Chapter 127: I Lost

  The sun began its final descent toward the horizon, bleeding out across the sky. It painted the vast desert canopy in hues of bruised purple and velvet orange—a twilight requiem for the day that was dying.

  Raito advanced.

  His boots didn't crunch on the sand; they seemed to glide over it, propelled by a force that had no regard for friction or gravity. Each step took him closer to the mechanical titans.

  His eyes were gone. In their place were deep, endless black voids, emotionless pits that had swallowed the brown warmth of the boy who used to make bad jokes. Those voids were set solely on his target: the beasts.

  He stopped. His chest expanded.

  "ROOOOOOOAR!"

  He roared. It wasn't human. It was a primal, animalistic sound that scraped against the eardrums of everyone present, a vibration that felt like the earth itself tearing apart. It was a sound that did not come from anger, but from something that had already broken.

  FWOOSH.

  Black flames erupted from his body with violent force. They didn't flicker or dance like normal fire; they surged and flowed like liquid darkness, coating him in an ever-shifting, ethereal armor of void. The light of the setting sun touched him and simply vanished, consumed by the absolute darkness of his silhouette.

  The mechanical beasts focused their glass-lens eyes on him. They scanned him patiently, their internal gyros whirring as they adjusted to this new, impossible variable.

  BEEP.

  They roared back—a sound of grinding gears and steam. To their logic cores, the silver structure was no longer the priority. This boy... this anomaly... was a target far more critical.

  Seemingly coordinated by a silent network, the beasts did something they had never done before: they nodded to each other.

  One of the beast planted its feet, unhinging its jaw to reveal the glowing pilot light of its flamethrower barrel. It locked onto Raito.

  The other beast launched itself into the sky once more, hovering at the apex of the twilight. It spread its massive wings, the rows of brass feathers shivering as they prepared to launch a metallic storm.

  The atmosphere tensed, thick enough to choke on.

  A single pebble, dislodged by the vibration of the roars, fell from a nearby rock.

  Click.

  It hit the ground.

  Raito leaped.

  It was a blur of motion, a streak of darkness cutting through the orange twilight.

  Reactionary, the ground beast fired. A massive, roaring burst of fire erupted from its mouth, a tunnel of inferno aimed directly at the mid-air boy.

  The flame consumed Raito. It swallowed him whole in a ball of orange destruction.

  Or it should have.

  The flames parted. Raito walked out of the inferno as if stepping through a curtain of mist. There was no damage. Not a singe on his clothes. His skin was untouched.

  The black flame wreathing him didn't repel the fire; it ate it. The orange flames touched the black aura and simply ceased to exist, fed into the darkness.

  SCREEECH.

  The flying beast roared in mechanical frustration. It flapped its wings violently.

  SHING-SHING-SHING.

  Hundreds of razor-sharp brass feather-blades launched downward, screaming through the air like raindrops. It was a rain of metal, a curtain of death designed to shred anything in its path.

  Raito didn't even look up. He didn't dodge.

  The black flame above him swirled, expanding upward to form a perfect, flat circle—an umbrella of darkness shielding him from the rain.

  The brass blades struck the shield.

  There was no sound of impact. No ping, no clang, no sparks of deflection.

  As soon as the metal touched the black flame, it vanished. Erased from existence. Consumed by the void without leaving so much as a filing of dust behind.

  Raito lowered his head, the umbrella dissipating as he continued his walk, unharmed, unstoppable, and terrifyingly silent.

  For the first time, Raito raised his arms, aiming his open palms toward the beast circling high above in the twilight sky.

  ZOOM.

  A tendril of black flame burst from his raised arm. It didn't move like fire; it moved like a predator. t extended, then split and stretched, chasing the beast above with unerring accuracy.

  The flying beast shrieked. It banked hard left. It dove. It spiraled higher into the atmosphere. Its wings roared as it pushed its speed to the limit, flying faster and faster, giving everything it had to outrun the encroaching void.

  But none of that mattered.

  The black flame corrected its course instantly, ignoring inertia. It caught up.

  SNAP.

  The darkness wrapped itself around the beast's wings and fuselage, capturing it mid-flight like a fly in a web of oil. As the black flame made contact, the sound of sizzling metal filled the air. Parts of its invincible metal hide began to strip away, disintegrating into nothingness upon contact with the black flame.

  Raito lowered his arm. A simple, heavy motion.

