Lars, Sora, and Yuki didn’t stop running until the sounds of battle had become distant.

Even then, none of them felt safe.

The crimson barrier still loomed overhead, staining the night sky red while the Coastal Kingdom stretched around them in ruins. Floodwater covered much of the streets, and the occasional tremor from the distant battlefield continued traveling through the ground beneath their feet.

Eventually Yuki raised a hand and pointed toward a relatively intact section of the city ahead. “Here,” she said, and the three finally slowed to a stop.

They had reached a section of the kingdom far enough from the battle that the destruction was less severe. Several buildings still stood. The streets remained flooded, but the violent shockwaves battering the city were noticeably weaker here.

Sora carefully lowered Hikari into the shallow water.

The dwarfwoman looked smaller than usual, her massive warhammer no longer resting on her shoulder and her usual booming laugh, sarcastic comments, and constant complaints all gone. Sora stared at her for several long moments, unable to look away from the wound through her chest.

Eventually he knelt beside her, moving slowly and carefully. His hand reached toward her face, then stopped as he stared at her for a moment. Finally, he gently closed her eyes.

The realization settled heavily in his chest.

Sora swallowed hard. Without a word, he removed his cloak and carefully draped it over her body. The fabric settled across her form, covering the wound, covering the blood, and covering the evidence of what had happened. Yet somehow, instead of hiding the reality of it, the gesture only made everything feel more real.

Nearby, Lars slowly walked over carrying Hikari’s warhammer. He carefully lowered it beside her, and the hammer landed with a soft thud against the flooded street.

For a moment, Lars simply stood there staring at it. Then his gaze shifted toward the cloak draped over her body, toward the shape beneath it. His throat tightened, and he quickly looked away. If he kept staring, he wasn’t sure he could hold himself together.

A few feet away, Yuki gently lowered Ryota onto the ground. He remained unconscious, his breathing shallow and uneven as blood continued seeping from the massive wound across his chest. The slash stretched nearly from one side of his torso to the other, and even after everything that had happened, it still hadn’t stopped bleeding. There wasn’t much blood left flowing from the injury, but there was enough to make Yuki’s expression darken as she carefully pulled back the damaged fabric covering the wound.

Sora noticed her expression immediately.

“How bad?”

Yuki didn’t answer right away. She studied the injury carefully for several seconds before letting out a quiet sigh. “Bad.”

Sora frowned. “Define bad.”

Yuki finally looked up. “The kind of bad that kills people.”

The words settled heavily over the group. Lars immediately turned around, his eyes widening as he looked between Yuki and the unconscious Ryota.

“What?”

“The wound is deep,” Yuki said, pressing two fingers against the edge of the injury. “Far deeper than I originally thought.”

Lars felt his stomach twist. “Can you heal him?”

Yuki’s silence answered before she did. Eventually, she slowly shook her head. “No. I’m not a healer.”

Her gaze returned to the wound. “I can buy him time.”

That was the best she could offer. Not healing. Not a miracle. Just enough time for Ryota to reach someone who could actually save him.

Yuki slowly raised both hands as blue spiritual energy gathered around her fingers. The surrounding temperature immediately began to drop, and frost spread across the flooded street beneath her feet. Ice started forming over Ryota’s wound, carefully sealing the deepest portions first before gradually spreading outward across the damaged flesh. Ryota’s body twitched slightly as the frost continued growing layer by layer until the entire injury had been encased within a protective shell of ice.

Only then did Yuki lower her hands.

The cold air lingered around them as she studied her work.

“This won’t heal him,” she said calmly. “It’ll slow the bleeding.”

Lars immediately nodded.

That was enough.

At least for now.

Ryota didn’t need to be healed immediately. He just needed to survive long enough to reach someone who could save him.

Sora remained staring toward the distant battlefield, his jaw clenched and his injured hand tightening into a fist. The anger still hadn’t faded. If anything, it had only grown worse.

Hikari’s death replayed endlessly inside his head. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the blood spike tearing through her chest, the impact, the look on her face, and the way she never got back up afterward.

Sora hated it.

He hated everything about it.

Most of all, he hated himself.

Because when it mattered most, he hadn’t been able to stop it.

Yuki’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.

“Sora.”

He looked over.

“What?”

“Come here.”

The silver-haired adventurer reluctantly walked toward her. Yuki pointed toward his injured hand.

“Hold it out.”

Sora raised an eyebrow but did as instructed. The slash running across his hand still looked ugly. It wasn’t a fatal injury, but blood occasionally dripped from the wound, reminding him that Suzu’s attack had come far closer than he liked to admit.

Yuki reached forward as blue spiritual energy gathered around her fingers once more. Ice quickly spread across the injury, causing Sora to flinch.

“Cold.”

Yuki ignored the complaint and continued working. Frost wrapped around the damaged area before hardening into a thin protective layer of ice. Once she was satisfied, she withdrew her hand.

“There.”

Sora immediately flexed his fingers. The movement felt strange and somewhat restricted, but not enough to cause any real problems. He opened and closed his hand several times before tightening it into a fist. Thin cracks spread across the surface of the ice, but the frozen layer held.

