"Tell me, Xiu Won Lan… why didn't you defend them?"
The battlefield was stained with blood, corpses scattered everywhere. The old man with white hair and pitch-black eyes moved forward, crossing the field until he reached the person standing at its center. The resemblance between the two was striking—his appearance was exactly the same as the old man's in his youth. Yet his eyes were silver, carrying a starlike gleam, and his white hair bore no trace of age. The young man examined him closely and asked,
"Why did you come here, Grandfather?"
Shi Yun Lan cast him a look utterly devoid of emotion and said,
"You came to this village two months ago, and you spent most of your time training. You shouldn't have formed any ties with the villagers. Yet you confronted an ancient family because of their tyranny—why?"
"And why not?" the young man replied. "The people of this village treated me kindly without asking for anything in return. When they face trouble, shouldn't I stand with them?"
"You are merely a child at the Noble level, yet you dared to challenge a powerful family filled with Emperors? Don't think that I will protect you from them."
Xiu Won Lan smiled and said,
"I don't train and grow stronger for the sake of pride or status, but to help those in need. If I am not a hope people can cling to, not a star everyone looks up to, then there's no reason for me to exhaust myself any further—isn't that right?"
...
Shion Lan's weary eyes looked at the danger before him. They were fifth-rank crows, larger than normal, the aura radiating from them lethally oppressive. All of the ravens focused their gaze on the killer of their leader and launched a series of ferocious attacks.
Rona Flair used (Fusion) and (Wall of Fire), conjuring a magma-like barrier that surrounded them. However, she exhausted her power at that moment. As the ravens attempted to break through, Beliza Sano and Rona Flair intervened. Rona said,
"Shilte, go and bring medium potions for us—we'll have to fight another battle. Shion, stay by our side, or the crows will break away and attack the wounded."
"Understood."
Beliza then spoke, "Aero! There are five crows. We'll handle three—take two with the other forces."
"Understood!"
Roles were assigned swiftly. Many fourth-rank heroes gathered around the crows under Aero's command. Beliza and Rona faced the remaining three, while Shion stood helplessly in the center of the field, unable to do anything.
The crows launched direct attacks at Shion—
"(Fire Barrier)" "(Ice Defense)" "(Earth Wall)" "(Water Barrier)"
All defensive spells echoed in succession, repelling the frenzied dark crows as they tried to break through the ranks to reach their target. Everyone resisted with all they had, yet the situation grew increasingly dire.
Shion, caught in the middle of it all, felt overwhelming helplessness. This battle was far beyond him; he couldn't intervene. He also still needed treatment due to the depletion of his soul.
Then he noticed that one crow was losing interest and preparing to retreat.
'Damn it! If it leaves, it'll kill the wounded!'
Without much thought, he prepared his spell:
"(Paths of Fire)"
He directed three fiery trails toward the crow's head, but they were blocked effortlessly. However, seeing who had attacked reignited the crow's fury. It began a new barrage of attacks, forcing many soldiers and fighters to retreat.
At last, Shilte returned with the potions, slipping past the crows and tossing them to everyone. Beliza caught them and quickly distributed them, handing a special potion to Shion.
"This will help heal your soul."
Shion nodded and began drinking it, but his consciousness started to fade.
"Shilte, retreat with him to the rear lines—now," Rona said after fully recovering her strength.
She pulled out a white strand of hair and a magical tool, using (Fusion) and (Mirage).
"(Customized Mirage)"
She cast the spell over everyone. Their forms began to change, their hair turning white, their appearances becoming identical to Shion's—even his aura was copied. The crows were thrown into confusion, unable to distinguish the real from the fake. Rona collapsed to the ground, drained by the spell.
"Well done," Beliza said in Shion's voice, staring at Rona with silver eyes.
Rona laughed weakly. "You should see yourself."
As they spoke, Shilte tried to remain as hidden as possible among the Shion look-alikes. The crows went berserk, attacking everything in front of them, but they soon identified the main threats: Beliza Sano, due to her high level, and Aero Riot, whose power was overwhelming.
"I hope we can deal with them this way."
"Don't worry, Lady Sano! We'll crush these crows easily!"
"Advance!"
Soon, Shilte managed to escape the area carrying Shion. But then something strange happened—they saw the crows take flight. When everyone thought they had given up, all of them suddenly turned toward the real Shion Lan!
"How can this be?!" Shilte shouted as he tried to flee with Shion.
