Nemsus was still on the ground angry and frustrated Delilah was healing lunia.
Nero watched them, silent, but his mind wouldn't settle.
Why her? Why not Roan?
It wasn't guilt—he wasn't sure he even had that in him—but curiosity gnawed at him.
Roan was stronger. Logically, he should've survived instead. But logic had nothing to do with it, did it?
Maybe he and Delilah had simply grown a little attached to the girl after all this time. The thought unsettled him. Attachments were dangerous.
He exhaled sharply and turned toward the cave entrance. There was barely any light outside, the sky a void of endless night. It didn't bother him or Delilah—their Darkness Runes let them see perfectly in the gloom. Nemsus, with Light Rune, could still detect faint traces of light. Lunia, however, would be helpless in the dark—at least until she awakened her Eny.
His thoughts shifted to his own abilities.
High Runes only existed at Level 3 and beyond. Nero was still a Mage, and using even a single Level 3 spell took everything he had—for a few fleeting seconds. The smell-erasing effect wasn't even a proper spell, just a side effect of manipulating Darkness mana. His Fire Spells were useless against Ascendants, barely making them hesitate. His Ice Spells weren't faring much better.
Weak. The thought was bitter. Not enough.
A faint movement pulled him from his thoughts.
Lunia stirred.
Her eyes fluttered open, hazy with exhaustion. The first thing she saw was Delilah, hands still glowing faintly with healing magic. She blinked, disoriented, then slowly turned her head, scanning the dimly lit cave.
Her gaze landed on Nero.
For a brief moment, fear flickered in her eyes. She hid it quickly—but he saw it. It lingered beneath the surface, a shadow of something she didn't want to show.
Her hand trembled as she reached up, fingertips brushing the ruined skin of her face. The rough, uneven texture made her flinch, but she didn't pull away.Her jaw tightened as her breath came in uneven, shaky bursts.
Delilah saw.
She had been focused on healing, on survival, but seeing Lunia's reaction .....
"If I ever find a Level 4 Life Rune with a matching spell," she murmured, voice soft, "I might be able to heal your eye."
Lunia didn't react at first. Her fingers still rested on the ruined side of her face, her breathing uneven. Then, when Delilah's words sank in, her shoulders trembled.
The first sob was quiet, barely a sound at all.
Then another.
Tears welled up, spilling down her unscarred cheek. She pressed her lips together, trying to stop it, but her small body shook.
Delilah hesitated, watching her, and for the first time in all of this—she remembered.
Lunia wasn't a soldier. She wasn't another survivor hardened by the cruelty of their world.
She was just a child.
And she had lost everything.
Delilah reached out, hesitated for a second, then placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. A silent reassurance.
She couldn't promise things would be okay.
But for now, she could at least be here.
After a few minutes, Lunia's sobs faded into quiet sniffles. She wiped at her face, her fingers shaking, then looked around the cave again. The flickering shadows on the walls, the quiet hum of Delilah's magic—everything was the same as before.
Except something was missing.
Someone was missing.
Her chest tightened.
Her voice was small when she spoke, but it cut through the heavy silence like a blade.
"Where's Roan?"
No one answered.
The air in the cave turned thick, suffocating. The flickering light from the mana lamps did nothing to warm the cold pressing against her skin.
Nemsus moved.
It wasn't a conscious decision—more like a desperate attempt to push back the thoughts clawing at his mind, the sounds that kept replaying in his head. The tearing, the screaming.
He stepped toward her, slow and deliberate, until he was close enough that she couldn't look away.
His eyes were hollow.
"We had to wake you up, Lunia." His voice was rough, edged with exhaustion. "Nero barely kept you alive by warming you with his Fire Rune whenever your body got too cold."
His jaw clenched as he said Nero's name, something flickering behind his eyes. Anger. It was there, raw and unspoken, but he forced himself to swallow it down.
Lunia hesitated. Why is he changing the subject? But she decided to let it go for now.
As She knew what he wanted from her
Nemsus crouched in front of her, his voice quieter now. "It won't hurt," he said, though there was something tired in the way he spoke. "Actually… everyone in this cave awakened their Eny before your current age."
Lunia's brows furrowed slightly, uncertainty flickering across her face. She glanced at Delilah, then at Nero, as if searching for reassurance. Neither of them spoke. Delilah's expression was unreadable, and Nero only stared at the cave wall, his fingers absentmindedly tapping against the stone.
Nemsus exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair before meeting Lunia's gaze again. "You don't have a choice, Lunia," he said, firmer this time. "You either awaken now, or you won't survive the next time something like this happens."
"How?" she asked, her voice quiet but steady.
"I'll just move some mana toward your Eny, that's all," Nemsus said.
Lunia hesitated, then gave a small nod.
Nemsus glanced at Delilah, who stepped forward without a word. She placed a hand on Lunia's back, her touch firm but careful. A slow pulse of mana flowed from her fingertips.
"Don't move," Delilah murmured.
