The instant Alexius was hurled against the side structure of the chamber, the world seemed to vanish within a single impact.
The explosion tore through his body like fire crushing bone. The wall cracked behind his back, black fragments scattered through the air, and for one brief second even the sound of the battle felt impossibly distant.
The primordial sword slipped from his grasp.
The blade spun through the air wrapped in small golden spirals before falling several meters below, sliding between the cracks spread across the chamber floor.
Alexius tried to breathe.
Pain.
First in his chest.
Then in his back.
Then everywhere.
The air refused to enter properly.
Even so, he forced his eyes to remain open.
Because he could still hear the students fighting.
The explosions.
The screams.
The shadows.
The Zaraqnil.
He closed his eyes for a moment.
Only one.
And then the thought came.
Cruel.
Immediate.
{Get up.}
His fingers tightened against the cracked stone.
{You are still their sensei.}
Alexius tried to move.
His ribs protested violently.
Something felt broken.
But he ignored it.
He needed to return.
He needed to keep fighting.
And that was when he noticed it.
Something wrong.
Not at the center of the battle.
At its edges.
Within the chaos of the shadows, beneath the overwhelming pressure of the Zaraqnil, within the desperate need to keep Arthur, Mia, Kidero, Ayame, Shirō, and Kazuko alive… something had escaped his perception.
Some students.
Students he had not seen fighting.
His heart sank.
{Misaki…}
{Miyako…}
{Sora…}
{Sayuri…}
{Dakenno…}
{Shiori…}
{Haruki…}
The names crossed his mind rapidly.
And then he opened his eyes.
And saw them.
Farther within the chamber, away from the main battle line, several bodies floated suspended in the air.
Motionless.
Eyes closed.
As if trapped somewhere between consciousness and emptiness.
Beneath them, their own shadows stretched across the black floor.
And then began to rise.
Slowly.
Like living smoke crawling along each of their bodies.
It was not aggressive.
Not yet.
The darkness advanced far too slowly.
Far too patiently.
Like something that already knew no one would notice in time.
Alexius felt his blood run cold.
— No…
The word left him quietly.
He tore himself away from the wall by force.
Pain immediately shot through his chest, but an explosion of fire burst beneath his feet before his body could fully collapse.
BOOM.
The flames softened the fall.
Alexius landed on one knee.
The primordial sword lay several meters ahead.
He extended his hand.
The blade answered.
Golden inscriptions ignited instantly, and the sword slid across the floor toward his grasp as if it had understood the urgency of that moment.
The primordial spirit opened its eyes once more.
Still unstable.
Still weakened.
But awake.
Alexius said nothing.
There was no time.
Fire exploded beneath his feet.
And he moved.
His speed was brutal.
The first slash cut through the shadow beneath Shiori.
The dark energy recoiled immediately the moment it touched the sword's golden flames, burning away in warped lines that dissolved into the air.
Shiori fell.
Alexius caught her before she struck the ground and threw her toward an area farther from the darkness.
Then he surged forward again.
Another burst.
Another explosion of fire.
Misaki was next.
The shadow had already reached her legs when Alexius carved through the black energy with a massive arc of golden fire.
The darkness screamed.
Not with a voice.
With distortion.
Miyako.
Sora.
Dakenno.
Sayuri.
Haruki.
One after another.
Alexius moved faster and faster, ignoring his own pain while explosions of fire crossed the chamber in violent sequences of light.
Each strike destroyed part of the dark energy.
Each movement made his chest hurt more.
But he kept going.
Because he could not stop.
{I am their sensei.}
The sword shone brighter.
The flames intensified.
And then—
BOOOOM.
The explosion tore across the entire chamber.
Alexius immediately turned his head.
The Zaraqnil had advanced.
Arthur was struck directly by the shockwave.
His body flew through the air before violently skidding across the shattered floor of the chamber.
The sword he had obtained within the King of Ákatlon's chamber slipped from his hand.
And then the creature raised two arachnid legs.
One above Mia.
The other above Ayame.
Opposite sides.
An impossible distance.
Alexius felt despair pierce through his chest.
Because he understood instantly.
Arthur would never reach both of them.
Alexius propelled his body forward with fire.
Flames exploded beneath him as he descended from the side structure of the chamber toward the battlefield.
He needed to reach them.
He needed to protect his students.
But he was too far away.
Arthur ran.
The boy grabbed the fallen sword once more and charged toward them without hesitation.
His eyes began glowing blue.
Dimensional energy coursed through his body in unstable lines as he advanced at absurd speed between the shattered remains of the chamber.
{I can do this.}
The thought came immediately.
Cruelly hopeful.
{I will protect both of them.}
His body burned.
The distance closed.
The first leg descended toward Mia.
The second toward Ayame.
Arthur tightened his grip around the sword.
His mind calculated desperately.
Block the first.
Use the impact.
Be thrown toward the second.
It was impossible.
He knew that.
But he kept running anyway.
Because accepting the loss of one of them was worse.
Mia saw him.
She saw Arthur rushing toward her.
Saw the blue in his eyes.
Saw the desperate conviction.
And understood exactly what he was trying to do.
She also understood something else.
He would not make it.
No matter how hard he tried.
That distance.
That speed.
That monstrous force.
The world would not allow enough time.
Wind began gathering around her.
Softly at first.
Then stronger.
Her hair began to float while the gigantic shadow of the arachnid leg covered the ground around her.
{Arthur…}
She watched him running toward her.
His face filled with desperation.
His gaze completely focused on saving both of them.
And in that moment…
Mia made her decision.
{Forgive me.}
The wind exploded.
A violent gale swept across the chamber the instant Arthur finally entered her range.
His eyes widened.
— Mia—!
He tried to resist.
Tried to cut through the wind.
Tried to maintain his trajectory.
But the magic struck directly against the arm holding the sword.
His direction broke apart.
His body was violently thrown sideways.
Toward Ayame.
Arthur understood immediately.
— NO!
The scream crossed the chamber.
But it was already too late.
The leg above Mia continued descending.
The wind still spiraled around her.
And even before that colossal shadow about to crush her—
Mia kept looking at Arthur.
As if she wanted to engrave his image into herself one final time.
Her lips moved.
Without enough sound to cross the chaos.