Chapter 21: Punishing the World

  Who is the real man, I wonder?

  I stood at Mateo's funeral, listening to his family's chants, and pondered this question. Is it the stiff, cold person who shows no emotions? In my opinion, no. The real man is the strong one, the protector, the gentle one with those close to his heart, and the cruel one to those who dare to touch his family.

  Mateo Eisingard, in his final moments, was a real man. And not just a real man, but a true noble.

  After the funeral ended, Ulrich Eisingard shouted in a voice that shook the cemetery: "I swear in the name of every member of the Eisingard family, that we will hunt down every single member of the 'Jacobins' to the ends of the earth, and we will erase their existence!" And his entire family roared behind him.

  Later that day, we gathered in my apartment. Clara, Kairo, Alessandro, and even Isabella. The silence was heavy, saturated with sadness and loss.

  I looked at the gray sky from my window. "I'm leaving the Academy."

  "What?!" Clara said in shock. "Why, Deo? There's so little left until we graduate."

  I looked at her and smiled. "I want to become stronger. And I don't think the Academy is enough anymore."

  "Count me in," Kairo said immediately, without any hesitation.

  "And I refuse to let my rival get ahead of me," Alessandro said with a fierce smile.

  "Train well," Isabella said coldly. "So I can defeat all of you one day."

  Kairo laughed. "In your dreams."

  Clara remained. I held her hand. "No, Clara. You stay here. I think the Academy is still useful for you."

  "But... this means we'll be separated."

  I held her face between my hands. "You fool. Didn't I tell you I would never say goodbye to you? Goodbye means leaving forever. And we... will meet again. I promise you."

  Suddenly, a shadow stretched from beneath my feet and wrapped around me. In an instant, the warm scene of my apartment vanished, and I found myself standing in a black, empty space, with no beginning and no end. In front of me, Layla Knoxville was sitting on a chair made of pure shadow.

  "Did someone say the word 'Magic Swordsman'?" she asked calmly.

  "Yes."

  "Don't tell me they're from the Knoxville family."

  "Certainly not," she said boredly. "We don't benefit from an attack of this coordination on a place under our rule. This harms us more than it benefits."

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  I remembered Kairo's words after the duel. Your mother... she died because of me. I was looking for the key to the book... the Knoxville family was interested in it.

  "I know," I said with icy calm. "You are the ones who sent the 'Jacobins' to kill my mother."

  She looked at me. "Yes, that's true. That key, and the book, originally belong to us. They disappeared from our vault one day."

  "So you knew from the beginning that I was the Magic Swordsman and you killed my mother, you sons of a bitch, and you were talking to me with a cold face."

  "Yes. So what? What are you going to do? Nothing, right? Or will you go mad and attack me?" A chair made of shadow appeared beside me. "Sit down, boy. The world is bigger than you think. Bigger than silly stories and stupid prophecies." I sat down.

  "I will explain exactly what happened. After the book and the key disappeared from our vault, which is the most protected place in the world, we raised the maximum state of emergency. We knew that a certain child, Kairo Foist, was looking for the key. We started monitoring him, for why would he look for the key without the book unless he possessed the book? Then suddenly, he stopped searching. We immediately knew he found the key. We decided to enter the Foist mansion, retrieve our property, and have a little talk with Kairo. No killing was scheduled. And before we began, we received a report from a reliable source. The report said the book was with a woman named Maria. Your mother."

  "Who was the source?" I asked.

  "The 'Jacobins.' At that time, they were a secret organization operating directly under our command. They executed the dirty operations.

  "So you were the ones who did it."

  "You're rushing. I'm giving you a lot of information. Listen, don't talk. The target changed from Kairo to Maria. And the operation began. Then everything changed. We were surprised by Maria's death. And we were more surprised by the 'Jacobins'' betrayal of us. They disappeared, leaving behind one message: 'We will punish the world.' And that's what brought us to where we are today."

  She crossed one leg over the other. "It seems you're in a difficult situation, huh?"

  She looked at me and smiled a cold smile. "Yes, we are in a difficult situation. The Eisingard family is not stupid enough to declare war on us, but the balance of power has been shaken."

  "So what do you want from me?"

  "That's enough for today."

  The two chairs disappeared, and she vanished, leaving me alone in the darkness.

  I found myself standing in the forest, in front of an empty space. Then, the hut appeared, as if it knew I was coming. I opened the door, and found Philip.

  "I knew you'd come running to me after all these events," he said.

  "Where were you and Layla?"

  "On external business. Now, let's get down to business. We are going on a quick trip. It will last six months. Prepare yourself, my colleague, for a journey that will hang your mind in the sky from the intensity of thought."

  [Clara's Perspective]

  I returned to my dorm after it was repaired. As soon as I walked in, I ran to the bathroom and vomited.

  I still remember. The sight of the clown falling. The blood on my hand. I don't understand. How can you kill a soul so easily, Deo? With such coldness? When you saw me, your expression didn't change. Instead, you looked at me with pride. Am I the strange one, or is he the strange one?

  When I saw you defend me, and turn into that crazy thing... you weren't my Deo. You were a different person, someone from a distant, dark future. A future where you only care about killing. Will I not be with you in that future? Will I run away, just as I ran away when you fought for me, and just as I ran away and left Mateo to die?

  Mateo... the person I hated, he yelled and said that a noble must protect his servants, and refused help. And I... I ran away like a coward. Is it because I was stained with blood? Deo... why did you look at me with those glances, as if you were saying I could do this alone? I can't. I really need you.

  Corvus was sitting in his luxurious, dark office, silent. Suddenly, a small black bird flew through the open window and landed on his shoulder.

  Corvus looked up at the ceiling, as if speaking to an invisible person in the room.

  "I wonder why I sent that message that day?"