Aizen's Collapse Into Rage
"Aizen…?"
Mikaela's small voice trembled quietly behind him. Lina clutched her shirt, eyes wide and watery.
Neither of them had ever seen Aizen like this.
His breath shook.
His claws dug into the wooden floor, cracking it as golden lightning began crawling up his arms in uncontrollable waves. His tail bristled, every strand of black fur standing on end.
Lyra's mana—gone.
Theo—gone.
Aizen's soul dropped into the kind of coldness he only felt once before:
The day his lion race was slaughtered.
He swallowed, unable to breathe.
Not again.
NOT AGAIN.
I won't lose them. Never again.
He forced air back into his lungs.
"Stay behind me."
He spoke without looking at the girls, voice low and trembling with restrained fury.
Mikaela grabbed Lina's hand tightly. Lina, shaking, whispered:
"Papa… Mama is gone…?"
Aizen's jaw clenched so violently it cracked.
"…Yes."
The word nearly tore him apart.
Thunder vibrated faintly in his throat as he stood upright.
His shadow thickened, stretching unnaturally behind him like a beast rising.
He walked out the door in silence.
Mikaela and Lina followed.
And the entire street grew quiet.
The City Reacts
People walking nearby slowed and stared.
Aizen's golden eyes were glowing—too bright, too dangerous. Like molten suns beneath storm clouds.
The air around him shimmered with static.
His steps left sparks on the ground.
Even without knowing who he was, the citizens instinctively backed away.
"W-What is that beastman…?"
"He looks angry…"
"Is he going to attack!?"
The guards who had spoken to him earlier immediately recognized the danger.
The one who was secretly a Crimson Hand follower felt his throat tighten.
He sensed it.
He sensed the abduction.
The experiment subjects are secured, but—
Aizen turned his head just slightly toward the guard.
The guard froze.
Aizen didn't speak.
But his eyes said everything:
I know.
I will find you.
And when I do—pray you die quickly.
The guard almost fainted.
Aizen continued forward.
Inside the Abandoned House
He led Mikaela and Lina down a back alley, toward a place the city didn't maintain.
A collapsed well.
Broken stone pathways.
Dead grass.
Aizen stopped.
Here—beneath this ground—was the tunnel he remembered.
Where Lyra and Theo would be dragged underground.
Where Amethyst had been held for months.
Where Esdarte performed his twisted experiments.
Aizen's breathing softened.
The rage was still there—boiling, violent—but he forced it down.
Mikaela swallowed nervously.
"Papa… what are you going to do…?"
"Save your Mama," Aizen said quietly. "And your brother."
Lina tugged his clothes.
"What about us…?"
Aizen turned, kneeling down and putting one hand on each of their heads.
Both girls immediately felt calmer—the warmth of his big hand grounding them.
"You two need to hide. Somewhere no one can touch you."
His eyes moved, scanning the area.
He spotted a small cellar under a collapsed hut. Tight, but safe. Surrounded by thick stone.
Aizen opened it with a swipe of his claws.
"Stay here. I'll come back for you."
Lina hugged him tightly.
Mikaela held onto his sleeve.
"Papa… don't die."
Aizen exhaled shakily.
"I won't. I promised all of you… I wouldn't die ever again."
He closed the cellar door.
And then—
He moved.
Golden lightning erupted under his feet as he vanished from sight—heading straight toward the castle.
Lyra and Theo's Abduction
Hours earlier…
Theo had been laughing while showing Lyra his new shoelace trick. She had been smiling, finally sitting down after a long day of travel.
Then a prickling sensation crawled across her spine.
"Hmm…?"
Before she could fully stand, a magic-suppressing cloth wrapped over her mouth and nose. She tried to breathe, but the enchantment confused her mana, making her dizzy.
Theo screamed—"Mama—MAMA!!"—but a hand grabbed his wrist and forced him down.
Lyra's vision blurred.
"W-Wait…! Aiz—"
A sharp strike to the neck ended her consciousness.
Theo fought, biting someone's hand hard enough to draw blood, but a masked man lifted him by the collar.
"Little brat's feisty," the kidnapper hissed.
Another cloaked figure scanned the area.
"Hurry. We need to drag them through the back tunnels before that monster-lion senses it."
"He won't sense anything—this cloth blocks tracking magic—"
"Idiot, he's a black lion, not an average mage—"
At that moment, the air trembled slightly.
"…Did you feel that?"
"Go! NOW!"
They dragged Lyra and Theo out the back door.
Down a hidden stair.
Into a sewer-like tunnel.
Then through a second layer of illusion magic.
