Arthur and Kagekawa both stared at each other in shock, both surprised that they had said the same thing, and soon they burst out laughing.

"Haha! Come now Arthur, let’s talk inside." Kagekawa encouraged, escorting everyone to the dining room table. They all sat together and to anyone from the outside it looked like one happy and normal family. A young and lovely husband and wife. An adorable-looking son and a hardened grandpa.

"Arthur, first there’s something I have to bring up. Do you remember once when we trained together?"

"Yes, I do-that time-I thought I had gotten my soul weapon. But now after getting Excalibur, I can see that wasn’t the case."

"That’s right. It wasn’t the case at all. Now the question remains. What was that vicious form? Can you tell me anything?" Kagekawa inquired straightforwardly to Arthur.

Amygdala and Chronos just listened, not really sure what they were referring to, Amygdala suggested that they both should go outside and visit the village that was close to Kagekawa’s home. Chronos agreed and they both got up. Amygdala held Chronos’s hand and they both made their way to the village.

"Well, the reason I thought it was my soul weapon was that...my soul gave me that power."

"Your soul gave you that power?!" Kagekawa was surprised by that answer.

"Is it that much of a surprise?...I vaguely remember it all. I was talking and fighting against myself and then Chronos’s soul appeared, wanting to form a contract." Arthur talked hesitantly as his memories were hazy.

"I see...I’ve never heard of that happening before! How very interesting! Haha!" Kagekawa started slapping his knee while smiling and laughing.

"R-Really? I thought maybe I was seeing all this because of the contract or I died and was getting my soul weapon."

"No...that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. Well, I wouldn’t know about the contract bit considering I don’t have one." Kagekawa spoke casually while sipping on hot water he poured for himself.

"I see, you wouldn’t know because you don’t have a contract, right?"

"Yes, that’s right." Kagekawa nodded.

"I see-Eh!" Arthur exclaimed, slamming both his hands on the table, practically lunging out of his chair at this huge surprise. "How? You’re so strong! There’s absolutely no way-"

"-There is a way!" Kagekawa exclaimed, pointing his finger at Arthur.

"Eh?"

"Hard work! Discipline! Training! Technique! Mastery of my soul weapon! High magical aptitude! Mastery of magical abilities! Talent! More training! Every single thing I named I possess. That is all you need to be strong."

"Isn’t that putting it all too simply?!"

"Is it wrong?!"

"...Not at all, master!"

Kagekawa sat back down on his chair, across from Arthur. "Arthur, that form you took on when you were battling me. Back then I sensed a lot of malice coming out of your body once you transformed and even now, I sense some malice oozing out of you."

"M-malice?...I don’t really understand master." Arthur was confused, he knew the definition behind the word but it seemed like Kagekawa’s meaning was different.

"Sedah must have taught you...I guess not. Ahem! Well, I’ll tell you now. Malice is similar to a concept you’re very familiar with-magic!"

"Magic?"

"That’s right!" Kagekawa scratched his chin while gazing up and asked, "Arthur, do you know about magicules?"

"Magicules?" Arthur’s face reflected his mind being baffled. He thought back to his brief time with Rosianne but he couldn’t think of her mentioning magicules. "Sorry, I have no clue."

"I see..." Kagekawa thought to himself that Sedah was a lousy teacher. "Well, magicules is what makes up magic. Now let me ask you this: What do you know about mana?"

"Mana is the energy within your body that lets you outburst magic, right? It’s limited as well, right?" Arthur knew this from the education he had with Sedah.

"Correct, Arthur!" Kagekawa changed his mind a little, believing Sedah couldn’t have been all that bad at teaching. "Well done...now the reason I’m mentioning this is that malice you can think of the whole concept as the dark version of magic–dark magic. Just like how magic has magicules, malice has malicules. Also, just as magic needs mana to be used, malice has a concept called mala, which is equivalent to mana but for demons and monsters."

"I see..." Arthur gazed down at the table, holding his chin he thought deeply for a moment and asked, "Why is it known as dark magic? Is there something evil about it?"

"Well, not so much as evil...but that’s the power that demons and monsters alike possess."

