A single strike, and a deluge of platinum light cleaved through the enemy before him without hesitation.
Blood sprayed. Yujin breathed heavily as he looked down at the bisected Yuria.
"You, you—!"
His arms trembled, his legs shook. As Yujin turned his gaze to the other opponents, he couldn't dodge the incoming attack.
Thwack!
With a sickening sound, the second arrow embedded itself in his right thigh. Yujin groaned, unable to suppress the pain. Seizing the opportunity, a rain of arrows descended upon him.
"Ah..."
Is this the end?
In a moment that seemed frozen in time, Yujin looked up. Above him, a meteor shower of arrows filled the sky.
It was a sight so terrifyingly beautiful it was hard to believe it was created by human hands. As dozens of black and purple arrows fell, Yujin didn't try to dodge. He simply stared.
With an arrow in his thigh, he couldn't move quickly anyway. Staring blankly at the sky, Yujin gripped his sword.
If I can recreate that strike... the one drawn by a single star.
If I can mimic that sword stroke, even if I don't know how I did it...
Yujin looked at the world, now turned black.
His thoughts accelerated. How do I dodge? What is the best move? His mind, pushed to its limit, began to burn.
The first star had already burned out. Then...
Yujin grasped the second star—the one he had gained while fighting Tarkan, the Knight of the Royal Court.
Faith.
The belief that he would never lose to the wicked.
The second star melted into his sword. The blade‘s radiance sharpened. This time, Yujin balanced on one leg and stepped forward.
As he moved, blood gushed from his thigh. But he ignored it, spinning his body in a full rotation.
The light dyeing his sword flared brilliantly. Like a bomb about to detonate, the platinum energy flowed along the blade, rippling like waves.
If the previous strike was a sword technique Yujin created...
Then this strike was also a technique of his own making.
He slashed horizontally across the rain of arrows. Pure white light engulfed the world. And then, the light flashed.
BOOM—!
Along the path of the white slash, everything exploded. The incoming arrows were caught in the blast and disintegrated. The explosion was powerful enough to shake Sector Zero to its foundations.
The walls, already weakened by the first strike, collapsed under the force of the explosion, bringing the building down with them.
Amidst the chaos, Yujin saw a Darkiron retrieving the body of their fallen comrade and glaring at him, but Yujin dropped his sword and lowered his head.
Limit reached.
Watching the collapsing building and swirling dust, Yujin closed his eyes.
Locked in combat with the Lazurites, Raquelamalin and her opponents simultaneously looked up at the sky.
"What in the world... crazy..."
It was a sight that would make anyone curse.
A torrent of arrows was blocked by a raging platinum light. The brilliance, visible from miles away, was cutting down the arrows and detonating them.
"Yujin!"
Instinctively knowing Yujin was responsible, Larin shouted his name.
She turned her gaze back. Yujin couldn't fight for long. She knew his injuries and his inability to sustain prolonged combat.
Larin glared at the Lazurites and gripped her bone-whistle.
Sona was fighting one of them, but she was being pushed into a corner as other Union members joined the fray.
Larin realized she needed a single strike to turn the tide. She drew a Word with her bone-whistle.
It can be anything. Drawing a Word of the Sarkaz tongue, Larin thrust her bone-whistle toward the sky. In that instant, every projectile in the area slowed to a crawl.
"Sona! Over here!"
The Union‘s primary method of attack was ranged combat with bows. But seeing their arrows enter Larin‘s domain and slow down visibly, they were stunned into silence.
"What kind of Arts is this...!!"
The Lazurite screamed at the absurdity, but Larin didn't miss the moment their attack method was sealed.
She fired her Arts. Black energy coalesced into claws, digging into the Lazurite‘s waist.
"Gah, aaah!"
"You!!!"
Naturally, the other Lazurite abandoned Sona and rushed toward Larin upon hearing the scream. Sona threw herself to Larin‘s side.
"Ugh, hah. I wish I had Arts like that! I'd kill them all!"
