The greatsword embedded in the ground glowed red, and the air vibrated. The Gelikas, sensing danger in their frantically shifting vision, stopped multiplying and gathered.

They placed one in the center, and began to form a shield-like circle around him. Their tiny bodies piled on top of each other, quickly forming a towering spire. The Gelikas let out an odd grunt, preparing for the impending crisis.

But it was useless. Neither the crimson moon in the sky, nor Van, attacked them. There was only a strong vibration, a vibration that made their tiny brains roll around in their skulls.

After a long moment of silence, Gelika, the topmost one, who had his head buried in the crack of his own clone, gently lifted his head. And he looked.

“Haiyaa…….”

It was a red blob. Tiny droplets were everywhere. Beneath the shadow of the crimson moon, the dark, rich droplets glistened like finely crafted jewelry.

As Gelika admired the droplets, he reached out his finger to one that was close to his nose. The thin membrane pressed against his fingertip burst, and the liquid inside splashed over him.

It was blood. Sniffing and smelling the dampness, Gelika’s eyes widened in realization. What surrounded them now was not beautiful jewelry, but brutal droplets of blood.

He must tell everyone about this new discovery. With that thought, Gelika looked down.

“……!”

What lay beneath him was no longer a living comrade. A pile of corpses, flattened, drained of all moisture. What he was stepping on was dry bones.

And now, blood gushed from his fingertips and toes, from his eyes and ears, from every orifice in his body. Horrified, Gelika looked up at the sky.

A crimson moon. The crimson moon was draining their blood. Gelika’s blood drips rose toward the crimson full moon, and the moon trembled as if pleased with its new offering.

In his rapidly fading consciousness, overtaken by survival instinct, Gelika hastened to create a new clone. However.

“Try it.”

Van stepped in front of him, and to the small Gelika’s eyes, with his back to the crimson moon, he looked more like a grim reaper than a human being. Eerie sunken eyes and a twisted grin, he stomped over Gelika’s withered corpse.

“Keep giving birth. If you still want to give birth after seeing that little f*cker, go ahead. I’ll feed you to that f*cker as many times as you want.”

Blood rushing out, heartbeats slowing. To Gelika’s horrified ears, the muffled sound of a human laugh echoed. It was the last sound he could hear.

“…….”

Van killed them all. There was not a single one left. He could feel the death all around him, and his technique was a success. The Crimson Moon had done its job.

“……It’s not going away.”

But the moon didn’t wane; it stayed where it was, still pulsating with hunger. As he stared at it, Van slowly lowered his gaze to his hand. Blood was pooling from a small cut on his fingertip. The droplets soon rose, drawn by the crimson moon’s attraction, like Gelika’s blood. An unreaped skill that would go beyond the enemy to bite its master.

“I feel it all the time, but it’s a crappy power.”

Shaking his fist in mockery, Van turned to face Cadel’s position.

“Sorry it took me so long, Commander.”

Even if that giant moon was crawling up and eating him, he had to get Yeohwan to safety. So Van pushed through the unfamiliar sensation of his blood rushing out of his veins. Pushing on, he picked up Cadel and carried him. But the body, already drained of energy, refused to obey his will.

With a soft thud, Cadel’s body fell away, and Van hit the ground with a ragged breath. Cadel’s face came into his blurred vision. He stared at it wordlessly, and with a low groan, he pulled Cadel into a draping embrace.

Beneath the crimson moon, the only things alive were two men clutching at a slender lifeline.

* * *

「Knight ‘Van Herdos’ ’ limit breakthrough quest completed!」

「Congratulations! Knight ‘Van Herdos’ has met the limit breaking conditions. The grade increases.」

「Knight ‘Van Herdos’ deviates from the fateful orbit.」

「Entering self-correcting mode. It will take time to update the information.」

「Access to information on Knight ‘Van Herdos’ is temporarily restricted.」

After about two hours of mesmerizing the appearance of this ridiculous system window. After being released from recovery mode, Cadel finally opened his eyes.