“I can still fight.”

Yuki gave a small nod.

“Good.”

Sora looked back toward the distant battlefield, his eyes hardening as another distant shockwave echoed across the kingdom.

“I’m going back.”

“I know.”

The answer surprised him enough that he glanced over. Yuki was already standing.

“I am too.”

Lars immediately turned toward them.

“You’re both going back?”

Yuki blinked.

“Of course. The battle isn’t over.”

Sora’s expression darkened.

“And if it is…”

His gaze drifted toward Hikari’s body before he finished the thought.

“…then we’re too late.”

Silence settled over the group. Nobody wanted to acknowledge that possibility, yet all of them understood exactly what he meant.

A sudden cough broke through the quiet.

Everyone froze and turned toward Ryota. The martial artist had rolled slightly onto his side, another cough escaping him before Lars immediately rushed forward and dropped beside him.

“Ryota!”

“Hey.”

Ryota slowly opened one eye. His face looked pale and exhausted, the kind of exhaustion that came from standing far too close to death. Yet somehow, despite everything, he was smirking.

Lars stared at him.

Ryota stared back.

Then another cough escaped him.

“You look terrible.”

Lars nearly burst into tears.

“Shut up.”

Ryota’s smirk widened slightly.

“Takes more than that to kill me.”

As the moment passed, Ryota slowly looked around. His gaze eventually settled on the cloak covering Hikari’s body, then the warhammer resting beside her. The silence hanging over everyone else told him the rest.

For a moment, his smirk weakened.

Only slightly.

Then it returned.

He didn’t ask what had happened.

He didn’t need to.

Lars noticed the brief change in his expression and felt his chest tighten. 

Instead, Lars grabbed Ryota’s hand.

Lars lowered his head.

“We’re going back.”

His voice trembled.

“But you’re staying here.”

Ryota stared at him while Lars’s grip tightened even further.

“Wait for us.”

The words came out rough and painful.

“I mean it.”

Ryota remained quiet for several moments before his hand tightened around Lars’s in return. The grip wasn’t weak or hesitant. It was firm and steady, exactly the same as it had always been.

“You better come back.”

Ryota’s gaze shifted toward Sora, then toward Yuki.

“That goes for you two too.”

Sora looked away first.

Yuki simply nodded.

“We will.”

A distant boom interrupted the conversation, and the ground shook beneath their feet.

Everyone froze.

A second impact followed moments later, far stronger than the first. Nearby buildings rattled violently while floodwater rippled across the street.

Sora’s eyes widened.

“What the hell was that?”

Another explosion echoed across the kingdom. It came from far away, yet somehow carried enough force to reach them even from this distance. More concerning than the sound itself was the sheer amount of spiritual energy behind it.

Yuki stared toward the distant battlefield.

The Titans were still fighting.

They had to be.

Nothing else made sense.

Yet even she felt uncertainty creeping into her thoughts as the shockwaves continued rolling across the kingdom. One impact followed another, each somehow stronger than the last.

The battle wasn’t calming down.

It was escalating.

Sora immediately stood.

“We’re wasting time.”

Yuki nodded, but before leaving she looked back toward Hikari and Ryota. The attacks were getting closer now, each shockwave stronger than the last, and leaving them exposed wasn’t an option anymore.

Blue spiritual energy gathered around her hands as the temperature around them plummeted. Ice erupted from the flooded street and surged upward around Hikari and Ryota, forming massive crystalline walls. The structure continued growing thicker and stronger until a barrier completely surrounded them both.

Protected and hidden.

As safe as Yuki could make them.

The ice user slowly lowered her hands and exhaled.

“There.”

Lars stared at the barrier before his gaze drifted toward the vague shapes hidden behind the ice.

His chest tightened.

He didn’t want to leave.

None of them did.

But they didn’t have a choice.

The battle was still happening. People were still fighting. People were still dying. And somewhere beyond the city, Suzu was still alive.

Lars stepped forward and rested a hand against the frozen wall.

“Wait for us.”

Then he turned away.

Sora was already moving. Yuki followed immediately behind him, and after one final look at the ice barrier and the place they were leaving them behind, Lars ran after them.

The three disappeared into the ruined streets, racing back toward the distant battlefield while shockwaves continued rolling across the sleeping kingdom. Whatever was happening out there, they were going back to face it.

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

Itsuki remained on her knees in the flooded street, shoulders shaking violently as sobs tore from her throat. The staff had slipped from her grasp at some point. It rested half-submerged beside her, forgotten. Her hands trembled against the stone beneath the water while tears streamed endlessly down her face.

Then the crimson barrier overhead began to change. At first the shift was subtle, little more than a faint ripple spreading across its surface, but Yoshinori noticed it immediately. His exhausted eyes narrowed as he looked upward.

“…It’s shrinking.”

Everyone followed his gaze.

The massive dome of blood surrounding the kingdom was slowly pulling inward. It wasn’t collapsing; it was condensing, the endless sea of crimson overhead flowing toward a single point.

