"Intruders."

Ever since they had increased the guards at the Sun Palace due to suspicions that information about their internal affairs might be leaking, they had anticipated something like this might happen. But there was a significant difference between mere anticipation and the tactile sensation of the event unfolding.

"It’s clear who's behind the intrusion, but the real issue is figuring out who they sent... The loud noises and tremors indicate it's not a simple assassin."

Before coming here, the last faces Yuder had seen were those of Gakane and Kanna. Though he knew they weren't ones to be trifled with, the large tremors he had just heard couldn't help but make him nervous.

It seemed Emperor Keilusa felt the same. Until just a moment ago, the internal situation had been relatively smooth, but now, it began to waver slightly.

"Your Majesty, I told you there would be a time when you must focus on only one thing. That time is now," said Kishiar.

With Kishiar's words, the internal flow within the Emperor regained its original steadiness. However, a moment later, the small sounds and tremors emanating irregularly from outside began to unsettle the atmosphere again.

Boom, bang. Each time a thunderous noise reverberated, followed by a tremor, the walls and bed shook, and the internal stability of the Emperor continued to waver.

‘What on earth is happening?’ Yuder furrowed his brow. He focused harder than ever, but the internal chaos within the Emperor made him miss the mark several times.

And then, at the peak of this chaos, the Empress stumbled and clung to her chair as an even louder noise and tremor spread.

"Ah…"

"Empress!"

Lying down, the Emperor tried to move to call out to her in a strained voice, but his internal equilibrium went haywire. Yuder’s force started to be pushed back.

"Your Majesty!"

The chief attendant held down the Emperor, shouting.

The lustrous red energy that had been following the pure Red Stone's power was swept away in a blink, and the energy that Kishiar had been painfully gathering also seemed ready to disperse. Yuder felt familiar pains in his eyes and somewhere within his body, as though his entire being was in flux.

Across from him, Kishiar had also paled dramatically. Drops of sweat trickled down his temple and nose, dropping below his chin like drops of blood. Seeing this, Yuder felt a spark in front of his eyes.

The threads connecting the two wavered; their link screamed.

"No."

Yuder drew even more energy from himself to keep from losing his way, but the elusive red hues did not return. Unknowingly, his pupils had turned a fearsome golden color as he drew a deep breath.

"Get a hold of yourself, Your Majesty!"

This couldn't be where it all collapsed, but the Emperor showed no signs of regaining stability.

"Ugh… ah…"

Unable to overcome the pain, the Emperor clawed at the sheet. Blood oozed from between his broken nails, staining the fabric a dark red.

"Your Majesty!"

The Emperor’s glasses slipped off his sweat-soaked face. Yuder clenched his teeth as he saw the Emperor's deep red eyes staring into some indeterminate void.

"At this rate…"

He was not only unable to move on to the next phase but also on the verge of losing all the energy he had gathered so far.

What should he do?

Just then, while running through countless scenarios in his mind, Yuder suddenly felt a strong grip seize his hand.

“...”

Kishiar was watching him.

The moment Yuder met those unwavering eyes, seemingly untroubled despite being glazed over in a ghastly white, the rage that had been surging within him began to subside. The pain that felt as if it would burst through his eyes also started to ebb away.

It was only then that Yuder realized his own eyes had turned gold and were dripping blood. The blood that stained the sheet was not just that of Emperor Keilusa.

"It's okay," Kishiar whispered, his lips barely moving.

"Haven't we been preparing for this moment?"

So, it's okay to close your eyes for a moment.

With an irresistible command, the scent that enveloped Yuder shifted.

Without realizing it, Yuder's eyes gently closed. At the same time, something hot once again trickled down from one eye.

"Your Highness, Empress!"

Beyond the darkened vision that forcefully shut off the power of his perception, a low, soft voice struck his ears more clearly than before.

"Come here, please hold His Majesty's hand. Hurry."

The Empress rushed over, panting, and tried to sit beside the Emperor to take his hand. However, the Emperor didn't hold her hand. With fingertips stained in blood, he barely managed to brush the Empress's hand aside. A murmuring slipped through Emperor Keilusa's lips.

"Lea...ve. Dan...gerous. Go...away."

"Your Majesty..."

He muttered, imploring her to leave and abandon him.

This was the earnestness of a man who hadn't forgotten for a single moment that his proximity could be dangerous to those around him, ever since the problem with the vessel arose.

"Kishiar, no. I must… take the Empress and..."

"Your Majesty!"

Tears filled the Empress's eyes. Her face contorted as though the world was falling apart, a suppressed sob shaking her throat. Yet she bit her lip and managed not to cry out loud.

Instead, her gaze turned to Kishiar, who was watching her.

Kishiar met her eyes with an unwavering stare, as if he knew she would look his way. He slowly parted his lips to whisper something to the Empress. His words didn't register in her mind until moments later.

"Say whatever you wish. Tell me things that only you, as the Empress, can say. It's okay to be angry, to resent."

Leave the rest to me.

The Empress hesitated, uncertainty and wavering flickering through her eyes.

However, a moment later, she once again reached out to firmly grasp the Emperor's hand. Desperately, earnestly. The hands she held were much more emaciated and withered than she remembered.

Composing her faltering expression, she finally spoke.

"Where do you expect me to go?"

From the lips of the Empress, pressed against the icy cold hands, came a soft voice.

"I'm not leaving. I will stay right here."

"..."

"I won't abandon you and flee like last time."

"..."

"Didn't you promise? That we'll never face the dawn alone again. That we will lie side by side, holding hands, watching countless days break together. That it will be the family we create."

Do you remember? The Empress murmured, her tear-soaked eyes and cheeks contrasting sharply against the Emperor's fingertips holding her face. Slowly, she leaned in and pressed her trembling lips to his fingers, as if swallowing her sobs. At that moment, the Emperor's fingertips trembled as if struck by lightning.

…

Gakane and Kanna sprinted after Nathan Zuckerman. As they climbed the stairs and passed through the corridor, an inexplicable mix of emotions and heat pounded in his head.

'The intruders can control more than just humans...'

It was a fortunate thing that they had focused their attention outside in search of the puppeteer. If not for Kanna, who had forcefully extracted a wealth of information, they would have been caught off guard. Although Kanna was currently nosebleeding from the overload of information, her expression was intense and focused.

'My head hurts, but it's fine. I’ve deciphered it.'

At first, Kanna had been taken aback that she couldn't read the information from the one being controlled. However, in a state of urgent crisis, her abilities had surged to new heights. She had enveloped the entire palace, sucking in an overwhelming amount of data.

To be honest, she thought her head was going to explode for a moment. But the rigorous training she had recently undergone in blocking and sorting information came in handy. That time spent obsessing over her training had not been wasted.

Throughout their run, Kanna was simultaneously exerting her abilities and endlessly filtering and categorizing information. The walls she touched, the windows she passed, and even the air—it all became a source of information, endlessly spewed forth by her abilities.

People who had passed through this place, their movements, words, and resulting thought patterns. Every single action of the people stationed in the palace was being mixed, sorted, and combined in her subconscious, delivering the ‘correct answer’ to her in a time frame beyond human comprehension.

"Gakane, Zuckerman. Find an animal, a bird, or perhaps a rat—small creatures that could slip through windows amidst the chaos. They must be here, somewhere close by."

"Understood."

"I got it."

She had no intention of failing the mission entrusted to her.

'Whoever it is, they won't get past me. I'll make sure of that.'