  WHOOSH.

  With terrifying velocity, the beast that was flying was yanked out of the sky. It wasn't falling; it was being thrown. Pulled directly toward the earth.

  Toward the other beast still on the ground below.

  The ground beast continued its useless onslaught, its flamethrower sputtering against the remnants of Raito's aura, its sensors blinded. It didn't even realize the danger raining down from above until the shadow engulfed it.

  CRUNCH.

  With a sickening sound of twisting steel and shattering gears, the two beasts collided. Metal on metal. The impact shook the dunes, the shockwave punching the air from every lung in the desert.

  Tails, wings, and limbs were mangled into a chaotic sculpture of scrap. Oil bled onto the sand like black blood.

  Was that the end?

  No. The beasts were mechanical. They didn't feel pain. They didn't know despair. They only knew their directive.

  GRIND-CLANK.

  With terrifying tenacity, the pile of wreckage began to move. Servos whined in protest as the beasts tried to disentangle themselves, attempting to stand up for a last stand of a dying machine.

  But in the end, the beasts were nothing. Just two ants struggling to stay alive under the gaze of a titan.

  Raito looked down on them from the lip of the impact crater. His expression was bored. Empty.

  His arm jutted out towards them.

  CRUNCH-SQUELCH.

  Tendrils of black flame erupted from the ground beneath the wreckage, skewering the beasts from every direction. They punched through armor plating as if it were paper. They didn't just pierce; they invaded.

  The flames poured inside the chassis, eating away at the gears, the pistons, the logic cores.

  The roar of the beasts changed. It was no longer the roar of a predator asserting dominance. As the void ate them from the inside out, the sound warped into a high-pitched, metallic screech—a roar for help.

  The screech died mid-note as their glass-lens eyes went dark.

  Deep inside their chests, the power sources—massive, pulsating elemental crystals—were located by the tendrils. The black flame wrapped around them and squeezed.

  SHATTER.

  The crystals were consumed. The light died.

  The two mechanical beasts—the titans that had managed to give two sealed Lords more than enough trouble, pushing them to the brink of defeat—were nothing to Raito.

  Silence fell over the desert. The battle was over.

  But... could that even be called a battle?

  In the distance, Varessh stood watching everything unfold, his mouth agape, his axe forgotten in the sand.

  "That boy..." Varessh whispered, his voice trembling. "He did it. He beat those beasts!"

  He raised his hands to the sky. "WE WON!"

  A cheer erupted from the Raging Bull Guild and the scholars. Caps were thrown into the air. People hugged each other, crying tears of relief. They were safe. The monsters were dead.

  However, a few did not celebrate.

  Zhu Lihua, Tanvir, Bob, Mila, the Queen, and Malik stood together, isolated from the joy. They stared at the crater, at the boy standing amidst the silent wreckage.

  They didn't cheer. They didn't smile.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  They questioned.

  "Is it truly over?" Zhu whispered, her hand tightening into a fist.

  They watched the boy's back, hoping, praying, that the violence had ended with the machines.

  "We won, Sir Tanvir! We actually won!" Varessh laughed, slapping the small man on the back, nearly knocking him over. "The boy is a miracle!"

  "No," Tanvir said simply, his voice cutting through the celebration like a knife.

  "We are doomed," Zhu added, her eyes narrowing as she watched the black aura swirl faster.

  In the distance, Raito roared once more.

  ROAAAAAAAR!

  It was not a cry of victory. It was a scream of endless hunger.

  The black flame burst more violently from his body, expanding outward in a tidal wave of void. It began to consume the sand around him, turning the desert floor into nothingness. It erupted over the scraps of the mechanical beasts, eating away the metal until not even dust remained.

  Raito clutched his head with both hands, his body convulsing. One arm swung wildly, as if trying to tear something out of his own skull.

  "The worst is here," Zhu said, picking herself up from the sand. She wiped blood from her lip. "Shorty..."

  "I know," Tanvir said, his face grim. "We have to stop him before he consumes everything. The structure. Us. The desert."

  He turned to the cheering crowd.

  "Everyone!" Tanvir shouted, his amplified voice cracking with urgency. "Sorry to burst the cheer, but I need you all to RUN! Far, far away from here! NOW!"

  The cheers died instantly. Confusion rippled through the ranks.

  "You get his attention," Zhu said to Tanvir, ignoring the chaos behind them. "I need to at least get Lin away from there. She's still near the carnage."

