"I WILL only give you one chance to give me an answer, Black Serpent," Tilly warned Kiho in a cold voice that she rarely used on him. But this time, she wasn't really happy with what her husband said. Even though she was trying hard not to show it, seeing Winter died a gruesome death caused her too much pain and resentment towards her old self. It was too stressful for her. The last thing she needed was Kiho giving up on himself. "Kiho, you're not the only one who's suffering after we saw what happened to Winter in the past."

"But we're different from each other, Tilly," Kiho said in a bitter voice. "You've done nothing wrong. You and our children were hurt in the past because of my incompetence."

It wasn't the first time that Kiho felt down because of his "incompetence."

In the past, her first instinct was to comfort him. But this time, since her emotions weren't particularly stable after reliving her horrible past life, she didn't have the energy to "baby" her husband. After all, no matter how strong she was, she could also get tired.

And her patience was running low at that point.

"Like I said, you weren't the only one who was incompetent back then," she told him in an impatient tone voice. She hated using that tone on her husband but she wanted to set him straight. "Plus, this happened because I cursed Nia Moonchester. If it wasn't for the Sun God, I wouldn't even remember that the damned Great Fire Tree punished me."

"You had to curse Nia Moonchester because she aided Aku Moonchester then to get the upperhand in the war," he reasoned. "The Great Fire Tree was wrong to punish you for cursing the Guardian who caused the fall of the gods during the previous divine war."

"If you can forgive me for that, why can't you forgive yourself for the things that you have no control over?"

"Like I said, we are different," he said firmly. "My parents are the reason why this is happening to our family. I have to end it with my own hands."

"Alone?"

Pain crossed his eyes. "Tilly, I'm their son. I'm the one who should do this. If I don't do something to protect our family, I feel like I'm going to go crazy."

"And you think it's better for you to work alone?"

"I don't want to be a burden to you anymore, Tilly."

She let out a frustrated sigh.

The things that Kiho was saying hurt like hell. She hated that he considered himself as a burden to her. But it hurt even more that he was seriously considering leaving their family just when they needed to be together the most.

"Kiho, my brother used to say that I have two flaws," she said, then she stood straight and faced her husband properly. "First, he said I'm too soft and kind to the people that I love. Second…" She moved her shoulders and summoned her flaming black wings. To be honest, using her Black Flame wasn't easy for her. But she had no other choice since she couldn't summon the Red Flame that her brother lent her after Kyro clipped her red wings. "Second, my brother said that when I'm angry, I lose myself. Wrath, according to him, fuels my flame though. Can you tell how angry I am right now, my dear husband?"

Kiho smiled bitterly. The sudden gust of cold wind around him wasn't ordinary wind. She could tell that it was meant to be his protection from her flame. "Yes, I can feel your bloodlust directed at me," he said. "My Mana is creating a barrier on its own even if I didn't summon it."

"Good," she said in a voice colder than Kiho's ice. "Now, let's fight."

"Excuse me?"

"It seems like words won't work on your current state of mind," she said while cracking her knuckles. "Let's play a game, Kiho. If I manage to knock you down, you'll stay with us and stick with our plan. But if you knock me down instead, I'll let you leave and do whatever you want to do to your parents."

"Tilly, don't do this," he said firmly. "You know that I can never hurt you, don't you? I will not fight you."

"Then, you'll die," she died. Of course, threatening her husband hurt more than she'd like to admit. She was also aware that violence should be her last resort. But she felt like this was the best way for them to release the pent-up frustrations that they had been bottling up inside ever since Soleil Rosenberg and Kalel Nystrom's time. "If you don't fight me seriously, my flame will burn you alive."

"Tilly–"

"Kiho, brace yourself," she said, then she flapped her wings.

The heat wave that her wings caused by simply flapping was enough to push Kiho. The wave was strong enough to break her husband's barrier and hit him on the chest. The impact sent him flying. And when his back hit the wall, it broke down and Kiho was once again sent flying. This time, he got violently pushed through outside until he fell on the snow-covered ground.

It created a huge hole in the wall, allowing her to see that her husband was now coughing blood. Ah, it was probably caused by the heat wave that hit his chest a while ago.

I'm sorry, Kiho, she said while walking towards her husband. She decided to walk instead of flying like her initial plan. She was hoping that she had calmed down by the time she stepped foot outside. I don't want to hurt you but I need to knock some sense into you.

When she reached the yard were her poor husband was sent flying, she stopped herself from walking near him. Instead, she stood a few meters away from Kiho. Sadly, she couldn't tone down her bloodlust yet.

"I told you that you'd die if you don't take this fight seriously, Kiho," she told her husband coldly. "Are you awake or do I need to beat you to a pulp before you come back to your senses?"

Kiho wiped the blood of the side of his mouth before he stood up. "Tilly, you have to learn that you can't be right all the time," he scolded her while looking at her with a blank look on his face. His words, no matter how careful he said them, still hurt. But his cold expression scared her the most. It made her feel like there was now a huge distance between them. "I know that your plans have always worked in the past, Tilly. You're both a fighter and a strategiest. But this time, I want to do what I can to protect our family with my own power. You can't kill the enemies because you have a binding vow with Nia Moonchester. But I can. And I want to end my parents while you're headed to the Great Fire Tree."

