Dawn returned to Triazils, and with it, something that Orion expected.


    *BOOM*


    The ground shook violently, awakening everyone sleeping. Florian rushed on top of Albriar''s walls to look at the commotion.


    ''I can''t see a thing, but that definitely came from that place.''


    With dust hindering his vision, Florian could only make guesses, but there was one thing that he was sure of.


    ''He was right, Julian came back.''


    "What is happening?"


    Tom, his secretary and helper, finally found his Lord after looking all over the barracks.


    "Another problem following Julian."


    He turned to look at his aid, and spoke with confidence.


    "Go notice everyone, that they need to stay inside the walls of the city. I trust no one will defy my order."


    "Yes, I will do that immediately."


    Before leaving, Tom bowed, and added one last question.


    "What about you?"


    Looking in the distance, he answered.


    "I will observe from here. I was told to look at the ''show''."


    ~


    "Hnnng!"


    Orion stretched to relieve the soreness of his muscles.


    Amelia and Karteira had already woken up, and were waiting anxiously at the table.


    "Are you sure you don''t want us to come with you?"


    Obviously, Amelia was even now trying to help him.


    "She''s right, if it''s similar to the previous Apostle, how are you going to win alone?"


    The memories of fighting Ivan with Kamala entered his mind.


    "Compared to Ivan, who had various ways to hinder our movements with his lightning element, Julian is unable to do that. I don''t know if even as a corpse he will be able to use his friends abilities, but that won''t change anything."


    "I realized that he was an opponent rather easy to deal with once you knew a few things."


    He continued after dropping his arms down.


    "Having multiple people fighting him is a disadvantage. The orbs are easier to deal with alone since they can''t all focus on a single person."


    "His shields are tough, but you can bait him to attack by approaching closer to him."


    "And now that I have the Third Gear, I most likely possess the same strength as Karteira right now."


    There was no sign of surprise on their faces, because it was obvious that he was getting stronger at each unlocks.


    Instead, Amelia and Karteira both asked, as if they planned to speak at the same time.


    "Are we... a burden to you?"


    "Who told you that? Me?"


    "No."


    He walked in front of them, and placed a hand on both of their head.


    "Then you aren''t. I know it is selfish of me to go fight alone, right after what happened yesterday, but you know."


    "My blood is boiling since yesterday. I want to try that new Gear, and I can go without restrain against this guy."


    "There''s also the fact that the corrupted humans only focus on me when I am near."


    Caressing their hair, he fell a pressure similar to the one he felt fighting Ivan get closer to the city.


    "I will not disappoint you."


    That was all he had to say. He removed his hands, and left the room after saying a few words to the sisters, and quickly exited the city.


    The girls looked at each other, and turned to the sisters, silently waiting near the door Orion walked through.


    "What choice do we have?"


    "Right? Let''s go."


    The four of them joined Florian on the wall of Albriar, ready to witness Orion lone fight.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ~


    Orion walked toward the place where the pressure was the strongest, when he realized that he forgot to tell Amelia to unlock the Third Gear.


    ''I''m sure she will unlock it at one point without me saying anything, like she did when I was fighting Ivan.''


    What he didn''t know was that Ego was the one relaying those thoughts. And just like before, when he was going to need it, she would go and ask Amelia to release the seal.


    A hundred meters away from the city, a being was silently waiting. His body was weirdly shaped, most noticeably near the neck area.


    The black core that had formed where the head was detached from the body appeared to be responsible for the current state of Julian.


    His head was bound to the body with stretched muscles around the core, making it taller than the day before.


    There was also no light in his eyes. His thinking had been shut down, and even the sense of life was out of him. Only the purple smoke coming out of his mouth showed that he was ''breathing''.


    ''One core at the neck. There is... no other cores?''


    Orion looked intently at the moving corpse in the distance. There was no sign of other cores.


    ''Weird, Usually, there''s at least two or three cores appearing on a Corrupted Lord''s body. Is there a core inside of his body?''


    But there was no way for him to know about such a thing.


    ''I will know the moment I destroy that core. But seriously...''


    Grabbing his chest as if it was hurting, Orion grimaced at the sight of this aberration.


    ''I can''t believe that feeling was true. At first, I thought it was weird.''


    ''Even though Julian was dead right in front of me, in my soul, something told me that it wasn''t over yet. I don''t know how to describe that feeling, but thanks to that, I am prepared.''


    As Orion approached Julian, his presence was finally registered. Julian turned his head slowly toward him.


    "I came back to finish the job, aren''t you happy?"


    Orion released his magic, and not long after, the burning sensation he felt the night before.


    For a second, Orion basked into the feeling that wasn''t painful compared to his past experiences. While doing that, many notions of his ability came to him. Things he never knew possible, and some that were out of his reach until now.


    After inhaling and exhaling the cold air of dawn, Orion looked straight forward.


    "Isn''t it time, coward?"


