Chapter 238: The End


    Amber eyes lifted. He winced as he felt pricks in the interior of his eyelids. He tried to keep his eyes slightly closed to avoid more dust entering his eyes. However, this wasn''t what he was anxious about. It was the sudden presence of Moulin that made his eyes wide and his heart pound heavily.


    Before a word could escape his mouth, he felt the rock he was holding on to crack. Instantly, rm filled his senses.


    Moulin hurriedly lowered his torso down the edge of the rift, and he stretched out his hand. His fingered dug unto the ground tightly. Alsander was still injured. And it happened because of him. Moulin refused to let his friend fall to his death. He refused to let another soul slip away because of him.


    "Gh!" Moulin hissed when his arm scratched the sharp rocky edge of the wall. However, he kept his eyes determined as he reached for Alsander''s hand.


    Crack!


    The sound sent a dreadful chill down Moulin''s back. The rock Alsander was hanging on was breaking, and if Moulin wasted more time reaching for him then and still fail, then Alsander would fall. Shaking his head, Moulin''s fingertips could not reach his friend''s hand. There were perhaps six impossible inches left. If he would bend over even a little, he would not bnce his weight when he holds Alsander.


    The youth gnashed his teeth.


    Seeing his struggle, Alsander opened his mouth. "Moulin-"


    "Shut up!" Moulin narrowed his eyes. "You have to reach for me!"


    "What?" Alsander drew his brows together. "I don''t think I can-"


    "Do it! Don''t worry. I will catch you, so do it..." Moulin said as he eyed the cracking rocks. "Come on... Hurry... On three, let go and reach towards me. Alright?... One..."


    "..." Alsander clenches his jaw. His arm was still aching, and he could not trust the strength he has left. But Moulin is giving him the chance to save himself. Alsander could not refuse it.


    "Two..." Moulin sharpened his eyes. His fingers are stretched outwards.


    Crack!


    Alsander breathes out as he readied himself.


    "Three!"


    Alsander instantly pulled himself on the rock and desperately grasped Moulin''s hand. At the same time, the edge he was hanging on broke down. The rocks are rolling down the dark abyss like an avnche. If Alsander were a second toote, then he would have fallen to his death. Crushed.


    "I got you... I got you..." Moulin grunted as he held Alsander with both hands. The man was swaying in the air, and Moulin could not fully bnce himself.


    Alsander sighs as he nced down. He shudders, thinking of his brutal winding if he had missed Moulin''s hand. He lifted his gaze and revealed a smile. "Nice catch, young master."


    "I''m impressed you still have the nerve to smile even during this situation." Moulin shook his head helplessly. He looked down at his friend and chuckled. "You were lucky..."


    Crack!


    Suddenly, the ground beneath Moulin''s knees crumble! In the next second, he felt gravity pull him down.


    "!!!"


    Moulin''s instincts kicked in. He instantly pulled Alsander up with all his strength before he could fall along with the breaking rocks that supported him. Death seemed to tap on his shoulder as his eyes fell on the pitch-ck darkness waiting for him below. The stones scratched his body. Gravity yanked him downward in a forceful pull. Time seemed to slow down as he fell.


    Snap!


    "Augh!"


    Moulin wince when he felt someone grab his wrist. His grip was tight, almost to a painful degree. He felt something wet flowing down his arms and his knees.


    Blood.


    He was bleeding.


    "Moulin..." Alsander called as he looked down.


    Now their situations have reversed.


    Alsander held Moulin with one and. His other arm hanged lifelessly on his shoulder. The dislocation of his bones was evident.


    Silver eyes met the sight of Alsander, desperately holding him. He knew his efforts were fruitless. He could barely keep himself steady, lying on his stomachthe cracking earth beneath his weight.


    Alsander cried out as he endured the pain. He shook his head.


    "Why?..." His voice was shaking. The young man''s wondrous amber eyes stared down at his friend, hanging for his life in his stead. "Why did youe back for me?..."


    Moulin watched him from below. In each second that would pass, the sound of the breaking rocks entered his ears. However, he was unusually calm.


    "You''re my friend... " He answered. A bit of embarrassment shed in his eyes.


    Alsander scoffed. "Ha..."


    ...


    Moulin furrowed his brows.


    Alsander''s shoulders started to shaking, trembling. He could feel his grasp weakening. His eyes turned lifeless and dull. Despair and regret filled his expression. It was an expression Moulin didn''t know Alsander was capable of showing. He was a gleeful man. Filled with confidence and drive.


    Now... He looked like one of the most sorrowful people in the world.


    "You have a traitor as your friend..." Alexander whispered.


    The words crashed on Moulin like a lightning strike. His eyes turned wide, blinking. Unsure if Alsander was telling him one of his jokes or not. However, the severe look on the young man''s face proved everything to be correct.


    It was real.


    "What?..." Moulin forced out a word. His head shaking slowly. "What are you saying?"


    Alsander revealed a despairing expression as he faced Moulin.