  Tanvir nodded. "Understood."

  "Leave that to me," Bob interjected, stepping forward. His face was pale but determined.

  "Old friend, what are you doing?" Tanvir asked, looking up at the massive merchant. "It is dangerous. Evacuate with everyone. You see how that boy is right now. Run. This is beyond you."

  "No, I will not," Bob shook his head firmly. "I brought that boy here, so I will bring him back. And the girl too. Both are now my responsibility."

  He adjusted his hat, his eyes hard. "I am not backing down."

  "Don't worry, I will be there to protect Master," Mila said, placing a reassuring hand on Bob's shoulder. She drew her greatsword. "We will get Yukari back."

  "What about the Queen?" Tanvir asked, looking toward the royal carriage.

  "Go!" Queen Aleena declared from the window, her voice unwavering. "Only you four can stop him now. I will be safe with the Raging Bull Guild. Malik is also here; he is capable enough to organize the retreat."

  Zhu looked at them all—the merchant, the warrior, the director. She nodded once.

  "A revision then," Zhu commanded. "Me and Shorty will take that boy's attention. We will draw his fire. Bob and Mila, please get Lin away from there."

  Bob and Mila nodded.

  "Let's go," Zhu said, her body igniting with crimson flames once more. "Time is of the essence."

  She leaped toward Raito’s direction, a streak of red against the encroaching black.

  "Let's hope that boy still has some sanity left in him," Tanvir murmured. He manipulated the sand beneath his feet, gliding across the dunes like a surfer toward the eye of the storm.

  Bob and Mila climbed onto the driver seat of their reinforced carriage. Tama the yak, sensing the danger but trusting her master, charged toward the carnage with a defiant grunt.

  Behind them, the rest of the expedition began to run for their lives.

  A massive fireball flew toward Raito, a concentrated sphere of plasma hot enough to melt steel.

  Raito reacted instantly, his head snapping to look directly at the incoming projectile. He didn't dodge. He simply let it hit.

  But instead of detonating, the fireball was swallowed whole. It dissipated upon contact with his aura, consumed right in front of him like a candle snuffing out in a vacuum.

  "Tch," Zhu clicked her tongue, landing on a dune crest. "Those flames really do not behave like normal flames."

  "If they did, we wouldn't have this much trouble," Tanvir shouted from his own perch on a floating platform of compressed sand.

  He clasped his hands together. The ground rumbled, and several jagged boulders ripped free from the earth. With a grunt of exertion, he launched them like cannonballs toward the boy.

  THWUMP. THWUMP.

  The rocks hit the black aura and vanished instantly. No debris. No dust. Just gone.

  "ROAAAAAR!"

  Raito roared, the sound vibrating in their chests. His pitch-black eyes locked onto both of them, tracking their movements with predatory focus.

  "Okay, we got his attention," Tanvir asked, wiping sweat from his brow. "What now?"

  "Try not to die, Shorty," Zhu said grimly.

  She fired another volley of flames, not to hit him, but to goad him. They began to attack from a distance, using hit-and-run tactics. With each attack, they took a step back, purposely drawing the monster away from the retreating evacuation group and... away from the area where Bob was searching.

  Meanwhile, Bob steered the carriage through the treacherous terrain of the impact crater, his hands tight on Tama's reins. The air smelled of ozone and burnt metal.

  "Found her yet?!" Bob shouted over the roar of the distant battle. His eyes darted frantically across the churned sand and twisted metal wreckage.

  "Not yet!" Mila shouted back from her vantage point on the roof, squinting through the dust. "Where are you..." she whispered, her voice tight with fear.

  The sun was starting to set in earnest now. The light was failing, casting long, confusing shadows across the dunes. If true darkness fell, finding a single body in this chaos would be nearly impossible. They would be searching blind in a kill zone.

  But then, Mila saw it.

  Amidst the grey of the metal scrap and the beige of the sand, a faint glimmer caught the dying light. It was the shine of metal. A glistening reflection of crimson that mirrored the velvet sunset.

  "What is that?" Mila squinted. Then her eyes widened.

  "Master! Move there!" Mila pointed urgently to the right, near the shattered remains of the ground beast's wing.

  "On it!" Bob didn't ask questions. "Tama! Let's go, girl!"

  He cracked the whip. Tama grunted and surged forward, her heavy hooves thundering toward the splash of red in the sand.

