[Note:
" * " : Indicates abilities that can be upgraded with practice, experience, or unique opportunities.]
> System inner voice ["speaking"] <
> Ash inner speech "speaking" <
{}
NOJIKO'S TRAIL: (continue....)
Nojiko carved through the first group of monsters she met — beasts with jagged bone ridges down their backs, eyes sunken and glowing red. Blood sprayed in the air as she danced between them, her blades spinning in wide arcs.
But unlike before they didn't go down in one blow.
One of them lunged snarling at her she twisted just in time — but the beast's jagged tusk grazed her thigh, leaving a shallow but burning cut through her defence.
Another tackled her from the side. She spun, deflecting with her sickle, but its hide was like iron. The impact jarred her arms.
"Damn it," she hissed, pain flashing up her side. She vanished with Soru, her Observation Haki flared, as she narrowly slipped between ambushes as they came from every side.
Her Kusarigama could no longer cleave through them in one sweep like in the sixth wave. She had to dodge, feint, and slash repeatedly to find weak points.
While locked in the thick of it, she noticed several beasts slipping past her perimeter.
One monster group charged the wall — a brute with hulking forearms like shields, smashing through debris as it barreled ahead. Another screeched above, insectoid wings buzzing, barbed tails lashing wildly.
But the soldiers held formation well — at least for now. So, she forced herself to stay focused herself.
Nojiko narrowed her eyes and locked onto her next targets. She hurled one of her sickles with precision, chain whistling through the air.
"Silver Bloom —Sickle Sever!"
A cluster of monsters fell, caught in her sweeping arc — soft-bodied ones with bulging muscles and thick skin, but not thick enough to withstand her weapon.
But not all were that easy.
Midway through the wave, three monsters almost broke her rhythm:
First came a towering ape-like beast, its obsidian-black body laced with glowing molten veins. Her chains shot forward — but the moment they touched its flesh, they sizzled. Heat surged back along the links, scorching hot enough to make her flinch.
She gritted her teeth, pain flaring in her palms. Only her use of Tekkai layered with Armament Haki kept her from burning outright.
She struck out with her sickles, slicing and hacking — but aside from shallow cuts, it barely reacted. Worse, its heated body began to damage the edges of her sickles.
Thankfully, her Kusarigama was self-repairing, mending the damage mid-battle.
"Tch…," she muttered seeing this.
With a powerful heave, she coiled her chains around every similar beast's thick limbs, binding it tightly together with the chains. Then, she extended the chains — and began to spin.
The massive apes were yanked off balance — and in a stunning display of strength and precision, Nojiko began to whirl the beast with a yell in a wide circle, its huge form smashing into the nearby monsters like a wrecking ball.
Bones cracked, bodies flew, and snarls turned to screams as she used the bound brutes like a living weapon.
Once the area was cleared, she launched into the sky with a burst of Geppo, still tethered to the beast. As a few other monsters were also caught in the tangle of her chains, she jerked them all upward.
Then, she slammed them into the earth like a meteor. A thunderous crash tore through the battlefield, dust and debris exploding outward as bodies scattered, broken and unmoving.
Next, she faced the serpent-like beasts.
They slithered fast and silent, their long bodies covered in mirrored scales that shimmered with an unnatural light. Every strike she landed bounced off harmlessly, deflecting not just her sickles, but even her Haki-coated punches and Rankyaku slashes.
"Tch…" Nojiko muttered, her frustration kept rising.
Suddenly, one lunged which she barely dodged — only for another to slam into her side, its whip-like tail sending her flying. Her body crashed across the battlefield, pain blooming across her ribs.
Her Observation Haki flickered — struggling to keep up. These monsters weren't just fast… they are also cunning.
Then — she saw it, in a flurry of her attacks, her sickles had struck the same spot twice on a serpent's flank. On the second hit, the mirrored scale cracked slightly.
She shifted immediately, adapting her rhythm to new plan. Her sickles carved again and again at single points, each strike chipping away at the armor-like scales.
But it was a grueling fight. Every time she got close, a serpent's tail lashed out — hammering her with brutal force.
Blood dripped from her lips. Her ribs screamed as some had cracked. Even with Tekkai and Armament Haki, the impacts went through.
