"REIKI BUKI RYŪ: CRAFT... CLAYMOORE!"
And so Finn soldiered forward toward the monster, his gaze intense. His right hand's fingertips still steamed at all five tips with a yellow-golden aura.
In that instant, he drew a kanji symbol for "Craft" at his side. It glowed with a vibrant golden light. Finn immediately clutched it tight with the same hand, then raised his hand forward.
A regular long sword-huge, the full length of a bull-materialized in his grip. A long claymore. It glowed faintly, coated in a golden aura.
"CURSE... YOU!"
With a powerful horizontal swing from his new weapon, he sliced through the monster-from forehead to tail-splitting it in two. The monster collapsed instantly. Xiao Yong Huo's body fell to the ground, still stuck in the monster's mouth.
Finn dropped the claymore to the floor, sprinting forward. He dropped to his knees in front of his master, sliding across the earth until his knees scraped to a stop.
"Sensei..."
He gasped as he grabbed the upper and lower teeth of the monster, prying them apart with a pull to open the monster's mouth-all while still clutching the straw hat. He managed to pull his master's body free from the lower teeth, dropping Xiao gently onto the ground.
He turned, letting go of the monster's teeth, and faced his master. He placed one palm on the hole in Xiao's chest-the wound from the teeth he'd just pulled him out of-and his other hand hovered near Xiao's severed left arm.
Finn's eyes began to shake. A terrible mix of emotions got the best of him.
Xiao's half-closed, warm eyes met Finn's. Weaker now. At his absolute limit. Yet he simply smiled at Finn-warm, reassuring-as blood slipped slowly from his mouth down onto his exposed chest. His right hand drifted, then dropped onto Finn's lap.
"F... Finn."
Finn's eyes lit up. He ignored his master's hand on his lap as words rushed out of his mouth-something completely alien for him. For Finn, in this moment, was scattered. Perhaps for the first time in his life, he showed complete fear.
Fear of losing the one person who never saw him as a savior.
A weapon.
A shield of hope for humanity.
Rather, he saw him as a son. And perhaps... a person.
Not some hero.
"L... let me get you some bandages and get you-" Finn's words rushed out of his lips in desperation.
Xiao cut him off. His voice was calm, yet heavy.
"...Why bother?"
"Ah..." Finn's voice caught in his throat.
"I will be dead any time soon. You know it." A soft, forceful chuckle escaped him. Then he continued, "You are usually the logical one. Acting all heroic on me now... it makes my gentle heart pump." He smiled through his bloody lips.
"Quit the jokes, old man! And let me get you patched up!" Finn's voice cracked. Veins bulged from his cheeks-clear anger and frustration. His calm composure was gone.
"FINN!"
Xiao Yong Huo's voice was finally edged with command. Finn's voice hitched-clearly not wanting to hear the truth.
"Sensei..." he replied, his anger and frustration sliced through by his master's words.
"Stop being difficult and listen. I am dying, and there's nothing you or I can do about it." Xiao Yong Huo's features were serious. His gaze drifted to the sky above, staring at the night sky lights as if they held a promise to him.
"Sto... stop saying that!" Finn's eyes were wide open now as he knelt beside his master. His gaze was empty. Completely hollow.
"It's my inevitable fate, Finn. Live with it, my son." His hand left Finn's lap and reached for the straw hat Finn still held, gently pulling it from his grip. He held it up in the air, smiling warmly at it. Then he continued.
"Live with it. Let it make you stronger. Let it be your fuel.... your purpose. Let it be a weakness too... but strength to move on from here on out."
As Finn listened, his eyes welled up. Tears gathered for the first time in his life-excluding his days as an infant.
"...Se... sensei..."
The word barely escaped his lips. A single tear, fat and heavy, broke free from his eye and traced a slow path down his cheek, past his jawline, before it fell-landing on Xiao Yong Huo's bare chest.
Xiao's warm smile didn't waver.
