Suddenly, Jin had an idea.
It was a little mischievous, but it was going to save him precious time. After all, he just had to win.
He dodged another rock as the surface beneath his feet suddenly became tons of sharp stones just waiting to impale him.
He jumped at the right moment to avoid the worst and landed on the roof of a house in Garmar. Then, he looked at Astra, who had landed on the ground.
This was the moment.
In a flash, he disappeared from the roof of the house and appeared a few meters away from her.
His speed was terrifying, but Astra was undoubtedly even more so. She stretched out her hand toward the genius, preparing another attack.
However, that was when she heard Jin.
A faint but sarcastic voice. But what caught her attention wasn't the voice itself, but the words he spoke, which pierced straight through her.
Like a whistle, she isolated every sound around her from the very first word.
And like a whisper, she listened to Jin without moving....
"Future rider, your future is a bitter one. Do you want to see it with your own eyes?"
Astra froze.
Those were exactly the words she had heard from this man a long time ago...
Unfortunately for her, this second of absence was all Jin needed to change the course of the fight.
He charged his fist with all the aura he had left. He stepped forward with a tremendous burst of acceleration, and suddenly, the entirety of the area was filled with a green light emanating from Jin's fist.
A mawashi tsuki was waiting for Astra.
Jin's fist shot forward at incredible speed along with half of his upper body.
Then, in a slight arc, the fist drew closer to the entity's face.
Astra slowly turned her shocked eyes toward her opponent's fist, but it was too late. She was going to take it.
The blow then came in two stages. Astra received the fatal blow to her temple and was propelled backward. Then, in a second motion, while she was still falling, an immense shockwave struck the entire city. Astra was thrown like a rag hundreds of meters away. Her body struck the ground more than twenty times, painfully tumbling with every impact. She lost control of her aura and her own body, sometimes turning into stone, water, lava, or even the wind itself.
She struck everything she could possibly hit, losing parts of her body with every impact. Of everything that remained in the city along the entity's path, only dust remained. Astra brought down every building she crashed into as all the natural phenomena raged within and around her.
Jin watched her violently slam into the ground, proud of his blow. Then, he lost sight of her.
Had he won? He didn't know. But he had to retrieve the book before his greatest fears came true.
His fist hurt extremely badly, and he was out of breath. Yet, even while gasping for air, this wave of pride gave him a second wind that filled him with energy.
Jin might not have won, but just witnessing this scene was, for him, and for any sane person from his world, a true feat. He was so proud of it that he thought his heart was going to explode.
A wide smile appeared on his face as he watched the dust and debris still rise after the passage of the third rider.
Yet, he gave himself a good slap across the face before refocusing. He had to retrieve the book.
The book was still there, resting on the ice lectern.
The lectern was covered in deep grooves across its surface. Sculpted from a single block of immaculate ice, it stood atop a base shimmering with bluish reflections, as though it held a frozen ocean within its depths.
Its structure, slender like a secret obelisk, seemed to have been carved by the very hands of the wind. Swirling patterns, resembling tiny spirals of frozen stars, ran along its base. Each step leading to it was inlaid with filaments of frosted silver, and as Jin climbed them, a soft bluish light emanated beneath his feet.
Astra knew how to make beautiful things.
But above it, there was a book. A black book whose aura was equally dark and uninviting.
Jin approached silently and looked at the book with a desperate expression. The aura seemed to grasp him with hands coming from nowhere, pulling him inside.
The book was in the same style as the first ones. The golden borders remained the same, but the contrast with the black made it more alluring. However, there was nothing on this book. No drawing, no image, no indication.
But Jin frowned when he managed to see something subtly hidden within the darkness.
It was a face.
The eyes, barely open, were frozen abysses—pale white, streaked with dark veins, as if suffering itself had been woven into them. There was neither a glimmer of life nor a trace of humanity, only a kind of endless waiting. The forehead was furrowed by years of silent supplication, and every wrinkle looked like a prayer that had never been answered.
The mouth, slightly open, formed a grimace of silent pain. Not a scream, just the vertigo of a howl that had lasted for centuries without ever being heard. It looked as though, at the moment of its final breath, this face had seen the bottom of the world… and had not been strong enough to forget it.
Around the face, raised patterns seemed to gently vibrate: serpentine lines, forgotten glyphs, as if the book were trying to imprison the horror rather than reveal it
Jin was terrified for a moment.
He wasn't afraid.
The book screamed of despair.
Suddenly, the aura shot toward him like a violent black wind.
"What the…?"
Jin was overwhelmed by the repulsive black wave rushing in his direction. And within that terrifying flow of aura… Jin could hear screams. There were countless horrible screams escaping from the book. They were high-pitched and numerous, screaming directly into Jin's ears.
Jin raised his arms in front of himself, but he couldn't stop himself from hearing them. They all screamed in a strange and eerie harmony that whistled through his ears.
Jin gritted his teeth. His mind was beginning to be invaded.
Soon, the black aura took up all the space around him. The screams stopped, and instead, Jin could no longer see anything. He turned around himself, searching for answers, confused. But all he heard was a calm and cold voice coming from all around him.
"Now, you have had a glimpse of true despair."
Then, everything disappeared.
Jin found himself standing in front of the intact book. The lectern hadn't moved, and nothing around him had moved either. Only the book's aura continued to pull him toward it in a strange way.
Reluctantly, Jin took the book and turned around. He would have to stay strong until all of this was over. Even if it was the first time he had ever felt something this real.
The aura of a single book had managed to frighten him more than anyone else in this world.
But suddenly, just as he was about to leave, he heard a voice behind him accompanied by the sound of mud.