She baited one when it lunged, she twisted low beneath it, chain snapping taut. In a blur, she drove her sickle under its jaw, her sickle piercing upward through its skull taking it down.
Then others followed.
One by one, she broke through their mirrored defense — either by targeting the same weak spot with sickles and precision Haki punches, or by catching them mid-lunge and impaling them through the jaw.
And then came the third type monster among them.
A pack of lion-like beasts — huge and sleek — their bodies covered in midnight-black fur that seemed to swallow the light. They had no eyes, just faces of smooth, dark muscle.
She didn't know how they could even move so well without sight. "Maybe they're using something similar Observation Haki?" she thought for a moment — but shook it off. There wasn't time to figure it out.
What mattered more was this: Their claws crackled with lightning, arcs of electricity dancing from their limbs and licking the ground wherever they moved.
One lunged, and she raised her sickles to block.
A blinding flash — a sharp jolt ran through her arms. The lightning surged into her body, numbing her limbs and locking her joints.
Before she could react, others followed, claws tearing through her Tekkai and Armament coating, leaving a raw gash across her forearm and her back.
Every scratch, even the slightest brush, sent shocks through her nerves. Her arms shook. Her legs slowed. She couldn't hold rhythm anymore.
And they didn't stop. They were faster, angrier, more relentless with each second. She gritted her teeth and switched tactics.
Instead of clashing head-on, she started redirecting her movement. Using Soru, she vanished at the last moment — zigzagging around them, using their own speed to make them miss or even hit their own allies by mistake.
Like that, she moved through the chaos, cutting down other monsters as the thunder-lions chased her in frustration.
But even then, she couldn't dodge everything.
Some hits landed. Shocks slammed into her. Her body staggered under the pain. Her hands trembled. Blood trickled from her nose and mouth.
Still, she kept moving. And slowly, the remaining small monsters fell — either by her hand or by accident when the thunder-lions struck wide.
Eventually, only one of the black lion-beasts remained.
Nojiko stood barely holding on — claw marks covered her body, burns scattered across her arms and back. Her sickles trembled in her grip; her fingers nearly numb from the electrical surges.
The final lion snarled, its claws glowing with flickering lightning and charged at her.
Nojiko not wanting to lag the fight immediately used Geppo, leaping into the air — the slash missed by a hair's breadth, just enough to cut a strand of her hair.
She landed on its back. With a shout, she drove one sickle deep into its spine, the other hooking behind its neck.
Then, with all her strength, she pulled — slicing clean through.
The beast's head rolled, and its body dropped with a thud, twitching from leftover sparks.
Panting hard, her body covered in wounds and sweat, Nojiko stood on top of the monster as it collapsed.
But she didn't stop there.
She launched herself into the sky again, spinning her chains, and sliced the wings off the flying insectoid monsters still harassing the soldiers with her sickles.
As the beasts crashed to the ground, the troops quickly moved in, finishing them off — careful of the twitching, venomous tails.
Then came the brute monsters — towering figures with shield-like forearms and bodies like walls. They shrugged off sword strikes and smashed squads aside like flies.
Nojiko dashed in with Soru, her sickles cutting swiftly across their necks — a weak point she observed on many monsters, so trusted her instinct on.
She moved from one brute to the next, taking them down before they could strike again.
She didn't know how she sensed it — but, she was sure. Her gut told her where to hit, and she followed it.
And finally…The field went quiet. The seventh wave… was finished.
A few hours had passed since the seventh wave.
Nojiko sat against a broken slab of stone, her body still twitching from residual lightning. She'd healed with basic potions, eaten to recover energy, but the jolts still echoed through her limbs now and then.
The generals had told her — over two hundred and fifty soldiers dead. Many more wounded.
She'd done what she could. The potion she gave mixed with water had saved lives. She'd helped where she could. But deep down, part of her still blamed herself.
Then she looked into the eyes of the surviving soldiers. They are tired, hurt but proud. They had chosen this. Chosen to stand. Chosen to fight to protect the kingdom and its people.
Letting guilt swallow, her now… would be disrespecting their sacrifice.
So, she stood. Moved among them. Helped. Listened. Until, one by one, the soldiers picked themselves up and returned to their posts — ready for whatever came next.
Then there is rumble. But not like the previous waves. This one felt… lighter. From the shadows, only two monsters stepped out.