With the last of his strength, he raised the straw hat-the one he'd pulled from Finn's grip-and placed it gently atop his student's head. The brim settled low, casting Finn's tear-streaked face in shadow.
Finn's eyes widened. More tears welled up, spilling over before he could stop them.
Xiao let his hand fall back to his side. When he spoke again, his voice was no longer weak. It carried a calm fire-an approaching storm. Absolute. Sharp as a blade honed over centuries.
"Son... keep my straw hat. When you finally save this world-when you put an end to Daikan-you can return it to my grave."
Finn nodded weakly. His face was pale, bloodless. The shadow of the hat's brim hid his eyes, but the tears falling from beneath it told everything.
Xiao tilted his head, gave a slow, deliberate nod. "Good."
Then he reached up one last time-his only remaining hand, the right one-and cupped the side of Finn's cheek. His palm was warm, despite the blood loss. Despite the death creeping through his veins.
A weak chuckle rattled in his chest. "Haha... while you're at it... don't let anyone see my dirty art in the future, alright?"
Finn's face crumpled. His voice came out raw, scraped clean of its usual composure. "Seriously... can't... can't you think of something better to say right now?"
More tears slipped down his cheeks. He didn't bother wiping them away.
Xiao's chuckle faded into a soft, amused exhale. "Hahaha... can't have my reputation ruined, can I? Dying as a 'dirty Supreme Elder Monk'... that's not how I want to be remembered."
He paused. His eyes-those half-closed, warm eyes-locked onto Finn's one final time.
"Finn... goodbye."
His hand fell from Finn's cheek.
His eyes remained open. Warm. Unblinking.
His chest rose once. Twice. Then... nothing.
The blood stopped moving.
The senses faded into silence.
And finally-quietly, without drama, without thunder-his heart took its last beat.
The silence was heavy with Xiao's passing.
Finn simply stood up, his gaze still lingering on his dead master-his father. His expression turned shallow and empty. His eyes were wide, tears slowly trickling down his cheeks. His face remained pale with shock, still trying to make sense of this feeling.
"...Useless. I couldn't even... tch."
He murmured to himself. The night moonlight grew behind him, leaving his body in silhouette. The straw hat cast a shadow across his forehead, leaving only his lips and jaw visible in the pale glow.
"Having all this power... yet I still couldn't save him."
His words were filled with bitterness. He bit his lower lip-hard.
---
Finn wiped the tears from his eyes with his right arm, then turned slightly to face the Blazing Will Temple. It was about five or six kilometres away now-already consumed by darkness. A thick, dark purple fog and its transparent purplish barrier spread at a slow, steady pace, rolling across the barren land.
His gaze drifted downward.
Hundreds-no, even more-glowing predator eyes were running toward him from afar, like bulls in a stampede.
Finn's eyes widened slightly. A gasp escaped his lips.
"Ah... no way."
His gaze flicked back to the split monster he had killed minutes ago-the one whose mouth had held Xiao. The realization hit him.
Countless more were approaching.
The jungle was gone. No vegetation remained after Kiba had consumed nearly everything. The open ash field offered no cover, no hiding place.
Just Finn.
His master's straw hat.
And an army of monsters.
In that moment, Finn took several steps forward-past his master's corpse and toward the split monster he had killed minutes ago.
"...Where are they coming from? This can't be happening now."
His breath came low and shallow. He placed a palm on his chest. His left eye twitched slightly-the effect of the darkness still clenched to him. He stood in front of the monster's corpse, one of his palms extending cautiously to touch its head.
As he made contact, his mind swirled with memories-the life of a young monk.
Finn's eyes snapped open with shock.
The memories flooded through him: years of dedicated training and discipline, all in pursuit of becoming a master in his own right one day. Not to forget his generous nature-always helping his fellow disciples, making countless friends who had his back until the very end.
Then the memories came to an end.
The purple barrier. The fog.
He saw it wash over the young monk, transforming him into a mindless monster. Purpose reduced to a single command: destroy.
As Finn withdrew his hand quickly, his palm trembled slightly. His words came low, carrying a bit of fright as he murmured to himself.
