-Arata stood tall, eyes fixed on Zed's crumpled, motionless form.
***
"Is he finally dead?" Arata asked, his pulse still racing.
"No, he's not that easy to put down," Mire replied. "His radiation hasn't vanished—it's just dampened. It seems your strike hit a critical threshold."
"Really? I noticed he flinched whenever I aimed for his face, so I decided to make that my target," Arata countered.
As if on cue, Zed's body began to twitch. A flicker of light returned to his eyes, signaling his systems were back online. He struggled to rise, likely forcing a hard reset on his internal processors, but his posture remained erratic. He stumbled, his frame swaying precariously as he fought to regain his footing.
Arata shifted into a combat stance, his knuckles whitening as he tightened his grip on Xyris, his trust wrench.
Zed eventually stabilized. Arata watched as sparks of erratic electricity danced across the creature's face. A crimson glow pulsed unevenly in his eyes, and a thick, oily black fluid leaked from the jagged fractures in his visor.
The sound that tore from Zed's throat was haunting—a dissonant, metallic rasp. He let out a distorted groan, a sound caught in the agonizing space between excruciating pain and boiling vendetta. Arata stood frozen, clutching Xyris tighter. He felt the hair on his neck stand up, realizing the monster before him was far from defeated.
Zed began to retreat, stepping back into the shadows. Arata, fueled by a lingering surge of adrenaline and spite, began to close in, trying to press his intimidation.
"Stay back!" Mire commanded, her voice sharp.
"W—what? Why?" Arata's stride broke, startled by the sudden order.
"We don't know what he's calculating," Mire said, her tone heavy with caution.
"You need to preserve your strength, Arata. Don't push your body past the breaking point," Jole added, his voice laced with concern.
Zed's silhouette began to dissolve into the dense foliage of the forest. He backed away slowly, retreating deeper into the suffocal darkness. Arata, driven by a temper that refused to cool, kept moving forward, desperate to finish what he started.
"Arata, I said stop!" Mire's warning cut through the silence like a blade.
"What is it now?" Arata snapped. He came to a dead halt, jolted by the sudden urgency in her voice.
"We have no idea what his endgame is," Mire insisted.
"You're redlining, Arata. Don't force it," Jole reminded him.
Now, Zed was gone, swallowed whole by the woods. No sound. No movement. But a heartbeat later, Mire's scream shattered the stillness.
"Behind you, Arata! BEHIND YOU!"
Arata's blood turned to ice.
"There's another one right behind you!" Mire shrieked.
Arata spun around, his eyes frantically scanning the pitch-black surroundings for the new threat. There, standing perfectly still, was a pair of glowing red embers, staring at him from the void.
"There he is..." Arata whispered, his breath hitching. "Who the hell is this one?"
"The same signature. The radiation matches Zed and Cov," Mire answered, her voice a low tremble.
The figure stood static. No snapping twigs, no rustling leaves. Just a deathly silence. The entity looked like a lifeless shadow, yet those twin crimson glares burned with a terrifying contrast against the night.
"That's Nox. No doubt about it," Jole said, his voice eerily calm despite the tension thick enough to choke on.
"You're right. I'd recognize that bastard anywhere," Mire spat, her voice dripping with deep-seated loathing.
Fero seemed restless, his gaze piercing through the dark. "But where's Cov? He should be here too, shouldn't he? Mire, are you sure you only detect one source?"
"Only one left. Zed has dropped off the radar entirely," Mire replied shortly.
"Why did you let Zed slip away?!" Arata barked, his frustration boiling over. "We should have finished him while he was vulnerable!"
"Don't be reckless, boy," Jole cut him off. "We don't know their strategy. If their only intent was to kill you, they would have converged on you from the start."
"He's retreating," Mire murmured. She could feel Nox's radiation signature fading from her sensors as the red glow was slowly devoured by the encroaching dark.
"It doesn't make sense," Arata muttered. He lowered his weapon slightly, though his muscles remained coiled. "Why do they keep showing up just to terrorize me, then vanish?"
