Jax slowly pulled away from his women's arms, his face hardening again. The warmth of the reunion gave way to the cold determination of a leader. In front of him, Valerius and the Siren Queen lay neutralized, trembling under the pressure of his aura.
Jax stepped toward the Siren Queen, his blue aura pressing the air as if the whole ocean had fallen onto her. He stared at her, his eyes blazing with held-back fury.
"When we fought that day, you made a promise," he said, his voice low. "You swore you wouldn't invade my island. You swore you'd keep the peace."
The siren trembled, unable to meet his gaze. The energy chains Jax had formed pinned her to the ground, powerless.
"There was an agreement…" she murmured, barely audible. "Humans, beasts, demons… everyone signed a treaty. They would give us half the coasts, let us pull back a thousand kilometers and have our own country on the continent. That was the fish-people's dream… to live on solid land."
Jax clenched his fists, his aura crackling like living fire. "And the price for that dream was my life?"
The Siren Queen closed her eyes, salt tears mixing on her face. "The condition was to attack your island. We didn't know who you were… only that we had to kill the owner to claim the land. The humans knew — they leaked the truth. They knew it was you. They paid a huge price to make sure you died… at any cost."
Jax took a step closer, leaning over her. "So from the start… it was all a mistake. Their mistake was letting me escape."
The siren sobbed, aware there was no excuse that would spare her from the fury of the hero they had tried to kill.
Jax turned to Valerius, who lay on the ground with his body smashed. Each broken bone was a reminder of how thin his thread of life was, and still his eyes showed the fear of a man who understood his fate all too well.
"Valerius," Jax said, his voice booming like thunder. "General of King Charles III. Right hand of the traitor of Soaring Dragon."
The man swallowed, trying to rise, but unbearable pain forced a choked scream from him. "P-please! It wasn't my decision… I was only following orders…"
Jax yanked him up by the head, forcing him to look into his eyes. "Orders? Or convenience? Did you leak my location to the humans?"
Valerius shook his head in desperation, tears slipping down his face. "No, not me! It was the king's council… it was Charles! He knew you were on that island, he paid to have you wiped out! I… I only carried out the plans."
The blue aura wrapped around him like an invisible grip, snapping more bones. Valerius screamed, gasping in spasms of pain.
"And yet… you were rewarded," Jax replied, a dark smile on his lips. "You married Charles's daughter, didn't you? That's not something obedient soldiers get… only dogs who lick their master's hand."
Valerius froze. His eyes widened. "H-how do you know that…? No one outside the palace knows…"
Jax leaned in close, his voice low and lethal. "I know… because I see right through you. And because a coward like you only climbs ranks by crawling into the king's bed."
Jax tightened his grip on Valerius's head, his blue aura sparking like eternal fire around them both. "Talk, dog of the king. Tell me what Charles knows… tell me why they invaded my island and how they found me."
Valerius trembled, breath ragged. "I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything…!" His voice broke under the pressure. "King Charles ordered the invasion… but he wasn't the mastermind. No… the real hand behind it is the Pope of the Church of the Goddess of Light."
The women around them held their breath, glancing at one another. Jax narrowed his eyes, rage swelling. "The church…?"
Valerius nodded desperately, blood and tears on his face. "Yes… it was him. The Pope made a pact with a demon, one of the fallen gods. The council didn't know why… but both offered unimaginable treasures, power and troops — all to see you dead."
Jax shook him violently, as if trying to wrench the truth from his bones. "And why? Why would a god of light and a demon god join forces against me?"
"I don't know!" Valerius shrieked, panic in his voice. "No one knows… not even the king. All we were told was that your life was too costly… that your existence itself offended them. The Pope kept repeating that your death was a command of both heaven and hell."
Jax dropped him back to the ground like a sack of meat, his gaze dark and fixed. The general's words echoed impossibly in the air: a god of light and a demon god working together. So unnatural it could only point to some deeper secret bigger than the battlefield.
"Then the Pope and his church… sealed your fate," Manaia whispered, face gone cold.
Jax lifted his eyes, his aura expanding like a storm about to tear the sky. "No. I seal my own fate. And they… will pay."
He looked at Valerius with a cold calm, the blue aura crackling around him like contained lightning.
"They're afraid of them," he said, his voice a dry, thunderous rumble. "But it's too late. Their dogs won't kill me before I reach the end. I know the secret they hide."
Valerius stammered, terrified, trying to find words that might save him. "Please…! You don't know what they… the Pope… the King… will do if…!"
Jax didn't wait. With one swift, final motion he snapped Valerius's neck. The general collapsed soundlessly, eyes fixed on nothing.
A raw scream tore from the siren at the sight. Her skin went pale and her whole body shook.
"No, please!" she cried, panicking as she backed toward the water. "Don't do this! We… we didn't want it!"
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