Leo stared up at the throne his throat tight. “What do you want from me?” he asked.

  The Demon King’s voice rolled out slow, worn around the edges. “You have a ability call Void Reclaim. Lili told me about it.”

  Leo’s jaw clenched. “So you want my skill?”

  A short, hollow laugh. “I don’t want the power. I want you to know something.”

  He leaned forward, armor groaning. “Your father… he was more than any of those heroes they worship. He dragged people out of the flames I started. Flames she ordered.”

  Leo’s breath caught. “You knew him?”

  “Enough to owe him.” The King’s eyes dimmed, not with menace—something closer to regret. “She took him. Same way she took everything else.”

  Lili stepped closer, softer than usual. “He’s done fighting. He just needs someone who can finish the part he can’t.”

  Leo loosened his fists. “Then I’ll carry his will. Yours too.” He held the King’s gaze. “We will end that godhood.”

  Leo exhaled. “There’s more. You want me to take it all.”

  The demon King nodded once. “Everything. Skills, mana, aura… even the sins. Void Reclaim me.”

  Leo hesitated. “Why?”

  “I’m dying.” He lifted a shaking hand. The veins were black, crawling. “A hero hit me with a divine strike. Slow poison. Soul-deep. I’ve got days, maybe hours.”

  Leo glanced at Lili. She gave him the smallest nod.

  “If I take it,” Leo asked quietly, “what happens to you?”

  The King smiled—tired, almost peaceful. “I stop existing. But at least my death will matter for something.”

  Leo stepped forward. “Your power, your sins… all of it. I’ll take them. But I’m not using them for revenge. I’ll turn it into protection.”

  A single tear slid along the cracked armor. “Then I die clean.”

  Leo raised his hand. Void Reclaim surged—purple-black threads whipping out and wrapping around demon king.

  The King knelt, placing a warm hand on Leo’s head. “You remind me of what I used to be.”

  He glanced at Lili. “And thank you… for seeing me.”

  Then he unraveled—light, memory, pain, and power pouring into Leo with the force of a storm.

  Leo hit the floor, screaming through clenched teeth as his veins lit up.

  When it stopped, the throne was empty.

  Lili knelt beside him, brushing his hair back. “Idiot. You didn’t even flinch.”

  Leo stumbled out, rubbing his eyes. “I slept that long?”

  Lili lay on the table pretending to snore, then cracked an eye open. “You think I’d sleep while you were digesting a Demon King buffet?”

  Leo sat. “Lyra?”

  “She panicked. Thought you died. I told her you just overate.”

  Leo snorted. “How strong am I now?”

  Lili leaned in. “Show me.”

  Leo closed his eyes. Power rolled through him—heavy, wild, almost too big for his body.

  “Full elements,” he said slowly. “Gravity. Healing. Demon control.”He swallowed.“And… immortality.”

  Lili blinked. Then again. “You stole what?”

  Leo scratched his cheek. “Uh… surprise?”

  She threw her head back. “Sixteen years old. Six. And you could probably crack a continent.”

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  Leo flexed his fingers. “But the King had immortality. Why did he die?”

  “Divine power,” she said. “It cuts through everything. You’re human, so it won’t kill you. It’ll just hurt like hell.”

  Leo breathed out. “Good.”

  Lili rolled her shoulders, grin sharp. “Training starts now. You’re basically a walking disaster. You need control.”

  Leo groaned. “More training?”

  “Immortals can still be idiots,” she muttered. “Come on.”

  He stood, stretching. “Fine.”

  Two years had slipped by.

  The boy Leo had been was long gone. In his place stood something sharper, heavier—like the calm center of a coming storm.

  The sky burned orange and red, clouds bruised and swollen with leftover magic. Half the trees in the clearing had been ripped out by the roots; the rest leaned at strange angles, as if trying to flee. The air tingled, thick with mana that hadn’t settled yet, buzzing like static against the skin.

  A blur cut across the field—too fast for anyone without trained eyes. Each step cracked the ground.

  Leo.

  He moved with a steadiness that didn’t belong to a teenager. Taller now, shoulders firmer, expression older than it should’ve been. His violet eyes glowed faintly, like stars reflected in dark water. His white hair—longer, tied back—swung wildly behind him. The black cloak he wore snapped around his frame, markings shining dimly under the dying light.