Toward Suzu.

The blood moved like rivers in the sky as streams of crimson descended from the shrinking barrier and poured into her ruined remains. The sight was horrifying. Everyone watched in stunned silence as flesh began rebuilding itself before their eyes. Bone formed first, weaving itself together from nothing before muscle followed, wrapping around the newly created skeleton. Skin stretched across it moments later, sealing the grotesque reconstruction as Suzu’s shattered body slowly reformed while the barrier continued feeding her.

The barrier continued shrinking as more blood poured downward into Suzu’s rebuilding body. Entire sections of the crimson dome vanished into her, causing the massive prison surrounding the battlefield to steadily contract. Everyone watched in stunned silence as the walls drew closer and closer. It had already receded far enough that the place where Mars Guild had left Ryota and Hikari now lay beyond its reach. The battlefield that had once stretched across a massive section of the Coastal Kingdom was becoming smaller by the second, condensed into a tightening crimson cage centered entirely around Suzu.

More blood descended from the shrinking barrier overhead and poured into Suzu’s ruined remains. Everyone watched in stunned silence as her body continued reforming before their eyes. Torn flesh stitched itself back together while shattered bones mended beneath newly formed muscle and skin. Missing limbs slowly regenerated, reconstructed piece by piece as the crimson energy fed directly into her. The process wasn’t instant, but it was horrifyingly fast.

Within moments, Suzu stood once more.

She wasn’t fully restored. The damage Itsuki had inflicted was still visible in places, and the immense amount of blood required to rebuild her had significantly reduced the barrier overhead. What had once covered a massive portion of the Coastal Kingdom now enclosed only the ruined district around them, turning the battlefield into a much smaller prison centered entirely around her.

Silence settled across the flooded streets.

At the center of that silence stood Suzu.

Her newly reconstructed body remained perfectly still as crimson eyes stared forward without recognition. There was no grief left in them. No guilt. No anger. No humanity. Whatever fragment of the girl who had once been Itsuki’s sister still existed was buried beneath something far darker.

Nearby, scattered among the remains of her destroyed body, rested the black cloak she had worn earlier. Suzu’s gaze drifted toward it before she began walking forward. Her movements were calm and strangely detached, neither hurried nor hesitant. She simply bent down, picked up the cloak, and draped it around her shoulders as if dressing herself after being caught in the rain. 

Once the cloak settled around her shoulders, Suzu lifted her head and looked toward the remaining fighters.

Shunjiro felt his stomach twist.

This wasn’t the broken girl who had cried moments ago. Whatever remained of Suzu was buried so deep now that even Itsuki hadn’t been able to reach her. The realization settled over the battlefield like a weight pressing down on everyone present. It felt final in a way none of them wanted to acknowledge.

Nearby, Itsuki’s sobs gradually began to weaken. Not because she was calming down, and not because she had accepted what had happened. She simply had nothing left. Her spiritual energy was gone. Her strength was gone. Even her tears seemed to be running dry after everything she had endured.

Shunjiro immediately dropped to his knees beside her.

“Itsuki.”

She didn’t react.

Her head remained lowered as water dripped from strands of soaked hair, her entire body still trembling from the force of her fading sobs. The sight made Shunjiro’s chest tighten painfully. Seeing her like this hurt more than any wound he had suffered throughout the battle. More than the cuts covering his body, more than broken bones, and more than the exhaustion threatening to drag him unconscious. Those injuries would heal eventually.

This wouldn’t.

Slowly, he reached forward and gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Itsuki.”

Still nothing.

She didn’t look up. She didn’t answer. She didn’t even acknowledge that he was there.

The others watched in silence. Yoshinori stood a few feet away, exhaustion and grief written plainly across his face, while Aiko remained motionless with her dagger still clenched in her hand. Nearby, Tetsuo’s fists were balled so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

None of them knew what to say.

What words could possibly exist for a moment like this?

Itsuki had been forced to watch her sister die. Then she had been forced to kill her herself. She had poured everything she had into stopping Suzu, sacrificing her body, her energy, and nearly her life in the process.

And it still hadn’t been enough.

Shunjiro swallowed hard before gently lifting her chin and forcing her to look up.

The moment their eyes met, his heart shattered.

The tears were still there, lingering at the corners of her eyes, but something far more important was missing. The warmth that always seemed to radiate from her. The kindness that made complete strangers trust her. The compassion that had driven her to save anyone she could, even at the cost of her own wellbeing.

It was gone.

Itsuki’s blue eyes stared back at him, but they felt empty, as though someone had hollowed out her soul and left only the shell behind. For a moment, Shunjiro couldn’t breathe.

This was Itsuki.

The girl who always smiled no matter how difficult things became. The girl who worried about everyone else before herself. The girl who healed strangers without asking for anything in return. The girl who refused to give up on people, even when the rest of the world already had.

She had been the one person who never stopped believing there was still something worth saving inside Suzu.

And now, as he looked into her vacant eyes, she seemed incapable of feeling anything at all.

