"Where is she!?"
Hayes grumbled quietly as he looked around the hallway of the palace.
His steps were impatient as he kept checking every room he ca across.
Reis, walking along with him, couldn't help but ask, "Is she even in the palace?"
"Where else would she go!?" Hayes snapped, glaring at him.
Reis shrugged off his glare as they took a sharp turn at the intersection—
Only to et three soldiers.
"Halt!" One of them exclaid, taking out his sword. "It's a restricted area—."
His words halted as Reis rushed forward.
A quick horizontal forehand bash to the first guy's head, continuing the motion into a spin, slamd into the other guy before he realized what was happening.
One of the guards unslung his crossbow and cranked the crow's foot back to cock it.
Runes lit up the crossbow.
The bow triggered at the motion, and Reis quick-stepped to his left.
An overhand punch twisted his head, breaking his neck.
Reis looked back at Hayes, who stood there haughtily.
"At least you are good at sothing," he said, walking over the soldiers. "Let's go."
"You aren't a fighter, are you?" Reis asked, walking behind him. "Or are you—?"
"I'm a ssenger, not a murderer," Hayes cut him off, glancing over his shoulder. "Though, I am stronger than you."
Reis shrugged. "Sure you are."
Hayes suddenly halted.
Reis frowned. "What is it?"
Distant echoes of clashing steel drifted in from the courtyard beyond.
"Soone's fighting," Hayes muttered before breaking into a quick pace.
The hallway was long and narrow, its marble floors cracked.
Faint moonlight seeped through shattered stained-glass windows, casting fractured colors across the walls.
As they neared the backyard, Hayes slowed, peering through a slightly open door.
He quickly observed the place where Marvis was fighting against the others.
But Hayes' gaze quickly shifted to a motionless figure lying nearby.
Pasithea.
His eyes lit up.
"Found her," he whispered, looking back at Reis.
"Let see," Reis said as he moved forward.
Hayes moved back as he started to ponder how to capture the princess.
Reis observed the fight as he mumbled, "How are we supposed to grab her in the middle of this?"
Silence.
Reis frowned. "Hayes?"
No response.
Turning, he realized—
Hayes was gone.
"....Hayes?"
He called, his gaze peering through the darkness, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't see anyone.
"Where did he go?" Reis muttered as he started to walk.
Two steps.
And he halted.
A chilling feeling clawed at his spine as he felt death looming around him.
A pair of glowing, serpent-like eyes erged from the shadows at the far end of the corridor.
The mont they locked onto him, they surged forward at a terrifying speed.
Reis stepped back instinctively.
The eyes blinked—
And suddenly, Hayes erged from the darkness, walking out as if nothing had happened.
Reis let out a sharp breath. "Damn it, you scared the shit out of —"
"Let's go," Hayes said flatly, already moving.
"But what about the Aetheria's core—?"
"I got it," Hayes said coldly. "All we need to do is run."
A slow grin spread across Reis' face.
"Then let's get the hell out of here."
*****
Visions of sothing absurd.
Visions of a tall woman with bright yellow eyes smiling at him.
Aimar couldn't understand the reason behind this.
All he saw was that single woman.
A strange dizziness overwheld him, the world tilting as his consciousness slipped away.
"Aimar!"
Elise, kneeling beside him, shook his body, but he didn't respond.
....He couldn't.
"Shit, shit."
She muttered under her breath, pressing her fingers against his nose.
"Okay, he is still breathing." She said, before she could think, she slamd her palm against his chest. "Aimar, wake up!"
Her expression tensed up as she heard sounds around her.
She quickly tried to get back up, looking around the hallway.
The palace was narrow, not ideal for a fight.
Thinking quickly, she placed Aimar's hand on his chest.
But the next instant, his eyes snapped open.
The familiar molten gold of his irises had vanished, replaced by a vacant grey.
"Aima—."
Before she could finish, his hand shot forward, wrapping around her throat.
Without a word, he started choking her.
"Aimar...."
Elise choked, her hands clawing at his grip.
His blank, grey gaze bore into her.
Then, as if coming back to himself, Aimar grabbed his own wrist, trembling.
His breath hitched.
Elise scrambled back, gasping.
"Huff...Huff..."
Aimar's ragged breath echoed within the place.
