RE: ZERON I will return for you, even if it takes a million

Chapter 10 : The price of a life

​She was dragging the old man down the stairs, ignoring his desperate pleas for mercy. The wood of the stairs groaned under the friction. When she noticed me standing by the grand entrance, she froze mid-step, her breathing ragged.

​The violet flames covering her face flickered and vanished as she released the old man. His limp body hit the floor with a dull thud. Her eyes widened with relief as she hurried toward me.

​"Master Aren! Thank goodness... you're alive!" she cried.

​I stood there, paralyzed. My breath hitched in my throat. It was Lavender, but she was still wreathed in that ominous violet fire, the heat radiating off her in waves. I immediately asked what had happened and why her body was engulfed in flames.

​As she realized the state she was in, she recoiled, stumbling back away from me. She began to stammer, over and over, that she hadn't meant to do any of this—that she never intended to hurt anyone. She clutched her head in terror, her fingers digging into her scalp as she explained that she didn't understand what was happening to her own body. It felt as if something else was at the helm, a force driven by a singular, violent urge to kill everything in sight.

​"All I knew was that I had to protect my Master," she sobbed. "I never meant to unleash this curse."

​Ora emerged from the crystal, the air around her shimmering with cold logic. She explained that during the explosion, Lavender's Celestial Item had acted instinctively to save her because she had thrown herself in front of me to shield me.

​Seeing the sheer terror in Lavender's eyes, my heart ached for her. The frantic energy in the room felt suffocating. "It's okay, Lavender. Calm down. Everything is going to be alright."

​I tried to step closer, but she shrieked, a raw, piercing sound that made me flinch. She warned me to stay back. She told me she could feel a "hunger" gnawing at her from the inside. Her body was moving on its own, compelled to ensure her Master's safety by eradicating every threat, yet she couldn't stop the fire from consuming everything else in its path.

​"They died because of me," she wept, her voice breaking. "Even the other slaves in this mansion... they're gone."

​"It's over now, Lavender," I said firmly, trying to reach her through the guilt. "I'm safe. Just stop this and let's leave this place."

​But she pushed me away again, terrified that her flames would scorch me. The air smelled of ozone and singed fabric. "I don't know how to make it stop! I can't put out the fire!"

​Ora interjected, noting that it wasn't normal for the flames to persist unless the Celestial Item still perceived a threat. Suddenly, Lavender gasped.

​"They're still alive," she whispered. "Two of the assassins sent to kill you. My attack didn't finish them."

​She explained that she recognized them as Candal's elite enforcers. She had come to the mansion to end them once and for all to ensure they would never strike at me again, but her conscience had faltered.

​I felt a cold shiver of dread crawl down my spine. Just then, I saw the old man—the master of the house—scramble up the stairs, his face twisted in a mask of rage.

​"You'll pay for this!" he screamed, his voice cracking with hysteria. "I'll see you both dead if it's the last thing I do!"

​At his words, the violet flames around Lavender flared violently, casting jagged, dancing shadows against the walls. "Stop, Lavender!" I shouted.

​But before she could reach the old man, a spear whistled through the air, piercing her chest and pinning her body to the wall with a sickening thud.

​"Lavender!!"

​An assassin stepped out of the shadows of the balcony, gripping the shaft of a second spear. "You're a tough one to put down," he sneered. "But I finally found an opening."

​A second assassin, a woman wielding a pair of steel fans, emerged beside him. They both radiated a crushing pressure of energy that made the air feel heavy. The old man screamed at them, berating them for allowing the mansion to be ruined, and ordered them to execute Lavender immediately.

​The man wound up and hurled his spear directly at the pinned Lavender. "End of the line!"

​I didn't think. I drew the Time Sword and blinked in front of her, parrying the spear just before it struck her heart. The impact jolted my arm, vibrating through my bones.

​"How did he move that fast?" the woman gasped.

​"He has a Spirit Item too," the man muttered, narrowing his eyes.

​I didn't care about their analysis. I had to protect her. But then, Lavender let out a primal scream. Her face shifted, taking on the glowing, ethereal features of a predatory cat. She grabbed the spear protruding from her stomach and began to pull.

​"Lavender, don't!"

​With a roar of sheer physical power, she tore herself free, shattering the wall behind her. The moment her feet hit the ground, she lunged at the assassins.

​The woman swung her steel fans, unleashing blades of compressed wind that tore through the floor, ceiling, and stairs. I barely managed to dive out of the way, debris showering my back. Lavender, however, ignored the wind blades slicing her skin. She was like a berserk tiger.

​Suddenly, multiple spears erupted from the shadows beneath Lavender's feet, impaling her through the torso and limbs. She skidded across the floor, pinned once more by three separate shafts.

​"Incredible," the male assassin remarked. "She's still alive even after having her heart pierced. It must be the Spirit Item."

​Lavender didn't care. She began to wrench the spears out of her own flesh, her violet fire cauterizing the wounds as she moved.

​"Wait, Lavender! Don't be reckless!" I shouted, but she wasn't listening. She was a different creature now.

