It was almost a sin he didn't realize sooner... standing over the beasts frame was Rei.
Before he could fully react, his vision was suddenly imbued with hues of flickering orange and red, falling against his eyes in a quick wave before Acher's hand gripped the edge of his collar to tug him to safety.
Blood lined against the floor — doused with its royal red before it faded to smoke and embers soon after.
Peering up, he could quickly see what had caused his quick withdrawal, Rei's boot repeatedly stomping down against one of the blades still lodged within its skull, further and further pushing it deeper into its head like a hammer against nails. With each hit came with a new wave of blood combusting into fire as soon as it left the body, ground surrounding the dying beast turning into a hellzone of steam, iron and vigorous flame that crept by its sides.
After a few more stomps, she stopped. The beast had already long-since been idle. She didn't care.
He couldn't help but take awe in her appearance; she moved with the grace of a saint — red eyes both cold yet compassionate, each subtle movement making her short white hair sway in the wind. She seemed to take no heed of the scorching flames and boiling fumes which made contact with her, only glaring downwards with an expression of death lingering on her face.
In fact, the vapor surrounding and rising from the body made her seem otherworldly — as if she were an angel of hell rather than a human.
Her gaze shifted towards Nyx's spear, still locked into the beasts side before violently ripping it out as if it were nothing but a stick.
"Your weapon," She spoke, voice soft and emotionless, "It's broken."
Nyx, feeling a bit awkward, took a while to respond. "Y-yes... it appears that way."
She turned to the swords still deep in the Terrors head, firmly tugging both out and throwing one to Nyx, "Use this. Without it, you'll be broken too-" She stopped herself, taking a moment to glare at Nyx's wounds before speaking again. "Maybe you already are..."
Before anyone could say anything further, Acher stepped forward and chimed in. "You shouldn't have been so... reckless. You could've been hurt."
"Does it matter?" She asked, slightly tensing her eyes, "It's dead."
Not even giving a moment for anyone to respond, Rei quickly turned and began to walk away. Acher tried to rush forward, arm slightly held out to reach her, though a figure from the shadows was quick to stop him in his tracks...
It was none other than Seren.
"Where the hell are you going?" He exclaimed, running up and gripping her shoulder in a foolish attempt to stop her. He spun her around, trying to speak some sense into her, but it was a doomed attempt.
He moved back, arm curling away from her as she spoke; "I'm going to kill the Terrors. Follow me or don't, I don't care."
And just like that, she marched off further into the canyon.
"Damn~!" He murmured, peering toward the two spectators with a frown glued to his face.
Truth be told, Nyx couldn't care less for the situation happening between them. Well, he would normally, but a sight from a little further inside the divot caught his eye — one he couldn't bring himself to ignore;
From where Rei and Seren had emerged from, several other figures started to creep out from a distant tunnel, seemingly having sensed the threat to be gone. One figure in particular almost immediately caught Nyx's eye...
"Silas!" He exclaimed. Not wasting a second, he ran over, Silas doing the same once their eyes managed to meet. For only a brief moment, perhaps too brief considering the cause of their separation, they hugged as a soft yet unquenchable grin appeared over their faces.
"Thank you..." Nyx murmured underneath his breath, "You're alive."
A deep sense of guilt almost instantly lifted from Nyx's core. To have made an oath of protection for the other cadets, yet have his own brother be slain without him being able to do anything about it was perhaps the worst thing he feared. The thing which slowed and dampened his conscience this entire time.
As if confirmation, Silas responded with a slight chuckle. "I'm alive. You are, too."
The sweet moment didn't last, however. Both knew the time for reunion was better saved for a moment more safe. More appropriate. The two other cadets who emerged with Silas were two who Nyx had yet to fully know. Similar to Acher, he'd seen them during training, yet their identities remained a mystery to him. Right now, he didn't really care.
"Excuse me…" Acher spoke, eyes slightly tensed as he gloomed towards Seren, "I have some questions."
Seren didn't even try to hide the contempt on his face, a gaze appearing that of pure disbelief. "'Excuse me? I have some questions?' This isn't a damn classroom, for god's sake. Just speak."
"Right…" he muttered before continuing, "Do you know what's going on? Why are there so many Terrors here?"
"Hell if I know. All I can figure out is this wasn't part of the plan. Damn starfall..."
Acher stepped forward, pointing towards the silver blade Nyx held in his hand. "And what about those? Aren't these the weapons that the stern Phantom guy had?"
Nyx hadn't even noticed, but upon being told, these were indeed the dual blades he saw on Rylands back, and Rei's spear she got during selection was nowhere to be found.
"Yeah, they are. Rei had broke her weapon- no… she 'lost' it down the throat of another Terror. The entire thing."
Upon hearing this, Nyx and Acher were in visible disbelief — pure bewilderment stained their faces. Seren couldn't help but give a slight smirk as he continued:
"The guy said he wouldn't need them, and tossed them to her in replacement."
Nyx didn't hesitate to ask his next question. "Where is Ryland now?"
"Not with us. After giving her both his swords, he ran off somewhere down the canyon with a few other Phantoms. I haven't seen him since."
Upon hearing this, Nyx passed a subtle glance towards Acher, and him doing the same back. "You don't think..."
Seren nodded. "Wherever they went, they're likely not coming back for us. For the time being, we're on our own."
A deep silence hung over the group. Nyx could feel his own nerves starting to get the better of him. 'If what Seren said was true... then we're without leadership. There are no Phantoms to help us... We're completely stranded.'
Finally, Silas spoke. "Shouldn't we try and follow Rei..?"
Seren gave a slight tick in response. "Yeah. She's cocky and stubborn, but she's that way for a reason. Let's go."
The group didn't speak any further. In silent agreement, they tried their best to keep up with Rei as she bravely — or stupidly — walked into the unknown. By now, everything surrounding them had gone completely silent. The sound of Terrors was creepily no longer present. The rocks and dust had already started to settle, only the occasional slide occurring due to seemingly the winds grace and not much else.
As far as they knew, they were the last people left alive, and together, they were forced to survive.
The treacherous path continued a little ways further while hugging the cliffside wall, until eventually, it finally came to a close. Slowly, they one by one jumped their way down a series of dilapidated rooves and uneven, almost comically fractured pathways until finally making contact with the canyon floor.
Nyx sent his gaze upwards — he watched in awe as his vision began to warp. The canyon, when viewed from the bottom, felt impossibly tall — stretching so high it nearly made him shutter, worried as though it could collapse on top of them at any moment.
Now, they were in a basin filled with dark alleys, destroyed homes and nameless streets. Unknown Terrors possibly snuck behind every corner of the city, and they couldn't do anything about it. All they could do was walk and pray they didn't encounter anything. That their presence remained hidden, and that the starfall would be quick to end.
And pretty soon, they'd manage to get their wish.