Leon opened his eye. He was lying on the ground, and the first thing that reached him was sound — waves rolling across a vast ocean.
The sky above the dark sea was fractured. Long cracks stretched across it like broken glass, faint embers glowing within them. The surface of the water was restless, waves colliding in uneven rhythms.
Massive roots still pierced the water in several places, though many had already withered and crumbled into drifting black fragments.
Leon exhaled slowly.
"...Still here."
He pushed himself upright. His body felt lighter here, but the memory of pain still lingered like an echo crawling along his nerves. Then he noticed the flames.
Orange embers drifted across the ocean like fireflies.
Leon already knew what that meant. He turned his head.
Aurelia stood a short distance away, the faint glow of orange flames dancing around her figure. Her green eyes studied him quietly.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Leon looked away first.
"You're...back."
Aurelia tilted her head slightly.
"You sound disappointed."
He simply stared at her.
A strange feeling stirred somewhere in the back of his mind. Leon couldn't quite decide whether he was glad to see her again... or annoyed that she had returned at all.
In the end, he pushed the thought aside.
"Did we win?"
Aurelia did not answer his question. Instead, she looked past him, toward the fractured horizon of the Soul Sea.
"The fog creature ran."
Leon closed his eye. "Of course it did."
His memories felt muddled. The entire sequence, from when he took the oath to when he killed the Soul Devouring Tree, felt like a distant dream. Perhaps that was the cost this time.
The restless ocean churned beneath them. Broken roots still jutted out of the dark water like the bones of something long dead.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Aurelia shifted slightly.
"...How are you?"
The question sounded oddly stiff coming from her.
Leon let out a quiet breath.
"Probably dying."
He gestured vaguely at himself.
"My soul was a battlefield, my body is half-charred, and I lost an eye somewhere along the way."
He shrugged.
"So...not great."
Aurelia said nothing. The flames around her flickered faintly. After a moment, she spoke again.
"You don't have any questions?"
Leon looked at her. For a brief moment, his expression remained neutral. Then his gaze darkened slightly.
"Are you here for revenge?"
The words hung in the air.
Aurelia didn't answer immediately.
Leon studied her carefully.
"If you are," he added calmly, "this is probably the best chance you'll get."
Silence stretched between them.
Leon looked away from her, his gaze drifting toward the vast ocean of his Soul Sea. At the center of it floated the massive blue sphere of his core.
Beneath the dark water, the intricate pattern spread across the seabed like an ancient constellation. Most of the nodes glimmered faintly. One of them burned brighter than the rest.
Leon stared at the pattern that resembled Aurelia.
'Her will even defied the gods, huh...'
Aurelia spoke. "That was a warm welcome."
Leon frowned. "What do you expect from me?"
He finally glanced at her.
"Smile and hug you after we had fought to the death?"
Aurelia stared at him.
Then the faint smile on her face disappeared. Her eyes hardened.
"You're unbelievable."
She took a step forward. "You killed me."
The flames around her flared slightly.
"And somehow you're the one acting like the victim?"
Leon said nothing.
The silence stretched.
Aurelia exhaled slowly, forcing the anger down.
"...Do you always run from the consequences of your actions?"
Leon's face twisted with anger — but he turned away anyway.
The ocean dissolved.
***
He slowly opened his eye and found himself lying on a makeshift pile of leaves. He pushed himself upward slowly, struggling.
His balance wavered for a second. The world tilted slightly before settling again.
The sun was already up.
He examined his body and saw that most of his injuries had healed, except for the severely burned hand and the stab wound on his stomach. Including his missing eye, of course.
Even breathing felt heavier than it should have.
'Great. I can be Zoro now…'
He sighed.
The joke wasn't funny enough to lighten his mood. It felt hollow.
He looked around and found Sunny beside him. Nephis was a few meters away, leaning on the burnt remains of the tree. Cassie was sleeping right next to her, leaning on Neph's shoulder.
Leon rubbed his temples and inhaled sharply. Pain returned all at once — dull but relentless.
Sunny noticed the movement immediately.
"Oh. You're alive."
Leon blinked once.
"Sorry to disappoint."
Sunny let out a quiet breath and leaned back against the wood.
"You had me worried for a second."
"You're overreacting."
Leon shifted slightly, then immediately stopped when pain flared through his arm.
Sunny watched him carefully. "How bad?"
Leon glanced at his arm. "Bad."
Sunny followed his gaze. The skin along Leon's arm was blackened and cracked. Sunny assumed it was Neph's flames — he had no way of knowing the truth was stranger than that.
Sunny winced slightly.