"Does that mean-"

"-Sedah also has those malice abilities. Even though, I can’t speak much about those abilities. But, without a doubt, he possesses even more abilities that are outside my knowledge." Kagekawa’s eye narrowed, and he gritted his teeth as if he were in pain. He clenched his fist and spoke, "My body was burnt and scarred. My arm was taken. It’s insulting!" Kagekawa exclaimed in rage, while slamming his fist on the table. "Throughout our whole fight, he had not shown me the full extent of his power...and spared me."

Arthur couldn’t say or do anything that would comfort the beaten-down Kagekawa. He could only offer his ears and remain silent.

"I’m sorry Arthur...for that unsightly display." Kagekawa looked away from Arthur. "Malice...is only a trait that is possessed by demons and monsters. So, why do you have it in you too Arthur? I’m certain your body also produces malice." Kagekawa could clearly sense the malice discharging from Arthur even if Arthur hadn’t noticed it himself.

Arthur couldn’t think of a reason for a bit but then he came to one solution. A solution he didn’t want to think of. His eye area wrinkled, showing his distress and discomfort in a horrible memory. His throat started closing up, it felt rough and coarse.

Act on my lesson if you desire strength.

A memory of despair and desperation flashed in Arthur’s mind.

The image of Sedah’s bloodied face and his cold, expressionless face came to Arthur’s mind. He could hear the thumping of his heart bang loudly in his eardrums.

He looked down seeing both of his hands. They started to blur. His eyes started to dart back and forth. He could see blood on his hands. Not his own blood but-

Eating the corpse of a dragon makes you stronger.

Arthur stared blankly up and looked directly forward. His mouth opened slightly. His face showed clear distress and his hand started to shake ever so slightly. A tear then streaked down his face...

"...Huh?"

"Arthur?!" Kagekawa leapt out his seat.

"I-I ate a dragon..." Arthur emptily spoke, while more tears started to overflow. Images of him eating Seraphina. Images of the lifeless corpses of Baro, Rosianne and Craft. Throughout all this, Arthur hadn’t truly wept for them until now...until this moment. "W-Why now?!" Arthur exclaimed in anger as he slammed his fist down at the table. He was mixed with feelings of despair and anger. Angry at Sedah’s cruetly. Angry at his own weakness. He anguished over the death of his party. His friends. His heart cried out in pain.

Kagekawa’s teeth started to grit. His eye had an intense stare that reflected Sedah’s face. All he could think about was his hatred for Sedah. He clutched his hair and mumbled to himself, "Damm you, Sedah..." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

≡

A village near Kagekawa’s home

Amygdala and Chronos walked hand-in-hand through the small village street. She was humming a tune without much thought.

"Hmm? Now, what do we need to get?" Amygdala questioned out loud. She pointed her index finger to her chin. In her other arm she had a brown basket hanging off. Amydala thought to herself that she wanted to get loads of ingredients and cook Arthur a grand feast! Amydala mumbled to herself, "After Arthur’s stomach is full then we can~hehe" Amydala’s face soon turned red out of embarrassment.

Chronos gazed up in disappointment at the love-strucken Amygdala and then shyly asked, "Amygdala, can you tell more about your home...your other family."

"I guess I can..." Amygdala then looked at Chronos with a playful smile, "Other family, huh~soo, do you think were a family as well~?"

Chronos’s faced started flush, "Gah! No! Idiot!"

"Haha! Well, let me tell you a bit about me. I was born into a family of gods as you know. There was my mom and dad. Me and my older brother and also my adorable little sister. Ah! I don’t really like much of my family except for my little sister. That’s why I’m down here instead of up there."

"I figured..." Chronos felt that he and Amygdala were in a similar situation.

"I’m from a royal family among the gods you see...but even so...it wasn’t very nice. They were strict in my upbringing you see. Haha.." Amygdala laughed emptily but Chronos could feel her hands shake a little. She took a deep breath and exhaled. "My family–the Nightingale family...three of them were absolutely horrible!"

Chronos looked to see Amygdala’s piercing eyes and the bridge of her nose scrunched. She was biting down on her thumb with enough pressure that blood trickled down. It was obvious the thought of her family made her shake with anger!