Shunjiro’s vision blurred.

Before he even realized what he was doing, he pulled Itsuki into his arms. His grip tightened immediately, desperate and unrelenting, as though letting go would somehow cause her to disappear.

“I’m sorry.”

His voice cracked.

“I’m sorry.”

Itsuki didn’t respond.

She didn’t hug him back. She didn’t move. She simply remained where she was, her body limp in his arms as she stared ahead without reaction. The lack of response hurt more than any words ever could.

Shunjiro held her tighter.

“I’m sorry.”

The words kept coming.

Again and again.

Not because he thought they would fix anything, but because he didn’t know what else to say. He was apologizing for every failure. Every mistake. Every moment he hadn’t been strong enough.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop this.”

His voice shook.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save her.”

The words felt hollow the moment they left his mouth, but he couldn’t stop himself.

Another breath.

Another apology.

“I’m sorry you had to do this.”

Still nothing.

Itsuki remained silent in his arms, her expression unchanged. The emptiness in her eyes never wavered, and somehow that hurt more than if she had screamed at him. More than if she had cried. More than if she had blamed him for everything that had happened.

Because there was nothing left.

Not anger.

Not grief.

Not even resentment.

Just silence.

Shunjiro buried his face against her shoulder as his hands trembled around her.

“Itsuki… you don’t have to fight anymore.”

His voice was barely above a whisper.

“You don’t have to do this anymore.”

He took a shaky breath and tightened his grip around her.

“You did enough. You did more than enough.”

The tears finally escaped him then. There weren’t many, but after everything they had endured, it was enough.

“You carried this longer than anyone should have.”

His head lowered.

“So let us carry it now.”

Itsuki remained completely still in his arms.

She didn’t react.

She didn’t speak.

She didn’t even seem to hear him.

For a moment, Shunjiro wondered if she had simply retreated somewhere deep inside herself where nobody could reach her.

Even so, he forced himself to continue.

“You don’t have to fight her anymore.”

His voice broke.

“We’ll do it.”

A brief silence followed as he struggled to keep himself together.

“We’ll finish it.”

The words felt impossible the moment they left his mouth.

It sounded ridiculous.

There were only a handful of them left standing. Yoshinori. Aiko. Tetsuo. Himself. That was all that remained between Suzu and the rest of the kingdom.

Rei was barely conscious. Daichi could hardly remain standing. Ryuji was still alive, but only just. Mars Guild had been forced to withdraw, and many of the strongest fighters who had entered this battle had already fallen.

And standing across from them was a monster who had survived everything they had thrown at her.

Yet Shunjiro didn’t care anymore.

When he looked into Itsuki’s empty eyes, something inside him settled. It wasn’t confidence. It wasn’t courage. It was something much simpler than that.

A decision.

Slowly, he released the hug and pulled back. Itsuki stared at him with the same blank expression she had worn since Suzu stood back up. There was no anger in her eyes. No sadness. No grief. Nothing at all. Just an emptiness so profound that it made Shunjiro feel as though his heart had shattered all over again.

His mind drifted back to the day they first met.

The shy healer who had introduced herself with a nervous smile.

The girl who always worried about everyone around her.

The girl who never hesitated to help a stranger.

The girl whose kindness seemed endless, no matter how difficult things became.

Through every battle, every dungeon, and every hardship they had faced together, Itsuki had remained the person who believed in others when they couldn’t believe in themselves. She had stood beside him from the very beginning.

And now she looked like a ghost.

Like a living shell of the person she used to be.

Like someone who had given absolutely everything she had and been left with nothing in return.

Shunjiro’s jaw tightened.

No.

He refused to accept this.

He refused to believe that this was how her story would end.

Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet.

Every muscle in Shunjiro’s body screamed in protest as he pushed himself to his feet, but he ignored the pain and forced himself upright anyway.

Then he turned toward Suzu.

The remaining fighters quietly gathered beside him. Yoshinori stepped forward first, exhaustion evident in every movement, yet somehow still standing despite everything he had endured. Aiko joined him moments later, her battered body covered in injuries while a hard determination remained etched across her face. Tetsuo moved into position beside them, bruised, bleeding, and barely able to keep himself upright, but refusing to fall.

Together, the four of them faced the battlefield.

The final line.

The last fighters left standing.

Shunjiro stared across the battlefield at Suzu.

Only minutes ago, Itsuki had given everything she had in an attempt to stop her. She had pushed herself beyond her limits, sacrificed her body, and endured a pain no one should ever have to experience. And still, Suzu stood before them.

The reality of it should have been terrifying.

Instead, Shunjiro felt strangely calm.

Not because he believed they could win.

Not because he suddenly had a plan.

But because the moment he looked into Itsuki’s empty eyes, something inside him had changed. The fear, the uncertainty, and the endless questions about whether they could survive had all become secondary.

Only one thing mattered now.

Slowly, he glanced back over his shoulder.

Itsuki remained exactly where he had left her.

The sight twisted his heart, but it also strengthened his resolve.

