AKIHIRO ATLAS
From the moment my master's body fell off the bridge, the world had ceased to be what it was supposed to be.
Sometimes a person thinks that the moments that divide his life in two are great wars, disasters or epoch-changing events. That's what I thought, too. But now I realized that sometimes the things that really break a person's soul can only be a few seconds. Because the moment I saw that sword sticking into Shu's chest, and I before that, we were not the same person. There were only a few breaths of time between them, but those few breaths were enough to Decouple an entire life. My eyes were still fixed on the gap down by the bridge. I felt like if I looked a little more, I would see that he would get up again, that this was just part of a plan that I didn't understand. Because my mind was rejecting the truth. He had to. Accepting the death of a man like Shu Pryhi seemed to me as unreasonable as accepting that the sky might suddenly fall to the ground one day. That man I thought invincible my whole life, who always walked a few steps ahead of everyone, who could see things that people couldn't think of, disappeared from my eyes as a lifeless body... it was not something my mind could handle.
But that smile on Ryugu's face was a reminder that it was real.
Maybe that's what hurt me the most.
It wasn't blood.
It wasn't death.
It wasn't even murder.
I knew that one person could kill another person.
I've seen it in the wars.
I've seen this on Earth.
I've seen the darkest sides of humanity.
But the expression on Ryugu's face was different.
Because there was no hate there.
There was no anger.
There was no remorse.
There was no conscience.
There was a terrible satisfaction that seemed like he was just having fun.
It was as if what he had just done was a little fun he had done not to kill a person, but to pass the time after a boring meeting. And that's why the more I looked at him, the more anger didn't just grow inside me. Anger was becoming insufficient after a certain point. Because anger was still a human emotion. And what was growing inside me was darker than that. It's more primitive. It's wilder. It was taking over my whole soul like a forgotten instinct from the early ages, when people killed each other.
Ryugu, on the other hand, tilted his head slightly to the side, as if he could feel it, and slightly magnified that disturbing smile at the edge of his lips.
"I like that look." he said in an extremely relaxed tone of voice. "I've always been interested to see that void that comes up when people lose something really important in their lives. Because at those moments, all the masks fall off. Heroes cease to be heroes. Generals cease to be generals. And only the naked person remains."
Even the comfort in his voice made me feel sick. I wanted to cut his throat and turn this whole area into a rain of blood.
"I see him in your eyes too now, Akihiro Atlas. The person standing here right now is not Cistern's young general. He's not an idealistic kid trying to protect humanity. He is not a student of Shu. What's standing here right now is just hate."
My teeth were clenched so hard that I could feel my jaw hurting.
"Don't mention my name."
Ryugu laughed.
He really laughed.
"Well, look here. How beautiful." he said with sarcastic satisfaction. "The boy who could not defend himself at the meeting, could not even make a single argument, had to hide behind his master, is gone. He was replaced by an honest person at last. It's interesting to see what the student that Shu has trained for many years actually is."
The anger inside my chest grew a little more.
But he didn't stop.
"However, we should not be unfair to him." he continued. "After all, the last few things he said at the meeting were quite funny. Especially the parts where he talks about Cistern's rotten layout. Ah, Shu was really funny. People who think they can change the world have always been funny."
That moment...
I really stopped hearing it.
Because his voice was no longer reaching my ear.
The hum of my blood had become more dominant.
The voice of my heart had become more dominant.
And the lightning bolts rising up inside me were suppressing everything.
The sky began to darken.
The stones of the bridge began to crack.
The wind has changed direction.
And it's not the first time I've tried to control him while invoking my image.
It's not the first time I've tried to restrain him.
For the first time, I didn't care no matter how much I let the power inside me grow.
Because what I was afraid of no longer was my strength.
What I was afraid of was that Ryugu would continue to live.
Red purple lights began to merge in the palm of my hand.
Lightning bolts were coming down from the sky and swirling around me.
My Soul Power flowed through my veins not like a river, but like a catastrophe.
And a few seconds later my spear "Sentry" formed.
It's my weapon that I've used countless times throughout my life.
But it was the first time it felt so heavy in my hand.
Because it's not the first time to protect him...
I was lifting it to execute. With a murderous thought, but without caring what happens.
When Ryugu saw this, his smile widened even more.
Then he slowly raised his right arm.
And the skin of his arm began to crack.
His bones have lengthened.
His muscles have reg Novated.
His flesh curled like metal.
Within a few seconds, his entire arm had transformed into a long, black, and frighteningly elegant sword. This was the sword that pierced Shu's chest. My master's blood was still on him.
As soon as I saw this, I stopped thinking.
And I attacked.
My body turned into lightning.
The bridge was erased from before my eyes.
The distance between us has Decayed.
