Malkov's face scrunched up in horror at what was happening.

Bleeding eyes, bleeding ears, bleeding nose! There was blood everywhere!

""Aaargh!!!"" Oliver began to scream in pain, and it didn't take long for Merriam to follow suit.

"No... Stop it... Isaac, stop it!" Malkov knew if he didn't make Isaac stop, they'd die!

But he just sneered at Malkov, "Oh? And what are you going to do if I don't? You have no power over me!"

Malkov was anxious; he knew Isaac was right, but there has to be something... anything...

'Wait... maybe...' After a short bit of thinking, he finally proposed, "Isaac... let's make a bet!"

"Why should I? You've nothing of value to me,"

"That's not true... because... because I'm betting myself! I think you'd be more willing to hear me out now, right?" Malkov looked firmly at Isaac, who merely smiled back.

"...Elaborate,"

"Stop hurting them,"

Smiling playfully, Isaac put on hand on his chin for a few seconds, eventually agreeing, "Fine,"

-Snap!-

"Huuhhh..." Again, with a twist of his fingers, he stopped whatever he did, and both Oliver and Merriam were finally able to get some relief...

"Thank you..." Malkov sighed in relief, "I propose a fight, one on one. If I win, you let us go,"

"And if you lose?"

"I won't try to escape anymore..."

His face immediately lit up in surprise, and almost just as fast, he accepted the offer, "Deal! I'll take you up on your offer!"

"Good, but can I speak with Oliver and Merriam first?"

"Go ahead," He nodded gratefully before walking up to Oliver and Merriam. They were still lightly coughing from their sore throats, but it was otherwise manageable.

When he arrived, Oliver spoke up before he could even say anything, "I heard everything, and I trust you. But. I need to know: how are you going to beat him?"

"Truth be told: I don't know," He smiled nervously and continued, "However, I've figured out his powers. As long as I survive long enough, I'll probably(?) find a way to beat him..."

"Wow..." Oliver was so struck dumb by the revelation he couldn't help but be speechless... Unfortunately, Merriam wasn't as reserved.

"We are so going to die..."

The group was sat in awkward silence for what felt like forever. Still, Oliver eventually snapped out of it and said:

"Well, we're goddamn lucky I have a better plan," He took out a fountain pen from his pocket and handed it to Malkov.

"What is this?" Malkov studied the pen curiously: apart from its elegant finish, it was just a common pen one might find in a store.

"A pen, an ordinary pen. But what's so special about it is the ink!"

Malkov instantly deduced his hidden meaning, "Poison?"

"Exactly!" He grinned slyly.

"I see... But this isn't going to work," He gestured towards Isaac, "Remember what I said about knowing his powers? I'm one-hundred percent sure he can control the red blood cells in people's bodies—"

"But that still doesn't explain how he deflected my strike; it even sounded like iron on iron!" Merriam cut in, clearly unconvinced...

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"—That's the thing, blood contains a small amount of iron, and I bet you he's somehow managed to concentrate all that iron in one place to take on your strike! This is why we can't kill him with poison!" He lamented helplessly, "He'd just block it again,"

"Look, just trust me, all you need to do is go as close to him as possible and wait for my signal, then stab it right into his neck, okay?"

"...Fine," Seeing the look on his face, Malkov decided to throw caution to the wind and believe him: they were in a hopeless situation; there's nothing left to lose.

When he got up, Isaac called to him, "Malkov, you ready?"

"Mn,"

"Let's start then!" He smiled and snapped.

-Snap!-

Not a moment later, Malkov felt his blood freeze in place and his body unable to move; not even twitching was possible.

'Shit...' Although he had expected this, he was still horrified at the feeling of losing control of one's own body, with no way to struggle out at that... Isaac naturally knew of this and walked assuredly towards Malkov, ever confident of his control over him.

"Give up?" Malkov could only glare at Isaac when he heard his words. Getting the message, Isaac could only shake his head in disappointment, then snapped his fingers.