"...That looks painful."
Leon raised his remaining eyebrow.
"You should see my Soul Sea."
Sunny remained silent for a second.
"What about...that lady?"
Leon looked at him.
Sunny scratched the back of his head.
"The one made of fire."
A brief pause followed.
"She's back."
Leon looked away, his gaze drifting toward the horizon.
"For now."
Sunny studied him carefully.
"Is that a problem?"
Leon shrugged weakly. "Depends."
"On what?"
Leon closed his eye. "On whether she decides to kill me."
Sunny's expression hardened. "That doesn't sound reassuring."
Leon opened his eye again. "It shouldn't."
Sunny stared at him for a moment longer, then sighed and leaned back against the broken trunk.
A brief silence followed.
"You're crazy, you know that?"
Leon closed his eye again. He smiled softly.
"So I've been told."
"You know, most people would be a little more concerned about that."
Leon shifted slightly against the wood.
"I think...you're right."
Sunny was taken aback. He had not expected Leon to acknowledge his remark. Usually, Leon would just say something like 'I'm not most people' or some other snarky remark.
Leon got up shakily and walked toward the west of the island. He hadn't seen any crater, so he assumed that their journey continued west.
Walking toward the edge, he noticed how the island sloped downward at a sharp angle. His expression went flat.
'Of course...'
As he observed the enormous size of the crater, a small frown appeared on his face. Leon was tired of going through so many unknowns.
Noah appeared beside him.
"You shouldn't be walking."
Leon didn't answer. He kept staring into the crater.
Noah waited a moment.
"Your soul sea hasn't stabilized yet."
"I noticed," Leon said.
"Did you." It wasn't a question.
He folded his arms, studying Leon with the particular expression he reserved for moments when Leon had done something catastrophic and hadn't apologized for it yet.
"You let a Corrupted Nightmare Creature into your Soul Sea."
"Technically it forced its way—"
"You engaged a parasitic entity with unknown properties while your soul was already compromised." Noah's voice didn't rise. It never did. That was somehow worse. "And then you burned half the island down."
"You were lucky."
"You keep saying that." Leon's voice grew irritated.
"Because you keep needing to hear it."
Silence settled between them. A long one.
Leon lowered his gaze slightly.
"...Yeah."
"Build a boat," Noah said. "Cross the sea. Get stronger before the next thing tries to kill you."
Leon gave a tired breath. He wanted to argue, but he couldn't find the argument.
He nodded.
Before he could say anything else, footsteps approached. Turning back, he saw Nephis walking toward him.
Nephis stopped a few steps away. Her eyes moved over his injuries.
"...Your wounds."
Leon glanced down at his arm. "Your flames are quite...potent."
He had lied to gauge her reaction. If Nephis showed a look of guilt, it meant she genuinely believed it had been her flames that burnt his arm. He still couldn't risk her knowing his abilities.
Nephis stepped closer. Silver flames flickered faintly around her hand as she reached toward him.
Leon caught her wrist before the flames could touch him. "Don't."
He did not want Nephis to heal him.
He had noticed it before — the slight tightening around her eyes, the breath held a beat too long whenever she healed someone. He had filed it away without knowing why. Now he knew.
Every time she used her flames to heal someone or augment herself, Nephis went through unimaginable pain.
She froze. For a moment, neither of them moved.
Nephis pulled her hand back. "I'm sorry."
Leon looked at her. "You were enthralled."
A quiet pause followed.
Nephis lowered her gaze slightly. "I tried to kill you."
Leon shrugged weakly. "Yes."
Cassie shifted somewhere behind them, still half-asleep. Sunny was still resting near the tree, but his shadow had already moved near them discreetly.
Nephis continued quietly. "And threw you into the nest."
Leon exhaled. "That was rude."
A small silence settled between them again.
Then he added calmly:
"Next time, aim for the head. It's faster to kill someone that way."
Neither of them spoke.
Leon turned away before Nephis could respond. He walked back across the scorched ground, each step slower than the last.
Sunny watched him approach, raising an eyebrow.
"That went well."
Leon didn't answer.
He lowered himself back against the fallen trunk of the tree, resting his head against the charred bark.
Closing his eye, he remembered last night's fight.
He had figured out something crucial to his Innate Ability. Copying someone's aspect was not as simple as it looked. Each time he copied someone, he would also suffer their flaw.
Although he had originally not realized this, it was simply because when he copied Sunny's aspect, he rarely spoke during it. If he had, Sunny's flaw would have forced him to answer honestly — and he would have noticed far sooner.
