A/N: Woah, it's been a while. I finally broke through, I just had to take a break. And it paid off, I'm updating! This story isn't dead, rejoice! Thanks for reading and be sure to leave a comment if you spot any mistakes.

Fate sat where they had first met, the body of the current Guardian for the stone laid off somewhere else. Of course, she had to kill them since they were in the way of her objective.

Being near to the「Godly Stone 」caused her degradation to increase exponentially.

It was obvious that she was dying. Her bones were jutting out and her skin had a sickly pallor to it. Her breathing was labored and each breath she took looked as if she was forcing herself to breathe instead of doing it naturally. Fate’s beautiful eyes had sunken in and dark bags had formed underneath.

What was her objective by doing this to herself?

She wasn’t the only one being damaged. By being so close to the stone, her mana began to corrupt even it and the beginning of the impurities could be seen on the corner of the「 Godly Stone」.

But in comparison to her, the effects were minuscule. If anything, it seemed to be a suicidal task.

Fate had never been afraid of death.

For her, death seemed like a suitable end. A beautiful closing act to her performance. She wanted to die gracefully and for her demise to be carved into the memories of everyone.

She longed to be never forgotten. She, especially, knew how time worked. People faded away so easily. Even if only Erebus remembered her, that was enough for her to take a sword to the heart.

That said, it was not her time to die. She was not done with her act, it was nearing the climax.

In her mind, she had every single thing envisioned and planned out perfectly. She would die so splendidly! Fate clutched her heart which was beating wildly in her chest.

Her eyes squeezed shut as she imagined it all in her mind. Fate sighed contently, her shoulders slackening. Her cracked and dry lips pulled into a smile.

“Erebus...” she murmured. “Are you going to kill me?” Fate asked the man with his sword drawn and pointed at her. The cool metal was pressed against her small throat but she didn’t seem at all scared.

“Drawing your blood would only cause more harm,” Erebus remarked coolly. “Frize.” He jerked his head in the direction of the stone.

The dragon nodded his head and walked over to the「Godly Stone 」and pressed his hands against it. Similar to Ayirn, his magic had natural healing properties other than offensive. Rather, he specialized in purification than combat.

Because of this, the corruption that Fate had caused began to fade away. Though, if there had been any more than this, the results couldn’t be said with certainty.

“You came quickly,” Fate whispered, tilting her head to the side. “Could it be that you missed me?”

Erebus didn’t even laugh. “You were nearby. It wouldn’t have taken long, anyway.”

“Hmm, I suppose so,” Fate sighed the words. “I looked, Erebus. And. Guess. What. I. Saw,” Fate enunciated each word carefully. “It’ll be perfect. Right?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he admitted. Erebus raised his hand, preparing to execute her. “But I don’t care.”

“I was just saying, I should break them,” Fate whispered. As the words came out of her mouth, the world slowed and Erebus’ hand moved painfully slow. In that moment, she disappeared.

The spot where Fate had been was empty.

Rolut swore loudly. “Goddamn that woman!” he roared. “She tricked us. She had enough strength left to do that.”

That, being she manipulated time.

Erebus narrowed his eyes, his own anger was quiet... But equal to, if not greater than Rolut’s. “So it would seem.”

“Is she hiding once more?” Frize asked, grounding his teeth together.

“Yes,” Erebus answered. “She’s a quick one.” He clenched his fist, trying to control the rage that he felt boiling inside of him. Getting angry would not solve anything and would only blur his judgment.

But he wanted to kill her. She had embarrassed him. Him. Fate had deceived him. When he had looked into her eyes, he had seen no fear in them. But there were no hints of defiance either. It was more of the look of someone who had resigned to their fate.

Once again, she had made him powerless.

Weak. Useless. A fool unable to control the situation of his own doing. If he had left her alone, if he had never said those things to her so long ago... Would he be standing here right now? Would the world still be in peril that he was unable to stop unless it showed itself?

Erebus had failed at his job. He had created a problem when he solely existed for solving them. This world had given him his life and he had failed to protect it. Erebus did not have parents, he only had this world. And it was dying because of him.

He blamed himself the most. No one would have suspected how much so. Silently, he shouldered centuries of self-loathing. How easy was it for him to simply pretend? To distract himself with useless endeavors that only served for short-term entertainment.

They allowed him to forget, for a moment, how much he hated himself. It was a lonely bubble that he created around himself, but it worked.

And that woman, that mistake of his was still alive and breathing. If she was gone, everything would be fixed. It would revert back to normal--he would revert back to normal.

He was going to wring her neck. She would suffer, Fate would take in all of the damage that she had done to this world. She would die for his revival.

He’d break her. Crush her. The damned bitch had been lucky that the other members of the Dragon Council had protected her for so long. But now no one would stop him from doing what should have been done centuries ago.

She would die. That accursed soul of hers would cease to exist, that

“What did she mean by ‘them’?” Frize interrupted Erebus’ chain of thought. His breathing was becoming slightly labored because of all the energy he was pouring into the「Godly Stone 」. Even though he was incapable of ever running out of mana, forcing it out of his body so unnaturally still had a toll on his body.

Rolut rubbed his temples, his eyes closing. His age showed once more, the lines on his face grew more pronounced and haggard. He looked exhausted like someone had siphoned out all of his life. “It’s too vague.”

“She was speaking to Erebus, correct?” Frize sighed as he removed his hands from the「Godly Stone 」and all of his energy was restored in an instant. “If so, I have an idea. She said she saw it, which implied that she used her powers to see, right? The only person life she’d be interested in would be Erebus’. Meaning they is--”

“My subordinates,” Erebus finished for Frize, he had come to the realization around the same time. Those small pieces of joy that he had. The ones who followed him so blindly with undying loyalty.

“I should break them,” she had said.

“I see... She wants to harm my toys?” A smile broke out on his face. No, it was too cold and vicious to be considered a smile. It carved itself on his beautiful face, it was crafted with the delicacy of a butcher. That expression seemed to crave death and carnage, a rage so great that it was impossible not to shiver.

Even Rolut found himself to be genuinely afraid of Erebus. There was a rule that he had strictly abided by, that all the Council knew but never spoke of: do not touch Erebus’ toys.

When Ayirn had tried to... It had not ended well for her. Erebus had done more than simply come for her life, he aimed for her complete and utter destruction.

And those subordinates that he had hand-picked, they were his prized collection. He carefully took care of them and kept them safe for decades.

As loyal as they were to him, he was to them.

Erebus had warned many people not to mess with his servants. But no one knew the extent as to how serious he was.

“Ah... I see, I see, I see,” Erebus whispered. “That wretch wants to touch them.”

The blue sky faded to a dreary gray and the whistling of the wind through the trees became foreboding whispers.

The world lost its vibrancy. Everything paled, all the light and joy seemed to be sucked into a singular spot that emanated anger. A pulsating black mist had engulfed the realm of the「Godly Stone 」.

Erebus’ aura that he had also kept restrained had been released. It dragged everything towards it, unforgivingly and mercifully, it took and took. An ever-expanding mass.

His voice broke the silence, a voice that did more than simply condemn Fate to her inevitable death:

“Unforgivable.”