My spear came down with all my strength.
The resulting crashing sound had split not only the bridge, but the entire morning as if it had split in two.
The stones lifted into the air.
The shock waves tore the surface of the river.
The windows of nearby buildings were shattered at the same time.
But I didn't stop.
Because I wasn't fighting anymore.
I wasn't using technique anymore.
I wasn't thinking about strategy anymore.
I was no longer a general.
I was just a student whose master's blood was still standing in front of his eyes.
And I felt like I couldn't breathe without killing the man standing in front of me.
After my master's body disappeared from sight among the mists and distant stone structures under the bridge, time had completely lost its normal flow for me. Dec. They used to say that the human mind refuses to accept some moments; there are moments when a person sees what he sees, but he cannot perceive it as real, and the brain builds invisible walls around the truth to protect itself. I was trapped inside those walls, too. Because Ryugu was still standing in front of me. He was still breathing. He was still smiling. And the fact that these two could happen at the same time seemed to me more irrational than all the rules of the world. If Shu was really dead, there should be no way Ryugu could stand here calmly. If Ryugu was really standing here, it shouldn't be possible that Shu was dead. These two facts could not exist side by side in the same universe. But they were found. And that's exactly why my mind was falling apart.
When I swung my spear again, there was no technique in any of my movements anymore. Shu has taught me for years that war is not just about using force. He explained that the main weapon of a warrior is his mind, and anger is a temporary fuel that only fools use. But right now, everything he taught me seemed to be ripped out of my body. Because I was using all my Soul Power every time I attacked. Really the whole thing. I was leaving nothing for the defense. I wasn't thinking about the next attack. I wasn't calculating if I would live tomorrow. I didn't care if my Soul Channels would break down. I was transferring all the lightning bolts inside me to the tip of my spear and discharging them on Ryugu. Every time I threw, new lightning bolts came down from the sky, the stones of the bridge shattered, cracks formed in the walls of the surrounding buildings, and waves reaching meters high rose on the surface of the river. Ryugu, however, met every blow. No, he wasn't just taking it; he was still standing despite being thrown back tens of meters with every blow. The stones were crumbling under his feet, his body hit the pillars of the bridge, sometimes even the structures behind him completely collapsed, but after a few seconds he straightened up again and again put that vile smile on his face.
That's when it started to drive me even more crazy. Because I could understand a person's suffering. I could understand a person being afraid. I could understand a person's hatred. But I couldn't understand what Ryugu was doing. He knew that the person standing in front of him had lost his master's body in front of his eyes a few seconds ago. He was aware of that. It didn't take a genius to see that. Despite this, the expression on his face did not change. As if all this was just a fun experiment for him. As if the most terrible day of my life was nothing more than a small incident that colored his boring morning.
"It's really impressive..." he said in a tone of mocking admiration as he slammed the sword into my spear. "I didn't expect you to be able to go this far after watching Shu die. There's a mountain of difference between that boy in the meeting room and what's standing in front of me right now. Dec. Maybe your teacher finally taught you something useful by dying."
It was as if all the lightning bolts inside my chest exploded at the same time. With that sentence, I saw the sword entering Shu's chest again in front of my eyes. I saw the blood again. I saw his body falling off the bridge again. I remembered the apology I couldn't tell him again.
And at that moment, the last crumbs of logic that remained in me also burned away.
"Don't mention his name..." I snarled. My voice didn't even sound like it belonged to me. "If you mention his name one more time, I will kill you so hard that even parts of your soul will not recognize you."
Ryugu laughed.
He really laughed.
"That's the expression I wanted to see."
I remember shouting at that moment, but I don't remember what I said. Because I wasn't talking anymore. All the hatred in me was carrying out. Even the air around my body started to deteriorate as I started to gather all my lightning power into my right arm. The sky has darkened. The clouds began to turn. Red purple lightning bolts came down from above for miles and began to circle around my arm. My Spirit Power was so concentrated that even the space around my arm seemed to tremble. The stones were levitating, the water drops forgot about gravity, everything in the environment was being attracted by that energy. And then I released all that power.
It wasn't lightning that came out of my arm.
It was a disaster. I had no other wish but that this disaster would kill the person in front of me.
"Infinitus Noctis Lucis!"
Thousands of lightning arrows covered the sky at the same time. The red purple light engulfed the entire field of vision. The area where Ryugu is located has become completely invisible. The resulting explosion shook not only the bridge, but also the surrounding area for kilometers. The river bed is split. The windows of nearby towers were shattered. Even people in remote areas had to turn around and look at the sky.
But still...
Still, he didn't die.
A shadow rose from within the dust cloud. Then a laugh was heard. Then Ryugu appeared. Some of the clothes on him were burned. Parts of his skin had been torn off. But he was still smiling.
