Chapter 64: The Determination of the War Demon Wyper!
The deafening roar of the "God's Judgment" faded, leaving behind a ringing silence that hung heavy over the Hidden Cloud Village. The air was thick with the acrid scent of ozone and the lingering static electricity that made the hair on one's arms stand on end.
Aisa's hut, located on the secluded edge of the settlement amongst the roots of the Giant Jack, was usually a place of quiet solitude. But now, it was the epicenter of a storm.
The earth-shattering explosion of lightning, followed by the impossible sight of a black-winged woman slapping it away like a nuisance, had shattered the village's camouflage.
Rustle... Clank.
From the dense, milky-white foliage of the surrounding cloud forest, shadows began to emerge. First in twos and threes, then in a coordinated wave.
The Shandia people.
They were a warrior tribe, their skin painted with tribal markings, their expressions hardened by centuries of guerrilla warfare. When they saw the crater in the cloud floor, the lingering smoke, and the group of unfamiliar Blue Sea dwellers surrounding young Aisa, the atmosphere instantly snapped from confused to hostile.
"Outsiders!"
"They have Aisa!"
The tension was palpable, a physical weight pressing down on the area.
Suddenly, the foliage parted violently.
"Move!"
A roar like a wounded beast echoed through the clearing. A group of elite Shandia warriors, armed with strange, shell-like weapons attached to their gloves and boots, charged forward. They formed a tight, disciplined encirclement, trapping Suzaku, Albedo, and the rest of the crew in the center.
Leading them was a man who radiated pure aggression.
He sported a deep red mohawk that stood defiant against gravity. His shirtless torso was covered in tribal tattoos, and his left eye was framed by a dark painting that accentuated his murderous gaze. On his shoulder rested a massive cannon—a Burn Bazooka—that looked heavy enough to crush a normal man, yet he hefted it as if it were a twig.
This was the "War Demon," Wyper.
His muzzle pointed directly at Suzaku's face, his finger trembling on the trigger not from fear, but from the effort of holding back his rage.
"Aisa! Are you alright?!"
Wyper roared, his voice rough with gravel and fury. His eyes darted from the little girl to the "evil" Blue Sea dwellers.
"I'm coming to save you! You filth from the Blue Sea... if you value your miserable lives, get away from her immediately!"
The killing intent rolling off him was suffocating. Nami instinctively stepped back, her hand reaching for her Clima-Tact, but she realized with a start that her legs were shaking. This man was different from the pirates they usually fought; he was a soldier fighting a war of extermination.
When Aisa saw Wyper's murderous demeanor, and then glimpsed the cold, darkening expressions of Albedo and Ram beside her, her heart skipped a beat. She knew both sides. She knew Wyper would shoot, and she knew Albedo would slaughter him if he did.
"No! Wait!"
Like a frightened little rabbit, Aisa scrambled forward. She threw herself between the two factions, spreading her small arms wide to shield the "invaders."
"Misunderstanding! Wyper, this is a misunderstanding!" she screamed, her voice cracking. "Put the weapon down!"
She bravely blocked the dangerous muzzle of the Burn Bazooka with her small, trembling body.
"They're not bad people! They didn't hurt me! They... their goal is also to defeat God! They want to take down Eneru! They're the same as us!"
Wyper's eyes narrowed, his grip on the bazooka tightening.
"Stop being so naive, Aisa!" he barked, his tone harsh but laced with a desperate sort of worry. "We cannot trust the Blue Sea dwellers! Have you forgotten the history? Have you forgotten the lies?"
He glared at Suzaku, his eyes burning with hatred.
"By relying on these outsiders? Impossible! We won't reclaim our holy land, Shandora, by relying on the charity of strangers. If we want to reclaim our homeland and ring the Golden Bell, we can only rely on the Shandia people's own hands and will!"
He took a step forward, the pressure mounting.
"Aisa, move aside! Make them leave immediately! If the Priests detect us because of this commotion, the entire village will be in danger!"
"What I'm saying is true! Wyper, you have to believe me!" Aisa stamped her feet in urgency, tears welling up in her eyes. "My Mantra heard them! They aren't lying!"
