The silhouette stood like an open wound in reality, an absolute vacuum where light died before it could even be perceived. The only thing defining its existence in that black abyss was the glow of pure, bloody red behind the slits of its helmet. The horror they thought they had struck down emerged from the depths of eternal death with a presence that chilled the soul. A searing shiver, accompanied by a dull and constant pain, scorched the nerves of those present as if the air itself had turned to acid.
— It's not possible — Noah whispered, his voice broken.
— What is he doing here? — Hiroshi added, feeling his anchor to the physical plane vibrate with pure terror.
— He shouldn't be here — Arthur said, clenching his teeth —. The firewall eliminates the soul... he couldn't have done the same.
— And he still knows that... — Charlotte stammered, her fractured mind barely able to process the threat.
Neura spoke, and his voice did not travel through the air; it resonated directly within the essence of their beings, a vibration that seemed to disintegrate matter itself.
— Charlotte Dorn Fagratha... manipulating the memories of others, a vast amount of them to make my sense of self vanish—my longings, my walls, and above all, my impulses. In exchange, you too have no identity. But at what price? A being like me has his duty embedded in his soul, and if my duty exists, not even the fourth dimension can oppose my resurrection. And you, Witch, Progenitor, Eve... whatever your name may be. You are the seed of this entire wasteland. A bold decision, but without apparent consequence. Bad luck that you are here with us... from now on, you already know what follows.
Noah, driven by a desperate fury, lunged at the silhouette. He impaled his halberd with a force capable of moving mountains, but the weapon found only a void. A burst of negative energy followed by a colossal shockwave sent Noah flying, crashing through several mountain ranges until he vanished from sight. Hiroshi attempted a flurry of cuts, but his katana passed through Neura as if he were smoke, or simply failed to touch him. With a single glance and a dismissive gesture of Neura's arm, a portion of Hiroshi's torso was erased by an invisible force, sending him away with a mortal wound.
— Witch! Take Charlotte and flee as fast as possible! I will hold him back! — Arthur shouted, throwing himself forward.
Indetectable flashes attempted an endless series of vertical cuts. Neura evaded Arthur by centimeters and, immediately after, performed a movement that did not look like an attack, but a decree. Everything visible in that world—lands, mountains, rivers, seas, winds, and clouds—was split in two in a devastating fashion. The horizon itself fractured.
(What did that?) Arthur thought, taking a defensive stance as cold sweat ran down his back. (If he so much as touches me, I'll die. What on earth am I saying? I just have to hold on, but...)
Arthur threw himself forward with an infinity of cuts—hundreds, thousands of golden slashes trying to pierce the shadow. But in the middle of that frenetic wave, an absolute black hand caught his sword. Neura exerted minimal pressure, and the metal disintegrated with a molecular crack, leaving only tiny shards of what was once a legendary weapon.
— Boy, I have no time for you — Neura declared with absolute coldness —. I am going to secure everything with the head of the Progenitor.
Arthur noticed the change. (This guy seems even more cautious... his movements are minimal but more devastating. I can't read him; this is a nightmare). Neura launched a strike at an undetectable speed that impacted the air just centimeters from Arthur's face. The youth, concentrated to the limit, ducked and attempted a powered punch to Neura's face. Neura tried to block it with his palm, but Arthur feinted the blow, switching it instantly to a stab with the remains of his broken sword.
A deafening metallic crack rang out as the blade impacted Neura's body. The sword was destroyed back to its origins against an impenetrable skin. As Arthur's face filled with surprise and disbelief, time stopped. An ultrasonic kick connected with his jaw, and Arthur's body was rocketed toward the heavens, losing consciousness.
In the darkness of his mind, a divine voice—yet one heavy with human concern—flooded his brain as he collapsed in the heights.
— Arthur! Arthur! ARTHUR!
The incessant calling pulled the warrior's consciousness back slightly.
— (Witch... so it was because of you that I haven't died yet, heh. You shouldn't be here; Neura will kill you and we'll be doomed).
— (Arthur, Neura has the power to destroy the planet. Even if you live, no people will be able to be born in the vacuum of the cosmos).
— (Couldn't Neura... isn't there still a distant planet with the qualities to harbor life? He can't destroy a solar system, can he? He isn't a God; you said yourself there was no such thing...).
— (I lied to you. It was a white lie. The cosmos is immense, infinite. Our universe is not even a drop of water in a sea; it would be smaller than an atom. In the system, there are beings that defy the logic of all the engrams of existence at colossal levels... and from what I see, Neura's power could potentially make him one of them).
— (God... loss... death. That is what awaits us all without exception. Is this a divine punishment? Our maximum effort will be erased by him).
— (It may be so in the end... but I refuse to see it today, Arthur. I have a plan. It is the last thing we have, and it is not a definitive solution).
— (I'm listening).
— (In short, it is to shift Neura millennia—with luck, an aeon of years—into the future. That way, he wouldn't affect our time... but there are many problems. He will likely destroy almost the entire Earth. I have to be alive in case the planet retains its shape, at least before everything is extinguished. We aren't eliminating him; we are only sending him to the future, where he will likely truly destroy that new world... but it is all we have left).
— (Can't we send him to the fourth dimension? Wouldn't that be the same as shifting him in time? But no one can do that...).
— (It's not the same. The reason the fourth dimension is blocked even for higher-dimensional beings is because of the Past. It is the foundation of the present and future, the memory of the timeline; it is impossible to enter. But the Future is more feasible, being something not yet written or detected. We could make it a reality without entering the fourth dimension. The problem is the power required... I could do it, but my existence and my soul would be sealed in an object, or the object would be created from me).
— (No way. Neura's mere prolonged presence would make the planet uninhabitable before we could shift him. And without you, we'll be doomed anyway).
— (You are wrong. Even sealed, I will have a presence. I will be alive, even if I can never go back to being as I was before).
— (Why? Even if that were so, you have a life, a soul... you could reincarnate. The universe is just a grain of sand; why do it for us?).
Between them, through the mental connection, flowed a melancholy and a sadness that transcended aeons.
— (It's true... but do not look for a logical explanation. I can be foolish even with this, but I am similar to the current Neura: even if I didn't have a reason, I have a thought that precedes me. I would do it all for you, for Hiroshi, for Charlotte, for Noah... for my people. Even if they ceased to exist, I would still...).
— (Enough... I understand everything) — Arthur replied, as his body began to fall back toward the battlefield, his eyes shining with a final resolution —. (Before this and our last legacy, can I tell you something?).
The Progenitor, her voice broken by mental weeping, asked:
— (What is it?).
Arthur, as the wind lashed against his face, pronounced that name he kept in the deepest part of his being:
— Phaedra Andromeda... Thank you.