Chapter 41: I’d Kill You Myself
Back at Warstone, in Luna’s room, the lights flickered dimly as Luna stared at the empty chains where Vael had been. For a moment, nothing made sense. It didn’t take long before it clicked.
"He got away."
She muttered it to herself, the blade still gripped in her hand. A laugh escaped her — not from amusement, but from something closer to disbelief. She’d been so certain she had him, and she’d let that certainty get inside her head.
She turned and walked to the table, setting the knife down slowly, fingers tapping against the wood.
She finally had a moment to weigh where she stood. No one left to protect, no one left to care for. Alone. She glanced around the empty room, then back to the table. This was her life now. But it wasn’t finished. Not yet.
She crossed to the bed and sat, watching the candles flicker. If she had nothing left to protect or preserve, then she could become whatever she wanted. She could be free.
Her gaze drifted to the moonlight as the thought settled in her mind. It was time to fight back. She would climb, claw her way to the top of this society by any means necessary, and once she stood high enough, she’d use every resource, every hour, to hunt him down. Something in her refused to believe he’d die from this. So she would prepare instead. She would be ready.
She returned to the table, picked up the knife, and reached for her hair. Bit by bit, she cut it back until it barely brushed her neck, then let the blade fall.
Her hands rested flat on the table as her eyes lifted to the moon. A smile found its way onto her lips, and she murmured to the night air:
"Next time we meet, Niel — I’ll kill you myself."
---
Morning sunlight hit his eyes first, and he shot upright in a panic, unable to make sense of anything. Then something stopped his frantic movements cold — his arms. Both of them.
"My—my arms. They’re... healed?"
He lunged out of bed, only to be struck by a headache so violent it drove him back down, both hands clamped around his skull.
The pain slowly ebbed. Only then did he take in the room. A hut, by the look of it, the open door revealing forest beyond. Someone clearly lived here.
"Where am I?" he muttered, pushing himself upright again.
Something dropped outside with a heavy thud. Before he could move toward it, a woman stepped into view — tall, black hair falling past her knees.
One glance told him she was no ordinary commoner. She wore a black hooded cloak over a cropped, strap-bound leather top that left her midriff bare, layered belts, a short draped skirt, thigh wraps, arm bracers. An assassin’s dress, unmistakably.
"You’re awake. Good — come help me with this," she said, already turning her back to him toward whatever she’d dropped.
"Who are you? Did you heal my arm?" Vael asked.
She glanced back, a small grin tugging at her mouth. "Is that how you say ’thank you for saving me’?"
Vael studied her a moment. He’d never seen her before, not in this life or the last, nor anyone dressed quite like her. Still, he decided to play along.
"Thank you. But where am I, and who are you?"
"You’re in the forest, not far from Warstone — you know where that is, right?"
"Yeah, but—"
She cut him off before he could finish. "I’m Lydia Grey. I’m a—" She stopped, as if she hadn’t planned that far ahead, then continued. "Just Lydia. That’s all you need to know."
I see.
Vael thought. She clearly had a secret worth guarding, though that ranked low on his current list of concerns. He glanced at his healed arm, and a reckless idea took root. He needed to see her healing in action. He needed to copy it.
A blade lay nearby. Without thinking twice, he snatched it up and slit his wrist. She froze for a heartbeat — then, before he could blink, she was on him, her hand seizing his face and slamming his head into the dirt.
"You ungrateful bastard. If you want to die that badly, I’ll kill you myself."
She followed with a flurry of punches, and Vael activated Teleportation, blinking to the hut’s doorway. Before he could get a word out, she’d already closed the distance again, and he aimed for her arm, activating Split — hoping she’d heal it and give him the chance to copy the ability.
The moment it landed, her left arm came off clean. She didn’t slow down for it. A punch from her remaining arm sent him flying through the trees until he slammed into one hard enough to crack bark.
He spat blood. She was far stronger than he’d guessed. If he hadn’t known better, he’d have sworn she was one of the heroes — but she’d never run with his old party, that much he was certain of.
He looked back toward the hut, where she was already closing the distance again, her arm fully healed. And this time, he still didn’t watch her do it.
With every blink he took, she crossed impossible ground, walking as though she had all the time in the world. By the fourth blink, she stood directly in front of him, fist clenched.
"Wait! Wait!! Wait!!! I’m sorry — I just wanted to see if I could really feel that arm heal myself. I don’t want to die."
Vael fought to catch his breath. How is she this strong? he thought.
Only then did she stop. "There are saner ways to test something like that. Doing it out of nowhere is insane."
She said, stepping toward him slower now. Without another word, she pointed a finger at him, and every scar sealed shut, every ache in his body simply vanished.
Claire: Noted. New skill acquired. Unique skill: Divine Healing.
Divine Healing. What sets it apart from ordinary healing? What makes it unique?
Claire: It heals from a distance, fully restores any organ, consumes far less mana than standard healing, and can activate even while the user is unconscious — with the potential to restore one’s own mana as well.
Ah. No wonder it’s unique.
Vael turned to face her. Given that he’d already used Split to sever her arm once, it struck him as odd she’d let him get this close again. Was she really that trusting? By his read of her, she was too sharp a fighter to drop her guard so easily.
"You dropped your guard pretty easily after I confessed. Isn’t that dangerous, considering I already cut your arm off once?"
She glanced down at him and scoffed. "What makes you think my guard is down?" She paused, stepping back and spreading her arms wide. "Fine. I’ll give you another shot. Try it again."
Vael blinked, confused for a moment, then rose and pointed his hand at her, ready to activate Split again — until Claire’s voice cut in.
Claire: Note — this is your last use of Split. Confirm before proceeding.
It hit him then. Each copied ability was capped at three uses, and he’d already spent one on Dreece and another on Lydia. This would be his last. Instead, he activated Dreece’s unique skill — Solar Flare.
Fire tore through the clearing, scorching every tree around them, more violent than the version Dreece had used on him — he’d doubled the output.
When the smoke finally cleared, she stood untouched at its center, a small ring of unburned earth around her feet.
She looked entirely unbothered. Vael stared, speechless, as she lowered her arms and muttered, "See?"
"How?" Vael muttered, almost against his will.
She only smiled, turning back toward the hut, lifting a hand to wave him after her.
Vael followed, still reeling. Whatever this woman was, she wasn’t someone he’d accounted for — and if he ended up on her bad side, he had no doubt he’d lose.
Something else nagged at him, though. He wondered why Claire hadn’t copied both abilities from the healing. Claire answered before he could ask.
Claire: Noted. You did witness both. I suspect the second triggered only while she was healing her own arm.
Damn. That skill would’ve been invaluable.
Then he remembered — he’d used Teleportation both earlier and the night before, and it was supposed to be limited to once a day. Claire answered the thought before he finished forming it.
Claire: You were unconscious for two days, Lord Vael. This is the third day.
"What?"
Vael blurted, and Lydia glanced back at the outburst. "Something wrong?" she asked, not breaking stride.
Realizing he had slipped, he quickly thought of a response to back it up. "Oh, I— I was wondering. What was that defense? A shield?"
"No, more like a barrier." She paused, letting the silence stretch as they walked, then stopped in front of the hut and added, "It’s actually a unique skill. Infinity Barrier."