One was slim and tall — insectoid, almost grasshopper-like. Its blade-like limbs clicked, legs twitching, eyes cold and sharp.
The other was massive. A tusked beast with thick armor plating, its every step shaking the ground.
Nojiko's eyes narrowed. "Only two?!," she muttered. "They must be stronger than the last wave."
She called out quickly to the generals. "I'll handle the insect one. Don't let the other one reach the wall — take it down together. No one faces it alone."
But before anyone could move — the insect creature vanished. It reappeared near one of the generals.
Nojiko eyes widen, using Soru she intercepted it just in time, her sickles clashing with its limbs. With a sharp kick, she sent it flying back, then dashed forward with Soru again.
As planned, the soldiers diverted the tusked beast before it could follow. The enemies were split.
The eighth wave… had begun. The moment Nojiko was rushing forward, the insectoid monster also came at her — stopping itself with its limbs scraping the ground, then launching again with explosive speed.
It moved like nothing she'd faced before. Fast. Too fast. Faster than her Soru. Her Observation Haki could barely track it.
She swung her kusarigama, blocking—
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Each clash sparked as her sickles struck its bladed limbs — like colliding with steel.
She tried to counter — but every time, it evaded her attacks. There was no chance to strike. Only to defend. Even her best dodges felt slow.
And the creature's body — that exoskeleton — was like polished armor. Whenever her blades landed, they only scraped, spat sparks — like it was using Armament Haki. Every slash failed to break the shell.
Then — crack. Her eyes widened. Hairline fractures spidered along one sickle.
But she didn't worry about that. Her weapon could self-repair. Still, it told her everything — what she was doing wasn't enough.
She spun the chain low, trying to entangle its leg. The monster simply stepped over it, then lunged.
THUD! SLICK!
The insect's bladed forelimb pierced shallow into her shoulder — and then she was lifted, a cry escaping her lips.
She was tossed across the field like a ragdoll, blood streaking from her wound.
She got up, clutching the wound, gritting her teeth. Her chest heaved. Her arm trembled from the pain — her grip barely holding her sickles.
She understood one thing: the insect was somehow using Armament Haki. That's why her weapon wasn't enough.
If she wanted to win — she needed to learn to coat it with Armament. Soon.
The monster didn't wait. It launched again — an erratic blur of motion, limbs flickering like blades.
Nojiko barely deflected with her sickle — the impact jolting in her hand, rattling her arm. The second limb came in low — slash — aimed for her ribs.
CLANG!
She blocked again, gritting her teeth, and started using Soru, trying to match the insectoid's speed at full strength.
The fight turned into a blur — both of them moving at speeds invisible to normal eyes. She blocked, dodged, countered — all while trying to extend her Haki, willing her weapon to coat with Armament like she'd been taught in training.
As time passed, her Observation Haki sharpened — it began keeping up with the insectoid's insane speed. Her awareness narrowed. Everything else faded. Only her opponent remained. Her intent to win. Her resolve to grow stronger.
And without realizing it, her Conqueror's Haki had begun to leak — pulsing faintly, resonating with her drive.
Then — CRACK!
One of her strikes chipped the monster's forearm blade.
Both fighters were knocked apart, stunned for a moment. Nojiko's breath caught — she felt it.
"I should not lose this feeling," she muttered to herself the moment she understood what had happened.
She lunged again using Soru, chasing that sensation — the feel of Armament wrapping her weapon. She had touched it.
The insectoid sensed it too. Nojiko was gaining ground. Its movements turned frantic — attacks more wild, more brutal.
But in the blur of battle — she felt it again. A strike connected, her sickle scraping hard across the insect's armored flank — sparks flying as the shell cracked under pressure.
She gritted her teeth, determined not to let the feeling go. She held onto it, willed it to remain, and attacked relentlessly.
The monster's instincts screamed danger — Nojiko was becoming a real threat. It attacked with fury, but now… she matched it. Her speed, her Haki, her spirit — all rising.
Wounds opened on both sides — her shoulder, her thigh — but the monster's exoskeleton too began fall under her blows and cuts.
She took the chance and willed the chain from one of her kusarigama's sickles to extend — this time coated in Armament Haki — and wrapped it around the monster's forearm blades.