"Exactly. It's always the same. Why not strike when they have the chance?" Fero echoed, his voice full of doubt.
"No, this isn't as simple as a direct assault," Jole remarked. His voice sounded heavy, as if he were unearthing a painful, buried memory. "There is something deeply wrong here—something far more dangerous than a physical attack."
"Is he really gone?" Arata asked, needing confirmation.
"Yes. Nothing on the scanners," Mire replied.
"Really? Maybe you should double-check," Arata quipped, trying to puncture the stifling atmosphere.
"Hey! Don't you dare doubt her abilities," Fero jumped in to defend her.
"I'm not doubting, I'm just making sure," Arata shot back with a slight smirk.
Mire remained silent for a moment before asking a piercing question. "Are you talking about the girl?"
"Hahaha!" Arata laughed, a forced sound to mask his unease. "Can we just get out of here now?"
"Yes, that would be wise," Jole agreed.
But Arata's feet felt heavy as a question nagged at the back of his mind. "How did Yumi slip past your radar?"
"I... I don't know. There's only one possibility, but it feels impossible," Mire replied softly, clearly pained by the admission of a flaw in her power.
"Is this 'something' a threat?" Arata asked seriously, as he began to walk through the shadows of the night.
"I can't explain it yet," Mire said, her voice wavering but certain. "But one thing is for sure... whatever 'it' is, it's on our side."
"Well... that's a relief," Arata breathed.
He exhaled a long breath, feeling the weight on his shoulders lighten slightly. Though his mind was still a storm of questions about the meaning behind her words, for now, Arata was just glad to know that Yumi—or whatever was protecting her—wasn't the enemy.
"Should we find some time to talk? Just the four of us?" Arata suggested, trying to bridge the gap between them as a team.
"Relax, Arata. We've already put a plan together for you. Just wait for the right time," Jole said cryptically.
"Wait, what?" Arata's voice jumped an octave in panic. "What kind of plan?!"
"Better get ready..." Fero teased, leaning into the drama.
"Hey! Come on, don't keep me in the dark. Now I'm actually worried!" Arata complained, feeling like he was being played by the voices in his head.
"Mire is dying to meet you!" Fero teased again, followed by a small chuckle that left Arata feeling even more unsettled in the dead of night.
---
Arata stepped past the perimeter of the protected forest, leaving the battlefield to sink back into silence. But he was only a few meters from his bike when a sharp ringing from inside his bag pierced the quiet of the night. His pace quickened, a cold sense of dread beginning to crawl up his spine.
Zip!
He tore the bag open, lunging for his phone. He froze as the screen flared to life, illuminating his face in a harsh, pale glow.
16 Missed Calls | 3 New Messages
Panic hit him like a physical blow. Who would be calling this late? With trembling fingers, he tapped the screen. Click. Every single call and message originated from one name: Yumi.
Arata's heart seemed to skip a beat, leaving a void for pure terror to colonize his mind. He immediately hit redial.
Beep... beep... beep... click!
"Hello?" he choked out, his lips trembling.
"Arataaaa!" The hysterical scream erupted, so sharp it nearly deafened him.
"Yumi... hello... Yumi!" Arata shouted, his voice rising in desperation.
"Arata... where are you?" The muffled sobs on the other end sent his pulse into overdrive.
"Yumi... what's happening? Are you okay?!" Arata yelled, his grip tightening on the phone.
"Help me, Arata... the monster..., please...!!!" Yumi's voice broke into a harrowing, high-pitched sob that tore at his chest.
"I knew it—a damn trap!" Mire hissed, her frustration boiling over. "It's Cov. He played us. We walked right into his diversion!"
"Where are you?!" Arata demanded, his voice cracking under the weight of the panic.
"Check... my message... I'm hiding," Yumi whispered, her voice so faint it sounded as if she was using the last of her strength just to speak.
Arata scrambled to open the messages. His eyes widened. "She's not far from here!"
