NERO didn't hesitate to enter the portal that Calyx opened up for him.
It wasn't like he had lowered his guard.
That was why he summoned Zeru– the ice phoenix. He rode on his Soul Beast with Dahlia on the back.
Calyx only allowed one person to come with him.
"Stay here," Nero said to Melvin and his other knights. "Inform Father about what happened here."
Melvin looked worried, but he still nodded and obeyed his command without questions. "I understand, Prince Nero. Please be safe." He then turned to Dahlia. "Miss Dahlia, I leave His Imperial Highness in your capable hands."
"Don't worry, Sir Melvin," Dahlia, who was barely holding onto Nero's shirt while sitting behind him, assured Melvin. "I will protect Prince Nero."
Nero just scoffed.
[I don't need anyone's protection.]
"We're wasting time here," Calyx, who was riding on a giant crow as big as the ice phoenix, said impatiently. "Let's go."
And then they entered the portal.
Nero and Dahlia on the ice phoenix, and Calyx on his unusually large crow.
Fortunately, he didn't feel anything strange in the portal that seemed like a dark tunnel, with a tiny light at the end of it.
And Nero could feel Neoma's presence nearby.
[You can't die, Neoma– you just can't.]
"Aren't you doing a good job holding back, Prince Nero?" Calyx asked in an annoyingly cheerful voice. "I thought you were going to snap as soon as you received the bad news."
"Neoma is still alive," Nero said sternly without even turning to Calyx. "But shut your mouth if you don't want to die here. I'm barely holding back from murdering the hell out of you, you crazy obsessive filthy thing."
Of course, he wasn't calm at all.
It wasn't the first time that he felt Neoma's pain through their connection as twins. But he could tell that the pain he felt earlier was different.
[My Core felt like it was getting shattered.]
Even the de Moonasterios could get killed if their Cores got shattered, only it was more difficult for people to do that since the de Moonasterios were blessed with bodies as hard as steel.
[It's supposed to be that way, Neoma. So, what happened?]
"We're here, Prince Nero," Calyx announced when they got near the end of the "tunnel." "Prepare your heart."
Instead of giving a verbal response, Nero only threw a few ice daggers at Calyx (who just laughed like the lunatic that he was.
Then Nero patted the ice phoenix, asking it to fly faster.
As a result, Dahlia suddenly yelped out of surprise before she wrapped her arms around his waist as a reflex.
[Ah.]
Nero knew it wasn't the right time to think about it, but he couldn't help but feel the softness of Dahlia's body– especially the chest area– pressed nicely against his back.
[And why do I like Dahlia's scent a lot?]
"I'm sorry, Prince Nero," Dahlia said, embarrassed, while loosening her arms around Nero's waist. "I didn't mean to…"
Nero scoffed at Dahlia's apology. "I know you hate getting any form of contact with me, Dahlia. You don't have to apologize every time."
Dahlia gasped as if she was panicking. "You know I didn't mean it that way, Prince Nero."
"Dahlia, do you not notice it?"
"Notice what, Prince Nero?"
"That you're too conscious of me."
Dahlia fell silent this time.
Nero didn't say that with the intention of embarrassing Dahlia, but he didn't have the time to explain when they finally got out of the portal…
… and the first thing that he saw was Neoma bleeding on the ground.
Once again, he felt like his chest was forced open and someone ripped his heart out.
"Neoma!"
He wanted to deny the reality.
But how could he when Neoma's face lit up as soon as she saw him as the shine in her eyes slowly dimmed?
[No… this can't be happening…]
Neoma smiled, her trembling hand moved and reached out to him. "Dongsaeng, can you call me 'noona' for the first and last time?"
He hated it.
Not the fact that Neoma was asking him to call her 'older sister,' but the fact that Neoma was saying it as if it was her dying wish.
Even so, how could he refuse Neoma this time?
Nero's face scrunched up as he was trying his best not to cry at the moment. "You can't die, Neoma. How dare you die without me?!" he yelled, angry at himself for failing to protect Neoma as he reached his hand out to her desperately. "Don't leave me, noona!"
No matter how quick Zeru was, it still wasn't quick enough to reach Neoma.
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm "That's right– I'm your 'noona,'" Neoma said weakly, closing her eyes as her smile slowly faded away. "Goodnight, Nero…"
[No!]
Nero quickly stood up and jumped from the ice phoenix, landing gracefully next to Neoma.
He immediately cradled his twin sister in his arms, checking for her pulse only to realize that her heart had indeed stopped beating.
And he could tell the cause.
[Neoma's Core was crushed…]
And, as a Roseheart, Nero could instinctively tell that Neoma's soul was also gone.
"Neoma, I'll call you 'noona' as many times as you want me to. Just please, please open your eyes," Nero whispered in a cracked voice, his tears streaming down his face uncontrollably as he hugged Neoma's body. His twin sister was still warm, but he could tell that she was gone. "Neoma!"
Soon, Nero wasn't the only one crying and mourning.
The White Lion and Neoma's Spirits were forced out of his twin sister's body.
<"Little Neoma…">
<"Princess Neoma…">
<"Please wake up…">
But no matter how much the White Lion and the Spirits begged, Neoma didn't stir back to life.
She was gone.
The most important person in Nero's life was gone, and she wasn't coming back.
[What's the point of living if Neoma isn't here with me anymore?]