No matter what happened next, he couldn’t allow her to carry this burden any longer.

No matter what it cost.

No matter whether he survived or not.

This would end here.

Shunjiro turned back toward Suzu as Yoshinori, Aiko, and Tetsuo stood beside him. 

For several seconds, none of them moved.

The crimson barrier hummed overhead, smaller now than it had been before, its blood-red glow painting the ruined district in the color of an open wound. Floodwater drifted around broken stone, shattered walls, and scattered debris while Suzu stood across from them in her torn black cloak, her newly reformed body still faintly steaming from the blood that had rebuilt her. She did not speak. She did not smile. She did not look angry. Her crimson eyes simply stared forward, empty and cold, as if everything alive in front of her existed only to be erased.

Shunjiro, Yoshinori, Aiko, and Tetsuo stood together for the first time since the battle had begun. For most of the night, they had been forced to watch people stronger than them step forward. The Titans had fought. Mars had fought. Itsuki had fought with a power none of them understood and paid a price none of them could bear to look at for long. Now those people were gone, injured, unconscious, exhausted, or broken. There was no one left to hide behind. No one left to save them if this failed.

Yoshinori’s eyes narrowed as lightning began crawling across his arms. “We move together,” he said quietly, his voice steady despite the exhaustion dragging at his body. “No solo attacks. No hesitation. If there’s an opening, take it.”

Tetsuo rolled his shoulders, stone grinding up from beneath the floodwater around his boots. “So hit her until she stops moving.”

Aiko’s grip tightened around her dagger. “That’s the simplified version.”

Shunjiro did not answer immediately. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a desperate part of him still wanted to believe there was a way to immobilize Suzu, a way to stop her without killing her, a way to preserve even the smallest chance of bringing back the person Itsuki had loved for so many years. But the moment he looked back at Suzu and saw those empty crimson eyes, reality crushed that hope beneath its weight. If they held back, they would die. If they hesitated, Suzu would tear through them and everyone still breathing inside the barrier.

Shunjiro clenched his fists as spiritual energy surged unevenly around his arms. “Then we don’t give her time to breathe.”

Yoshinori moved first.

He raised one hand toward the darkened sky inside the barrier, and the air above Suzu split apart with a violent crack. Two bolts of lightning tore down from different angles, one from her left and one from behind, crossing the battlefield too quickly for most eyes to follow. Suzu’s head shifted slightly, but her body had only just begun moving when both strikes slammed into her at once. Lightning exploded across her reconstructed frame, sending violent shockwaves through her muscles and locking her in place for half a second.

That was enough.

Tetsuo charged through the floodwater with a roar, dragging one arm upward as the ground answered him. A massive chunk of stone ripped free from beneath the street and folded into shape around his hand, stretching into a rough, heavy blade as tall as his body. It was not elegant. It was not refined. It was a slab of killing weight given an edge, and Tetsuo swung it straight for Suzu’s throat with everything he had.

Suzu moved despite the lightning still snapping across her skin. Blood burst from beneath her cloak and hardened into a curved barrier just before the stone blade reached her. The impact shook the street beneath them. Tetsuo gritted his teeth and pushed harder, muscles straining as cracks ran through the stone weapon, but Suzu’s blood barrier held firm against the edge.

“Aiko!” Yoshinori shouted.

Aiko’s eyes sharpened. “Now!”

Space twisted beside Shunjiro, and in the next instant he vanished from where he stood and reappeared at Suzu’s side, already moving. His fist was pulled back, spiritual energy spiraling around his arm in unstable waves. He threw the punch with everything he could force into it, aiming directly for Suzu’s ribs.

Suzu’s head turned.

Her arm snapped up.

She caught his fist in her bare hand.

The impact should have driven her sideways, should have broken bone, should have at least forced her to give ground. Instead, her fingers closed around his knuckles like iron. Shunjiro’s eyes widened as pressure crushed down around his hand, pain shooting up his wrist.

“Don’t stop!” Tetsuo barked.

Shunjiro saw him moving behind her and immediately threw his left arm forward, trying to pin Suzu’s other side before she could react. Suzu lifted her free hand and caught that fist too. For one breath, they were locked together, Shunjiro straining with both arms while Suzu held him in place, her emotionless gaze fixed on him as if his effort meant nothing.

Then Tetsuo came in from behind.

Suzu stomped once.

The floodwater beneath Tetsuo turned red.

A spiderweb of blood spread outward from Suzu’s foot, racing across the ground and snapping upward in thin, jagged strands. Tetsuo reacted instantly, coating his body in spiritual energy as stone armor crawled over his skin. The blood web struck him a heartbeat later. Several strands shattered against the stone coating, but others punched through, slicing across his arms, shoulders, and chest. Blood spilled from the cuts before he could fully defend.

Aiko saw the blood lift.

She didn’t hesitate.

Tetsuo disappeared.

Yoshinori appeared in his place.