Pain burned behind his eyes, scorching like fire, like sothing crawling inside his skull.
He gritted his teeth, pressing his hands against his head, curling in on himself.
"Soone is here!?"
A deep voice cut through the tension.
"....Fuck." Elise cursed as she stood back up.
Three soldiers stord into the corridor, weapons drawn.
Elise moved, unsheathing her rapier in one smooth motion.
The soldiers hesitated—their eyes flickered toward Aimar, who had begun to laugh.
A broken, madman's laugh.
The soldier swallowed.
"K-Kill him!"
The first soldier lunged, sword slicing downward.
Elise sidestepped.
Her rapier flickered—a clean puncture through his wrist.
He howled, dropping his weapon.
Before he could retreat, she lunged forward, her claws tearing into his face.
His pupils dilated. His breath hitched—
Then his eyes dissolved into blackness, his skin lting.
The second soldier rushed low, a spiked mace swinging for her ribs.
She ducked.
Her blade slipped between his armor—straight through his ribs.
His body spasd.
A gurgling choke escaped his mouth.
"ARGHH!!!!"
Elise flinched as she looked back.
"Aimar!" She called, concerned.
Her stomach twisted.
His fingers were digging into his own eyes.
Just as she tried to move back to help him, the last soldier lunged.
He feinted left, then pivoted, sword aiming for her throat.
Elise's rapier parried, but—
Her instinct scread.
She suddenly dropped.
An invisible blade rushed out from Aimar's body.
The soldier's upper body slipped down.
Blood flooding the hallway.
Elise turned to Aimar.
Her heart sank.
Tears of blood trailed down his cheeks.
"Aimar!"
*******
Still floating, the guard looked down at the destruction.
The once-empty land was now covered in burning rock, the ground scorched and broken.
Himl was buried beneath it all.
For a while, he didn't move, just kept looking at the burning place.
The sll of ash and earth engulfed the place.
Only when he felt the sudden disappearance of Hayes did he snap out of it.
"What happened to him?" he whispered softly, his body turning around as he floated back to the ground.
But just as he landed, he ca to an abrupt halt.
His head lowered—
"Hahaha."
And he let out a small laugh.
He turned around.
The boulders trembled, stopped, before bursting out.
He covered his face from the heat. "Of course, you won't die so easily."
"Throw one more teorite at ."
A voice echoed as a figure walked out of the fire.
"And I am going to lose it."
Himl's hair changed to wheat blonde while his eyes turned gold.
Golden marks appeared all over his body, from his face to all over his body.
His Avatar's body was encased in a floating hexagon of iridescent light that rapidly healed his body.
"That's new—"
The guard's words abruptly halted as the world around him tilted.
He blinked—
A burning pain registered in his jaw as his body rapidly crashed on the barren ground, stopping after fifty ters.
Mana blazed into motion everywhere at once.
They condensed into a solid barrier that encompassed him.
Himl appeared in front of him as he quickly got back to his feet.
"Like I thought, you are young," Himl comnted, eyeing him.
The guard brought his hand up only to find half his face helt broken.
His bluish eyes stared at Himl.
He smiled. "Are we going all out now?"
The mana barrier around him shattered like glass.
His body started to float—
Anything that had even a slight weight started to float as well.
A barrage of boulders streaked through the air like missiles.
They hit Himl, hurling him backward through the air.
Himl's body floated backward, dodging the boulders while keeping an eye on the guard.
'Telekinesis.' He thought, finally understanding his ability.
A shadow lood around him, a floating sword slashed towards his throat.
Conjuring the mana blade, Himl deflected the blow.
The guard levitated once again as he rushed at Himl.
He leaned his body forward to move.
Himl didn't let him get the upper hand.
Without a second thought, he covered his entire body with golden lightning.
His body blurred, instantly appearing beside the guard.
The guard moved his translucent glowing hand as if grabbing.
And just as Himl's mana blade reached to split his head—
An invisible force started to apply pressure all around his skull, halting him mid-air.
Wrapped in lightning, Himl twisted his body up before kicking the guard.
His body fell backward, slamming into the ground.
Himl followed closely behind him, slamming his knees on his chest.
The ground cracked.
His body dug deep—
A barrage of boulders hit Himl on his back, knocking him over.
Himl crashed into the ground, rolling across before steadying himself.