And that's when he attacked.
When the black sword on his arm moved, at first I couldn't even think that it was a weapon. Or rather, although my eyes could choose its shape, my mind could not place what it saw into any concept that it was used to. That dark appendage extending from Ryugu's shoulder had already left behind the rigidity that metal should have; it vibrated as if it were alive, dark ripples that absorbed light circulated on its surface, and every time it curled, it changed the air around it as if an invisible hand was bending it. At first, it was only a few meters long. Then he grew up in front of my eyes. A few more meters. Then one more time. As its length increased, the stone railings on both sides of the bridge disappeared under its shadow, and the stones on the ground cracked and moved with the weight of the sword. That thing was now turning into much more than a sword; it resembled a huge, black creature crawling over the bridge. Its body stretched out in a curve, making a heavy hum that echoed on the stones, leaving thin cracks behind with every movement. And all that darkness was moving directly towards me. But the strange thing was that I no longer felt fear. The anger that was big enough to tear me apart a few seconds ago has now risen above even fear. Thoughts do not mix in my mind, on the contrary, they were completely silent. I saw the fall of Shu. I smelled your blood. I've seen that smile on Ryugu's face. And I didn't need to think after any of this anymore. My body had already made its decision.
As soon as the shadow of the sword fell on me, the lightning in me responded. I can't even say that it's a decision, because even that tiny December of thought needed to make a decision has not been formed. One moment I was still standing on the bridge, the next moment my body had turned into light itself. The boundaries of my bones, muscles, and skin suddenly lost their meaning; my being disintegrated into the air like a lightning bolt Novated into several pieces and passed through the black sword. There was only empty air left where the attack should have caught me. When the dark sword passed behind me, part of the stone bridge shattered with a big noise, but I didn't even hear that sound properly. Because all my senses were locked on one point. Ryugu. The distance between us was closed in an instant. Dec. It was as if time itself had fallen behind my pace. I arrived at his side in as little time as a lightning bolt falling from the sky to the ground, and the moment I returned to material form, the spear in my hand had already moved. I don't remember the beginning of the attack at that moment; I only know that the anger inside me moved my arm. The body of the spear turned in the palm of my hand, the electricity accumulated at the tip suddenly suppressed the pale light of the morning, and the world in front of me was torn by a white glare. The attack itself lasted less than a thought.
The sound that came out just as the spear reached Ryugu suppressed all other sounds that echoed over the bridge. The sharp vibration caused by the metal hitting the dark extension split the air and spread around, and then everything fell silent for a moment. It was as if the world had held its breath to see that blow. Where the tip of my spear passed through, the integrity of the black sword broke down, and Ryugu's arm broke off from shoulder height and was thrown into the air. The dark limb still retained its sword shape for a few seconds, then it began to deform like a shadow that had lost its own weight. Ryugu's body was thrown backwards by the impact of the attack. And I stayed where I was. I was still holding my spear with both hands. I could feel the vibration of the lightning moving Decently between my fingers. My chest was going up and down fast. But I could barely even hear the sound of my breathing. Because my eyes were on Ryugu's face. And the moment I saw that face, I understood why the anger in me was so quiet.
He had no smile.
First time.
That little detail told me more than the attack itself. The confident expression on Ryugu's face, a few seconds ago, had the calmness of a person who stood above all the rules of the world. And now, for the first time, there was a real surprise on his face. The limb whose gaze was separated from the shoulder, then shifted to me. His lips were slightly parted. It was as if he was trying to reevaluate who the person standing in front of him was. When I saw that look, I got a strange feeling inside. If it had happened in the past, maybe it would have satisfied me to see that he was afraid. I used to feel that brief sense of victory that comes from surprising an enemy. But there was no such thing as victory anymore. I didn't see the surprise on his face, I only saw Shu's face. The dark limb separated from Ryugu's shoulder meant nothing to me. In front of my eyes was still my master, who had fallen down the side of the bridge. And that's when I realized that I wasn't fighting against Ryugu anymore. I was attacking the void that had formed inside me after the person I had lost a few seconds ago. My every move had turned into a meaningless scream, thrown out to fill that void.
I tightened my spear a little more. I felt the muscles in the palms of my hands tighten. Nov. Lightning bolts were traveling along my arm, overflowing out of my shoulders, forming thin forks in the air. The ends of my hair were slightly blown off by electricity. The air around the bridge had become heavy, and even the small waves that formed on the river had become irregular, as if they sensed the approaching storm. The color of the sky was beginning to change. The morning sky, which had been clear and pale a few minutes before, was gradually closing in with dark clouds gathering towards us. But I didn't know if this was my power or Cistern's own response to this conflict. The only thing I knew was that when I looked up, the sky didn't look the same anymore. The clouds were piling on top of each other, and a deep hum resembling thunder could be heard in the distance. It was as if the whole city felt what was coming. It was as if even the sky realized that what was going to happen here a few minutes later was not an ordinary war.