Shion spoke calmly, "They aren't as foolish as you think. If not for the enslavement magic, you would have seen the depth of their thinking…"
Shilte was shocked that Shion had awakened, but Shion continued as he watched everyone trying desperately to restrain the crows:
"At first, they were confused, but their minor leader's aura is too distinctive to be copied so easily. They pretended to fall for the trap and waited until they saw me unguarded—but I had already been moved. Despite their intelligence, instinct took over, and they lunged at me. That's how we ended up here."
Shion was indifferent to the chaos around him. His dark eyes scanned the surroundings, searching for something.
'I didn't expect things to get this bad. I need to find a proper way to win.'
The crows launched multiple long-range aura attacks, releasing dark power. Black feathers flew everywhere, claws striking across great distances. Shilte dodged with ease, but frowned.
"Damn it! They're forcing me toward the wounded as well!"
He had no choice but to move forward. Everyone tried to suppress the crows before they reached the rear lines, but with the sorceress Rona Flair exhausted, Beliza Sano alone stood no chance against five ravens at once. Aero barely managed to stall one of them.
Shion felt something heavy press against his heart, robbing him of peace as he watched everyone struggle.
Then he heard a shout:
"Guard!"
Shilte raised his shield and used (Earth King: Earthen Dome). A rocky dome formed around them, shielding them from the attacks—but it was nothing against the combined assault of five fifth-rank dark ravens. It shattered instantly.
One black feather pierced Shilte's shoulder. He looked at Shion with worried eyes—then froze in shock. Five feathers had pierced Shion's body, pinning him to the ground: two through his shoulders, two through his thighs, and one through his abdomen.
Despite the sight, Shion's eyes remained calm and deep.
"I still have three minutes before I must be treated," he said quietly. "Otherwise, even the legendary physician won't be able to save me from death."
As he finished speaking, he saw a massive bird descending from the sky, talons stretching toward him. He couldn't move a finger—reduced to prey watching its predator.
He saw people rushing toward him: Shilte beside him trying to raise his shield; Violet Night desperately pushing through another crow; Rona Flair barely able to lift a finger, muttering incoherently as she tried to cast a spell before collapsing from severe mental exhaustion; Beliza Sano straining with all her might to reach him but held back by the other crows.
He saw others as well—John, who used to chatter with him, now fighting desperately for his life; Krow, who looked as though he were withdrawing into himself on the battlefield; the First Prince, Jaiden Joul, healing only his own wounded while ordering others to fight; and his elder brother, Shun Ranus, standing beside the First Prince as if protecting him, despite being in a relatively safe area.
At last, Shion felt that sensation pierce his chest.
'It feels like it took an eternity to reach me… This must be my limit in this life. It seems I won't even live to those three minutes I spoke of.'
He closed his eyes, awaiting death. The last thing he saw was a brilliant light illuminating the entire battlefield—then his vision went dark.
'Hm?'
Shion felt something familiar and opened his eyes. His ears caught a familiar, worried voice—but what he saw was different.
An old man sat calmly on the ground, serene and unhurried, observing the scene before him and sketching it onto a canvas he carried. The scene was simple, yet within Shi Yun Lan's body—where Shion currently was—he felt an oppressive sensation unlike anything he had ever known, even though the old man hadn't lifted a finger.
The old man turned to him and, unexpectedly, spoke within this scene without any effort or distraction, his voice deep:
"You… are dead."
...
Shion awoke in the place familiar to him, gasping for breath. The crushing pressure was gone. He muttered,
"Wh—who is that man?! How can he be this powerful?!"
Another voice replied,
"It seems you've begun to open the sixth vein."
Shion turned to see the owner of these dreams—Shi Yun Lan—gazing indifferently at the veins.
Shion looked at him gratefully. "Shi Yun Lan, thank you for saving my life."
Shi Yun Lan's expression didn't change in the slightest. He spoke seriously:
"You came here a month ago. You spent two weeks fighting on missions, and two weeks in the training camp. Most of your time was spent training. You barely interacted with them. Among them are people who don't appreciate you, people who hate you, and people who envy you—and many fall into those categories. Others don't care about you at all; they're here only on their commanders' orders. They don't even do much to save comrades on the same front due to petty conflicts, yet they give great help to those they care about. And yet you…"
He looked at Shion, anger flashing in his eyes.
"…you were willing to sacrifice yourself and your soul to that extent for them? Do you have ideals you insist on upholding, even at the cost of your life?!"
Shion, who had been silent, suddenly looked up when Shi Yun Lan finished. He smiled mockingly and said,
"Me? Ideals? I have nothing like that…"
He continued softly,
"…I just want to protect those I love."