Lightning screamed from Yoshinori’s hand in the shape of a blade, bright and unstable, already mid-swing as he arrived behind Suzu. His expression remained cold and focused as he cut across her chest in a single clean motion. The lightning blade tore through flesh and exploded out the other side, scattering blood across the floodwater and splattering crimson against Yoshinori’s face and clothing.

Suzu’s body jerked.

Yoshinori immediately pulled back. “Tetsuo!”

Aiko switched them again.

Tetsuo appeared above Suzu with both hands raised, his stone armor cracked and blood running down his arms. Overhead, an enormous boulder had formed from the ruined street and surrounding debris, its shadow swallowing Suzu completely as he brought it down with a guttural shout.

“Stay down!”

The boulder crashed onto Suzu with enough force to blast water outward in a ring. The ground buckled beneath the impact, and broken stone launched in every direction. No one believed it would finish her. Not after everything they had seen. But it did not need to finish her. It only needed to keep her still.

Yoshinori was already moving before the dust settled.

Lightning gathered around him in thick, violent arcs. It crawled across his shoulders, down his spine, and along both arms, far brighter than before. His breathing became heavy as he lifted his gaze toward the barrier-stained sky. Clouds churned unnaturally above the battlefield, responding to the spiritual pressure building inside him. He had used powerful attacks before, but this was different. This was everything he could gather without destroying himself in the process.

Aiko glanced at him. “Yoshinori…”

“Keep her there,” he said through clenched teeth.

The boulder trembled.

Then crimson blades erupted from within it.

Blood sickles tore through the stone from the inside, slicing it apart in dozens of directions. Chunks of rock slid away and collapsed into the floodwater as Suzu emerged from the wreckage, her cloak torn further, her chest still split from Yoshinori’s earlier strike. She raised one hand, blood rushing upward to form a barrier above her.

Yoshinori dropped his arm.

Lightning fell from the heavens.

The strike slammed into the blood barrier and punched through it almost instantly. Suzu’s crimson defense shattered under the force as the lightning crashed down onto her body, engulfing her in blinding white-blue light. The entire battlefield flashed. Thunder exploded beneath the barrier, shaking the flooded streets and forcing Aiko to brace herself while Tetsuo threw an arm over his face.

Suzu screamed without emotion, the sound torn from her body by the electricity ripping through her nerves rather than pain. Her skin burned. Blood evaporated around her in bursts of red steam. For the first time since reforming, her movements stopped completely.

Aiko’s eyes widened.

“Shunjiro!”

He vanished.

The world folded around him, and suddenly Shunjiro was directly in front of Suzu. His fist was already pulled back, spiritual energy surging around it in a violent, uneven mass. He could feel the instability in his own power, feel the way it threatened to burst apart if he failed to control it, but he did not pull back.

Not this time.

“For Itsuki,” he whispered.

Then he punched her across the face.

The blow connected with a crack that echoed through the ruined district. Suzu’s head snapped sideways as the force of the impact tore through the remaining lightning around her and sent her body crashing into the flooded street. She hit the ground hard enough to split the stone beneath the water and skid through the ruins before slamming into a collapsed wall.

Shunjiro stood with one arm extended, breathing hard, steam rising from his fist. Yoshinori lowered his hand slowly, lightning still flickering weakly around his fingers. Aiko stared at the place Suzu had fallen, her chest rising and falling with sharp breaths. Tetsuo wiped blood from his chin and forced a grin despite the cuts across his body.

They had hurt her.

Shunjiro stared across the battlefield, heart pounding violently in his chest as hope tried to rise despite everything that had happened. It was dangerous. He knew it was dangerous. Suzu had survived too much for him to believe this was over.

By the time Lars, Sora, and Yuki reached the battlefield again, the kingdom no longer looked like the place they had left behind.

They slowed at the edge of the ruined district, not because they wanted to, but because for one stunned moment their bodies refused to keep moving. The crimson barrier still loomed overhead, but it had shrunk drastically, its curved walls now pressing closer around the remains of the battlefield like a tightening cage. Everything inside it had been reduced to rubble and floodwater. The buildings that had still been standing when they left were gone, crushed into broken stone and splintered beams. Entire sections of the district had collapsed into uneven piles of debris. Walls had been torn open. Roofs had vanished. The ground itself looked as though it had been beaten apart by giants.

Sora’s expression darkened as his gaze swept across the destruction. “What happened here?”

Yuki did not answer immediately. Her eyes were fixed ahead, where flashes of lightning lit the red-stained air. A moment later, a thunderclap shook the battlefield as two bolts struck downward from within the barrier and slammed into a single figure standing near the center of the ruins.

Suzu.

Even from this distance, Lars recognized the black cloak around her shoulders and the terrible stillness of her body. She stood in the middle of the flooded street as lightning crawled over her, her crimson eyes dull and empty, while four figures moved around her with desperate precision.

Illumina.

Shunjiro, Yoshinori, Tetsuo, and Aiko were fighting her.

For a moment, Lars could only stare.

They had been watching the entire battle from the edges, forced to stand helplessly while monsters and veterans clashed around them. Now they were the ones facing Suzu directly. No Titans. No senior adventurers standing in front of them. Just four battered rookies throwing themselves at the Blood Witch because there was no one else left close enough to stop her.

