Chapter 9: End of battle
In Eastport
Vibho was still fighting Karnol. He was clearly overpowering him in strength, but Karnol's Ver-Dan was initially stopping any damage. However, the barrier began to weaken when Vibho attacked with full strength, and a few of his hits even got through. Still, he hadn't been able to truly break it.
On the other side, Shunya was applying medicine to Valmo and Mira.
Mira stopped crying and asked Shunya, her eyes anxious and fearful, "Did you really save my sister and Timminy? Are they alright?"
"Yes. Your sister wasn't injured much, but Timminy was hurt badly. She should be all right and out of danger now," he replied in a simple voice, neither cold nor warm.
"Thank you… thank you very much for saving them," Mira said, her voice full of happiness, as if all her worry and sadness had vanished.
"But why would Karnol attack Hina and Timminy first, and not me?" Valmo asked Shunya, his voice pained. "I'm the strongest in the village, and only Mira and I have connections to the outside island."
"He probably thought Timminy was the only one who could kill or injure him," Shunya replied, glancing toward Vibho and Karnol fighting. "Although she's weak, if she and Vibho fought together, it could've been troublesome."
Shunya says and starts looking at the battle between Vibho and Karnol.
Shunya had been observing Karnol and his Ver-Dan from the start. Vibho had only managed to hit Karnol three times — but why didn't the barrier stop those attacks? He thought about it, then smiled; it looked like he had finally figured it out.
"Oh, so that's how it is. His barrier is quite weak compared to him. Looks like he hasn't trained it much. What a waste… but still useful for people like him," Shunya mused, a wide smile forming on his face as he whispered in a cold, low voice to himself.
"Hey, Vibho!" Shunya shouted, loud enough for everyone in the port to hear. "His barrier only works when he's paying attention to it! If he gets distracted, the barrier stops working! It's quite late already, and I'm feeling tired. Use your Ver-Dan and just finish him! I'm hungry!"
"Okay," Vibho replied, and began to think.
Everyone else was shocked, looking around and murmuring in disbelief.
"Does Vibho also have a Ver-Dan like Karnol?" Valmo asked curiously.
"Aren't Ver-Dans supposed to be very rare — only strong and very lucky people get them?" Mira said, her voice a mix of confusion and frustration. "I know Vibho is strong, but why am I meeting everyone who has one… and all of them are after my village?"
All of them were shocked, but Karnol was even more shaken. He felt like a pathetic joke. A Ver-Dan was supposed to make someone strong and unstoppable — yet the man in front of him could defeat him without using his. What would happen if he did?
He was furious. That burning feeling made him lose all sense of control. He gathered all his strength, ready to unleash one final strike — but then stopped.
He saw Vibho preparing to do something and convinced himself that his barrier would still protect him. He could kill Vibho anytime, he thought. But fear gripped him — his body refused to move.
Vibho ran, jumped high, and shouted from above, his voice echoing across the port:
"Ver-Dan — All Beings in One!"
He instantly transformed into an enormous elephant — almost mammoth-sized, nearly thirty feet tall.
Baaammm!
He landed straight on Karnol. The man didn't even have time to think before he was crushed under Vibho's massive weight.
"Why did Vibho turn into an elephant and jump on Karnol?" Valmo asked in confusion. "He couldn't hurt him before… I don't understand anything."
"Karnol's barrier could only protect him from human attacks," Shunya explained in his calm tone. "When Vibho turned into an animal, the barrier couldn't recognize the attack. He got crushed under Vibho's weight — more than eighty tons. He's defeated."
"Oh, that means we won, right?" Mira asked softly.
"Yes," Shunya said.
Mira's face lit up with relief and joy as she dropped to the ground, exhausted but smiling.
But Just as Mira and Valmo relaxed, several shadowy figures rushed from the main road toward Vibho.
"Hey Vibho, get up or he might die there!" came a loud, unknown voice — it was none other than ZE1526 from the Hunter Association, followed by other Association members.
"Hmm, who are you?" Vibho asked.
