His teeth clacked together. He tried to stop it by clenching his jaw, but it was useless. He wasn’t cold at all. On the contrary, from constant movement, he was hot and stuffy to the point of feeling overheated. Yet with every step, chills ran down his spine. His eyes darted around restlessly, shifting their focus every second, and his body, unable to adjust to the dizzying view, began to gag.

Every time it happened, Garuel tightly clasped Cadel’s hand or tried to soothe his gut with a healing spell, even though it had little effect.

Not a single word was exchanged between the two men walking down the corridor. They knew no words could bring comfort to each other. All they could do was walk silently, side by side. That was the best they could offer.

‘I’m not alone.’

Cadel kept repeating the same thought. He wasn’t alone. Garuel was by his side, and somewhere in this spacetime, his subordinates surely remained. That wasn’t all. His reliable teacher was also with them. So he would not collapse. He would never let go of the belief that Lumen was alive.

He resolved again and again.

“……Knight Commander!”

Garuel’s expression filled with shock as he caught the forward-collapsing Cadel. The body in his arms was drenched in cold sweat. His pale face held not a hint of vitality. The built-up exhaustion was part of it, but more than anything, it was the blow to his mind that his weary body could no longer withstand.

“I’m fine.”

“…….”

“Really, I’m fine. What’s there not to be fine about?”

Cadel forced strength into his half-fallen body. He tried to fill his head with hope, but other thoughts kept pushing their way in. If Lumen was truly dead, hadn’t his entire plan already failed? His only dream—to let his subordinates live in a peaceful world—had it already crumbled to dust?

A dreadful sense of defeat threatened to consume Cadel from within. Kunra’s continued silence, the system that no longer reported Lumen’s condition—everything was pushing him into the pit of despair.

“Let’s keep going. If we keep walking, we’ll either see the end of the corridor or find a clue to break this space. Something will come.”

“No. Let’s sit and rest for a bit. I’ll deploy a healing spell and ease your fatigue, even if just a little.”

“No.”

“Why would you say no—!”

Garuel tried to forcibly sit him down, but Cadel mustered every ounce of strength to push him away. Gasping for breath, he glared at Garuel’s face, full of worry. In the silence, their tense gazes locked. Then, unable to suppress a sudden wave of nausea, Cadel covered his mouth and ran to the opposite wall.

“Ugh……!”

Leaning on the wall, he retched violently. He wanted to calm his overturned stomach, but with nothing in it, only bitter gastric acid came up. Cadel raised a hand to stop Garuel from approaching. Wiping his damp mouth and leaning his head against the wall, he stared blankly at the vomit staining the red carpet. Soon, clear drops began falling onto it—drip, drip.

‘……So I still had tears left to cry.’

Tears flowed honestly with his emotions, yet he couldn’t bring himself to do anything. Cadel realized he had reached his true limit. It wasn’t a physical one. From the moment he read the message that Lumen had died, Cadel had utterly fallen apart. Lumen was his pillar. He always had been.

The man who steadfastly stood by his side in this isolated world. Sometimes like a friend, sometimes like a lover, he had been his emotional anchor.

He loved the moments when Lumen’s usually impassive face would flush with color. The expressions he showed only to Cadel. His low laughter, upright posture, deep gaze, well-textured hair, and even his unique scent. There wasn’t a single thing he didn’t love.

“You don’t have to give me anything.”

“Leader, just look at me. That’s all I need. My loyalty, my honor, every struggle of my life…… just watch it all, straight and true.”

What he had wanted from me was only to be watched. But I couldn’t give him even that one thing. I couldn’t do it—couldn’t just watch him, and I lost him again. That hurt Cadel more than anything else.

As the tears kept falling, Cadel’s body slowly crumbled. He sat on the floor, curled up, sobbing. How long had it been since he had mustered the strength to believe in his survival? He had fallen apart, pitifully. He wanted to give up everything. He wanted to close his eyes and run away to a place where no one was around.

But he couldn’t.

“Knight Commander.”

He heard Garuel’s voice. He knew he should answer him, but he couldn’t make a sound.

“Knight Commander, please get up.”

Cadel didn’t respond at all, just crying. But the next moment……

“……!”

“Look at this!”

