LYNNE HYORN

The world came to abrupt silence, with once torn city having been reborn within a few moments. The fragile body still descended from the sky, some corners still burned with white flames, and all hearts beat in escalating unison.

“Go, save him,” Lady Ella said, her face full of shock. “Don’t kill the Emperor, though. He’s yet to play his true role.”

“Yes.” Thalia nodded, shocked beyond belief herself.

As she leapt off the giant island and sped towards Lynne, her eyes gazed at him with complex emotions. Not too long ago, she merely thought of him as a kinsman who practices true way of Magic, and even lashed out against him, telling him he’ll never grow unless he finds a Master.

Yet, just a few moments ago, all her conceptions about him were shattered. While short-lived, the sheer strength he displayed is something only those in the Grand Realm are capable of. While others may not have realized it, Thalia and Lady Ella did; he combined with the Origin Law of Flame, both his body and soul, projecting the Will of the Law itself unto the world. Even the Empyreans of the Grand Realm, who had thousands of years to tune themselves with the flame, can’t unite with the Origin Law to the same scale Lynne did.

She quickly intercepted him, catching his broken body into her arms. She then glanced at the Emperor who was surrounded by gray ashes, his legs trembling, crotch wet, eyes as round as moons.

“Leave,” Thalia said calmly. “Whilst you still can.”

Although the Emperor remained static, as if nothing in the world could shake him out of the terror, his Guardian, short, plump man, arrived next to him and pulled him back. Others quickly began escaping the best they could; some escaped, some were caught and imprisoned.

The battle many believed would define the future of the continent ended so abruptly nobody could even believe it… and it ended at the hands of a child.

A few hundred people quickly gave to work as they began building makeshift homes atop the rubble, around the newly formed lakes, chopping the wood from the newly grown forest. Within a day, majority of the rubble was cleaned out, turning everything into a flat plane. Cascading city was no more, as were neither mountains nor crevices surrounding it.

Atop the flat plane were several hundreds of simple, wooden homes. While they couldn’t house everyone, those who weren’t injured camped at the bank of the lake, chatting merrily, singing and drinking underneath the stars.

After inspecting Lynne’s condition, the monkey immediately set off to somewhere, grunting in a low tone, while everyone injured was put in one of the houses to recuperate.

Amongst them was Elynal, who had lost the entire arm. It was bandaged up, dyed slightly crimson, and he wore ragged, woolen clothes as he sat on the floor, leaned against the wall. While they may have won, the victory, to him, was bitter. He had lost his Third Uncle – a father more akin to one than his actual father – and over thirty thousand men. The entire city was destroyed, and there wasn’t even a point in laying down the defensive formations for the time being.

However, he doubted his father would attack again so soon. Today’s blow wasn’t an easy one to swallow, and as he had to divide his forces between the north, center and south, Elynal figured there was some time between the continuation of war. Guardian Si was sitting on the other side of the cabin, his eyes closed, mending his own wounds whilst keeping his senses on full alert.

A few cabins away, two skin-and-bones bodies were lying on two beds. Lynne’s eyes were closed, his expression of pain and agony, while his entire body spasmed from time to time, blood leaking out in purplish hue.

Median lied atop his bed, turned sideways, unable to break away the glance from the battered youth before him. He paid little heed to his own wounds and scars, and felt far greater pain from watching Lynne than the entire year’s worth of torture.

Thalia sat on one of the chairs in the house, similarly unable to break away her gaze from Lynne. The room remained in strange silence, looming over stiffly. The bird and the lizard creature were standing guard outside, with hundreds more scattered about the cabin, on full alert.

“Will he be okay?” Median asked Thalia, jolting her back to her senses.

“He should be,” she smiled as she said. “As horrible as it sounds, it’s not his first time.”

“… if someone told me a year ago he’d risk his own life for others, hah…” Median laughed lowly as he forced himself to sit up.

“You shouldn’t move too much either; your wounds aren’t light.” Thalia cautioned.

“I’m fine. Thank you for saving him today.”

“… I’ve spent a great deal of time with him,” Thalia sighed lightly as she spoke. “Yet, I’ve only discovered he’s your son today. Had I known beforehand…”

“He’s like that, you know?” Median smiled gently as he creased Lynne’s hair. “Give him a piece of your heart, and he’ll give you his whole. Take everything from him, and he’ll still contemplate forgiving you. What he did today, even if he can justify it to us, will eat him alive inside,” Median added, gazing towards Thalia. “He’s not a murderer. Yet, today, he became one for my sake. I know it’s too much to ask, but…”

“I’ll help him along,” Thalia smiled lightly as she said. “But, in the end, it’s something he’ll have to overcome on his own.”

“I’m not sure he’ll be able to.”

“He may be a lot of things, but weak isn’t one of them,” she added. “He’ll find a way.”

“… it’s not that,” Median explained. “Do you know why he never wanted to study Magic in the first place?”

“Hm?”

“I told him, once, about his mom,” he added, his expression solemn. “And about her Bloodline. Truth be told, I’ve never seen a child more terrified than him that day. Ever since, he carved his own path…”

“Bloodless Bloodline…” Thalia muttered, sighing. “Even mentioning it sends shivers down my spine.”

“He’s afraid of who he’ll become if he gives into the ways of the Magic World. And I have no way of helping him…”

“What about your Clan?” Thalia asked, surprising Median slightly.

“My Clan? Hah, they’ve given up on me a long, long time ago. And even if they didn’t, anything related to the Bloodless Bloodline is a heavily guarded secret within the Clan. Even I know only a few things Yunchi told me about while carrying Lynne.”

“My Master told me that the Demonic Whiplash is a rare occurrence,” Thalia said. “And as Lynne’s bloodline is diluted, it’s even less likely to happen. He should be fine.”

