CHAPTER 9

  Kyrai was having breakfast with her mother. She looked at the empty chair and felt the absence of someone in that specific seat. As the food slid down her throat, she glanced at Mary, who was still shaken by his departure.

  Kyrai raised an eyebrow and asked,

  "Mom, where’s Uncle Poul?"

  Mary began to glance around, fidgeting with her hands, trying to change the subject.

  "Jay and your father went to the library. They’ll be back soon."

  "I know… I know my adorable little brother is full of love for the Saint, he went to try to forget her."

  Mary tried to change the topic again but couldn’t.

  "Fine, I’ll tell you where he went. I surrender."

  'She surrendered so easily, I really am amazing!' Kyrai thought with a proud smile.

  Mary tried to calm herself before speaking while Kyrai devoured her food. After regaining composure, she looked seriously at Kyrai and said,

  "Poul went to war this morning."

  As she said this, her mask crumbled. She got up from her chair and moved toward her daughter to comfort her.

  Upon hearing the news, Kyrai’s eyes filled with tears, and she began to cry.

  "I couldn’t… I couldn’t say goodbye to Uncle…"

  Meanwhile, Jay stared at that gigantic being. Smoke rose from its body, and its eyes shone intensely.

  Jay, frightened, asked his uncle Luis what the creature was, only to see him drop his book with a hopeless look.

  "This is the end of our peace and… the beginning of hell."

  Luis’ words tightened Jay’s heart. He began to sweat and swallowed hard. At that moment, he remembered Mary and Kyrai. After remembering, he dashed toward them.

  Luis heard the sound of rapid footsteps, then looked to the side and saw his adopted son running. Anxiety filled him, and he ran after Jay.

  "Wait, Jay! Don’t run like that!" Luis shouted, worried about what could happen. "You can’t just—"

  Luis stopped mid-sentence, distracted by something dangerous.

  Jay, on the other hand, was determined to escape the city condemned to disaster before him.

  'I have to warn Mary and Kyrai, or something terrible will happen. Damn it! Why aren’t you here right now, Poul?!' Jay ran with all his speed to save his mother and sister.

  "Jay, watch out!" Luis shouted, but again, he didn’t hear him.

  Jay felt something hot approaching. Slowly turning his head, he saw a bright object coming. Everything slowed down—even his body. He looked up, met his uncle’s anxious gaze, and thought,

  'Is this how I’m going to die?! Without even living enough in this new life?!' A tear rolled down his cheek. 'Damn it! I don’t… want to die!'

  The sky darkened, and as if demanding Jay’s death, a storm of electricity began to rain down, one of the bolts hitting Jay violently.

  'The pain… I feel my whole body burning, muscles and skin. The only sensation is death, eagerly waiting for me.'

  "Jaaayyy!!" Luis turned pale, sweating. He wanted to grab a sword and kill that giant.

  A thunderclap followed, and the city walls crumbled. Gunfire erupted, quickly spent, leaving only the sounds of destruction.

  Luis ran toward Jay’s body after the electric shock had finished. He grabbed his burned body. Seeing Jay still breathing, a smile of relief appeared on his pale face.

  'I can’t fail. I have to save Jay, my friend’s son.'

  Jay was unconscious, burned, unable to move his muscles. His heart was slowing down, the only thing almost intact was his mind.

  Suddenly, Jay woke up in the body of his past life, wearing his full suit, complete with knives and metal ring. He looked around. The place was dark, even the ground he walked on was black, as if he were inside the darkness itself.

  "What place is this? Did I die?!"

  "This beautiful place is your own mind."

  Jay quickly turned toward the voice.

  'It could only be him.' He closed his eyes and sighed. "Roh, is that you?"

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  He appeared with a sinister, macabre smile, walking toward Jay.

  "You already guessed it’s me just by my voice? Hmph, impressive." He ended with his typical laugh.

  Jay, staring at the elemental spirit, confused about what was happening, asked,

  "What the hell is going on?! And why is there an electric elemental giant?!"

  Roh laughed before replying, staring at Jay.

  "It’s here because of our fault."

  This unexpected answer left Jay speechless and slightly outraged.

  "What do you mean it’s our fault?! Explain properly!" Jay responded, eyes full of anger.

  Roh raised his middle finger at Jay and began to explain.

  "Well, we elementals sense power manifesting according to adaptation and synchronization with your element. Giants, being larger and having sharper senses than humans, tend to be more sensitive to it. Satisfied with that explanation, asshole?"

  "Yes, I’m satisfied."

  Jay put his hand on his chin, reflecting on what synchronization meant. He didn’t want to ask Roh, knowing he would answer ignorantly, so his stubbornness got him nowhere.

  "Roh! What is synchronization?"

  Roh looked at Jay and then returned his attention elsewhere, irritating the boy further.

  After a while, Jay observed what it was like to be inside his own mind and realized how empty it was.

  'I never imagined my mind was this empty. I thought it was more… clear, not so dark! It’s as if darkness has completely taken over my mind.'