    The husk of Julian reacted to that word, similar as to when he was alive. Purple haze stopped emanating from his mouth, irritation visible on his face.


    ''I guess even in death, some things never changes.''


    Orion disappeared from the spot he was standing on.


    ~


    "Orianne."


    "Yes?"


    "Are you alright? I haven''t heard anything from you since we''ve awakened."


    Orianne and Reon had awoken from their sudden slumber. For some reason Reon was unaware of, his wife was a little distant, as if she was somewhere else.


    "The bracelet. Isn''t it supposed to stay in a functional state when Orion is awake?"


    "..."


    Reon had a feeling Orianne came to the same conclusion as him.


    "We were watching him fight, and then everything went black. Be honest with me, did Orion die?"


    Starring straight in his eyes, she was waiting for his answer.


    "If he was dead, we wouldn''t be discussing that right now. No, he didn''t die. maybe for a split second, or he simply lost consciousness."


    His words turned round and round inside her mind, until his previous words resurfaced.


    "Don''t cry..."


    With a pained hurt, he realized that he might have inadvertently made things harder for her to deal with her feeling.


    But she shook her head, and recovered with a small smile on her face.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t cry. I did not have a weak heart to begin with."


    "Just for Orion?"


    He smiled and approached his wife.


    "Just for Orion."


    Nodding, she watched her husband place a hand on her head.


    ''Orion took that from you.''


    Enjoying the caress she always received, she closed her eyes.


    "Should we go look at the recording of what happened?"


    "I don''t really want to, knowing that he got hurt, but we don''t have a choice."


    They both walked downstairs, where the table was.


    "Let me adjust the time so that we can synchronize with his time when we finish watching... and... done."


    "He protected Karteira before he lost consciousness. That was similar to-"


    "It''s starting."


    ...


    They watched everything from the bracelet''s perspective. It showed everything after Orion recovered. Karteira''s loss of control, her sudden confession, Julian''s death, the moment with Florian, and the talk with Amelia about the confession.


    "My son is a philanderer! How many is he going to have?!"


    She said that as if she was judging Orion, but really, she was so excited to know what would happen from now on.


    "Amelia has such a big heart. I sure would refuse to share you with another woman."


    Reon shuddered at the thought. ''Orianne'' and ''cheating'' were two words that should never get spoken in the same sentence.


    "Riiiiight?"


    Trying not to look at the creepy smile on her face, Reon coughed dramatically.


    "I said it before, why can''t you trust me?"


    "Because! The moment I had my back turned, that woman was always next to you!"


    "You know there was nothing between me and her! I was an outcast before, of course I would attract the eyes of others the moment I get stronger. Wasn''t it the same with you?"


    She looked on the side, and whistled.


    "What are you talking about?"


    "Right? So let''s stop with that stupid conversation."


    Giggling, Orianne agreed.


    "Sorry, I couldn''t stop myself."


    The recording turned black the moment Orion placed his head on the pillow.


    "Fast!"


    "That''s almost like you Orianne."


    Reon saw the same thing happen again and again in the past. She was a fast sleeper, and Orion seemed to be the same when he was exhausted.


    While the recording played in fast forward the time Orion passed sleeping, they talked about a few things concerning Orion, and what they hoped that would happen.


    Orianne was for the lamia queen, Deveralna, to be close friend with her son, or more.


    Reon was more interested in Amelia, and Florian. He was a researcher at heart, and the way they used their elements intrigued him a lot. But he kept to himself that he wanted to see the sisters, Dramia and Drania, act a little more ''friendly'' with his son.


    They both had a lot of free time.


    At one point, the recording started again.


    Orion woke up in the barracks, talked with everyone, and quickly walked out of Albriar with a smile.


    As if the device understood what was about to begin, the scene changed to what was in front of him.


    The grotesque patchwork of corruption that was barely standing straight seemed to finally notice his presence.


    "He really plans on attacking a corrupted Apostle alone."


    Orianne clasped her hands together, hoping for the worst not to happen.


    "If he went alone, it can mean only one thing."


    -


    "Isn''t it time, coward?"


    -


    "Huh?"


    "Reon? Is there something wrong?"


    Reon stared at the screen with his eyes wide open.


    "Why did the corrupted react to his words?"


    "..."


    "Is he still conscious even though he clearly died? Or is it instinctual? No corrupted beast ever showed a once of intelligence before. Is the corruption evolving?"


    Many question formed in his mind, until Orianne pulled his sleeve.


    "Concentrate. You don''t want to miss this, right?"


    "Sorry."


    He stopped worrying for now, and watched the screen once again.


    A sudden change happened. The screen moved so fast, it was hard for them to understand what had happened.


    "A mix of extreme speed, and warping."


    Reon explained his observation for his wife to understand.


    It happened multiple times, with only one detail always being in the center of the screen.


    Orion''s enemy.