CHAPTER 29: Bound by Strings

Helion’s threads snapped into place, a precise, delicate weave meant to counter Rin’s illusions. His golden eyes flickered—reading every pattern, every shift in fate.

Then—

Their surroundings shifted, realizing they were back in the room. Their eyes darted around, and then they saw her—Anna, motionless on the ground. Meanwhile, Miki’s gaze landed on Rin, who lay defeated nearby.

Anna..!

Miki smirked, tilting her head with amusement. “Oh no~ My beloved Rin… what have you done to her? You boys aren’t very gentle with a girl, are you?”

Kaziel’s grip on his sword tightened, his gaze sharp and unyielding. “Your playtime is over, girls.”

Miki giggled, stepping toward him with slow, deliberate confidence. “Too bad~” she sang, golden eyes gleaming with mischief. She moved closer, undeterred, and as she approached, she tilted her head slightly. “You do believe in illusions, don’t you?”

Helion tensed, something about her gaze setting off a warning in his mind.

Suddenly, his strings—weren’t responding?

His eyes widened. Recalling the moment he had cut a path through her illusion—another fate had been rewritten instead.

"Kaziel—" Helion tried to warn but it was too late.

Kaziel wasted no time. Before Miki could take another step, he struck. His blade sliced through her effortlessly, cutting deep. Miki’s body crumpled to the ground.

And then, Helion’s heart froze.

Dark mist curled around her fallen form, shattering like delicate glass. A burst of laughter rang out, soft at first, then growing louder, echoing with unsettling amusement.

“Hahaha… Hahahahh!!!”

Kaziel remained still, his blade still poised, but something about the way Miki’s laughter filled the air unsettled him. His strike had landed, and yet, she was unharmed. The Miki he had just cut down was nothing more than an illusion.

Then, as if to confirm his suspicion, she reappeared, stepping back into the scene as though nothing had happened. Kaziel frowned, his expression unreadable.

“Huh…?”

Before either of them could react, Rin’s body dissolved into shadow, vanishing like smoke. Moments later, she emerged once more, standing beside Miki as if she had never fallen in the first place.

Helion’s gaze sharpened. “That domain… It was all an illusion,” he muttered, his voice steady as the pieces clicked into place. “A trick for us to play along. Everything that happened went according to Rin’s Dominic Veil.”

His eyes flicked between the two girls, his realization settling like a weight in the air. “They planned this from the start—to test us.”

Kaziel’s jaw tightened in frustration, his grip on his sword white-knuckled. “Tch… Enough with the games.”

Helion, however, wasn’t finished. His gaze shifted toward Anna, who was still sitting on the ground, silent and unmoving. “You weren’t here to protect the Duke… You came to see her, didn’t you?”

Anna didn’t move, her head still lowered, her presence heavy with something unspoken. Kaziel furrowed his brow, trying to piece together the connection between her and Miki. Before he could speak, Miki clapped her hands together with a bright, playful grin.

“Ding, ding, ding~! Correct!” she sang. Her voice was light, but her eyes told a different story.

“Miki here to reunite with my old bestie…” Her tone shifted, playful amusement giving way to something far more menacing. Her glowing eyes bore into them, unrelenting.

“…who is going to turn her back against you.”

Helion clenched his jaw. He couldn’t risk it.

One thread—just one—

If he severed the right one, he could escape from the domain. He could—

SNAP.

His golden strings cut through reality itself.

But before Kaziel and Helion could react, the world twisted once more.

The domain shifted, and in the blink of an eye, Miki was gone meanwhile the echoes of Rin’s laughter faded into an eerie silence.

A dim-lit hall, its marble floors cracked and veined with unnatural energy. The air hummed with an oppressive force, thick with a presence neither alive nor dead. The Sapphire Heart’s corrupted energy seeped into the very walls, warping the reality around them.

Kaziel’s grip on his sword tightened.

Helion was still bound, his golden threads wrapped around his wrists like shackles. His breath was ragged, his body tense—his fate had been rewritten, and he was still struggling to break free from Rin’s curse.

But it wasn’t over.

Not yet.

Because standing at the center of the room—her body still as a statue—was Anna.

Her raven perched on her shoulder, its feathers unnaturally stiff, glowing faintly under the sickly blue light.

Her wolf—silent, unmoving, its eyes hollow.

And Anna herself…

Her once fierce crimson eyes were empty.

