The sky above them suddenly erupted in golden light, a radiance so brilliant it forced many to shield their eyes.
And from that light, chains descended.
Not chains of darkness or shadow, but chains of pure, radiant gold.
They were stunningly beautiful—intricate links that seed to shimr with their own inner light, each one inscribed with symbols that predated language itself.
And to everyone’s shock, those chains were wrapped around Luca’s body.
Dozens of them, perhaps hundreds, coiling around his arms, his torso, his legs.
They wove through his very essence, binding him, constraining him, holding back the fullness of his power.
Luca looked down at himself, smiled and flexed his muscles.
And the mont he did—the chains shattered.
Boom!
Fragnts of golden light scattered like falling stars, dissolving into nothing. The restrictions that had held him for so long were gone.
Witnessing this, Julius collapsed to his knees, his face gray with despair.
"It’s...over." He whispered. "I-It’s all over."
Luca stretched, rolling his shoulders, cracking his neck. A satisfied sigh escaped him.
"Finally. I’ve been feeling this weight on for so long like I was carrying extra weights binding down. I thought it was just stress."
He laughed. "Who would have thought they were real?"
He then looked up at the fading light, then back at the crowd.
"But even though those chains are gone, I still need to test if the restrictions really are broken."
Before anyone could respond, he vanished.
A blur of motion. A cry of shock. And then he was back, holding a male elf by the scruff of his neck—one of the ones who had been watching from the edges of the crowd, trying to slip away unnoticed.
"No! No!" The elf scread, thrashing in Luca’s grip. "You can’t do anything to ! Stop! I didn’t do anything wrong! I’m innocent! You can’t—"
Luca didn’t respond. He grabbed both of the elf’s arms and lifted him upright.
"NO! NO! NO!"
Crack!
The sound of tearing muscle and snapping bone echoed through the clearing.
"ARGHHHHHHHH—!"
The elf scread, a horrible, gut-wrenching sound—until, with a final, wet rip, his body split in two.
Thwack! Splash!
Blood and organs spilled onto the grass.
The crowd recoiled, gasping in horror. Children covered their eyes. Adults turned away.
Luca stood in the center of the carnage, holding the two halves of the elf’s body, his face splattered with blood.
He looked at the remains, then at his hands—and laughed.
"I’m back, baby! I’m finally back!"
His voice was wild, manic, triumphant.
"I’m at my full potential!"
He dropped the body parts and spread his arms wide, blood dripping from his fingers.
"Finally..."
The villagers could feel the shift in Luca the mont the chains shattered.
He stood taller, more solid sohow, as if he had reclaid sothing he’d lost long ago.
The air around him felt heavier, charged with an energy that made their skin prickle.
But instead of intimidating them, it made them feel safer.
Before, even with all his power, Luca had been bound by restrictions. He couldn’t act against the male elves freely. There were limits, rules, invisible walls that kept him from fully protecting them.
It had made them nervous, despite everything.
Now those walls were gone.
They looked at him with open appreciation, gratitude shining in their eyes.
But the won who had been intimate with him—Leona, Nyx, Luna, Lulu, and the others looked at him with sothing more.
There was obvious love in their gazes, and a hint of excitent too. For so reason, he seed even more handso now, as if a veil had been lifted from him.
His presence was sharper, more magnetic. Every movent carried a grace and power that hadn’t been there before.
The village was celebrating. Murmurs of relief and hope spread through the crowd.
They had done it. They had freed themselves.
But then the celebration faltered.
"Haha... Hahaha..."
A sound cut through the noise—a laugh, soft and low, but carrying an edge that made everyone’s skin prickle with unease.
All eyes turned toward Julius.
He remained crouched on the ground, his head bowed, his long hair falling forward to hide his face.
His entire body trembled, but not with fear. He was laughing—a wet, strangled sound that seed to co from sowhere deep in his chest.
The laugh grew louder.
"Hahahahaha!"
He threw his head back, his body convulsing with manic, unhinged laughter.
His eyes were wild, bloodshot, crazed—the eyes of a man who had lost everything and no longer cared what happened next.
He rose to his feet, still laughing, and pointed at the villagers.
"YOU IDIOTS! YOU ABSOLUTE FOOLS!"
The crowd recoiled.
"You think you’ve won? You think everything will be fine now that his restrictions are gone?!"
"You’re wrong! You’re absolutely wrong!"
He laughed again, the sound echoing across the square.
"Now that everything is exposed, you’re all going to be ruined! None of you stand a chance!"
So elves glared back, their irritation rising.
Others shifted nervously, unsettled by his unhinged threats.
Julius didn’t care. He forced himself to calm down, his breathing ragged, his eyes changing into sothing cold and resigned.
He looked like a man who had accepted his death and now wanted to drag everyone down with him.
He turned to Luca, eting his gaze without fear.
"Congratulations, Hero." He clapped slowly, mockingly. "You really forced out of my shell. Just like you said, now we have nothing to hold back from one another."
His smile twisted.
"We can have our final showdown. But rather than calling it that, I’d say you’ll be able to end my life..."
He spread his arms wide.
"...and before I die, I’m going to kill everyone here. Make them suffer a horrible death!"
