The days dragged on, heavy and suffocating. Arius's absence had turned into a mystery that gnawed at the walls of the palace. A week passed, then two, and silence was the only news. Clarice withered with every passing hour, sitting in a state of nervous breakdown while clutching a picture of him. Nahira, meanwhile, would glide past her, dropping her poison with cold detachment: "If you had kept him on a leash like a dog, he wouldn't have fled like this... It seems your bird has found a sky far wider than your cage."
In a moment of pure desperation, a servant burst into the living room, panting, "My Lady! Master Arius has returned!"
Clarice didn't wait to hear the rest; she bolted toward the palace courtyard like an arrow. She saw Arius staggering on the horizon, his clothes torn as if he had emerged from the heart of a cosmic storm. She threw herself into his arms, embracing him frantically, but he remained rigid, staring at her with a chilling, vacant coldness before his body suddenly collapsed, falling unconscious in her arms from sheer exhaustion.
Arius was carried to his quarters, where he sank into a deep sleep that lasted three full days. Clarice never left his side. When he finally opened his eyes, he found her asleep in a chair by his bed, her face etched with fatigue and dark circles under her eyes. In a rare moment of tenderness, Arius picked her up and placed her on the bed to rest, then quietly slipped out of the room.
As he wandered the hallways to regain his composure, he found Nahira blocking his path, as if she had been waiting for him. She looked him up and down, saying with a sneer, "You're late... and you look absolutely pathetic. Tell me, where have you been?"
Arius replied in a calm voice, "I was ambushed and had to distance myself for a while to recover."
Nahira burst into laughter, a sound that echoed through the empty corridor. "And you think I'll believe that fairy tale? Do you really think I'm the one who sent people to do that to you?"
Arius looked at her intensely and said firmly, "No. Whoever did it didn't want to kill me; they wanted something else. And you, Nahira, wish for my demise every single moment, so it's impossible for you to be behind this attack."
Nahira's laughter slowly faded, replaced by a sharp look of inquiry. Who was this third party bold enough to attack the future son-in-law of the Rulers without the intention to kill?
Arius moved away from her without another glance, leaving her standing in the corridor, calling after him sharply, "Where are you going?" But he continued walking until he stepped completely out of the palace.
He stood alone in the center of the vast courtyard, surrounded by silence. He closed his eyes, and images of those treacherous attacks flooded his mind. He remembered how he had been traversing the space between galaxies when those strange shadows appeared from nowhere—not mere creatures, but spirits that had been hunting him for weeks, ceaselessly.
"Whoever sent those beings must know me very well," Arius whispered to himself, clenching his fist. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have insisted on tracking me with such malice. But why didn't they kill me? They only gave me minor scratches or diverted their lethal blows at the last second. Damn them! Whoever this is, they are playing a dirty game with me."
Arius realized his current state would not allow him to relax. He took a deep breath and said sternly, "I must evolve. I need to reach that strange state I used during the Grand Tournament that brought together the worlds of the 6th, 9th, and 10th... that massive power that erupted from me and saved me from certain death."
He tried to recall the details, but his memory was blurred. "It was called 'Ria'... or something like that. The important thing is that I need that advanced energy. I've tried for months to recover it or see any sign of it, but my body won't respond... It's as if this power refuses to emerge except in moments of utter despair."
Arius began focusing his "Raizo" at his core, trying to provoke that raw energy, hoping to reopen the gate. He knew for certain that the next enemy would not be content with mere scratches. After exhausting and frustrating attempts to summon that "Ria" energy, Arius felt a lump of despair choking his chest. He sighed in frustration and decided to leave the meditation aside and pour his anger into his physical form, beginning a brutal, unprecedented workout.
He moved with the speed of lightning, throwing strikes into the air that tore apart oxygen molecules, pushing his muscles to the brink of explosion. He did not stop for a second, punishing his body for not responding to that great power. Sweat poured from him like rain until his tattered clothes were soaked through.
