Leon spat blood onto the dirt and pulled a cracked communicator from his coat. His hand shook, not from injury, but irritation. He pressed the call button. The device rang once… twice… a third time.

  Leon gritted his teeth.

  “Pick up, you bastard.”

  A lazy voice finally answered.

  “Yes? Who is this?”

  Leon’s eye twitched. “Stop playing dumb. You already have Giola running around doing that.”

  A soft chuckle came through the line.

  “Alright then… what troubles you, my sweet Leon?”

  Leon’s jaw flexed. “You knew.”

  “Oh dear,” the voice teased, “what could I have possibly known?”

  Leon almost crushed the device then and there.

  “You knew this job was far harder than advertised. I want an adjustment if you want it finished. Otherwise, you can handle it yourself.”

  A brief pause.

  “Goodness. How much are we talking about?”

  Leon wiped blood from his lip.

  “An extra zero should do it. Considering the state I’m in.”

  A loud laugh echoed over the communicator.

  “A zero? No. That won’t be happening. Your incompetence is not my problem.”

  The communicator cracked in Leon’s hand.

  The voice continued cheerfully,

  “I assure you… next time I’ll hire someone more… capable.”

  Leon’s rage finally snapped.

  “You'd better pray I never see a bounty on your head, Vila. I won’t think twice.”

  “So scary,” Vila cooed. “Goodbye now.”

  The line died.

  Leon crushed the communicator completely, shards dropping from his fist.

  Across the field, Axel groaned while pushing himself up.

  “Sounds like the call went well.”

  Leon glared, then let out a sharp laugh.

  “Went well for you. I’ve lost interest in killing any of you.”

  A small pause.

  “Do whatever you want.”

  Inside the caravan, a panicked Ordine soldier shouted,

  “Wait, Leon, you have a contract."

  Leon shot him in the head without even looking.

  “Man, he annoyed me the whole ride,” Leon muttered.

  He started walking away, but paused beside Prius. The older man was barely standing, chest rising in uneven shudders.

  Leon studied him for a second.

  “Take care of that kid. I can’t shake the feeling we’re meant to meet again.”

  “I will,” Prius said quietly.

  Axel, still somehow full of attitude while bleeding, added:

  “Who says you’ll survive?”

  Leon laughed again and wiped more blood from his chin.

  “Fair question. I promise you, I’m not dying.”

  He stepped closer and held out a hand.

  Axel frowned. “Uh… what?”

  Leon grabbed his hand and shook with surprising strength.

  “There. Now we have a contract. I will not die.”

  “That’s not how contracts work.”

  “Works for me,” Leon said, turning away.

  He limped toward the path.

  And then a new voice cut across the field.

  “Impressive display.”

  Everyone froze.

  Giola stood at the edge of the ruined caravan path, framed by dust and broken wood.

  Dragora stepped behind him.

  “As the general predicted.”

  A floating camera drifted into view behind them, broadcasting everything.

  The whole planet was watching.

  Giola spread his arms slightly.

  “These… are your saviors, Solarin.”

  Prius growled.

  Axel said nothing. For the first time, he was face-to-face with the man who destroyed his world.

  Leon walked forward as if already done with all of this.

  “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be off mercilessly killing people?”

  Giola smirked. “I do what you do, I just do it for power.”

  “That’s what Ordine scum say to make themselves feel better,” Leon replied.

  They stood face to face now, tension thick.

  Giola’s eyes narrowed.

  “Watch your mouth. In your state, I could kill you easily.”

  Leon smirked through the blood.

  “You might be right. But don’t make the mistake of thinking I wouldn’t drag you down to hell with me.”

  He stepped past Giola.

  Giola whipped out one of his scythes and struck, but when he turned to strike, Leon’s pistol was already tucked under his arm, pointed directly at Giola’s heart.

  Giola laughed softly.

  “Fine. Not here for you anyway.”

  They both holstered their weapons.

  Giola turned toward Prius.

  He spoke slowly, savoring each word.

  “Make sure the whole planet sees the state these ‘heroes’ are in. Let them learn what happens when you defy Ordine.”