She would admit that Kiho had a point.

But she didn't like the tone that he used, or the hidden motive that she could sense from his plan. She knew what he was feeling behind his words because she had spent many lifetimes with him. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she knew him like the back of her hands.

"Kiho, are you competing with me?" she asked with clenched hands. Her nails dug deep into the skin of her palms. But the one aching the most was her heart. "Do you feel inferior to me?"

He flinched, and he didn't give her a verbal response.

But his silence already sounded like a painful 'yes' to her.

"I can't believe you, Kiho," she said in a hurt tone. "We should be fighting together instead of having this petty argument!"

She didn't mean to attack but when she yelled angrily, her wrath manifested into an eagle-sized black phoenix that came at Kiho at an alarming speed. Even she was surprised by the form that her Black Flame took, especially when she didn't meant to attack her husband that seriously.

But when she was about to warn Kiho to dodge her flame, she was surprised when he countered her attack with his ice.

To be precise, he created a serpent out of his ice with the same size as her black phoenix.

Ah, he defended himself for real this time.

She could tell that her black phoenix was trying to melt the ice serpent, and the ice serpent was trying to freeze her black flame. But since the two "elemental beasts" almost had the same power, the one couldn't overpower the other.

Much to her shock, she heard the black phoenix let out a soft cry the same time the ice serpent hissed.

Now that was a surprise.

It's as if our feelings breathed life into our elemental beasts.

Her eyes followed the black phoenix and the ice serpent when the two flew to the sky where they continued the fight. Her flaming bird kept shooting ball of flames at the ice serpent, while the frozen giant snake used its tail to deflect the ball of flames causing each one to fly to different directions.

She wasn't worried that it might accidentally hit the people that she should protect. After all, she could feel Luna and her barrier behind her.

As expected, Luna is quick to decide on how to support me the best way.

"Tilly, let's do the game you proposed to a while ago," Kiho said seriously, causing her to turn to him. "But instead of us, the black phoenix that you created and the ice serpent that I made will fight for us."

Okay, she was gutted.

But as the mother of House Nystrom, she refused to back down just because she was hurt by her husband's words. If the husband was acting up, wasn't it the wife's job to set him straight?

"I won't hold back, Kiho," Tilly said, loud and clear. As soon as she decided to bring down her husband, the eagle-sized black phoenix that she accidentally created grew in size. It wasn't as big as the Red Phoenix, but it looked as intimidating as hell. "Don't regret pissing off your wife, Black Serpent."

***

WINTER wanted to run to his parents to stop them from fighting.

But Jameson and Roarke arrived in time to physically restrain him and his Brother Julian from leaving the room. Jameson held his brother in the shoulders tight the same way Roarke held him down.

"Let us go!" Winter yelled. He could tell that the fight between his parents were getting serious when a black phoenix and an ice serpent appeared. They shouldn't be fighting when they were still in the territory of the enemy! "Mom and Dad might hurt each other!"

Well, he saw Miss Luna behind his mother. He also saw the witch create a barrier around the house to make sure that nobody would get hurt accidentally by his parents. Still, that fight had to be stopped at all cost!

He knew that aside from his Uncle Wixx, only him and his Brother Julian could stop the fight between their parents.

"Winter is correct," Julian said in a calm and firm tone. "Mother and Father should be stopped. Only us can do that because we're certain that no matter what the situation is, they won't won't hurt us."

He nodded eagerly in agreement.

"We apologize, young masters," Roarke said firmly. "As the Supreme's Keepers, it's our job to support Lady Nystrom in every battle that she decides to take. We can tell that the Supreme is serious about fighting the Black Serpent. Thus, we will prevent anyone and everyone who intends to interrupt the fight."

For the first time in his life, he wanted to cuss so badly.

Even his calm brother was starting to look pissed at the situation.

"And to be f*cking honest, it's about time for the Supreme to f*cking beat the shit out of the Black Serpent," Jameson said haughtily. "I wish the Supreme f*cking beats his ass this time for real–"

The foul-mouthed Keeper wasn't able to finish his sentence because in a swift movement, Julian turned around and slapped Jameson with the back of his hand.

Jameson looked shocked by what happened.

Roarke must have been shocked as well because his grip on his shoulders loosened up.

Well, Winter was just as shocked as the two Keepers.

Did my calm and gentle brother just slapped Jameson Crawford?

God, Jameson's lips were bleeding from the slap!

"Watch your mouth, Jameson Crawford," Julian said coldly. His Mana was warm just like their mother's. But it seemed like his brother also inherited their father's cold attitude (towards enemies and people he disliked). "Don't you dare disrespect our father again or else, I'll f*cking cut your tongue."

To say that Winter was suddenly scared of his brother would be an understatement.

Big brothers can really be scary, huh?

***

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