  Moments later, Tama skidded to a halt, kicking up a spray of sand.

  There she was.

  Yukari lay limp on the ground, a broken doll discarded in the chaos. The crimson reflection that Mila had seen was not blood, but Koenka—Raito’s sword, which he had dropped beside her. The blade, still glowing faintly with residual heat, had acted as a beacon, guiding them through the gloom.

  "Yukari!" Mila shouted, leaping from the carriage before it had fully stopped.

  She slid to her knees beside the girl, moving to cradle her head. Yukari was a mess. Her outfit was singed and torn, revealing angry burns and deep, purple bruises blooming across her skin. Blood matted her blue hair and coated her cloak.

  "Master, help me! The first aid!" Mila commanded, her hands already checking for a pulse.

  Bob scrambled down, clutching a heavy leather satchel filled with medical supplies. His face was ashen.

  "Is she..." Bob asked, his voice trembling.

  "No," Mila said, her fingers pressing against Yukari's neck. "She is still alive. Barely. We have to be quick."

  Bob nodded, unfurling the satchel on the sand with practiced speed. He handed Mila bandages, salves, and medicinal herbs, his hands shaking slightly as he silently prayed to every deity he knew.

  Mila moved with the efficiency of a medic. She patched the most serious arterial bleeding first, applying pressure and binding the wounds tight. She focused on stabilization, fighting to keep the life from leaking out of her friend.

  Bob picked up Koenka. The sword felt heavy in his hand, heavier than steel should be.

  "Raito is still protecting her," he murmured, looking at the blade that had led them here. "So he must still be in there somewhere. So please..."

  "I stabilized her," Mila called out, tying off the last gauze bandage around Yukari's head. "It's rough, but it will hold for now."

  "Oh, thank god," Bob breathed, sagging with relief. "Now, let's safely lift her up and get her away."

  ROAAAAAAAR!

  In the distance, Raito roared again. The sound was so loud, so filled with raw, destructive power, that it physically shook the ground beneath them.

  Bob and Mila flinched, distracted for a split second by the terrifying noise.

  "We need to move," Mila said, turning back to the girl. "Master, help me lift—"

  She froze. Her hands grasped empty air.

  "Where?" she shouted, panic spiking.

  "What?" Bob asked, turning around.

  Yukari’s body was missing.

  Bob and Mila spun around, scanning the immediate area.

  "There," Bob whispered.

  They saw her.

  Yukari was standing up.

  She shouldn't be. She was in a critical state. She had lost blood, taken a direct hit from a flame cannon, and had been unconscious seconds ago. She should not have the strength to lift her head, let alone stand.

  But she did.

  Yukari turned her head slowly. She looked at Bob and Mila, and a faint, serene smile touched her bloodied lips.

  Then, she began walking. Not away from the danger, but toward it. Toward Raito.

  She walked slowly, swaying like a reed in a storm. Her breath hitched in painful rasps. She held herself up with everything she had, looking like a half-dead corpse driven by sheer will.

  "No! Don't!" Bob and Mila shouted in unison.

  They ran toward her, reaching out to stop her suicidal march.

  THUD.

  They slammed into something invisible.

  A thin, transparent, cracked sheet of ice had formed in the air, blocking their path. It wasn't a defensive wall; it was a barrier to keep them out.

  "Yukari! Come back! Yukari!" Bob shouted, banging his massive fists against the ice.

  CRACK. CRACK.

  With each strike, the ice spiderwebbed, but it held just enough. Yukari did not turn. She trudged through the sand, her eyes fixed forward.

  Meanwhile, on the other side of the crater, Zhu and Tanvir were gasping for air.

  "We can't keep this up," Zhu wheezed, wiping a mixture of sweat and soot from her brow. Her crimson aura flickered weakly.

  "What do you suggest?" Tanvir asked, leaning heavily on his knees.

  "That?" Zhu said, her gaze drifting to her pocket.

  "I don't have my Key," Tanvir shook his head. "It's back in the capital."

  "Useless," Zhu spat.

  She reached into her qipao and pulled out a small, intricate object—a key made of deep, blood-red metal that seemed to absorb the light around it.

  "How do you have that?" Tanvir asked, his eyes widening. "That should be with your region's Ruler."

  "I took it back," Zhu said simply. She gripped the key tight. "Now step back. I have to stop that boy. And I will gladly give my life for it."