"Hey, did you forget me? We met just the day before yesterday," ZE1526 said, stepping forward.
"Oh yeah, you're right," Vibho said with a wide smile.
"Vibho! Turn back to normal! We need him alive," Shunya called out.
"Okay," Vibho said, returning to his normal form.
As he shifted back, they saw Karnol, unconscious and drenched in blood, his body crushed under Vibho's weight — but still alive.
"Capture him! Hurry, take him to the Hunter Association Office," ZE1708 ordered in a strict, disciplined tone. Then he turned to Shunya and said, "Thank you. If you hadn't come in time, we might've been in big trouble."
"Did you arrest every bandit from the village?" Shunya asked.
"Yes. We captured all of them. Our members have healed everyone and rebuilt the damaged buildings," ZE1708 replied. "We'll deliver all the reports and information to you soon. Now I must go. Goodbye."
As 1708 left, 1526 turned to leave too — but Vibho grabbed his hand.
"What about the food? You ran away last time without giving me the food you promised!" Vibho said.
"Hey, I didn't promise you any food! Let me go, I have work to do," 1526 said, trying to pull free — but Vibho's grip didn't loosen.
After several failed attempts, 1526 sighed and said, frustrated, "Okay, I'll give you the food with the report. Just let me go for now."
"Okay," Vibho said, releasing 1526's hand. 1526 immediately ran off.
"Where are they taking him?" Valmo asked.
"Don't worry. The Association will question him and give you the report. He'll be punished and sent to the mines for the rest of his life," Shunya said as he started walking toward the main roadway.
"But he killed my parents. I want to—"
"Don't worry," Shunya interrupted. "Your parents' lives won't be in vain. His remaining life will be far more painful than death. So don't worry — and I even have good news for all of you."
"He finally got defeated, but I still didn't get to ask him why he killed my mom and dad," Mira said in a helpless tone.
"See? Shunya has some good news for you. Get up — Hina must be waiting for us," Vibho said, smiling and offering his hand to Mira. "If Shunya says something, it won't be false."
"Yes, you're right. Let's go back home," Mira said, wiping her tears and taking Vibho's hand as she stood up.
In the Restaurant
When Mira and the others entered the village, silence filled the air. No one was around — only Hina stood waiting at the entrance.
As soon as she saw Mira, she ran and hugged her, crying tears of relief and happiness. After a while, she stopped and led everyone to the restaurant, where Grandma, Grandpa, and several villagers — including Grandpa Valm (Valmo's father) — were waiting. They all sat down together.
"Shunya, weren't you coming tomorrow? How did you get here today?" Vibho asked excitedly.
"The Association contacted me and told me everything about you, the island, on the Vad. So I decided to come early," Shunya said. "I'm tired and want to sleep, so don't disturb me," he added, turning coldly toward them as he got up.
"What is a Vad? Both you and the Association members were talking about it. Is it something important?" Mira asked curiously.
"This is a Vad," Shunya said, taking out a fifteen to twenty-centimeter capsule — a spherocylinder-shaped stick — and began explaining.
(Vad: When you break a branch or cut a part longer than thirty to sixty centimeters from an Akvani Tree, it automatically converts into a fifteen to twenty-centimeter capsule or spherocylinder shape, five to ten centimeters thick. It will vibrate or glow blue when someone contacts you, and if you want to contact someone, just grab it and think about them. However, you need the blood or a part of the body of the person you want to save his contact code.
It also works as a life signal. It glows red and shows the name of the person whose life is in danger — the darker the red, the greater the danger. And When the person dies, their name is crossed out by a black line.
"I'm feeling tired, so I'll go rest now. Is there an inn nearby where I can get a room?"
"I'll arrange one of our rooms for you. Please come with me," Hina said, standing up.
"Okay," Shunya replied.
"The Association will send the report tomorrow, and there's something important we need to discuss — something all of you should know. It's good news, so you don't need to worry," Shunya said.
After they left, everyone ate and went to sleep. Everyone except Vibho was exhausted, so no one asked who Shunya really was that night.