Real and Kiyota were inside a dark cell, desperate and confused.
"Why did Fate expose us?" Real struck the wall with his fist, not too hard.
"We must have made a mistake somewhere. That's why Fate exposed us," Kiyota snapped.
"But… Fate was the one who told us to capture them." Real stared at his scraped palms.
"Where did we go wrong?"
In the adjacent cell, a criminal sat in the darkness. He wore an eye patch.
"Never thought the Above could be corrupted," his voice low pitched and soft.
"But why would Fate expose them if Fate was the one who ordered it?"
He rubbed his jaw.
"Even I'm curious now."
As Real and Kiyota sat defeated and confused in their cell, a letter fell through a portal.
"Fate's letter." Real rushed forward and grabbed it.
"Here we go," the eye-patched man said.
"What's written there?" Kiyota asked desperately.
I own the field, and you two no longer serve it. So I have decided to free you.
—Fate
A large amount of purple energy radiated from the words.
"Free?" Real's confusion was justified.
"What does 'freeing' mean here?" He turned to Kiyota.
Before they could process the meaning, the purple energy surged and injected itself into their ears.
"What's happening?" Kiyota shouted.
"It's crawling inside me!"
Their screams echoed through every cell present. An unbearable sensation erupted in their minds. No, it wasn't pain. It was beyondpain, something no human had ever experienced.
"Hey! You two okay?" The eye-patched man rushed toward them.
At the end, their screams stopped. Slowly. Deliberately.
Their bodies collapsed onto the ground.
"What just happened?" A Lightrozer entered to investigate the cause of the screams.
"Fate's letter caused this," the eye-patched man snapped.
"Why would Fate do that?" the Lightrozer brushed it off.
Then.
In every single cell, Fate's letters fell through portals. There were no words this time, only purple energy.
No one screamed.
No one shouted.
No pain was felt.
Only the quiet energy traveled through their brains, rewriting them in real time.
"What's happening?" The Lightrozer's eyes widened.
He was about to rush outside. However…
That purple energy didn't let him escape. It entered his brain.
He fell unconscious.
Everyone there fell unconscious.
The letters went back as more portals opened to swallow them.
Scene shift to Akarum and Kashime.
The sun had set. The moon shone through the dark sky.
"We're too slow." Kashime tried to run faster, but her legs refused to push further.
Akarum was on her back.
"Why are you so desperate to reach there quickly?" he asked.
She didn't answer right away. For a moment, she kept running at her pace.
"Because… I told Flint to come earlier, since he had to return." She paused. "To Heavenly Kaatoumo."
"Seems like you like completing your promises." A small smile appeared on Akarum's face, his head resting on Kashime's back.
She chuckled.
"I guess so."
"You guess?" He raised an eyebrow.
They ran for a while. Kashime was desperate to arrive sooner. Akarum rested his head on her back the entire journey.
"We've arrived at the village," Kashime said as the Village of Queens came into sight.
She slowed her pace, her breathing uneven.
"Anyway, we're late," Akarum teased.
She sat down, and Akarum slipped from her back, landing on the ground.
"You're right," she admitted.
They moved toward the gates.The guards opened them.
They went inside the center.
"I'm going to sleep," Akarum yawned, stretching his arms.
Flint was sleeping on the chair, his head resting on the desk, the letter still untouched.
Kashime took off her coat and placed it on the table. She looked at the letter but didn't read it.
"Bring a blanket," she said. Akarum stopped at the stairs.
"Sure." He went upstairs.
She read the letter.
A faint smile curled around her lips.
"Such a good boy," she said softly, looking at Flint's sleeping figure.
Akarum returned with a blanket.
"Here." He handed it to her.
She covered Flint with the blanket.
"You could have woken him up," Akarum said.
"Nah. Let him sleep." Kashime headed upstairs after giving Flint one last glance.
Akarum followed her, looking back at both her and Flint.
Flint's eyelids fluttered. He was still on the chair.
He rubbed his eyes.
"You woke up." A voice rang in his ears.
Flint turned his head to the left. Kashime was staring at him patiently.
"Go. Get fresh."
She leaned against the locker, crossing her arms.
"You have to go to Heavenly Kaatoumo, right?" she added.
"Seems like I slept here last night." He rubbed the back of his head and was about to head upstairs.
But-
His gaze found the letter he was about to send to Asami.
He picked it up, folded it, and put it in his pocket.
Then he headed upstairs. Kashime's eyes tracked his movements.
In the room,
Kashime, Akarum, and Flint were sitting together.
Sipping their tea.
"Aren't you curious about what kind of paperwork I went to do?" Kashime sat on the bed, looking at Flint, who was facing her from a chair.
"I was… but I didn't ask because you didn't tell," Flint said, sipping his tea.
"You should have asked," Akarum interrupted. He was sitting beside Kashime, avoiding Flint's gaze and focusing on his cup.
"MysteriousOne is right," Kashime agreed, her left hand resting on her lap.
"Mysterious One?" Flint looked confused.
"Now explain," Akarum thought.
"It's just a small nickname for Akarum," Kashime said with a faint smile.
"Oh. Now that you told me, I'm curious. What was the paperwork?" Flint took a long sip.
Kashime and Akarum glanced at each other.
"Fine," they said in sync.
A maid was cleaning the floor of Light's Mansion with a wiper, her expression gloomy, her eyes fixed on her reflection in the polished surface.
"Edi."
Denu stood upstairs.
Edi snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him.
"Yes, my Ruler?" she replied.
"You are staying here," he said.
"But my Ruler, your words can't interfere in religious matters." She turned back to cleaning.
"But… Fate has returned," his voice was precise.
"I know. Others told me. But will it stop the execution process?" She kept cleaning, not looking at him.