Dust and heat filled the air, his golden eyes locked onto the guard, who floated just above him.
With a swift motion, the guard clenched his fist.
The boulders around Himl trembled, then launched at him with devastating speed.
Lightning crackled across Himl's body.
He moved—no, blurred—twisting through the air, weaving between the incoming trajectories.
A split second.
That was all it took for him to reappear behind the guard.
His mana blade slashed downward.
The guard spun, his floating sword intercepting the strike.
Sparks flew as steel t condensed mana.
Himl pressed forward; he slashed and stabbed.
Every attack was t with an equal counter.
Then—
A sudden wave of force exploded from the guard.
Himl was launched backward.
He slamd into a boulder, feeling the impact reverberate through his bones.
Before he could recover, the guard was already on him.
A translucent hand extended from his body, fingers curling as if grasping the air.
Himl felt it.
A crushing force wrapped around his ribs, squeezing, suffocating.
Lightning surged through his veins.
The pressure holding him cracked.
The guard blinked—Himl was gone.
Then—
Boom! His fist connected with the guard's jaw, sending him careening across the barren ground.
The mont he hit the ground, Himl was already there.
No hesitation.
His mana blade sliced downward.
But the guard—despite the impact—smirked.
The instant before the blade could connect, his floating sword moved on its own, intercepting the attack.
A shockwave erupted between them.
Both fighters were sent skidding backward.
They stood.
They locked eyes.
Then—
They vanished.
A streak of golden lightning left Himl's hand.
The lightning arced, a spear of gold that split the air with a thunderclap.
The guard didn't flinch.
His free hand rose, palm outward, and the lightning bent, coiling around an invisible sphere before grounding itself.
Smoke curled from the scorched soil between them.
He lunged, lightning trailing him like a cot's tail.
The guard's floating sword shot forward to intercept.
Himl pivoted, sliding beneath the blade.
His mana sword materialized mid-motion, aid upward at the guard's exposed throat.
A translucent hand erupted from the guard's chest, catching the blade inches from his skin.
Himl smirked.
Lightning surged from the blade, the guard's armor glowed red-hot where the current struck, smoke curling from the joints.
Suppressing his scream, he pushed Himl back.
He tore off his armor as he raised his hand.
Every teorite fragnt.
Every shard of stone in a fifty-ter radius shuddered, then rose.
Debris started orbiting the guard like a galaxy.
Himl moved—not dodging, but moving forward.
Hexagons of mana ford a spinning shield around him.
Stone and tal shattered against it, sending out sparks.
Twenty.
Ten.
The guard's floating sword slashed at his legs.
Himl leapt, twisting midair to avoid the blade—
—And landed in front of the guard.
Their faces inches apart.
His knee drove upward, crunching into the guard's abdon.
The man doubled over, and Himl's elbow smashed down on his spine.
The guard hit the ground hard.
The debris rained down around them.
But just as his mana blade humd against his throat—
....Mana recoil hit Himl.
The guard moved, invisible force hurling him backward out of reach.
He rose, his armor hanging in jagged pieces.
Himl clenched his chest in pain as the golden marks on his body returned back in his palm.
He knelt down, his vision blurring.
"For the sake of this world,"
The guard said solemnly, raising his hand as if choking soone.
"It's better to kill you."
A boulder rose above his head, floating toward Himl.
"Hey, guard!"
A voice called to him from behind.
The guard turned around. Reis and Hayes were running toward him like madn.
"We need to leave! Now!"
He flinched as he felt the Yggdrasil tremble slightly.
The guard sighed as Hayes and Reis reached him.
Himl glared at Hayes, but he was powerless to stop him.
The guard pulled out a teleportation device, his blue eyes eting Himl's one last ti.
"Until we et again," he said before vanishing in a flash of light. .
"...Sun-Eater." Himl sighed and slowly let himself fall onto his back.
"Argh… fuck."
Pain surged through his body.
He couldn't move.
He could barely breathe.
His vision blurred as he stared blankly at the sky.
Then—
He blinked.
Sothing coiled around him.
Branches.
They wrapped gently around his body, lifting him off the ground.
Slowly, they carried him toward Yggrisial.
Himl let it move him as he kept looking at the starry sky.
His mind elsewhere.
Ti passed.
A soft, lodic voice broke the silence.
"Do you need help?"
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