Their footsteps echoed endlessly.
Lyra's hair was dragged across the ground.
Theo kicked, punched, screamed.
"We're not… HURTING YOU!" he cried, tears falling. "Papa will KILL YOU!!"
The men laughed.
"Let him try."
Arrival Underground
They reached a cell—damp, cold, filled with a faint smell of blood and rust.
Inside sat a boy with purple hair and red eyes.
Amethyst.
He stood immediately when he saw them dragging Theo and Lyra.
"…No." His voice shook. "W-What are you doing!? Let them go!!"
One of the men kicked him backward.
"Shut up, you useless failure."
They threw Theo into the cell.
Theo hit the ground and rolled, scrambling up to grab Amethyst's shirt.
"Sir—! Mama—she's—!"
Lyra's unconscious body was dumped inside next, chains automatically closing around her wrists and ankles as they touched the enchanted metal floor.
Amethyst lunged forward instinctively—
—but he stopped mid-step.
Because the chains recognized him too.
Part of the floor rippled—
Chains shot upward and latched onto his wrists.
"Not again—!!"
The men smirked.
"Three new test subjects for Lord Esdarte."
Theo shouted and attacked the bars—but his small fists only hurt him.
"MAMA!! WAKE UP!! MAMA—!"
Lyra breathed faintly, but her mana was silent like a smothered flame.
She couldn't hear him.
And Esdarte… was already walking down the corridor.
Esdarte Enters
Tap. . .
Tap. . .
Tap. . .
Soft, slow footsteps.
Not rushed.
Not hurried.
As if he had all the time in the world.
The men immediately knelt.
"My lord."
Esdarte appeared—white hair, crimson coat, eyes like a corpse that refused to die.
He stared at the unconscious dragon woman.
"…A noble dragon," he murmured. "The same one from the reports… her purity level is extraordinary. A perfect mana catalyst."
He reached out, touching Lyra's cheek.
Theo screamed and tried to bite him through the bars.
Esdarte didn't even look at him.
"And this boy… pure angelic mana with unique expansion potential. A good subject."
Then—
His eyes moved to Amethyst.
They widened.
Slowly.
As if he had seen a ghost.
"…You."
Amethyst froze.
Esdarte didn't blink.
"…A Dragonoid with black aura and red eyes."
One of the guards panicked. "My lord—he's Amethyst, the ex-prince—"
Esdarte grabbed the guard's mouth and silenced him with a pressure of mana.
"I did not ask about his name."
He lifted Amethyst's chin.
"…A Dragonoid is supposed to be dead."
Amethyst tried to pull away, trembling.
"I'm… not a dragon. I'm… human—"
"Don't lie to me."
Esdarte's smile stretched unnaturally.
"You are not fully awakened yet, but the signs are there… black aura, red eyes… such rarity…"
Theo shouted:
"Don't touch him! Mama said Aizen will kill all of you!!"
Esdarte turned slowly.
"…Aizen?"
Theo froze.
Esdarte's lips curled upward.
"A black lion named Aizen is alive?"
He chuckled softly.
"Well… this is fascinating. I must prepare the lab."
He turned to leave.
"Keep them here. When the ritual begins, I want them sedated."
Theo cried out.
Amethyst shook, teeth clenched.
Lyra remained unconscious, chains glowing around her wrists.
And overhead—far above—the castle trembled faintly.
Back to Aizen
The castle walls loomed high, shimmering with magical barriers.
But Aizen didn't stop.
He didn't look afraid.
He didn't look hesitant.
He looked furious.
Lightning danced across his skin.
His voice was almost inhuman when he whispered:
"…Lyra… Theo…"
He held up his hand.
And black lightning gathered in his palm—silent, deadly, destructive.
He took one step forward—
And the entire castle felt it.
The hidden guards inside stiffened.
"What—what is that pressure!?"
"It's him—!! He sensed us—"
"That's impossible—how did he find the base so fast!?"
Aizen closed his eyes.
He could sense Lyra faintly now—not her mana, but her soul's warmth, murmuring like a dying ember beneath the castle.
He could sense Theo—crying.
He could sense Amethyst—terrified.
And he could sense—
A darkness deeper within.
Esdarte.
Aizen's expression twisted.
"…So that's where you rats are hiding."
He took another step—
—and the castle's barrier cracked.
The entire Kingdom of False Light suddenly turned silent.
Wind froze.
The sky dimmed.
Even the Celestial Gods watching from above felt the shift.
A Black Lion had fully awakened his wrath.
Aizen lowered his hand…
…and whispered only one word:
"Found you."
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END OF CHAPTER 84