"What the fuck do you think you’re doing?"

With one hand, Vanitas roughly lifted the Saintess up on the back of her dress.

"Ah, Vanitas," the Saintess replied calmly despite the situation. "Have you already finished your business?"

"Yeah," Vanitas answered flatly. "It’s Emperor now."

His amethyst eyes narrowed.

"Now explain something to me, Fyodor," he continued coldly. "What exactly do you think you’re doing? Is this seriously the time for you to be playing these stupid games?"

At those words, Astrid’s eyes widened slightly.

"...Fyodor?"

Meanwhile, the Saintess, whatever was currently wearing Selena’s face, visibly pouted in annoyance. To Vanitas, the expression itself looked deeply unnatural against Selena’s otherwise divine appearance.

"Spoilsport," Fyodor complained. "You didn’t have to ruin the surprise like that."

Vanitas’s expression only darkened further.

"...Grown-ass man pretending to be a little girl," he muttered. "What the hell has the world come to?"

"Heh."

Oddly enough, Fyodor actually giggled.

"That aside," Fyodor continued cheerfully, "this is actually perfect timing."

His emerald-green eyes slowly shifted toward Ezra.

"Let’s kill that brat."

The moment those words left his mouth, Ezra immediately tensed.

Dark mana instinctively flared around his body while his already injured figure visibly prepared itself for another confrontation despite barely being capable of standing anymore.

"...."

Meanwhile, Vanitas slowly turned his head toward him.

"Ezra?" he said with a slightly raised brow.

For a moment, Ezra looked visibly conflicted.

"P-Professor..." Ezra said through gritted teeth. "What exactly is the meaning of this?"

"...."

Vanitas surveyed the ruined cathedral around him.

Standing directly before him was Ezra, bloodied and barely remaining conscious while dark magic fluctuated around his body. Nearby stood Astrid, whom Vanitas realized he had not properly seen in quite some time now.

And farther in the distance, Silas and Cassandra remained completely frozen in place, too stunned to properly process the situation before them anymore.

Vanitas let out a long sigh before roughly lifting Fyodor even higher by the back of Selena’s dress, forcing the possessed Saintess to properly meet his gaze.

Meanwhile, Fyodor simply dangled there without resistance, looking more amused than threatened by the situation.

"Now’s really not the time for this," Vanitas said. "I need you."

"...Really?"

"There’s only one seal left. The vessel needs to remain on standby."

"Ah."

At those words, genuine understanding finally surfaced across Fyodor’s face.

The dragon bones.

There was only one seal remaining.

And once the final seal was broken, the summoning process would inevitably begin accelerating far beyond the point of containment.

To ensure Araxys’s descent into the world proceeded properly, Fyodor needed to remain nearby as the acting vessel anchoring the process itself. After all, Fyodor now possessed Selena’s body.

"...I see," Fyodor murmured softly while tilting his head. "So we’re finally approaching the climax."

A breath left Astrid’s lips. "...Araxys?"

Ezra immediately reacted as well.

The moment that name surfaced again, the dark magic surrounding him visibly fluctuated stronger than before.

Vanitas immediately noticed it.

His gaze slowly shifted toward Ezra afterward.

"Ezra," Vanitas said. "Go get treated."

"Ah...?"

Ezra visibly looked caught off guard by the sudden instruction.

Considering everything currently happening inside the ruined cathedral, being told to simply "go get treated" almost sounded absurdly ordinary in comparison, as if Vanitas was speaking to him in the same casual tone one might use toward a student who had merely overworked himself during class.

Then, Vanitas slowly turned his attention back toward Fyodor.

"And Fyodor," he continued, "if you so much as touch a single strand of Ezra’s hair... consider our agreement void."

Fyodor’s expression darkened.

Then slowly, a sinister smile spread across Selena’s otherwise divine face, creating a contrast that made the surrounding atmosphere feel even more disturbing.

The playful demeanor he carried earlier gradually disappeared, replaced by something colder and far more malicious.

"You’re going to regret that," Fyodor said.

Vanitas narrowed his eyes. "And why exactly would I regret it?"

Without answering immediately, Fyodor slowly raised a hand before pointing directly toward Ezra.

"Because that man is the very thing Araxys has been protecting humanity from."

"...?"

The words immediately caused the atmosphere throughout the ruined cathedral to freeze completely.

Even Astrid was left speechless after hearing that statement, while Cassandra and Silas instinctively looked toward Ezra with confusion and disbelief written across their faces.

Vanitas slowly turned his gaze toward Ezra afterward.

Ezra instinctively took a small step backward beneath that stare. Truthfully, even he himself had no idea what kind of nonsense Fyodor was currently spouting anymore, yet the worst part was the fact that Fyodor did not sound like he was joking at all.

Seeing the confusion written across Ezra’s face, Vanitas eventually spoke again.

"...I’ll deal with you later."

The words alone immediately caused Ezra to swallow deeply.

Then, without another word, Vanitas turned around and began walking away from the ruined cathedral. Fyodor followed shortly afterward after finally being released from Vanitas’s grip, casually adjusting Selena’s dress and hair as though nothing strange had happened at all.

Meanwhile, Kafka, who had remained silent throughout the entire exchange, slowly turned as well.

However, before fully leaving, the boy briefly glanced back one final time toward Ezra and Astrid.

It was then.

"P-Professor...!"

Astrid, who had remained quiet this entire time, finally stepped forward.

"Professor... wait a minute...!"

Her voice slightly faltered midway through speaking.

Despite everything that had happened, despite Vanitas murdering her own brother in cold blood right in front of her eyes, a part of her still instinctively called out to him as though he were still the same professor she once knew.