Minutes passed in silence, the cave heavy with tension. Lunia sat still, her hands clenched into fists as warmth spread through her body. Then—she felt it.
A spark.
It wasn't a sudden burst, nor was it overwhelming, but deep in her mind, something stirred. The Will Rune. It was faint, like a whisper beneath her skin, but it was there.
The mana within her Eny responded, shifting and gathering. The cold that had gripped her body didn't vanish entirely, but it lessened. Even just a little… her body was growing stronger.
She exhaled, a shaky breath escaping her lips as she felt the change settle within her.
When she opened her eyes, the world looked different. Clearer. It wasn't just her vision—all her senses had sharpened. Especially the sounds. She could hear almost everything: Nero's steady breathing from across the cave, the faint stir of air moving through the tunnels, the distant rustling of trees outside. It was overwhelming, yet somehow… grounding. She was aware of it all, and for the first time, she felt truly awake.
Nemsus knelt beside her, his voice calm yet encouraging. " Now close your eyes and try to sense your Will Rune. Use it to look inside your Eny. You'll notice strange symbols—those are your runes. When you see them, try to replicate them on the ground.
He watched her closely, waiting to see if she understood.
Lunia took a deep breath and concentrated. At first, she struggled, but after several attempts, she finally connected with her Eny. A small flicker of satisfaction crossed her face as she traced two runes into the dirt.
Delilah and Nero exchanged glances.
Nero scratched his head.
Sound and Earth? Tch… Useless to us. We don't have those spells.
Nero spoke what was on his mind without noticing
"That's what you got to say?" Nemsus was looking at him with disbelief and the anger started rising again.
The girl looked a little frightened.
Nero turned to Nemsus, who seemed to find a problem with him at every chance since Roan died.
"You're still looking at me with anger," Nero muttered. "I know it wasn't right, but we did what we had to do to survive."
Nemsus hadn't moved, but his hands were shaking. His nails dug into his palms so hard his knuckles turned white. For a long moment, he just stared at Nero, something unreadable in his expression—grief, disgust, maybe even hate. Then, his lips curled. A bitter, humorless laugh left him.
"Three years," he muttered, voice dangerously quiet. "Three years, and you two just killed him like that."
He let out a slow breath through gritted teeth, his gaze locked onto Nero. His voice, when he spoke, was quieter—too quiet.
"You didn't even hesitate, did you?"
His shoulders rose and fell with uneven breaths.
"How many more times, Nero?" His voice cracked, and something inside him snapped. His hands shook at his sides. His lips curled into a bitter, humorless smile. "Tell me—what's next?"
A hollow laugh escaped him, sharp and edged with something dangerously close to hate.
"Are you gonna kill me too when it's convenient?"
As the words left Nemsus' mouth, Lunia's eyes flickered with confusion and denial.
"Where's Roan?"
Her voice was barely a whisper, fragile, like it might shatter if she spoke any louder.
A cold, hollow feeling settled deep in her chest.
Nero met her gaze, his expression unreadable. Then, without hesitation, he said it.
"I killed him."
The world around her shrank.
Lunia's breath hitched, her chest tightening as panic gripped her. The shadows in the cave felt darker, pressing in on her. Her body trembled violently, her legs barely strong enough to keep her upright.
Her vision blurred.
For a moment, she didn't see Nero—she saw a monster.
A nightmare in human form.
She gasped, choking on the air, her hands clawing for something—anything—to hold onto. A sob tore from her throat as she stumbled back, blindly reaching for Nemsus. She gripped the fabric of his cloak with shaking fingers, her small frame curling behind him, desperate for protection.
"Why? Why did you do it?" Her voice cracked, raw with terror.
Nero's gaze was empty, void of anything human. His voice, when it came, was cold.
"What did you think happened?" He let out a dry, humorless chuckle. "You thought we won?"
Lunia flinched.
"Don't be stupid," he spat, voice growing sharper, angrier. "There were at least ten of them. All Ascendants."
His jaw tightened, the rage bubbling beneath his skin.
"Nemsus couldn't even fight—he was holding you. Delilah and I ran out of mana. And Roan?" Nero let out a bitter breath, his lips curling slightly. "Roan was already half-dead. Bleeding out because of his fucking arm."
His voice rose, the fire in his words burning hotter.
"We were all going to die. One of us had to. I made the decision. I chose Nemsus."
Lunia's breath came in rapid, uneven bursts.
"Be thankful."
Then his voice hardened, sharper than a blade.
"Because it could've been you."
Silence.
The words hung in the air, suffocating.
And then—
A crack.
A sharp sound as Nemsus' fist clenched so hard his knuckles popped. His entire body trembled, veins bulging beneath his skin. His breaths came fast and ragged, a storm brewing behind his eyes.
Red.
His vision blurred with it.
"You—" His voice was barely human, just a growl of fury before it erupted.
Nemsus lunged.
"You piece of shit!"
The force of his charge shook the cave walls as he crashed into Nero, fists swinging, raw hatred pouring from every strike.