Ryugu looked at me. So I looked at him. The distance between us was a few steps, but at that moment it was as if we were standing between two different worlds. Decatur, Decatur, decatur. On one side was his composure, plans and dark power; on the other side was my lightning, which was beginning to lose control of me, and a rage inside me that no longer knew any boundaries. Normally, I would try to understand my opponent in a battle. I would observe his movements, follow his breathing, predict which attack he would use and measure his strength. But I wasn't doing any of that at that moment. I didn't want to know what my opponent would do. I didn't want to learn his defense. I wasn't wondering about the limits of your power. All I wanted was for him to be erased from my face. It should have scared even me how naturally this thought formed inside me. But I wasn't scared. Because at that moment, the voice of my conscience was far behind my anger.
And then the sky really split.
First, a single light appeared in the distance. Then a second glow passed Decently through the clouds. Then the third. Within a few seconds, it began to seem as if the entire sky was filled with electricity. The lightning bolts in the clouds were not falling to the ground yet, they were just following each other, curling like huge veins under the dark sky. With each glare, the stones of the bridge, the river, the collapsed railings, and Ryugu's face looked white for a moment. When the thunder came a few seconds later, the entire bridge trembled. I raised my head and looked up at the sky, and at that moment I felt that the last remaining crumb of calm had disappeared inside me. Because now there was no difference Decoupling between the storm above and the storm inside me.
I wasn't standing in the storm.
I had turned into the storm itself.
I wish my master could see it too.
And that morning, after the death of Shu Pryhi, in the battle that began over the bridge, I realized for the first time that there is a limit inside a person, but when that limit is crossed, there is no strength left, there is only the question of what the strength will turn into. And my strength was no longer rising to protect at that moment. What guided him was not justice, it was not duty, it was not Cistern, and even it was not anything that Shu taught me. What was driving him was missing. And loss could open such a deep void inside a person that a person could first begin to tear apart the world in front of him in order to close that gap. Looking at the first real surprise on Ryugu's face, I wasn't calm enough to understand it yet. I just raised my spear again. A new lightning flashed in the sky. And under that light, not knowing what my own hands were about to turn into, I took another step towards him.
All the lightning bolts began to gather towards a single point. The clouds above the city were spinning, thunderclaps were hitting each other, the whole region was shaking. The intensity of my Spirit Power was now beginning to overwhelm the surroundings. There was a pressure that people could feel from miles away. And I was standing at the center of that oppression.
I slowly raised my head.
I looked at Ryugu.
And I broke the last chain inside me.
A huge silhouette began to rise up behind me.
A figure composed of pure lightning, covering the sky, reminiscent of war itself.
Ares.
My avatar.
He was waking up in full form.
And for the first time...
I saw the real seriousness in Ryugu's eyes.
The moment Ares rose completely behind me, the sky changed color. I'd like to say it was a metaphor, but it wasn't. He's really changed. The Cistern skies, lit up with morning light a few minutes ago, were now covered with dark gray clouds that were heavy, suffocating and left a restlessness that one could not explain. It was as if the whole city was holding its breath. It was as if even the sky knew who the man who had just fallen down over the bridge was and was mourning it in his own language.
But I couldn't grieve.
In order to grieve, one had to think.
I couldn't think.
Because there was only one image in my mind.
Shu's body.
The sword stuck in his chest.
His fall down the side of the bridge.
And that image was being relived every second.
Again.
Again.
Again.
It was as if someone had etched the same memory into my mind and replayed it every time I closed my eyes.
I noticed that my hands were shaking as the lightning bolts swirling around Ares split the sky. But this was not out of fear. Nor was it from pain. This was that terrible pressure that occurs when all the emotions in a person are squeezed into one point. I felt like my heart was beating in my throat instead of in my chest.
Ryugu, who was standing in front of me, was still smiling.
It's like nothing happened.
It's like he didn't just split my world in two.
As if it hadn't caused the death of the person I've cared about the most in my entire life.
And that's why Ares moved.
As the gigantic avatar's spear rose into the sky, the lightning bolts around him also adapted to his movement. When the first lightning came down, the stones of the bridge were ripped out of place. The windows of nearby buildings exploded when the second lightning bolt landed. When the third lightning came down, the air became so heavy that it became difficult even to breathe.
Ryugu started to move.
Not at the speed at which a person can move.
Like a shadow.
It's like an illusion.
My eyes could hardly follow him.
As Ares' attacks left huge trails of light over the city, Ryugu passed through them, appeared on top of a roof, then jumped to another point, then Decamped again through the lightning.
