The Chain Basilisk caught them.
A golden ring closed around Leon and the dragon a few metres above the shaft. For a second, it seemed Kane had decided to save his son.
Then the ring began to tighten.
The basilisk was carrying out its last order, though it could barely cling to the supporting vein. Its white plates had cracked, and the circlet had slipped over one eye. Through the Crown, I felt its fear: the beast dared not open the rings because any act of disobedience brought the pain back.
Styx crawled out from under my collar and touched my neck. An image came: a red point inside the golden circlet.
Not a master. A lock.
I struck the ring's mounting with my sword. Ordinary steel left no mark. The second blow struck a spark. Inside the ring, Leon could no longer breathe.
Then the small dragon opened his jaws.
He had no void fire left. He sank his teeth into a white plate like an ordinary beast and began to tear. The basilisk flinched in surprise. The ring loosened just enough for Leon to slip free.
I caught him by his uniform. Together we pulled the dragon onto the support platform.
Without the core, he continued to shrink. His black plates dulled, and his wings folded against his sides. A few minutes later, a beast the size of a large dog lay beside Leon.
The tower's System updated its assessment.
"Former highest-rank beast. Combat potential: low. Market value: negligible."
Kane saw the line through the Crown.
"He has nothing left to give you."
Leon sat on the floor. His right arm would not move, and his left was covered in burns. He looked at the dragon laboriously crawling towards the edge of the platform and asked, "Then why are you still here?"
The dragon could have left through the open family doors. Without the core, Kane could no longer sense him. Leon was not holding even a voluntary bond: after the conduit broke, it had grown too weak.
The beast turned back and nudged Leon's knee with his forehead.
Leon closed his eyes.
Kane tried to raise the basilisk towards the throne. It did not obey at once. With the conduit destroyed, the Crown could no longer conceal what it felt: fear of the golden circlet, exhaustion, the old habit of waiting for Kane's touch after a victory.
The basilisk did not hate its master.
It only wanted the pain to stop.
Styx sent me a new image. A narrow vein ran from the basilisk's circlet to Kane's hand. Severing it would free the beast. But the mounting could be reached only through the human nervous system inside the Crown.
The parasite ability still existed.
I remembered Arden's fingers opening against his will.
Styx showed me not Kane's hand but a single white vein. Enter, sever, leave. Do not move the body.
Leon rose, leaning on the small dragon.
"I'll distract my father."
"He'll kill you."
"First he'll try to convince me."
"Why?"
Leon looked at the throne.
"Because without my consent, he remains a man who saved his son against his will. He needs me to call it love."
He walked out onto the central platform unarmed.
The small dragon walked beside him.
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