  Tanvir quickly grabbed her wrist. "Don't be hasty! We don't know what kind of damage that will cause! And we don't know if that kid will even get injured from it!"

  "But..." Zhu tried to pull away.

  ROAR.

  Raito roared once more. But this time, it was different. It was quieter. Less like a natural disaster, and more like a wounded animal. And it wasn't directed at them.

  Zhu and Tanvir froze, looking at Raito. They readied themselves to grab his attention again, to be the bait.

  But their eyes widened. Raito wasn't looking at them. He was looking to his side. At something.

  Or rather, at someone else.

  Yukari.

  She wasn't walking on the sand anymore. She was walking on top of a pristine sheet of ice that she was creating with each step—a shimmering walkway glistening in the dying sunset. A carpet straight to him.

  Her body swayed dangerously. A stray wind would probably blow her away. Every inch of her body ached; every breath was a battle against broken ribs. Yet, her midnight blue hair flowed behind her like a banner. And her silver eyes were devoid of despair. They were locked on only one thing: Raito.

  She steadily walked toward the abyss.

  "Lin!" Zhu shouted, panic overriding her exhaustion. She tried to leap toward her daughter. "Stand back! Lin!"

  FWOOSH.

  A wall of black flame erupted from the ground, cutting Zhu off and stopping her dead in her tracks.

  "Lin!" she called out one more time, helpless against the barrier.

  Yukari walked through the wall. The black flame lashed at her like a whip, tearing at her clothes, singeing her skin. She flinched, but she did not stop. She did not care.

  She walked until she was finally face-to-face with the monster wearing her husband's skin.

  Raito roared right in her face.

  And this time, being this close, she could fully hear it.

  The roar... it was not the roar of corruption. It was not the roar of a predator trying to consume everything.

  It was a roar of pain. Of overwhelming, crushing sadness. A cry of a boy who thought he had failed the only promise that mattered.

  Yukari smiled. It was a broken, bloody smile, but it was the most beautiful thing in the desert.

  She moved her hands to cup Raito's cheeks.

  In retaliation, the black flame surged. It wrapped around both her arms, latching itself onto her skin. She grunted, feeling the void tear away at her flesh, consuming muscle and skin. The pain was excruciating.

  Yet... again... she did not care.

  She moved closer. She stood on her tiptoes and leaned her forehead against Raito's forehead, ignoring the burning void between them.

  "It's okay," she whispered, her voice steady.

  "I'm here. I'm fine. I'm alive."

  She stroked his cheek with her burning hand.

  "You are here. You are fine. So..."

  She let out a breath she had been holding since the blast.

  "Come back."

  FLASH.

  In an instant, faster than a blink, all the black flame in the area—the wall, the armor, the tendrils—dissipated. Gone. As if it had never existed.

  All that was left was Raito, standing in the crater, trembling. The void was gone from his eyes, replaced by a flood of hot, stinging tears.

  "Yukari..." he cried, his voice cracking.

  "Crybaby," Yukari whispered with a weak, pained smile. Her body shook violently, the adrenaline finally leaving her system.

  And then she collapsed.

  She fell forward, her legs giving out completely. She had used everything she had—every ounce of willpower—just to walk those few yards.

  "Yukari!"

  Raito caught her before she hit the ground, lowering her gently onto the sand.

  He looked at her.

  Her arms, where she had touched his face, where the black flame had wrapped around her... they were marred. Dark, jagged marks like black tendrils were etched into her skin. It wasn't just a burn; it was a scar of corruption.

  Raito stared at the marks. Then he looked at his own hands. They were shaking uncontrollably.

  His hand hovers for a moment. He look at Yukari, then to his wedding ring.

  With a sudden, jerky movement, he ripped the simple silver wedding band from his finger.

  Then he reached for his neck, unclasping the chain of his Core necklace.

  He threw them both onto the ground beside her. They landed with a soft, final clink in the sand.

  He stood up. He didn't look back. He couldn't look back.

  He ran.

  He ran toward the vast, endless desert, away from the safety of the group, away from the girl he loved, running into the gathering twilight to escape himself.

  "Ra... I... To..."

  Yukari tried to call out. Her fingertips trembling, brushing against the empty air.

  But just as the last sliver of the sun disappeared below the horizon, plunging the world into night, her strength failed.

  Her consciousness followed the sun.

  And thus, darkness overtook them both.