Something was wrong.

“…She’s under control.” Helion’s voice was barely a whisper, his golden eyes narrowing.

Kaziel’s chest tightened.

She wasn’t moving on her own.

Somewhere in the distance, Rin’s presence flickered—not fully there, but lingering like a shadow.

Her voice slithered into the air, a taunting, sing-song melody that curled around them like silk.

"Oops~ Looks like she got tangled up in our little game~"

A soft, amused chuckle followed.

"Oh my~ How entertaining~" Miki purred, her words dripping with satisfaction.

Kaziel’s fists clenched. “We could’ve taken her down earlier.”

Helion’s gaze remained locked on Anna.

"We couldn’t, even if we tried." His voice was steady but edged with realization. "It was all under Dominion Veil’s illusion—"

But then—

His voice stopped the moment Anna’s eyes lifted.

Her gaze locked onto them.

And then—

She attacked.

A blur of black and crimson—her wolf lunged first, its claws gleaming with an unnatural glow.

Kaziel barely dodged, rolling backward as the beast’s claws grazed his arm, the force alone sending cracks into the stone floor.

“Anna, wait—!”

Helion, still bound, grit his teeth. He could barely move, and Anna's wolf was advancing fast against him.

Her raven took flight—its body dissolving into a flurry of shadow-like blades, striking toward them like a hailstorm.

Kaziel slashed through the storm, his blade cutting through the conjured darkness, but Anna was already there.

She was faster.

Her movements were unnatural—flawless, as if she were no longer bound by her own will but something far more precise.

Suddenly, her dagger clashed against Kaziel’s, his grip on his sword tightened,

"Hey.. Anna..! Look at me! This isn't you!"

Though Anna remained silent, her gaze flared with anger, sending a pulse of corrupted Elyssence through the steel. Kaziel gritted his teeth, as he noticed.

The same energy he felt at the FarmLand. He had fought alongside Anna before—had watched her battle with calculated aggression.

But this—

This wasn’t her.

The force behind her blade wasn’t her own.

Helion stepped back, golden threads flickering in the dim light.

The wolf lunged—its claws carving through air, aiming straight for his throat.

With a flick of his wrist, Helion’s strings didn’t just block—they redirected.

The threads snapped taut mid-air, catching the beast’s limbs. With a slight shift, Helion changed the angles of the woven strands—twisting the wolf’s momentum against itself.

The creature was yanked mid-motion, its body flung sideways instead of forward.

But before Helion could reset his stance—

The wolf vanished.

Then reappeared.

A blur—unnatural speed—it was already mid-strike, barreling toward him.

Helion barely twisted out of the way, his fingers ghosting over unseen strands of fate.

Snap.

A single thread severed— and the attack should have hit.

Anna’s wolf lunged— but its strike passed harmlessly through empty air.

It had missed.

Not by chance.

Not by skill.

But because Helion had already rewritten the path of reality itself.

He barely twisted out of the way, his footwork careful, measured— every step dictated by strands only he could see.

But the moment he stumbled—

The bird was there.

A blast of energy tore through the air, racing straight for him.

For a fraction of a second, it looked like it would hit—

But Helion’s last strand of fate had already been severed.

The attack missed.

As if it was never meant to hit him at all.

Kaziel’s blade clashed against Anna’s with a force that sent vibrations through his arms. She was too fast.

Too precise.

Every strike came with deadly intent, her dagger flashing like a silver phantom, her movements relentless. Kaziel parried, barely keeping up.

He wasn’t fighting to win.

He was hesitating.

And in that brief moment of reluctance—she seized her chance.

Kaziel’s instincts flared, his body moving before his mind caught up.

A flash of silver—his blade met hers in the final second, sparks exploding between them as he forced her back.

“Damn it, Anna!” he growled, breath ragged. “Wake up already! Are you really going to kill your own childhood friend!?”

Anna’s crimson gaze burned. Her expression twisted with something sharp, something raw.

“Childhood friend!?” she spat, her voice laced with fury. “Huh!? Do you even give a damn about that anymore!?”

Kaziel’s eyes flickered, recognizing the pain buried in her words. But before he could react—

A brutal flying kick struck him square in the chest.

The impact was like a thunderclap.

Kaziel was sent hurtling backward, his boots scraping against the ground as he barely managed to steady himself.

Yet, instead of pain, he felt something else.

Surprise.

She was holding back.

