Seraphim was shouting, his face flushed crimson.

  Bound in restraining magic, reduced to something resembling a black rubber ball — and yet he raged.

  But Mina was calm.

  She crouched slowly and set the square device down on the ground.

  At that, the color drained from Seraphim’s face.

  “Hey… what are you doing?”

  Mina looked up at him and let one corner of her mouth curl into a smile.

  “Breaking it.”

  She stood, shaped her fingers into the form of a pistol, and aimed at the device on the floor. Seraphim ground his teeth, panic creeping into his voice.

  “Think about what you’re doing—!”

  “Everyone told me not to… but my mind’s made up!”

  Pale blue light gathered at Mina’s fingertip. Seraphim twisted against his bonds and screamed.

  “Wait! Hey — Mina!”

  “I can’t wait! Thunderbolt!”

  A bolt of pale blue lightning blazed from her fingertip.

  “Ahh — Mina!”

  Seraphim’s desperate cry went unheard. The brilliant thunderclap struck the magical energy collection device dead-on.

  With a deafening boom, the square device — and the stone floor beneath it — was blasted into nothing.

  “Ahhh—!”

  Seraphim cried out in anguish, but the device was already gone without a trace.

  When the light faded from Mina’s finger, everyone present fell silent.

  Seraphim stood dazed with shock. Lilisia, Arc, Verglies — not one of them moved.

  At last, Seraphim’s voice came, thin and hollow.

  “Mina… why did you destroy it? With that device, you could have… become a ruler in your own right.”

  Mina slowly shook her head.

  “That device — the magical energy collector — is the source of all the division.”

  “You knew that, and you did it anyway.”

  Seraphim’s voice had dropped — low and quiet.

  “That device of his lord is currently malfunctioning. The one you brought was the only spare in existence.”

  Mina gave a small shrug.

  “Oh, was it? How convenient.”

  She looked at Seraphim and smiled.

  “Good riddance to it. Verglies and my grandmother’s war — that was about gathering magical energy too, wasn’t it?”

  Seraphim gave a faint, weary nod. He stared at the hole where the device had been, then let his gaze drift to Verglies.

  “But why show it to me at all before destroying it? Why not simply smash it straightaway?”

  Mina said nothing. It was Lilisia who spoke from beside her.

  “Exactly right, Seraphim. With one small difference — that device had already been destroyed.”

  Seraphim’s eyes snapped to Lilisia with an expression of disbelief.

  “That’s nonsense!”

  “Mina got hold of the device and went to speak with Verglies. She destroyed it right after. What you just saw was the wreckage.”

  “The wreckage…”

  As Seraphim’s head drooped in defeat, Verglies spoke.

  “I thought it a waste too, when I heard she’d destroyed it. But then I understood — that device was the very thing that would have sent me to war and gotten me killed.”

  Seraphim slowly raised his face and looked at Verglies. Then he looked at Lilisia, then Isarufe, and finally at Mina.

  Behind her, Arc and Nox came sprinting out from inside the manor, rushing toward her.

  “We’ve got everyone inside tied up nice and tight.”

  Seraphim looked surprised — then let out a soft, tired laugh.

  “So I was counting on reinforcements, and they’ve all been captured.”

  “Sorry about that.”

  At Mina’s word, Nox moved to release Seraphim’s restraints.

  When the magic dissolved, Seraphim sank down onto the floor without resistance. He stared at the stone paving beneath his feet.

  The anger had left his face. Something else had taken its place. He pressed a hand slowly to his chest.

  “…Ngh.”

  “Are you alright?”

  At Mina’s voice, Seraphim looked at her from the corner of his eye.

  “The binding… it’s starting to move.”

  “The binding?”

  Seraphim steadied his breathing, then raised his face to look at Mina.

  “Hey, girl…”

  “What is it?”

  “You go to all this trouble, stage this whole performance… what exactly do you intend to do with me?”

  Mina walked slowly toward him.

  “I need your help with something.”

  Silence fell over the courtyard.

  A warm breeze drifted through, soft and fleeting.

  In that stillness, Seraphim watched her steadily.

  “What would you have me do?”

  “I want to destroy Auerios’s device.”

  Seraphim’s eyes went wide.

  “Are you serious? I am that lord’s subordinate.”

  Mina nodded.

  “I know. Even so — I need your strength.”

