The fire across the forest aggressively raged on with the continuation of the battle between Team Pyron and The Fire Sovereign. The smoke across the forest had caused Gerald and Itama's view to grow significantly blurry compared to before, making it harder to navigate to their destination. All they could depend on was their hearing - which had been drained out by the whirring sound of Pyron's Cataclysmic Fireball. "A few seconds from now, multiple comets are going to come raining down from the sky!" Itama informed Gerald, his eyes still glued to the massive orb that had completed its growth and was now slowly floating into the sky. Now that the job had been finished, Pyron's focus had shifted back to Gerald, Xavier, and Itama, who could not focus on the battle due to their circumstances. "If you want to be an entity hunter, you're going to have to pull through despite the circumstances we're in right now!" Itama reassured, placing his hand right on Gerald's shoulder. "After all, you would rather die trying than give up now!"
Without any response to Itama, Gerald turned his head in the direction of the Great Armor. "About thirty more seconds - not enough time!" he repeated in his head, picking up the pace with his fire and jumping straight to Pyron. "I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU DESTROY NAHATA!" he exclaimed, recklessly soaring across the skies and noticing Pyron's hand flying right in his direction. Just in time, Xavier had been able to use the power of his phantoms to barely save Gerald from the hit - if it had not been for that attack, then he would've taken a fatal blow like Harlo in the Land of Stone. "YOU REALLY THiNK I'M GOING TO LET YOU DIE!?" Xavier exclaimed, rapidly spinning Gerald around and throwing him through Pyron's giant fireball. "CONQUEST OF THE PRISTINE!" Both of them loudly shouted in unison, a giant explosion of Blue Fire engulfing Pyron's fire, causing it to explode right into particles of ash. Now, right before Pyron was entity hunter Gerald Romanti of Team ENTITY, staring him down as if he had nothing to lose. "For years I've been studying everything about pristine entities with my friends - and I won't LET ALL THAT RESEARCH GO TO WASTE!" Gerald continued, dancing around as his fire slowly changed from blue to black. "ENTITY OR NOT, YOU WILL FACE JUSTICE IN THE NAME OF TEAM ENTIT-"
Two overwhelming forces overtook Gerald at the exact same time - one holding a vivid memory that had not belonged to him (potentially a proximity transmission link due to his depth in the battle) and another feeling that felt as if his power were slowly fading away with each passing moment in the sight of Pyron. "My power is fading away NOW!?" Gerald screamed inside his head, punching himself in the face repeatedly to try and lose sight of the feeling. "I've been through so much, and THIS IS HOW MY LEGACY IS GOING TO TURN OUT!? I WON'T ACCEPT IT, I WON'T ACCEPT I-"
At the last possible second, he noticed a hand grow right out of Pyron's skin, flying right in the direction of Xavier and Itama, who had very little time to react to the scare. "Shit!" Itama muttered under his breath, readying his swords as if he were about to attack. With perfect timing, Xavier grabbed right onto the pristine entity's arm with his fiery hands and began exerting every ounce of strength he had left to help Itama get away. "Everyone… is subject to losing something when battling a pristine entity!" Xavier spat out, his eyesight slowly fading as his power grew. "Pyron can take anything from me, but NOT MY TEAM!"
Right before Itama's eyes, the roar of Xavier's phantoms was followed by a giant explosion of rainbow smoke that engulfed the both of them, successfully cutting Pyron's hand. "Protector of the Phantoms - Savior!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, catching both of Itama's hands and landing against the dry dirt alongside him. A few seconds after landing, they had noticed Gerald lying right next to them, his hand covered in blood. Xavier had barely managed to get up, noticing that a deep wound had been inflicted right on Gerald's arm. "If he doesn't get away from here, he's going to lose blood!" he muttered under his breath, grasping the wound with both of his hands and attempting to transmit his power in order to cover it up. "Phantom Healing - Transmission of Pain!" Xavier called out, a red glow from Gerald's body pouring straight into his. A few seconds after the glow disappeared, blood came straight out of Xavier's mouth, staining the tree bark that laid across the dry dirt next to him, Gerald, and Itama. "Keep fighting, Gerald Romanti…" he muttered.
Xavier, the Protector of the Phantoms, had passed out in battle against Pyron.
Volume 13, Chapter 26 - Keep Fighting, Gerald Romanti
"Your power is not welcome here!"
"Get a move on, loser!"
Voices like these repeated throughout Gerald's head as if it was his own memory - instead, the memories seemed to revolve around a small, frail kid with burn scars all over his hands and knees. He was leaning against a small, apple tree that slowly faded away with time, repeatedly banging his head against it until blood had come pouring straight out. "I want to die!" he repeated over and over, looking at the blood on his hands and still continuing to harm himself. Gerald, whose mouth and limbs had been covered with Emberatalia, slowly walked in the child's direction and held out his hand towards him. "What's your name, kid?" he asked, a warm smile beaming straight on his face. The kid turned his face right towards him, examining his body from top to bottom. "My name is Pyron," he informed him.
At that exact moment, the dream had begun falling apart. Gerald picked up the kid and ran to the only source of light that stood out from everything else - his starting point. "Pristine entities… could this be what Itama and Champion were claiming back in the Land of Trila!?" he thought to himself, using Emberatalia to propel himself through the air and fly right through the door.
Maybe pristine entities truly were humans pleading to be let out of an entity's body.