Nero, even without seeing his face in the mirror, could tell that his eyes had turned red. After all, he was using all his power to crush his own Core.
[I'll follow you even to hell, Neoma.]
***
[NO!]
Dahlia panicked as soon as she realized Prince Nero was trying to kill himself.
She stood frozen when she realized that Princess Neoma was really gone.
And she only snapped out of it when Prince Nero began to self-destruct.
She immediately ran towards the Crown Prince to stop him from taking his own life. However, she got distracted when she realized what Regina Crowell was doing.
A camera.
Regina Crowell was holding a hand mirror that was obviously a recorder.
Dahlia summoned her wand, then she grabbed the twig as soon as it materialized in the air. Then she used it like a gun to hit Regina Crowell's recording device.
But Calyx blocked her attack with the spear in his hand.
"It's too late, Dahlia," Regina Crowell said with an annoying smile on her face. "The video has already been sent to Lord Callisto. The entire world has probably heard the tragic news of Princess Neoma's death by now."
[They announced Princess Neoma's death?]
Dahlia broke out into a cold sweat after hearing that horrible news.
[Many people will lose their minds…]
***
MONA frowned after hearing Melvin's report.
When she arrived at the snowy mountain where Nero was supposed to be, she was surprised when she didn't find her son there.
Only Nero's knights were left.
That was when Melvin told her what happened in detail.
Mona didn't like the fact that Nero agreed to come with Calyx, but she was relieved to know that Dahlia came with her son.
[The kids said Nero claimed that Neoma is still alive, so that's probably the case.]
No– that had to be the case or else…
"William, trace Nero's whereabouts and open a portal," Mona said. "We'll follow–"
She stopped talking when an ominous feeling took over her, and then she looked up at the dark sky.
And she wasn't the only person who did that.
William and the kids also looked up at the sky.
That was when a huge projector appeared, and Helstor's entire face filled the screen.
[Disgusting.]
An ancient god wearing the skin of a human child was seriously an eyesore.
<"I– Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness– would like to express my condolences to the citizens of the Great Moonasterion Empire for the untimely death of Princess Neoma, the one and only Imperial Princess.">
Mona's eyes widened in shock, her entire body turning cold in an instant. "That can't be true…"
As if Helstor heard her denial, the god's face disappeared from the screen.
Then it was replaced by a short yet clear video.
<"Neoma!">
It was a video of Nero crying hard while hugging Neoma…
… the lifeless Neoma.
As a Roseheart, she could easily tell with just one look that her daughter's soul had already left her body.
That meant Neoma was really gone.
"No!" Mona cried, falling to her knees. "My baby…!"
***
[THEY LOOK like ants from here.]
At first, everything sailed smoothly.
Nikolai watched as the reanimated corpses filled the Imperial Capital.
[For corpses moved by Darkness, those things are quick and agile.]
At this rate, the reanimated corpses would reach the Imperial Palace soon.
Fortunately, there was no way it would happen.
[They're here.]
It started with a small sparkling dot in the sky.
Then the dots multiplied until the dark sky was filled with twinkling little dots that resembled the stars.
The nearer the dots got, the bigger they became.
Soon enough, the Frost Wyverns dominated the sky with their gigantic and crystal-like bodies. Unfamiliar faces rode the ice beasts that was led by Commander Ruto who was riding on the back of his Thunderbird.
But there were also familiar faces from the people that the commander was leading in the sky.
[The Northern Lords.]
"Dion Skelton is already here, Your Majesty," Jeanne Audley informed Nikolai. "He's leading the Holy Knights in place of Prince Nero."
Nikolai looked down this time.
Just like what Jeanne Audley said, Dion Skelton and the Holy Knights had arrived as well.
That was when the counterattack began.
At Commander Ruto's signal, the riders began blowing the ice whistles that could control the Frost Wyverns.
And then the Frost Wyverns began breathing ice at the reanimated corpses.
[According to Commander Ruto, only ice could slow down the reanimated corpses. And once they slowed down…]
The Holy Knights began capturing the reanimated corpses using a net made of divine power.
Aside from the Holy Knights, the nobles' private armies were also dispatched in the capital.
Jasper Hawthorne, still the youngest duke of the empire, had volunteered to be on the first line of defense.
On the other hand, Rufus was in charge of the slums.
House Drayton, led by the despicable Rubin Drayton who dared laid his eyes on Neoma, was in charge of the nobles' village.
The members of the other Twelve Golden Families were dispatched to the regions they ruled. Although the attack was focused on the Imperial Capital, there was no assurance that the other parts of the empire wouldn't be attacked.
[As long as they have an ice user with them, everything will be fine.]
Nikolai was confident that the Imperial Palace would be safe because Hanna, Lewis, and Neoma's "children" were there to protect it.
Hence, he thought everything was fine.
That was until a screen appeared out of thin air and Helstor made a ridiculous declaration.
But that declaration was backed up by a video of Nero crying while hugging Neoma's lifeless body.
That was when the painful reality hit Nikolai.
"Neoma… my baby…" Nikolai whispered in shock and disbelief, tears rolling down his cheeks. Then he shut his eyes tight while clutching his chest, his Mana and divine power threatening to explode because he couldn't control his emotions. "How dare you take my precious daughter away from me…!"
At that point, he didn't care about the fate of the entire world anymore.
After all, Nikolai's world already crumbled with the death of his precious daughter.
***
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