Her body crashed to the ground beside him.
The transformation faded. Her wings withered. Her armor-like skin softened, becoming flesh once more. She lay there—weak, trembling, her power completely drained.
She looked up at him.
Her eyes, once burning with an otherworldly fire, were now dim—dying.
A whisper escaped her lips. A plea.
"H-help me…"
…
Arwik hesitated.
For a moment, he simply stood there.
His grip tightened. His jaw clenched.
Then, without a word, he hoisted her over his shoulder.
He stepped through the spatial fold.
The swordsman emerged onto an ashen plain, where twisted trees clawed at the sky like frozen specters. The air was heavy, stagnant.
The young man stood there, his gaze locked onto the girl's frail, unconscious body.
"Is she… is she alright?"
Arwik didn't answer. He didn't know.
Later, they had set up camp. The young man sat beside the girl, refusing to sleep until she woke up.
Arwik remained on the other side of the fire, silent. Doubt gnawed at him. Had he made the right choice? Saving her… had it been a mistake? His past still clung to him, whispering its accusations.
Then, a painful cough broke the quiet.
She stirred, her body wracked with exhaustion, her soul heavy from the battle's toll—but she was alive.
Relief flashed across the young man's face as her eyes found his.
"W-what just happened…?"
Confusion was written all over her features.
"I don't know…"
He admitted.
"You suddenly vomited blood and then… that thing attacked us."
The fire crackled beside them.
She was silent.
She knew what had happened, but she couldn't make sense of it.
Arwik's voice broke the quiet.
"That thing that attacked us… it won't relent. We must escape the Red Horizon before it comes for us again."
He explained that soon, the two worlds would overlap.
Time was running out.
He prepared the young man as best he could—guiding his movements, showing him how to channel energy into his strikes. It had to be precise. Their blades had to cut through more than just space. They had to sever the boundary between realms.
The young man couldn't do it alone.
To slice through dimensions, one needed the power of a god.
The night before the overlap, the young man lay beside the girl.
She looked at him through the cold darkness.
"Do ya think we'll make it?"
A long silence. Then—
"I don't know,"
He admitted.
"But if we do… we'll travel the world together. We'll be free. Free for real. Free to live how we want."
She smiled.
He clutched her close.
No more words were needed.
The horizon burned crimson with the first light of dawn.
This was the day.
They moved quickly, crossing the wastelands. The young man carried the girl since she was too weak to run.
Reality itself felt thinner, like a fragile veil waiting to be torn apart.
He took a breath—real air. For the first time since arriving in this forsaken place, he tasted air that did not wish to kill him.
Both swords rose to their highest point, shimmering with an otherworldly glow.
Then, they struck.
Nothing happened.
The young man's state of mind—it was different than last time.
A deep, rumbling sound shook the earth.
The Titan.
The Devourer loomed in the distance.
Its arm was still missing, but its presence was suffocating.
"Why didn't it work?!"
Arwik cursed.
The Devourer came closer. They had no choice but to prepare for a fight.
A losing fight.
The girl stirred weakly. She barely clung to consciousness. But her eyes—those dim, flickering embers—locked onto the monstrous figure ahead.
"…Put me down,"
She whispered.
He hesitated.
"You can barely stand—"
"I don't care."
Her fingers dug into his sleeve.
"I won't let it take ya."
She stepped onto the ground, wobbling, almost falling.
Then—
Purple flames erupted from her body.
But they flickered, fading almost as fast as they appeared.
She was too weak.
She hesitated. Then, with quiet resolve, she placed her hand on the young man's back.
"I-I will transfer it to you… the power to defeat that thing."
A sudden surge coursed through him—violent, painful, unyielding.
Something clawed at his mind.
Arwik's voice rang out in panic.
"What are you doing?! You'll kill him—stop it!"
But she didn't stop.
The power raged inside him, flooding every fiber of his being. His vision blurred. His thoughts scattered.
Then—calm.
It wasn't soothing. It wasn't peaceful.
It simply was.
Like a current carrying him forward, neither cruel nor kind. He wasn't resisting it anymore.
The behemoth drew closer.
A fire burned within him.
With a sharp breath, he lunged forward—his sword raised.
The Devourer blocked his strike.
But this time—this time—it was different.
Arwik's eyes widened.
No time to hesitate.
He followed his disciple into battle.
Strike after strike.
The young man's newfound power was overwhelming. But it wasn't enough.
Even against the power of two gods, the Devourer did not falter.
Arwik burned through his own life force, pushing beyond his limits.
Then—a blur of light.
A beam.
Fast. Unavoidable.
Aimed at the young man's heart.
No time to think.
Arwik moved.
The air cracked as he cut through space itself—
Then—pain.
A sickening crunch.
His right arm flew off, severed clean.
He staggered, grasping at the wound.
Through the searing pain—he chuckled.
"Heh… reminds me of an old friend."
Blood dripped from his shoulder, but he didn't falter.
He could still fight. He had to.
The young man was barely standing. The power was burning him from the inside out.
That's when he heard her voice.
"Yer can control it."
The realization struck like lightning.
He had been fighting it. Trying to wield it. But that wasn't the way.
It wasn't something to use.
It was something to become.
He exhaled.
The blade in his hand shifted—its edge no longer jagged, but smooth.
The Devourer lunged.
And the young man stepped through it.
Not around it. Through.
Like cutting through the folds of space, he carved his own path through the Devourer's existence.
The Titan bellowed as its form unraveled.
Then—one final strike.
Not at its body.
Not at its form.
At its very right to exist.
A silence fell.
Then—a low groan.
The world exhaled.
The Devourer collapsed.
The young man remained standing, sword in hand, watching as the Titan was erased from reality.
Arwik, clutching his severed arm, let out a breathless chuckle.
"Well… that was one hell of a trick."
The girl, barely conscious, managed a weak smile.