Chapter 7 — The Legion That Remembers
Yuna's voice layered in fractured tones echoed through the room, not hers alone but a dozen overlapping whispers, some weeping, some screaming, and one—one ancient and still.
Arata stared at her in horror. The symbols on her arms, once delicate crystalline patterns, had warped into jagged runes pulsing with chaotic violet light. Her eyes glowed void-black, like the space between galaxies.
Reiji had frozen at the doorway, one foot inside Arata's dorm. His revolver, still crackling with null magic, wavered slightly in his grip.
"She's not possessed," he muttered, voice dry. "That's not corruption. That's inheritance."
"Inheritance… of what?" Arata asked. He took a step back, stumbling over the edge of his bed.
Yuna's lips curled into a smile that didn't belong to her. "I remember every world you broke, Arata. Every version of you. Every timeline where you burned it all."
A sudden scream echoed outside.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
The sky outside turned a sickly violet, the clouds spiraling unnaturally, forming a massive eye that blinked once before vanishing. From that blink… something came through. Something wrong.
Reiji turned his head slightly. "It's starting."
"WHAT is starting?" Arata demanded.
Yuna raised her hand, and the room shook. The magic barrier around the dormitory snapped like old glass. The glowing runes on her arms leapt off her skin, floating midair before forming a rotating circle of glyphs above her head.
"You called it forth," she said.
"I didn't do anything!" Arata shouted.
Yuna looked at him. "You remembered. That's enough."
Suddenly, she collapsed. Her body hit the floor like a ragdoll. The magic vanished instantly. The symbols, the voice, the glow—all gone. Just Yuna, unconscious, eyes rolled back.
Reiji was already at her side, checking her pulse.
"She's alive," he said. "But something is leaking through her. This isn't over."
Arata clenched his fists. "What the hell is happening to me?"
Before Reiji could answer, his comm crystal buzzed violently. He picked it up.
"This is Akari Mizuhane, Field Command. Eastern Watchtower is under assault. Multiple unidentified entities breaching through a dimensional fracture above the spire. Cadets are down. We need reinforcements now!"
Reiji cursed. "We've got a Legion incursion."
"Legion?" Arata repeated. "That's what attacked us in the ruins."
"Yeah. And now it's coming for Tenryuu itself."
The academy sirens wailed.
⚠ Emergency Alert: Non-humanoid dimensional invaders detected. All cadets are to report to their combat deployment zones. Failure to comply is a Class One Violation. This is not a drill. ⚠
Karin's voice came through Arata's communicator. "You awake? We've got a live situation. Daigo's with me. Meet us at West Field. Now."
Reiji looked at Arata. "You coming?"
Arata's hand trembled.
"Yeah," he said. "I'm done running."
Tenryuu Academy looked like a war zone.
Explosions of violet light rocked the sky. Shield wards activated above the towers, flickering under the strain. The fractured moon overhead loomed unnaturally close. The clouds swirled like ink in water, constantly changing shape.
Daigo crouched behind a barricade made of summoned crystal spikes, hands shaking.
"I-I'm here, I showed up, I'm helping," he muttered, face pale.
Karin stood next to him, dual crimson blades drawn. Her aura flared like wildfire.
"Glad you made it," she said as Arata and Reiji arrived. "We've got twenty-seven casualties. Most are in comas. Their souls are…" she hesitated. "Scrambled."
"Scrambled?" Reiji echoed.
"Whatever these things are—they attack the mind. Memory. Identity. They erase people from themselves."
Just then, something emerged from the sky.
A Legion beast.
It didn't walk. It unfolded—like a shadow peeling itself off the air. Eight-legged, headless, its body composed of flickering geometric panels. From within its chest pulsed a red light in the exact shape of Arata's mark.
It didn't roar. It thought. Everyone could hear it.
HOST MARK IDENTIFIED. ARATA HOSHINO. PRIORITY RETRIEVAL INITIATED.
"Run?" Daigo squeaked.
"No," Arata said.
He stepped forward.
The mark on his chest glowed, in sync with the creature's pulse.
It lunged.
Reiji fired his revolver, the bullet singing with null light.
Karin slashed upward, meeting one of its limbs midair.
Daigo screamed—and created a barrier of wind so powerful it repelled the beast's outer shell, just for a moment.
"You've gotten stronger," Karin muttered to Daigo, impressed.
"I'M STILL SCARED," he yelled.
The Legion beast cracked open, and from within—another voice.
This one human.
"You're not ready, Arata. But you're out of time."
A person stepped from the core.
A boy. Older. Seventeen, maybe. Red eyes. Short silver hair. Dressed in a combat uniform like Tenryuu's… but wrong. Fractured. Parts of it flickered between timelines.
Arata stared.
"…Me?"
The other Arata nodded.
"Version 38. The one who survived."
Before anyone could speak—
He drew a blade made of broken memories and sliced the Legion beast in half.
The air rippled.
WARNING: TEMPORAL INTERFERENCE DETECTED.
Another voice echoed from above. One they hadn't heard before.
It sounded female.
It sounded angry.
"You were not supposed to enter this timeline yet."
A girl descended from the sky. Pure black outfit. Jet hair that shimmered with stars. A halo of symbols spinning around her.
Reiji's eyes widened. "That's… that's one of the Star Wardens."
Arata whispered, "What the hell is a Star Warden?"
The girl landed lightly, staring at both Aratas.
"You fractured it," she said. "You crossed a memory stream and now the entire system is destabilizing."
She raised her hand.
The older Arata—the one from another timeline—winced, stepped back.
"You can't erase me," he said. "I'm anchored now."
"You anchored through him," she replied, pointing to our Arata.
Daigo fainted.
Karin caught him.
The ground beneath them shook.
Above, more rifts opened.
Dozens of Legion creatures poured out.
The sky turned crimson.
Reiji activated a beacon flare.
"We need every cadet to deploy! Now!"
The older Arata looked at his younger self.
"If you want to live, remember this—your power isn't yours. It never was. You're the key. But you're also the lock."
"What does that even mean?!" Arata yelled.
But the older version was already fading.
Replaced by something else—
A vast, skeletal being emerged from the rift, cloaked in ruined banners of fallen worlds.
Karin dropped to one knee.
Reiji's face went pale.
Even the Star Warden backed away.
The creature spoke in a language no one understood—but every heart recognized.
I AM LEGION. I REMEMBER ALL WHO BURNED.
It extended a finger.
And pointed directly at Arata.
YOU BURNED FIRST.
Then it smiled.
NOW, YOU BURN LAST.
The world collapsed into light