​Ora's voice echoed in my head, clipped and urgent. "One of the powers of the Eternal Flame is a form of immortality. As long as she has energy, she cannot be killed. But we don't know how much fuel she has left."

​The assassins were slippery, disappearing into shadows and reappearing to strike. The woman caught Lavender's flank and, with a swift flick of her fan, severed Lavender's arm.

​Blood sprayed, but Lavender didn't even flinch. To everyone's horror, her remaining arm elongated, stretching ten meters across the room like a lash of fire to seize the female assassin by the throat.

​"Impossible!" the man yelled. He summoned six more spears from the shadows, driving them into Lavender's back to stop her.

​But Lavender wouldn't let go. Her grip on the woman's neck tightened until the assassin couldn't breathe. Then, the violet fire surged, hungry and blinding.

​"Ahhh!! Help me!! AGHHH!"

​In less than a minute, the woman's body crumbled into ash.

​"The power gap was too wide," Ora noted. "Once the fire broke through her energy barrier, it consumed her life force and then her physical form."

​Lavender was burning through energy at an alarming rate, but by consuming the assassin, she had replenished her form. The male assassin let out a scream of grief and rage.

​"You'll pay for that!"

​Hundreds of shadow-spears materialized in the air, aimed at Lavender. But before he could launch them, Lavender began to gather a massive orb of violet fire in her mouth. The heat became unbearable; it felt like being inside a furnace.

​"Aren, get out of here now!" Ora screamed. "She's going to level the entire area!"

​I used the Time Sword to freeze time for a fleeting five seconds, sprinting for the exit as fast as my injured legs would carry me.

​BOOM.

​The Candal Mansion vanished in a blinding flash of violet light. The shockwave sent me flying through the air like a ragdoll. I slammed into a stone perimeter wall with a bone-shattering crunch. I felt my ribs give way and my leg snap.

​The pain was agonizing, a white-hot spike in my side. I gasped, using Time Heal to desperately knit my bones back together. I couldn't believe I had survived.

​As the dust settled, the mansion was a smoking crater. Then, from the wreckage, a flaming figure leapt out and landed in front of me.

​"Lavender..."

​The violet flames slowly receded, and she collapsed. Her energy was completely spent. I dragged myself over to her, pulling her into my arms. Her skin was unnaturally cool now.

​"Are you okay? Lavender?"

​She stayed still, a weak smile playing on her lips. "Master Aren... I'm so happy... you're safe."

​"I told you I'd look after you," I scolded her gently, though my voice was trembling. "You didn't have to do this for me."

​"I promised to be useful," she whispered. "I'll do anything to help you... just like you helped me."

​I felt a surge of warmth and affection for her, despite the exhaustion. I stood up, intent on carrying her away from this nightmare. But I only took two steps before my body tilted forward, and we both crashed into the dirt.

​I didn't understand. My legs felt cold—devoid of sensation. I looked down and my heart stopped.

​My feet—and half my shins—were gone. They were still standing several feet behind me, severed cleanly.

​"AHHHHHH!" I screamed in pure, unadulterated agony, the sound tearing at my throat.

​"Aren! Aren!" Ora was screaming, her voice panicked.

​I had been cut so fast I hadn't even felt it. I struggled to turn, to look at Lavender, who had fallen beside me.

​"Lavender?"

​My hands began to shake violently. I stared at the ground as a pool of blood began to spread, darkening the dirt. The body in front of me... it had no head.

​"What... no... Lavender?! LAVENDER!!" I shrieked, clawing at the dirt, trying to crawl toward her remains.

​A heavy boot stepped onto my back, pinning me down. A long, slender blade was pressed against the nape of my neck.

​"I never imagined my siblings would fall to the likes of you," a cold, deep voice said.

​A man kicked me, flipping me over so I was staring up at the smoke-choked sky.

​"Aren, use Time Heal! Restore your legs!" Ora screamed.

​I knew I could fix my legs. I knew I could run. But my mind was shattered. Instead of healing myself, I poured every ounce of my remaining energy into the Time Sword, focusing the spell on Lavender's body.

​"No, Aren! I can't bring her back once the soul is gone! It's useless!" Ora yelled.

​I ignored her. The Time Sword glowed with a blinding light. Time rewound around Lavender's corpse. Her head reattached, her wounds sealed, and her eyes snapped open. She sat up, gasping for air.

​"Master Aren? Master Aren!!" she called out, frantic.

​I smiled. I had brought her back. She started to rush toward me, her face full of concern.

​But as she moved, a blur of motion swept through the air. A massive, invisible force cleaved through the space where she stood.

​In an instant, Lavender's body was ribbons. I watched, in slow motion, as she fell apart before my eyes, her life extinguished for the second time in minutes.

​"LAVENDER!!" I roared, a sound of pure, broken madness.

​But as I screamed, something cold and sharp struck my neck. My vision began to dim. The world tilted. I couldn't feel my body anymore. I realized, with a strange, detached clarity, that my head had just been severed from my shoulders.