Anna should have broken him.

She should have crushed him.

But she hadn’t.

"You never saw me as your childhood friend at all!" Anna’s voice cut through the battlefield, her rage crackling in the air like an incoming storm. "You’ve forgotten it all!"

She lunged—no hesitation.

Kaziel barely had time to raise his blade before she was on him.

The clash was brutal.

Anna’s dagger lashed out, blurring through the air like a streak of silver lightning. Each movement was precise, controlled—designed to kill.

Kaziel parried, countered, dodged—his blade meeting hers over and over again. Sparks burst with each collision, their battle a storm of steel and fury.

Anna was fighting like a feral beast, driven by raw instinct and rage, her vampiric strength making her a force of nature.

She twisted low, aiming for his ribs—Kaziel sidestepped just in time, countering with a downward slash, but she vanished.

A blur of shadows.

Then—she was behind him.

Her dagger whipped toward his spine, but Kaziel’s body reacted faster than his mind. Lightning crackled through him—his speed surging beyond human limits.

He twisted, blade intercepting hers at the last second.

A deafening clash.

The shockwave from the impact sent cracks splintering through the ground beneath them.

Kaziel gritted his teeth.

He was faster.

But she was ruthless.

Anna’s vampiric abilities made her relentless, her strikes ceaseless, unpredictable. She could vanish and reappear within a breath, her dagger always inches from drawing blood.

And yet—Kaziel still hesitated.

Every strike he deflected, every counter he held back—it wasn’t because he wasn’t strong enough.

It was because he didn’t want to hurt her.

Helion, however, his breath was uneven. He had to think. He had to act.

If he still had control over fate, he could—

No.

His own fate had been rewritten by Rin’s curse. His own ability was bound.

But…

What if Anna’s wasn’t?

His eyes flickered to the threads controlling her.

They weren’t like his.

They were different.

They weren’t fate itself. They were bound energy—linked to something else.

Something else..?

Kaziel struggled against her relentless assault, his blade barely keeping up.

Helion inhaled sharply.

If he couldn’t weave fate—

He had to unravel it.

And then—

SNAP.

Sakura startled for a moment, stood in the dim ballroom, her breath steady despite the eerie silence pressing in. She had cut down every last Greed, their bodies dissolving into wisps of darkness, yet something still felt wrong.

The weight of solitude settled over her as she took out her golden clock, fingers running over its familiar surface.

"Did I… save everyone?"

But before the thought could take root, hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor.

Illiad burst into the ballroom, panting, his face pale with terror. Murmurs rippled through the crowd as nobles and guests turned toward him, their whispers weaving through the air in confusion.

Sakura turned at the sound, her green eyes widening. "Eh? Illiad? How did you get in here?"

Just moments ago, the entire place had been sealed—trapped within a domain of Greeds. Yet now, everything was untouched, pristine. The chandeliers glowed, nobles laughed and conversed, and the ballroom floor shimmered beneath the elegant waltz of the dancers.

Had the others already defeated it?

Or—

Was it all just an illusion?

Illiad barely caught his breath before exclaiming, "I’m late!"

His panic sent a ripple of unease through her as he started to speak in a low voice.

"Where are the others?" His frantic gaze darted across the ballroom, his expression dark with urgency.

Sakura remained composed, but a small frown tugged at her lips. "What’s wrong? I guess we have settled this. They will come back soon."

"No!" Illiad clenched his fists. "This is worse than I imagined."

Sakura slightly surprised. "Wh-what.. do you mean?.."

Illiad adjusted his glasses, his teeth grinding together. "While I was going out… I noticed someone walked passed the Tradepost. Their uniform—it was the same as the people my father worked with."

Sakura's stomach twisted.

Illiad continued, voice strained. "I sneaked quietly and overheard them talking about the Sapphire Heart collectors. They were never after Duke Valcrid. He was nothing more than a tool in their real plan."

Sakura’s body stiffened. "What?"

"They were luring you guys into a trap. Kaziel and others—they were never meant to win."

Sakura’s heart pounded as she turned her gaze toward the second floor.

"Kaziel…!"

Illiad pushed up his glasses, his breath still uneven. "I thought I wasn’t too late, but—"

Before he could finish, Sakura was already moving.

She ran.

"Hey—wait!" Illiad called after her, but before he could take a step, a figure blocked his path.

A guard.

Not just any guard—the leader he had met the other day.