"That absolute bastard!" Mire snarled. "Arrgggghhh!" Her fury reverberated within the void of the pendant, making the air around Arata's neck burn with a sudden, searing heat.
"Find the girl, now!" Jole commanded, his voice ringing with an authority that brooked no argument. "We will not let them claim another life. Not again."
"Stay on the line! Don't you dare hang up, I'm coming!" Arata barked, his voice stern, issuing an order he wouldn't allow Yumi to break.
"Please, Arata... hurry, I'm so scared..." Yumi whimpered.
Arata kicked his bike into gear. The engine roared to life, a mechanical scream that tore through the midnight silence. He leaned forward, pinned the throttle, and stopped caring about the numbers climbing on the speedometer. He was a blur of steel and rage, disappearing into the dark.
"Bastard! Filthy, goddamn coward!"
"If anything happens to her, I'll end you... I'll hunt you down and kill you myself!" Arata screamed, his voice raw, as if Cov were standing right in his path.
The curses stayed trapped, echoing hollowly inside the cramped space of his helmet. His jaw was clamped so tight his teeth ground together, struggling to contain the tidal wave of fury surging from the depths of his soul.
"Steady yourself, Arata. She will be fine," Jole urged, trying to dampen the flames of a rage that was spiraling out of control. Jole was stunned; he hadn't expected such a cataclysmic eruption of emotion from a boy who had always seemed so unassuming. Beneath Arata's calm surface lay a storm capable of tearing the world apart.
But Arata wasn't listening anymore. The only thing occupying his mind was Yumi's safety. He leaned hard into a sharp turn, carving through the deserted streets at a suicidal speed. The midnight wind lashed against his frame, but he didn't feel the sting. He didn't feel anything but the fire in his chest.
Flash!
An automated traffic camera caught nothing but a blurred streak of light as Arata's bike tore past like a bullet. In the city's central command hub, the speed readout on the monitor blinked a violent red—displaying numbers that defied every law of the road.
---
Screeeech... thud!
The bike skidded to a violent halt, parked haphazardly in front of a derelict 24-hour minimarket. Although the area was relatively well-lit and cars still occasionally hummed in the distance, the silence of the storefront felt predatory. Arata lunged off the bike, his breath coming in ragged, desperate gasps.
His gaze locked onto Yumi's scooter, lying discarded and mangled on the edge of the lot. The sight hit him like a physical blow, sending his panic into a tailspin. He sprinted toward the wreck, eyes scanning the perimeter wildly, but found no sign of her.
"Yumi! Yumi! Where are you?! It's me... Arata!" he screamed. His voice cracked, echoing hollowly against the concrete walls of the old building. He paced frantically, circling the structure with a growing sense of futility.
Suddenly, he remembered his phone was still connected. He yanked it out while tearing his helmet off with a rough, impatient jerk.
"Arata... Arata..." Yumi's voice trembled through the speaker.
"Yes! Yes, Yumi! I'm here! I'm right here! Where are you?!"
"I'm inside..." she whispered, her voice barely a thread.
Arata's eyes snapped toward the dark entrance. Without a second thought, he charged. He let his helmet drop to the floor, not caring as it rolled away into the shadows. He threw his weight against the door, bursting through with everything he had.
CRASH!
Old debris blocking the entrance scattered across the floor. Arata sprinted through the aisles, past shelves coated in dust and long shadows. Finally, he found her. Yumi was huddled in the corner of the last aisle, her face buried against her knees, her entire frame shaking violently.
"Yumi!" Arata cried out, rushing toward her with a chaotic surge of relief and fury.
He dropped to his knees in front of her, his lungs burning as his heart refused to slow its frantic rhythm. The air in the corner of the market was cold and stale, lit only by the sickly orange glow of a streetlamp filtering through the grime-streaked windows.
"Yumi... it's me. It's okay, I'm here," Arata whispered softly, trying to steady the tremor in his own voice.
Recognizing the voice, Yumi slowly lifted her head. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen, her face a mask of pale terror framed by matted hair. The moment their eyes met, she broke. Without a word, she lunged forward, locking her arms around Arata's neck in a desperate grip.
