"I killed Fred and Emily."

Unable to believe what he heard, Oscar blinked and rubbed his ears before chuckling and waving off the bad joke. "Enough of your bad jokes, Elder Saul. Sometimes they are too distasteful. Please don't make remarks like that." He wanted to keep laughing it off, but the unmoving look from Elder Saul diminished his laughs until they died down. Beads of sweat ran down his back. Elder Saul's eyes fixated on him in eerie silence.

"Oscar! Run!" Erden shouted.

They both sensed the danger and tried to run. Adamantium chains bound their legs and hooves. Erden wanted to fly, but the chains bound him to the ground, and Oscar felt a hand clasped onto his throat. It all happened so fast. Oscar writhed around as Elder Saul's hand was tightly clenched on his neck. He tried to rouse his Ein to no avail, and his limbs became heavier as they fell, not responding to his will.

"That fruit was poisoned. Don't worry. It's merely a paralyzing toxin. It won't kill you." Elder Saul smiled warmly. It looked horrifying to Oscar, who compared that smile to the current actions.

"W-why?" Oscar choked out.

"Ah, Oscar. My dear boy. You are magnificent. I killed Fred and Emily, yes, but not me directly. That was my subordinate's work. They mixed well into the armies of the three empires and slaughtered your men, everyone under you, all dead, thanks to me." Elder Saul still spoke in a sleepy tone as if the terrible words had no bearing on him. Oscar stammered, but the hand clenched harder, forcing his words down. He was only allowed to keep listening.

"But it was perfect. Especially the timing. You defeated Orden, whom Faust poured much of his efforts into, and arrived just in time to talk to Fred and witness him and Emily dying. I don't think the magnitude would have been better if you arrived too late." Elder Saul thanked him. Disgusting. He never wished to be thanked for that.

"You're…New Dawn…." Oscar wheezed out.

"You got me. Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Saul Dominic, the leader of the New Dawn. Incredible, isn't it? For your hated enemy to have been your closest neighborly grandfather." His words chilled Oscar's ears. At first, he refused to believe it. He remembered the stern yet kind gardener, the one who backed horrible biscuits, often selfish yet charitable to him. A cold hand patted his head, all the warmth gone from his body, and Elder Saul never spoke without losing a beat, "I enjoyed watching you tangle with Sirsi, that laughable girl. I enjoyed seeing your antics in my old labs. How entertaining. By the way, I also killed your parents."

"What?" Tears flowed down his cheeks. The last few words came out so casually, but the gravity behind them sunk his shoulders deeper. Those were his parents, yet Elder Saul mentioned them as if swatting a fly.

"At that time, I didn't know if you were alive or not, but just in case, I killed them. Slight bits of poison in their food. Ah, they died so easily. Mortals are so frail." Elder Saul seemed to be complaining. "Now, why did I do it? Metures mentioned the existence of Threads to you, did he not? I trained for years and found a way to see them slightly. I created a Thread between you and me by forming a relationship. At the highest emotional bond, the Thread becomes ironclad, unbreakable. Your core is filled with despair, all because of me, all directed at me. Now, the Thread between us has reached its peak."

"For what? Why?" Oscar stammered through his tears, losing the will to struggle.

"You'll see. You'll live to see it." Elder Saul smiled warmly and patted him on the shoulder like an elder giving his approval. Every action sickened Oscar. "Thank you, boy. Thanks to you, I know of Sevon, Adam, and that interesting elemental, Quinn. Kais should be heading toward them. And I know of your wife. I promise you, they will all die."

Oscar's thoughts ceased. Darkness clouded his vision. He wanted to scream. He wanted to move. The tears never ceased. Where did it all go wrong? He asked himself and found no answer. Because of him, Fred and Emily died. Because of him, his men died. Because of him, his parents died. And now, everyone else in his life might die. He couldn't find the strength to resist. Before long, the faces of everyone else he lost faded away.

What did Fred look like? What did Emily look like? It all became obscured in his memories. Slowly, Avril and the others started to fade, not completely, but slowly. Endless despair ached his heart and infected his mind.

'Help me….' He wailed inwardly. 'Someone warn them.'

…….

His wrinkled hand still tightly grasped Oscar's neck, and the adamantium chains still bound the Prielapos, leaving him helpless to watch. Elder Saul brought the boy closer and gazed into those onyx pupils as they trembled, darkening into the eyes of those without purpose, without hope, yet a spark flickered deep inside. Satisfied, he smiled, delighted at Oscar's current state. "As expected of you, boy. The deep despair I have brought into your heart and core can only be at its strongest when the faintest light remains for that despair to strike deeper."

Sighing, Elder Saul remembered the various others he tried, smacking his lips while grumbling to Oscar as he reached his other hand out. "I spent hundreds of years collecting and preparing for my ascension, boy. Some completely lost themselves and had to be tossed away. Their cores never formed the Thread I needed. Others were so brainwashed, too blinded by my gifts and support, that they wanted to offer themselves to me. Useless ingrates."

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His fingers jabbed onto Oscar's chest, over where the Exolsia rested. He could see a faint Thread linking him to Oscar and confirmed it was saturated with the highest despair, the best of all the other attempts. His years of waiting finally ended. Finally, he could harvest the seeds he planted long ago. Seeing a hair drop from his head, the ugly grayish-white disgusting him, he spat out, "Look at my wrinkles. Time has not been so favorable to me. All those years! I wasted on useless prospects, but I did manage to gather ninety-nine of varying quality. You are the one hundredth and the most precious one. I can use yours to complete my formation, and my future as a Primaere will be secured."