She slid beneath the creature, using Soru and a quick Geppo to leap and tighten the bind, locking it in place.
It thrashed, tried to break free — but the chain held. The coating made the difference.
Nojiko landed in front, chest heaving, blood trailing from her stabbed shoulder slid to the second sickle she is holding and dropped on the field.
"Thanks to you… I got stronger," she said quietly looking at the monster tied in the chains.
Her second sickle lit up — coated in Armament — and with a final burst of speed using Soru, she cleaved through the monster's body, cutting deep into the armored shell and slicing it into pieces.
The creature collapsed — her chains releasing and snapping back as she summoned her sickle back to her other hand.
Nojiko stood tall, breathing hard — emerging as the victor.
Nojiko then turned — and saw that the wall had already been breached. The second monster had pushed through. Soldiers lay sprawled across the field, unmoving.
Her eyes widened seeing this then she burst forward using Soru.
On her way, chains shot out from both her sickles. She spotted two large boulders nearby — remnants from when the catapults had hurled them at monsters during the earlier waves.
She willed the chains to lock onto them. The links obeyed instantly, coiling around the stone.
With a shout, she launched herself high using a combo of Geppo and Soru, dragging both boulders behind her through the air.
Then — above the monster — she roared and slammed both boulders down with full force.
As the dust settled, the monster lay buried in the ground.
Nojiko landed in front of it, standing between the wall, the battlefield, and the fallen beast.
Not giving the monster a chance, Nojiko coated her sickle with Armament Haki. With full strength, she swung — and severed its head while it still lay buried in the ground.
With the monster dead, the eighth wave was finally over.
She stood over the corpse, chest heaving, blood still dripping from her wounds. But there was no time to rest.
She turned and ran — searching for the commanding officers. When the generals finally gathered, only seven stood before her. It seems three generals had fallen during the 8th wave.
Later, as the full report came in, the scale of the cost became clear — over a thousand seven hundred soldiers had lost their lives fighting just that one monster. More than two thousand were severely injured, and all artillery and catapults had been destroyed in the battle.
Nojiko stood silent.
Then, one of the generals his one arm seems missing, face bandaged— the same one who had first questioned her — stepped forward, still bruised and bloodied from the fight.
"Commander… please don't dwell on what we lost," he said, his voice firm but respectful. "They died heroic deaths — fighting for this kingdom, its people, and what they believed in. To mourn their sacrifice as failure would dishonor them. Without you, we would've fallen again in the sixth wave… like every time before."
Nojiko nodded slowly. "Thank you, General," she said quietly.
Just then, a soldier came sprinting over, out of breath but urgent.
"Commander! Recon has returned — it looks like there's only one monster left for this wave. Judging by its looks and behaviour, we believe… it's the leader."
Nojiko understood immediately — this had to be the one the queen told her about.
She turned to the remaining generals. "I want all of you to stand down for this wave. You will not participate." The generals began protesting at once, their voices rising.
"Enough!" Nojiko snapped, her voice cutting through the noise. "Listen to me. This might be the leader. I know you've fought hard with your lives on the line. But this one… you can't handle it. And that's not even the main reason."
She took a breath, steady and firm.
"You need to rebuild the wall. Tend to the wounded. Honor the fallen. Let me handle this. It's not about pride — it's about doing what we must. We don't know how strong the final monster might be."
The generals fell silent. After a long moment, they gave reluctant nods. Some muttered under their breath, but no one pushed back further.
Once they were gone, Nojiko downed another healing potion. Her muscles tightened and stitched back into place. It burned like hell. Then she took a healing pill, and ate a quick meal to restore her energy.
She stood — alone — just outside the ruined wall, while the soldiers behind her followed orders.
She breathed slow and steady, clearing her thoughts and keeping her body loose. The trial wasn't over yet.
In the meantime, she practiced coating her kusarigama with Armament Haki — focusing, willing the energy to flow. She tried to get used to the feel of it.
She also practiced controlling her chains — not by throwing, but by will, just like Ash said she could when she got better bond with the weapon.
So, she willed the chains to materialize from her sickles, and move how she wanted. Though not full control yet — but it was better than before.
And just like that, the last wave began.
She heard it first — the sound of hooves in the distance. A figure emerged from the far end of the field.
