Cameraman Never Dies

"But, they did not know of such an outcome," Judge said, still not looking directly at his master.

"Exactly," she said in a tone which meant that he had just proved her point. "Judge, you are in the same situation, you do not know what kind of consequences come from locking yourself in from others."

Judge now looked up, meeting his master's crimson eyes. "Judge!" She said in a serious tone "Your defenses are built from many shattered promises, and you wear them like armor. I understand that, more than you know. But here's the truth you might not see yet, those defenses, they don't just keep betrayal out— they lock you in.@@novelbin@@

"You're still carrying the weight of every knife that's ever been twisted in your back, and it's stopping you from reaching the one thing you want most— trust. Your longing for it isn't weakness; it's your heart's way of telling you that you're still alive, still capable of connection. Don't mistake that for fragility— it's your greatest strength.

"Keeping your distance away from people will only hurt you more. And the way you laugh of every bad thing that happens to you, I am familiar with such a person, people who laugh the most are people who are the most hurt. You, are hurt by many of those you trusted, the only one whom you can trust is yourself.

"You cannot think that someone would never betray you, but you can trust in your ability to overcome that betrayal. No one betrays without reason Judge, no one."

There was a long pause, neither of them spoke as Seraphis let Judge absorb in what she had just told him.

"Then master," Judge, who was still focusing on the caressing of his master asked without looking up. "Do you trust me... even if I may one day betray the trust that you gave me?"

She stopped her caressing and paused for a moment before holding Judge's shoulder and turning him towards her. "Judge," she shook him lightly, "Trusting you... Is my choice, I would decide on whom to love. And I love you dearly. But proving me wrong?— It's your decision to make, and yours alone.

"To me, to trust someone and to love someone is different. But let me tell you something. For those whom I love dearly— I would give my whole being just to protect them."

Judge felt that lump in his throat again, a tightness that he never really felt before. Even if he did, he had forgotten that feeling.

But his master continued, "What about you Judge, would you die for those you love?"

Judge looked up at his master again, but this time with eyes that showed no hesitation, "I would burn the world for them." He had one doubt in what he had just told her, he had always been like that. He knew that he spoke the truth.

"Good answer." She patted and caressed his back lovingly, and then she got up, "Now back to studies, you need strength to burn the world right?"

Judge smiled, he was a master at manipulating, but she had just gotten him to study honestly. It was a new feeling, he had let his guard down unknowingly.

...

Clio, who was watching the whole story unfold, gave a sad smile. She knew something that they did not know, and she knew how sad the truth was.

———

Lucifer stood in an alleyway, he was ordered by his master to not kill his target. Even though he did not know why, he stood there, obeying the orders to not let them out of their home.

He was already suspicious about the whole request, the commission was too high for just killing a disabled man and a child. Now that his master had found something odd with his targets, he had confirmed his suspicions.

The man was also acting weird, he was yet to investigate thoroughly, but the man had a thick, dark, and disgusting ether around him. The child still has not noticed it yet because she has not learned anything related to ether.

In the country of Eldris, which was also the continent's name, children usually start to manifest ether from the age of ten. That was the norm.

This was because ether was a natural energy that every living being needed to survive, so attempting to manifest ether at a young age would draw in the ether needed to sustain themselves, effectively killing them.

So most manifest ether when they reach the safe age of ten, with some geniuses manifesting ether at age eight or nine, but that would be natural. However, there were some legendary races such as dragons and phoenixes, races from which children could manifest ether at a very young age, with some dragons manifesting ether from birth, though only in extremely rare cases.

But those two races were just legends, there was no proof that they existed, except old stories that told about the destruction the dragon race had caused almost two thousand years ago.

Then there were another two legendary races— Vampires and Avians, both races were the opposites of each other.

Vampires were nocturnal, and together with another nocturnal race— 'Nocturne', they lived in the lands of shadows, where the sun does not shine. The Nocturnes were a race that served the vampires.

Similarly, the Avians are diurnal beings, they lose their powers in the dark according to how dark it is. They live in a place where the sun does not set, but some of them come to the settlements of other races to act as saints of their church.

Both beings are rarely seen outside of their territories since they are afraid of having to fight while they are weak.

Lucifer was born as a vampire, but strangely, he did not possess the strong qualities of a vampire, nor was he weak under the sun. And he also knew of the existence of dragons, though he did not know about phoenixes or cloudstriders, a legendary subspecies of dragons.

As he was lost in his thought, he suddenly heard a loud crash from inside the house, followed by a loud scream of the little girl, Clara.

He quickly checked if all of his offensive tools were ready and headed towards the sound.