The cage thuded and sank downward, and Ed's heart sank with it.

He genuinely believed that the cage would not be smashed so easily, but now, it was as if some force was dragging it to the ground...... Sink into the endless abyss of hell.

He looked up at Niya. The swift and nimble thief did not flee with Fili and Sean, but stood in place in a daze, his eyes were dazed and his expression was complicated. Whatever he remembered...... That's obviously not pretty.

He fell into hell and came back alive - no one has ever been so lucky. But the shadow of his memory will probably still haunt him for the rest of his life.

"Nia!"

Scott turned around and yelled, "Get out of here!"

He clung to the cage and didn't let go, even though he had to kneel on the ground because of it.

Nia came to her senses, nodded, and ran away without a word.

Ed stared at Scott, at his clenched hand on the cage, the bulging veins and whitish knuckles on the back of his hand...... He can't say anything like "leave me alone" now. He hoped he would never let go, and he didn't want to be alone in this ridiculous cage and fall into bottomless darkness.

He tried to keep himself calm, but he didn't know what was on his face...... He could no longer control the fear that was silently devouring everything from the bottom of his heart.

“...... Don't be afraid. Scott whispered to him, "I'm not going to leave you behind." ”

Ed nodded silently.

Scott steadied himself and grabbed the cage with both hands, like Sean, trying to rip it open. He didn't have any gloves to counter the magic, but a moment later, green smoke still rose from his fingers.

“...... Scott ......" Ed cried out quietly, realizing that it was Scott's skin and flesh that had been burned.

He was answered with a low roar...... and a pair of golden eyes.

Ed cringed instinctively, throat tight. He was familiar with this brilliant and formidable golden yellow—the eyes of beasts, inhuman creatures...... Occasionally, even when facing Is, deep down, he is not completely fearless.

They are not of the same kind after all. He knew very well that a dragon could easily tear apart his body, just like Iss almost did...... Love and trust banished that fear into the deepest shadows, allowing him to admire with the purest admiration the color of the eyes that humans could not have—but Scott's eyes were still human eyes.

His pupils don't become as thin as Iss, but they look even more weird because of them. Ed stared at the golden yellow, horrified at the fact that he couldn't look away.

It was as if his soul had been sucked in—a whirlpool of golden, brilliant and indifferent, hot and cold...... He shuddered, suddenly not knowing which was worse than the flames of hell.

No matter what color the eyes are, no matter what the shape becomes, Isis is always Is. Scott in front of him doesn't look like Scott at all. His blonde hair floated in the air like a burning flame...... His whole being was like a burning flame.

The falling stone shattered into ashes before it could touch his body. The scorching aura enveloped him with a heat that could be seen with the naked eye, but Ed, who was a few steps away, barely felt anything.

He doesn't feel hot...... On the contrary, the chill aroused by the sudden fear made him instinctively want to shrink into a ball and stay away.

But he struggled to maintain his balance in the jiggling cage, forcing himself to shift his gaze away from Scott's inhuman eyes and his face that was somewhat hideous from the tense muscles, to his hands that were always clinging to the cage.

Between his hands, the originally bright silver light gradually glowed golden red, and the miritril crawling with runes began to twist and separate to the sides...... That little space was just enough for Ed to reach out.

He's trying to save him, no matter what he becomes...... Ed took a deep breath and shoved all his doubts, uneases, and fears into a corner, reaching out and pressing Scott's hands to the sides, desperately pulling to either side.

Scott's eyes flickered.

Before Ed could react, his right hand suddenly let go of the cage and grabbed Ed's wrist.

His hands work like a red-hot iron.

With great difficulty, Ed suppressed a scream that rushed out of his mouth, instinctively trying to break away. He looked at Scott in a panic, unable to tell for a split second that he was trying to pull him out...... Still trying to rip off his arm.

The cage slammed down again. Ed closed his eyes in despair, waiting for the pain of being torn apart, only to feel a sudden lightness in his body.

If this is death...... It's too easy.

He half-opened his eyes in confusion, and it took him a moment to realize that he was not dead.

He floated in mid-air, like a disembodied ghost, but when he looked down, the cage that was making a strange noise and slowly sinking to the ground was empty—he wasn't there.

Scott's right hand was still locked to his left wrist like a pincer, grinning in pain.

They all floated in mid-air. In the air distorted by the heat, Ed saw a golden-red glow in a trance...... Behind Scott looms into giant wings.

Scott looked down at him, silent, a strange look of anger and contempt that made Ed panic.

His lips twitched slightly, and Ed remembered the name that had been forgotten for thousands of years—"The name of the dragon has power." He remembered that Iss had told him.

Names have power.

"Scott!" he shouted, his hoarse tearing voice barely sounding like his own.

"Scott Criess!"

He had never called Scott by name like this.

"You're a human, Scott...... You're a paladin!"

He yelled. He didn't know why he said that—Scott wasn't a paladin anymore.

He reached out his right hand, and instead of breaking Scott's fingers, he grabbed his wrist with his backhand.

"Get me out of here, Scott......" he kept his tone as calm as possible...... Calm and trusting, even if the heartbeat is already chaotic, "This place is going to collapse." ”

Scott slowly looked up.

Ed felt more like he was listening to something than at the falling stones and the ceiling that was about to crash all over them, with vague patterns on the slabs.

But he didn't have time to see it clearly.

Suddenly there was darkness in sight...... Then in the blink of an eye, a gentle starlight fell on him.

(To be continued.) )