chapter 89: Final showdown

Cyrus stood in stunned silence, surveying the scene around him. The battle had momentarily ceased, leaving an eerie calm in its wake. The Queen lay in a growing pool of her own blood, life slowly ebbing from her body. Leora, completely shattered by the revelations, remained motionless, her world crumbling around her.

Lionore, standing amidst the chaos he had wrought, spread his arms wide. His voice dripped with a twisted sense of righteousness as he spoke, "You should be wary of women from this family. They are beautiful, I get it, but they are all the same."

"Shut up!" Cyrus roared, crossing the distance in a flash. Their swords collided with a resounding clash before Lionore teleported once more, widening the gap between them. Lionore flexed his bleeding sword hand, as if trying to shake off a creeping numbness.

"I'm just trying to be frank," Lionore said, approaching the distraught Leora. He crouched to her level, his voice a mockery of concern. "She is no different from her mother. She has been well trained." He grabbed a fistful of Leora's hair, yanking her head back. Despite her injuries, she struggled desperately to free herself, to no avail.

Cyrus took a step forward, but Lionore raised his sword warningly, shaking his head. "Do you remember the exam to enter the magic school? That memorable test that decided your fate and that of your parents? You never failed that test! It was her. Yes, it was her who was sent by her mother because they needed to keep you for their own selfish reasons."

Cyrus froze, his mind reeling, desperately trying to deny what he was hearing. But then Leora's voice, broken and pleading, confirmed his worst fears.

"No, Cyrus, don't listen to him," she cried, tears streaming down her face. "I never wanted to harm your parents. I did reject your results, but it was to protect you and your family. Far from you, the Bureau wouldn't be able to control you through them. I never knew what she did, nor did I know you then. It's different now. I... I... love you now."

Her words, the first time she had ever professed her love, struck Cyrus like a physical blow. He felt lost, unable to think straight as pieces of his past began to click into place - his familiarity with the Island of Moving Stars, the mysterious mark on his neck. The truth unfolded before him, cruel and unforgiving.

On one of her trips to the Island of Moving Stars, the Queen had noticed his abnormal genes. She then tasked Leora with manipulating his test results, ensuring his failure and sealing his fate. The Queen had arranged for him to be sent to the care center on that particular island, which she later bought completely to conduct unimaginable experiments on him.

All this time, Cyrus had believed he was a failure because he couldn't save his parents from their tragic fate in the mines. Now he learned it was all due to the machinations of the woman he loved most in this world, while the other woman he loved most had died there.

Lost in his turmoil, Cyrus barely registered Lionore's approach until a powerful blow connected with his face. Blood sprayed from his mouth as his head snapped to the side. One strike followed another in rapid succession, each impact reverberating through his body.

Cyrus's defenses crumbled, his primordial form vanishing as he fell to his knees. Blood pooled around him, his breathing ragged and labored. His chest felt impossibly tight, as if he were suffocating under the weight of betrayal and physical pain.

Lionore stood over him, his voice tinged with a hint of regret. "You have lost, not because you're weak, but because you love. Sigh... I too have loved once in my life but was willing to put it aside for something of greater value. Something worth dying for. Alas, you won't witness the beginning of a new era."

As Lionore raised his sword for the killing blow, time seemed to slow to a crawl. Cyrus's heart raced, pumping blood through his strained muscles. In that moment of clarity, he found his voice once more. "You refuse to accept that things have changed. The primordial bite era is long gone. You're a relic of the past, Lionore. It's time you return to where you belong."

Lionore's face twisted in fury, but before he could strike, Cyrus's palm touched the ground. "Levitate," he whispered. Their bodies were suddenly lifted off the ground, shooting out of the building. Glass windows shattered into a million glittering shards as they burst into the open air and began to plummet from the towering structure.

Despite his blurry vision, Cyrus could see panic flash across Lionore's face. The ancient bite attempted to teleport, only to find himself still trapped in the bubble, falling alongside the half-conscious Cyrus.

"The title of the Immortal Lion wasn't unearned. Your magic is indeed frightening, but not invincible," Cyrus managed to say, his voice strained but determined. "Do you know about magic stasis? I guess not; you're too old to have learned something so simple. It's a state in which magic stops fluctuating. Unfortunately for you, whose magic needs to be in constant fluctuation, you lose, Lionore."

With the last of his strength, Cyrus flipped upward, pushing Lionore beneath him. As they hurtled towards the ground, Cyrus closed his eyes, a bittersweet smile on his lips. "So this is how my life ends. It was a fun adventure," he thought to himself, bracing for impact.

Seconds passed, and the expected collision never came. Cyrus's eyes flew open in shock. Glancing down, he saw Lionore's broken body on the ground, the ancient bite's neck bone protruding grotesquely, blood flowing freely. Cyrus then looked up to see a golden rope tied around his waist. His restless heart calmed as he realized what had happened.

Lionore's dying voice, choked with blood, reached Cyrus's ears. "You trusted her despite knowing all she did, despite knowing the state she was in."

Cyrus, dangling from Leora's lifeline, managed a wry smile. "You told me once that I am a monarch but didn't know how to select my entourage. Looks like you were right, but at least mine is still better than yours."

With those final words, Lionore's eyes closed for eternity, the last of the primordial bites passing into history.

Cyrus's body was carefully pulled back into the building. With Lionore's death, the entire Bureau was liberated from his grip. The tides of battle shifted dramatically. The headquarters' defenses were activated, and a squad of Nightmare Vogels took to the sky like an army of avenging angels, annihilating the remaining karmic monsters. Bureau agents sprang into action, their specially tailored weapons proving devastatingly effective against the monstrous threat.

As the first rays of sunlight touched the war-torn ground, city Zero stood battered but unbroken. The long night of terror had passed, and a new dawn broke over Arkania - a dawn filled with the promise of healing, reconciliation, and a future free from the shadows of the past.