Later that night, in one of the wards of the Academy Infirmary…
In a quiet, dimly lit room with eight beds, a bandaged Dom slowly opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling. He spent a few moments trying to piece together the events before he blacked out.
Turning to his right, he saw Sam on the next bed, stable but still unconscious. Dom frowned at Sam's form before shifting his gaze to the other side, where Dae was already seated on his bed.
Their eyes met, and Dom forced a small smile.
"Can't sleep?" he asked.
Dae gave a weak smirk. "How could I, with how loudly you snore?"
Dom laughed. "Sorry." He attempted to sit up, but a sharp pain in his gut stopped him with a groan.
"You're not supposed to move," Dae said.
"Since when did you become my doctor?" Dom grumbled, resting against the bedrest.
Dae rolled his eyes, turning his attention to the wall. Dom glanced down at his torso, wrapped in bandages.
"It wasn't a dream, huh?" he murmured, the memory of the beast flooding back.
Dae nodded quietly, and the two shared a moment of silent reflection, minds still on the battle that had nearly cost them their lives.
After a few minutes, Dae's gaze softened as he looked at Dom. "Thank you, Dominic."
Dom turned to him, confused.
"Back there… before you came… I really thought I was going to die," Dae admitted, looking down at his hands. "At some point, I even regretted staying to save Samuel instead of running myself."
Dom frowned, processing Dae's words.
"I've always been told to live a life I'd be proud of when my time comes," Dae continued, eyes closing. "But then… all I felt was regret."
A pause followed before he looked at Dom, a warm, genuine smile on his face.
"You saved me. You gave me a second chance. I'm truly grateful."
Dom's eyes widened. Despite their long partnership, he had never seen Dae smile like this. He returned the smile. "Don't worry about it. Besides, we're even now."
Dae raised a brow, curious. Dom's gaze drifted to the ceiling, lost in thought.
"Even though I was determined to beat that thing, I knew I wasn't fast enough. If you hadn't stepped in, I'd be dead." Dom gives him a smirk. "Thanks for having my back."
Dae nodded, and the two lapsed into silence once more.
Dom's eyes suddenly lit up with excitement. "Hey. Since we beat an A-class beast, does that mean we're A-class now?"
"Of course not," Dae replied, calm once more. "To be certified A-class, we'd have to undergo tests from the Capital's Science Division for a week. Besides, neither of us defeated it alone."
Dom groaned dramatically. "Ugh, I really hate complicated protocol."
"Rules are rules," Dae said, giving a small smile, but it quickly faded as an old memory resurfaced. His eyes darkened.
After a moment, he spoke, "Do you remember when you asked me about my goal?"
Dom scoffed. "You mean when you blew me off for no reason?"
Embarrassment crossed Dae's face. "I'm sorry. It's… a long story."
Dom gestured around the infirmary. "We've got plenty of time."
Dae glanced at Sam, still asleep, then focused on the ceiling. Taking a deep breath, he began to delve into his past.
"The man who taught me the Thunder Sword Style… my master… was my grandfather. He was a kind, respectable swordsman, so skilled he became known as the Blade King. People revered him as the greatest swordsman in the world."
"Cool," Dom said, excited.
Dae smiled faintly. "I idolized him. When I turned six, I convinced him to start training me. By seven, I didn't just want to become like him—I wanted to surpass him."
Dom's smile widened as he processed this.
"That's why… when I heard your goal, I realized we're on similar paths," Dae added.
Dom comfortably lies back on the bed, his smile still wide. "So that's your goal?" He mumbled.
"Not completely," Dae replied, a shadow crossing his expression. "I have two goals."
Dom narrowed his eyes. "And the other one?"
Dae's face darkened. His fingers gripped the bed sheets tightly. "To find a man named Akito Nakamura… and kill him." His purple eyes glowed with cold intent.
Dom stared, shocked. "Okay. I did not expect that."
Dae looked away.
Curious, Dom probed further. "Is there a reason?"
Dae took a long pause.