This image did not calm me down.
On the contrary.
It made him even angrier.
Because no matter how much I attacked, Shu wouldn't come back.
No matter how much force I used, what had just happened would not change.
No matter how much I screamed, my opportunity to apologize was not going to come back.
And sometimes a person could lose his logic when faced with things that he could not change.
I was losing too.
"Ares..."
My voice cracked.
"Ares, don't stop."
The giant silhouette behind me let out a roar that shook the sky.
At that moment, I released all my Soul Power.
I stopped checking.
I stopped measuring.
I stopped thinking about the consequences.
Because I didn't care about the results anymore.
Everything that I had been taught all my life was falling apart one by one in my mind at that moment. Using power responsibly... protecting people... Defending my position... Understanding that my abilities should serve a greater purpose than me... These were things that were told to me since childhood, repeated in every training, I reminded myself in the middle of every war. I was told that the power of a General does not belong only to himself. They had taught me that behind the spear in my hand, the lightning I summoned, the Spirit Power I carried, there were thousands of people's lives. But at that moment, all these teachings had turned into empty words that echoed in my mind. Because the man standing in front of me had killed my master. Shu Pryhi. The person who taught me not only techniques, but how to be a human being. And at that moment, I couldn't see any difference between fighting the part of me that was trying to stay human Decently. I slowly raised my head without taking my eyes off Ryugu. The sky had become heavy, as if I felt the storm breaking inside me. Black clouds were piling on top of each other, and in the distance lightning bolts were writhing silently in the depths of the sky. The wind was hitting my face, tossing my hair, dragging the stones of the destroyed bridge around my feet. I closed my eyes for a moment. Then I opened my lips.
I started reading the old lightning hymn.
This was not just a technique. It was a call so old that most of the lightning users on Cistern no longer remember it. It was more like a ritual than a spell, more like a judgment than an attack. Every time I said the words, my voice was lost in the wind, but the sky responded as if it could hear those words. At the first sentence, the clouds became heavy. In the second sentence, the pressure in the air changed. At the third sentence, the stones on the bridge began to tremble slightly. Then a light appeared in the depths of the sky; at first it was a distant and faint glow, then it spread out among all the clouds like veins. Dec. Even the smile on Ryugu's face froze for a moment. But I didn't see him anymore. There was only Shu in my mind. It's his voice. The lessons he gave me. Moments when he puts his hand on my shoulder. The way he scolds me when I do something wrong. The way he nodded silently when I did it right. And then... his fall to the ground. My voice trembled as I sang the last word of the hymn. My anger had even aggravated the air that was passing down my throat. I grasped my spear with both hands and slowly raised it to the sky. The first electric spark appeared on the tip of the spear. Then the second one. Then hundreds. There was such an intense build-up of electricity that the air around me almost forgot to breathe. Ryugu's eyes narrowed. And I just whispered.
"O ancient fire that sleeps behind the sky,
O divine anger that runs in the veins of the clouds,
O eternal light that rules over the darkness…
Hear my name.
Hear my voice.
And hear the cry of those who have fallen to the ground.
The darkness that covers the sky, bow your head.
Wind, clear the way.
Clouds, slit your uterus.
Because the judgment that sleeps in the sky,
he is waking up again.
I don't call the lightning.
I call out to the lightning itself.
I do not command heaven.
I will release the anger of heaven.
A thousand darkness for one light,
a thousand heavens for a judgment,
a thousand lightning bolts for one sin…
O ancient spear of the sky,
the eternal court behind the clouds,
come down to earth.
Not for justice.
Not for mercy.
Not for fear.
Come down today only for judgment.
Break the veins of heaven.
Paint the horizons white.
Silence the earth under the light.
And everything that stands in front of me,
everything that dares to wake you up,
kneel before this voice that calls you.
Because I am Akihiro Atlas.
Not a carrier of lightning…
It is my hand that has brought down his judgment to the earth.
Now wake up.
Now open the sky.
Now fall down.
"Fulgur Superficiem."
At that moment, the world fell silent.
It literally fell silent.
The wind has stopped. The sounds from far away have disappeared. Even the rubbing of the stones against each other became inaudible. It was as if the whole world had frozen in one breath to wait for what was about to happen. Then the sky split open. When the first lightning bolt broke through the clouds and came down, it wasn't just a light; it hit the ground like a huge blow that made the whole bridge tremble. Then the second lightning struck. Then the third. Then the fourth. Within a few seconds, every dark space in the sky began to fill with white light. The thunderbolts were no longer descending one by one. It passed between each other, enveloped the sky from head to toe, and threw the surrounding stones into the air every time they hit the ground. Dec. I turned my spear forward and raised my Spirit Power even higher. The clouds in the sky began to turn as if in response to this. Hundreds of lightning bolts changed direction at the same time. It was as if the entire sky had become part of a single will. And that will was me.