  Across the ruined clearing, Lili’s clone hurled a compressed ball of dark energy layered with jagged streaks of ice and fire.

  “Hey! Is that seriously all you’ve got?!” it yelled.

  Leo didn’t even react.

  One breath—then he vanished. The air shuddered behind him, bending like glass under heat. He reappeared in front of the clone, fist already pulled back.

  The punch landed with a deep, ugly boom.

  Wind blasted outward. The shockwave flattened the few trees still standing. The clone flew back like a ragdoll, skid-marking a trench into the dirt.

  Far off, Lyra stood on a broken boulder, hands clenched nervously. “Is he… supposed to be doing that?”

  Beside her, the real Lili stretched like someone waking from a nap. “Relax. If he breaks it, I’ll grow it back.”

  Leo stood at the center of the crater, chest rising a little too fast—but there was a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

  He stepped once, and the ground cracked again.

  Fire bloomed behind him as he shifted, lightning wrapping around his arm in a spiral. Gravity bent near his feet, pulling dust toward him. Magic slid under his skin like it had always been there.

  The clone rushed him again, and when their fists met—

  Crack.

  The entire forest seemed to flinch. Birds screamed and scattered. A wave of dust swept over everything.

  The clone stumbled back, shaking out numb arms. “Alright! Enough! I’m done! I’m done!”

  Leo landed lightly, as if none of it had tired him. His eyes still carried a restless spark.

  “I can keep going.”

  “No, you can shut up,” Lili called as she walked over, brushing dirt off her clothes. She held something wrapped in cloth. “You’ve already ruined half my training field. I’m not fixing this again.”

  Leo let out a low laugh. “Maybe I pushed too hard.”

  “Maybe?” She sighed, but the smile was there. “Anyway. I’ve got something.”

  Leo tilted his head.

  She held out the bundle. The cloth was old, black, and faintly warm.

  “You’re ready,” she said quietly. “For that hero… for what’s coming. I’ve taught you everything I can. This is the last thing I have left.”

  Leo unwound the cloth. Inside was an obsidian blade, smooth and sharp enough that even the air around it seemed uneasy. The runes on the hilt pulsed like a heartbeat.

  “This is Nullfang,” she said. “Forged outside this world. It doesn’t obey mana or magic. It cuts, unbreakable defenses…. It listens to one thing alone.”

  She met his eyes. “You.”

  Leo held the sword like he was afraid it might vanish. It vibrated faintly against his palm, steadying as if recognizing him.

  He swallowed once. “Thank you. Really. I wouldn’t be here without you.”

  Lili shook her head. “You’d have gotten here anyway. You were climbing long before I showed up.”

  He exhaled, thumb brushing the flat of the blade.

  “So. When are you leaving?” she asked.

  “Tomorrow night.”

  Her eyes brightened. “Good. Then we’re throwing a farewell party.”

  Leo blinked. “A what?”

  She stared at him like he’d just confessed to never hearing of bread. “Excuse me? This many years of training and you think you’re sneaking out without a party? Lyra, say something.”

  Lyra grinned. “You’re not leaving without her, Leo.”

  Lili looked confused. “Wait, what?”

  Leo turned to her. “You’re coming with us.”

  She froze. “But… your sister. My mom. You need to save them. You don’t need me dragging you down.”

  “We do,” Leo said. “I do.”

  She looked away. “If I go with you, people will hate you. They’ll come after you because of me. I don’t want to be the reason you suffer. I don’t want to become trouble for you two.”

  Leo’s voice tightened, low and sharp. “What do you mean by ‘trouble’?”

  Lili looked up, startled.

  “You’re not a burden,” he said. “Not a curse. Not something to avoid.” His eyes softened, but there was steel under it. “You’re family. You trained me. You stood with me when no one else would. You helped me become someone who can fight back.”

  His fist curled at his side.

  “If anyone has a problem with you,” he said, “they can take it up with me.”

  He turned away before she could answer, cloak brushing the ground behind him.

  “You’re coming,” he said over his shoulder. “That’s final.”

  “Leo—wait!”

  But he was already gone.

  Lili stood still for a long moment, staring at the empty space he left. Then her shoulders slowly eased, fingers uncurling at her sides.