    "I did it. I was the one... Who opened a passage for the seige of your home. It was me who gave away your location..."


    His voice was soft. Regret and anguish surged his heart like a tidal wave.


    Moulin felt the world around him turned dark as though time has stopped for the two of them. For a moment, he had forgotten the pain spreading all over his body. His mind was swimming in a world of confusion.


    Alsander... It was him?


    "Why?" Moulin choked out. "It wasn''t you. You were with me! It can''t be you..."


    "It was me... " Alsander confessed with a pained smile. "I did it all..."


    Moulin''s face instantly paled. He felt as if he was choking. He couldn''t believe it. How? Why? Why would he do it?! All of this?... All of the death and destruction in his home?...


    The cause of his mother''s death... All those innocent lives?


    "Why?... How could you?" Moulin hoarsely spoke as he breathed heavily. "I trusted you... How could you do this? What wrong did I do to you?!"


    "Nothing..." Alsander shakes his head. His voice, low and dreadful. It seemed as though he was drowning inside. "Nothing at all... but to cleanse this dying world of its sins..." His eyes suddenly turned apathetic."You must perish..."


    Moulin froze.


    These words...


    Alha''s smile shed in his mind, and a chill ran down Moulin''s spine. His throat constricted and his eyes wide in shock.


    No...


    Alsander couldn''t be one of them. He couldn''t be...


    Crack!


    Moulin flinched. He swiftly raised his head and spotted the edge wall breaking once again. "!!!"


    Alsander''s expression remained unfazed as he continued to stare at the youth beneath him. A slight reddish tone washed the amber in his eyes. "You are a good person, Moulin. You really are. Sometimes you make me question my loyalty to my God with those daring eyes of yours. So pure and untainted. Like a diamond under the moonlight. Your presence blesses the world. You''re too good for it... Even I don''t deserve it. None of us are... Including that lover of yours."


    What is this?


    Moulin''s eyebrows furrowed. Gradually, he could feel the air change around them.


    Alsander seemed to be speaking as if he was another person. Now he realized even the look in his eyes was strange...


    "n..." Moulin spoke.


    At the sound of the nickname, Alsander froze. The name Alsander had told Moulin to call him. The request happened ages ago. However, it seemed as though, Alsander had first heard it. Something inside him waver and retreated. However, his expression remained unchanged.


    "If... You want me to perish... then why are you not letting me go?" He said.


    Alsander stopped. His body stiffened. Eyes wide and uncertain.


    Why is he?...


    Crack!


    A few stones fell from the cracks. Like a puzzle missing its pieces. There was not much time left.


    "n..." Moulin repeated with soft eyes. He released a sigh. "If there is even a hint of you that cherished our friendship... I hope you will forgive yourself."


    Alsander brows furrowed. Confusion filled his expression. He didn''t understand why Moulin would be saying this to him. "What?"


    Whoosh!


    A soft breeze passed by. It was gentle and calm. For a moment, Alsander stopped.


    Then... He felt the warmth in his hand cool. The tight grip he had held, loosened.


    Fingers touched for thest time.


    Moulin lets go...


    "Moulin!" Alsander roared with blood-shot eyes.


    Afterwards, it was a terrifying fall. The youth''s body, plunging into the darkness. Fierce wind are colliding into his back as he falls. Moulin stares at the darkening cloud rapidly growing smaller and smaller as he fell into the depths. Rocks,rger than his body, feel before his sight, chasing him to the abyss.


    The roaring thunderps entered his ears onest time before darkness consumed his vision, and he could no longer see anything else.


    ''Hadrian... Don''t be too sad...''


    ''I promise... I''lle back...''


    ''I''m sorry...''


    He breathed hisst.


    ...


    Unknown to him, a towering figure appeared a few meters away behind Alsander''s back. His golden eyes searched desperately for his person. And in his arm was a wounded little snow-white fox, curling into a ball and whimpering in pain. The Hercullian Lord held Snow carefully as his eyes finally found Alsander''s kneeling form.


    Moulin''s personal attendant, P, had told him everything. However, he could not spot Moulin anywhere. An ominous sensation crept inside his chest and forced himself to be at ease. Perhaps, it will disappear when Moulin speaks to him.


    He will find him. He knows he will...


    "Moulin!"


    That piercing cry escaped from Alsander''s mouth. The young man was trembling violently. Holding his head as though he couldn''t believe what he had done.


    Hearing the deafening shout, Hadrian turned his head. Eye boring into the man as he strode forward with a thundering heart. Ice-cold numbness poured into his limbs. The grip on his sword clenched tightly. No, he would not hurt anyone. Moulin wouldn''t like it. He had sworn to change...


    "Where is he?..."


    His voice, dark and menacing. A thousand swords seemed to stab through the person he was speaking to. However, a faint hopeful desperation could be perceived from his tone.


    With dazed eyes, the color of sunset, Alsander lifted his gaze, meeting the golden pair of ruthless eyes.


    With a hoarse voice, Alsander spoke.


    ...


    "He is gone..."