arm.
The black cracks hadn’t disappeared.
Instead, they seemed deeper.
He moved his fingers, trying to clench his fist.
He couldn’t.
His fingers trembled… then stopped.
He lowered his head.
And whispered in a voice barely audible to himself.
“…Was I wrong?”
…
No one answered him.
But after moments…
Valdraak stepped forward.
He stood before the bed.
Then… he knelt on one knee.
Sami was surprised.
“Valdraak…?”
The Black Knight raised his head.
And his eyes, which had lived through thousands of wars… held a strange calm.
“No.” He said it calmly.
“You were not wrong.”
Sami raised his head.
“But…”
Valdraak interrupted him.
“And you were not right either.”
…
He sat on the floor.
And placed his massive sword beside him.
Then he said: “Do you remember the first war I fought?”
He smiled a faint smile.
“Of course not.”
As for me…” “I will never forget it.”
…
His voice began to grow distant… as if he had gone back a thousand years.
Flashback…
A black sky.
An earth burning.
Mountains of corpses.
The banners of the Empire of Chaos and Disasters fluttered above a burning city.
Valdraak… was still young.
Rushing madly amidst thousands of soldiers.
Every strike of his sword… killed dozens of enemies.
He was screaming.
Laughing.
And fighting.
Until he thought… that he had won.
But when the war ended… he returned to the city.
He found… that the city he had gone out to protect… had fallen.
Because he fought far away from it.
End of Flashback.
…
Valdraak lowered his head.
“That day…” “I killed ten thousand men.”
He raised his eyes toward Sami.
“But I could not save a single child.”
…
Silence ensued.
“I learned that day…” “that power alone…” “…protects no one.”
He raised his hand and placed it over his chest.
“And since that day…” “I swore…” ”