Which meant that to use Neph's aspect, he'd have to suffer her flaw — burning in the divine flames and enduring the pain of wielding them. Because it was his first time controlling these flames, he accidentally burned himself.
The island was quiet again. Not wanting to accidentally enter his soul sea, Leon checked his runes instead.
Name: Leonar
True Name: -
Rank: Dreamer
Resonance Core: Dormant
Resonance Fragments: [6/1000]
Aspect: Gaze of Unmaking
He sighed, noticing the 6 Resonance Fragments. Because of how difficult it was to obtain them, his body did not grow stronger as fast as Sunny or Nephis.
He remembered gaining a memory after killing the tree, so he summoned its runes.
Memory: [Verdant Mnemosyne]
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Type: Armor
Memory Description:
[Grown from roots that drank thought, memory, and identity, this armor was never forged — it was remembered into existence. The Soul Devouring Tree did not seek flesh alone. It sought continuity. Those who accepted its gifts were never meant to leave.]
Enchantments:
[Ambient Soul Drain]:
[Continuously draws soul essence from nearby enemies.]
[Will Pressure]:
[Those the wearer regards as enemies are subjected to constant mental pressure. If their will proves weaker than the wearer's, their sense of self gradually erodes.]
[Rooted Resolve]:
[The wearer's mind is hardened against intrusion, granting resistance to mental attacks and faint protection against assaults on the soul.]
He let the Starlight Legion armor vanish as he summoned his new armor.
The armor did not appear — it grew. Dark green roots pushed out of the air itself, weaving together around Leon's body like a patient embrace.
The chestplate resembled layered bark. It was smooth in some places, knotted in others, as though it had hardened into ridges and scars. Across the torso, faint lines pulsed softly, like sap flowing beneath bark. Except that glow was not golden. It was a muted, moss-colored shimmer.
When Leon moved, the armor did not creak or rustle. It remained completely silent.
Sunny's gaze moved over the new armor slowly.
Leon grinned. At least he no longer had to wear that horrible silverware that called itself armor.
He had always hated that piece of metal. It was silver, shiny — far too easy to notice.
Closing his eye, Leon leaned back against the dead tree.
Soft footsteps approached across the burnt ground.
Leon didn't open his eye.
Cassie stopped a few steps away, hesitated, then stepped closer.
"Leon?... I—"
"I've had my fill of apologies today."
Cassie froze.
Leon didn't even look at her. "I'd appreciate some rest."
Silence fell.
Cassie's lips trembled slightly. Her brows knit together as she looked down, clearly struggling not to say anything else.
Sunny sighed. "Alright, that's enough brooding for one day."
Leon cracked his eye open.
Sunny leaned back against the trunk beside him.
"Look, we get it. Everyone stabbed everyone."
He gestured vaguely toward Nephis and Cassie.
"Terrible team-building exercise."
Cassie sniffed quietly.
Sunny rubbed the back of his neck.
"But we're alive. The tree's dead."
He glanced at Leon.
"So maybe try not to snap at everyone while you're half-dead."
Leon stared at him.
"...Noted."
Sunny nodded once. "Good."
He pushed himself off the trunk and stretched his sore shoulders.
"Alright. Since we're all still alive..."
He pointed west.
"...what's the plan?"
Nephis glanced toward the western horizon.
"If we keep following the coastline, we should eventually reach the other side."
Sunny frowned. "And how long would that take?"
Nephis considered it for a moment.
"...Months."
Sunny made a sound like he'd been punched.
Cassie tilted her head slightly.
"C-Could we go down...through the crater?"
"You want to climb down that thing?"
Cassie frowned slightly. "I can't see it."
Sunny sighed. "It's deeper than a canyon, Cas."
Cassie fell silent.
Leon finally spoke.
"We need a boat."
Everyone looked at him.
Sunny turned slowly.
"...A boat."
"It's faster."
"You were just half-devoured by a Terror."
"The Terror is gone." Leon grumbled.
"That's not—" Sunny stopped. He rubbed his face. "You know what, fine. Sure. A boat. Why not?"
Nephis, who had been watching this exchange with the expression of someone who was tired of listening, exhaled.
"The creatures in the Ashen Barrows stayed away because of the tree," Leon continued. "Now that it's dead, that changes. If we circle the crater on foot, we're exposed the entire way."
Sunny frowned slightly.
"You think they'll come here?"
Cradling his burnt arm, he grimaced slightly from the pain.
"Let me tell you something about my eye."
He pointed to his left eye and continued.
"I can see the soul cores of others — this includes Nightmare Creatures."
It was new — before losing the eye, he had never seen this clearly.
