Chapter 69: Woke one up
For a long while...
No one moved.
The battlefield that had, only moments ago, been consumed by impossible speed, clashing powers, and collapsing reality now rested beneath an eerie stillness. Dust drifted lazily through the air, settling over shattered stone and deep craters left behind by the battle. The broken remains of Gregor Naught stood like silent witnesses to a disaster they could never hope to understand.
Even the wind seemed reluctant to blow.
Aerin remained where she stood, her fingers still wrapped tightly around the Traditional Blade. Only now did she realize how violently her hands were trembling.
She looked down at Daito.
His chest rose... then fell.
Slowly.
Painfully.
"...They're not waking up..." she whispered, unable to hide the fear in her voice.
Neither of them responded.
Monday lay several meters away, unconscious within the scorched remains of the lightning sphere he had desperately created to contain himself. Burn marks covered his body, his clothes had been reduced to little more than charred fabric, and faint traces of electricity occasionally danced across his skin before fading into nothing.
Daito looked no better. Blood had dried across his face. His breathing was shallow.
His body, once wracked by unimaginable agony, now lay unnaturally still.
Brandon was the first to break the silence.
He hurried over to Monday's side, dropping to one knee before carefully turning him onto his back.
"...Come on, don't do this to me," he muttered.
He pressed two fingers against Monday's neck.
Seconds passed.
Then he let out a long breath.
"...He's alive."
His voice carried relief.
"...Barely, but he's alive."
Not far away, Champagne slowly crouched beside Daito.
His usual grin had completely disappeared.
Instead, he gently wiped the dried blood from Daito's cheek with the back of his hand before shaking his head with a weary sigh.
"...You really don't know when to stop, do you?"
There was no laughter in his voice.
Only concern.
Wei-Wan adjusted his pony tail, though his attention never left Daito's body.
His sharp eyes replayed everything he had witnessed only moments earlier, carefully piecing together details that everyone else had been too overwhelmed to notice.
"...That wasn't ordinary backlash," he said quietly.
Everyone looked toward him.
He continued.
"The energy itself behaved strangely... but more importantly..."
His expression hardened.
"...those figures."
His voice dropped lower.
"They weren't hallucinations."
"They were real."
A heavy silence followed.
Zachia slowly folded his arms across his chest.
"...Yeah."
His gaze remained fixed on Daito.
"I saw them too."
He wasn't imagining it.
Neither was Wei-Wan.
Five distinct figures had struggled to emerge from inside Daito's body.
Not illusions, not distorted energy.
Something alive, something imprisoned.
Aerin slowly turned toward Cassian.
Her eyes searched his face.
"...You knew."
It wasn't a question but an accusation.
Cassian remained silent for several moments.
His hands rested comfortably inside his pockets, though the faint streak of blood at the corner of his mouth betrayed just how much effort maintaining the barrier had truly cost him.
Finally...he answered.
"...Not exactly."
His gaze drifted back toward Daito.
"I suspected."
Shinsei stepped forward, brushing the dust from her shoulder as she stopped beside him.
Her sharp eyes narrowed.
"You're telling me..."
She folded her arms.
"...you let this happen based on a suspicion?"
Cassian gave a small shrug.
Gone was the playful arrogance everyone had grown accustomed to.
His answer came calmly.
"If I was wrong..."
He looked at Daito.
"...he dies."
Then he shifted his gaze toward Monday.
"If I was right..."
His expression became unreadable.
"...we learn something."
Shinsei stared at him for several seconds before clicking her tongue in irritation.
"...You're insane."
A faint smile crossed Cassian's lips.
"...Maybe."
He looked back at the unconscious pair.
"...But they're still breathing."
No one argued.
Because he wasn't wrong.
Another uneasy silence settled across the battlefield.
This one heavier than before.
Everyone believed the worst had finally passed.
Then—
...Tap.
Daito's finger moved.
The sound was almost imperceptible, yet everyone heard it.
Aerin's head snapped toward him.
"...Daito?"
A weak breath escaped his lips.
"...Gh..."
His chest rose slightly.
Then again.
His eyelids remained closed, he didn't wake, but something inside him had.
The Traditional Blade suddenly trembled in Aerin's hands.
HMMMMM...
The vibration was subtle at first.
Almost gentle.
Then it grew stronger.
The blade emitted a low metallic hum that echoed through the silent battlefield.
Wei-Wan's eyes widened.
"...That's impossible."
He took a cautious step closer.
"The blade..."
His voice became tense.
"...It's responding."
Aerin tightened her grip instinctively.
"I... I'm not doing anything!"
The vibration intensified.
HMMMMMMMM...
Ancient runes hidden beneath the blade's surface flickered briefly before fading again.
Cassian's eyes narrowed.
"...Interesting."
The air grew heavy once more.
Not from outward pressure. But from something pulling inward. Tiny cracks appeared beneath Daito's body.
Crk... Crk...
They spread only a few centimeters before stopping.
There was no explosion, surge of lightning, or violent eruption.
It felt...contained.
As though an unfathomable amount of power had compressed itself into a single point buried deep within his body.
Aerin instinctively stepped backward.
"...No..."
She could feel it. Everyone could.
Whatever had been sealed...was still there.
Waiting.
Daito's body suddenly tensed. Every muscle locked simultaneously. His fingers curled. His jaw clenched.
For one terrifying second...it looked as though he might rise.
Then...his body relaxed.
The pressure vanished, the blade stopped vibrating, and the cracks ceased spreading.
Silence reclaimed the battlefield once again.
A deceptive silence.
The kind that existed only because something far worse had chosen for now to remain asleep.
Daito remained unconscious. Monday remained unconscious. Neither stirred again. Yet no one felt relieved.
Because every person standing there understood the same terrifying truth.
This was not the end, it was only the beginning.
* * *
Cassian slowly turned away from the group and looked toward the ruined horizon of Gregor Naught.
The city had survived.
Barely.
Smoke rose from shattered buildings.
Broken towers leaned precariously against one another.
The battlefield looked less like the site of a battle...and more like the birthplace of a catastrophe.
He slipped both hands into his pockets and released a slow breath.
"...Well."
His voice broke the silence.
"It looks like things just became a lot more complicated."
Shinsei glanced toward him.
"...What are you thinking?"
Cassian remained quiet for a long moment.
Then a faint smile appeared on his face, not one of amusement.
One of realization.
His eyes shifted back toward Daito.
"...I'm thinking..."
He paused.
"...that we were all looking at the wrong enemy."
Another silence followed.
Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, he finished,
"We didn't just fight a monster..."
His smile faded completely.
"...We woke one up."
to be continued...