"When I was nine," Dae began, voice heavy, "my grandfather adopted a boy two years older than me. I don't know why grandfather did it, but I remembered that he wanted us to treat him like family."
"And that boy was…?" Dom prompted.
Dae nodded. "Akito. He had lightning magic like us, so Grandfather trained him too. He was mischievous, intelligent, and a prodigy with swords. Despite starting three years after me, he surpassed my skills in a year."
Dom frowned. "A genius, huh?"
Dae smiled weakly. "I was jealous… but I still looked up to him, like an older brother."
Another beat of silence passed before Dom asked, "Then… what happened?"
Dae's smile faded. His purple aura trembled faintly as he spoke. "Due to the danger of the Thunder Sword Style, the first swordsman created strict rules for its use. Akito… broke the most sacred one. He turned his blade against the innocent. Against his own family. My family."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Dae ran a hand over his face, suppressing his aura. "I still don't know why he did it. We took him in… treated him like family… and yet…"
He paused, gathering his thoughts. "It happened years ago… but I remember it vividly."
A ten-year-old Dae ran barefoot through the hallways, panic and disbelief etched on his face as he saw bloodstains on the walls. Distracted, he tripped and fell against a corner, gasping when he saw the lifeless head maid, Miss Kim.
A thunderclap drew his attention. He scrambled onward, following the sound of clashing swords and the surge of mana.
He reached the rear exit, broken sliding doors revealing the garden beyond. Slipping on the wet floor, he fell hard again. Pain shot through him before he noticed blood coating his hands.
Looking down, his eyes widened at the pool of crimson staining the floor. He followed the stream and froze at the source: two bodies, lifeless.
"Father? Mother?"
Dae's eyes quickly water as he quickly realizes that the bodies were his parents'. Their bodies were covered in deep cuts, with their clothes ripped and soaked with so much blood that one would confuse them for ordinary red clothes.
"Father! Mother! Please! Answer me!" He shouted, his voice trembling with grief, but only silence answered.
That silence was suddenly shattered by the clash of swords. Dae's eyes darted toward the garden and froze. Two figures stood in the midst of the still-beautiful grounds.
A lightning bolt streaked across the sky, illuminating the scene—and breaking Dae's already shattered heart even further.
One of the figures was his grandfather, grievously injured. With a groan, the old man coughed up a heavy stream of blood, his black katana slipping from his trembling hands to the blood-stained grass.
"Aki…to," he gasped, looking toward the shorter figure standing before him.
With a scoff, the young attacker drew the bloodied katana from the old man's gut, blood gushing anew as the elder collapsed.
"Grandfather!"
Dae's cry caught the attacker's attention. Another lightning strike illuminated the boy fully. He was twelve, with long, silky black hair and pale ivory skin, his body cut and battered, including a long slash across his now-functionless left eye.
"Akito? No… it can't be…" Dae whispered in disbelief. The boy before him was the same one he had called brother.
In Dae's young mind, he tried to search for a reason behind it… But with the white katana still clutched in his dead father's grip, the sight of his grandfather bleeding on the ground, and worst of all… the exhausted yet twisted smile on Akito's face, accompanied by the eerie red glow of his right eye, it was blatantly obvious who was to blame.
A fierce purple aura burst from Dae's small body, lightning crackling violently around him. Acting on instinct alone, he tore the white katana from his father's lifeless hands—the blade already within reach—and surged forward, feet pounding across the blood-soaked grass.
As he closed the distance, his gaze flicked to the black katana lying near his grandfather. The gap was too wide to stop, too dangerous to hesitate. He pushed harder, electricity snapping around his limbs, and at the last moment—just as he passed it—Dae dropped low, snatching the black katana from the ground without breaking stride.
Both blades now in hand, Dae swung with everything he had, grief and fury driving his movements as he slashed toward Akito.
Before the attack could land, red electrical sparks erupted from Akito's body. He vanished in an instant, leaving Dae's blades cutting through empty air. The sudden loss of resistance threw him off balance, and he stumbled, crashing hard onto the blood-stained grass.