The headless knight. Wrapped in battered black armor, mounted atop a massive warhorse. In one gauntlet, it held its severed head by the hair, pale eyes staring straight ahead.
It looked just as the queen had described.
The horse neighed — sharp and metallic — and snorted as it picked up speed, hooves pounding across the ground leaving fiery trails.
Nojiko narrowed her eyes and raised her sickles.
The horse charged fast — galloping across the field faster than anything Nojiko expected. Its hooves tore through the ground, its armored body barreling forward like a living battering ram.
Nojiko moved — using Soru in sharp bursts, facing it head-on. The knight didn't steer or pull any reins — it simply rode, severed head in one hand, unmoving in the saddle.
The horse reared and lunged.
Nojiko's chains shot out, aiming to catch one of its front legs. She yanked hard — but the beast twisted in midair, ripping free with brute strength.
She leapt high to avoid its stomping hooves — the moment her feet left the ground, they crashed down where she'd just stood, cracking the earth.
While airborne, she spun, coating both sickles in Armament — and slammed them into the creature's neck. The strike didn't kill it, but it staggered with a pained shriek.
She landed, chains snapping around its hind legs. With a grunt, she pulled — and this time, the horse fell.
The knight was thrown from the saddle, rolling across the field, crashing far from its mount.
The horse thrashed once, struggling to rise.
Nojiko didn't give it the chance. Her sickles flashed, coated in Haki — and with a single slash, she severed its neck.
The beast convulsed… then burst into ash.
Nojiko stood still, her chains retracting back to her sickles. Across from her, the knight rose to its feet — head still in hand.
The knight rose, lifted its severed head… and locked it onto its neck. A low hum echoed across the field as the helmet sealed into place.
A sword materialized in its gauntlet — long, black, jagged, pulsing with dark aura. Its eyes burned a fiery blue, as if the abyss itself stared back at her.
A violent pressure exploded from the knight, crashing outward like a storm. Soldiers watching from the wall froze. Some dropped to their knees. Even the generals felt a chill crawl up their spines, their instincts screaming to run.
Nojiko's eyes narrowed. She stepped forward, releasing her own Conqueror's Haki. Her spirit burst outward, colliding with the knights like twin tempests over a shattered sea. Cracks spiderwebbed across the earth beneath them from the sheer pressure.
And then — the knight vanished.
Her eyes widened.
CLANG!
She twisted just in time, sickles crossing to block a slash aimed at her head. The impact rang like thunder.
SKID!
She was sent flying. Her heels tore through the earth, carving a trench before she skidded to a halt.
Her arms trembled. The sickles shook in her grip. Without Armament coating and self-repair, they would've shattered.
The knight didn't stop. It charged again — fast. Faster than anything she'd faced.
Nojiko's Observation flared. She vanished with Soru — barely dodging a fatal thrust. But a second slash grazed her ribs — blood sprayed onto the battlefield.
She countered on instinct, swinging her sickles. The knight parried with perfect timing. Another blow slammed into her gut. Pain exploded through her. She staggered.
The knight wasn't just powerful, it too also somehow knew to use Haki.
Nojiko gritted her teeth and surged forward again, bursts of Soru blurring her into motion. They clashed — blades ringing at speeds too fast to follow.
Nojiko even weaved her chains trying to disrupt his movements — sometimes blocking strikes with them, sometimes slashing with her sickles — but the knight's guard was flawless.
From the wall, the soldiers couldn't follow the fight — only the deafening rhythm of steel clashing. One general whispered what everyone's thought: "The Commander… she's fighting him like this… and still standing…"
Nojiko soared into the sky with Geppo. Mid-air, she twirled and slashed — unleashing Rankyaku and sickle-born air blades at the knight from above.
The knight looked up — and also slashed, sending out its own air blades.
The attacks collided mid-air with a thunderous shockwave, blasting wind across the battlefield.
Then they both collided again on the ground — neither gaining the upper hand for a while. But eventually, a misstep from Nojiko.
She slipped. The knight's blade tore across her shoulder — deep. She cried out, retreating with a leap, blood dripping down her arm.
Her only thought was — her current Armament level wasn't enough. She couldn't fully block him. She hissed through the pain — then her eyes lit up as an idea popped into her mind. She hoped it would work.
With a scream, she charged again — pushing through the agony — and vanished again in burst of Soru.