  Prius spat in Giola’s face.

  “If you’re here to get a cheap kill,” Prius said, “just do it already.”

  Before Giola could reply, Axel’s voice cut across the field, caught perfectly by the floating camera.

  “He won’t.”

  Everyone turned. Even the camera pivoted.

  Giola’s grin returned.

  “I won’t? Ready to bet your life on that?”

  Axel didn’t flinch.

  “I will. Because it’s obvious.”

  Giola’s smile flickered as he approached.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Axel continued, staring straight at him.

  “You had countless chances to kill us. You didn’t. Deep down… you’re waiting. You want to kill your greatest opponent’s successor at his peak. Right, Giola?”

  Giola stopped in front of him. Shadows flickered as he drew his scythes again, pressing the blade against Axel’s neck.

  “You are one breath away from dying,” Giola said. “Step back.”

  Axel didn’t move.

  “Answer me, Giola.”

  For the first time, Giola’s expression cracked.

  Rage pushed through the mask.

  Axel had called his bluff, live, on camera.

  “Don’t worry,” Giola said quietly, voice low and shaking with fury.

  “I will savor your blood off my scythe soon, brat.”

  He stepped back, fighting the urge to strike.

  “Let’s go, Dragora. I’m suddenly in a foul mood.”

  Dragora walked behind him.

  “I would be too if I were made a fool in front of everyone.”

  Giola froze.

  Slowly turned.

  Stared death into Dragora’s eyes.

  “Not another word out of you.”

  Dragora said nothing else.

  Together, the two walked off toward the prison, leaving Axel, Prius, and the ruined battlefield behind.

  Prius and Axel finally let out a long, shaky breath.

  The battlefield was quiet again.

  Prius glared at him.

  “What the hell was that? Are you insane? I knew you were dumb, but I didn’t think you could go that far.”

  Axel shrugged, still bleeding.

  “We’re alive, aren’t we? I don’t know why you’re so worked up.”

  Prius threw his arms up, well, more like halfway up, before pain stopped him.

  “I have survived dictators, rebellions, wars, and I was about to be killed because a little brat can’t keep his mouth shut!”

  Axel smirked.

  “You just can’t appreciate my intelligence. You’re intimidated by it. It’s okay. I’ll bail us out next time..”

  Prius stared at him with a dead expression and began walking toward him, very slowly.

  “I will use what little energy I have left to smack you. Just wait.”

  And right as he said that, Axel swayed.

  “Wow,” Axel muttered. “I’m feeling lightheaded. Lost way too much blood… oh well.”

  He dropped flat onto the ground.

  Prius sighed.

  “Saved you from an ass-kicking. Figures.”

  He stumbled once, then twice, then gave up and sat down hard.

  “I may as well rest a bit too…”

  His eyes began to close.

  “If I know Elia,” he whispered, “she’ll come find her son no matter what.”

  He toppled over, face-first in the dirt.

  “She’s definitely giving me an earful when I wake up…”

  Prius fell face-first into the dirt.

  Darkness took them both.

  Axel woke up first.

  The ceiling above him was blurry, as if it couldn’t decide whether to spin or stay still. His pillow felt too soft. His bandages felt too tight. Something definitely wasn’t right.

  He shifted and groaned.

  “Ugh… did we win?”

  From the next bed over, Prius let out a painful grunt.

  “I swear, if your voice is the first thing I hear in heaven, I’m going straight to hell instead.”

  Axel smirked weakly. “Good morning to you, too.”

  Before either of them could say anything else.

  The door slammed open.

  “Elia! No, wait, don’t!”

  The nurse tried to stop her, but Elia had already stormed inside.

  “PRIUS.”

  Prius froze on the spot.

  “…Yes?”

  “You let my son get SHOT?!”

  Axel pointed at himself. “Technically, Leon shot me against Prius’s will.”

  “Not helping!” Prius hissed.

  Elia marched straight to Prius’s bedside and jabbed a finger at his forehead.