He blinked a few times, and the first thing he saw was the sky. It was a clear sky in broad daylight. Next, he felt a warmth covering his body. Turning his head slightly, he saw Van’s face, wrapped in his arms.

“Van……? Van! Wake up!”

His body on the ground was a mess of blood and wounds. Cadel’s face went white as he patted Van’s back. The nightmarish memories of Lumen’s awakening quest came flooding back. He shook Van with the horrifying thought, and thankfully, Van responded.

“Don’t shake me too much, Commander…….”

“Va, Van! Are you okay? What the hell happened? Did any demons survive?”

Raising his head with difficulty, Van moved his eyes to face Cadel. He stared nervously into the scrutinizing eyes, then gingerly reached out and smoothed down Cadel’s disheveled hair. Cadel’s rambling mouth fell silent.

“I haven’t found a village yet.”

“…….”

“You must be in a lot of pain. Rest for a while, then I’ll take you to the healer. ……I’m really just going to take a little break.”

Van spoke with a faint smile, but he looked terribly exhausted. Cadel did not know how or what he had fought. He couldn’t even guess how he’d pushed the system to its limits. But he could vaguely sense that Van’s victory, his growth, was for Cadel’s own good.

“……Close your eyes for a second.”

“Yes……?”

“Hurry.”

Van’s eyelids fluttered shut. Cadel leaned in quietly, his lips meeting Van’s. He cupped Van’s twitching cheek and pressed lightly against Van’s engaged lips. As if to seal the deal, he slowly pulled their pressed lips apart, meeting Van’s surprised gaze.

“Thank you.”

“All, all of a sudden…….”

“I love you.”

He loved Van. He was his first comrade, his friend, his dearest confidant, and he’d gone round and round in circles, not wanting to lose Van, even though he’d hurt him so badly in the end. He loved Van for reaching out his scarred hand to him. He loved his kindness, his pure passion, and now there was no reason to hide it, no reason to avoid it.

“……Me too.”

And so, Cadel wrapped himself in Van’s arms, basking in the warmth of their beginning. He hoped this moment would be one of Van’s most cherished memories, long after the days were over.

Their journey back to the Mountains of Silence was a grueling one, as both Cadel and Van were in rags.

They crossed the mountain, passing out and waking up several times. There weren’t many times when either of them was awake, so usually the awake one would carry the fallen one, and even then, when Cadel was awake, it was best to stop and keep a watchful eye on their surroundings.

It took them a day and a half to reach the village, but there were no healers there. Instead, they were able to get some herbs and new bandages to manage their wounds. They ate a decent meal in the village, rested well at the inn, and then headed straight for the Mountains of Silence, using Cadel’s traveling magic spell.

A commander who had been gone for days and a comrade who hadn’t been seen in nearly a year. The Knight Order quickly returned to a buzz of activity.

“Wow, that’s one hell of a lifeline, Van! If you don’t come back, I’m going to come and kill you myself!”

“Don’t bullsh*t me, fairy. You can’t kill me.”

“Ahaha! Look at that unfounded confidence. Nothing has changed, has it?”

“If all else fails, go head-to-head.”

“Okay, so Van will ask Cadel for his permission.”

“……You do it.”

“No, Van, you do it. I don’t want to get in trouble.”

Lydon greeted Van’s return with a flurry of nonsense. Apparently realizing that his small size was an advantage when it came to bullying his comrade, he used his fairy form to hover near Van’s head and squawk. Van glared at Lydon in annoyance, then turned his attention to Garuel, who approached.

“It’s been a while, Sir Van.”

“……Yes. It’s been a while.”

“Have a seat, I’ll take care of your wounds.”

“What about Commander? Are you done with him?”

“The wound was deep, but the first aid was good, and he recovered quickly, and now he’s gone, summoned by Lord Kunra.”

Sitting Van down on a flat rock, Garuel immediately activated his demonic energy. As the dark energy seeped into his body, he felt the pain that had plagued him for days quickly dissipate. Van, still receiving his healing, spoke up.

