The One King

After the two drops of blood refused to merge...

They remained suspended in the air for a few moments before each one faded in a different direction.

But to the Foyd family...

This was not merely an experiment proving the difference between their blood.

It was a judgment.

Valen stared at the purple drop that had emerged from Azrael's body, then at the crimson drop that had come from Leon's.

His eyes began to tremble.

He understood.

The blood of the Foyd family no longer flowed through his son's veins.

The very blood that had once carried the family's heritage...

No longer existed within him.

Azrael had become an entity completely separate from them—not only in soul and emotions, but even in body.

Lilian placed a hand over her chest, feeling as though her heart were being crushed.

As for Lunaria, she stared at Azrael with hollow eyes.

Selena could no longer stop her tears from falling.

Only moments ago, they had been hoping there was still a chance.

A chance that their family might one day be reunited.

A chance that they might all sit together.

A chance that they might hear Azrael call them by their names, as he should have from the very beginning.

But now...

Even their blood itself was telling them that such a hope had become nearly impossible.

Valen whispered:

"He is gone..."

Selena did not understand what he meant at first.

Then he continued in a broken voice:

"My son, who should have returned to us..."

He raised his eyes toward Azrael.

"He no longer exists."

He lowered his head.

"He has become someone else."

Lilian felt her husband's words tearing apart what remained of her heart.

But before anyone could say anything...

Azrael tightened his grip.

His fingers pressed around Leon's throat.

Leon’s body suddenly convulsed violently.

He opened his eyes with difficulty, then began struggling in Azrael's grip, desperately trying to draw breath.

A faint, broken sound escaped his throat.

"H... h..."

He was barely conscious.

But that sound alone was enough to pull the Foyd family out of their despair.

Lilian immediately raised her head.

"Leon!"

She rushed toward him.

But stopped when she saw Azrael's gaze.

There was no hesitation in his eyes.

She realized that any wrong move could mean his death.

Valen struggled to stand.

Despite his shattered body, he took a step forward.

Then he knelt before Azrael.

"My son..."

His voice trembled.

"Please."

He raised his eyes toward him.

"Release your brother."

Then he placed a hand over his chest.

"Take my life instead."

Tears streamed down his face.

"I am the one who deserves to die."

"I am the one who failed to protect you."

"I am the one who should pay the price."

Then he bowed even lower.

"But please..."

"Don't kill him."

Lilian approached while crying.

She grasped Azrael's raised arm.

"Victor..."

Her voice trembled.

"Please."

Then she looked at Leon.

"Release him."

Her tears fell to the ground.

"If you want..."

She stopped for a moment, as though the words were choking her.

Then she said:

"I will kill myself here and now."

Selena gasped.

But Lilian continued:

"If my death can atone for even a part of what I have caused you..."

"Then I will do it."

Lunaria approached as well.

She could barely stand, but she forced her injured body to move.

She stood before Azrael.

"My little brother..."

Her eyes were filled with tears.

"Our family caused you immeasurable pain."

She placed a hand over her chest.

"But there is still time..."

"Time to atone for everything we have done."

Then she bowed before him.

"So please..."

"Release Leon."

As for Selena, she could no longer bear watching her brother suffocate.

She rushed toward Azrael and wrapped both arms around his waist.

"My brother..."

She cried.

"Don't kill Leon."

She raised her face toward him.

"We are siblings."

"Yes, circumstances separated us..."

"And yes, they created a rift between us."

But she tightened her arms around him.

"Yet the fact that we are family still remains."

The entire family pleaded.

The father.

The mother.

The two sisters.

All of them begged for Leon's life.

But Azrael...

Remained silent.

He did not move.

His heart was like stone.

Then he said:

"I have lived most of my life alone."

The Foyd family fell silent.

"And in order to protect myself..."

He looked at Leon.

"I learned one thing."

His grip tightened slightly.

"I never forgive anyone who raises a sword against me."

Then he raised his eyes toward the Foyd family.

"Therefore..."

Silence filled the place.

"Leon’s fate was decided from the moment he challenged me and drew his sword against me."

Lilian's face paled.

"No..."

She whispered.

"Please..."

But Azrael did not change.

Their despair deepened.

Valen pleaded.

Lilian pleaded.

Lunaria and Selena pleaded.

But nothing changed.

Until Leon's breathing began to grow weaker.

Lilian looked at her son's face.

Then at Azrael.

She knew time was running out.

And in that moment...

She did something she would regret for the rest of her life.

She steeled her heart.

And spoke in a trembling voice:

"Then..."

She stopped.

"Th... th..."

Her lips trembled.

Then she closed her eyes and said:

"Then repay the debt you owe me by sparing Leon's life this once."

Everyone froze.

Valen.

Lunaria.

Selena.

They did not understand.

What debt?

They looked at Lilian in confusion, but none of them dared interrupt her.

Perhaps...

Perhaps this was their final chance to save Leon.

As for Azrael...

His gaze changed.

There was something in her words that he did not understand.