“… he won’t,” Median sighed, shaking his head lightly. “Ever since the day he was conceived, he was a chess piece in the games of others. The way he is… who he is… he can’t fit into this world.”

“I don’t think so,” Thalia said. “He may not have been, but he has changed since you last saw him. He’s spent a year laughing alongside the people who destroyed his home. He bid his time until the last moment, practicing like mad, just for the slightest of chances to rescue you. I told you already: he’s many things, but he isn’t weak. Perhaps he doesn’t understand this world as well as you and I, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a part of it.”

“… ha ha,” Median laughed bitterly as he looked at her. “Lynne is a great variable at the moment. He stands in the middle, with all other sides grasping with their claws at him. If properly nurtured, he can become one of the major pieces in the future. Yet, you expect me to believe any one of your words? He won’t fight your battles, or wage your wars. The only reason he ever did was because he was left without a choice. Do you honestly believe that if the events didn’t begin so early on he’d ever even pick up Magic as much as a hobby?”

“He doesn’t have a choice now either,” Thalia protested, furrowing her brows. “Even if he doesn’t fight, it doesn’t mean he’ll be left out of it. Do you think anyone’s truly willing to participate in yet another Great War? Only battle-crazed fools are, and no one else.”

“You all are battle-crazed fools,” Median replied. “You, your Master, her Master, Hyrodians, Hans, Royals, Primordials… every single one of you is as mad as the next one. You put children up to pikes since the day they learn how to walk, put swords in their hands and send them to gallows to fight their way out. To you lot, life of one is irrelevant, an abstract existence. You think you’re better than Hyordians? You’re not. You’re all the same.”

“If we are all the same, then why didn’t you sell us out?” Thalia jumped on her feet angrily. “You could have skipped a year’s worth of torture if you did!”

“… you really are as clueless as you appear,” Median chuckled. “Sell you out? Do you even know why I wasn’t executed on the spot and instead had been tortured for a year just for some ‘information’?”

“Huh?”

“Ha ha ha,” Median burst out in laughter as he rolled back onto his bed. “I was irrelevant in the whole scenario Lady Thalia. The only reason why I was left alive, is because it doesn’t really matter whether I live or die in the end. While some of you lot claim otherwise, everyone knows it’s true. Just like Lynne, I was a pawn for a year, around which more relevant pieces were played. Alliances were broken and assembled, circumstances have changed, and, most importantly, I lured Lynne out. For someone claiming to be a part of ‘this world’, you sure don’t know much.”

“… they didn’t think Lynne died?”

“Think? They knew,” Median chuckled. “How can they not? Lynne is just a kid. How can he possibly protect himself from being discovered? Do you even know how many factions are currently at work? Just two? Ha ha…”

“…”

“Think of it as you will, but you don’t have to listen to me,” Median said as he lied back down onto his bed. “Just wait for him to wake up and ask him. It should be the quickest way.”

Thalia remained silent for a moment, looking strangely at Median’s lying figure, before she flashed out of the small cabin and appeared on the island in the sky, sitting down across from Lady Ella.

“Looks like you had an interesting conversation.” Lady Ella said, smiling while sipping tea for the two.

“Is it true, Master? Was he telling the truth?” Thalia asked nervously.

“Yes,” Lady Ella said. “He was.”

“But…”

“The reason why I participated in that tournament in the Immortal Magus Sect was because I was sent to inspect Lynne,” Lady Ella said. “As were you later on.”

“…”

“Do you want to know why everyone places so much importance on Lynne?”

“… isn’t it because of his talent?”

“No,” Lady Ella shook her head. “There are many talented Mages in all corners of all worlds.”

“… his Bloodline?”

“No,” Lady Ella replied. “While it’s not something to ignore, considering it’s diluted, even your Bloodline can match his.”

“Then why?”

“Median said it already: because he’s a variable,” Lady Ella explained. “Nobody can predict the scope of his influence or his strength in the future. And now more so than ever. Because of all things about him combined, Thalia. Even if there’s the slimmest of chances for him to become a Divine Magus in the future, do you think anyone would dare risk it?”

“Divine Magus? But—but he’s merely in Magus Realm! And he’s almost twenty!” Thalia exclaimed.

“You saw it yourself,” Lady Ella continued. “He united with the Origin Law, Thalia. Even my Master is unable to do so to such a degree. Combine that with his primal and secondary bloodlines, his innate talents, the fact that he’s barely stepped onto the Path of Magic yet is already capable of influencing the entire realm, and the fact that he’s gained Primordial Inheritance.”

“… the scythe?”

“And more,” Lady Ella said, taking a sip of tea. “He’s a son of the main descendants from Hyord Clan and Ancestral Clan. While very few know of Median’s true origin, those who do are probably shaking in their boots right about now.”

“Will they act on it, then?” Thalia asked.

“Doubt it. He’s still a child after all. And, judging from his character, I doubt his greatest dream in life is to pursue Magic and become a Divine Magus in the future.”

“Why wait a year just to lure him out? There were much easier ways…”

“To witness his progress,” Lady Ella smiled lightly. “And to assess whether he’s worth grooming or not… whether he’s worth challenging all other factions just for his sake.”

“Is he?”

“No. He lacks the drive,” Lady Ella said, narrowing her eyes. “It’d perhaps be for the best to do what Median suggested: just let him live out his life the way he wants to.”

“…”

Many similar conversations occurred throughout the realms, factions battling over the same thought: whether Lynne is worth the baggage he comes with.

Meanwhile, the central subject of all the discussions was currently staring at the red eyes inside his mind, and a towering body which bloated the entire sky. It had black skin, tens of thousands of tentacle-like arms, and gigantic maw large enough to devour the entire realm on its own.

“We meet at last…”