"Grngg..." Onsets of pain showered over Malkov's body, giving way to waves of blood exiting his orifices and extremities. He could feel it: the pain. Pain so wretchedly treacherous it made him want to lose consciousness. Even so, he endured. Waiting for Oliver's signal, waiting for...

"Now!" Oliver screamed at Malkov before vomiting blood.

"What?!" Isaac's eyes widened, turning to glare at Oliver, "What the fuck did you do?!"

-Woosh!-

He instinctively dodged, barely able to avoid Malkov. He looked at the pen in his hands warily.

"Hah!" Malkov wildly charged at him again, but this time, Isaac easily escaped.

"Is that it?" He laughed as he moved, "You're going to have to try harder than that!"

"...We did. You were just facing the wrong direction,"

'From behind!?'

-Stab!-

There was a flash of pain before he felt everything go numb, "Seems like... you got me..." Before it finally gave up, and he fell over. As he was gliding in and out of consciousness, he saw the one who dealt the blow. The one who stood over him now...

"A detective, huh? You should consider becoming an actress, assassin bastard," He watched as she walked away, knelt down to look at Oliver, and after a short conversation, helped him up...

"Where do you want me to bury you?" He turned with a start; it was Malkov—

"What?"

"Where do you want me to bury you," He raised a brow; there were... there were tears in his eyes, "...Don't make me say it a third time,"

Suddenly, he was brought back to the time— that time when they first met in the imperial college.

***

"When you grow old and die, where do you want me to bury you?" He remembered his deadpan tone— as if he was actually serious about it.

"You brat! How do you know I'm gonna die before you, huh?!" He also remembered how he reacted.

"Well, I'm five years younger than you, so it'd make sense that you'd die first, right?"

"Yeah, but a lot of things happen in life! For all we know, you might end up dying from a plague... or somethin',"

"Then if you die before me,"

"Goddamnit, there won't be any ifs, period!" He remembered how he raged, "I won't die before you, and that's a promise!"

Ah, he really regretted it, looking at those downcast eyes of his, "O-Oh... I'm sorry if I scared you; I'm just a bit overreactive,"

"No... I'm sorry, I've never really talked to anyone but my books..."

"Um... If it makes you feel better, I don't really want to be buried,"

"Hm? Why not?"

"Well, I want my body to help nature, y'know, animals can eat my corpse and all that, and I can't really do that if I'm stuck rotting in a coffin, right?"

"Hehehe... I guess you're right..." He remembered blushing when he heard him at the time.

"..."

"Hey... do you wanna be my friend?"

"Huh?"

"W-Well, you said you haven't talked to anyone, and I thought maybe you didn't have any friends... and I was just wondering... can I be your friend?" He blushed even harder, "I-I mean if that's fine with—"

"I'd like that!" That's when he knew... he had to protect that smile... no matter what.

***

He smiled, slowly putting one hand on his cheek, "I'm sorry... I broke our promise,"

"I-I..."

-Drop!-

"I-I-I-I...."

-Drop! Drop! Drop!-

There comes the waterworks...

As the tears continuously fell on his cheeks, Isaac whispered, "Don't cry... aren't you free? Free birds don't cry; they fly away happily and explore the world that was kept from them,"

"But-But I..." He tried to wipe the tears away, but they kept coming.

"Promise me, okay? Don't. cry,"

"...O-Okay,"

He smirked, "Good, now... go explore... and live," With that, his hand fell before his eyes finally glazed over...

Isaac Orningthon is now... DEAD!

***

"You alright?" Oliver beamed at her concern, pointing at the Book of Fate, "If I have this thing, I'm simultaneously alright and not, sometimes at the same damn time,"

She smirked back, "You able to walk?"

"I can manage, but it'd never hurt to have a helping hand, right?"

She held out a hand. He took it, "Right,"

With her support, he was able to stand up. Just in time, too, since Malkov walked up to them.

"Finished reminiscing with your boyfriend?"

"..." It took a while before he answered, a smile on his face, "Yeah. Yeah, I've finished,"