The Plan In Motion: The Fight For Other's Lives
Vevil stood ten meters away, perfectly relaxed, perfectly smug—as if the manor weren’t under attack and he weren’t standing in front of the people he sold.
My grip tightened on the sword.
I knew exactly how fast he could move. How easily he could take my head.
“I see you’ve lost all respect for me,” Vevil said, voice smooth and bored.
Vevil tilted his head, eyes narrowing. He stared at my head, examining it.
“…Crimson?”
He stepped forward half a pace, eyes glinting under the moonlight.
“Your hair. It was white before.”
His gaze moved—slowly—to the small horn rising from the corner of my forehead.
For the first time since he appeared…
His smile faltered.
Only for a breath.
But it faltered.
“A horn too?” he murmured. “Well, well… you really did change. What happened to you?”
"None of your business," I shot back.
His amusement returned—but it was different now.
Sharper.
More interested.
Predatory.
So that’s why Reina is upstairs smashing through patrols. He thought, chuckling, tongue clicking against his teeth.
She was buying time for Krai to take everyone.
His eyes locked onto mine—cold and dissecting.
“You’re not the same child who bled from trying out Mana Build.” A slow grin stretched across his face. “This might actually be fun."
“Vevil,” I said, forcing my voice steady. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be protecting your master—the Count?”
“You’re right,” he replied, calm to the point of insult. “I should be with Count Juliq."
“Tsk.”
So he wasn’t going to pretend. No excuses. No remorse.
He tilted his chin toward the manor. “But when I saw Reina alone upstairs making a mess of the place, it felt… off. If she were serious about killing everyone, she wouldn’t drag it out. I wouldn't be standing here talking to you right now. She’s efficient.”
His smile sharpened. “So I thought—what is she buying time for? And look—I found a hero.”
“You betrayed us!” I snapped. “We treated you like family—everyone trusted you!”
“Yes,” he said lightly. “And I thank them. It made my mission much easier.”
My stomach twisted.
“Why?” I demanded. “Why kill the men and take the women? What are you trying to do?!”
He watched me, eyes growing colder.
“Reina is no angel,” he hissed. “She took what wasn’t hers and expected peace to follow. There are consequences for taking what is not yours, Krai. You take from someone, expect them to take from you.”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” I snarled.
He looked at me, not explaining himself. And I didn't have the time to question him about it.
It was of little importance.
“One last question,” I asked, locking my gaze with his. “Where is Miss Mary?”
He blinked slowly, then chuckled as if remembering a joke.
“Oh. Mariada?”
The sound that followed wasn’t a laugh. It was something smaller, meaner. And when he lifted his face
—his expression made my blood freeze.
“Once the Count is done with her,” he said, voice soft with poison, “it’ll be my turn. I’ll repay her for what she did in the past.”
There are faces you don’t forget.
Some faces burn themselves into you.
This was one of them.
“You bastard,” I breathed.
Then I screamed.
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”
“Hahahaha! Yes! Come then!"
I charged him, steel flashing.
Our blades collided—metal sang, sparks spiraled.
Again. Again. Again.
He blocked all of it. One hand. Effortless. Laughing.
“Rage makes you slow,” he whispered, parrying and turning my strike aside. “And predictable!”
His boot smashed into my stomach.
Air vacated my lungs. The world tilted. Gravel tore my palms as I slid back and dug my sword into the ground to stop.
I forced myself up, teeth clenched, vision shaking—
—and Asahi stepped in front of me, palm out.
“Move,” I snapped. “I have to kill him.”
“Calm down,” he said.
“Don’t tell me to calm down! That means agreeing with what he did if I calm down!"
Asahi didn’t flinch. “No, it won't. Don't let him get into your head."
The words landed. Hard.
I stood there, shaking.
But not moving.
Vevil twirled his sword lazily. “Done whispering? Or do you need to hug?”
☆☆☆
On the island, Tessa sat in the dining room with a cooling cup of tea and a worry she couldn’t hide.
“Maybe I should’ve gone with them,” she murmured.
Airi set a small plate of cookies beside her. “They’ll be okay,” she said softly. “Asahi can heal them if they get injured. That woman—Reina—has terrifying mana and control. And Krai… he will be fine as well.”
Tessa blinked. Airi rarely spoke so many words in a single breath.
But the worry didn’t leave. “It’s not their strength I doubt,” Tessa whispered. “It’s Krai. He hasn't learnt control of his magic.”
Then she stared into the tea and prayed he remembered Zeraff’s training.
☆☆☆
I exhaled, slowly.
The anger didn’t vanish. I just… folded it and put it somewhere I could use it later.
“Fine,” I said. “I’m calm.”
Asahi didn’t move. "No. Let me fight beside you."
“I said I’m calm,” I repeated, quieter. “Protect them. Their lives matter more than this fight.”
He searched my face. Then he stepped back, raising a barrier around the freed captives—a golden glass in the night emerged.
Vevil’s grin widened. “Are you quite done strategizing?”
"Vevil," I called. "I don't understand something. Why is it that you feel such hatred to betray Miss Mary, one of your people?"
As soon as I asked that question, his face twisted into something sinister. Rage and hatred were written all over his face.
"You don't know anything about that woman and me." He lowered his voice. "I'll make her pay. Brescia died because of her!"
I raised an eyebrow at the new name.
"Who is Brescia?" I asked.
Vevil paused and then faced the moon with a longing glint in his eyes. My question stirred a well of emotions in him.
Then he spoke.
"She—was my beloved."
None of us said anything after that. He was feeling nostalgic, and I was questioning everything he just said.
"I still don't get what you're saying," I breathed
Then I took a step. “It doesn't matter. If what you said is true, I need to get her out of here fast.... So let’s end this.”
“Such confidence,” Vevil sneered. “It will only get you killed!"
He lunged.
Steel hammered my blade—shock shuddering down my arms. The ground spider‑webbed beneath my feet. But this time I didn’t break, I didn’t slip.
Block. Brace. Reset.
This was the rhythm of our clash for a moment. I let him inside my head again.
“Dragon flame. Crimson flame…” I breathed, parrying a high cut. “Let none bear their fangs at me.”
“Huh?” Vevil blinked.
“Crimson Barricade.”
Light burst up my body, then up my arms—bright, living crimson—and then swallowed my sword in flame.
Vevil’s beast instincts screamed danger. He stepped back on reflex, eyes narrowing.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, voice steady. “Since when are you the one retreating?”
His lips curled. “Since when can you use magic?”
“Knowing won’t help you.” I slid one foot back, blade low. “You were Sir Marcus’s second. I’d hoped for more, but you haven’t even landed a proper hit on me.”
“Tch!”
Cracks formed across the mask of his smile.
“That little flame won’t save you. Don’t get cocky.”
His mana surged.
“I’ll show you something real.”
He widened his stance. Aura thickened. Instinct bristled off him like raised fur.
“Enhancement Magic: Mana Build—”
Of course, I thought. He’d go straight to that.
But then—
“Beast Variation.”
The air snapped.
Muscle braided across his frame. Tendons rose like cables. His eyes—already sharp—cut colder, brighter. Ears twitched. Nails lengthened. The ground beneath his boots dented.
This was not human strength. Not human balance.
My mouth went dry.
This wasn’t a normal Mana Build.
This was an ascension.
The kind that turns a beastfolk’s instincts into something like prophecy.
Vevil smiled.
“Try not to die too fast.”
I raised my flaming sword.
“Come and try me.”
Overconfidence? Maybe. I was too invested in the moment of using magic in a fight to worry about caution.
