Author Notes: This is another chapter that I had wanted to do for a long time, but had to wait until later in this arc to write about it. It leads into a story of sadness, horror and regret by the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it. Also for why Ryūo has the same name as the Black Dragon God, it'll be revealed later on.

By the way for those who want voices for some of the characters for their cultural languages preferences. Here's who I consider the best: Xiphias: Rikiya Koyama (Japanese), Keith Silverstein (English). Lyre: Jun Fukuyama (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English). Panthera: Satsuki Yukino (Japanese) Wendee Lee (English). Rama: Nana Mizuki (Japanese), Stephanie Sheh (English). Truthful: Chafurin (Japanese), Michael Sorich (English). Sincere: Ai Orikasa (Japanese), Kasey Buckley (English). Miles: Nobuo Tobita (Japanese), Michael McConnohie (English).

Chapter 36: Kill The Tragedy

Helianthus smirked then asked Leone a surprisingly odd question that surprised her for how causal it was, "How old are you?"

"That's not something you'd ever ask a lady, especially when you stab her with whatever you're made of-," Leone replied with a snarl, only to be interjected with an answer that both surprised and disturbed her for thorough the answer was. It became apparent that these Akujin likely knew everything about everyone born in, served in or drafted into the Empire; a truly disturbing notion that made her cringe in repulsion.

"23. And you grew up in the slums of the Capital where you worked in a massage parlor ever since childhood. Scouted by the Revolutionary Army after saving some slum children from a group nobles who were abusing them for sport. Eventually, you became a powerful asset against the corruption accumulating with the death of the Prime Minister. You tried to flirt with the boy Tatsumi, but have ceased to do so as often, knowing he has a girlfriend now wife- one of the children that escaped the mass genocide of her clan by the Empire...with our Akujin agents slipped in order to make sure the job was thorough. Did you also know why he had so potential as a fighter? It's because he wasn't a special human being, no he's the half human son of the Current Black Dragon God- an elite Danger Beast. I thought you'd want to know. Also you would've been hell-bound regardless of being an assassin or not for your crimes. Gambling, not paying your debts, forcing others to not immediately have remorse for their loved ones, sadism, bloodlust, intoxication of alcohol, toying with others, the list goes on," he summarized her life with surprising accuracy. It surprised Leone that not only was Tatsumi connected with the Akujin, but they had played a part in Mine's past as well. These new enemies were gradually becoming less of a nuisance and becoming more of a personal enemy that was to be abhorred beyond all reason.

"You sure check tabs on people. I don't see why I'm so important to your little story-," Leone snarked in order to hide her disgust of what she had learned until she was interrupted by another surprisingly forward question.

"What do you know Prime Minister Honest?," Helianthus interjected so casually that it caught the feline girl off guard for how random it seemed to have been brought up in the conversation.

"...The fat ass is just what he is. A sick minded, hedonistic pig who's a relative of the slightly less sick Iokal, Syura's demented dad, trained with the Four Rakshasa Demons, a cannibal, the bastard who controlled the Empire through a sick minded brat and someone who allowed Esdeath to be as sadistic as she wanted to be. And he's in his 80s, but he was in good shape when he got his just desert.," Leone said with a tone of irritation. This was all things that all of the Revolutionary Army knew including her, there was other facts, but they weren't worth recalling.

"What else other than that?," Helianthus asked Leone again, causing her to be taken back by his response. It seemed as though he was inquiring more on what she, but at the same time, it seemed to be that he withholding information that he was desperately wanting to tell her. Similar to a know it all who asked a fool all that he knew before the former obnoxiously told him that what he knew was wrong. That's it felt like when Helianthus was talking to Leone.

"What else is there to know?," Leone responded with a confused expression, wondering what he was going to say about Honest that was supposed to shock her. Gainen widened her eyes as she realized that he was going to reveal something that was too horrifying to be known...the truth.

"Would you like to hear about Lyre-," Helianthus replied before Gainen interrupted frantically. Leone was startled by the indigo haired woman's sudden show of emotion, apparently what he was going to say was really shocking to make her that emotive.