He turned around and saw Astra emerging from the frozen ground.
Her body was made of pure brown mud. Only her blue eyes and her hollow mouth filled with waves protruded from it all.
She looked like she hadn't taken the genius's blow very well. She pulled herself out of the ground with difficulty, and when half of her body was out, she used her arms to lift the rest. Meanwhile, she looked at Jin with an expression of anger and contempt so powerful that Jin could feel it piercing through his body like a real blade.
"Hey… Where are you going? You think I'm done with you? You're lucky I'm in your world, otherwise you wouldn't have lasted long. Your little trick was dishonest in the end. You think that makes me laugh?"
Astra continued to slowly emerge from the ground, but a sinister smile appeared on her muddy face.
"I'm not done.... I'm not done with you.....You think I'm a joke?....
I'm Astra..., I'm the third Horseman of the Apocalypse...
I bring the destruction of nature to the world, the vengeance of the winds, the fury of the sea, and the wrath of the sky.
As long as I'm here, no one will defeat me...."
As she said this, her silhouette grew thin once again. The mud fell to the ground as she became a beautiful woman made of clear and transparent water, but the winds rose violently and Jin's aura screamed in his head once again.
No, actually, after screaming at him for a little while, it fell silent as if it were just as powerless.
Astra rose from the ground.
Her eyes no longer had pupils, and only two rays of sunlight passed through them. Terrible winds surrounded her hands.
Then, she opened her mouth, which was nothing but hollow and transparent, and uttered words that made Jin tremble.
"I invoke the end.... Astreos demos."
Jin saw nothing at first... then he felt it.
The sun was quickly hidden, plunging the world into darkness.
Almost the entire world into darkness.
Jin opened his wide, empty eyes and raised his head.
Up there, in the sky, an immense asteroid was now hiding the sun.
No, it was too small to be called an asteroid...
It was a planet...
Another planet was hurtling toward theirs at tremendous speed.
**
The Emperor had returned to the capital, but it was dark.
The atmosphere was heavy. The inhabitants had taken refuge near the castle to seek safety. The guards were therefore overwhelmed. Every citizen was doing their best to reassure their children, but they eventually found themselves biting their own nails.
It was heavy and terrifying. At any moment, an earthquake could shake the world and cause a building to crush them. A tsunami could emerge from nowhere and engulf them. A strange disease could finish them off while they didn't even suspect a thing.
They lived in dread and fear, and the presence of the royal guard did nothing to calm them.
But suddenly, Emperor Turcan made his entrance into the capital with an armor forged from an alloy of blackened steel and pearlescent metal, catching the faint glimmers of light like the surface of a lake beneath a storm. Each plate fit together with almost surgical precision, revealing the work of artisans far beyond the ordinary.
Emerald-green ornaments ran along the joints and ridges like veins pulsing with a subtle energy. On his shoulders, emerald spires coiled around metallic protrusions, resembling petrified plant vines, giving the whole thing an appearance that was both martial and natural.
A green cape, supple yet dense, floated behind him without ever getting dirty, as if the wind itself obeyed him.
But it was on his chest, to the left, that the emblem of the Empire could be found: a silver scale so fine that its edges appeared sharp. Each plate was held by black chains which, rather than restraining it, seemed to anchor the symbol into reality. On the right plate, a gray sword with green reflections rested, rigid and straight. On the left plate, a butterfly bearing a spiritual pattern floated in suspension, defying gravity with insolent grace.
And although the shapes suggested an asymmetry, the balance was perfect. At least in appearance. For those who dared to look closely could see the butterfly tipping the scale… by a breath. At the top of the central pillar of the scale, a dazzling green light obscured the vision, preventing anyone from piercing the secrets hidden behind it. But they were there: an outstretched hand, ready to seize the moment, and an emerald eye, piercing through souls, judging without words.
His silver-white hair shimmered faintly with a pale light, and his emerald eyes seemed to be fading away. Even the Emperor's handsome face inspired no joy, but his presence alone was enough to rekindle the flame within the people of Zvenne.
People crowded around him to speak to him or even simply to get closer to him for comfort. The soldiers blocked them and tried to clear a path for the sovereign, but the hands of some people slipped through the metal wall.
Voices reached him as he maintained a straight and impassive expression.
"Emperor, where is Soldier Zeymond?"
"Is the Empire going to fall?"
"Emperor, save us. Save us."
"Emperor, is this the end of the world?"
"Emperor, Emperor, let us enter Emperor's Glory."
Turcan remained deaf to their words. He couldn't play favorites, let alone prioritize certain people over others. The castle was already almost under siege, as if it were humanity's last fortress. He had to move forward carrying the heavy responsibility of his people and the duty to protect them. That was what it meant to be a sovereign. The people touched him as if to receive a blessing, but he was not an entity. He wasn't even Marc Zeymond. His aura was simple and small compared to that monster. So all he could do was move forward, turning his gaze away from the cries of his people.
Exorian was behind him. He spoke in a soft and calm voice.
"Sir, Lady Elie is waiting for you inside."
"Okay, I should thank her for what she has done here. I…"
Suddenly, the sky darkened and everyone fell silent.
The sight was simply too sudden, deadly, horrifying, and desperate. There were clouds, certainly, but they seemed invisible compared to the thing that was coming. It was massive, enormous, unfathomable, and ridiculous.
The end?
The people were afraid of it, but this was beyond their power.
The Emperor had his head raised toward the sky.
It wasn't a nuclear missile. How much he would have wished it were?
No, it was an asteroid.
No, a planet. It was a accursed planet descending from the sky in order to silence every last bit of hope within every living being.