A white light engulfed the area where Ryugu was located.
Another lightning bolt.
Another one.
Then dozens of them at the same time.
Ryugu's silhouette appears one moment, disappears completely the next. After each impact, a wave of energy rising into the air shattered the stones of the bridge and spread to the environment, huge cracks were moving under my feet. But I did not retreat. On the contrary, I grasped my spear more firmly. Because the pain in me was still there. With each lightning fall, I felt as if the pain of a part of me would decrease a little more. That's why I didn't stop. When the first attack was not enough, I called for the second. When the second is not enough, the third. The lightning in the sky had ceased to be something that could be counted anymore. Hundreds, then thousands of them were raining down on the same area, the whole horizon turned into a white sea. I was having trouble even opening my eyes. But I didn't turn them off. Because I knew if I hung up, I'd see Shu's face.
And I didn't want to see anything at that moment.
I just wanted Ryugu to disappear.
It was as if seconds had turned into minutes. Time had lost its meaning. I didn't know how long I had been attacking. Maybe it was a few seconds. Maybe it was a few minutes. But the sky did not stop. Each lightning bolt fell heavier than the previous one, the light that exploded when it hit the ground made the surrounding structures tremble, filling the air with a sharp energy. I continued to feed my Spirit Power constantly while pointing my spear at the sky. I could feel my arms shaking. My breathing was heavy. My body was having a hard time obeying me anymore. But my mind was repeating one thing: Keep going. Don't think like a General. Don't think like a soldier. Don't even think like a human being. Just go ahead. A voice in me was saying that this should not be a war, but an execution.
At last the thunderbolts ceased.
At first they did not decrease at once, but gradually. The lights in the sky became sparse. A last thunderbolt fell in the distance, and then silence fell. I was still holding my spear in the air. My fingers were trembling involuntarily. I realized that I was holding my breath only when my lungs started to burn. I exhaled slowly. The world in front of me was unrecognizable. A section of the bridge was completely torn apart, stones were scattered over a wide area. A heavy cloud of dust hung in the air. The visibility did not go beyond a few meters. Standing in the middle of the destruction, I felt a strange emptiness inside me for the first time. I thought it was over. That it's really over. Maybe Ryugu was finally defeated.
Then a sound came from among the dust. Dec.
Deep.
Heavy.
It's almost like a hum rising from inside a mountain.
I looked up.
Two golden eyes appeared first in the dust cloud.
It was as if my heart would suddenly stop.
Then a huge head rose out of the darkness. The scales around his neck shone like blue steel under the last lights of lightning. Gold embroidery rising from among the scales lay on the creature's body in a way that resembled Decrepit armor. Then the rest of his torso appeared. A neck... then shoulders... then huge wings covering the sky. The stones on the ground were shaking with every movement. Even the creature's breath rippled the air, the hot air coming out of its mouth blew clouds of dust from side to side. The thing standing in front of me no longer seemed like an Avatar of a human being. It wasn't just a creature either.
It was a disaster.
It was a natural disaster.
It was as if the world itself had given a body to Ryugu's anger.
And Ryugu was sitting on his head.
His clothes were covered with dust.
But he himself…
He had not received a single wound.
There wasn't even a single scratch.
The moment I saw the smile on Ryugu's face, I felt something cold in my stomach. That smile was different from before. It was wider. He was more confident. He was looking at me as if he couldn't even believe that I was the one who had just brought the sky down on them. Then he put one hand on the giant creature's neck and spoke in a calm voice.
"Meet my avatar, Akihiro Atlas... General Akihiro Atlas..."
His voice was extremely calm after the storm just now. He tilted his head slightly to the side. He ran his fingers over the creature's metallic scales.
"If you like names..."
His smile widened a little more.
"Radon."
The creature raised its head to the sky.
And he roared.
That voice echoed in my breast before my ears. The remaining stones of the bridge shook. The windows of buildings in the distance vibrated. The cloud of dust that hung in the air was dispersed with a single wave. When Radon's huge wings opened, a large part of the sky darkened. Even the presence of the creature had changed the surrounding air. I could feel the vibrations of the stones under my feet. I raised my spear again. I gathered the remaining Soul Power in my body.
But at that moment Ryugu attacked.
He did not jump down from the head of Radon.
He gave orders.
The huge creature was suddenly thrown forward.