"I can't maintain it for long. Let's do what we can...!"
All projectiles slowed. As if time itself were sluggish.
'30 seconds! I have to end this within 30 seconds!'
The drawn Words floated around Larin. Black light covered her body, then shattered like shrapnel, flying toward the enemies.
"Aaargh!"
"Help me!"
"Damn it, what the hell is this!"
Leaving the screaming enemies behind, Larin turned. 30 seconds was a long time—enough for Sona and Larin to escape.
Even as they fled, she kept her eyes on the Lazurites, maintaining pressure.
She blocked their retaliatory shots with her staff. The Lazurites glared at Larin, etching her face into their memories.
"Hmph. Served you right."
Sona spoke as if regretting she couldn't kill them, running alongside Larin.
Seeing that they weren't pursuing, Larin turned her back.
First, she had to check on Yujin and the children.
Yujin opened his eyes.
His body should have been aching, wounded, and covered in blood. But upon checking, he found himself perfectly fine.
"…That can't be right."
"What can't be right?"
Hearing a voice from behind, Yujin jumped and reached for his sword. But the familiar weight at his hip was gone.
"Surprised? A knight shouldn't be startled by something like this."
"Excuse me, but who are you?"
An unfamiliar scenery and an unfamiliar face. Just moments ago, he had been fighting to the death in Sector Zero. It was natural to be confused, but he needed to get back quickly.
"Don't rush. We don't have much time to meet anyway."
A towering wall, like a boundary line. Yujin stood atop it. It was a place he had never been, and with a stranger in front of him, he had to be wary.
"Nostalgic scenery. I didn't think I'd see it again. Didn't think I'd come back here."
"…Could you stop speaking in riddles and tell me what's going on?"
"Ehey, seriously. I was trying to soak in the sentiment. Youngsters these days have no patience."
There was only one reason Yujin didn't attack the man in front of him.
He was strong.
Just looking at him, Yujin knew. The disciplined posture, the aura of immense skill radiating even while standing still.
A knight clad in pure white and silver armor, with a spear on his back and a sword at his waist, looking out at the horizon beyond the wall.
"Why go so far?"
"What do you mean?"
Yujin used polite speech for a reason. Treating someone with an aura similar to his Master disrespectfully was a bad idea.
"It would be easier to just live comfortably. Ignoring Infected, Sarkaz, chivalry... life is easier that way."
"If I wanted to live like that, I wouldn't have started."
"Is that so? You're a peculiar one."
Tsk tsk. Clicking his tongue, the White Knight looked at Yujin. His face was hidden by a helmet.
"Hard to find guys like you these days... Foolish and stupid. It would be fine if you were just foolish alone, but you endanger those around you."
Hearing that, Yujin felt a surge of anger and opened his mouth to retort, but the White Knight drew his sword instantly and pointed it at Yujin.
"That's why you have the qualification. Being foolish is fine, but you mustn't let others get hurt because of it."
"What are you...!"
"Draw your sword, honorable knight. I challenge you to a duel here and now, on my honor and yours."
Meaningless words. A knight in white armor staring at him. A wall soaring high into the sky, overlooking the setting sun. Yujin couldn't understand the situation, but he sighed and grasped his sword.
When he first opened his eyes, his black longsword was naturally hanging at his waist.
He drew the sword. In this moment where night and day overlapped, Yujin emitted platinum light as he faced the knight.
"Do you have a knightly title?"
"None. I'm still a rookie."
"Hah, a shame."
"Then do you have one?"
"Sorry, but we don't have things like that. Just called the Spear of Kazimierz. Are you ready?"
The White Knight held a spear in one hand and a sword in the other.
Yujin also drew his sword and aimed it at the knight. For some reason, he instinctively felt he shouldn't refuse this duel.
"Watch closely from now on... This is the pride of a Kazimierz Campaign Knight."
With those words, platinum light and a perfect golden radiance rose above the earth.