Sora took one step forward, but a voice cut through the chaos before he could break into a run.

“Lars!”

The three of them turned.

Ryuji sat against the remains of a collapsed wall several yards away, one arm pressed tightly against his side as blood soaked through his clothes. His breathing was heavy, his face pale, but his eyes were still focused. Near him, Rei sat slumped in the floodwater with her back against the same wall, her head lowered and her expression drained beyond exhaustion. Akima was nearby, battered and silent, while Aira sat close to them with both hands resting uselessly in her lap. Her soaked clothes clung to her body, and though floodwater surrounded them on every side, none of it answered her. The water healer of the Titans Guild looked like she could barely lift her head.

A few feet away, Daichi was dragging Roki’s unconscious body out of the open battlefield. Every step looked painful. Blood ran down one side of Daichi’s face, and his legs shook beneath him, but he refused to let go of Roki’s arm. He pulled the unconscious warrior through the shallow water inch by inch until he finally reached the others and lowered him beside Rei with as much care as his trembling hands could manage.

Lars ran toward them immediately. “What’s the situation?”

Ryuji let out a strained breath, glancing past Lars toward the center of the battlefield. “Bad.”

Sora’s jaw tightened. “We can see that.”

“No,” Ryuji said, his voice rough. “Worse than that.”

Yuki crouched beside him, her eyes quickly scanning his wounds. “Tell us what happened.”

Ryuji swallowed, then forced himself to continue. “After you left, the Titans pushed Suzu harder than anyone had before. Rei crushed half the district trying to bury her. Daichi and Roki kept her pinned down as long as they could. Everyone threw everything they had at her.”

Rei’s fingers twitched weakly against her knee, but she did not lift her head.

Ryuji looked toward her for a moment, then back at the others. “They hurt her. Badly. But it wasn’t enough.”

Lars felt his chest tighten. “Then what?”

Ryuji’s expression shifted. “Itsuki fought her.”

The name made all three of them go still.

Yuki’s eyes narrowed. “Itsuki?”

Ryuji nodded slowly. “I don’t know how to explain what happened. Something changed in her. She fought Suzu alone and actually overpowered her.”

Sora stared at him. “Itsuki defeated Suzu?”

“She blew her apart,” Ryuji said quietly.

The words made no sense. Not because they doubted Itsuki’s courage, but because they had seen Suzu. They had watched her kill Hikari. They had watched her tear through fighters who should have been far beyond anything a C-rank healer could challenge. The idea that Itsuki had stood against that monster alone and won, even briefly, felt impossible.

Lars looked back toward the battlefield, his eyes searching through the chaos. “Then why is Suzu still standing?”

Ryuji’s face hardened. “Because the barrier changed.”

Yuki slowly turned her gaze upward toward the crimson dome.

“It started shrinking,” Ryuji continued. “The blood from it poured into Suzu. Rebuilt her body. Not completely, I think, but enough. Itsuki destroyed her, and then the barrier gave her a body again.”

Sora’s face twisted with anger. “You’re saying she came back?”

Ryuji gave a bitter nod. “Yeah.”

Lars said nothing. His eyes drifted across the battlefield until he spotted Itsuki kneeling in the water behind Illumina. She was not moving. She was not healing anyone. She was not calling out to her friends. She simply sat there, empty and still, as if everything inside her had gone silent.

The sight struck him harder than he expected.

“That’s why they’re fighting now,” Ryuji said. “Itsuki can’t continue. Rei’s done. I’m barely breathing. Daichi should be unconscious. Roki is out. Aira has nothing left. Akima can barely move.”

Yuki looked at the wounded group, her expression grim. “Can anyone here still fight?”

The question settled heavily over them.

Nobody answered at first.

Daichi was the one who finally spoke.

“I can.”

Aira’s head snapped toward him immediately. “No, you can’t.”

Daichi ignored her and pushed one hand against the ground, trying to force himself upright. His entire body shook from the effort, but his eyes remained locked on the battlefield where Tetsuo’s stone blade clashed against Suzu’s blood barrier.

“I said I can keep going.”

Rei lifted her head slightly. Even that small movement looked difficult. “Daichi… stop.”

His jaw clenched. “Don’t tell me to stop.”

“You’re bleeding through your bandages,” Aira said, her voice tight. “You dragged Roki here on sheer stubbornness, and that nearly made you collapse. If you go back out there, you won’t be helping them. You’ll die in front of them.”

Daichi’s hands curled into fists against the flooded street. “And what am I supposed to do? Sit here and watch?”

Aira’s expression softened, but the pain in her eyes only deepened. “Yes.”

The word hit him like a blow.

Daichi stared at her.

Aira swallowed hard. “Because that’s all some of us can do now.”

Silence fell over the wounded group.

The sounds of battle continued in the distance. Stone shattered. Lightning cracked. Water rippled outward from each impact. Shunjiro shouted something none of them could make out, and a burst of spiritual energy briefly lit the ruined street.