Yet Vanitas never turned around even once.

There was simply no more time left.

The sooner he completed what he had set out to accomplish, the better it would be for everyone involved.

"Professor...!"

Vanitas, who had been moments away from disappearing from the ruined cathedral entirely alongside Fyodor and Kafka, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"...."

Then, Astrid wrapped her arms around him from behind.

The sudden contact immediately caused the atmosphere throughout the cathedral to fall silent once more. Even Fyodor momentarily paused out of curiosity while Kafka watched the scene unfold without saying a single word.

"...Astrid."

"I’m sorry..."

Astrid’s grip around him tightened.

"I’m so sorry..."

"...."

For several moments, Vanitas said absolutely nothing.

Truthfully, there was nothing left for him to say to her anymore.

While he had deliberately distanced Astrid from himself because of the role she still needed to fulfill later, truthfully, Vanitas no longer wanted to involve himself with her any further.

"I’m sorry for betraying you..." Astrid continued. "I’m sorry for doubting you..."

Her voice gradually shook more with every word.

"I’m sorry for everything you had to endure because of my family..."

"...."

"I’m sorry..."

Astrid slowly lowered her head against his back.

"...That things ended up becoming like this..."

"...."

Beyond the broken walls, the Empire itself continued descending further into chaos with every passing moment.

Riots continued spreading throughout the capital while panic consumed the streets of Aetherion following the Emperor’s death.

Somewhere far away, bells rang endlessly throughout the city while smoke gradually rose into the night sky, marking the beginning of an era the Empire would never recover from.

Yet despite all of that, Astrid could barely bring herself to care anymore. Realizing this, Vanitas let out a sigh before shifting his gaze toward Fyodor.

"Go ahead," he said. "Take Kafka with you."

Fyodor raised a brow before a grin slowly spread across Selena’s face once more.

"Got it~" 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Without wasting much more time, Fyodor eventually turned away from the ruined cathedral alongside Kafka, who quietly followed behind him after taking one final glance toward the others remaining there.

Soon afterward, only Vanitas, Astrid, Ezra, Cassandra, and Silas remained amidst the shattered remains of the church.

Then, Vanitas spoke again.

"Astrid."

Despite his rejection, Astrid only tightened her hold around him further.

"Professor, please..." she muttered desperately. "Please don’t die..."

Her voice had already begun trembling uncontrollably.

"I’ll do everything," she continued hurriedly. "I’ll take over for you if I have to... I’ll make sure nobody in Aetherion hates you even after all of this..."

"...."

"I-I’ll dedicate my life to research," Astrid continued desperately. "That’s right... I’ll find a cure for your cancer... I’ll fix this somehow, so please just—"

"Astrid."

But Astrid refused to let go.

"Professor!" she suddenly screamed.

"...."

"I don’t..." Her voice cracked. "I don’t want you to die..."

Silence filled the ruined cathedral afterward.

Because, regardless of the countless sins now staining Vanitas Astrea’s hands, at this moment, Astrid was no longer speaking to the man who killed her brother, but to someone she did not want to lose.

Then, eventually, Vanitas slowly lowered his gaze.

For several moments, he remained completely silent before finally speaking in an unusually soft voice.

"Astrid."

Astrid only buried her face deeper against his back.

"You’re a young woman with a future ahead of you," Vanitas said. "And as young as you are... you’re naturally going to make mistakes."

"...."

"But never mistake your parents’ mistakes as your own."

"...Professor."

"Whatever happened between your mother and me has nothing to do with you," Vanitas continued. "So stop burdening yourself with it."

"...."

"And whatever your father and your brother did to the people of this Empire... that has nothing to do with you either."

Ever since coming back from the north, Astrid had secluded herself in isolation and reflection, realizing that she had to shoulder responsibilities and guilt that were never truly hers to begin with.

And upon returning, she had started convincing herself that she personally needed to atone for all of it simply because she happened to be born into that bloodline.

And perhaps, that was exactly the kind of tragedy Vanitas hated most.

This was precisely why the nation had to change.

Why Aetherion, in its current form, had to be destroyed and rebuilt from the ground up rather than merely reformed through empty promises and temporary political compromises.

Because the Empire had long since become a place where children inherited guilt before they were even old enough to understand the sins they were apologizing for.

People like Astrid should never have been forced to carry burdens that did not belong to them.

"And my illness... it has nothing to do with you, either..."

"Professor... please..."

Without forcefully prying her arms away from him, Vanitas turned around and gently placed a hand on her head.

"Astrid," Vanitas said. "Do you remember what I usually did before dismissing all of you after my lectures?"

Astrid looked visibly confused through her tears.

"...?"

"Homework?" Silas answered from nearby.

At some point, he and Cassandra had already approached alongside Ezra, the three of them standing a short distance away while watching the interaction.

Vanitas nodded. "Yes. Homework."

He looked directly down at Astrid.

"So I have homework for you," he said. "Can you do it?"

Astrid immediately nodded. "Yes... I’ll do anything..."

Vanitas remained silent for several moments before eventually opening his mouth.

"So..."

* * *

"Took you long enough."

Fyodor casually looked up the moment Vanitas returned.

"How was the reunion with your students?"

Vanitas ignored the question entirely.

The moment he arrived, he immediately pulled out a chair and sat down without wasting another second.

"Forget about that," Vanitas said. "I have a question for you, Fyodor."

"Hm?"

"What exactly are Alephs?"

The moment those words left his mouth, Fyodor’s eyes visibly sparkled.

Then slowly, a grin spread across his face.

"So Araxys finally decided to let you in on the details, huh?"