"...Vale?"

"What the fuck!?"

Shock. It wasn't only Vayne that was stupefied with what just happened. The two Explorers could also not believe what they'd just seen.

Their feet, slightly stepping back on their own as they didn't know what to do.

Just moments ago, they were watching a touching moment between two brothers. But all of a sudden… Vale raised his spear and stabbed Vayne straight through the chest; without even as much as a falter.

"...Fuck," one of the Explorers could not help but whisper as he looked at his companion, almost as if they were asking themselves what they should do now.

Should… they kill Vale?

Before the two of them could even make a solid conclusion, however, Vale opened his mouth.

"The two of you should leave us for now," Val said as he wiped the tears trailing on his face, "Return… in an hour."

"What—"

"You will be handsomely rewarded— enough riches that would serve you a lifetime…" Val did not let the two speak, "...That, or you face the wrath of my father."

The two low-rank Explorers once again looked at each other, before just nodding their heads and walking away without any more discussion.

It wasn't even a choice— going against Valerion Valentine was death.

And so, with the Explorers gone, the two brothers were finally left alone.

"...Why?"

Vayne's voice was completely weak— barely even a whisper as it took him his entire being to even breathe. His arms, not just flailing to his sides as his crutches were already laying on the ground.

The only reason he still stood was because of the spear that was still being held by his brother.

"I'm sorry, brother," Vale's voice once again began to tremble as the tears that he wiped before returned to his face even stronger, "Please… please know that I didn't want this. This… this isn't personal."

"It… feels like…. it is," Vayne's eyes felt like they were carrying the weight of a mountain as they began to tremble and close; his vision, already fading.

"Well… whatever reason, it's fine," he tried to let out a chuckle, but only a cracking whistle escaped his lips His words, however, were genuine.

Vayne came to the Dark Continent to commit suicide in the first place, after all. This only changes the way he dies.

"Brother…" Vale grit his teeth as his brother's words reached his ears, "I want you to know… I want you to know that I really liked the time we spent together and I wished… oh, I wished I could have spent more time with you."

"..." Vayne could really only putter his lips as his throat felt like it had already closed.

"Every time you wave back from your window, it was… it was the happiest time of my days," Vale said as he forced a smile, "Everyone… everyone was saying bad things about you but…

…I looked up to you. You, who was failed by everyone… and yet you manage to smile every single time."

"...You sound old," Vayne whispered.

"You and I were forced to be— sons of the mighty Valerion Valentine," Vale forced another chuckle, "I wish… I wish I was as strong as you, brother. Then maybe… then maybe we could have just escaped."

"..." Vayne could really only let out a breath as he finally let his eyes close; the drumming of his heart, he could feel slowly slipping away.

"Even now… even now you forgive me," Vale stuttered and gasped, "You… you don't even know why… why I had to do this."

"...Why?" Vayne mustered the last of his strength as he let a word escape his lips, perhaps for the last time, "Why… do this?"

"You… you weren't supposed to be like this, brother…" Vale gulped, "You weren't supposed to be a cripple."

"...Hm?"

"You are smart, brother. I know if just a single whisper reaches your ear… you would have figured it out," Vale chuckled and gasped, almost as if his own body also didn't know what to feel right now, "Mother and father don't really talk anymore… so if he finds out what she did…

…he would execute her."

"..." Vayne's closed eyes seem to tremble; wanting to open but no longer having the strength to do so.

"This Blessing… this Blessing was for you to start over, to become free. I know, I just know it when talking to you— you would leave in a heartbeat if you gained a Blessing," Vale also closed his eyes, "But for it… for it to be a dud. I'm… I am truly sorry."

"..."

"Fault… this is mother's fault…" Vale then started whispering to himself, "...I overheard her and the maid talking, she saw me too… she told me not to tell anyone or we will be thrown away."

"..."

"You're not born like this, brother…

…they twisted your leg when you were born."

"!!!"

And as soon as Vale's words reached Vayne's ears, it was almost as if he gained one final strength as his eyes suddenly stared at his brother's face.

But that was it. His bright green eyes, now just reflecting the desolate field around them.

Vayne Valentine, at the age of 16, took his final breath.

"..."

"..."

"I promise, brother. I will take care of your mother as if she was my own… I wish she was."

Vale then finally lowered his spear, catching his brother's body; hugging him as he very slowly pulled the spear. He then quickly threw the weapon away, before gently laying Vayne on the ground.

"..."

And then, he just sat there. He just sat there beside his brother's body for an hour until the two Explorers returned.

Vale then stood up as he looked at the two; his eyes… no longer containing any warmth in them.

"Please…

…help me bury him."

Vayne was killed by a Monobor, his body— unrecoverable.

That was the story that circled throughout the Valentine manor as Vale came back from his Coming of Age ceremony without his brother.

And this news, it completely destroyed Charlotte.

"Why!? Why would you even drag him there in the first place!? You… you said you would protect him! You promised me! You promised me!"

"He was happy, mother Charlotte. The past few days I spent with him, he was really happy."

"I want him alive!"

"..." Vale could really only take in each of Charlotte's words. The guilt that was slowly building inside him, growing even faster with every stuttered breath that escaped Charlotte's mouth.

Why? A question that repeatedly emerged in her mind again and again.

Why did his son have to die? Why did he have to die thinking that his mother didn't love him?

She should have done more. She was going to do more, her best once Vayne returns from his exploration.

But now… that chance is forever lost.

And so, Charlotte's mourning wails filled the entire manor with grief— reminding the people there that the ghost of Valentine was no more.

For them, however, it made no difference. After all, none of them talked to Vayne even once. For them, he truly was just a face that peeked through the window.

"..."

"..."

Somewhere in the Dark Continent, a lightning bolt— no, a white streak of light beamed through the skies. Fast, incredibly so as it traveled the expanse of the Dark Continent many times over; blink, and you would miss it.

This white streak, however, suddenly stopped. Like a third moon in the night, it lit up the horizon.

It hovered like this for a couple of seconds, before a boom rippled through the night. It fell down like lightning…

…and yet, what followed was not thunder— but a voice. A scream that seemed to be saying something. But alas, there was no one there to hear the words it uttered.

This white streak fell like a hammer… landing on top of a slightly soft ground. Landing on top of the ground where Vayne was now resting eternally.

The light then dispersed, almost like a billion fireflies. And like fireflies, they faded away just as fast.

A second.

A minute.

An hour.

And then, after what seemed like hours, the ground started to tremble; the dirt that loosely hang on it, now dancing in the air.

"!!!"

And then, it started with a boom-- a throb.

The sound of a throbbing heart that drummed through the entirety of the Dark Continent.

And very soon…

…a hand crawled from the ground.