The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

"What... What is this?!"

"What’s happening!?"

"What's—!!"

People screamed. Chaos erupted in the plaza. Ferdie and Ludian instinctively pulled Tiel close, shielding her with their arms.

A thick, dense smoke spread from the center of the plaza, swallowing up the citizens, then Tiel, Ferdie, Ludian, and even Karsus.

The Asterian knights immediately shifted into a defensive stance, their weapons at the ready, all eyes locked onto the center of the disturbance.

That was where the heads of the five noble families, the emperor, and the crown prince had been standing.

Grandfather! Lord Ian!

Tiel fought against the choking smoke, straining her eyes to make out familiar figures.

But the smoke was so thick that it refused to let go of whatever it had swallowed, forcing Tiel to blink rapidly as she coughed.

And then, before long—

The smoke cleared.

"...What is that?"

"That’s insane...!"

A collective gasp of horror spread among the citizens.

The five noble lords stood frozen, their faces conflicted as they stared toward the dead center of the plaza.

At the center of their gaze—

...Lord Ian?

Ian Dross Crassion.

The crown prince of the empire stood with his right hand extended, wielding his ability as he stared directly at the gathered citizens.

The white void of Ian’s subspace, which was always large and round, had now turned an eerie, pitch-black, dyed in ominous shadows.

Ian swept his hand through the air.

"!"

A dark streak slashed through the void, and suddenly, as if reality itself had been torn open, objects from within the plaza began to be sucked into the subspace one by one.

The emperor’s face turned deathly pale.

"Evacuate— Evacuate everyone at once!!"

Alpheus, too, had lost all color from his face.

Without hesitation, both he and Karsus turned to the Asterian knights and commanded,

"Half of you, help the citizens escape! The rest, guard the children. We are leaving immediately!"

The moment even the head of the Asterian family spoke of retreat, the already panicked citizens began pushing and shoving in desperation, trying to flee the plaza.

"Don’t push!"

"That was His Highness the Crown Prince, wasn’t it!?"

"It was His Highness! But what is he doing?!"

People stumbled and fell as they tried to escape. Knights from every noble house scrambled to maintain order and guide the evacuation.

Ferdie scooped Tiel into his arms and hurriedly followed after Karsus and Alpheus, while Ludian stuck close behind.

For some reason, everyone was running away from Ian Dross.

"W-wait!"

Tiel cried out, her voice shaking as she called for Alpheus and Karsus.

The two men, who had been moving quickly, turned back to her.

"Tiel, there’s no time to explain. We must get out of here," Karsus said firmly.

"But— Lord Ian is using his ability?"

"That’s not..."

Karsus hesitated for a split second before speaking in a level voice.

"That’s not him using his ability. That’s him being consumed by it."

Tiel’s golden eyes widened as far as they could go.

"Being... consumed?" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Yes. That’s why we must leave. We can’t afford to harm the crown prince’s body, either."

Consumed by his ability?

Tiel’s mind struggled to make sense of the words.

She turned to look at Ian again.

By now, everyone near him had evacuated, leaving him utterly alone.

Yet, Ian made no move to chase after them.

Instead, he simply stood in place, steadily absorbing every object in the plaza into his subspace.

And then, a thought crossed Tiel’s mind—

What if I go to him?

If I leave, then Lord Ian... will be left standing there, completely alone.

It was an absurd thought.

Who would consider running toward someone who was losing control of their power?

And yet—

Tiel, who was still just a child, and who had always liked Ian Dross for being a bit foolish yet kind...

Suddenly struggled in Ferdie’s grip.

"Whoa— Tiel! Tiel, stop!"

"W-wait, hold on!"

Ferdie, unable to keep a firm hold on his small sister, lost his grip.

Tiel dropped lightly to the ground and quickly turned to face Ferdie, Ludian, Alpheus, and Karsus.

"If I leave, Lord Ian will have to be alone."

"...Tiel? No, no. This isn’t something you can fix. This is nothing like what happened with Ferdie," Karsus warned.

"But when I was alone... Lord Ian saved me."

Tiel lifted one finger.

"When I was running away, he hid me."

Tiel folded down a second finger.

"He escorted me safely to Asterian."

A third finger.

"He helped me when I was in trouble at the temple..."

The little girl smiled—

It was a smile that, for a child of only seven, was strangely determined and dignified.

"So I think... I have to help Lord Ian at least once too."

It wasn’t that she believed in some special power.

Nor was it that she was certain she could calm Ian down, just as she had done with Ferdie’s outburst.

Back then, she had been confident she could soothe Ferdie, because a voice had whispered gently in her ear, guiding her.

But now—

She had no such certainty.

There was no whisper.

There was only—

"He won’t hurt me."

Ian Dross would not harm her.

No matter what happened, no matter how much he lost himself—he would try to protect her.

That much, she was sure of.

A conviction, an absolute certainty—

Ian Dross would never do anything to bring her harm.

"Tiel! Don’t be an idiot!"

Ferdie reached out for her, but he was too late.

Tiel had already bolted toward Ian.

"No! Stop her!"

Alpheus’s voice rang out in a frantic cry as Karsus lunged forward—

But he, too, was too late.

Tiel was already too far ahead.

The small, white-haired figure grew more distant.

And then—

"Lord Ian!"

Tiel leaped forward, stretching her tiny hands toward Ian.

Ian turned to face her, startled.

The girl’s white hair shimmered like opal under the sunlight.

Kuuuuuuung—!!!

Ian’s massive subspace—

Shredded and twisted—

Its gaping maw stretching even wider.

It looked like the open jaws of a snake, fully unhinged to swallow its prey whole.

"Tiel!"

Karsus called out to his daughter.

But Tiel did not turn back.

Standing at the very edge of the abyss—on the verge of being sucked inside—

Ian’s stunned expression was the last thing she saw before she reached him.

And she wasn’t the only one shocked by the sight.

"W-what... what is she doing...?"

Emperor Wilhelm stammered, unable to believe his own eyes.

That child—

She was the wielder of the Light Ability, Crassion’s only hope.

She was also the granddaughter of his old friend—

The precious little girl whom the Asterian family had only just reclaimed after seven long years.

And yet—

She’s throwing herself into that abyss...?

No.

No, she couldn’t let herself die like this.

Wilhelm instinctively turned to Alpheus, his gaze demanding, Why didn’t you stop her?

But Alpheus—

Even he, for the first time, looked as though he had lost all words, his eyes locked onto the tiny girl with a dazed expression.

So Wilhelm couldn’t bring himself to scold him.

Because if anyone had failed to control the situation—

It wasn’t Alpheus.

It was—

No...

Wilhelm’s mouth hung open as he watched Ian Dross and Tiel.

Wilhelm was one of the very few people who knew the exact fate that had befallen Ian’s parents.

And because of that, he couldn’t just recklessly intervene—

He couldn’t just stand by and watch, either.

Shouts rang out from all directions, ordering people not to approach—

But the small girl didn’t seem to care.

Fearlessly, she threw herself toward Ian.

"Ian!"

Tiel called his name as she jumped—

And wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"...!"

At that moment, Ian’s body tilted—

And he began to fall into the subspace.

Tiel’s small form was pulled in as well.

The little girl, unwilling to let go, clung to him tightly—

Choosing to follow him into the abyss.

And then—

Thud.

...

The subspace closed.

The empire’s citizens, who had been frantically fleeing in terror,

Turned back to look at the now eerily silent plaza.

Just moments ago, it had been filled with raging winds and chaos.

But now—

There was nothing.

No one stood at the center of the plaza anymore.