For several seconds after Johan's body went still—
the battlefield did not move.
The wind slowed.
The sounds of magic faded.
Even the soldiers seemed frozen in place.
Sora still held Johan in his arms.
His mind refused to accept what had just happened.
"...Johan?"
No response.
Sora shook him once.
"...Hey."
Nothing.
The water that once obeyed Johan had already fallen back to the earth, lifeless and scattered across the ruined battlefield.
The magic squads across the field watched carefully.
Some of them had already begun preparing their next spells.
Because the rebel was still alive.
Sora slowly lowered Johan's body to the ground.
His hands were trembling.
For the first time in years—
Sora looked lost.
"...You said I was slow."
His voice was quiet.
Almost empty.
"So get up and say it again."
The wind moved through the battlefield.
But Johan did not move.
Something inside Sora snapped.
---
The magic squads attacked.
A rain of spells crashed toward him.
Lightning spears.
Flame arrows.
Blades of wind.
Sora didn't dodge at first.
He simply stood there.
His sword hanging loosely in his hand.
One of the magic captains shouted.
"NOW!"
The attacks closed in.
And then—
something ignited.
A violent heat erupted from Sora's body.
The ground beneath him cracked.
Flames burst outward in a violent explosion.
The incoming magic shattered against the sudden inferno.
The soldiers staggered backward in shock.
"What is that?!"
The fire did not look normal.
It roared like a living storm around Sora, rising violently toward the sky.
Sora slowly lifted his head.
His eyes burned with something new.
Something ancient.
Something that had slept inside him for years.
Aether.
Fire.
The flames twisted wildly around him as if they had waited his entire life to be released.
Sora clenched his sword.
The blade ignited instantly.
"...You killed him."
His voice trembled with rage.
The ground exploded beneath his feet as he rushed forward.
The battlefield erupted again.
This time—
the storm belonged to him.
---
Sora moved through the magic squads like wildfire.
Flames followed every swing of his blade.
Soldiers were thrown aside by waves of burning Aether.
Even the captains were forced to retreat.
"Impossible!"
"He awakened his Aether!"
A captain launched a massive spell toward him.
A pillar of ice rose from the earth.
Sora cut through it.
The explosion of heat shattered the frozen magic instantly.
But there were too many enemies.
Eight squads.
Hundreds of soldiers.
Even with his new power—
the battlefield was closing around him.
Lightning struck his shoulder.
A wind blade cut across his side.
Another spell slammed into his back.
Sora staggered.
Blood touched the ground.
Yet he kept fighting.
His flames burned hotter.
Wild.
Uncontrolled.
But the attacks kept coming.
Finally—
a combined strike from several captains struck him directly.
The explosion blasted him across the battlefield.
His body slammed against the edge of a shattered cliff.
Sora coughed.
His vision blurred.
The soldiers were already approaching.
One captain shouted.
"Finish him!"
Sora forced himself to stand.
His body was barely responding.
Blood ran down his arm.
His flames flickered weakly now.
"...Johan."
The name slipped quietly from his lips.
Then he looked at the approaching magic squads.
And he turned.
He ran.
Flames burst behind him as he sprinted toward the mountains beyond the battlefield.
The captains immediately followed.
"After him!"
The chase began.
---
Sora ran through shattered terrain and burning forest.
His breathing grew heavier.
His vision blurred again.
Another spell struck the ground beside him, throwing dirt into the air.
A lightning strike grazed his side.
He stumbled.
But he kept running.
Ahead of him—
the ground suddenly disappeared.
A massive crack split the earth.
A deep abyss.
A bottomless pit created by the violent magic of the battlefield.
Sora skidded to a stop near the edge.
The captains were already behind him.
Magic gathered in their hands.
"You have nowhere left to go."
Sora looked down into the darkness below.
Then back at the approaching captains.
His flames flickered weakly around him.
"...Heh."
One captain raised his staff.
"Die."
The spells launched.
Sora stepped backward.
And disappeared into the abyss.
The captains rushed to the edge.
But the darkness below swallowed everything.
No sound.
No body.
Nothing.
One captain spoke quietly.
"...He's dead."
Another shook his head.
"No one survives a fall like that."
The captains slowly turned away from the pit.
The war was over.
Or so they believed.
---
Back on the battlefield—
silence had returned.
The soldiers had already begun collecting the fallen.
Johan's body still lay where Sora had placed it.
The quiet knight approached slowly.
Riguta.
He looked down at the lifeless body.
His smile slowly returned.
"...Perfect."
The knight removed his helmet.
Dark magic began to gather around him.
Black energy crawled across Johan's body like shadows.
Riguta placed a hand on Johan's chest.
"...Such a powerful vessel."
The magic surged violently.
For several seconds—
the air trembled.
Then—
Johan's body moved.
His eyes slowly opened.
But the gaze inside them was no longer the same.
Riguta stood upright.
Now wearing Johan's body like armor.
He flexed his fingers slowly.
Water lifted from the ground beside him.
"...Magnificent."
Riguta turned toward the horizon where Sora had fallen.
"...You survived long enough to awaken your fire."
His smile widened.
"But your friend…"
Riguta stepped away from the battlefield.
"...belongs to me now."
And without another glance—
the man wearing Johan's body disappeared into the distance.