The road from Malenday to the southern borders was not a path; it was a gauntlet of teeth and shadow.
For three days and three nights, Redhardt Von Molinhurst did not sleep. He could not. The moment his eyelids flickered, the scent of stagnant mana would fill the air, signaling another surge of Maiju. They were like locusts, drawn to the flickering, dying heat of Shinji's heart.
Redhardt's once-regal attire was now a map of tragedy. His cloak was shredded, used to bind Shinji more securely to his back. His knuckles were split, and his breathing—once the steady, rhythmic foundation of his Flowstate—was now a jagged, wheezing rasp.
Redhardt (whispering to himself): "Empty... be formless... don't feel the weight..."
But the weight was everything. It wasn't just Shinji's physical body; it was the weight of a fallen kingdom, the weight of the 8 Yokai's sacrifice, and the suffocating silence of a world whose number one hero was gone.
On the second night, in the heart of the Ruined Village, a pack of Shadow-Stalker Maiju had surrounded them. Redhardt's vision was blurring. His Flowstate was failing because his mind was no longer calm—it was screaming. He had absorbed so much impact through Momentum Redirection without a clean Crash Release that his internal organs felt like they were vibrating in a jar of glass shards.
He had fought them off with nothing but raw instinct, swinging a broken piece of a stone monument as a club, his body moving in a distorted, haunting version of his adaptive style. He had survived only because his body refused to die before Shinji did.
THE BORDER OF GONAYA
The morning of the fourth day broke with a sky that wasn't bruised, but a terrifyingly clear, vibrant blue. Ahead lay the great iron gates of the Gonaya Kingdom, the fortress-border that guarded the path to the capital, Ukyo.
But the gates were under siege.
A battalion of Gonaya's Royal Guards, clad in iridescent jade armor, was being driven back by a colossal, worm-like Maiju that tunneled through the earth, erupting beneath their formations.
Royal Guard Commander: "Hold the line! If this breach isn't sealed, the Ukyo outskirts will burn!"
The Commander looked up to see a figure limping out of the dust of the No Man's Land. A man with golden hair matted with blood, carrying a boy on his back. He looked like a ghost.
Royal Guard Commander: "You! Get back! This area is a combat zone!"
Redhardt didn't stop. He didn't even look at the Commander. His eyes were locked on the giant worm-Maiju as it reared back to crush a group of wounded guards.
Redhardt: "Get... out of the way."
The Commander gasped. The man's aura was inconsistent—it flickered from nonexistent to a crushing, stormy weight.
Redhardt stepped forward. The worm-Maiju lunged. Redhardt didn't dodge. He leaned into the strike, his body becoming like liquid. He absorbed the titanic momentum of the beast's lunge, his skin glowing with a faint, dangerous light. Force Overload was imminent. His veins began to pulse with a golden hue.
Redhardt: "This is... for the walk."
He slammed his open palm into the side of the beast's head.
Redhardt: "CRASH RELEASE!"
The accumulated kinetic energy of three days of non-stop fighting, combined with the worm's own massive weight, exploded in a singular point. The shockwave didn't just kill the Maiju; it caused the beast to turn inside out, its mana-core shattering into a thousand harmless glass shards.
Redhardt stood in the center of the carnage for a moment, then his knees finally buckled. He didn't fall forward—he twisted so that Shinji wouldn't hit the ground first.
The Royal Guards rushed forward, weapons lowered in awe and fear.
Royal Guard Commander: "Who are you? And who is the boy?"
Redhardt (voice barely a whisper): "He is Shinji... the last of the Abyss. I am Redhardt... and we have come from the end of the world."
Back in the ruins of Limana, the throne room of the High Council was now a hollowed-out skull. Veynar Umbros sat on the Grand Sorcerer's shattered chair, idly tapping his staff against the floor.
Dartivus Vaderius stood by the shattered window, staring toward the South East. His black armor hissed, the stolen mana of Shinji's Abyss Dominion still crackling violently across his chest.
Dartivus: "They reached the border. I can feel the resonance of the boy's heart. It is weak, but it is there."
Noctis (leaning against a pillar, bored): "So what? His Arcane is gone. He's a husk. Why waste time chasing a cripple when the Gonaya Kingdom is sitting there, fat and ripe with mana?"
Veynar Umbros: "Because, Noctis, a fire that is extinguished can leave behind a coal. And coals, if left to smolder, can ignite a forest."
Veynar looked at Dartivus.
Veynar: "The boy survived the Morning Star. He survived your Scourge. He survived the sacrifice of eight Primordial entities. Fate is trying very hard to keep him alive. That makes him an anomaly. And anomalies lead to revolutions."
Dartivus Vaderius: "The boy is nothing. But the man with him—Redhardt Von Molinhurst—he is a problem. He uses the Flowstate. He is a king without a crown, and he will try to forge the boy into a weapon."
Dartivus turned, his crimson-black eyes glowing with a terrifying intensity.
Dartivus: "I will let them rest for now. Let them taste the 'safety' of Ukyo. Let them think they have escaped the shadow. It will make it all the sweeter when I pull the sun out of their sky."
Veynar Umbros: "Graven? Kaelthorn? Prepare the next wave. We don't just want Gonaya. We want the world to watch as the 'Last Spark' is finally, truly snuffed out."
THE CAPITAL: UKYO
Shinji awoke to the sound of wind chimes and the smell of jasmine.
There was no smell of burnt mana. No screams. He was lying in a bed of soft silk. His body felt heavy, like lead, and when he tried to reach for his Arcane—the familiar, swirling darkness of the Abyss—there was nothing. It was like reaching for a limb that had been amputated.
He sat up, gasping, cold sweat pouring down his face.
Shinji: "Walther? Shiragami? Anyone?"
Silence. The 8 Yokai were gone.
The door to the room slid open. Redhardt stood there, his arm in a sling and a fresh bandage across his forehead. He looked older, more tired than Shinji had ever seen him.
Redhardt: "They aren't there, Shinji."
Shinji looked at his hands. They were shaking.
Shinji: "I can't feel them, Redhardt. I can't feel... anything. He took it. Vaderius took my soul."
Redhardt walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. He didn't offer a platitude. He didn't say it would be okay.
Redhardt: "He took your Arcane. He took your power. But he couldn't take your heart, because that belongs to the eight who died to keep it beating."
He pointed out the window. Below, the city of Ukyo was alive—vibrant, wealthy, and blissfully unaware of the horror that had consumed Limana.
Redhardt: "Limana has fallen. All Light is gone. You and I are the only ones who know exactly how fast the dark is moving. You have no Arcane, Shinji. You are, by all definitions, a commoner now."
Shinji bowed his head, tears finally hitting the silk sheets.
Redhardt: "But as long as you breathe, the war isn't over. I'm going to teach you the Flowstate. I'm going to teach you to fight when you have nothing left but your own two hands. We recover today. Tomorrow, we start making them regret they let us live."
Shinji gripped the sheets, his knuckles turning white. The grief was still there, a massive, crushing ocean—but beneath it, a tiny, ember-like spark of rage began to glow.
Shinji: "Teach me."
[TO BE CONTINUED]