"I Am Indeed A Liar"

"What is she doing?!" Julian bellowed, staggering back as he planted himself behind Zana. "She's trying to kill me! Sabotage us! That's what she's doing!" His voice rang sharp with righteous fury, but it was a lie—one he crafted with precision, knowing exactly how Zana's mind worked. If he spoke first, if he set the tone, she would take his side nine times out of ten.

Zana's grip tightened on her sword. She turned to Flower, her expression unreadable. "...Is that true?"

Flower scoffed. "You'd believe the word of a demon? You, a knight? They ate us, Zana. They preyed on knights and conjurers alike, and now you want to trust the word of an animal?"

"You want to believe the word of someone who has to insult an entire race just to justify her actions?" Julian shot back smoothly.

Flower's nose scrunched. He had backed her into a corner, and he knew it.

"He plans to kill every conjurer and innocent in a riot—he and Aldric both." She kept her voice steady, but she had already lost.

Zana tilted her head.

"...You're saying Aldric would do this?"

Julian grinned behind her back.

There it was. The crack in Flower's stance.

A knight—especially one like Aldric—would never do something so dishonorable. That was how Zana would see it. She was not of the new order. She had faith in the old ways, and in the old ways, a knight's virtue was beyond question. No matter what trust she held in Julian or Flower, her trust in Aldric was unwavering.

Flower saw it too. She had walked herself into a blind trap.

She lunged.

Blade flashing in an arc, slicing for Julian's throat—

Clang.

Zana blocked her, steel grinding against steel, both women groaning from the force. Zana's blade bent slightly under the impact. "I shouldn't have given you this sword," she said, her voice low with regret. "It is not for the injustice you carry—"

"There you go!" Flower scoffed, cutting her off. "You don't even know the real story, and you're already blindly defending Aldric!"

She struck again, this time targeting Zana. Metal clashed, sparks flying as their blades locked. Then Flower leapt back, keeping her distance, her stance coiled like a viper waiting to strike. "Hypocrisy goes two ways," she murmured.

Her sword flicked through the air—

In an instant, her and Zana's positions swapped.

And suddenly, Flower's blade was at Julian's throat.

Blood dripped from the half-healed wound, as she was aiming for it on the same place, but—

Zana was faster.

A conjurer was quick. But a knight? A knight was faster.

Zana was on her before Flower could press the steel into Julian's neck, yanking her back with brutal efficiency and slamming her into the frozen earth.

"Drop the blade," Zana warned, quiet, solemn. Regret laced her voice.

A warning, and nothing more.

Because if Flower did not yield—

The next strike would be final.

"...Fine." Flower's voice was low as she drove the blade into the frozen ground.

She lied.

Zana barely had time to react before her left hand twisted unnaturally—bones cracking, flesh tearing as blood seeped from the wound. She only gritted her teeth, barely allowing a groan to slip through, and without hesitation, she cut the arm off entirely. The stump bled freely, steaming against the cold air.

"Every word she speaks is another lie to hide the last!" Julian shouted. "Are you really going to let her kill you? Let me die? As a knight, will you stand by and let that happen?" His voice was insistent, needling. He saw the flicker of hesitation on Zana's face—distaste twisting her expression.

That was it.

The sweet, fragile virtue of a knight, beginning to crack.

"I have no time for this," Flower growled. She clasped her hands together, and in an instant, Julian's right leg twisted and snapped, the bones shattering, muscles tearing as he collapsed to one knee with a strangled gasp.

That was the final straw.

"{Sanctuary Deployment: Boiling Frog.}"

The sky and land fractured at once. Water pooled beneath them, creeping up to their ankles—warm, clear, almost soothing. The frost vanished, the biting cold dissipated, and above them stretched a moonlit sky, empty of clouds. Around Flower, the air shattered like breaking glass, fragments of reality peeling away.

Julian thought, 'Is that her Sanctuary breaking?'

Julian felt the familiar pull as his body rewove itself, bones resetting, flesh knitting back together. Zana, too, retrieved her severed arm, reattaching it as if the injury had never occurred.

Flower moved first.

She surged forward, abandoning her blade in the frozen earth. Zana met her head-on, steel clashing against bare palm with a resounding clang. Then—

The shift.

Their places swapped in an instant, as if reality had turned inside out. Zana found herself behind Flower, lunging before she could think—but before her blade reached its mark, her legs buckled, bones snapping under Flower's unseen command.

Julian had no time to react before Flower's hand, sharp as a dagger, drove straight through his heart.

"You will die three times at least," she whispered.

The first death took him instantly.

Julian's eyes snapped open.

His second life began just as he felt the pressure around his throat—Flower above him, her grip tightening. He barely caught a glimpse of Zana's body, grotesquely mangled in the distance, before crack—his neck twisted sharply, and darkness swallowed him again.

Then—

A third breath.

The last one.

