"Now, fight. Properly."
With gaze fixed at Eden, Seven took seven steps backwards.
Adrenaline inside him quickened his breath.
Across from him, Eden stood calm. The smile on her lips wasn't warm or cruel. It simply existed, devoid of any emotion, like it was carved from stone.
Her sword rested loosely in her left hand, while her right was tucked casually inside the pocket of her robe.
'Fight properly… Easier said than done.'
Seven's gaze flicked to her sword. There was no frost dancing along its edge. "I don't need frost," he imagined her saying.
But Eden didn't speak. She simply stood there, staring at him.
'Doesn't matter. Gonna give it a shot.'
With a steady deep breath, he gripped the sword tighter.
'Theia's Eye.'
The hilt dug into his palms as though the weapon itself rejected him.
Of course it did.
The sword wasn't his.
It was theirs—the twins' weapon handed to him by Eden, forcing him to fight her.
But he didn't let go.
"Seven Strikes..."
There was no other option. All that mattered was to fight.
"First Form..."
Eden tilted her head slightly, a habitual motion that signaled curiosity. This time, it was at his muttering.
She didn't understand what he was doing, and yet, she didn't seem to care.
"Eclipsing Blade."
Seven vanished, and his body blurred as he moved faster than the eye could track—if only for a millisecond.
To anyone less skilled, it might have seemed like he truly disappeared.
But not to Eden.
Her eyes followed him with ease. There was no surprise, only the quiet amusement that lurked beneath her hollow smile.
In that instant, Seven's sword closed in, its edge a mere seven inches from her face. The air hissed as his aura from the first gate wrapped around the blade, carving a sharp path toward her.
Eden moved with casual grace, her head tilting just enough for the blade to whistle past her cheek.
Thrust.
Her left hand rose as she held her sword lazily. The thrust she launched looked effortless, but the sheer power split the air.
A shockwave rippled outward, carrying a gust of icy wind.
Cold bit into Seven's skin as the force slammed into him. The bricked wall behind him groaned under the pressure, and fractures spread outward like spiderwebs.
Slash.
Still, his sword aimed at Eden in a desperate counterattack. Theia's eye guided the trajectory, and his momentum carried him forward.
For a brief moment, he thought the blade had connected.
Pain erupted in his chest. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he staggered past her.
He lost sensation in his knees, but he forced himself to stay upright.
"Hah... hah..."
His vision blurred as he turned to face her again. His left-eye turned back to blue as the golden light disappeared.
Blood soaked his chest, warm and sticky, and his breath came in ragged gasps. His sword trembled in his grip.
"Damn it..."
He stared at Eden. She hadn't even moved from her spot.
"I missed...?"
His knees gave out, and he fell forward. The cold ground met his hug.
Thud.
Blood pooled beneath Seven's body, staining the dirt of the battlefield. He tried to move, but his strength was gone.
Then came the darkness.
He couldn't even feel his own heartbeat as the world around him faded into nothing.
Step.
Eden stepped forward and crouched beside Seven's motionless body. Her ocean eyes examined the gaping hole in his chest, the cavity was raw and open, and the veins trembled faintly as if still in shock.
Seven's heart was gone.
What left was an empty void where life once throbbed.
Eden's sword was still clean and untouched by blood.
But Eden's gaze didn't falter. There was no reaction, shock, or grief.
She simply… stared.
Her reaction was a complete opposite from the original storyline.
The woman in the novel who cried and begged the heavens for being too late to save her dearest little brother was now the very one who ended his life.
And yet, she smiled.
It wasn't the twisted, gleeful grin of a psychopath reveling in destruction, nor was it the soft smile of someone cherishing a memory.
It was hollow and an expression devoid of any substance as if her body mimicked an emotion her heart could no longer muster.
But her smile faltered when she felt it—a cold drip against her cheek.
Slowly, she raised her fingers and brushed them across her skin.
Red.
Blood.
Her smile faded completely.
She realized that Seven's sword didn't miss after all as a thin, faint line of blood ran down her cheek.
"My lovely little brother..."
She repeated the phrase again and again, her voice hollow, her gaze falling to the ground beside Seven's body.
The pendant.
The necklace she asked Iria to give him as a token of protection and sibling love. Now it lay there, bloodstained, its original purpose rendered meaningless.
Slowly, Eden reached for it.
Her fingers brushed the blood on her cheeks and rubbed it against the necklace.
Only she knew why.
It was either her last act of loving him or just a way to send his soul in peace.
Crackle
A tiny magic circle formed at the tip of her pointing finger, and frost immediately entered the necklace. No, more like the necklace devoured her frost magic.
The process took seven minutes, the time dragged on in tense silence.
When it was done, the glow faded, leaving the pendant cold and lifeless once more.
Eden's lips curled into another hollow smile as she leaned forward and placed it around Seven's neck.
Her fingers lingered for a moment before she rose to her feet.
The frost claimed Seven's life, but the warmth stayed—waiting, watching, refusing to fade.
Then Eden turned slowly, her gaze sweeping over the cracked wall of the mansion.
It wasn't her shockwave that had caused the damage.
No.
It was Seven's heart, his literal, still-beating heart, which pierced the wall with enough force to shatter it.
But she ignored it.
She said nothing and simply took a step forward.
Step.
Her pace was unhurried like the scene bore no weight on her shoulders. The soft crunch of her boots against the ground was the only sound that accompanied her, along with the frosty wind.
After a short walk, she reached the mansion's entrance.
Thump!
The sound of Seven's heart echoed across the wall, making her pause mid-step.
"Ciae Arventis."
She called out.
It wasn't loud, but it was enough.
"The twins are yours. Don't touch the one I just killed."