  Roh looked at Jay and laughed.

  Jay asked the spirit,

  "What’s so funny?"

  "It’s nothing. I’m just laughing because you’re admiring this place, which is your own mind and spirit. This place defines you. Darkness has taken over your mind and spirit, and when I see you wanting to be happy and move toward the light…"

  "I feel sad knowing you’ll never succeed because you are of the darkness." Roh finished.

  Jay just stared at the ice elemental spirit, gritting his teeth. He knew some of that truth was – and is – accurate.

  "Goodbye… until next time."

  Jay said nothing, remaining silent until he regained his senses. He felt something warm approaching and his body aching. He was startled to see a healer’s body beside him.

  Startled, he moved back. Around him, flames almost surrounded him. Jay stood up, pain shooting through his body, and headed toward a gap in the fire.

  'Damn it, I don’t have the strength to run.' He gritted his teeth in frustration. 'Shit! I don’t even have the strength to walk… if I see danger…'

  He walked to the side and saw the city engulfed in flames. Covering his mouth, he began coughing.

  'It’s hard to breathe!'

  His breathing became labored, yet he held his hand over his nose and mouth, searching for an exit awkwardly.

  After a while, his vision blurred and his body grew heavier.

  'There’s a sound, but I can’t identify it. It’s even hard to hear!'

  Coughing again, Jay took a few steps before collapsing to the ground. Lying there, he only heard the fire around him.

  Around him, fire consumed everything. Explosions erupted from the battle between the giant and the soldiers.

  In contrast, Hyou Jay was slowly dying. The giant and soldiers battled with mortars, increasing the destruction and flames.

  The giant raised his hand, and multiple lightning bolts shot at the soldiers. The giant looked around as if searching for something.

  After a while, he spotted a hooded human, taking a stance.

  Beside this stranger was a sword, seemingly made of darkness itself, its purple blade emanating shadow.

  The giant lowered his finger, and lightning struck again, but this time the human vanished.

  His serious, deadly expression turned to shock. He looked around, eyes wide.

  The giant felt something touching his cheeks—a mysterious human landing a knee strike.

  Houses below were crushed under the giant’s fall. The human stared at the fallen giant with a proud, arrogant smile:

  "You could destroy this beautiful city, yet your strongest soldier is gone?"

  The giant gritted his teeth in rage.

  "Seems like you were looking for someone?" The man placed a hand on his chin thoughtfully.

  'Did he come because he sensed that spiritual mana? I came here for a single goal: to capture and train that being as my student.'

  The man stepped back slightly, letting the giant rise.

  He slowly drew his sword. The giant stretched his hand and created an electric sword.

  With an arrogant smile, the man sliced the giant’s arm, blood gushing. The giant’s expression screamed, "How could a human do this?!"

  He tried to regenerate with his element. Before he could, the man laughed and walked toward him, casually swinging his sword.

  Suddenly, the sword was covered in darkness. The man dashed at the giant, who gritted his teeth and fired electric bolts.

  "Still holding back?!" The human dodged the bolts. "You really want to meet him? Sorry, you’ll never meet him. This is your end."

  They neared the flames. The man, after avoiding the lightning, jumped with darkness consuming his sword. At that moment, the elemental giant who destroyed a city paled at the sheer fear of the darkness.

  The man drove his sword into the giant’s neck.

  "Your journey ends here! Rest in peace."

  Darkness spread along the man’s arm. He looked with arrogant pride as it grew, approaching the fallen giant, consuming him with his dark sword.

  Afterward, he sheathed his sword and went to find his future apprentice.

  With blurred vision, Jay crawled on the ground, flames around him. His determination was incredible. He didn’t want to die for himself but for the Saint, Luis, Mary, his father, Noa, and Kyrai.

  He heard approaching footsteps. Through blurred vision, he saw only a shoe and a voice:

  "I found you!"

  The man lifted Jay’s unconscious body into his arms and walked calmly out of the city.

  Meanwhile, Luis gritted his teeth in pure rage. He had only managed to protect his daughter and almost lost his wife. His eyes were full of murderous intent, staring at the burning city.

  All he could taste was failure. His daughter wept after losing her friend and nearly her mother.

  A boy caught his attention.

  "Uncle Luis, are you telling me I lost my friend too?!"

  Luis turned to the boy, his clothes burned, hair disheveled, eyes empty.

  "Yes, Noa. I failed to save your friend. I’m sorry."

  Noa had lost everything except the love he was crying over. He wanted to console her but couldn’t. He laughed, a melancholy laugh.

  'I don’t want to cry… I don’t… want to cry.'

  He laughed amidst tears, while Luis consoled him. Meanwhile, healers attended to his wife’s body.

  An elf wearing blue with gold details, the commander of the rescue, looked disdainfully at the humans on the boat and said,

  "All of you will travel to the Elven continent. The journey will take six full days to reach the Kotei territory."