Julian awoke to cold steel resting against his forehead. Flower's blade pressed into his skin, just enough to draw blood. He lay still, listening.

"You and Zana failed," Flower murmured.

Julian blinked up at her, lips parting. "How?"

Flower snickered, tilting her head in amusement. "Since it's your last life, I'll tell you." She leaned in, voice like silk. "I have an innate ability—[Basket Case]. It allows me to control the nerves of anything I touch… or anything that touches me. Including myself, as I've already demonstrated."

She smiled as Julian's gaze flickered in understanding.

"My Sanctuary, {Cut a Rug}, doesn't control space—it controls the spine of the situation itself. A metaphysical surgery, if you will. I don't just move things. I replace what's broken with what should be, that I deem right."

That explained everything.

The effortless swaps. The precision of her movements.

Julian understood now.

Before Flower could land the final blow—before she could carve him open and take from him everything she wanted—

Reality shattered.

The world peeled away like paper burning at the edges, dissolving into nothingness.

They were back.

Back at the start.

The blade still stuck in the frozen ground. Julian's leg still mangled. Only Zana's severed hand had been restored, her fingers flexing experimentally.

Flower's lips parted in shock.

"What the hell happened—"

Flower's words were cut short by Zana.

"Since you've explained your ability as a conjurer, I, as a knight, shall do the same."

Julian focused on healing himself, watching intently.

"My Sanctuary, {Boiling Frog}, has two conditions—mental and physical. The mental condition, which you just experienced, allows me to see what my enemy would do in battle before it happens. The physical condition then adjusts my body accordingly, enhancing my physique to match the battle I foresaw." Zana took slow, measured steps toward Flower. "I'm afraid… you've already lost."

That explains the surrounding around Flower breaking. It was, indeed her Sanctuary breaking as soon as she entered this Sanctuary, meaning Zana had more refinement and control.

Flower clenched her jaw, her body trembling with frustration. She tried to swap places with Zana—nothing happened. Julian saw why. Zana's mana flickered at erratic frequencies, fluctuating just enough to prevent Flower's ability from latching onto her.

Desperation flashed across Flower's face as she reached out, attempting to control Zana's nerves. Again—nothing.

"My muscles are temporarily controlling my own nerves. You won't be able to influence them," Zana stated coldly.

Julian was fully healed now, standing back and observing the inevitable conclusion.

Flower's face twisted in frustration. Then, suddenly, she wrenched her blade from the frozen ground and lunged—at Zana.

"Your duties will be the death of you!" she roared, slashing diagonally.

Zana shifted back a single step, avoiding the attack completely.

Julian watched closely.

Flower's face was desperate.

Zana's was conflicted.

Zana wouldn't kill her.

Julian had to.

"I will give you my everything—"

Julian surged forward, seizing Flower's face and slamming her skull into the frozen ground with a sickening crack.

Zana gasped. "What are you doing?"

"She said she would attack with everything," Julian replied smoothly. "You saved my life. I didn't want you to die."

A lie.

The Sanctuary shattered.

The world returned to the frozen clearing, cold wind biting at Julian's skin.

Flower lay unconscious in the snow. "Before you ask anything, what's with the explaining of skills.' Julian asked, "Aren't you both familiar with each other?" 

Zana shook her head, "We never had much interest in each other's power, and as a-'

Julian cut her off, he knew where it was leading to, "-knight, a fair fight is in it's honor. Yes, yes- I know." Julian finished her sentence.

Zana sheathed her sword. "What will you do with her?"

Julian retrieved Zana's old blade and handed it back to her. She took it, silent.

"Question her, of course. Find out why she wanted to sabotage our treaty." Julian's voice was calm, casual. "But my real question is—how did you know she was here?"

Zana shrugged. "She told me she was going south. But she left heading north. I followed her to see why she was lying."

Convenient.

Julian smiled. "That settles that, then. I have things to handle after throwing her in a cell. Why don't you return to the village? I'll catch up soon and please do stay, I have to present some gifts to my savior after all."

Zana hesitated, then nodded. "Alright."

She left.

Julian waited a while longer, then crouched before Flower's bound form. He slapped her awake.

Her eyes fluttered open, dazed.

She snickered, lips curling into a defiant smirk. "What now? Going to torture me?"

Julian grinned. "Kind of."

Flower's fingers twisted violently. Crack.

She screamed.

"After all~" Julian tilted his head, voice sweet. "~I need to know how to use your ability, after I stole it from you."

Flower panted, teeth gritted in pain.

"Really, I should thank you," Julian continued, straightening. "You made things so much easier. You got Zana on our side. And by the time she realizes the truth—" He smiled down at her. "It will already be too late."

He stepped back, brushing snow and tried to scratch the dried up blood from his ghost shirt.

"As we speak, Aldric is tearing apart the pillars of the Capital. By summer, your conjurer brethren will be dead. But don't take it to heart." He winked. "After all… we are immortal. Try to enjoy the show."