Meanwhile, Clarice woke up in a panic, looking left and right, only to find the bed empty. Feeling the coldness of the sheets, she rushed out, calling his name, until she sensed the strong, rhythmic pulse of Raizo emanating from the outer courtyard.
She raced down the stairs and saw him there—a mass of tensed muscles and extreme exertion. Arius stopped immediately when he sensed her arrival, wiping the sweat from his forehead with heavy breaths.
Clarice approached him, her eyes overflowing with concern, and reached out to stroke his face. "It's good you're awake... My heart almost stopped from fear for you, my love! I thought you had vanished again."
Arius looked at her, trying to manage a calm smile to hide the storms of his thoughts, and said in a tired but steady voice, "Don't worry... I am perfectly fine. I just went out for a walk to get some air, but time got away from me. I saw countless planets in my absence, and I had to burn off the energy I'd gathered with a quick workout."
Clarice gripped his hand tightly, as if to verify that he was truly there, and said, "Don't leave like that again without telling me... The world is a desolate place without you. Now, you must rest; your body is shaking from the effort."
Arius nodded in agreement, but his mind was still drifting in the void where the shadows had attacked, wondering: *If those creatures were that powerful, how will I face their master without knowing the true extent of his strength?*
Clarice adjusted her posture and said enthusiastically, "Well, since you're fine, I've planned for us to go on a trip together today!"
Arius looked at her, annoyed. "But I'm very busy, I have to..." He didn't finish his sentence, as Clarice shot him a chilling look, a look that made the Raizo within his body tremble slightly before her imperiousness. Arius stepped back and said quickly, "Fine, fine! I'll come, just stop looking at me like that!"
Clarice suddenly smiled, a cold, feigned innocence. "Good. We're going to have a wonderful time."
Indeed, a massive golden royal carriage arrived, and they boarded it to roam the streets of the capital all day. Clarice was in a shopping frenzy, buying luxurious clothes and exotic gadgets, while Arius stood beside her, trying his best to keep up and satisfy her to avoid her terrifying outbursts. But his eyes were not on the goods.
Arius noticed the people in the streets casting looks of pure hatred at him—looks full of contempt and disgust. Suddenly, the voice of Gillion (King of the Savage Dragons) echoed in Arius's mind, with majesty and rage: "Master... do you see this scum and what they are doing? How dare they look at you like that?!"
Arius replied in his mind, calmly, "Yes, Gillion, I noticed. Everyone on this planet sees me as a traitor because I joined those who once crushed them. It's fine... it doesn't matter what they think."
Gillion growled within his consciousness, "Please, Master! Let me out for just a few minutes... let me burn them all with my black flames and tear their skin for your sake! I cannot bear to see you insulted by their glares!"
Arius said firmly, "No, we won't do that. Stay where you are."
Clarice noticed his distraction and his light mumbling, so she looked at him suspiciously and asked, "Who are you talking to, Arius?" Arius faltered for a moment, then looked at her and said, "No one... I was talking to myself about what we should do next on our tour."
Clarice looked at him with disbelief for a few seconds, then clung to his arm and said, "We're going to the jeweler now; I want something worthy of me." Meanwhile, Arius felt the pressure of Gillion's fire beneath his skin and the weight of the people's gazes upon his shoulders.
While Clarice was immersed in trying on diamond-studded necklaces and rings, Arius sat on a wooden bench in the corner of the shop, trying to escape the noise. Suddenly, a woman wearing elegant clothes but carrying a strange boldness in her eyes approached him. She stood before him and said in an audible tone, "So, you are the famous Arius... the one they say betrayed our country by joining the Revolutionary Army?"
Arius replied spontaneously and calmly, "Yes, that is me." He expected her to spit in his face or despise him like the others, but she surprised him with a seductive smile, leaning in until her breath touched his face. "I admire you... and your defiance of Nahira herself. I am ready to be yours completely... with everything I have."