Grip.
She held him so tightly it felt as if she believed the world would collapse if she let go. She buried her face into his shoulder, sobbing so hard her entire body convulsed. Stunned, Arata froze for a heartbeat before slowly returning the embrace. He let her collapse into him, providing a sanctuary of warmth against the freezing, dusty concrete floor.
"Why were you so long... why?" Yumi whimpered between choked breaths.
She shook his shoulder, her hands still tethered to his neck—a small, broken protest against the delay that had nearly cost her her sanity. She sounded fragile, shattered—a far cry from the spirited girl who filled the school halls with laughter. In Arata's arms, she wasn't a hero; she was just a teenager who had stared into the abyss.
Arata rubbed her back gently, trying to project a sense of security he himself felt slipping away. "I'm sorry, Yumi. It's over now... I'm here, and I'm with 'them.' You're safe, I promise," he murmured.
In the midst of the embrace, Arata felt a sudden, familiar thrum against his chest. His necklace began to pulse with heat—a warning he knew all too well. While still holding the terrified girl, Arata's eyes began to cut through the darkness of the building. The silence felt wrong now, as if the stained walls had ears and the shadows in the corners were breathing. His mind raced, calculating a way to get her out.
Suddenly, Mire's voice sliced through his thoughts, sharp and urgent.
"Arata, don't move! Cov is still here. He's watching from the dark," she warned.
"She's right. We need to wait. Don't be reckless, Arata. We are completely exposed here," Jole added, his voice heavy with the gravity of their situation.
At the mention of the creature that had hunted Yumi, Arata's breathing turned heavy. Rage ignited again, incinerating the exhaustion that had begun to settle in. His gaze sharpened, piercing the gloom of the aisles like a predator's.
"I'm going to kill him..." Arata growled under his breath. The words were low, vibrating with a lethal resolve.
Arata tried to loosen the embrace, preparing to stand and give Cov exactly what he deserved. But Yumi, still drowning in trauma, only tightened her hold. Her fingers clawed into his jacket as if he were the only thing tethering her to a world that had suddenly gone mad.
"Arata... don't go..." Yumi sobbed, her voice a fragile, broken plea. "Please..."
Arata stood paralyzed for a heartbeat, feeling the rhythmic tremors of Yumi's shoulders against his chest. His soul screamed for Cov's blood, yet his heart bled for the girl breaking in his arms.
"Stay calm. I'm here, and I'm with them. I'm going to drive that thing away," Arata whispered, tilting his head to look into her tear-streaked face. "You have to stay right here. Don't come out, no matter what happens. If... if I don't come back, call Kato."
As Yumi's desperate grip finally loosened, Arata stood. His stance was iron-clad. "Fero... I need Xyris."
Zzzzttttttt!
The weapon capsule materialized instantly. Arata gripped it tight, casting one final look at Yumi—a silent vow of absolute protection—before turning away. He strode past the rows of dusty shelves with a heavy, purposeful gait. Unbeknownst to him, as his fury reached a fever pitch, a thin veil of violet light began to shroud his body, flickering from an unknown source.
Creeeeeak...
The glass door groaned open. Arata stepped out into the lot, his eyes scanning the perimeter with a predatory chill. "Where is he?!" he demanded of the empty air.
"Above you," Mire whispered. Arata snapped his head up. His gaze locked onto Cov, perched regally on the roof of the building. In an instant, Arata's irises flared into a deep, volatile crimson. Without a word of warning, he launched himself into a high-altitude leap, swinging his weapon with every ounce of his strength.
Slash!
Cov, caught off guard by the sheer velocity of the jump, took a jagged strike across his chest. He leaped back several meters, stunned. Inside the pendant, the three guardians watched in awe at Arata's transformation; the unassuming boy had vanished, replaced by a merciless "Terminator." The Xyris in his hand had fully transformed, vibrating into a roaring blade of plasma light.