"Oscar!" The little deer roared. Elder Saul's fingers drove into Oscar's chest, fresh blood spilling from the five points his fingers stabbed into.

"Calm down, Erden." Elder Saul smiled, mashing the gums around his mouth. "It'll only hurt for a moment. And he won't be dead, at least for now. His body needs to be taken fresh to Kais. Yours too." His excitement tremored through his aching spine. His fingers dug deeper into the boy, who gurgled from his lungs being squeezed. Just a little more, and he could extract it, the central core, to complete it all!

Suddenly, a hand grasped his wrist. Shocked, Elder Saul removed his gaze from the bloody chest to his arm. He was speechless. Oscar somehow moved an arm against the paralyzing poison. The undeniable proof existed in the boy's hand gripping his wrist, trying to dig their nails into his skin. He lived for hundreds of years, but this display shook him. Narrowing his old eyes, he glimpsed into the Thread, which still held infinite despair. That only confused him further. In this much despair, Oscar shouldn't be able to move.

"Old bastard…." A chilling voice came from above, and a second glance at the boy revealed a pair of indifferent eyes gazing at him. Who was this person? He knew it wasn't Oscar. Calming himself, Elder Saul reassessed the current occurrences. Oscar, or whoever that was, resisted his poison, but his strength was still inhibited, and even if he could move, it was impossible to escape his King Exalt powers. And the Thread still had the despair.

"I don't know who you are, but it's useless." His fingers touched the Exolsia inside Oscar, a smooth orb overflowing with despair and sadness, all linked to him. His victory was certain. An immense heat rose, and he felt a burning sensation on his fingers. Yelping, he slightly retreated, his hand still inside Oscar's chest but not grasping the hot core. He exhaled sharply, sensing the skin on his fingers was burnt. "Impossible! You're just a Knight Exalt!"

His eyes widened, the droopy skin stretching out to expose his malicious yet stunned gaze. An image of a fiery figure imposed itself in his mind. Three orbs rested in a triangular formation in its flaming head, volcanoes rested on its shoulders, and its long fingers contained flames of all colors. He recognized this awe-inspiring creature immediately, the Ancient of Fire, Ignyres. How did Oscar have Ignyres inside him?

"It doesn't matter! You're too far from your prime. You can't stop me from taking his core even if you are an Ancient." Elder Saul rebuked the Ancient's attempts to stall him and firmly grasped the core, enduring the searing flames. He chuckled in groans and attempted to pull it out, but it shattered into thousands of pieces. His hand clenched on nothing inside the empty cavity. Ein surged from Oscar's body, reaching, and the ground cracked underneath, caving in from the pressure of the immense Ein.

"You…." Elder Saul had never experienced being surprised this many times in a single day. The rapid overflow of Ein, the breaking of the core, and the distortion around Oscar…signified only one action. Removing his hand that was charred black and covered in red blood, Elder Saul clenched his few teeth. "You little brat! You're forcibly attempting to advance?"

"We'll never give in to you. We will struggle until the very end. That has been our life!" Erden shouted as a river of tears streamed down his face.

The advancement to the Marshal Exalt required a large amount of elemental elixirs to help the Exalt regather the shattered pieces of his core until it was reformed. But Oscar was not at the stage to feel the lull of the next realm. Elder Saul regathered his breathing and thought about his next steps. 'If Oscar fails, then the core will be lost forever. I can't allow that. But the chances of him succeeding are low without the necessary elixirs. Damable brat!'

Elder Saul reached into his greater space pocket and pulled out several grade-three elixirs that emanated a metallic Ein. He chose to gamble on Oscar's success. The boy showed miracles many times. Perhaps this time would not be any different. Controlling the vials, he gathered the elixirs into a floating orb of liquid and doused Oscar's entire body in it. He felt he had no years left to create another perfect despair. The other prospects were still too inexperienced compared to Oscar. It didn't bother him. He only needed to wait and see.

"Who is it?" Elder Saul felt a strong presence lingering in the air, and his senses sharpened, the Prinstyct beaming through his gaze. Out of nowhere, a hand appeared by Erden and Oscar, breaking through the chains and hoisting them into another area far in the distance. He found out the identity of the mysterious newcomer. Only one person had the space element in this continent. "Is that you, Warden of the Abyss Prison?"

Before him, the air distorted, and Draven, garbed in his black robes and clad in the black helmet, stepped a few feet away, pure anger and hostility spilling from the ominous figure. The Ein rippled chaotically around him as the Kraken anima manifested itself. Heavy, rushed breathing exited the helmet, sounding more like the growling of a beast. Surprisingly, the Warden's presence was more profound than before, the majestic Ein of a King Exalt rippling everywhere.

"I wondered where you had gone for the week after the war. Congratulations on becoming a King Exalt." Elder Saul spoke his pleasantries, unfazed by Draven's presence and hostility. He sighed, tired from all the affairs today. "Just leave. You've secured the future of your father's Pavilion by being the next King Exalt."

"I don't care about any of that. Oscar is my disciple." Draven stood between him and the boy. "As his master, even if I have to give my life. I will protect him…by killing you."

"What makes you believe a fledgling like you can defeat me? Just a mere Monocrown King Exalt." Elder Saul roused his Ein, overwhelming Draven's paltry, kingly Ein.

"Then prove it. I'm waiting." The damned Warden mocked him, taking up a tight stance.

Elder Saul chuckled, "Fine. Perhaps Oscar's despair will be that much more when he sees your corpse!"