"Move aside, Aisa!"
Wyper didn't lower his weapon, but his voice softened by a fraction. He looked at the little girl, the only Mantra user in their tribe, the future of their people.
"Before, you got too close to that old knight, Gan Fall. We didn't pursue it because he saved you once. But this time is different. These are pirates! Aisa, not all outsiders are trustworthy! Precisely because you are our clanswoman, because you are important to us... we must protect you even more!"
"That's right, Aisa!"
"Come here, quickly!"
The surrounding Shandia warriors voiced their agreement, their Impact Dials glowing faintly as they prepared to engage. Although their words were stern, anyone could tell that beneath the aggression, they were terrified of losing another family member to the cruel whims of this world.
"You are all so noisy."
A calm, indifferent voice cut through the heated argument like a sharp blade.
Suzaku, who had been watching the drama with the detachment of a king observing his subjects, finally moved.
He stepped forward, walking slowly toward Aisa. The Shandia warriors tensed, fingers twitching on their triggers, but Suzaku's aura was so overwhelming that they hesitated for a split second.
Before Aisa could react, Suzaku reached down. With a gentleness that contradicted the tension of the scene, he picked her up by the back of her collar—like lifting a wayward kitten—and placed her safely behind him.
"Stay there," he commanded softly.
Then, he turned his gaze to Wyper.
"Have you chattered enough, 'War Demon'?"
Suzaku stood with his hands in his pockets, his posture relaxed, completely exposing his chest to the heavy weaponry aimed at him. He scanned the ready-for-battle warriors, his eyes gleaming with amusement and ambition.
"Let me make something clear. I am not here to beg for an alliance. I am not here to ask for permission."
He smiled, a smile that was both charming and terrifyingly arrogant.
"From today on, the entire Sky Island... is my territory."
"Whatever God sits on that throne, I will drag him down. Those little gadgets of yours, those Dials... they are quite interesting. From now on, you work for me. Submit to my banner, and in return... I will fulfill your ancestor's wish. I will reclaim your homeland for you."
The silence that followed was shattered by the sound of grinding teeth.
This declaration—so bold, so dismissive of their 400-year struggle—completely ignited Wyper's fury. To tell a Shandia warrior to submit? To treat their holy war as a transaction?
It was the ultimate insult.
"Don't... screw with me!" Wyper roared, the veins on his neck bulging.
Since Aisa was no longer in the line of fire, he had no more qualms. His warrior's instinct screamed that this man was dangerous, and dangerous things had to be eliminated.
"DIE!"
The Burn Bazooka on his shoulder roared. The Breath Dial inside, charged with massive amounts of flammable gas, released its payload.
BOOOM!
A tongue of blue-white fire, massive and scorching, erupted from the barrel. It wasn't a bullet; it was a wave of incineration, a howling dragon of flames that rushed directly at Suzaku's face, intending to turn him into ash in an instant.
"Enemy attack!"
"Kill them!"
Almost simultaneously, the other Shandia warriors pulled their triggers.
Impact!
Dozens of Impact Dials were activated. Invisible shockwaves, capable of shattering boulders and rupturing internal organs, blasted through the air. Sharp air blades from the elite warriors' unique dials joined the barrage, creating a storm of destruction.
Most of the attacks focused on Suzaku, the insolent leader. A small portion strayed toward Rem, Ram, and Albedo.
"Suzaku!" Nami screamed, covering her eyes.
Facing this concentrated attack, which carried enough firepower to wipe out a standard Marine platoon, Suzaku didn't dodge. He didn't blink. He didn't even bring up a barrier.
He simply raised an eyebrow, looking at the onrushing inferno with a hint of mockery.
"Playing with fire... in front of me?"
Vermillion Bird Bloodline: Awakening.
He didn't even raise a hand. He just willed it.
WHOOSH.
Just as the huge, roaring flame from Wyper's bazooka was about to lick Suzaku's nose, physics seemed to break.
The violent flame froze.
It was eerily suspended in mid-air, trembling like a living thing that had suddenly realized it was in the presence of its predator.