"Don't tell her about him!," Gainen screamed desperately to stop him from going further. Helianthus smiled as he knew that he had already planted curiosity in this "dumb" feline of a woman and knew what she was going to ask next.

"Who's Lyre?," Leone asked, now more interested with the indigo haired woman's worried expression cementing her interest. Helianthus smiled as he knew that he had already got her attention. Now he could tell the story of the horrible truth that would make the tale of the Empire's corruption even darker than it already was.

"Curious as a cat I see. I think showing is better then telling. Observe.," Helianthus replied as he sprouted a sunflower from his right hand, which then emitted a light that engulfed the room and blinded the eyes of the onlookers.

Leone opened her eyes to see a horrific sight that was occurring in front of her. A massive family of obese individuals wearing cloaks and obscured dark masks engaging in acts of depravity onto innocent victims while worshipping a large, white sphere that would occasionally open a pair of yellow sclera eyes with pink irises, hinting that the "sphere" was alive. Leone then lunged at one of the people only to find that she went through them, initially confused as to why she couldn't hurt them. It couldn't be a Teigu since when she lunged at another, the same thing happened. She then came to the conclusion that these were illusions of some kind being shown to her. Knowing them being illusions made the sight infuriating as these fat pigs would performs atrocious sins such as torture, violation and other acts of pure evil that made her cringe.

This is one of my Trump Card's aspects, Perfect Illusion, I can show you want you to see. It has offensive purposes, but for now enjoy the show., Helianthus' voice rang from all directions of the room. Leone gritted her teeth and eventually calmed down knowing that attacking blindly would lead nowhere. She would have to endure the imagery of this vision and wait to see what he intended to show her. That said he was either an idiot for revealing his powers or was so confident that knowing the secret didn't matter as he was too strong anyway for it to matter in the slightest. It was likely the latter as Leone had experienced first hand how strong he was.

This is just some illusion he's showing me, like how Spectator works., thought leonine girl as she observed the scene with repressed anger. Why Helianthus showing her this? It was heavily implied that it wasn't this scene of depravity that the thing he wanted to show, but rather something infinitely worse that he had in mind. What it was would be revealed eventually. Her attention was then drawn to one individual that was different from the others, the only one that actually...seemed decent.

"Lyre, why are you not participating in our debauchery? How dare you sit there and be idle.," said the deep voice of a man that soundly eerily similar to Honest's voice, except much older, his anger directed towards a boy that sat away from the group's indulgence of villainy. Leone picked up on the fact that he was very different from the rest of his family, that he was likely the only one with a shred of humanity. He was a young man of average height with half closed amber iris eyes and medium length brown hair. If not for his eyes and more blasé expression, he would be a dead ringer to Tatsumi, but the resemblance was too close to a coincidence. It made her wonder why that was since it was very clear that these people were all related to Honest and Lyre's uncanny similarity to Tatsumi caused more questions for Leone to be curious about as she continued watching the scene in front of her.

"Lyre Leo, you are the son of the great Truthful Leo, which is myself and my ungrateful wife, Sincere whom I "saved" from her meager life of commonality in order to live in luxury. The Leos are descended from the first Lionelle user, becoming one of the founding families of the Empire, alongside such noble lineages such as the Ubiquitous, the Budo, etc. We have served the Omni clan of Emperors for over 900 years. Isn't it fair that we take advantage of our status to indulge in our darkest desires?," he shouted in a lucid tone of hedonism. It was likely a routine for Lyre to hear this every time he was forced to come to this place, one that he had gotten used to due to how unintimidated he was of his father's threats. However, his father's words of somehow "saving" her when the man would physically abuse her when they were alone; made him frustrated enough to go back because he was not going to have to listen him badmouth his mother.

"If the Emperor finds you here, you'll get in trouble.," he said in a blunt tone of voice as he walked away from the family. The family in question looked at the departing Lyre in confusion as if the boy was some of alien being due to how unusual his behavior was in comparison to the rest of the family. If his mother was a decent person, then it was clear that he took after her as there was nothing that Leone could tell he shared in common with any of them.

