Winston narrowed his eyes, making sure he had heard Niles correctly. “You want us to sit down and… talk about our feelings?”

Niles nodded. “Yep.”

Wolf chuckled. Felix blinked, processing the request, while Elephant simply sighed and nodded. “If that is what you wish, Sir Niles,” he said. “But may I ask why?”

Niles walked toward the long table where they had feasted earlier. The embers from the campfire still glowed nearby, casting flickering shadows. He wasn’t entirely sure how to explain it—just a gut feeling. He gathered his thoughts and said, “It just feels like the right thing to do.”

The group followed, taking their seats. Before sitting down, Elephant pressed further. “How so?”

Niles glanced at the battlefield beside them. The ground was littered with fallen soldiers and slain monsters, their lifeless bodies tangled in the aftermath of war. He spoke the first thought that came to mind.

“Without feelings and respect, what separates men from beasts?”

A brief silence settled over them. Then, one by one, they sat down. There was still some food left from their feast. They picked at the remnants, chewing in quiet contemplation.

Niles smiled, but there was no joy in it—just a distant look in his eyes, as though staring beyond this world and into another.

“Back in my homeworld,” he began, “my mother died of an illness when I was young. Cancer.” He glanced at the others. “It’s a disease that eats a person from the inside out.”

The group listened, giving him time to collect his words.

“When she passed, I refused to go to school. My father asked why. I told him I didn’t want to show weakness in front of my classmates.” He exhaled. “My father got angry. He told me that showing vulnerability isn’t weakness. It’s strength.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Winston said.

“Same,” Felix added. “I’m sorry to hear that Niles.”

Niles’ smile softened, this time carrying a hint of sincerity. “Thank you.” He sighed. “Because of that, I learned something important—opening up to the right person can heal wounds no medicine can touch. And it builds trust.”

He looked up at the sky, where stars shimmered in the vast emptiness. “No one is truly self-made. We all depend on others in different ways.”

A pause.

Niles reached for a goblet lying on the table, swirling the liquid absentmindedly, as if unsure what to do with his hands. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, he spoke.

“Felix… would you mind using your skill on me?”

Felix’s gaze sharpened. “Are you sure?”

Niles nodded. His heart pounded.

Felix placed a hand on Niles’ arm, his skill activating in an instant. He studied Niles carefully before delivering his verdict.

“Neutral like before. Neither good nor bad. Balanced.”

Niles released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “That actually makes me feel better. I was afraid…” He trailed off, exhaling again. “Afraid of losing myself.”

Elephant and Wolf exchanged glances.

“What’s his skill?” Wolf asked.

Felix answered, “I can determine a person’s intentions—or rather, whether they lean toward being a good or bad person.”

Elephant sighed, nodding in understanding. “So that’s how you figured out Dr. Palmer’s true intentions?”

Felix nodded. “Yes. But it’s not always accurate… or permanent. People change.”

Elephant studied him for a moment before speaking again. “During our research before this voyage, we read your file. It wasn’t entirely clear—since you were unconscious during your hearing—what exactly happened to you?”

Felix hesitated. It had only been a few weeks ago, but it felt like a lifetime.

“Long story short,” he said, voice quieter now, “I grazed the finger of my fellow moat guard. My skill reacted instantly. It told me his intentions… and I realized he had changed. He wasn’t the good man I thought he was anymore.”

Elephant frowned. “And then he attacked you?”

Felix nodded. “I barely survived.” He let out a slow, weary sigh. “He was one of my best friends. We stood guard at the moat together for years. And yet… I didn’t really know him at all.”

His shoulders slumped under the weight of the memory.

Niles, voice gentle but firm, pressed further. “Did you recognize any of the soldiers we fought today?”

Felix wiped at his eyes. “I knew several of them by name.” He swallowed hard. “And I still cut them down.”

His voice broke as he buried his face in his arms.

“But I did it to protect us,” he choked out. “To protect the rest of our party, the ones waiting for us to return.”

Tears spilled freely now, his body trembling with the weight of it all.

“Some of them were my friends… and I still chose to cut them down. I can’t even look at their bodies.” His breath hitched. “I can’t…”

Winston placed a firm but gentle hand on Felix’s shoulder. “You’re a good man, Felix. You saved us all—me, Finn, Lina, Vulcan, Tesla… and Niles.”

Felix let out a shuddering breath. “I don’t know that,” he whispered. “I can’t use my skill on myself. I don’t know if I’m still a man… or if I’ve become a monster.”

Winston’s voice was calm, steady. “I don’t need a skill like yours to see your character. You are kind, Felix. You are warm. And you are full of love.”