  “But I killed your parents. Can you truly trust me? And if I asked you to release these bindings — would you? Would you actually free me?”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Mina reached into her shoulder bag and produced a slim folder, holding it out toward him.

  “I found this inside the ruins. Your name appeared in the records my father left behind.”

  Seraphim stared at the folder in her hands.

  “What did it say?”

  “That once, you also tried to bring down Auerios.”

  Seraphim’s face twisted — not with anger, but with something raw and bitter, the look of someone enduring a violent, private pain.

  “…That was a very long time ago. I was defeated.”

  “Won’t you try again?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “I have seen too much. Known too much. My heart and soul are rotten beyond saving.”

  “That doesn’t matter. Even now—”

  Seraphim rose to his feet.

  “It is too late!”

  His voice trembled, just slightly.

  “What is past cannot be reclaimed. And besides… I no longer have the strength to defy him.”

  Mina studied him — the look of someone searching for something true.

  “What’s happening to you?”

  No answer. Seraphim had sunk to one knee, breathing through his shoulders. His face was going pale.

  Mina looked up and called out.

  “Nox! Take his collar off — now!”

  Nox moved swiftly, crossing the distance in a smooth run and unfastening the collar from Seraphim’s neck in one deft motion. Mina drew him against her and spoke with gentle urgency.

  “You said you don’t have the strength to defy him.” Her voice was quiet. “Is that really true?”

  Seraphim narrowed his eyes. With effort — but unmistakably — he spoke.

  “…That lord’s device… it is placed at the bottom of this island.”

  “The bottom of the island?”

  He gripped at his own chest, fingers digging in, and slowly raised his face to hers.

  “The collected magical energy is what keeps this island aloft.”

  His voice was low, but steady.

  “So if we destroy that… it’s all over?”

  At that moment, Seraphim spat a stream of blood from his mouth.

  “Gah—!”

  “Seraphim!”

  Mina moved to his side and caught him in her arms.

  “You’re coming with us, aren’t you? Stay with me.”

  Seraphim stared for a long moment at the hands holding him upright.

  “The binding.”

  He forced the words out.

  “The same as that black coiled thing that wrapped around your neck — a binding has wound itself around my heart.”

  “How much time do you have?”

  Seraphim shook his head faintly.

  “When it senses the will to betray — when it reads that in the heart — it crushes it.”

  He said it, then gritted his teeth and leaned his weight against Mina.

  “Seraphim! Stay with me!”

  “Listen carefully… I will soon transform into a monster. When I betray that lord, I will become nothing but a killing beast.”

  “What can I do to save you?”

  Seraphim held her gaze and slowly shook his head.

  “I will end my own life before the transformation completes. But first… there is something I must tell you.”

  “What is it? Say anything — please!”

  Seraphim coughed up blood. Mina rubbed slow circles on his back. He exhaled in ragged bursts as his right hand began to push inward against his own chest.

  “Ghhh…”

  Mina watched from inches away, her face gone white as bone.

  When his hand had buried itself to the wrist, he looked up at her.

  “Listen to me… you must destroy the device today. Today, without fail.”

  “I understand… but why?”

  “Tonight is the new moon… on the night of the new moon… that device cannot collect magical energy…”

  At that moment, Seraphim’s body began to darken — a deep, red-black stain spreading across his skin. Arc saw it and ran to Mina’s side.

  “Mina! Get back!”

  “But — Seraphim—!”

  Seraphim bore down against his teeth and wrung out the words.

  “Get away from me… go, now — and go today, without fail… go to the device… and Auerios will come. He will come.”

  He convulsed and spewed blood. His skin cracked and hardened, something scaling over it, prying apart like breaking bark.

  “Seraphim!”

  “Mina — the transformation’s starting!”

  Arc wrapped his arms around Mina and threw them both backward. Seraphim staggered to his feet.

  “I tried to destroy Auerios once… and failed… Mina… you and the others must finish what I could not… and when you do… let my regret finally rest… RRRAAAAGHH—!”

  Seraphim tore his own heart from his chest and raised it above his head in one clenched fist.

  Around it, coiled like a rope, was the very same black serpentine thing that had once wound itself around Mina’s neck.

  “Forgive me, Mina…”

  Those were his last words.

  Seraphim crushed his own heart in his hand.????????????????