chapter 5

The air shifted in an instant.

What had moments ago been a room thick with tension now turned glacial, like all warmth had been sucked from the world and replaced with a suffocating, invisible frost. Yet beneath that cold, Ryuu felt the opposite—his body teetered atop a thin, cracking layer of ice, and beneath it, a sea of frigid water waited to consume him. Each breath drew him closer to the edge, every second a silent countdown to the moment it would all give way. Panic clutched at his throat tighter than Yagami’s fingers ever could.

Even Kaito—ever composed, ever cold—seemed stunned by the shift. His pale blue eyes had widened in disbelief, mirroring the look of a deer caught in the full beam of a hunter’s torch. A tremble betrayed him—subtle, but there. It pulsed through his fingertips, slithered up his spine, and made his weight shift anxiously from one foot to the other, as if trying to ground himself in this twisted reality.

Yagami noticed the unease. He always did. But he gave it no attention. Why would he? The discomfort of others was inconsequential to him. If anything, it amused him.

Instead, his grip on Ryuu’s neck tightened—not enough to crush, but enough to threaten. A warning. The curve of his hands now felt like a noose mid-tightening, just shy of the final snap.

“Thank you for healing him, Kaito,” Yagami said softly, his voice a murmur of velvet that carried no real weight. It wasn’t gratitude. It was observation.

His eyes, gleaming like caged suns behind ruby lenses, drifted toward his champion. “You did good,” he added, louder now, with a flicker of something more. Not warmth. Not pride. Just... acknowledgment. Like a master patting the head of a loyal hound.

Kaito bowed his head in response, slow and hesitant. His arm lowered to his side with rigid precision, as though a string had pulled it down. He stood straight, unmoving, the tension in his muscles visible beneath the black fabric of his uniform. He had become a statue—an obedient sentinel.

Yagami’s gaze fell back to Ryuu, and for a moment, something distant flickered in his expression—contemplation. As if he were looking through Ryuu, past him, into a future no one else could yet see.

“True,” he murmured, voice cold, contemplative. “Your wings are... different. And so is your bloodline.”

Then, the hand at Ryuu’s throat finally released, slipping away like a serpent coiling back into the dark. But it didn’t retreat far. It hovered near, ready to strike again.

“I have a different idea for you,” Yagami continued, his voice gaining shape. “We will be bound by blood... and you will become one of our slaves.”

The words pierced Ryuu like glass shards beneath his skin.

His body tensed all at once, stiff as a drawn bowstring. Panic surged like a tsunami, erasing everything else—pain, fatigue, even thought. His wings, broken and bloodied, no longer ached. His injuries disappeared beneath the onslaught of terror. His heart pounded like war drums, an endless, frantic rhythm that sent tremors through his limbs. He couldn’t tell if he was freezing or burning alive. He only knew he couldn’t breathe.

“You can’t!” he choked out, voice hoarse and bitter, louder than he realized. The words stabbed the silence, defiant and desperate.

But his lungs were collapsing beneath him. The oxygen refused to come. His chest burned, pressure mounting behind his sternum like something was going to split open and pour out.

Yagami didn’t flinch. He barely blinked.

He simply lifted a hand and waved the protest away, like brushing a cobweb from his sleeve. “You don’t have a say in this matter,” he said, calm and cold—like a father chastising an unruly child, not sentencing someone to lifelong enslavement.

He turned and walked back toward the throne with regal ease. His hand rose again, pointing—not at Ryuu’s face, not at his wings, but downward, toward the floor. His finger lingered in the space between Ryuu’s legs.

“You won’t be castrated, if that’s your concern.”

The words hung in the air like poison. Casual. Clinical. Cruel.

Fury surged in Ryuu’s chest. His eyes—bright violet and wide with disbelief—flared with heat. He glared at Yagami with a fire that could have burned down cities, if only looks could kill. In his mind, he saw the tyrant consumed by flame, reduced to ash and silence.

But his body betrayed him. When he tried to push himself upright, lightning pain exploded through his back. His arms trembled violently before collapsing under him. His breath hitched. He didn’t know if they understood how badly he was hurt, or if they simply didn’t care.

He barely registered Kaito’s approach.

But Kaito—quiet, graceful—stepped forward like a man crossing a minefield. Every step was careful, every breath measured. He bowed deeply before the throne, placing a hand across his heart in a show of loyalty.

“My Lord,” he began, his voice a soft murmur. “It is a wise decision, considering his species is all but extinct. But I question how we’ll handle him.”

His gaze shifted, ever so slightly, toward Ryuu.

Ryuu had begun curling inward, dragging the torn ruins of his wings around him like a shroud. They trembled, trembling feathers soaked with dried blood. His eyes were wide and glossy, swollen with unshed tears, the color dulled by panic.

“After all, my Lord,” Kaito continued, “keeping him in a cage or lab would be... difficult. And, dare I say, unethical.”

Yagami didn’t answer immediately. He settled into the throne again, elegant and unbothered. His hand trailed to the armrest, then shifted to rest beneath his chin.

His eyes drifted to the bubbling pool of molten liquid beside the throne, though his attention never truly left Kaito.

“I agree,” he said finally. “He will not be treated as an experiment. We need him for reproduction. But... he cannot be allowed freedom. He can stay in his room—but his wings must be restrained. Cut if necessary.”

The words hit Ryuu harder than any strike ever could.

He clutched his wings tighter, curling in on himself like a dying animal. His whole body shook—uncontrollable, helpless. The shivers racked his frame, but he made no sound. His black feathers, ragged and bloodstained, hid the terror beneath. But his gasps gave him away—short, shallow, ragged.

Yagami noticed.

His expression changed—only slightly. Not enough to betray weakness. But something flickered there. Concern, perhaps. Or recognition. He understood why Ryuu was breaking—but he would not show mercy. Not now. Not after betrayal.

“Kaito,” Yagami said quietly, “take him to his room. Sedate him. I won’t have him dying from a heart attack before he’s of use.”

His tone was final. Absolute. No room for debate.

“I trust you and the other champions will treat him as he deserves. I want regular reports. And visits. Often.”

Kaito straightened, his features tight. A flicker of conflict crossed his face. He did not argue. But the sympathy in his eyes remained.

“My Lord, I will see to him—and inform the others. But... we may not always be here. The war with Ametsuchi drains much of our attention. Leo has been captured. He must be returned safely.”

Yagami nodded once.

He lifted his hand and summoned a star map, gleaming in midair. Dots of color blinked against the void—red, blue, green, purple, yellow. The blue and purple hovered together. Red lurked nearby. Yellow pulsed faintly. Green lingered on the farthest edge.

“He is alive,” Yagami said. “So I cannot revive him yet. But we know where to begin looking.”

He closed his fist, and the map vanished like stardust.

“It changes nothing. Inform the others of Ryuu. Return him to his room.”

Kaito nodded again, then stepped forward.

Gently, he gathered Ryuu into his arms. The weight was feather-light—but the trembling was constant. Beneath the bloodied wings, Ryuu whimpered—soft, broken, a sound more instinct than language. His heart thundered against Kaito’s chest, fast and erratic like a hunted animal’s.

He tried to pull away—tried to fight—but his body was past the point of resisting.

As Kaito carried him toward the exit, Yagami’s voice rang out once more, calm and final:

“And Kaito... tell the other champions they may do with him as they please.”

A pause.

“He is now your personal pet.”

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