Felix wept into the table.

Niles reached out, placing a hand on his back, his own eyes welling with tears.

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“I’m so sorry, Felix,” he murmured.

Elephant let out a long breath, his usual stoic posture slackening. “I… don’t know what to say to that,” he admitted. “In the Xargian Guard, we’re trained from childhood to suppress our emotions. If we cried, we were whipped. If we spoke during dinner, we were whipped.” His gaze turned distant as old memories resurfaced.

“There was one instructor—Mongoose. He didn’t need much of a reason to punish us. Discipline, he called it. But really, he just enjoyed it.” Elephant’s voice grew heavier. He turned to Wolf. “I remember when you came to the facility. Just a toddler—barely able to walk.” His jaw clenched. “That didn’t stop Mongoose. He whipped you anyway. A defenseless, innocent child.”

Wolf sighed and silently unfastened part of his clothing. A scar curled from his throat down to his shoulder, twisting like a serpent—evidence of a wound too deep for time to erase.

Elephant stared at it, the sight no less painful now than it was then. “You screamed. You cried. Just like any child would—searching for someone to protect you.” He glanced down at his own hands. “That was the first time I ever felt true rage. I snapped. I launched myself at Mongoose, activated my skill, and punched him over and over. My fists were like iron.” He paused, shoulders tightening. “But I was no match for a fully trained Xargian Guard. He threw me off and nearly beat me to death.”

Reaching for a leftover skewer of meat, Elephant chewed absently, as if the act of eating kept him grounded. “From that day on, I was whipped every day for years. It didn’t stop until Dragon became our commander.”

Niles frowned. “How many years did it take?”

Elephant’s only response was a bitter chuckle. “Too many.” He sighed. “I haven’t been able to cry since. After a while, pain becomes just another tool—something you learn to separate from your purpose.” His eyes met Niles’s. “I’m sorry. I won’t be much help with this whole ‘talking about feelings’ thing. I spent a lifetime burying mine.”

Wolf’s expression tightened. He looked like he wanted to speak but couldn’t find the words. His fists clenched until his knuckles turned white.

Elephant noticed. His voice softened. “I’m sorry, Wolf. If I’ve made things harder for you… maybe the way I live is wrong.”

Wolf’s jaw trembled, emotion bubbling to the surface.

Elephant exhaled, thinking back over the years. “Bear told me once, in private, that the others consider me a failure to the Xargian Gu—”

“Brother Elephant!” Wolf’s voice cracked, interrupting him. His eyes brimmed with tears. “You’re the kindest person in the world!” His voice wavered, but his conviction was unshaken. “Your way of living is honorable. You’re not a failure—you’re a hero. And I’m proud to call you my brother.”

Elephant’s eyes widened. Of all the responses he had expected… this wasn’t one of them.

Wolf wiped his tears with his sleeve, forcing himself to speak through his shaky breaths. “I’m sorry for always being so quiet. Most of the time, I just… don’t feel like I have anything interesting to say.”

Elephant gave him a small, rare smile and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Being honest is always interesting.”

Wolf let out a quiet sob, pressing his sleeve to his face again. This time, though, he didn’t try so hard to force the tears back.

Niles steadied himself, drawing in a slow breath. “I also think you're an honorable man, Elephant. Truly. Thank you for helping us. You even gave food to the youngest among us at the cost of your own merit.”

Wolf, still wiping his face, sniffled and managed to speak through damp sleeves. “Merit in the Xargian Guard is determined by level and skill,” he said, voice uneven. “Bear was too proud to ask for help. Or maybe… he just didn’t want it, but—”

Wolf’s breath hitched, and his words broke under the weight of his emotions. Elephant placed a firm hand on his shoulder, finishing the thought for him.

“—Asking for help isn’t a sign of surrender. It’s a refusal to give up.” His grip tightened, steady and reassuring. “I’m proud of you, little brother.”

Wolf swallowed hard, nodding, tears still slipping past his resistance.

Niles exhaled, his hands tightening into fists. “When we first arrived on this island… my mistakes, my reckless thinking, nearly got my friends killed.” His voice wavered, but he pressed on. “I was naïve. And I decided, then and there, that I would protect them—that I’d cast aside my own doubts.”

He faltered. His throat closed up. A cold pit settled in his stomach.

“…But I’ve never killed another person before.”

The admission hung in the air like an unbearable weight. Niles swallowed against the nausea rising in his chest. His gaze lifted to Elephant, pained and searching.

“Do you hate me?” His voice was barely above a whisper. “I even killed your friend, Vulture. And… if I’m being honest, Hyena as well.”