The woman began to try to seduce him openly, even grabbing his hand and starting to pull him forcefully while whispering, "Come on, come with me... there's a hotel nearby, why don't we spend the night together away from everyone's eyes?" Arius tried to pull away gently, saying, "Thank you, but I'm not interested... please, let go of my hand."
Suddenly, the air cracked with a terrifying hiss, and a red laser beam pierced the girl's heart directly from behind. Arius's blood froze as he watched the girl look behind her in shock before falling dead. Clarice was standing there, her face distorted with rage, her eyes burning with a murderous light he had never seen before.
Clarice didn't just kill her; she lunged at the body and began crushing the girl's head with madness and hatred until she was certain she was dead, amidst the screams of panic from those present, who fled the shop.
Arius was shocked by the scene of blood and the massacre that had happened in seconds. He stepped forward quickly and grabbed Clarice's arm to stop her, but she turned to him, looking at him with eyes that were literally "murderous," and said in a voice raspy from jealousy and hatred: "What were you doing with that whore? Tell me!"
Before he could utter a word, she lunged at him, grabbed him by the throat, and squeezed with all her might. Arius felt the pressure of her immense power—a pressure that surpassed the bounds of rage, as if she had become the embodiment of death in that moment. Air began to run out of his lungs, and the bones of his neck were about to shatter under her trembling fingers.
"You are mine... mine alone! Do you understand? No one has the right to even think about me—did you steal me from myself?" she screamed in his face, increasing the pressure, while Arius felt his body collapsing before her "immense" power, her having lost her mind completely.
Arius's face began to flush, his veins bulging from the pressure, and in a choked voice, he barely managed to whisper, "Please... ah... calm down... I was trying to get away from her... I swear!"
She gazed at him with deadly suspicion, leaning in to whisper with a terrifying hiss: "Oh... really? Weren't you happy while she was praising you a moment ago? Weren't you satisfied with her invitation to enjoy yourselves together in bed?! Answer me!" She increased the grip of her hand so much that Arius's neck bones began to emit a faint cracking sound, and he felt his soul would leave his body at any moment. In the final second, before he lost consciousness, he uttered the words that served as his lifeline: "I... do not love any girl... except for you!"
Suddenly, the burning red aura faded from her purple eyes, and their natural luster returned. Her fingers relaxed gradually, and she looked at him in shock and bewilderment, as if she had been in a trance and just awakened. She said in a trembling voice, "And I... I love you too! But you must know... I am a person very protective of what is mine... I apologize for what I did to you, please forgive me!"
She let him go suddenly and threw herself into his arms, weeping, while Arius staggered, placing his hand on his neck—which had been stained a deep purple from the pressure—and taking deep, rapid breaths as if he had just returned from death.
They left the shop amidst the shock of the passersby and the corpse of the girl left behind as if she were nothing. As Clarice held his arm and wiped her tears, Arius looked ahead with eyes devoid of any emotion, speaking to himself in dead silence: *I can't believe it... this lunatic killed a soul in cold blood just for words! She is truly a terrifying creature... I must be more cautious of her than any enemy I've ever faced. Death with her comes from the hug before the stab.*
Arius realized that his presence beside Clarice was not just an "engagement," but walking a tightrope in the middle of a forest of fire; a single mistake, or even a word from a stranger, could make her turn the capital into ash.
They returned to the palace, and the silence between them was heavier than mountains. Arius stepped out of the carriage without looking back, ignoring Clarice's hand as she tried to touch him. They entered the grand hall where Nahira sat with her usual dignity, asking with a tone filled with malice: "Tell me... how was your day? It seems you both enjoyed yourselves a lot in the capital."
Arius didn't utter a word; he passed her with quick steps, his eyes fixed on the ground, and went straight to his room. Clarice felt a pang in her heart as she watched him move away, but she turned to her sister and put on a fake smile, saying, "Yes, we enjoyed ourselves a lot today... I visited every place with my lover, and it was a day to remember."
