The world tilted.Kaiden's balance faltered, vision lagging behind movement — frames skipping, light stuttering. The sound of steam filled his ears like ocean waves inside a metal shell.
"Kaiden!" Sylen's voice, distant, distorted.
He tried to answer, but only static came out. His knees gave first. Then his chest cracked open with a metallic groan as he hit the ground hard enough to dent the mud.
[SYSTEM WARNING: PRESSURE LOSS — CORE VENT FAILURE][PRIMARY HEART FUNCTION — ERRATIC]
He stared at the sky — yellow-gray again, trembling through heat haze — and thought, I died once already. And somehow, I still didn't escape this.
Sylen knelt beside him, trying to keep him conscious, hands slick with oil and blood alike. Rav hauled what was left of their gear, muttering curses. Velra stood apart, expression unreadable — maybe even disgusted.
Behind them, the corrupted forest hissed quietly, steam and rot mingling with blood.
They limped back toward the outpost through dusk and silence.By the time the gates came into view again — black steel against the dying sun — Kaiden could barely stand. His armor hung open in places, pieces fused or torn, the faint violet glow beneath flickering like a dying lantern.
The guards stared as they entered — or what was left of them entered.
Jojun's body had been recovered separately, wrapped in scorched tarp.The guards hesitated to even touch it, as if afraid it might move again.Kaiden said nothing. He just kept walking, leaving a faint trail of oil and steam behind.
Inside the command hall, the air stank of smoke and formaldehyde. A general — or maybe just another officer who thought himself one — sat behind a desk piled with scrolls and maps.
"You call that a patrol?" he spat. "Half your squad dead, the rest limping, and the Emperor's prized asset leaking mana like a ruptured pipe."
Velra stepped forward, bowing stiffly. "Sir, we were ambushed—"
"Ambushed?" The officer barked a laugh. "In our territory? Don't insult me."
Kaiden said nothing. He stood in the doorway, steam curling from the hole in his side. His single working eye fixed on the officer like a gun barrel.
The man hesitated under his stare — only a fraction — then slammed his hand on the desk."You'll be reassigned once maintenance is done on that… thing. You understand, Sergeant?"
Kaiden didn't answer. Just turned to leave. Each step clanked.
Outside, Sylen caught up to him."Kaiden. Hey— look at me. You're not fine. You need—"
He stopped, glancing down at her with something between exhaustion and disbelief.
"I died once, Sylen. And now I'm just… rust trying to remember what it felt like to breathe."
She stared, not knowing what to say.
He looked past her — to the horizon, where smoke from the corrupted zone bled into the clouds — and for the briefest moment, his veins flickered violet again under his skin.Then the light faded.
He exhaled a ragged breath, half-steam, half-sigh.
"Maybe the doc was right," he murmured. "Maybe from death comes life……but not the kind worth keeping."