A debt?

Him?

To Lilian?

He remembered no such thing.

On the contrary...

If there was a debt between them, he knew perfectly well who owed whom.

He had saved Lilian's life years ago.

She, meanwhile...

Had caused him suffering beyond measure.

Azrael said:

"What debt do I owe you, Lady Foyd?"

Silence descended.

Lilian did not answer.

She was gathering her courage.

She knew the words she was about to say might save Leon...

But they might also destroy the last thread connecting her to Azrael.

She took a trembling breath.

Then opened her mouth.

"A debt..."

She paused.

Then said:

"The debt of giving you life."

Azrael's eyes widened.

Lilian continued:

"Of carrying you within my womb for nine months..."

"And bringing you into this world."

Everything froze.

Valen's face turned pale.

Lunaria's eyes widened.

Selena stared at her mother in shock.

They all knew Lilian had not said those words because she truly believed she had a claim over Azrael.

She had said them because she was desperate.

Because she was watching her other son die before her eyes.

And because she could find no other weapon with which to save his life.

But Azrael...

Continued staring at her.

For a long moment.

Then his eyes widened further.

For the first time since the beginning of this confrontation...

Something moved inside the heart everyone had believed was dead long ago.

Not love.

Nor forgiveness.

But...

the memory of what it felt like to have someone give birth to him.

Then...

He laughed.

A quiet laugh.

"Heh..."

He lowered his head.

Then his laughter grew louder.

"Ha..."

Then it exploded across the place.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Lilian closed her eyes.

She felt as though that laughter were shattering her heart.

It was not a laugh of joy.

There was pain within it.

Mockery.

And a bitterness she could not understand.

After a few moments, Azrael stopped.

Then he said:

"Fine..."

He raised his eyes toward her.

"Fine, Lady Foyd."

His gaze was calm.

But his words were sharper than a sword.

"I must admit..."

"You have astounded me with your cruelty."

Lilian trembled.

He continued:

"You are asking someone whom you caused immeasurable suffering..."

"To repay a debt for the life you gave him and the nine months you carried him in your womb."

Then he gave a smile devoid of joy.

"Is that not so?"

Lilian could not answer.

He continued:

"True."

"I owe you a debt for giving me life."

He stared at Lilian for a long moment.

"But I also saved your life years ago."

Lilian froze.

"So..."

"If we put things that way..."

"Then we are even, are we not, Lady Foyd?"

Lilian's face went pale.

Valen, Lunaria, and Selena understood that Azrael was right.

They had nothing to say in response.

But Azrael was not finished.

He looked at Leon.

Then returned his gaze to Lilian.

"But since you have mentioned this debt..."

Everyone's breathing stopped.

"I will settle it with you."

Then he said:

"And I will repay it twofold."

Lilian's eyes trembled.

"Once..."

He raised one finger.

"When I saved your life."

Then he raised a second finger.

"And once more..."

He looked at Leon.

"When I spare your beloved son's life."

Lilian's eyes widened.

Tears fell from them.

She had succeeded.

Leon would not die.

But before she could even breathe a sigh of relief...

Azrael said:

"But the price..."

He paused.

Then continued:

"Is that this debt will be the last thing connecting us."

Lilian froze.

"From this moment onward..."

Azrael lowered his hand from Leon's throat.

Leon collapsed to the ground, and Selena immediately rushed to him.

As for Azrael, he said:

"I no longer have any relationship with your family."

He looked at Valen.

Then at Lilian.

Then at Lunaria and Selena.

"Not you."

"Not your husband."

"Nor your children."

Then he said:

"Not even the favor..."

His eyes stopped on Lilian.

"Remains between us."

Something inside her broke.

She had succeeded in saving Leon.

But at that very moment...

She had lost her other son.

The son who had searched for her for hundreds of years.

The son who had lived for billions of years.

The son who had once carried a simple wish...

To know why his family had abandoned him.

And now...

The last door leading back to them had been closed.

Valen collapsed to the ground in a sitting position.

He felt no joy that Leon had survived.

Because he knew the price of that life.

Lunaria wept silently.

As for Selena, who was holding Leon in her arms, tears fell onto his face.

Even Leon himself, despite his clouded consciousness, began to realize that his survival was not a victory.

He had survived death...

But the price of his survival had been severing the final thread connecting Azrael to his family.

As for Lilian...

She remained standing before Azrael.

She wanted to say something.

To ask him to stay.

To apologize.

To tell him that she was his mother.

But she could not.

Because she realized that the very word she had used to save Leon...

Was the same word that had torn apart what remained of her relationship with her son.

Azrael raised his eyes toward her one final time.

Then said coldly:

"Consider your debt repaid."

And he turned away.

Behind him...

The Foyd family remained drowned in a heavy silence.

They had saved Leon.

But they had lost Azrael.

And for the first time...

They realized that death was not the cruelest thing that could happen to them.

For the cruelest thing...

Was to have their son remain alive before their eyes...

Yet no longer be their family

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