But now, his remaining eye seemed to have grown sharper. He saw more. He understood more. It was as though losing one eye had sharpened the other. His sight felt far more focused now.
And for the first time, he could see them — the soul cores shining brightly within others.
Sunny's core looked dark, like a shadow.
Neph's core looked like a blazing white sun.
Cassie's looked like a pale sphere, glowing with a soft, steady light.
He continued speaking.
"You may have already noticed it, Sunny. Multiple dark spots circling us a few days before we arrived near the tree."
Sunny nodded. Cassie shivered as Nephis narrowed her eyes.
"Those were Fallen Beasts."
Sunny's mouth fell open.
"Fallen?" His voice sounded shaky.
Cassie fell to her knees.
Nephis frowned as she continued listening.
"Those beasts probably know where we are right now. If we decide to circle around the crater, I think we might just die. Especially in that large desolate field."
He took a deep breath before continuing.
"Which is why our best bet is to build a boat and try to go across the sea."
Sunny closed his eyes, deep in thought.
Nephis exhaled slowly and spoke.
"I know how to build one. You can leave that to me."
Cassie lifted her head and said in a nervous tone.
"I...I can help Nephis."
A quiet pause followed.
"Either way, we shouldn't stay."
Sunny sighed.
"...Alright."
Nephis nodded.
"We'll first have to gather supplies."
Sunny pushed himself off the trunk.
"Food. If we're lucky."
He glanced back at Leon.
"Try not to die while we're gone."
"Wait," Leon said. He walked toward Sunny and held his arm out. Sunny felt a spark of electricity pass through as a memory got transferred.
"Charge it," Leon said, and went back to sit against the tree.
Sunny was taken aback by how much Leon trusted him with that Memory.
As Nephis and Sunny left the tall hill, Leon and Cassie remained near the remains of the dead tree.
***
Cassie sat there, sulking.
Leon sighed. He did not know what to feel. After so much pain, his mood was terrible, but he thought he shouldn't have lashed out.
He knew that coming here alone had been far too reckless. He should have known his friends would chase after him, potentially endangering themselves. But he had simply deluded himself and blamed his flaw and attributes for the actions he took.
Sunny could have died at the hands of the fog creature. Nephis and Cassie had been close to being permanently enthralled by the Soul Devouring Tree. Leon himself had nearly died several times over the past few days.
He sighed.
"Hey, Cas?"
Cassie shot her head up. Through muffled sobs, she spoke.
"Y-Yeah?"
Leon got up and slowly sat beside her. Leaning forward, he hugged her. Cassie froze, her bright blue eyes widening.
"Friends don't apologize, do they?" Leon said calmly.
Cassie sobbed, her breath hitching as she tried to speak but failed.
"Plus, I couldn't have left you behind here. We promised to get stronger together."
Her fingers tightened around his new armor, like she was afraid he might disappear.
"I—I'm sorry..."
Leon continued to hug her. He felt the faint tremor in her hands. Although his words were genuine, something still felt hollow. Even as he held her, the feeling didn't quite reach him.
He truly considered Cassie a dear friend. Yet sometimes his indifference toward her felt strange, even to himself. There were moments when he saw her as nothing more than someone useful for the future — and others when he genuinely cared for her.
Leon's own duality confused him. Maybe people just complicated things.
Or perhaps...
He looked at her fragile figure. The bright smile on her face.
Perhaps it didn't matter what he felt as long as his actions protected her.
Cassie suddenly took his hand, a faint blush spreading across her face.
[You have received a Memory.]
Leon's eye narrowed as he summoned the runes.
[Endless Spring]
Memory Rank: Dormant.
Memory Tier: IV.
Memory Type: Tool.
Memory Description: [A lovesick devil had once imprisoned a mighty river in this fragile glass bottle. It was his gift to a beautiful desert spirit.]
Enchantments:
[Gift of Water]
Enchantment Description: [This bottle contains enough water to make flowers bloom in the desolate heart of the most lifeless of deserts].
"But...why?"
Cassie wiped her tears, her voice still shaky.
"This is my way of apologizing. You don't like it when I say sorry, right?"
Leon let out a small breath.
In the end, no matter how much he denied it, he loved having friends who cared for him.
"Thanks...Cas."
She noticed how unhappy his voice sounded. Cassie frowned slightly.
"Is something wrong? Did you not like it? Should I giv—"
"Cassie," he interrupted her softly. "I really do love it. It's just...this is probably the second time someone has ever given me a gift."
She shifted slightly, her head leaning on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure to give you tons of gifts in the future."
Leon smiled. "Thank you, Cas."