Illiad barely had time to react before the man stepped closer, cutting off his escape.

A sly smirk curled across his lips. "We need to talk."

As Sakura ran upstairs, passing by the nobles, murmurs followed in her wake.

"Who is she?"

"Is she supposed to be here?"

She didn’t stop. She didn’t care.

Something was wrong.

The ballroom was peaceful—too peaceful. The laughter, the music, the flickering candlelight—everything was as it should be.

And yet, a cold unease coiled in her gut, a deep, gut-wrenching fear clawing at her chest.

Something was still wrong.

Her fingers curled into fists.

"I thought I could leave it to him."

But now—she wasn’t so sure.

She had trusted Helion to weave their fate into something they could survive.

But she was wrong.

In the end, fate always demanded its price.

No matter how much they fought against it, consequences were inevitable.

And she—

She was terrified.

Terrified of losing her friends all over again.

Sakura reached the second floor.

The moment she set foot on the landing, a suffocating presence washed over her.

A domain.

Dark shadows pulsed like living tendrils, weaving into the very walls of the corridor. The atmosphere was too heavy—too thick.

She watched as the other nobles glanced at her in passing, their expressions calm, indifferent—completely unaware.

They walked through the domain as if nothing had happened.

As if it wasn’t there at all.

Even though the air still crackled with something dangerous, suffocating, its overwhelming intensity pressing down on her like a weight—they didn’t notice.

Her chest tightened.

She was terrified.

Her fingers clenched into fists.

Could he even see this domain?

Or was it only visible to her?

Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward—into the abyss.

And the moment she did, her breath caught in her throat.

The scene before her was chaos.

Anna and Kaziel were clashing—blades ringing through the air in a brutal storm of steel and magic. Sparks ignited with every collision, illuminating the battlefield in fractured glimpses.

Meanwhile—

Helion was on his knees, golden threads snapped and frayed around him. His breathing was ragged, his fingers twitching weakly, as if his very existence had been unwoven.

Sakura’s eyes widened.

"No…"

This wasn’t just a battle.

This was destruction.

Anna, however, had no such restraint.
She slipped beneath Kaziel's guard, her dagger flashing upward—aiming straight for his throat.

"Anna..!"

Sakura’s voice cut through the chaos, her footsteps pounding against the ground as she ran toward them.

Anna flinched.

Her sharp focus wavered for just a second—her gaze flickering toward Sakura.

And then she saw it.

The gem she had bought for Sakura, now resting as a delicate hairclip in her side hair.

For a fleeting moment, the battlefield disappeared.

And that second—that single moment of hesitation—was all Kaziel needed.

His hand shot out, catching her wrist.

His grip was tight, unrelenting.

Their gazes locked—crimson against electric silver-blue

Her eyes burned with betrayal.

His gaze with something unreadable.

The storm between them was far from over.

Anna moved in for the kill—

A single golden thread lashed out—cutting through the invisible bindings controlling her dagger arm.

Anna’s entire body jerked.

Her wolf stumbled.

Her raven scattered into pieces of light.

Kaziel’s eyes widened.

Helion’s threads tightened—cutting one, two, three more of the cursed bindings, forcing them to unravel at their source.

Anna gasped.

The moment of hesitation was all Kaziel needed.

Before Sakura could even react, Anna’s crimson gaze flickered with disbelief—the realization hitting her too late.

The same as Kaziel moved—fast, closing the distance.

His reluctant gaze betraying the resolve behind his movements. His sword pressed against her neck, the cold steel meeting her skin before she could react.

And for the first time—

Steel clashed.

A burst of force rippled through the air as Miki’s blade intercepted Kaziel’s, appearing between them in a flash of motion. The impact of their clash shook the surroundings, the sheer intensity sending a gust of wind through the battlefield.

Sakura stood speechless, caught between the moment.

Helion, however, smirked.

This was exactly what he had been waiting for.

He had cut the thread for this moment.

Everything had unfolded as he had calculated.

Miki was never going to let Kaziel kill Anna. That much was certain.

And yet, Rin had expected them to fail—to fall into her game of fate.

Her rules were clear: "They cannot kill Anna, no matter what. Even if they refuse to take her life, their own may be the consequence."

But Helion had rewritten fate itself.

His gaze shifted toward Sakura, who remained frozen in confusion.

She was the final piece.

Helion had been betting on her from the very start.