The next second, the scorching flames, which had been wild and destructive, submitted. Like tamed pets hearing their master's whistle, they curled back.
"Turn," Suzaku whispered.
The flames began to rotate around Suzaku's body. As they spun, a miraculous transformation occurred. The impure, blue-white gas fire was purged. The color deepened, brightened, and ignited into a dazzling, holy Gold.
The temperature spiked violently, not hurting Suzaku, but radiating a majestic heat that forced the Shandia warriors to shield their faces.
In an instant, the rotating golden flames formed a impenetrable wall of fire—a vortex of the Vermillion Bird.
Puff! Puff! Bang!
The shockwaves from the Impact Dials slammed into the golden vortex. They didn't break through. They were consumed. The shockwaves were burned away by the intensity of the divine fire, disappearing silently without even causing a ripple in Suzaku's defense.
Meanwhile, the stray attacks aimed at the others were dealt with casually.
"Hmph." Ram raised a finger, and a wind blade sliced an incoming air slash in half.
Rem didn't even use her flail; she simply caught a projectile with her bare hand, crushing it into dust. Albedo yawned, her wings deflecting a shockwave as if she were swatting a fly.
The seemingly dangerous siege was settled in less than three seconds.
The clearing fell silent again, save for the crackling of the golden fire that now danced obediently in Suzaku's palm.
Wyper stood frozen. His bazooka hung limp at his side, the barrel still smoking. His eyes were wide, staring in disbelief at the scene before him.
"Impossible..." he muttered.
Their full-power combined attack... neutralized effortlessly? And that fire... why did his own fire obey that man?
Wyper looked at Suzaku, who stood unharmed within the ring of golden flames, looking like a deity of fire descended to earth. He looked at the women behind him, who hadn't even broken a sweat.
Unfathomable strength.
Suddenly, Aisa's tearful voice from earlier echoed in Wyper's mind: "Their goal is also to defeat God! My Mantra heard them!"
Wyper knew Aisa. He knew the accuracy of her Mantra. She was the eyes of their people. If she said these people intended to fight Eneru, it was true. But intent was one thing; capability was another.
But now...
He looked at the golden flames. He looked at the black-winged woman who had blocked "God's Judgment."
Do they... do they actually have the power to do it?
A heavy stone settled in Wyper's stomach. It was the weight of a decision that could save or damn his entire race.
Should he try? Should he trust?
It had been four hundred years.
Four hundred years since Noland left. Four hundred years since their island was shot into the sky. Four hundred years of fighting for a handful of dirt, shedding blood, losing brothers, fathers, and sons to the "Gods" of this land.
The ancestor's obsession—Ring the Bell, let Noland hear it—had become a curse. A heavy, bloody chain wrapped around every Shandia warrior's neck. They were tired. Wyper was tired. But they couldn't stop. They had to fight until the last drop of blood.
Unless...
Unless a force strong enough to break the stalemate appeared.
Wyper took a deep breath, inhaling the hot air radiating from Suzaku. He fixed his gaze on the young captain.
There was no tension on that handsome face. Only calm confidence. The kind of confidence that didn't come from arrogance, but from absolute certainty in one's own power.
Wyper's nails dug deep into his palm, drawing blood. He looked at his shaking warriors. He looked at the terrified Aisa.
He finally made up his mind.
He chose to gamble. He chose to believe Aisa's perception, and his own warrior's intuition that told him this man was a monster far scarier than Eneru.
"What you just said..."
Wyper's voice was hoarse, breaking the silence. He lowered his bazooka slowly, signaling a temporary ceasefire.
"About reclaiming our homeland... about defeating Eneru..."
He stared piercingly into Suzaku's eyes, looking for any trace of deception.
"Was it serious?"
At these words, the clansmen behind him gasped.
"Wyper?!"
"You can't trust them!"
Several warriors opened their mouths to object, but Wyper turned his head sharply. His glare silenced them instantly. As the "War Demon," the strongest warrior of the Shandia, his authority was absolute.
He turned back to Suzaku, waiting for the answer that would decide the fate of the war.
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