The lie didn't fool Nahira, who let out a cynical laugh that shook the corners of the hall. "Yes, true... that is very clear in the eyes of your 'happy' fiancé!" Nahira continued to laugh as she left the room, leaving her provocative echoes to haunt Clarice in every corner.
As soon as Arius closed his door, he didn't go to his bed. Instead, he summoned Dark (The Eternal King). Dark appeared from nowhere like a dense shadow, and without a word, Arius ordered him to open his own "Energy Rift."
The void opened before Arius, and he stepped inside to find himself suddenly in an empty courtyard located in a remote corner of the universe where no light reaches and no humans dwell. Arius threw his exhausted body onto the cold ground and closed his eyes tightly, trying to regain his breath that Clarice had almost stolen forever.
Arius whispered to himself as he sank into the darkness: "I need just one second... one second where I am not a target for Nahira, or a puppet for Clarice."
Dark remained standing as a silent guard at the edge of the rift, watching his master, who had begun to sink into a deep sleep brought on by physical and psychological exhaustion. Meanwhile, the "Shackle" on Arius's hand glowed faintly.
The sun of the following day rose, and Clarice headed with dancing steps and a yearning heart to Arius's suite to wake him, but when she opened the door, she found the room completely empty and the bed made as if no one had slept in it. She went out in a frenzy, wandering the hallways, questioning the servants sharply and interrogating doctors and guards, but the answer was always the same: "We didn't see him, my Lady, and no one passed through here." Anxiety began to turn into sparks of obsession and agitation in her eyes.
On the other side of existence, in that remote cosmic point, Arius opened his eyes slowly. The air here was pure and free from the noise of conspiracies. He took a deep breath and said to Dark, who stood like a mountain behind him: "I feel truly better... this place gives me the rest the palace stole from me."
Dark bowed his head respectfully and answered in his booming voice: "This place is yours, Master, as you always desire."
Arius straightened his posture, resolve filling his eyes, and said: "I have made my decision, Dark. I will not stay in Nahira's palace, and I will not live under the mercy of Clarice's madness. I will live independently somewhere in this vast First World, or perhaps I will leave it behind entirely."
Dark inquired with interest: "Master, the idea is excellent, but when do you intend to implement it?"
Arius looked at the dark horizon and said: "Very soon... as soon as I find work to earn a living through my own effort. I don't want to live off Nahira's money or owe anyone for my daily bread. I will look for work that suits my strength, and if I have to, I will go to the farthest galaxy possible. The important thing is to get away from this hell I've lived through twice in a row."
Dark bowed deeply, his aura of power seemingly growing prouder of his master's decision, and said: "As you command, my Lord. We are your army, and we will follow you wherever you choose to be, whether in palaces or on the paths of labor and hardship."
For the first time in a long time, Arius felt he had control of his own fate. He was planning a different kind of revolution—a revolution against the constraints imposed on him by the ruling "family"—to begin the journey of a man who crafts his own destiny, far from being a "ring" on Clarice's finger or a "prisoner of war" to Nahira.
Dark opened the spatial rift with silent mastery, and Arius stepped through, returning to the heart of the palace. This time, however, he exited from the "Doctors' Wing" side, acting intelligently to suggest to everyone that he had been undergoing examinations or receiving treatment for his recent exhaustion.
As he walked quietly and steadily, the maid Lorinda caught a glimpse of his shadow and rushed toward him, panic filling her features. "Master! You are here at last!" Arius stopped coldly and asked, "What is it? Why all this confusion?"
Lorinda said, catching her breath: "Master... Lady Clarice has been looking for you for hours. She has gone completely mad and turned the palace upside down! No one dared to stand in her way." Arius asked with an indifferent tone: "And where is she now?" Lorinda replied: "She is in the outer courtyard... and she is very, very angry. I advise you to be careful, Master."
