Vol. 6 Ch. 129

Nacho thought carefully about the question.

After a moment of silence, he shook his head.

“I don’t know. But I feel like… as long as the idea comes from you, your wife will like it.”

Leon smiled. The two continued chatting idly.

There were still over two hours until midnight.

So far, everything had been calm. Martin was probably stalling for time, waiting to confess to Rebecca just before the stroke of midnight.

Before long, a member of the Lionheart Order approached Leon, leaned in, and whispered,

“We found them. They're in an old clock tower in the mid-city district.”

“Alright. Got it. Good work.”

The man nodded slightly and stepped back.

Nacho glanced at him, then looked at Leon. “What, you’re working on that crystal core case even on the Thousand Lantern Festival?”

“No.”

Leon turned and began walking down the stairs.

“I’ve got something I need to take care of. If I miss Martin’s confession, make sure you get it on a memory stone.”

“OK.”

Leon left the palace.

He put on a hat and a mask to disguise himself, blending into the festival crowds to avoid being recognized.

After crossing several city blocks at a quick pace, he arrived at a rundown old clock tower.

He approached the door and slowly pushed open the dusty wooden panel.

Creak—

The door groaned as it opened inward, its noise sharp and eerie.

Dust fell from the ceiling above as Leon stepped inside.

He moved to the center of the room and looked up.

There, at the upper level of the tower, before the massive floor-to-ceiling window, stood a man and a woman, facing one another. Behind them, the outside world shimmered with radiant lantern light.

“Skipping the family festivities to come find us in a broken-down place like this—what, you got something to say?”

Safina leaned against the windowpane, her forehead resting lightly against the glass. She didn’t turn around as she spoke, because she already knew. In a moment like this, the only one who would come looking was that guy, Leon.

Leon didn’t respond.

He lowered his head and stepped toward the stairs.

The old staircase was thick with dust. The moment he stepped on it, the wood began to shake slightly.

Leon climbed steadily to the loft and came to stand beside the two Void siblings.

Safina still didn’t look at him.

Only Kaiser glanced his way.

“You’ve stopped tailing me these past few days, Safina,” Leon said softly.

Safina gave a cold snort. “You told me to stop tailing you, and now that I listened, it’s bothering you?”

Her words were sharp, every one like a barb. Her mood was clearly foul.

Even Kaiser, usually aloof and unreadable, wore a rare expression of sorrow.

Leon had already noticed their odd atmosphere, which was why he hadn’t jumped straight to the reason he’d come. Instead, he tossed out a casual excuse: “Just checking in.”

“…No. Just curious—did you guys already find clues about the Thunder Spirit Crystal Core?”

Leon asked despite already knowing the answer.

If these two had truly found the core’s secret, they wouldn’t be standing here chatting so calmly—they’d be in battle already.

“No.”

Safina blinked, then let out a long sigh. Only then did she slowly turn around, lifting her gaze to meet Leon’s.

In her violet pupils was a complex tangle of helplessness and guilt.

“The truth is… Kaiser and I have already given up on finding the crystal core.”

Leon blinked, stunned.

“Given up? But wasn’t that a direct order from Atos?”

Leon had long since sensed that these two siblings operated very differently from the rest of the Void Realm. Especially after Kaiser spared the Wind Spirit Core. That only deepened his suspicions.

But now they were just… openly rebelling. That meant something serious must have happened while Safina was off the grid these past few days.

Leon thought quickly but didn’t press her.

Safina gave a tired smile.

She curled her legs up, hugging her knees. In the moonlight, her dark violet-streaked hair hung like a shadowed cloak around her, hiding a sorrow she didn’t want to show.

“Do you remember that story I told you during the temple trial, Leon? The one about the ‘monarch’?”

Leon nodded. “I remember.”

“…I told you later that it wasn’t something I made up.”

Safina continued softly.

“The tyrant king in that story… was the current Void Lord, Atos.

And he really is a madman.

Atos’s most deranged decision wasn’t just attempting to invade another world. It was… making all of the Void’s ‘citizens’ pay the price for that decision.”

Leon slowly sat down, crossing his legs to bring his eyes level with hers, so that there’d be no sense of hierarchy between them.

It would make it easier for Safina to open up.

“Yes. We weren’t the only ones sent to invade Samael. There are countless Void warriors out there.

Among them, there are bloodthirsty maniacs who revel in war…

But there are also many who oppose the invasion and plundering. Call them… ‘normal people.’

The former—we call them the Descent Faction. They support the invasion of Samael at all costs. No matter the price.

The latter are the Homeland Faction.

Even though the Void is barren and bleak, these people still hold onto hope—that someday, with effort, our home might be livable again.

When Atos first rose as the current Void Lord, the conflict between the two sides wasn’t too intense.

But after he created Void Arms, spread chaos into Samael, and began prying open the Void Gate… all those things emboldened the Descent Faction.

At this point, Atos is completely devoured by his inner demons. His ambition and madness are beyond restraint.”

At this point, Safina’s voice caught, and her eyes grew wet.

She looked at Leon—not just to explain, but as if she were pleading with him.

“Three thousand years ago, my best friend sent me a message from within the Void...

Atos, under the pretense of ‘imitative justice,’ massacred over ten thousand Homeland Faction members and issued a proclamation...

That ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) anyone who dared criticize or defy him would be executed the next day.

To stop the killings, there were only two options:

One, abandon your ideals and help him invade your world;

Two, hold fast to your beliefs… until the Homeland Faction was completely wiped out.”

Safina drew in a sharp breath, running her fingers through her hair. She bowed her head, letting out a strained breath through her mask.

But Leon noticed—the floor beneath her knees was darkened with falling tears.

Drip—drip—

“I wrote back to my friend, told her to hide somewhere, or find a way to reach Samael.”

Safina’s voice began to tremble.

“But I’ve never heard from her again.

She was killed.

She was on Atos’s execution list.

She was my best friend… The Mirror Abyss Eyes were supposed to belong to her…

I didn’t even get to see her one last time…”

Her voice cracked—and then her composure finally broke.

She curled into herself in the corner of the room, clutching her arms, body trembling uncontrollably.

Rustle—

Kaiser, who had been leaning against the wall, slowly stood up.

The ice that always encased his expression finally cracked.

“For the past century,” he said in a low voice, everyone in the Homeland Faction has lived in fear of being killed by Atos at any time.

My sister and I were only chosen as Void warriors because of our unique abilities.

At first, we just wanted to survive.

But the longer we served Atos, the more we came to understand how monstrous he truly is.

What he wants isn’t just to invade Samael. He wants to use this war to indulge in every kind of bloodlust and cruelty imaginable—to satisfy his twisted, sadistic impulses.

With him in charge, even Carl, Talos, and the rest of the Void warriors have become more and more deranged. You’ve seen it yourself.”

Leon nodded silently.

When he fought the Carl–Talos trio, he’d learned that they had already slaughtered Xiaoxue’s entire Snow Elf tribe.

That simple word—slaughter—hid behind it tens of thousands of lives.

The brutality and perversion of it were something Leon knew he would never be able to understand.

“Three days ago,” Kaiser said, looking Leon straight in the eye, what Atos did to the Homeland Faction… was the final straw.

We can’t serve him anymore.

All of it—the sin, the blood—ends here.”