Thanatos went flying as he lost consciousness. The blood sprayed from his face one final time before he crashed onto the floor, but with the last remains of his strength, he uttered simple words.
"[Retribution]"
Sebir, in turn, also went flying, as if he had been hit by an invisible attack. For the first time in this battle, Sebir took damage, and it wasn't some light attack either. The blow hit the right side of his face, knocking him back several meters. The blood from his mouth started to drip, and a tooth fell off soon after. It took him a moment to realize what had happened. Some type of special ability that returns damage? Why hadn't he used it before? No, this is not the same punch I hit him with. He returned to me with more power.
How has he kept that ace up his sleeve all this time? It was just at the end that he decided to fight for real, only when he was pissed off. How strong are you?
"Ah dammit now this whole fucking thing ended up being pointless. Lenard!" He shouted at his companion.
"What? You want more, even though you're hurt right now."
"No, this whole show is over. Attend to the boy's wounds, will you"
"I was going to do that already. Your mind still misses the important details, but he seems to have connections to the Council, so you made a mess of this whole situation. Aren't you going to apologize?"
"Sure, sure. I'm sorry." He clearly wasn't paying any attention to the sermon of his partner. After that, Sebir went with some of the grunts to treat his own wound. Leaving behind a confused Lenard who was shaking his head in disappointment.
Thanatos woke up in a small room. He was resting in a bed when the sensation of pain struck his face. He touched it. He felt small bruises all over, but they weren't as big as they were supposed to be. Someone probably used healing magic to treat him. He had lost the battle. He put his pride and anger into that last attack, but it still wasn't enough. He had been completely humiliated. Before he could start to feel the anger and frustration growing inside of him, the door opened.
"It seems that you woke up. How are you feeling?" Lenard asked him.
"I'm fine enough. Is this an attempt to try to get on my good side after beating the crap out of me?" He was clearly being sarcastic.
"No, I was genuinely worried about your health. But if you want to know what I'm really thinking, it's that you're pretty lucky."
"How the hell am I lucky after this whole thing?"
"Well, you're alive. That is more than most people who have fought Sebir can tell. Also, the healing process went well, so you will not have more than a few days with some bruises." Lenard took a chair from a corner of the room and sat right beside the bed.
"What I'm going to say now is both my opinion and the words of the representative of the Sleeping Bird. Would you care to listen to what I have to say?"
Thanatos just kept looking at him and made a gesture to continue.
"Thank you. Sir Thanatos you´re strong, contrary to your appearance you´re not just a regular noble but someone with great ability. I saw it with my own eyes. I also noticed during the fight that you seemed to have a connection with Lady Lia Comtes. Is it correct to suppose this?"
Thanatos didn't realize that he had let information slip out of his mind. How stupid can he be? He ended up dragging Lia into this. If they want to take some sort of retaliation, she could be targeted. He bit his lip, making it bleed.
"Do not worry, the Sleeping Bird will keep this connection secret as a way to apologize for the trouble and pain we caused you" Lenard saw the anxiety rising inside Thanatos, so he said that to calm him down.
"With this, I also want to ask you to please not try to take action against us. We sincerely don't want to get into any type of fight, especially one with the Council. The way our syndicate has survived this long is by using information to our advantage. We're not a fighting force; some have already tried to crush us. It is thanks to Sebir that we have managed to survive." That name causes Thanatos to tense up again.
"I won't ask that you forgive him, but please forgive the rest of us and the Sleeping Bird. Our boss formed this group to achieve his goal. We want to at least be useful for a little longer."
Thanatos took a moment to think before speaking.
"I understand. I won't act against your group anymore. If you can promise to keep my connection secret, I won't ask more than that."
"Thank you, Sir Thanatos. You have my deepest gratitude"
After that, Thanatos started to get up and put his clothes back on, planning to leave.
"How please, you should rest a little bit more. We can take you wherever you need to go."
"It's fine, I can go there by myself." He put his clothes on in a minute and was ready to leave, when Lenard offered him his hand.
"I know you still have hostility towards us, but please be assured that I or anyone else in this place won't betray you. Even if we get tortured and murdered. We will die silent like a sleeping bird."
Thanatos looked at him in the eyes and knew he was telling the truth. The men shook hands, and that was the end of it.