When his big body moved, it was like a mountain was being ripped out of its place and rolled over me. I retreated. Radon's claw landed on the spot where I was and the stone floor was smashed with a big noise. I turned into lightning and jumped to the side. After the claw came the tail. I noticed that huge movement splitting the air at the last moment. I held my spear crossed in front of me and concentrated my Soul Power. When the tail hit me, my body was thrown back a few meters. I was able to stand by rubbing my feet on the ground. My arms were numb.
Before I could recover, Radon came on me again.
This time from above.
It spread its wings and soared into the sky, and then came down with all its weight. When I looked up, I saw the shadow that had fallen on me. I immediately turned my avatar back into my spear and stabbed my spear into the ground, turning my body into lightning. At that very moment, Radon's huge body passed over me. Even the air behind him threw me back. When I landed on the ground again, I heard Ryugu's voice while trying to regulate my breathing.
"Your strength is really impressive."
I turned my head.
Ryugu was still sitting calmly on Radon's back.
"But you still don't understand what your power is."
I frowned.
"Shut up!"
In an instant I was thrown forward in the form of lightning.
I have risen above Radon. I pulled back my spear and threw it with all my strength towards Ryugu. But one of Radon's wings has Decamped between us. When my spear hit the flakes, a huge shock wave spread out. The creature's body has only regressed by a few centimeters. And I was thrown back. Spinning in the air, I turned into lightning again and attacked from another angle.
One time.
Twice.
Three times.
Every time I attacked, I appeared from a different point, trying to get past Radon's defenses. Suddenly I came down from his right, then from his left, then from top to bottom. My spear glows with electricity with every collision, explosions of white light formed on the flakes of Radon. But the creature met my attacks every time, sometimes with its wing, sometimes with its tail, sometimes repelling me by moving only its gigantic body.
And then Radon's mouth opened.
His golden eyes are locked on me.
A blue-white light began to accumulate inside.
My eyes have grown big.
"No..."
Radon roared.
And the energy that came out of his mouth came at me in a huge wave that split the sky.
I turned into lightning and escaped at the last moment.
The energy beam passed behind me and hit the structures on the far side of the bridge. The sky has brightened up once again. The shock wave of the explosion threw me to the ground. I fell down on one knee. I raised myself up, resting my spear on the ground.
And just then Ryugu spoke.
"Look around you."
I looked up.
"what?"
Ryugu pointed away with his hand.
"Look around you, Akihiro Atlas."
I'm back.
And I was out of breath.
The area of Team 5 was on fire.
But it only took me a second to understand why.
My thunderbolts.
The thousand lightnings I have just summoned.
Their energy did not only stay at the point where Ryugu was located.
It had spread to the periphery.
Electric arcs were still circulating on the walls of the buildings. Smoke was rising from some towers. Some of the streets were torn up. People were running among the stones that had fallen from the roofs.Dec. Shouts were coming from far away. A group of people were trying to pull each other in front of a collapsed structure, while elsewhere people were trying to get children and elderly people to safe areas. The energy generated by my attack had exceeded the limits of the battlefield.
My eyes have grown big.
My spear became heavy in my hand.
I was just seeing only Ryugu.
Now I was seeing people everywhere.
And for the first time…
Another emotion rose out of my anger. Dec.
Fear.
Because Ryugu was still in front of me.
He was still strong.
He was still smiling.
And even worse…
When I tried to kill him, I put the people I swore to protect in danger.
The smile on Ryugu's face deepened.
"Now," he said calmly, "you have begun to understand why General Akihiro Atlas is really dangerous."
But the destruction I saw around me was showing me another truth.
The power that has lost control...
That he Decrees no distinction between friend and foe.
The huge silhouette of Ares rising up behind me was still covering the sky. Lightning bolts continued to circle around his body, columns of energy descending through the Decayed clouds, illuminating the entire Team 5 area in a frightening sunset color. But I didn't think I could really see what was going on around me anymore. Because when a person falls into some emotions, the world ceases to be in front of his eyes and turns into darkness, in which he lives only in his mind. I wasn't on the bridge anymore either. I wasn't at Cistern anymore. I was no longer a general. I wasn't even Akihiro Atlas anymore. Because there was only one image in my mind. The sword stuck in Shu's chest. Shu's staggering backwards. Shu's fall from the bridge. Shu's face. Shu's last look at me. Of Shu... the last words he said to me.
And the words I said to him.
"I hate you."
This sentence echoed in my mind over and over again.
With every breath.
In every heartbeat.
In every thought.
"I hate you."
I had made such a big mistake that not even the word regret could explain it anymore. Because regret was a feeling for things that you could fix. Mine was something else. I thought I had a day to apologize. I thought I had an hour. I thought I'd have another opportunity. But now the truth that stood in front of me was this; one of the last things that the person I cared most about in my life heard was my hatred.
And he was dead.
This thought was like a rusty knife that stuck a little deeper into me every second.
