No one saw him fall; they saw the moment before it.
At first glance, Rikishu Kairo looked calm, unbroken, and upright. But beneath, he was losing hope.
Blood began to spread quickly from his body. His Shuryoku was slowly turning pale.
The sky above the battlefield had lost its color, and the ground cracked beneath, almost like reality was stretching out. Structures shattered.
He stood with certainty.
Across him stood something that had no shape.
It only had intent and distortion. The Shuryoku coming of it was as dark as the universe. Everything that came across it vanished.
Rikishu knew only he could deal with something as menacing as this.
"So this is it, huh?" Rikishu murmured slowly, not in fear, but in acknowledgement.
"If saving others means being lost, then so be it. In the end, I want this world to be peaceful, but this won't be enough." Rikishu exhaled slowly.
Deep beneath his shoulder blade, something clicked.
The chip activated silently, slowly preparing for his departure. The signals went through his neural pathways. Data bloomed behind his eyes—Coordinates and resonance conditions. His Shuryoku slowly began to transfer to the chip.
"IF IT MEANS GOING AWAY, I WILL TAKE YOU WITH ME!" Rikishu charged ahead with magnitude.
"I am really sorry, I couldn't fulfill my promise to you, but I will do anything to come back." Rikishu struck the unknown spirit with his Shuryoku.
The creature tried to resist his attack, but it was nothing.
Then suddenly it was over. The sky cleared out, and birds began to chirp again.
But this time he was not here. He always wanted a world where everything was peaceful. It was only momentarily true, and he knew that the world would need him again.
The chip that was buried beneath his shoulder blade vanished, waiting for the right moment to appear again.
Backup came, but it was too late. He had already vanished.
"Rikishu was a true warrior," Devrik murmured.
"This can't be the end for him… He would have never accepted it! He can't die just yet. He can't leave now, can he?" Devrik said softly.
Systems updated themselves—Rikishu presumed dead.
"This can't be it, he promised to remain." Someone murmured in the crowd; perhaps it was her.
Rikishu had written his name in history that day.
But somewhere far away-- the distance had lost its meaning. His consciousness remained awake.
Waiting for his moment to come back again.