After walking for a few minutes and realizing that he hadn't been followed, Thanatos took a moment beside a dark alleyway. I'm so fucking stupid. I lost the fight with that old guy. I revealed Lia's name and put her in danger. The only grace is that I left the black book hidden at the headquarters at Raind. If I had brought it with me, they would have seen it and known about my true powers.
He was angry with himself. There was no space for a small victory in his mind, not after the words of that man.
"She's going to die because of you." "There's nothing for you here." Those words stabbed his heart more painfully than any punch. Lia, I want to see you. Lia, where are you?
He started walking. In his mind, only Lia was present. He wanted to know if he really was needed. No one else could answer that except her. With sluggish footsteps, he reached the same park that they visited in the morning. It was dark now, with only a few light posts illuminating the area. He started sniffing around until he finally found Lia's scent.
Even if he was supposed to go to the hotel where they were staying, even if Adel and Eric could be in danger at that moment. He wanted to see her, hear her voice, be close to her...
In the gardens of a mansion, Lia stood alone with her thoughts. After her conversation with Lady Alma, she could not shake the feeling of guilt inside her. Would he get tired of me eventually? No, Thanatos is my friend. He saved my life, even though he didn't need to. He likes all the clothes I make for him. He always entertains my silly requests and...
At that moment, the memories of the park reappear in her mind. She knew she had made him sad. She could see the tears forming in Thanatos' eyes. How could she be so socially inept to bother him so much? And the worst part was that she couldn't make him happy. It was Eric who raised his mood.
She was useless. That was the reason, so simple, but she was blind to it. Someone so useless, of course, he's going to get tired of me eventually. I can't do anything. Save my life? That was just me being a bother to him. He almost died because of me. Clothes? I only gave him clothes because I didn't know what else to give him. He's running his own business, so of course he doesn't have time for someone like me, but I still bother him with questions.
"Hahaha..." Lia started to laugh at herself. She was still useless, just like a little girl. If her family hadn't raised her, they would have abandoned her a long time ago. I can't offer anything of value, so why am I even alive? The tears were rolling down her face, a silent cry of shame and regret.
"Excuse me, madam. Please use this for your face and please tell me what I can do to help." When Lia opened her teary eyes, she saw a man with silver hair was in front of her offering a handkerchief.
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm fine. I just got dust in my eyes haha…" She tried to make light of the situation by cleaning her face.
"Please, madam, I couldn't call myself a knight if I stood by and watched a lady cry without assisting her in her distress."
"A Knight?" Lia took a more detailed look at the man. He had silver hair and eyes. His uniform was white, like that of a Knight of the Kingdom. Lia wasn't an expert on military ranks, but she could tell by the uniform that he was a Sergeant.
"Excuse me, Sir, what is your name?"
"Silver Alexander Kendall. Pleased to meet you, madam." He bowed in a respectful salute.
"Thank you, I'm Lia Comtes Hildir." She bowed too and gave him back the handkerchief. "I'm fine. It was nothing important. You don't need to worry." A few more tears were still in her face.
Silver took the handkerchief and wiped Lia's face with care. "I think if something makes us cry, it is definitely important."
Lia was surprised by the sweet words of the knight until her eyes caught the image of Thanatos behind him.
"Thanatos, what happened? Your face is hurt. Did you get into a fight?" She started running towards him.
"I-I´m fine. I fell when I was walking toward here" A lie. Thanatos was still in shock. After spending all the way here with negative thoughts in his head, seeing a complete stranger touching Lia's face like that…
"I just wanted to check if you were having fun at the party. So, well I… I´m going to leave now. Sorry for intruding like this."
"Wait. I can leave now, and we could go to the doctor together." Lia tried to grab his arm to stop him, but Thanatos just slipped backwards.
"Is fine I promise. It is clear that I'm not needed here, so I'll go now." With a painful smile, Thanatos jumped the fence back into the street.
"Wait I…" She wanted to say. I need you. But what right does she have to ask him to stay? None, because Thanatos doesn't need me.
"Is everything alright? Do you want to follow him?" Silver asked.
"No, is fine. I can't do anything anyway." The look on Lia's face was pure hopelessness as she watched him disappear into the streets.
With that, the night ended for both, full of sadness, shame, and regret.