That's why I wasn't just feeling anger anymore when I was looking at Ryugu.
I wanted to destroy him.
I wanted to erase your existence.
I felt that even the fact that he was breathing was an insult to the universe.
I tried to raise my spear again.
Ares also moved with me.
The sky began to crackle again.
But just at that time...
Something happened.
Like a thunderbolt.
No.
Even faster than me.
In an instant, two different Spirit Forces entered the battlefield.
Someone we recognized.
The other one was scary.
The next second, two hands were not on my shoulders, but directly on my arms.
It was such a strong grip that I felt my bones creaking.
The person I look back at and see...
It was Mizu.
My brother.
The expression on his face was unlike any expression I have ever seen in my entire life.
How angry he was.
How calm he was.
How sad he was.
He was just scared.
He was afraid for me.
"Aki."
His voice was harsh.
But he was trembling.
"Aki, that's enough."
And I haven't heard of him.
Or I didn't want to hear it.
I tried to get out.
With all my strength.
With all my anger.
With all my madness.
"Mizu, let me go!"
I don't even remember how my voice sounded.
I know I'm just screaming.
"I'm going to kill him!"
Lightning bolts were involuntarily shooting out of my body as I tried to get rid of Mizu's hands. The stones were cracking, the air was disintegrating, the Spirit Power was scattering around, but Mizu wouldn't let go.
"Aki!"
This time he shouted.
"Stop now!"
"I won't stop!"
I really wasn't going to stop.
I was feeling it at that moment.
Because as long as Ryugu was the person standing in front of me, I wasn't in a position to think logically.
"He killed Shu!"
i exclaimed.
My voice fell apart.
"Killed him!"
My throat was burning.
My eyes were blurry.
"I couldn't even apologize!"
I tried to take another step.
Mizu pulled me back.
But I didn't even see my brother anymore.
Because my mind was distracted.
"Killed him!"
I tried to throw a punch.
Reflex.
Uncontrolled.
Instinctive.
At that moment, Mizu's eyes grew big.
In the next second...
I felt a terrible pain on my face.
The world has turned.
And I found myself crashing to the ground.
Mizu had hit.
For the first time in my whole life to me.
But he had to shoot.
Because at that moment I was no longer myself.
While I was gasping on the floor, my eyes turned back to Ryugu.
But this time I saw something else.
Bel.
Team 1 General.
He is one of the most powerful fighters of the Great General Yayati.
A demon.
A legend.
And maybe one of the scariest people in Cistern.
I remember the first time I saw him.
I was little.
I wasn't even a general.
He gave me an education for a period.
Just for a little while.
It's only for a few months.
But even those few months were enough to teach me why he is considered a legend.
Because Bel was not fighting.
The waist was creating a disaster.
And right now...
The Spirit Force rising around him reminded him of this again.
Darkness.
Red.
Black.
And red.
A terrible wave of energy, in which two colors were mixed together, covered the entire battlefield.
It was as if hell itself had been opened to the earth.
Ryugu's dragon roared.
Radon looked up.
But Bel only held out his hand.
That was all.
One movement.
Just one look.
Just one step.
And in the next second, that terrible energy was wrapped around the dragon like chains.
Then over Ryugu.
Then over the whole area.
In an instant, the gigantic avatar became unable to move.
The roar of Radon has stopped.
Ryugu's smile shrank for the first time.
And I...
Even when I saw this, I couldn't relax.
Because my mind was elsewhere.
He was in Shu.
Everything was going back to Shu again.
While watching Bel.
While hearing Mizu's voice.
While seeing the burning buildings.
In the middle of everything, I was just thinking about Shu.
Because there was a truth that would not change no matter how much time passed now.
My master was dead.
And I told him the last time we talked that I hated him.
With that thought, something collapsed inside my chest.
It really collapsed.
It's like all my bones are broken.
It's like a pillar inside my soul has been destroyed.
Because until that moment, anger had been keeping me afloat.
The desire to kill Ryugu was moving me.
But now...
Ryugu had been stopped.
The war had stopped.
And only the truth remained.
The truth was cruel.
I couldn't apologize.
I couldn't thank you enough.
I couldn't tell you how much I loved him.
And I couldn't do any of them anymore.
When Mizu's hands came to my shoulders, I didn't resist for the first time.
I bowed my head.
My eyes were shaking.
My lips were trembling.
My breath was trembling.
And all the anger, all the hatred, all the madness in me was gradually giving way to something much heavier.
To guilt.
Because Ryugu's sword had killed Shu's body.
But it seemed to me at that moment...
The last thing that stuck in Shu's heart was not steel, but my words.
I am the worst, I will always remain that way. Even the most valuable master in the world could not manage to turn me into a successful and lovable person.
END OF CHAPTER