"He's an odd one. Why isn't he like us?," asked a young, plump bespectacled man with short, black hair with a purple streak on the right side of his bangs as he removed his mask; bewildered by his relative's abhorrence of their activity. Leone immediately recognized him as Iokal. The one known as Truthful also removed his mask to reveal that he resembled Honest except he was balding and for some reason that Leone could not put her finger on... not entirely human or rather something that was human, but was slowly becoming something more sinister... He felt far more evil than the others in the room and made Honest as well as Esdeath seem innocent if that were possible. As if he was a mass of pure evil in the form of a man, a truly odd sensation that Leone had never felt before. She had faced rapists, torturers, slavers, etc, but Truthful seemed worse than all of them. And that unnerved her for some reason that made her sick to her stomach.

"Lyre takes after his mother, a decent woman with morales. At this rate, it will be a long time until our master is released.," Truthful explained as he bit his thumb. He was annoyed that Lyre was not like his family, a moral person who would likely become a great aid to the king in exposing them and having them answer for his crimes. However, the way he spoke of master, Leone was confused. Someone as egocentric as Honest's family admitting to be the servants of someone else with a tone of genuine respect, was something that seemed suspicious. What could warrant this loyalty? Leone then noticed the white sphere and for some reason, she sensed that it was this sphere that was the master that they served.

Leone then realized at this moment what this family was doing, they weren't doing these atrocities for the sake of sadism, it was for their depraved worship of this demon who was soon revealed to be not only alive, but capable of speaking as well. She was not sure what she was seeing, it seemed to be a nightmare except it apparently was real to her horror. The one known as Truthful then bowed to this being with the others following soon after.

"Worry not, in the future, he will lead the Empire to its destruction and you my followers will be rewarded.," said the white sphere in an eerily serene and refined voice of an angelic nobleman that contrasted with its demonic appearance. It was peaceful, but it managed to make Leone's instincts go haywire from sensing that this being was leagues above Esdeath in terms of danger.

"Are you sure?," Truthful asked the sphere with enthusiasm and joy. The atmosphere became extremely dark as the sphere answered with a tone of voice that made her scared beyond all rational thought.

"...I'll call someone to educate him in our ways.,," said the white sphere as a brief glimpse of a lucid grin appeared on its form, its voice becoming an eerie reverberation of varying pitches, going from high to low at random moments. Leone immediately felt a terrifying sensation emitting from its form that caused her to focus on other thoughts to avoid focusing on the entity. It was that frightening to be around at that monster and she wished with all her might to no longer be with him.

Never thought about people's last names before. Kinda makes me wonder how Honest fits into this?...that kid...I feel like I know him., Leone thought to herself with a contemplative look on he face. She had a feeling that this Lyre person was likely going to be the focus of these visions and she suspected that his life was going to tie in with Honest's in some way.

Suddenly, the environment altered to that of an elegant mansion room, the one known as Lyre was sitting at a dinner table with his father, his beautiful mother with long brown hair and green iris eyes and another boy, this one being identical to Tatsumi. in terms of appearance. To the point that she unbiasedly guessed this boy was going to become Tatsumi's father. It was a shame to know that Tatsumi was related to Honest's family, but the real question was how Tatsumi came to be raised as a country bumpkin and for some reason, the brown haired man she saw amongst the Black Gods of the Akunin, was identical to this Tatsumi like boy. Almost as if they were one and the same. But, that didn't make sense, as she smelt that he had a similar smell to the others, but there was something off about it. Like he wasn't entirely one of them. As she continued to think on these matters, the answer came when the people spoke

Leone looked on with curiosity as to what Helianthus was trying to show her and how it was related to Honest, especially since the latter hadn't been shown at fact that he wasn't mentioned at all, made the situation very suspicious.