  “I trusted you for ONE mission. ONE. And you come back half-dead with my child slightly more than half-dead!”

  Prius tried to sit up straighter. “Elia, if you just calm down for one second.”

  “No! I will not calm down! My son, my only son, was used as a BULLET MAGNET because you apparently have the survival instincts of a sloth!”

  Prius lifted his hands defensively, wincing. “Hold on there, I took some shots for Axel too.”

  Elia didn’t miss a beat. “It’s the least you can do, you clueless veteran.”

  Axel snorted. “She’s not wrong.”

  Prius glared at him. “You stay quiet.”

  Elia turned.

  “You too! You are grounded.”

  Axel blinked. “Mom, I’m seventeen.”

  “Grounded,” she repeated, poking him on the forehead.

  Prius whispered, “You deserve that.”

  Axel jabbed him back in the ribs. Prius grunted in pain.

  Axel: “And you deserve that.”

  Elia threw her hands up and walked to the door, muttering, “I swear, I’m dealing with two kids.”

  Axel: “Well, that went surprisingly smoothly. I was sure she would kill you.”

  Prius: “I thought so too.”

  Axel: “…We should pretend to be asleep when she comes back.”

  Prius: “Agreed.”

  The moon hung low when Axel and Prius finally stepped out into the hospital hallway. The world felt strangely clean and quiet, too peaceful compared to the chaos days ago.

  Axel stretched his arms with a yawn.

  “Can’t believe we slept for four full days. Apparently, they checked on you every hour to make sure you didn’t die.”

  He started laughing.

  “Must suck to be that old.”

  Prius limped past him, unimpressed.

  Axel raised a brow. “Still… How are you this hurt?”

  Prius just grumbled, which Axel took as an admission of defeat.

  “Us older folks don’t heal as quickly as you.”

  They pushed open the hospital's front doors.

  And stopped dead.

  A massive crowd had gathered outside the gate, lanterns glowing, faces bright with gratitude.

  “There they are!” someone shouted.

  “Our heroes! Thank you for the food!”

  Axel blinked. Prius blinked. Neither knew how to react.

  “Did we not both pass out?” Axel whispered.

  “We did,” Prius muttered. “I don’t know who brought the food here.”

  A familiar voice chimed in:

  “It’s obvious we did.”

  Axel and Prius turned as Lea stepped out from the crowd, confident and smiling. Behind her came Lucio, Felix, and Miria.

  Lucio crossed his arms.

  “You two did the heavy lifting, but if I were there, that Leon guy wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

  Felix snorted. “Sure, tough guy. You’d scream like a little girl.”

  Lucio squared up. “What was that?”

  Miria placed a hand on both their shoulders.

  “You two can’t hide your emotions to save your lives. I know you were both worried.”

  Lea nudged Axel with a grin.

  “Worried? I knew Axel wouldn’t die before our date. Or else.”

  Axel gulped so visibly that Felix wheezed.

  Lea crossed her arms.

  “And by the way, all of us, including your mom, helped carry the food and your dumbasses to the hospital.”

  At the mention of her name, Elia burst through the crowd and threw her arms around Axel.

  “Don’t ever scare me like that again,” she said, voice trembling.

  Prius tried to talk from behind her.

  “Elia…”

  She whipped around with a stare that could erase him on the spot.

  Prius froze. “It can wait.”

  When she finally let go, Prius cleared his throat.

  “We should head home. This is far from over.”

  Axel nodded. “Yeah. I may be walking, but I’m still exhausted.”

  Lea stepped closer.

  “Means you need a day to recover, right?”

  Axel blinked. “I guess that’s right… Why?”

  Lea smiled.

  “I’d like to cash in my date promise.”

  Axel’s face went scarlet. “Umm… I should probably rest…”

  “I wasn’t giving you much of a choice,” Lea said. “You promised. We’re going tomorrow.”

  Axel couldn’t help but smile.

  “…Fine.”

  Lea nodded, satisfied.

  Axel turned to Prius.

  “Let’s get going.”

  And with the crowd cheering behind them, the group finally began the slow walk home.