Daichi looked toward the fight again. His face twisted with frustration, grief, and helpless rage. “They’re kids.”

Nobody corrected him.

His voice shook as he continued. “They’re kids, and we’re sitting here watching them fight something that killed Hikari. Something that nearly killed all of us. I can’t bear it. I can’t sit here and watch them die in front of my eyes.”

Rei’s gaze lowered. “Do you think we can?”

Daichi looked at her.

Rei’s voice was quiet, but there was an edge beneath the exhaustion. “Do you think I want to sit here while they fight? Do you think Aira wants to sit surrounded by water and be unable to heal anyone? Do you think Ryuji wants to be leaning against a wall while his friends stand between Suzu and everyone still alive?”

Daichi’s expression wavered.

Rei’s eyes drifted toward Illumina. “But if we go out there like this, we won’t protect them. We’ll only give them more people to save.”

That finally stopped him.

Daichi lowered his head, breathing hard as his hands trembled against the water. For a moment, it looked like he might argue anyway, like the guilt inside him would force him back to his feet no matter what anyone said. Then his strength gave out. His shoulders dropped, and he sank back beside Roki, hatred and helplessness burning across his face.

“Damn it,” he whispered.

Aira reached toward him but stopped before her hand touched his arm. She seemed afraid that even that small comfort would break him completely.

Lars watched them in silence, his chest tightening with every passing second. He understood Daichi’s anger too well. Hikari’s covered body flashed through his mind. Ryota’s pale face. The ice sealing his chest. The promise Lars had made before leaving them behind.

Wait for us.

He had said the words like they meant something. Now he understood the only way to make them true was to keep moving.

Sora turned toward the battlefield, his injured hand flexing beneath the thin layer of ice Yuki had formed over it. “We’re going in.”

Yuki stood beside him. “Yes.”

Lars looked at Ryuji. “Can you protect them if anything gets through?”

Ryuji gave a strained laugh that quickly turned into a cough. “I’ll try not to die before it reaches us.”

“That wasn’t what I asked.”

Ryuji’s smirk faded slightly, but he straightened as much as his injuries allowed. “Yeah. I’ll protect them.”

Aira lifted her gaze toward Lars. “Be careful.”

Sora gave a humorless scoff. “That stopped being an option a while ago.”

Yuki glanced once toward Aira, then toward Rei, Daichi, Roki, Ryuji, and Akima. Her expression remained composed, but her eyes were heavy. “Stay together. If the barrier shifts again, move as far from Suzu as you can.”

Rei gave a faint nod. “Go.”

Another thunderclap erupted from the center of the battlefield.

All of them turned just in time to see Yoshinori vanish from one position and reappear behind Suzu, lightning formed into a blade in his hand. He swung across her chest, and a burst of crimson splashed into the floodwater. A moment later, Aiko swapped him away as Tetsuo dropped from above with a massive boulder forming over his head.

Sora’s eyes widened slightly. “They’re actually hurting her.”

Lars stared as the boulder crashed down, sending a wave of water sweeping across the ruined street. Hope tried to rise in his chest, sharp and dangerous.

Yuki’s voice cut through it. “Don’t assume that means they’re winning.”

The boulder trembled.

Blood sickles erupted from within it, tearing the stone apart from the inside.

Sora’s expression hardened. “Then we help them make it mean something.”

He moved first.

Yuki followed immediately, ice spreading briefly beneath her feet as she launched herself across the flooded street. Lars hesitated only long enough to look back at the wounded one final time. Daichi was still staring at the battlefield, teeth clenched, hands shaking. Rei had lowered her head again. Aira sat motionless beside the others, surrounded by water she no longer had the strength to command.

Lars turned away before the sight could stop him.

Then he ran after Sora and Yuki.

The three members of Mars Guild crossed the ruined battlefield as lightning gathered overhead and Suzu emerged from the shattered boulder. Illumina stood ahead of them, battered but still moving, their attacks flowing together with a desperation Lars recognized immediately. They were not fighting because they believed victory was certain. They were fighting because there was nothing else left to do.

Sora clenched his fists as he ran, rage sharpening every line of his face. Yuki raised one hand, frost trailing behind her fingers. Lars forced his exhaustion down and focused on the black-cloaked figure at the center of the battlefield.

Suzu Nozomi.

The Blood Witch.

The monster who had taken Hikari from this world.

The monster who had shattered Itsuki.

The monster still standing between them and the dawn.

As they closed the distance, Yoshinori’s lightning surged skyward, building toward something massive. Aiko glanced over her shoulder and saw them coming, her eyes widening for only a moment before understanding replaced surprise.

Mars Guild had returned.

They were wounded. Exhausted. Too late to save Hikari. Too late to stop Itsuki from breaking.

But not too late to stand with Illumina.

Lars tightened his grip on his sword as he ran beside Sora and Yuki, the three of them entering the battlefield once more while Suzu turned her empty crimson gaze toward the living souls gathering against her.

The final stand was no longer Illumina’s alone.