The mother sat on the right side of Truthful with an expression of disgust at being at the table, the boy identical to Tatsumi sat at the other end of the table far away from the others and Lyre sat in the space in between with an expression of indifference. It was apparent there was tension within the family and this Tatsumi like boy seemed to be the root of it with Lyre being involved in the matter.

"I can't believe you're having that thing sit with us. This bastard you had with that Dragon Danger Beast when I was away on a trip. Do not think it'll ever be considered my heir.," complained Truthful as he ate his food in a piggish manner., voicing his hatred of the boy Leone was shocked to learn of this, it confirmed her suspicions that the Tatsumi like boy who seemed to be Lyre's half brother and the Akunin leader who looked like an older Tatsumi were the same person. It solidified without a doubt that Tatsumi had inhuman heritage by at least a quarter. But, this shocking revelation was dampened by the fact that it meant that the implications that the mother had cheated on his father, regardless of how evil he was and it meant that Lyre had to deal with the aftereffects of the affair. Plus it seemed as though Lyre was not the child that the mother preferred, rather the bastard child she had with this Danger Beast. It was uncomfortable in the room, to say the least.

"Couldn't help it, I was kidnapped by a Dragon...things happened...and Ryūo came 9 months later. And I couldn't just abandon him or leave him to die because it would ruin our reputation. You know the discrimination that those with Danger Beast blood runs heavy in our country, hopefully, this boy will be the bridge that leads to coexistence.," Sincere, Truthful's wife responded with a mellow and level-headed tone of voice. When she talked about the Dragon, she seemed to have an expression of tenderness that she didn't have for Truthful. While she was glad that Tatsumi and Mine were in the same relationship, the fact that she already had a child made the circumstances very gray and the right answer to the situation was muddled to say the least.

"Anyway, it will be recruited into the army at a low position soon- it's at least more than it deserves.," Truthful replied, knowing that Sincere had long despised him for many years. The tension reached its boiling point when Ryūo said something that made Truthful especially enraged to Sincere's horror.

"A low position? I was thinking more of a Captain.," said Ryūo with a confident tone that caused Truthful to have a darkened expression of loathing towards the boy. It seemed as though it would lead into a scene of violent abuse until Lyre broke the tension by asking his father about the news that his father had told him earlier.

"So when is this mentor going to show up?," asked Lyre in an apathetic tone, eating his meal in a polite manner. A knock was heard from outside, causing the family to draw their attention to the new arrival. The butler opened the door and a man soon entered the room, one that Leone immediately recognized as Helianthus, but knew this was likely an illusion so she did nothing except watch what he was doing.

He was a man with swept back brown hair and square glasses, wearing a white business suit and an elegant grace. Sincere and Ryūo were apprehensive towards this man while Truthful was more overjoyed with his arrival, implying that the two knew each other from a long time ago.

"Oh Girasol, are you doing well? My son is need of some education that you will happily provide for him. Go on Lyre, say hello.," the obese man said in a respectful tone towards the brown haired man. Sincere and Ryūo continued to glare at him apprehensively as they suspected that he was not one to be trusted in the slightest.

"Hello sir.," Lyre greeted sarcastically with a disinterested expression on his face. Girasol then closed the distance between them and appeared directly to his left. The boy became shocked at this display of speed and paid more attention to him. It was clear to him that he was no ordinary smug tutor like all the ones before him, that there was something inhuman about him.

"I hope you come to enjoy my tutelage.," said the bespectacled man as his calm eyes stared down at the shocked boy. It was the sort of calmness that a snake gives before he poisons a mouse. And Lyre knew that he had no choice, but to comply as Truthful would punish him severely if he disobeyed.

The scenery changed again, this time to a private study in the library with Lyre reading a book while Girasol observed from behind. Leone felt an oppressive air and instinctively knew something terrible was going to happen to Lyre.

"What exactly are you doing?," said the bespectacled tutor as he overlooked the young man as he saw the specific page that he was focusing on. His narrow expression implied he did not like what Lyre doing in the slightest. Lyre was learning about things that might be hazardous to Girasol in the future if his suspicions on his similarities to the monsters on this page were to be exposed to the wrong sort of people.