Arata landed firmly, his breathing rhythmic despite the lethal combination of the leap and the strike. There was no hesitation left in him. His overflowing emotion had crystallized into a cold, surgical focus.
"I'm going to end you," he said, his voice a flat, intimidating monotone. There wasn't a trace of human warmth left in his tone—only an inevitable death sentence.
He leveled the plasma blade directly at Cov. The energy hummed at a low frequency, slicing through the midnight silence. Under Arata's piercing stare and eyes that now pulsed with a ghostly blue light, Cov seemed to see the shadow of his own demise reflected back at him.
The creature wavered. A flicker of genuine fear radiated from Cov as he witnessed Arata's evolution. But his predatory instincts overrode the terror. He dug his claws into the concrete and lunged, a desperate opening gambit. With reflexes that were borderline supernatural, Arata ducked and pivoted. He swung the plasma blade in one fluid, precise arc, slamming into Cov's arm and sending the creature reeling. Cov frantically beat his massive wings, trying to gain altitude and reset his position.
Refusing to let up, Cov banked in the air, his flight path unstable. He tucked his wings and dove, using his steel-hard beak like a spear aimed directly at Arata's heart. This time, Arata couldn't dodge. He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, channeling his entire consciousness to trigger Jole's shield. He crossed his arms before his face, bracing for the lethal impact.
Bang! CRACK!
The violent collision sent a shockwave through the roof. Cov was blasted back into the air by the resonance of Jole's shield, while Arata was thrown backward, hitting the concrete floor with a sickening thud. But as if the pain had been surgically removed from his nerves, Arata sprang back up instantly. His anger had reached its boiling point, incinerating his fatigue and replacing it with the raw, primordial power of the Vault Pendant.
Giving his enemy no room to breathe, Arata leaped again—a death-defying strike toward the low-hovering Cov.
They met in mid-air, two shadows clashing beneath the cold moonlight. Arata spiraled past the snap of Cov's beak at the very last second. As they leveled out in the sky, he swung the plasma blade with everything he had, aiming for the creature's throat. The hit was clean. The impact sent Cov spiraling downward, crashing onto the roof with a deafening, metallic boom.
Arata landed gracefully, knees bending to absorb the shock, and immediately bolted toward the thrashing monster. He took to the air once more, both arms raised high above his head, ready to deliver the final, soul-crushing blow.
Whirr!
The swing of the plasma blade carved through the air, its energy condensing along the edges until it emitted a blinding violet hum. Cov, still scrambled on the ground, tried to scramble away in a frantic blur, but he wasn't fast enough. The strike landed with a sickening weight, shattering the bone of his wing with a crunch that echoed across the roof.
But as a seasoned predator, Cov was far from finished. Arata's landing was slightly off-balance—a fraction of a second's vulnerability that Cov seized instantly. He lashed out with a swift, brutal counter-swipe.
Thud!
The blow connected squarely with Arata's chest, launching him backward several meters. The plasma sword slipped from his numb fingers, skidding across the concrete as its glow flickered and died. Before Arata could even draw enough oxygen into his searing lungs, Cov had already lunged, pinning him to the floor.
Arata lay sprawled on the rooftop, stripped of any room to maneuver or reach for his weapon. His frame was now completely locked beneath Cov's jagged talons. Every pound of pressure on his chest made each breath feel like a needle piercing his lungs.
With a flash of pure malice in his eyes, Cov arched his neck and began to rain down strikes with his razor-sharp beak, snapping at Arata's face in a blind, savage frenzy. Arata could only whip his head from side to side, feeling the sharp whistle of wind against his skin every time the beak slammed into the concrete inches from his ears.
The sound of stone cracking beside his head was the only thing he could hear over the roar of his own terrified pulse.
Arata lay helpless beneath that lethal grip. Every strike of Cov's beak slammed into the concrete inches from his ears with a deafening, bone-shaking thud. "Mire... I need you!" he screamed in his mind, his inner voice rasping as the air was crushed from his lungs.
