Missions after missions. Battles after battles.
Watching over Atom has taught me a lot about life—and even more about what it means to truly live. Over the past few years, one truth has become increasingly clear: one person can change another's life entirely. Since the day Atom began living with Zaraia, everything changed. The once cold and lonely man had become... whole. Not perfect. Not healed. But happy.
Outside the frost-covered window, snow fell in thick sheets from the ashen sky. The cold wind howled, brushing against the wooden walls of the cabin nestled deep within the highlands. The fireplace inside offered a soft orange glow, casting long shadows on the walls. All around us, silence—the kind that blanketed the soul in peace.
I turned to check on them. Atom and Zaraia were asleep on the mat, her tiny form curled into his side, both breathing gently in sync. I smiled faintly, laying myself on the floor to take a nap, when I suddenly heard it.
A sharp, jarring sound—a knock at the door, slicing through the serenity like a blade.
It was forceful. Urgent.
Atom stirred, rising quickly. He cast aside the cloth draped around him and tied a small dagger around his waist in one smooth motion. His feet padded silently toward the door. And then—
BOOM.
The moment he opened it, he was thrown back violently, struck by an unseen force. He slammed against the floor, groaning in pain. I rushed to his side—blood. His chest was bleeding. Magic.
"Could it be…" I whispered, already fearing the answer.
I turned my neck slowly—dread coiling in my gut.
There they were.
An entire battalion of Inferior Dream Knights, flanked by twelve Superior Dream Knights, their golden armor gleaming in the pale light. Each of them was ranked among the Top 100 Dream Knights in the entire Dream Realm.
"APPREHEND HIM BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!"
"What? What did he do?" I muttered, stepping back in disbelief. "He completed all his missions this afternoon... he's been here the whole day!"
As Atom groaned back into consciousness, he was already shackled. Cuffs of nullifying steel bound his arms and legs. His vision blurred.
"Leave us alone! We didn't do anything!" Zaraia screamed, her face soaked in tears. "Please! Stop!"
10 hours later when Atom finally came through he sat in panic, eyes wide, his heart hammering in his chest.
"Wh–what's happening?" he murmured.
Aziel, smug and cruel, stepped forward with a wicked grin.
"Can't you tell?" he hissed. "Maybe by seeing it for yourself... you'll understand."
The curtains were yanked open. Atom, now tied to a chair, was dragged outside.
Before him—
A crowd. Thousands. Screaming. Chanting. Foaming with bloodlust.
"KILL HER! KILL HER! EXECUTE HER!"
Atom's eyes widened in horror.
Zaraia—his daughter, his light, the reason he kept breathing—was kneeling on a platform, a guard towering behind her, axe raised, blade gleaming.
"No… No, please… PLEASE DON'T HURT HER!" Atom cried, his voice cracking into a broken wail. "I'LL DO ANYTHING! ANYTHING! JUST DON'T—PLEASE!"
The crowd's venom grew louder. Aziel raised his hand and spoke.
"This girl you see here—was taken hostage by this man. During a mission to cleanse a village infected with the beast-plague, we found no survivors. Only monsters. And this child… this child was found by him. Atom."
"He threatened her," Aziel continued. "Said if she didn't lay in his bed, he would kill her."
Gasps. Disgust. Spitting.
"He's insane. A child?"
"He's a monster. He deserves worse than death."
"And now," Aziel roared, "we execute the girl. Because who knows what horrors he's inflicted upon her? If she's pregnant, her offspring could be a threat. A disease."
Zaraia sobbed violently, her mouth gagged, her tiny shoulders trembling.
"And this isn't all!" Aziel thundered. "He was the one who led the traitor—Seth Alexander—into the palace!"