"I'm reading about these things called Akunin that I'm finding most investing. Apparently, they're highly evolved Danger Beasts of pure evil that rule the world before the Empire was founded and its reign had some very disturbing details. This page illustrates the Hell King...it kinda has the same horns and eyes as the white thing Father always insists on going to in order to do his...activities. Except this is more human like. Does this mean that it's trying to use my family to return to its previous form?," Lyre asked with a methodical tone of voice. Girasol's expression implied that Lyre had discovered far too much to brush off as mere coincidence, he would have to use force in order make him not talk at this point. And Leone knew that she was powerless to stop what was going to happen.

"Oh, you seem to be smart..., but let's get things straight...you shouldn't do things outside of your learning regime...Human.," replied Girasol as his face turned into that of a blackened, demonic skull and tendrils sprout from his suit to repeatedly strike the terrified Lyre to the point of nearly dying. Leone could only watch in disgust at the abuse that was happening in front of her.

It confirmed that Girasol was Helianthus and the claim that the Mind of the Hell King was indeed in the Empire's capital. Two truths that made her realize that there was more to the situation she was thrown into than she ever realized.

The scenery altered once more to the Empire's hospital with Lyre badly beaten with the excuse that he fell from a tall height due to his attempt to reach a book on the highest shelf in the library. Girasol apologized, but Leone knew the horrible truth and saw it was insincere, likely done to avoid suspicion. Truthful was busy with his political duties to come see his son, while Ryūo and Sincere would occasionally visit him and stayed with Lyre until he fell asleep.

One day in the hospital, he saw the patrol chasing a girl with blonde hair and golden eyes with a large bag on her back. She had a chipper and mischievous expression on her face, which reminded Leone of her own. Lyre looked at the window and blushed at the sight of her. Leone then widened her eyes in shock as she realized who this girl likely was.

This can't be...if she looks me...then she has to be my-, Leone thought with her lips trembled from the possibility that seemed to be in her reach.

The scenery altered back to the mansion, this time Lyre was a young adult in royal attire along with Ryūo, who felt uncomfortable in his own attire, preferring the military outfit over any noble outfit. While Sincere had aged gracefully, Truthful's health was failing and he now had to travel to place in a wheelchair as his legs had apparently weakened over the years. Girasol on the other hand, had not aged a day due to his Akujin heritage slowly down his aging process as well as knowing that he likely used Rapture to keep his vitality, which Leone found repulsive to say the least.

On a more positive note, it seemed as Lyre had gotten more comfortable around his half sibling than he was the last time Leone had seen them together. They were now more able to talk to each other on equal terms like the brothers, something that Sincere seemed very pleased on seeing.

Lyre turned to Ryūo and made a sly remark at the popularity with the female population in the capital he began to receive upon reaching puberty, "General Ryūo, are the girls still swooning at your feet? Or are you still in trouble for being too familiar with the new Emperor?"

"Compared to the old one, he's too nice. But, he's so easy to mess around with.," he replied back with an arrogant tone and a toothy grin, unrepentant of his actions to Sincere's annoyance. He seemed to be one that naturally caused disruption even though he ultimately did good. It angered Truthful to know that this half son of his was much closer to the highest power in the Empire than he ever could manage in his lifetime. Sincere on the other hand, was annoyed that he was being too informal and amused that he was getting along with others now that the community had accepted him as their own.

"Speaking of women, I've already arranged for a betrothal from one of the city states near the Western Continent's Kingdom. Her name is Rama and you will follow through with this. Especially after the rumors that you've been associating yourself a low born thief named Panthera. Are you trying to undermine the status of our family?," shouted Truthful in a irritable tone of scorn. Sincere had known about this girl and had wanted the two to get together, but Truthful's announcement had stopped that from happening. She could tell that Lyre seemed to be especially troubled by this due to suspecting that he was going to propose to her prior to this betrothal. Truthful in spite of his declining health, still had enough authority to enforce this onto Lyre, so he couldn't defy him even if he wanted to. Sincere lamented this fact, knowing that her son was now being robbed of the best opportunity in his life. Ryūo was the more optimistic, thinking that Lyre will have to make the new relationship work out so he could get the most out of it and still be friends with this Panthera person in the process.