Gasps. Shivers. Children clutched their mothers’ skirts.
"But before that—" Julius’s voice dropped, turning almost conversational. "—since we’re already at this point, I might as well admit to everything. Provide the evidence you wanted."
He turned to face the crowd, his expression shifting into sothing almost prideful.
"The Hero is right. The Patriarch and I have been colluding for a very long ti!"
Gasps of shock rippled through the square. Leona’s face drained of color. Nyx’s expression hardened into sothing fierce and unyielding.
Julius continued, his tone almost boastful.
"From the very beginning, the Patriarch treated as his own son. He told , repeatedly, that he would rather have as his heir than either of his useless daughters."
He glanced at Leona and Nyx. "He despised them. He wished they didn’t exist at all."
Nyx didn’t flinch. She had known her father’s hatred all too well. Leona simply frowned, her hands trembling.
Julius continued, warming to his confession, his tone taking on an almost boastful quality.
"And yes, exactly as the Hero deduced, we created a comprehensive plan. Every elent of it was carefully orchestrated between the two of us."
"We made Leona into a puppet ruler, completely and utterly dependent on guidance she could never question."
"The projection of the patriarch being possessed by an evil spirit? That was us."
"The curse that wracked this village with endless pain? That too was part of our design."
He gestured expansively, like an artist discussing a completed masterpiece.
"Every aspect of Leona’s suffering was intentional."
"Every mont she spent isolated—unable to approach anyone without triggering agony, unable to show love without unleashing punishnt—all of it was calculated."
"It was the perfect tool of control. Complete isolation enforced through pain!"
The square fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.
Even those who had suspected the truth couldn’t bear to hear it confird so openly, so callously, from Julius’s own lips.
But Julius wasn’t done.
He turned to Leona, fixing her with a mocking, pitying gaze.
"Don’t mistake , Leona. I am an ambitious fellow. From the very beginning of my life, I knew I was destined for great things. I did want the position of Patriarch. I had my own plans for that."
He chuckled.
"But this plan— becoming the real ruler while you beca a puppet—that wasn’t my idea."
"...That was all your father!"
Ripples of horror spread through the crowd.
An elder shook her head vehently.
"No! That’s impossible! Even if the Patriarch was evil, he wouldn’t have planned to take down his own daughter."
"He may have been cruel, but surely not to his own blood. Surely not to that extent." Another elf added.
Julius shook his head slowly, as though pitying their naivety.
"You’re wrong." He said flatly. "You’re all wrong. The Patriarch was the one who initiated this entire sche."
"He ca to with the proposal. He told , in no uncertain terms, that he could not stomach the idea of his daughters ascending to leadership."
Leona’s face went pale.
"That he would rather..." He chuckled cruelly. "...see his entire bloodline eradicated, would rather let his family na die completely, than allow a woman to rule."
Lulu and Luna shrank back, frightened by their grandfather’s cruelty.
"Because of that, he pulled along for the ride. And since I was already ambitious, I didn’t hesitate."
Julius shrugged. "There’s no reason for to lie now. This is the truth."
He turned back to Leona, his gaze sharp and mocking.
"Basically, your father was the one who threw you to the wolves. He never cared for you. Never loved you for a single mont."
"He decided to let you live a life of sorrow, misery, and loneliness, as part of his plan."
Leona felt sothing break inside her.
She had never liked her father. She had known he was cold, distant, dismissive.
But so part of her had always believed there was a connection, so lingering thread of blood that ant sothing.
Now even that was shattered.
Julius laughed again.
"And do you know what’s even worse?"
He leaned forward conspiratorially.
"When he was on his deathbed, telling his plans, he warned about you. He said you would be persistent in finding the truth."
"You wouldn’t imdiately give in—you’d try to uncover the matter, even if so villagers suffered. He told you had a strong spirit, stubborn in nature."
He smiled.
"And he told how to break that spirit."
Leona felt the answer coming, but she didn’t dare voice it.
"He told to make your entire family suffer."
Everyone gasped.
"Your sister. Your mother. He told to make them suffer so that you would break down inside."
Leona’s fists clenched. Her teeth ground together.
"But it’s not just them." Julius’s voice dropped, and he finally looked at his own daughters. "He also told that in the future, when you had children, he wanted them to suffer too."
"...Even as babies."
Horror rippled through the crowd. People stepped back, unable to look at him.
Julius was enjoying their reactions.
"He told that if his daughter had a male heir, I should nurture him properly—make him the next leader of the village. He still valued his bloodline, after all."
Julius shook his head like it was a joke before looking at them with a sneer.
"But if she had daughters instead? He wanted them to suffer. To break Leona’s spirit completely. And so I made it happen."
He spread his arms like he winning an award.
"The curse on your daughters when they were barely a day old? That was his idea. He wanted you to know, to really understand who was in control."
Leona swayed on her feet. Luna and Lulu held her up, their faces pale, their eyes fixed on their father with undisguised hatred.
Julius looked at Leona one last ti.
"Your father never loved you. He never wanted you. From the mont you were born female, you were a disappointnt to him. And in the end, he made sure you would suffer for it."
He smiled.
"That’s the truth. All of it."
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