Dae forced himself up, tears streaking his face, only to find Akito standing atop the outer garden fence. With one last cold, silent stare, Akito turned away—and disappeared.
"Akito!"
Dae tried to follow, but a weak hand clutched his ankle. He turned around and gasped to find his grandfather gripping him with what little strength he had left.
Dae immediately dropped his weapons and carefully rolled the old man onto his back. He froze at the sight of the injuries—blood soaking through torn clothing, the stab wound still pouring freely—before snapping back into motion and pressing both hands down against it.
"It's okay. You'll be fine. It's okay," he repeated desperately.
The words left his mouth again and again, even as warm blood continued to seep through his fingers. He turned toward the house and screamed for help—but the old man weakly shook his head.
"Don't bother…" he rasped. "He… killed all of them."
Dae snapped his head back to him in shock.
"There's… no one left."
His expression crumpled. "Why… why… why?"
The old man coughed violently, blood spilling from his lips before he could answer. "I'm sorry… My past… corrupted him… destroyed our family. I—"
A sharp groan cut him off as pain wracked his body.
"I thought isolating us would be enough… that caring for him would be enough… but it appears…" His breathing grew uneven. "…that I must still atone for my sins."
Dae shook his head furiously. "Don't say that. You'll be fine. I'll carry you to a hospital."
The old man coughed again, this time splattering blood across Dae's face.
"I taught Akito too well," he said weakly. "He attacked… a vital spot… I won't… live long enough to make it outside… this garden."
Dae's lips trembled as tears poured freely down his cheeks.
"No. You can't. Please."
"I'm… sorry," the old man panted, his pale eyes drifting toward the porch where Dae's parents lay motionless. "For some reason… he let you live. I don't know… why, but… this too… must… be destiny."
Dae shook his head again, barely able to breathe. "I don't understand."
With great effort, the old man placed a trembling hand over Dae's. His grip tightened weakly.
"I know this will be hard… but you must listen to me…"
"Abandon the Hyeon Family name… along with the Thunder Sword Style."
Dae's brow furrowed in confusion. "What are you—"
The old man squeezed his hand harder, cutting him off. "In my past, I created many enemies. That's why… I forced us to live in isolation. To… protect… all of you."
He groaned again, his face contorting in pain.
"But… but you said you saved people," Dae said, his voice small, confused.
"I did," the old man sighed. "But that was… before the Great Fall."
"The Great Fall…" Dae whispered, as his grandfather squeezed his hand again.
"Akito was tied to that—and this…" He glanced down at his wound. "…is the result." His gaze shifted back to Dae's parents, his son, his daughter-in-law, tears finally forming in his old eyes. "I tried to run from fate… and failed."
He swallowed painfully. "Listen. Under your parents' bed—"
"No, stop."
"…There's our emergency funds. Take it and get as far away from here as possible."
"I can't."
"Yes, you can," the old man grumbled, forcing a weak, pained smile. "You're a smart child… You'll be fine."
Dae shook his head as more tears fell, his vision blurring. The old man slowly raised his hand and brushed Dae's cheek.
"I'm just… sorry you have to do this… at such a young age. Please… forgive me."
"Please don't go," Dae begged. "I don't want to be alone."
He clutched the old man's already cooling hand with blood-soaked fingers.
The old man grit his teeth, frustration and sorrow finally breaking through as tears streamed down his face. "I know, my boy… but we… don't have a… choice."
Another violent series of coughs wracked his body. Dae cried harder, desperately pressing down on the wound again.
"One… last thing…"
"No! Don't go! No! Stop!"
Dae pressed with all his strength—then flinched as the old man's hand slipped from his grasp and fell lifelessly into the grass.
"No matter what…" The old man's eyes began to dim, his vision fading. "…don't seek… revenge… It'll only… leave you… em…pty."
Dae stared, unmoving, at the old man's lifeless face—frozen in an expression of regret and frustration.
Thirty long seconds passed.
Then Dae's mouth finally opened—
—-and a devastating scream of pain tore through the garden, raw and unrestrained, its echo drowning out even the roaring thunder overhead.>