"As if you're one to talk...," said Lyre in a low mumble as he walked away from the room. After hearing this news that denied him of the future he wanted, he needed time to think things over, time to get used to the betrothal as he was not one to cause a ruckus, especially to put the family at risk. Girasol had beaten that mindset into him in spite of still remaining a decent person regardless.

"Where are you going?!," Truthful yelled in anger as he saw his son leave. Lyre gave a disheartened glare at his mother and half-brother; not bothering to concern himself with his father. He knew that their talks would only make the pain worse and he wanted to be as far away from Girasol as he possibility could. So being alone with his thoughts was the best option at the moment.

"This sudden announcement is a shock to me, so I will take a walk to collect my thoughts.," Lyre replied as he went outside of the room and left the mansion to ponder on his situation.

Leone felt sorry for the man because it seemed as though his entire life was being controlled by these two depraved individuals and he had no choice, but to comply. His defiance had been broken entirely by conditioning and it seemed as though there was no hope in sight.

The scenery changed to that of a back alley while Lyre stood against the wall while the blonde girl that Leone saw from the window had grown to become a long haired and very beautiful woman, but still unladylike in mannerisms, likely still up to no good. She was currently playing with some children wearing ragged clothing and dirtied skin. Leone was frozen in a mix of shock, awe and overwhelming emotion at the sight of the woman. In spite of never knowing her, she instinctively knew the truth at this point. That she was her...

"I'm surprised that you're hanging out with our commoner? I thought nobles were against being with the rabble recently.," the woman said with a witty, laid back and playful tone as she turned her gaze to Lyre. It seemed as though they had established a camaraderie with each other since they saw each other at the hospital, with the implications that they shared many numerous misadventures with each other, ones that likely got them into trouble. The two were friends at this point, but it seemed Lyre wanted them to be more than this.

However, the words that Panthera said managed to make him think on the current situation with the nobles. Previously, it had been only a few families that engaged in secret cults of depravity out of fear of being discovered by the zealous man that was the previous Emperor. Now it seemed as though they were becoming more bolder and influencing other families into being like them. And Lyre sensed that if things continued on this way, the Empire would become a much nastier place to be in.

"Panthera...personally, I find that the "noble" part is subjective for the past few years; lately, they've become more elitist and going behind the new Emperor's back to do...activities.," Lyre replied with a flat tone of pragmatism. He didn't like the change in the nobility, but lamented the fact that it would likely make his father react by using his authority to do God knows what to his mother. His half brother was too tough to be pushed around, but he knew that his mother was always at the mercy of his father's whims. That if she ever stepped out of line, it would be a punishment far worse than Lyre could possibly imagine. Then Panthera said something that shocked him for how straight forward it was, that she had the answer to what he had been agonizing over in order to fix the current problem with the nobility.

"Why don't ya do something to stop it? Eventually if things go on, there's gonna be a resistance that might topple the Capital. Maybe people will band together as a group of assassins to take out those people responsible...I think Night Raid sounds like a nice name.," she replied teasingly. Leone then thought back to her own group with the same name and seemed to be pleased they were on the same page. Lyre was so amused by this direct answer that he made the first genuine laugh that he had in years. Panthera always had a way of cheering him up whenever he was cornered by the drama that his family situation brought to his life.

"Yes, and I'll become a fat, corrupt bureaucrat who gets killed by a cat girl and carved up like a Christmas Turkey. I think you doubt the Emperor's capabilities.," Lyre said sarcastically, causing Leone to give a nervous laugh due to how similar that description befitted the Prime Minister's Honest fate. It almost seemed like he was foreshadowing his own fate, but that was ridiculous to think about. There was no way that he could become Honest, not in a thousand years. As Panthera laughed at his genuinely funny and morbid joke, Leone's mind shifted to a very dark place that made her unable to appreciate the close bonds between the two.