They clashed again. Nojiko moved to apply her plan.
Just as the knight tried to parry the sickle in her left hand — she willed it to vanish.
The knight staggered as its sword didn't meet her sickle which caught it off guard. Nojiko resummoned both sickles in an instant, using the opening — one slashing into the back of his armor, the other tearing into his leg.
CLANG! SHRRIP!
She didn't stop. They continued fighting. Once again, she faked a swing — letting the sickle vanish mid-strike. The knight faltered as it fell for it again.
This time, she used Soru, reappeared behind him instantly, summoned the sickle back, and slashed across the back of his neck — her blade tore clean through not enough to take it down.
With another burst of Soru, she appeared in front of the knight — and with a yell, stabbed both sickles into the knight's neck — bursting out through the eye hole of the helmet.
[A/N:- I know, I know what you guys are gonna say—Solo Leveling rip-off! But hey, I've been dying to use some of those moves, and I finally wrangled the story to make it fit.]
The knight froze. Its sword fell and vanished mid-air before it could hit the ground.
Nojiko pulled her sickles free and stepped away.
The knight dropped to both knees. The fiery blue eyes flickered… then went out.
Slowly, its body broke apart into black ash — carried away by the wind.
The clouds cleared, bringing back the rays of the sun. The first golden beam fell upon Nojiko — as if blessing her.
She then turned towards the wall. All the soldiers looked at her in anticipation. She lifted both hands in victory, smiling.
A deafening roar of triumph erupted from every remaining soldier.
Nojiko began walking toward the gate. One by one, the soldiers came down from the wall, surrounding her. They lifted her up in celebration, cheering, throwing her into the air and catching her in joy.
And like that — they reached the palace.
Nojiko was all smiles and joy whole time on the way even though she is still wounded.
Once at the entrance, with the generals following her, Nojiko entered the palace. The soldiers stayed back.
At the chamber where she first appeared — the throne chamber — when the door opened, the queen welcomed them.
She rose from her throne upon seeing Nojiko enter with the generals, and in a grand gesture and voice, declared:
"Welcome our hero, Ms. Nojiko — and our brave soldiers who broke us free from the curse!"
The generals knelt in respect before their queen. Nojiko stood tall and proud — just like the time she first came. But this time, no one questioned her for not kneeling.
Applause and cheers echoed throughout the chamber.
Queen Freyalis descended from her throne and stood before Nojiko. She hugged her suddenly — surprising everyone in the chamber, including Nojiko herself.
The queen released the hug and said, "Nojiko… as queen of this kingdom, on behalf of the people of Aesrund — I thank you for your help."
She bowed her head slightly.
Nojiko liked Queen Freyalis even more, seeing this. She replied, "There is no need to thank me, Your Majesty. But… I couldn't save all the soldiers…..."
She was stopped as the queen raised her hand, halting her mid-sentence.
"Ms. Nojiko," she said gently. "I've already received the reports our generals sent. You saved more lives than we have lost. And those who fell died heroic deaths. Their families will be taken care of by the kingdom — for the lives they gave protecting this land and its people. Alongside you… their names will be celebrated as heroes."
Nojiko, hearing this, nodded in agreement and guilt faded slightly.
The queen clapped her hands lightly. "Come — let us not delay your reward any longer."
Queen Freyalis guided Nojiko herself, and a few of her most trusted advisors followed them as they made their way toward the royal treasury. The rest of the people in the chamber were dismissed.
After some time moving through the series of corridors, they reached the vault. The guards standing at the door opened it at the queen's command. As the heavy doors creaked open, Nojiko immediately noticed — the treasury was far from full.
She understood without asking.
The queen turned to her with a quiet, tired smile. "We've used much of our resources over the years… to sustain the people and defend against the endless waves. This year it was more and for our preparation this is what remains."
Nojiko nodded silently, as the queen had already answered her thoughts.
But then… she felt it. As if something was calling out to her — a kind of pull. A strange sensation, like a thread tugging at her soul.
Queen Freyalis turned and gestured toward the open vault. "Ms. Nojiko," she said gently, "though what remains is modest… you may choose anything within, as your reward."
Nojiko nodded again, but her focus was elsewhere. Her feet moved on their own, drawn toward that pull. She followed the feeling deeper into the vault — the queen quietly trailing behind, while the advisors remained outside.