"...I... killed someone."
As the words left his lips, he turned fully to face the approaching monsters-still five kilometres away, their eyes burning with purple flames of terror.
"It... it's over."
The words left his lips like stones dropping into deep water-heavy, final, sinking into silence.
His face, which moments ago had been twisted with pure fright and raw, bleeding pain, now went slack. Stoic. Empty. The transformation was almost mechanical, as if a door had slammed shut behind his eyes.
Both hands fell to his sides. His fingers curled inward, knuckles going white, fingernails biting into his palms. The fists trembled-not from fear, but from the sheer force of suppression. He was choking down his emotions, burying them alive so he could function.
The monsters kept advancing. Hundreds of purple eyes burning in the distance, eating up the ash-covered field one stride at a time.
Finn's voice came again-quiet, steady, emptied of everything except cold certainty.
"The darkness... transforms anyone who makes contact with it into a monster."
He paused. His gaze drifted to the split corpse at his feet-the young monk in monster form, whose memories had just torn through his mind.
"Figure there's an army of them coming for me now."
His jaw tightened. His eyes lifted to the horde again.
"Those... are the monks from the temple," Finn said, taking a breath. He closed his eyes, then exhaled and opened them again. "Either way, it doesn't matter. I'm done crying now. I'm moving on from that. Those were your last words, Sensei... moving on. I killed someone. A fellow monk. That's a reality I have to accept." His gaze flicked to the split monster on the ground, then returned to the approaching horde one More time. "And hell, whatever destiny has in store for me, I will keep my senses sharp and take the responsibility of this dragged-out world-and put an end to its dark tale."
"BECAUSE I AM FINN BOWING."
The words rang out like a struck bell-clear, absolute, echoing across the ash-covered field. Not a scream. Not a roar. Something deeper. A promise carved into the night itself.
---
THEN, IN THAT MOMENT, IN A BLUR, REALITY SHIFTED BACK TO THE PRESENT.
Finn and Arthur Kurogane stood in the forest beside a lake. Finn landed the last bit of his long tale-of how the darkness came to be.
"After that, I ran back to my master's shack, gathered the things I needed, and left. Then I began my journey," Finn said, his voice calm and unhurried.
Arthur, after hearing the whole story, wore a face carved with shock. His mouth was slightly open until he closed it and looked directly at Finn, lips pressed together.
"The fact that your sensei was a pretty cool guy was a thriller... but you are just insane," Arthur said, his tone mixed with disbelief and a touch of amusement.
"In what manner should I have acted? Besides, that's not the main reason I told you my story. It was for your incompetence-to know about the world you are diving into," Finn said, one eyebrow raised slightly at his own harsh words.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I get it," Arthur said as he laced both fingers behind his back and rested his head against his palms-a common gesture of his. "But you acting all nonchalant at the end caught me off guard. Like, seriously, Big Bro Finn."
Finn's lips almost retreated fully into his mouth in disgust at Arthur calling him "bro" again. He regained his composure.
"Like hell. You are no different. The moment you saw your mother's corpse, you cried your heart out-only for the grief to be dissolved by a little pep talk you remembered."
"Well, at least it came from her, and I chose to live by her wish. Whereas you... you misinterpreted everything your master said about moving on." Arthur's tone was slightly edgy after Finn brought up his mother.
Finn's brows slowly narrowed as he listened, refusing to show any sign of emotion.
But Arthur blasted back at him. "Because unlike you and me, I listened and followed my mother's words. You just listened and coddled yourself with a fact that fits your perspective-not your master's."
The lash-out created an unnerving silence. It drew out longer than expected. Arthur stared at Finn with a serious gaze, while Finn stared back-nonchalant, unfazed.
Then, in that instant, a loud cry broke out Sickening as it Sound .
A woman's scream.
"AGHHHH!"
Finn and Arthur's gazes snapped on instinct toward the sound. Finn's eyes followed the cry as a cold thought cut through his mind.
"....what is it now...."
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