: All Her Fault

Sael's heart sunk when she heard these words. At that moment, it all clicked. She understood exactly why Leonel had apologized to her before the battle even began. From the very beginning, he had already planned to say these exact words. This was his goal from the very beginning. Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

"You… You…"

Sael's voice trembled.

She had tried so very hard, giving everything she had for the sake of keeping the organization she had been born in together. She owed Valiant Heart and her master everything she had. She had scratched and clawed, working herself to the bone so that she would never have to watch it crumble in her life time.

The result of her hard work resulted in her neglecting her training. She had been so caught up in the politics that she forgot to raise her own strength. The result was her losing to Aphestus and that reality slipping even further from her.

After that, she had reapplied herself, nearly entirely forgetting politics just for the sake of gaining a larger fist. In fact, even now, she had finally stepped into the Quasi Fifth Dimension. It was just unfortunate that this breakthrough often took decades, sometimes even more for those born in this region of the Dimensional Verse to complete.

But once again… All of that was meaningless.

Now she was being told the home she had done her all to protect was finished… And it would mostly be by the hands of the young man she brought here.

Emotions of guild, fury, unwillingness… All of it bubbled up within her. She didn't know whether she should cry, shriek, or rain down all the curses she could think of onto Leonel. She wanted him to both vanish from her sight and somehow repay Valiant Heart for all the harm he had caused at the same time.

The result of all of this was her body trembling beside herself. She clenched her fists so tightly that even the blood that began to pool on her palm couldn't find a path out. It only seemed to make her skin more crimson, her emotions slowly spiraling out of control.

All the while, Leonel didn't even look at her as though he couldn't be bothered to.

Just as Sael was about to implode, she found a wrinkled hand suddenly find its place on her shoulder. When Sael looked over out of reflex, she was stunned to see that it was actually her master.

It only took a moment for Leonel to recognize this old man as one of the four mysterious experts who had moved out with all of them that day. His aura seemed to be particularly weak, as though he had been injured some time before. However, it was still just as strong as anyone else within Tier 4 that Leonel had ever met. This made Leonel believe that he might have even actually been Tier 5 or maybe even Tier 6, maybe even stronger.

Leonel's mind instantly flashed with a thought.

'Case 793: Teacher Ingsan, guilty of gross negligence. In a Campaign against our sworn enemy, the Oryx Tribe, his decisions led to the death of 14 geniuses of our Valiant Heart Mountain. The only survivor has been bribed into silence and has suffered through untold humiliation, Sael Liers.'

Those were the exact words Raylion had said back then.

Clearly, Ingsan was more than just a 'teacher'. In addition, the price he had paid to allow Sael to be the 'only survivor' wasn't small in the slightest. The old man was practically on his death bed.

Beyond this, Leonel had a feeling that those 14 geniuses weren't just any geniuses either. They might have even been beyond Raylion in talent if they could go on a mission with Ingsan… The question was, then, why was Sael there?

Of course, this was all just speculation. Leonel had no way of knowing these things.

"Thank you." Ingsan spoke lightly. "From this day forth, Valiant Heart Mountain will be no more."

"But—!" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ ꜰʀᴇᴇᴡᴇʙɴᴏᴠᴇʟ.ᴄᴏᴍ ᴏɴʟʏ.

"That's enough, Sael. You're not a little girl anymore. If you want Valiant Heart to be revived one day… You just need to be strong enough that no one would dare to stop you."

Sael opened her mouth to speak but all that came out was a sob. She finally couldn't hold it in any longer and dove into her master's arms.

"It's my fault. It's all my fault…"

Ingsan sighed, stroking Sael's hair.

"It's not your fault. This is the fault of us old men… We lost out edge and let our enemies eat away at us until there was nothing left…"

Ingsan knew how Sael felt. She thought that everything she tried to do to help only ended in disaster. Ingsan even had a feeling that if it wasn't for the fact she was so weighed down by the matters of the past, she would have long since entered the Fifth Dimension. Let alone Raylion and Aphestus, Sael was probably the most talented disciple Valiant Heart Mountain had ever produced, including their founder who managed to gain the favor of a Morales family Heir.

Back then, Sael was too eager, wanting to skip steps and grow more powerful, more quickly. She ended up sneaking her way onto a mission she had no business taking part in. The result was the death of 14 of her seniors and her own master being heavily injured to the point of near death.

Of course, Ingsan had told her many times that it wasn't her fault. Even if she hadn't been there, the casualties would have been terrible. It was a mistake on his part, not hers that had caused such a thing. But, the little girl had already internalized her guilt.

And now she felt like she had done it again. It wasn't hard to point toward Leonel as the reason they would collapse now. He was, at the very least, a catalyst if not the cause. Without him, maybe they could have survived a few more centuries and found a chance to turn it all around. But with his appearance, they were finished.

It was her fault again… It was her fault Valiant Heart lost 14 geniuses that would have been their chance to turn things around… It was her fault Valiant Heart's most powerful expert was so severely injured that they were no longer feared anymore… It was her fault that Leonel had been able to come here and quicken their destruction.

It was all her fault. All her fault.