Through the silent halls of remaining golds and relics, they walked. Until finally… they reached a pedestal.
Atop it sat a cushion. And resting on the cushion — encased in a glass container — was a fruit.
Nojiko froze, breath catching in her throat. She recognized it immediately. It was unmistakably a Devil Fruit.
This… this was what had been calling her.
She stepped closer, eyes locked on it. The air around it seemed to hum faintly, almost as if it were alive.
The queen watched her silently for a moment, then spoke.
"That is a special fruit… it has been in our care for generations. Said to grant the powers of a divine warrior unlike any other. Some call it myth. Others… believe it is true."
She stepped beside Nojiko, placing a hand over the glass. "No one has ever eaten it. Miraculously, it never rotted — even after all these years, it remains the same."
She continued in a softer tone. "It's said the fruit chooses its wielder. That only the worthy can hear its call. A protector. A savior. A 'Heir of the Winged Flame,' as the old scrolls call them."
She smiled gently. "I never understood what it truly meant. Just old words passed down by our ancestors. And now, during my reign… seeing you here — maybe this was always meant for you."
Nojiko didn't speak. She reached forward… and lifted the glass lid.
She looked at the fruit, unable to tear her eyes away, drinking in every detail.
The fruit resembled a dragon fruit in shape and size. Its surface was layered in flame-shaped scales, delicate as feathers, glowing softly in hues of pearly white, radiant gold, and sky-blue. Intricate swirling patterns traced halos and winged motifs across its skin, while a slender golden stem curled from its top, ending in a spearhead flourish.
It pulsed faintly with ethereal light — as if alive, whispering to her soul. Slowly, Nojiko reached out and lifted the fruit into her hands.
The moment her fingers touched it, a glowing circle of ancient glyphs ignited beneath her feet. She gasped, startled, and turned toward Queen Freyalis, eyes searching for answers.
The queen met her gaze with a quiet, trembling smile. "Thank you… Miss Nojiko. It seems… your time here is complete."
She looked up at the crumbling ceiling as if listening to something far away. "And so… it seems… it is our time as well."
Her body began to wither, like petals caught in a slow wind. Yet peace softened her expression, and tears sparkled in her eyes — not of sorrow, but release.
"For so long… we waited," she whispered. "Bound by vows etched into dust… our hourglass ran dry long ago. And still… we remained."
She took a breath that felt both weightless and final.
"Thank you… for granting us relief. From the burden… from the curse. Now, my people and I… may finally rest, and follow the wind where it calls."
Nojiko stepped forward, alarm in her voice. "Your Majesty, what's happening? What do you mean?"
But Queen Freyalis didn't answer. She simply stood there, smiling gently, as the light of her soul flickered. The flesh on her arms thinned and shimmered into transparency, bones faintly visible beneath fading skin.
The light beneath Nojiko's feet intensified, the glyphs spinning now — faster, brighter. All around her, the vault began to wither. Gold dulled. Stone cracked. Walls crumbled like dried leaves. It was as if centuries passed in mere seconds.
Queen Freyalis bowed her head, her form dissolving like dust in morning sun.
"Miss Nojiko… even should the stars one day forget you… I....we will remember you. Beyond this place. Beyond time. On the other side."
Her smile lingered, soft and aching.
"I pray… that whatever path you take leads you to your dreams. That your story ends in light."
Nojiko reached toward her, desperate. "Wait! Your Majesty — what do you mean by the other side?!"
But she could no longer move. The light wrapped around her like a warm wind, swirling upward, carrying her away.
The last thing she saw was the queen's silhouette bowing.
The vault crumbled. The kingdom along with all faded as the light also consumed all.
Then — Nojiko also vanished as the light took her away leaving only the bright glow covering whole place.
To be continued...
Hey everyone! I'm always looking for ways to make this story even better, and I'd love to hear your ideas. What powers do you think should be available in Ash's store? Maybe you have some cool concepts for abilities, weapons, or items that could make the adventure even more exciting!
Feel free to drop your suggestions in the comments, and if there's anything specific, you'd love to see in future chapters, let me know! I might even integrate your ideas into the story.
Also, don't forget to give some Power Stones if you're enjoying the journey! Your support means the world. 😊