A mysterious smile appeared on Arius's lips, and he shook his head, saying: "Thank you... I will take care of it." He left her behind, humming a soft tune, the feeling of happiness and liberation he had derived from his secret place still enveloping his soul. He was no longer afraid of her outbursts; he felt that he now had a plan for an eternal escape.
Arius headed toward the outer courtyard with confident steps, and as he got closer, he felt Clarice's agitated aura, which was almost burning the air around her. He saw her from a distance standing in the middle of the courtyard like a raging volcano, but he continued to walk toward her without retreating, as if he were going to face his fate with a completely cold heart.
The sight in the outer courtyard was like a lost battlefield; soldiers lay on the ground in pain, armor shattered by Clarice's merciless bouts of rage. As one of the exhausted soldiers raised his trembling hand to point toward the horizon, Clarice caught a glimpse of Arius's shadow approaching coldly and calmly.
In the blink of an eye, she took off like an arrow, the ground cracking under her feet from the force of her dash. As soon as she reached him, she threw herself onto him, hugging him with a force that almost broke his ribs, screaming in a voice torn by malice and anxiety: "Where were you?! Why didn't you tell me?! How dare you leave without my permission?! I was going to burn the palace and everyone in it looking for you!"
Arius looked at her with total coldness, and that provocative smile he had gained from his new sense of power appeared on his face. He said calmly: "Calm down... I was sleeping inside a large crate in the basement, and it seems I fell into a deep sleep and lost all sense of time."
Clarice stopped screaming and stepped back to look at his face with wide, astonished, and indignant eyes. She said sharply: "Sleeping?! You tell me you were simply sleeping while I have been searching for you since the first threads of dawn?! How dare you frighten me like this? Do you think my feelings are a game in your hands?"
Her breath was rising like flames, while Arius remained steady, watching her eruption as if watching an ordinary scene. He had begun to realize that "playing the victim" or "the follower" no longer appealed to her.
Arius said in a calm tone: "Let's go inside..." But the words remained unfinished; the planet's atmosphere suddenly split open with a flash attack that descended from space like a meteorite of pure darkness.
Automatically and instinctively, Arius's body moved with an agile motion he had never executed before, as if the "energy" within him responded to the threat before it happened. He whispered in amazement while breathing a sigh of relief: "How did I do that? How did I avoid an attack of this speed?"
There was no time to wonder, as huge numbers of Shadow Soldiers descended from the sky—faceless creatures resembling the shadows that had besieged him in deep space days ago. With lightning speed, Arius summoned his own Energy Soldiers, and battalions armed with Raizo appeared in the courtyard, forming a tight siege around the invaders.
Clarice looked in astonishment at Arius's army, the vastness of which she hadn't known, but Arius shouted at her firmly: "Clarice! Get back immediately... things are not what they seem!"
Arius's soldiers pounced on the shadows and began crushing them with brutal tearing and destruction. But here, the shock that froze the blood in the veins occurred: every time a shadow soldier was killed, its shadow remains divided to form two new soldiers, and every time two were crushed, three grew in their place!
Arius shouted in amazement: "What kind of power is this? They feed on death!"
With their numbers increasing horrifyingly, Arius found no choice but to summon the Elite. He shouted loudly: "Rhinos! Dark! Advance!"
Rhinos appeared with his lethal power, and Dark with his immortal aura, and they charged like a hurricane into the shadow soldiers. Rhinos tore them apart, and Dark erased their existence, but the catastrophe grew; the shadow army had multiplied hundreds of times in minutes, until their blackness covered the entire palace courtyard, and their numbers began to overwhelm the energy soldiers.
Arius became agitated, feeling a massive pressure on his chest as he saw his loyal soldiers being surrounded in an endless sea of shadow proliferation. He whispered to himself as he saw the scene spiraling out of control: "This is not an ordinary attack... this is a geometric curse! Every time we fight, they get stronger... so how do I kill something that breathes annihilation?"