Wait, why would I think that? It's not like they're one and the same-, Leone thought until she turned to the sky and saw something surreal. It was a gigantic green sclera eye with a golden iris- Helianthus' eye. It turned into a downward crescent shape that seemed to say-

Whatever you just thought...you're absolutely right.

Leone's mind began to jumble and swirl from the baffling revelation that she tried desperately to deny out of how surreal it was. As she did this, she noticed that Panthera had gotten close to Lyre, staring at him directly in the eye. He was nervous while she was steadfast. It almost seemed like romantic tension was about to build up.

"He's a good leader sure, but what really makes a good country is being able to rely on others. I hope you can maybe rank yourself up and become a Prime Minster to guide him one day.," Panthera said with a soft smile towards Lyre and a genuine tone of respect. As she back away, Lyre looked down at the ground, feeling guilty about what he was about to say. That was going to happen would never come to pass because he knew that was not the path that was decided for him. And what she had suggested was too ambitious for his father to tolerate unless it was to promote the depravity of the more immoral nobles. And he didn't have the resolve to fight against the gradually corrupting system, something that he knew would disappoint Panthera greatly.

After a moment of silence and long after the children decided to return to their homes; Lyre began to speak again.

"I think Chouri is good enough of a Prime Minister. I'm just happy being where I am...anyway, I'm here to tell you...I'm going to get engaged soon.," he said in a quiet tone as he headed back to his home. Panthera almost seemed to step forward to force him to stay with her, but knew things couldn't go that way. No matter how hard she tried, they were of different worlds. They could still be friends, but nothing more would come of their relationship.

"That's a shame, I liked hanging out with you since we were kids. I hope you make her happy.," Panthera spoke with a tone of regret as a single tear left her eye. Lyre looked back regretfully, but decided to walk back to his mansion. Leone looked with pity at the two departing from one another. Lyre had denied of an opportunity to have a bright future with this woman as he now being set on what was likely a much darker path. As if on cue, Helianthus then spoke to confirm how dreadful the next half of this vision would be.

Having fun with this tragedy..? Soon it will turn into a horror story brimmed with madness..., said Helianthus' voice distorted and demonic, it came from all directions and made Leone feel incredibly angry from the sadistic tone he was making. Leone knew that whatever was going to be shown to her was not going to be easy to take and likely going to haunt her for a long time.

The scenery altered back to the mansion where Lyre would arrive to see a dark skinned woman with white hair and green iris eyes, she wore a pink dress that was bought for her by her retainers in order to fit in with the society. Ryūo was happy on Lyre snatching a nice "catch", Insincere was happy that this was a nice girl. Though Lyre could tell that she regretted it wasn't the woman her son had most associated himself with being the one presented for him. Truthful on the other hand, was annoyed. He had assumed this was going to be a stuffy or authoritative woman who'd force Lyre to clean up his act, but her naivety implied that she was going to be someone that would allow Lyre to indulge in his decency. Lyre was more neutral, neither happy that this woman was actually a decent person nor upset that she was someone that robbed him of his chance to be with Panthera. He had resigned himself to this future, no matter how much he preferred a different fate.

Lyre bowed to the woman and said politely, "It is a honor to meet you. My name is Lyre, I will do my best to make sure you are satisfied with someone as meager as myself."

Bashfully, Rama asked Lyre an innocent statement that caused Leone's pupils to shrink with shock and horror, "May I please name our first child, Syura?"

Suddenly, the situation became clear to Leone why she was being shown this. It was a tale of a decent yet mild man who was about to be thrown into an utterly bizarre situation that defied logic and sanity, coming out as someone else entirely. Someone that was the definition of everything that he despised and since this was merely a vision there was no stopping this road to insanity.

Leone realized how much of a tragedy this was and how absolutely horrendous the Akujin truly were when she came to this revelation.

Next Chapter: Kill The Madness