Chapter 10: Windows Between Them
Velmira woke up with a Sweat clung to her skin, and her chest rose and fell as she gasped for breath. Her bedroom was dimly lit, the soft glow of the bedside clock casting faint shadows across the walls. It read: 1:09 AM.
She sat upright slowly, disoriented. Her body ached in places she didn't even know could hurt. But she was alive. She pressed a hand to her chest, memories from the dungeon flooding back: the boiling lava, the howling winds, the screech of demons, and the brutal clash against Satan. And then… him.
She remembered now. The world had fallen silent. Time had frozen. Even Lucifer the ruler of Hell had stopped. And in that silence, a figure stepped forward. A figure wreathed in black mist, eyes like pools of molten crimson.
Ryz.
He had been there.
She didn't remember what happened next. One moment she was on the verge of death, the next, waking up here. Her room was untouched, just as she had left it before the raid. But that made no sense. She couldn't have made it back herself.
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and walked slowly to the window. The night outside was calm. Streetlamps painted long golden lines across the street. Then she saw him.
Ryz.
Standing in the window of the house across from hers. Still. Watching.
Their eyes met.
The curtain behind him moved slightly with the breeze from a cracked window. He stood there with the same cold, unreadable look he always wore. Five seconds passed. Ten. Neither of them spoke.
Her hand touched the windowpane.
"What are you doing?" she said aloud. Her voice was soft, confused. "Why did you help me?"
He didn't respond. He didn't even blink. After another moment, he turned and disappeared from view.
Velmira stood there for a long while. Her reflection stared back at her, pale and shaken. She clenched her jaw.
Is this really the same Ryz I fought during the war?
Back then, he was a storm. Unstoppable. Unforgiving. She had seen gods fall under his power. She had witnessed realms burn by his hand. And yet now… he lived across the street. Quiet. Hidden. As if none of that ever happened.
She turned away from the window. Her heart refused to calm. Questions chased her thoughts through the night until dawn broke through the horizon.
---
The Next Morning
The news hit the networks before breakfast: "Red Gate Calamity Over 300 Missing, Confirmed Deaths Include Three S-Rank Hunters."
Kaela returned home in a hurry, eyes wide with worry. She dropped her bag on the couch and burst into the room where Ryz sat reading an old newspaper.
"Ryz, are you okay? Please tell me you didn't go anywhere near that gate."
He looked up slowly, folding the paper.
"I'm fine."
She let out a breath and ran a hand through her hair. "Velmira… she was there. They say she's alive, but barely. What the hell happened in that gate?"
"I don't know," he said calmly.
She stared at him. "You always say that."
Ryz didn't respond.
Kaela shook her head. "Just… stay here today, okay? Rest. I'll open the store. You've been quiet all week."
Ryz nodded. "Alright."
She left without another word.
---
At the Store
The bell above the shop door chimed softly as Velmira stepped in. Her black hair was neatly tied back, and though she wore civilian clothes a gray turtleneck and dark jeans she still radiated divine pressure. Her golden-brown eyes searched quietly.
Kaela looked up from the counter and blinked. "Oh! Can I help you?"
Velmira's eyes fixed on her. "Is Ryz here?"
Kaela tilted her head, confused. "Do you… know him?"
"I'd like to speak with him. Alone."
Kaela hesitated. "He's in the back. I'll give you two some space."
She stepped outside.
Ryz emerged from the storage room a moment later. He looked at Velmira without expression.
"You're awake," he said.
Velmira nodded slowly. "You brought me back."
"Yes."
"Why?" she asked.
"I didn't want to see you die."
She folded her arms. "Since when does death bother you?"
Ryz paused. "Since I started pretending to live."
Velmira stepped closer, searching his face. "What are you?" she asked again. "Why do I remember you as a nightmare, but now you live across from me like nothing happened?"
Ryz looked past her to the window.
"I've changed."
Velmira scoffed. "You've changed? That's it? That's your excuse for showing up, terrifying literal helllords, and then pretending you're just some lost man with a bad memory?"
Ryz turned to her, his gaze steady. "I didn't say I was innocent."
"Then why hide?"
"I'm tired."
Her voice softened slightly. "You were the reason the war ended. Your disappearance calmed the gods. And now you're back. Do you think they won't come for you?"
Ryz's voice was quiet. "Let them."
Velmira looked at him for a long moment.
"You're not scared, are you?"
"No."
"Not even of yourself?"
Ryz didn't answer.
Velmira let out a slow breath. "I still don't understand you. But I remember one thing clearly…"
She stepped toward the door. "When you stared at Lucifer he flinched. And for a moment, I felt it again. The thing that made the stars tremble."
Ryz said nothing.
She looked back at him. "What should I call you now?"
"…Ryz will do."
Velmira gave a faint smile. "Then thank you, Ryz. For saving me."
She stepped out into the morning light.
Ryz stood alone in the silence of the store.
He closed his eyes.
Outside, the clouds slowly thickened, and high above the sky, something began to watch again.
He opened his eyes again and muttered, "They're watching."
With a flick of his fingers, the invisible presence that hovered far beyond mortal sight shattered. Divine mirrors cracked in the heavens as he whispered to them with no words. A silent threat.
Velmira, even from afar, felt it. She stopped in the middle of the street and glanced at the sky.
She whispered under her breath, "What did you just do?"
Ryz, still inside, smiled faintly.
"I just made sure no one else listens."
And high above the clouds, silence returned once again.