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Chapter 27 - Chapter 27 – The Light That Burns for One

[INT. ILLUSION WORLD – EARLY MORNING, LIGHT SCHOOL CAMP]

Veloria's scream shattered the silence.

> Veloria (screaming): "LYRION—!!"

Steel pierced her side, blood blooming across her robes. Her body collapsed forward, caught by the stunned weight of betrayal.

Rhegor — leader of the Nonliving Creation Team B — stood over her with a blade dripping in crimson.

Time froze.

Lyrion's eyes opened.

From unconsciousness, he shot upright as if struck by lightning. The sight before him — Veloria bleeding, Rhegor's hand still on the hilt — cracked something deep inside.

> Lyrion (voice low, breaking): "Veloria…?"

The seal on his anklet exploded.

The third seal.

A surge of divine light engulfed him — golden, radiant, merciless.

> Announcer's Divine Projection (in the skies above): "Warning. Participant: Lyrion Elarion — third divine seal broken."

The ground split beneath him as divine pressure lashed the air.

> Lyrion (furious): "You touched her…"

His silhouette vanished. In a blur of speed, he appeared beside Veloria. His hands pulsed with light as he pressed them to her wound.

> Lyrion: "Please… not you. Not now."

The divine energy surged, knitting skin and bone, halting the bleed. The glow dimmed — Veloria gasped and opened her eyes.

> Lyrion (relieved): "Thank the gods… you're still in."

> Veloria (weak smile): "I'm… okay. You… woke up…"

Then she saw his eyes — radiant, wrathful, and filled with grief.

> Lyrion: "Now stay right there."

He stood and turned.

Rhegor had barely moved, stunned by the explosion of power. Now, too late, he tried to retreat.

> Rhegor (panicked): "Wait, no—!"

> Lyrion: "You made a choice."

He dashed forward.

What followed wasn't a battle.

It was a sentence.

Lyrion didn't dodge — he absorbed every attack with radiant skin. His fists struck with divine wrath, slamming Rhegor across trees, breaking illusions, and cracking bones with every blow.

The Nonliving Creation Team B cried out.

> One of them: "He's unstoppable!"

> Another: "RETREAT! RETREAT!!"

But it was too late for Rhegor.

> Lyrion (final strike): "This is for Veloria."

His final punch landed like a comet — sending Rhegor crashing into the barrier of the illusion world, his symbol cracking and vanishing in divine light.

> > Participant Eliminated – RHEGOR

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[INT. CAMP – LIGHT SCHOOL MEMBERS WAKE]

The other Light School members had awakened during the chaos — drawn by Veloria's scream, now witnessing Lyrion's wrath.

Kairo, Syleria, Ray, Rika, Aria, Auron, Cyra, and Sylion stood frozen.

> Kairo (awed): "He's… in rage form."

> Ray: "No, this is something else…"

> Aria: "It's divine."

---

Lyrion turned back toward Veloria.

He knelt beside her and wrapped her in his arms. Tight. Too tight.

> Lyrion (choked voice): "I thought… I lost you."

> Veloria (stammering): "L-Lyrion…?"

Her cheeks turned crimson — her body trembling against his. It wasn't the pain. It was the embrace. The first he had ever given her.

> Veloria (thoughts): "His arms… they're warm. He's shaking…"

> Lyrion (tears falling): "If I was a second late…"

> Veloria (internally): "If the blade had pierced a few inches deeper… I'd be gone…"

> "I only survived… by pure luck."

She clutched the back of his coat, burying her face against his chest.

---

[INT. STADIUM – OBSERVATION BALCONY]

The gods watched in silence.

> Light Goddess Lyria (softly): "So this is the bond they've forged."

> Time God Aion: "And the rage he sealed."

> Elemental God Kaion (coldly impressed): "That was no tactic. That was instinct."

---

[INT. DIVINE BOARD – DISPLAY TALLY]

Symbols vanished in sequence — seven from Team B of Nonliving Creation.

> > Total Participants Remaining: 65

The display pulsed in divine gold, the battlefield briefly glowing.

---

[INT. ILLUSION WORLD – LIGHT SCHOOL CAMP]

The Light team stood around Veloria and Lyrion. Some were still shaken. Others furious.

> Syleria (growling): "They faked an alliance… just to stab him while asleep."

> Cyra: "Now they know what happens when you target the heart of the Light."

Rika and Ray stood off to the side.

> Rika (low): "Thanks to Veloria… he lived."

> Ray (nodding): "And because of him… she did too."

Veloria remained cradled in Lyrion's arms, unwilling to move.

And Lyrion? He didn't let go.

Not for a long time.

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TO BE CONTINUED…

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