Garuel grabbed his arm and forcefully pulled Cadel to his feet. Cadel blinked, his tear-filled eyes clearing for a moment. His eyes, a mixture of sadness and confusion, stared blankly at Garuel. Garuel wiped Cadel’s eyes roughly and pointed to the floor.

“There’s a crack in the corridor……”

A crack in the corridor? Confused, Cadel shifted his gaze and saw a thick line running across the floor. It wasn’t just the floor. The line seemed to wrap around the walls and ceiling, like a giant blade had sliced through the corridor.

Startled by the sudden change, Cadel hurriedly wiped his nose. Staring at the line, he saw a faint bluish light leaking from within.

“What’s this……?”

Garuel cautiously pulled Cadel away. He didn’t know what this change meant, but he felt they shouldn’t be too close. Yet, Cadel remained in place, watching the crack in the floor. The thick line slowly filled with a bluish hue. Cadel’s eyes widened as he gazed at the blue light.

“It’s Lumen’s sword energy!”

“What?”

“L-Lumen’s sword energy……! This blue light, it’s unmistakable! It’s Lumen’s sword energy!”

There was no mistaking it. He had seen this vivid blue aura, resembling Lumen’s eyes, countless times before. His heart leaped, as if it were going to burst. Cadel, now sure that the crack in the corridor was caused by Lumen’s sword energy, turned to Garuel. And then, the next moment……

Kwah-kwah-kwah-kwah—

With a heavy vibration that shook the air, the corridor began to tilt rapidly. Reflexively, Cadel grabbed Garuel’s waist as the center of gravity shifted. Holding Cadel in his arms, Garuel stared blankly ahead.

“What…… am I looking at right now……?”

Following the crack, the corridor was split in half. Garuel’s eyes trembled as he looked beyond the disjointed cross-section of the corridor. Before them, the universe was unfolding.

In the dark space, like the aurora, swirling purples of demonic energy rippled. Small dots scattered around, shining like stars, lit up the surroundings. Unidentifiable fragments drifted aimlessly, and a low hum resonated, ringing in their ears. Cadel, who had also looked beyond the broken corridor, opened his mouth slightly.

The corridor they stood in was floating in a shattered space-time, like an old spaceship. Cadel and Garuel stood together on the precarious corridor, a single misstep away from falling into the abyss below. It felt like they would plummet if they lost their footing even slightly.

“Have we been wandering in a place like this all along? We just moved up a floor, but somehow…… now we’re here.”

“Look over there, Garuel! A corridor! Another corridor!”

Cadel, spotting something strange in this disordered space-time, stepped forward without hesitation. Alarmed, Garuel quickly pulled Cadel into his arms, cautiously pulling his head back to look below. Just as Cadel said, he saw corridors that looked just like the one they were standing in. Floating freely, the corridors were cut in half, and the inside of each one was visible beyond the cross-section.

“If we fall from here, can we move to another corridor? If we align the angle right, it might be possible.”

“It’s worth a try.”

Like a ship sailing across the vast ocean, more and more corridors appeared along the path they were following. Cadel’s expression showed confusion as the corridors filled his vision, but soon he composed himself, his face hardening with careful thought.

“Lumen must have sliced through this whole disordered space-time. There’s no doubt that my subordinates are somewhere in one of these corridors.”

Though he was certain that Lumen was the cause of this situation, they couldn’t risk falling recklessly. They weren’t sure what would happen if they left the corridor, so they decided to search for their comrades first. Despite the empty corridors all around them, they didn’t give up hope of finding someone. And not long after……

“Cadel? Is that you? Cadel, right?”

A familiar shout echoed across the space-time. Cadel, lying flat on the floor to find the source of the voice, craned his head to look beyond the cross-section of the corridor. Not far away, Lydon was seen energetically waving his hand toward them.

“Lydon! You’re safe!”

The corridor where Lydon was located appeared to be sharply angled, and it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had fallen straight down. But Lydon stood firmly on the floor, and soon other figures appeared behind him.

Van, Yozen, Mamil, Ector, and Modeleine. Cadel quickly confirmed their appearances but could not find Lumen among them. Growing impatient, Cadel was about to ask about Lumen’s whereabouts when……

“Come over here, Cadel! It’s dangerous over there!”

At Mamil’s urgent voice, the corridor they had been in was suddenly engulfed by darkness.