“You’ve gotten better.”

Van had been healed by him before, but there was something different about it. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it felt like the speed and quality of the healing had increased. Garuel smiled good-naturedly in Van’s presence as he proceeded to spit out compliments and lick his lips.

“I’ve been doing my own research while Sir Van was away, so it’s nice to have someone who understands. I’ve only gotten berated before, sadly.”

Garuel seemed genuinely pleased by Van’s brief compliment, and began to rattle off an unasked-for history. The time he’d spent a day freezing to death while attempting to heal Lydon’s injuries from a playdate, the time he’d told Lumen about his brief fling and been ignored for over a month, the time he’d finally snapped Yozen’s patience and was rewarded with a fist-sized hole in his stomach. Most of them were miserable stories of rejection by their comrades.

“And…….”

“Enough with the year-long bullying story.”

“Oh, talk about bullying. How unpleasant. Let’s talk about something else, shall we? Let’s talk about you, Sir Van. You’ve improved a lot.”

“How do you know that?”

“Sir Van’s aura is not subdued despite my demonic energy infiltrating it. There used to be a subtle rejection……. I guess you have complete control now?”

At Garuel’s question, Van thought back to the harrowing battle a few days ago. The technique he had succeeded with was a new ultimate that perfectly channeled and controlled his previously uncontrolled aura. But it hadn’t ended well. The giant crimson moon had only stopped its rampage and returned his blood when its master was near death.

It was still a tricky skill. He shrugged, unsure, and Lydon, who was sitting with his legs stretched out on top of Van’s head, patted him on the head.

“Of course it’s under control, Van! You should have a bone to pick when you come back from a year-long independent walk.”

“……Come down from my head when I still say something nice.”

“When did Van say something nice?”

Lydon waved his arms in the air, a playful expression on his face as he flew out of the way of the vicious grasp that was trying to snatch him up.

“Lumen! Yozen! Here’s Van, who’s back from leaving the house, and he’s not even that much stronger!”

As he looked away from the chuckling, Van saw two men approaching from the opposite direction. They were talking to each other, but when they heard Lydon’s shout, they joined the group.

“…….”

Van locked eyes with Lumen first. There was a lot of emotion in their gaze, but neither of them dared to speak. After lingering in the silence for a while, Van blurted out everything he wanted to say.

“You’ve gotten even uglier.”

Lumen smirked at him, then held something out in front of him. It was an unidentifiable object wrapped in a long white cloth.

“What is this?”

“Unravel it.”

“Don’t give gross gifts.”

“You expect this to be my gift? That’s offensive.”

With an annoyed flicker of Lumen, he unwrapped the cloth, revealing the identity of the wrapped object. It was a greatsword. Van’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of the carved wolf’s head on the handle.

“Leader was keeping it. This is what this guy found.”

Lumen nudged Yozen, and Van hesitantly lifted his head, then stared at Yozen, who stood wordlessly.

“……Were you following me?”

“I thought you knew that already.”

“How can I detect the pursuit of an assassin like you who doesn’t even show any signs of presence?”

“By instinct. You have a pretty good instinct.”

In the midst of the chase, he would occasionally look back in Yozen’s exact direction. When he recalled the time, Van shrugged and shook his head. He stroked the rust-free, well-maintained blade, and his jaw clenched.

How that person must have felt, carefully polishing the greatsword Van had discarded. Van’s heart grew heavy just thinking about it.

“Thank you. For finding it.”

“You should say that to Cadel.”

“……Yeah.”

The healing was complete, and the greatsword was returned. But Van didn’t leave. They stayed in place, exchanging uninformative conversation.

No one asked him why he had left, no one chastised him for returning, they just joked around as casually as they had always done. And in the midst of it all, Van found himself feeling unexpectedly comfortable. Even if he did recognize it, he’d probably just describe it as ‘creepy’, but this was definitely his place.