Leviathan replied:
“Alright…”
The director was still gently scratching Genika’s head… and Genika felt like a small cat being petted… it was genuinely comforting to her, even though the atmosphere around them didn’t feel safe at all.
We return to Lucian after Leviathan transported him to Cloud’s palace…
The palace was not just a building… but a silent entity observing anyone who entered.
Its black reflective walls seemed to read the intentions of intruders before their words.
He said to Leviathan:
“I want to speak to him alone…”
Leviathan left silently, without comment, as if she had never existed there in the first place.
A new conversation begins…
A heavy silence falls between the two.
Then Lucian says:
“You planned everything… didn’t you? Even Genika?”
Cloud replies:
“I didn’t think it was that obvious.”
Lucian responds:
“You publicly revealed your rebellion against the Master… is that normal for you?”
Cloud slowly raises his gaze and says calmly:
“I don’t want to follow a path whose faith is unstable. My path… is a straight white road toward justice. I am the one building it.”
He pauses…
“If I follow a path whose color I don’t even know… how can I live?”
“This life is fake… tasteless… as long as I am under orders whose origin I don’t even know…”
“The Master… the Numbers… the Special Numbers… the continents… all of it is nonsense.”
“Where is humanity?”
“We are paying our humanity as the price for this power… authority and strength only lead to corruption.”
Lucian replies:
“Look around you… entire cities are happy because of you.”
“Cloud… you ensured peace for the Fourth Continent. That alone is an achievement.”
Cloud answers in a mysterious tone:
“I thought your perception was deeper.”
Lucian stays silent for a moment… he doesn’t understand.
Cloud explains:
“My heart is hardened… I am not human yet… because my humanity is the price of my strength—”
Lucian quickly interrupts:
“You are the kindest person I know.”
“You don’t believe in the Master because you don’t know whether his intentions are good or evil… and if they are good, you would follow him. That proves your white path toward light and humanity is real.”
Cloud falls silent for a moment.
Then he says:
“One day… if you see a Special Number fighting at half his power… you will understand that the world before you is nothing but a grain of dust compared to them.”
Lucian replies:
“And so what? You said it yourself… power is not everything.”
Cloud says:
“Do you know something?”
“Every time I draw my sword… I remember my sister… and I feel that killing brutally… is pleasure.”
“Is this part of me? Or is it the past the Master buried inside me?”
“I am trying to understand the source of this feeling.”
For the first time… This chapter was taken from novelping.com without permission.
Cloud removes his blindfold in front of someone other than his sister… Lucian.
Lucian sees his face clearly.
It is nothing ordinary.
Red eyes… not normal.
Not like Himera’s… but like a dragon ready to strike at any moment.
It is not just anger… but pure combat awareness.
Even the air around him feels heavier.
Then he slowly puts the blindfold back.
And says:
“Lucian… your perception is not shallow… but do you understand?”
Lucian replies immediately:
“I don’t care.”
“The Cloud I know… even when you said to make me your pawn… it wasn’t truly from you. It was hollow. And that proves you are still human.”
Cloud replies:
“You will see someday…”
Lucian says:
“Anyway… you gave Dastan a dragon because you knew he wanted to protect us. There is no better guardian for him.”
“And Genika… you made the director adopt her so she could access all academy facilities like the library… to feed her mind with knowledge. Her talent isn’t trained by exercise, but by intellect.”
“Or maybe to prevent the director from becoming hostile toward us after what happened.”
“And when you said training Azara in cloning… you meant me, didn’t you?”
“All this kindness… is something not even a billion gold coins could buy.”
“Cloud… you are justice itself.”
“A born judge… who understands human flaws as if you design them yourself… but everything you do has meaning… your generosity has no limit.”
“Thank you… from the bottom of my heart.”
“And the first time you said ‘be my pawns’…”
“I accept.”
“I know my weakness… but one day I will reach a point where I can say: I serve Cloud, the Special Number 4, without shame.”
Cloud replies calmly:
“Sorry… my perception wasn’t shallow.”
“Thank you… Lucian.”
Lucian says:
“The day you want to slap Zero Time’s backside… I will stand with you.”
Cloud replies:
“Sorry… but you will only be a spectator.”
Lucian smiles:
“We’ll see.”
He leaves Cloud’s room…
Outside… Leviathan is calmly eating a lollipop.
“Finished?”
“Take me back to the academy.”
She returns him to the arena. New chapters come out on g.com first.
Ozex apologizes to everyone for what happened.
Lucian reappears with Leviathan… then she disappears again immediately.
Lucian looks at Ravina… who is scratching Genika’s head while saying:
“My little Genika… why are you so thin? Don’t your friends feed you well?”
Dastan looks on, his eyes lighting up as he watches his shadow dragon.
Lucy apologizes to Ozex.
Lucian smiles.
This was only the first day… and already many friendships had formed.
Quickly… the audience seats empty out.
Genika cries with joy upon seeing her mother.
But her tears are not only joy…
they are an extension of a heavy past.
Orphanage days…
The four had been adopted…
Noor refused.
Eid…
and even Dastan despite his gloom…
everyone had been adopted…
except her.
She was the unwanted one.
So she trained alone…
books instead of hugs…
numbers instead of affection…
solving the hardest equations since childhood just to prove she exists.
She always tried to shine… but no one ever looked at her.
Even those who approached her… ended up adopting someone else and leaving her alone.
Now…
only one accepted her.
And a mother stood before her.
Genika’s tears fall like rain without stopping.
Lucian thinks:
“Cloud… I will repay your favor… even if it costs my life.”
“The happiness of my companions… no, my brothers…”
“He only met them once… yet he filled their hearts and brought real joy to their faces.”
In any case…
The director leaves, telling her daughter she will visit her tomorrow morning.
Ravina draws her sword from its sheath…
and cuts through reality.
A terrifying ability…
But the trio pays no attention… because they have already seen far beyond that.
The first day ends…
And 89 days remain until the end of this continent…
Rosaline joins the trio…
Everyone extends their hands…
and places them one over another.