Multiple thunderclaps tore through different points in space in a mere fraction of a second. Attempting to follow them with the naked eye was a futile task; the intensity of the detonations increased rhythmically, making it clear that those colliding there were not beings of this world—or at least, that humanity was too weak to comprehend such magnitude of power.
In that dark wasteland, where the sound of metallic clashes seemed to shatter the atmosphere, a star of golden flashes ripped through the skies at the speed of light. The brilliance illuminated every last corner of the desolation before slamming head-on into Neura, projecting him with cataclysmic force toward a nearby mountain, whose base collapsed upon impact.
From the dense curtain of dust and smoke emerged the sender: a young man with golden hair and the light armor of a royal knight. His green eyes flashed with absolute seriousness as he wielded a unique medieval sword with an edge that seemed capable of cutting through reality itself. With a firm step, he approached his companion.
— Arthur, the others have arrived —said Hiroshi, recomposing himself.
— They are here. My apologies if it took too long —Arthur replied, without taking his eyes off the point of impact.
— Don't worry... but he won't die from this —Hiroshi warned.
At that instant, among the remains of the mountain, a battered and wounded Neura began to rise. The red light behind his helmet extinguished completely, partially revealing a charred and withered face; burnt skin framing eyes of pure black, deep as the void, and long, dull white hair waving amidst the rubble.
— So that's what he really looks like... —Hiroshi murmured with a grimace of contempt—. It is truly disgusting, especially after everything he's done.
— It's not that simple —Arthur intervened, though his hand did not waver on the hilt—. He might know things that we don't. Obviously, I'm not defending him, but seeking a justification for a man like this is something that crosses my mind, even if it's not definitive. It's because of him that I'm doubting right now.
— The only thing we know from the Progenitor is that he comes from the future. That is all —Hiroshi stated, closing any debate.
Arthur looked up toward the fractured sky.
— It seems it's Noah and Charlotte's turn.
A devastating roar laid waste to Neura's location, causing an earthquake of biblical proportions that buried him under thousands of tons of debris. Seconds later, a rift distorted the space just above him; the vacuum collapsed, causing the absolute extinction of all matter within a five-hundred-meter range. A colorless plasma was the only thing visible at the epicenter; the rest of the landscape lost its color, as if time itself had worn thin from the magnitude of the attack.
— Charlie! What the hell?! You're going to kill yourself if you use all that power, you could collapse! —Hiroshi shouted toward the sky as the energy beam covered everything.
However, through the radiance of the plasma, Arthur spotted an impossible silhouette.
— Dammit... I can still see him —the knight whispered—. He's regenerating right in the middle of the plasma.
— This bastard... what the hell is he? —Hiroshi asked, backing away before the unthinkable.
— We aren't the only ones who hate —Arthur responded in a grim voice—. His primary engine of life is an irate hatred. A grudge that keeps him held together even when matter ceases to exist.