Elephant didn’t answer immediately. He considered Niles for a long moment before finally speaking.

“I don’t hate you, Sir Niles. And I don’t blame you.” His voice was steady, but there was a heaviness to it. “Both Hyena and Vulture tried to kill you and your friends.” He hesitated, his expression unreadable. “That said… I mourn their deaths. They were like sisters to me.”

Niles sucked in a shaky breath, forcing himself to continue. “I cut down Vulture from inside the barrier… even after she surrendered.”

Elephant nodded solemnly. “Aye. I saw.”

Niles gasped, his breath stuttering. His hand clutched at his chest as panic and doubt clawed at his mind. “She trusted me.”

Elephant exhaled, his gaze unwavering. “And you trusted them.” He turned to Winston. “But your friend here saved your life just moments earlier.”

Niles trembled. Elephant saw it, and he mustered his own voice, firm and grounding.

“Our commander declared war on you. In our world, it’s kill or be killed.” He looked Niles in the eye. “And know this—fear kills more people than steel ever could.”

His words struck deep, but he wasn’t done. “If you had been struck down, wouldn’t the barrier have vanished? Wouldn’t your friends inside have been overrun by the monster horde? Or captured by Bear and sent to the gallows in Xandria?”

The question lingered, cutting through the storm of doubt in Niles’s mind.

Elephant met Niles’s gaze, his expression unwavering. Then, with a firm motion, he slammed a hand against his chest.

“If you truly mean to build a new nation here on Monster Island, then plant your feet deep and stand firm.” His lips curled into a small smile. “It won’t be easy… but it’ll be worth it.”

Wolf’s voice trembled as he spoke next. “This is all Bear’s fault…”

Elephant nodded. “Aye, that may be so. But even so, we need to rise anyway.” He exhaled, collecting his thoughts. “Tomorrow will bring a new dawn, whether we’re ready or not.” His gaze settled on Wolf. “While I’m gone, I need you to help Niles and his party. Promise me.”

Wolf’s hands curled into fists, his whole body shaking. “Will you come visit us?”

Elephant’s smile softened. “I promise.”

Winston let out a long breath. “I couldn’t even do it. I was too scared to fight against my own brothers and sisters from Xandria. I just… stood there and watched. I’m sorry.”

Elephant studied him for a moment before speaking, his voice calm yet resolute. “One thing we learn in the Xargian Guard is that in both life and battle, what happens is only a small part of the story. The real question is how you react to it.” He placed a reassuring hand on Winston’s shoulder. “The fact that you’re honest about your fear and still call them your brothers and sisters tells me you’re a kind person.”

Winston swallowed hard, his eyes damp. He wiped at them hastily and let out a shaky chuckle. “Thank you…”

Then, without warning, Felix swayed in his seat. His body slumped, his balance lost. In less than a heartbeat, Wolf blurred into motion, catching him before he could hit the ground.

“He’s exhausted,” Wolf murmured, assessing him quickly.

The sight made Niles’s stomach twist. He had almost forgotten—Felix had been gravely injured, his wounds infected. And yet, he never once complained. Never asked for rest. He just kept pushing forward.

“Idiot,” Niles thought. “Learn to complain. I don’t want people running themselves into the ground.”

He stood up, stretching out his tired limbs. “I think that’s our cue to call it a night.”

The others nodded, rising from the table as well. As they moved, Winston glanced at them, a faint smile playing at his lips.

“I get why you called this our most dangerous mission yet,” he admitted. “Wandering this deep into your own thoughts… it really does strike fear.”

A quiet chuckle passed through the group as they made their way back to the fortress. They laid Felix down in a tent, ensuring he was comfortable, then each found a place to rest.

Rose approached, the last one still awake from the other group. She found Elephant standing alone, his posture heavy with exhaustion, ready to enter the tent for the night.

“Sir Elephant,” she said gently. “How did the mission go?” She hesitated, then added, “I overheard that it would be dangerous… Are you and the others all right?”

Elephant’s voice came out different—lower, quieter. “Yes… but we’ll talk more tomorrow. Go find somewhere to sleep.”

Rose frowned, studying him. Something felt off. “Sir Elephant?”

A pause. Then, a tired, “Yes?”

She took a step closer. “Why are your cheeks wet?”

Elephant blinked, caught off guard. “What do you mean?”

“The starlight,” Rose said softly. “It’s reflecting off your face… like glitter.”

Slowly, Elephant raised a hand to his cheek. His fingers brushed against damp skin.

“…It must’ve been the rain,” he murmured, though the sky was clear.

Without another word, he turned and disappeared into the tent, leaving Rose standing there, watching as the night carried his unspoken thoughts away.