The world seemed to fall away.

Time slowed as Asta hit the ground, his scream muffled by the sound of your own heartbeat thundering in your ears.

Blood painted the battlefield — vivid, red, real. For a single, eternal second, everything froze. You had seen death before. Pain. Loss. But not like this.

Not at the hands of him.

Before your legs could move, before your magic could even respond to your desperate thoughts, Sister Lily appeared like a final breath of mercy.

In a flash of divine light, she whisked Asta away — sparing him from a blow that might’ve finished him. You staggered forward a step, trembling, breath caught in your throat.

And then… you saw him.

Lucius.

His robes were pristine — not a single drop of blood dared cling to him. He stood above the ruined battlefield like a prophet of damnation, the smirk on his face carved in ice and memory.

A smile you once loved. A smile that had once whispered sweet nothings to you beneath starlit skies, back when you were both young and foolish.

Before the world sank its teeth into him. Before you walked away. Before he became this.

“Ah, how exquisite it is to reunite with you.”

His voice was velvet — gentle and deep, yet laced with venom. It was the same voice that used to say your name like a prayer.

Now it sounded more like a curse.

Your fists clenched at your sides, trembling not from fear, but from fury. Confusion. Sorrow. You didn’t know which feeling rose faster.

He stepped closer, hands folded neatly behind his back — the picture of civility, like the murder of your friends wasn’t still staining the ground around you.

The air warped slightly around his form, pressure building as if reality itself were bending to his will. You could feel the overwhelming weight of his magic.

Time. Soul. Judgment. Divinity twisted into tyranny. And yet… when he looked at you, there was recognition.

“You haven’t changed,” he murmured. “Still clinging to the old world. Still trying to protect what is rotting.”

His head tilted ever so slightly, curiosity mingling with calculation in his eyes. “I had hoped you would see. That you’d understand. That you’d join me.”