When the pair of Great Spirits touched the clouds, it began to disperse as if they were just thin smoke swayed away by a breeze. The rain stopped and the wind became gentle again.
"You really stopped it..."
Seres looked at Teren with a complicated expression. Teren lost two Great Spirits while her Great Spirit of Storm would be unusable for the time being. For some, this would be a great loss.
'But for him who has stolen a great number of Great Spirits, this is nothing...'
Teren immediately felt fatigue covering his body, but he retained his composure.
"If you want to, you can just escape to another city."
Seres said to Teren.
"I'm done escaping. Sorry, Seres, but I'm not giving any of you the initiative. I will come after them myself."
"So you chose to fight in a battle you're destined to lose."
"..."
Teren didn't reply. He felt something weird was going to happen as he tightly held Iesa's waist, afraid of letting her go.
"You two are crazy..."
Seres whispered.
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the Heren City, the Empress has finally returned to the field. She skimmed through the area and found the center. She didn't stop running and upon reaching the center-
BOOM!*
"Huh...?"
Teren's knees immediately gave in while blood spilled out of his lips. However, he didn't let Iesa go when he fell onto his knees. Meanwhile, she was hugging him back.
There was a period of silence before Iesa let go and stood up, leaving the knife on Teren's back, piercing through his heart.
"I thought you love him."
Seres turned around as she said so.
"... I never loved him."
Teren looked up and found intense malice coming from the girl in front of him. This was his last remaining power.
'The connection to the Spirits, it's gone...'
Spirits within him began to stir around, trying to escape. The first ones to escape were the Great Spirits.
"... urgh..."
An emanating pain throbbed within him. It was as if his limbs were being forcefully detached from him.
'I... I need to retain the Spirit of Healing!'
Teren concentrated as tears began to drip from his eyes. He was feeling pain physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He couldn't help but shed tears as he looked at his beloved staring back at him with malice...
There was a long silence that Seres turned her head around. What she saw was a surreal scene.
'How strong is he? He's still able to use the Spirit of Healing but...'
Seres glanced at Iesa who stood still in front of the dying Teren.
"Teren, it's been a long time."
Iesa finally spoke.
Teren breathed heavily as his face turned pale. Every beat of his heart brings him suffering. He shouldn't even be alive after hundreds of Spirits escaped his body. His eyelids were constantly dropping, if he closed his eyes for a second, he might die.
"Does it feel wonderful dating a girl that you not only killed once but also got her memories erased? I see you haven't changed, you must've enjoyed it."
"Meanwhile, I, cannot believe that a perfect opportunity like this reveals itself. Your knife... it has the ability to vanquish Spirits. It's such a demonic blade..."
"... befitting you."
"You called my name once but you did nothing."
"What's your plan, don't tell me you actually fell in love with me?"
"That's right."
Teren finally replied while keeping himself intact.
"Ever since I was young..."
He continued with a low voice.
"And that's why you're a demon. You harm the people you love. But now, you've fallen in love again. You could've just killed Iesa, but you didn't, is it because I look like her?"
'Iesa' said in a provoking voice.
"Yes, at first. But I didn't think you two are the same person..."
Teren clenched his eyelids once, stopping the dropping tears.
"We're not. Now that you're going to die, she will too."
"I will remember this."
Teren held his chest and looked at Dehian with a smile.
"Huh? What's he doing?"
Seres felt intense energy from Teren. His body trembled and - crack*
"You're crazy..."
Dehian whispered as she witnessed Teren forcefully closing his wound. His skin continuously breaks off the blade of the knife behind his back, chipping it away.
Soon, the handle of the knife dropped without its blade and his skin finally closed.
"... why?"
Seres' eyes widened after seeing this, unable to comprehend why Teren would leave the blade inside.
Teren's gaze met Dehian dumbfounded face.
"Tsk!"
She clicked her tongue and turned around before walking away.
"Leave him be. He will die soon enough."
Seres was still confused but had to follow Dehian. She kept glancing back and finally saw Teren drop onto the ground.
The clouds that dispersed earlier came back, making the sky dark again. This was the remnant of the dispelled storm. It was far from being fierce. It was just light rain.
Thud* Thud*
"Argh, it hurts... Dehian did me real good."
Teren gained consciousness after a moment of fainting. If he stayed unconscious for a little longer, he might've died. The pain in his heart was both killing him and keeping him alive.
He stood up and tried to walk home...
A few moments later, inside a car, Seres kept glancing to her side.
'... I don't understand what's going on with these two...'
"Seres..."
"W-what?"
"I... just stabbed Teren."
"Yeah... you did."
"W-what if... what if he breaks up with me?"
"Eh?!"
Seres almost jumped from her seat. After a while, she realized-
"Iesa? You're back."
"What kind of girlfriend... would stab her boyfriend?"
"That's the least of your worries. He will die soon enough."
"..."
Iesa stared at nothingness for a while, remembering what she heard from Teren's thoughts.
"Aren't you sad, Seres? We conspired against your brother."
'We?'
Seres frowned and with a bitter expression, she replied-
"I've never seen him as my brother from the start."
"Eh? But aren't you crying earlier?"
"Crying!? Maybe what you saw was the rain, even now I'm soaking wet!"
"You cannot be honest with yourself too, huh. You should know that with the revival of your father, the past is not as simple as it is."
"... Iesa, give me your phone."
"Why?"
Seres glared at Iesa.
"Now that you will be officially working with the SSDA, relationships are forbidden. What's worse, you breaking up with him or him breaking up with you."
"B-both..."
"Just give me your phone!"
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