"I'm trying!" Mire gasped, her own strength flagging. Inside the pendant's void, Jole was fighting a losing battle, pouring every ounce of his essence into maintaining a light-shield that was already spider-webbing under Cov's brutal assault. Meanwhile, Fero paced in a frantic blur; he was trying to summon Xyris back to Arata's hand, but without physical contact, the energy tether was flickering out. The weapon lay distant, vibrating uselessly on the concrete, its light blinking feebly as if its very soul were fading.
"Fero... there's no more time. Give it to him now!" Jole commanded through the rising panic.
"Are you insane?!" Fero shot back, his voice thick with hesitation.
"There is no other choice... NOW!" Jole's shout was absolute.
"Hold on, kid... please, just hold on!!!" Fero growled, his voice surging with pure adrenaline. He began to channel something beyond explanation; his golden light flared with such intensity that he seemed to be incinerating himself from within. With one violent motion from Fero, the void within Arata's pendant convulsed. It was as if the dimension itself were unlatching something massive—something ancient.
Zzzztttt! Zzzzzrrrrtttttt!
Back in Arata's world, his scream finally broke—a high, piercing wail as jagged arcs of electricity began to erupt from the pendant on his chest. Bolts of violet-blue lightning branched out like a glowing nervous system, crawling across his skin and weaving a web of incandescent energy around his entire body.
On the floor below, Yumi froze. Her sobbing ceased the moment Arata's scream reached her ears, muffled but agonizingly clear.
"Arataaaa...!!!!" she shrieked with everything she had left. Her heart shattered; to her, that sound was the herald of the end. The world seemed to grind to a halt for Yumi as she collapsed back to the floor, buried under the weight of her own grief.
But on the rooftop, the tide of death was turning.
Cov stood paralyzed, as if hypnotized by the spectacle unfolding beneath his claws. The boy he had been crushing was gone, replaced by an entity he no longer recognized. Arata's body was now fully encased in armor—the true Vault—shimmering in a blinding, regal gold.
The eyes behind the visor stared back—sharp, freezing, and absolute. In a fit of panic, Cov made a fatal mistake: he maintained his grip. It was the last decision he would ever make. In that same heartbeat, the core element embedded in the chest of Arata's armor flared with a pure, neon blue radiance.
Zaaaappp!!
The light struck without mercy. A bolt of raw energy hissed through the air like a lightning strike, tearing through the underside of Cov's jaw until it erupted from the back of his skull. Shards of heated metal sprayed into the night. Instantly, the cosmic predator went rigid, frozen in place as if time itself had claimed him.
The iron carcass stood like a macabre statue; the spark in his eyes dimmed slowly until it flickered out entirely. Arata gave one final, effortless shove, letting Cov's frame topple backward with a heavy, metallic thud. Arata rose, standing tall on trembling legs, staring down at the remains of Cov—now nothing more than a heap of jagged, lifeless scrap.
He stood there, motionless, as if his soul were still catching up to the violence that had just ended. His breath came in ragged heaves, his chest pumping up and down as he tried to dampen the boiling adrenaline. A low hiss escaped the seams of the armor, followed by wisps of steam snaking out from the narrow gaps in the plating.
Without a single word, Arata turned from the wreckage. The three Guardians remained silent, as if bound by an invisible command to keep their peace, letting the suffocating stillness swallow the remnants of the battle.
Slowly, Arata walked toward Xyris, which lay dull and grey on the concrete. The moment his fingers brushed the weapon, it flared with a sudden, violent intensity, as if welcoming its master home. Without wasting another second, he stepped to the edge of the roof and dropped.
Arata hit the pavement with a heavy boom that rattled the entire minimarket lot. The vibration traveled through the concrete foundation, snaking into the building and vibrating against Yumi's skin.
The girl flinched, snapping her head up, her breath hitching. Terror was still etched into her swollen, tear-stained face. Her sobs died in her throat, leaving her paralyzed in the harrowing silence—caught between the desperate hope for rescue and the sheer dread of the mysterious force outside.