The sky over Malenday was not black with smoke, but a sickly, bruised purple—the color of a dying atmosphere. Malenday, the southeastern gateway of the Limana Kingdom, was no longer a hub of trade; it was a bottleneck of desperation. Thousands of refugees clogged the streets, their cries echoing against the reinforced mana-walls that were beginning to hairline fracture.
At the center of the city's defense plaza stood Redhardt Von Molinhurst. He was the antithesis of the chaos surrounding him. While soldiers screamed and civilians trampled one another, Redhardt stood perfectly still, his breathing rhythmic and deep. He was the King of the Lost Kingdom of Zaiglep, a man who had already seen one world end and was determined not to let another take his friend.
A Vanguard Knight, his armor scorched and his breathing ragged, skidded to a halt beside him.
Vanguard Knight: "Mr.Redhardt! The SSS+ Alert has been confirmed! The border walls at Alveunzla have dissolved. Thousands... no, tens of thousands of Maiju are pouring in. Limana is dark. No signals from the High Council. No signal from... from Light Sabre."
Redhardt didn't turn his head. His eyes were fixed on the horizon, where the distant silhouette of Limana's spires flickered with the unnatural fire of Dartivus Vaderius.
Redhardt: "Empty your mind, Sir Knight. Panic is a jagged rhythm. It will only break you."
Vanguard Knight: "But my...! The escape tunnel—the one leading through the Ruined Village to the Kingdom of Orizon—it's our only hope. If we don't move the survivors now, the bottleneck will become a slaughterhouse!"
Redhardt finally moved. It was a slow, fluid motion, like silk sliding over glass.
Redhardt: "Begin the evacuation. I will hold the rear. If the world is to end today, let it flow around us, not over us."
Suddenly, the air behind Redhardt shivered. A jagged tear in space, smelling of ozone and fading moonlight, ripped open. A body, broken and covered in soot, tumbled onto the stone tiles.
Redhardt: "Shinji!"
He was at the boy's side in a heartbeat. Shinji was cold. His chest moved with a slow, agonizing rhythm that didn't match the frantic pace of a living sorcerer. His mana veins were black—not with power, but with the void left behind by the Pact of Obsidian.
A faint, shimmering light flickered around Shinji's ears. A final, dying spark of the Silent Moon Butler.
Walther's Voice (Telepathy): "Lord... Molinhurst... can you hear me? My King... he has given everything. His Arcane is gone... extinguished by the Scourge. I have used the last of our primordial essence to bridge the gap to you. Please... take him. He is the last spark of the light... Save my King..."
The light vanished. The presence of the 8 Yokai, which Redhardt had felt many times before, was gone. A profound silence followed, more terrifying than the roars of the Maiju.
Redhardt: "I have him, Walther. Go to your rest. I will be his shield now."
A deafening roar shattered the moment. The northern wall of Malenday erupted inward. A colossal S-Rank Maiju, a mountain of shifting mana-scales and obsidian teeth, clawed its way into the plaza. Behind it, hundreds of smaller, scavenger-type Maiju flooded in like a tide of teeth.
Vanguard Knight: "THEY'RE HERE! DEFENSIVE FORMATIONS!"
Redhardt: "No. Retreat to the tunnel. Now."
Redhardt stood up, slinging the unconscious Shinji onto his back with a specialized leather harness. He faced the incoming horde alone.
Redhardt: "Flowstate... Activate."
As the first wave of Maiju lunged, Redhardt didn't draw a sword. He moved into the Adaptive Motion. He didn't dodge so much as he ceased to be where the claws were. He flowed through the gaps in their attacks, a golden-blonde blur that seemed to turn into mist whenever a strike should have landed.
A Maiju the size of a carriage slammed its fist down. Redhardt caught the impact with an open palm—Momentum Redirection. Instead of his bones shattering, he channeled the kinetic energy through his feet into the ground, causing the earth to ripple and throw the surrounding monsters off balance. He spun, swinging his arm in a wide arc, sending the redirected force back into the Maiju's throat.
Redhardt: "You are loud, but you have no rhythm."
The S-Rank behemoth lunged, its massive jaw snapping. Redhardt breathed out, his aura vanishing entirely—Formless Presence. The Maiju paused, confused; its mana-senses told it the human had vanished, even though he stood ten feet away.
In that moment of hesitation, Redhardt struck. All the force he had absorbed from the previous attacks coiled into his right fist.
Redhardt: "Crash Release."
He struck the air in front of the beast. A tidal wave of compressed kinetic force exploded forward. It didn't just hit the Maiju; it disintegrated the mana-core within its chest, sending a shockwave that vaporized the scavenger horde for fifty yards.
He didn't wait to see the corpses hit the ground. He turned and sprinted toward the southern gate, his feet barely touching the cobblestones.
[AN HOUR LATER: THE BORDER]
Redhardt reached the outskirts of Malenday. He looked back one last time. The city was a funeral pyre. Limana, the greatest kingdom of sorcery, was a silhouette of ash.
He crossed the mile-long bridge into the "No Man's Land" toward the Ruined Village. On his back, Shinji's heart gave a strange, erratic thump.
Redhardt: "Your heart beats with the rhythm of the dead, Shinji. But it still beats."
He looked toward the south. Five miles away, the shimmering, high-mana barrier of the Kingdom of Orizon glowed like a fake sun. It was a land of beauty and wealth, currently oblivious to the fact that the Scourge of Crowns was coming for every head that wore one.
Redhardt: "The 8 Yokai gave their souls so you could breathe. I will give my life as you save my life back then, so you can fight.
We reach Orizon by dawn. Wake up, Shinji. The world has no more heroes... so you'll have to become something else."
As Redhardt disappeared into the mist of the Ruined Village, the distant sound of Dartivus Vaderius's laughter seemed to carry on the wind, promising that no border—no matter how rich in mana—would stay standing for long.
[TO BE CONTINUED]