High above the floating palace, the wind howled softly around the three figures suspended in the open sky. Zayne held Priest Paul tightly by the throat, his grip firm enough to keep him from even thinking about escaping, while both he and Zane looked down toward the castle where the battle had begun.
For a mont, neither of them spoke. The only thing breaking the silence was the distant pulse of dark mana rising from below.
Then Zayne finally asked, his voice quieter than usual,
"…Brother… "
"Do you really care about your students?"
Zane slowly turned his head toward him, his expression unreadable.
"What did you say?"
Zayne imdiately tensed. "D-don't get angry, bos—"
"I'm not angry," Zane cut him off calmly. There was no irritation in his tone, only mild curiosity. "I just don't see why you'd even bother asking that."
Zayne hesitated for a second, then continued anyway. "I an… I understand that you find this kind of thing entertaining. But they're still your students. Even if they win, this kind of battle… Ron and Lia are fighting their own siblings. That's not sothing you just walk away from."
He tightened his grip slightly on Paul without realizing it. "If it were strangers, fine. But they're not stranger to you."
Zane watched him for a few seconds, then a faint smirk appeared on his face.
"You've changed, Zayne."
Zayne blinked.
"So months ago, you wouldn't have cared about sothing like this. But now…" Zane tilted his head slightly, amused. "You have Val."
A small pause followed.
"I can call Valeriana 'Val,' right? I'm going to call her that."
Zayne didn't respond. He couldn't, because he knew exactly what Zane ant.
Zane stepped closer and casually placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Now that you habe her ,you've beco more human. More like a living being. "
"...And that's good. I made you intending for that change… it was part of the experint."
In Zayne's grip, Priest Paul listened with growing confusion. Experint? Made? None of this made sense to him anymore.
Zane, however, had already turned his gaze back toward the horizon. The orange-red sky reflected faintly in his eyes as he spoke again, this ti more thoughtfully.
"I do...care about my students. But you don't understand my perspective."
Zayne frowned slightly. "But I do. I'm your clone. I have your mories."
"I know what you've gone through. I'm the only one who can see things the way you do."
In Zayne's grip, Priest Paul listened felt extre shock.
Clones.... isn't that sothing only our lords Abyssals and diving beings can do...but apparently Zane Creed could also do that...
Zane shook his head.
"No. You only see part of it."
That answer caught Zayne off guard. He opened his mouth to respond, but Zane continued before he could.
"You rember when I told you that you were my exact clone?"
"…Yeah."
"I lied."
That single sentence hit harder than expected.
"You're similar to , but not identical. I made you more human. You have my mories… but not all of them."
Zayne's grip loosened unconsciously.
"What do you an…?"
"There are mories I deliberately didn't give you," Zane said calmly. "mories that would completely overwrite your personality. Unlike , you don't have the strength to handle them."
For a brief second, Zayne completely let go of Priest Paul.
Paul reacted instantly, trying to escape downward toward the palace. But the mont he moved, his surroundings warped—and he was back in the exact sa spot.
He tried again.
And again.
Each ti, the result was the sa.
Slowly, he looked up at Zane… and froze.
Zane was looking down on him silently.
He felt fear.
anwhile, Zayne stood there, shaken. "But… my mories feel complete. There are no gaps."
Zane smirked slightly. "You think I can't fabricate mories? If anything, you should be able to do that too."
Zayne's eyes widened. For the first ti, he felt weird and detached from his boss.
Zane didn't dwell on it. He simply continued, as if explaining sothing obvious.
"So yes, I do...care about my students. Just not in the way you're thinking.
If they get injured, I heal them.
If their minds break, I fix them.
If they die… I bring them back."
He glanced down toward the palace again.
"So I don't need to worry pr care like a normal being do."
"Because I am not normal."
Zayne fell silent after hearing that. There wasn't really anything he could say to argue against it.
Zane then gave his shoulder a light pat. "Don't turn this into an existential crisis. You may not be my perfect copy, but you're exactly what I intended you to be.So in my eyes you're as perfect as you can be."
"And you're the closest thing I have to family… along with Eira, Eirenyssa, and Computer."
From his watch, a cheerful voice chid in, "Thanks, boss!"
That broke the tension slightly.
At that mont, another surge of dark mana rose from the palace—heavier, denser than before.
Zane narrowed his eyes slightly. "Looks like Ron and Lia's siblings have fully transford."
Zayne exhaled slowly and nodded, regaining his composure. "Yeah…"
Then Zane glanced sideways at him. "Aren't you forgetting sothing?"
Zayne blinked, confused for a second—then looked down at Priest Paul.
"…Ah."
In an instant, he grabbed Paul by the throat again before he could even attempt to move.
"Wait—wait—!" Paul struggled, panic returning to his face.
Zayne smirked. "You should stay and watch. You'll get a front-row seat to see how your plan fails."
He glanced at Zane. "…Right, brothe—I an boss ?"
Zane smirked back. "You've been calling that for a while now. No need to switch to 'boss' when no one's around."
Zayne chuckled faintly. "Got it."
Both of them then turned their gaze toward the palace below.
Through walls, distance, and layers of magic, they could clearly see everything—the do, the battle, Ron and Lia, and the monstrous forms of Dex and Maya.
Zane's eyes held a strange mix of expectation and quiet excitent.
"Let's watch," he said.
And below them—
The real battle had finally begun.
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