The streets had become a broken memory—rubble, smoke, silence, and blood. Everything there had been reduced to dust.
At the center of that chaos, two bodies lay among cracks and ashes. Dan and Stella.
Blood flowed from Dan in crimson rivers. His body was a worn-out shield, a wall that had crumbled to protect someone he loved.
He had used everything: his body, his endurance, his spiritual energy—every fragment of himself to save Stella from annihilation.
But even with his immense strength, Stella had also been hit.
Thanks to the rigorous training with Fenra—where they learned to stabilize their spiritual flow to the limit of excellence—they managed to protect their vital organs.
But not enough to avoid the brutal impact. Dan fell beside Stella like a collapsing tower.
She trembled.
Not from cold or pain, but from a deep shock—the kind that comes when a car collides with destiny.
— DAN! — she screamed, her voice choked, her chest torn with despair.
He was breathing, but barely conscious. He was covered in cuts, his skin torn, his gaze vacant.
She called him, cried, shouted… But he didn't respond.
"Why am I so weak…?"
"Why can't I control what should be mine?"
"If I were better… he wouldn't have to sacrifice himself for me."
The physical pain was a whisper compared to the guilt consuming Stella from within.
A few meters away, another bloodbath.
Fenra had clung to Kaze and dragged him away from the two youths. It had cost her dearly.
— How…? — Kaze murmured, spitting blood between broken teeth.
— Did you really think I'd be that stupid? — Fenra replied, panting.
Her overcoat—a striking piece—wasn't just clothing. It was a spiritual shield, an activatable defensive enchantment.
But even that couldn't withstand the fury of their clash. The fabric turned to dust. Fenra's body was covered in wounds.
But Kaze's bled even more.
She had driven one blade into his chest and another into his shoulder. And at the exact moment he launched his final attack, Fenra tore off his left arm with brutality.
Both were on the verge of collapse.
— You're a monster… — Kaze whispered, his eyes teary and lips stained with blood.
— That's what they always say. — she replied coldly, raising her blade.
— Now you fall… demon of the winds.
Kaze closed his eyes. There was no fight left in him. Only one last bitter word:
— Good luck…
Fenra hesitated for a second. A fatal second.
A scream cut through the air.
Stella's scream.
She was thrown like a leaf in the storm, her body flying through the rubble, shattering structures as the world around her trembled.
She landed a few meters from Fenra. Eyes open. Pupils ablaze.
There, at the center of the destruction, the dust began to settle.
And then it appeared.
Death.
Jouki.
Stepping coldly over Dan's unconscious body.
Her presence was different. Kaze, however impure, was still an entity of nature, a spirit of the gales. Jouki was not. Her energy was a dense black mass, as if hell itself breathed through her.
Fenra felt it. Stella did too.
The memories came like daggers.
The trauma.
The shadow that had never stopped haunting her.
That unmistakable presence.
Fenra realized Stella was no longer trembling.
There was no fear.
There was bloodlust. A primitive fury burning in her eyes.
— Stella, control yourself… — Fenra warned.
But it was too late.
— Get your rotten feet off him! — Stella roared, and her light exploded.
She advanced like a comet, appearing before Jouki with a blade of pure energy.
Jouki smiled.
The black flame crackled in her hand and touched the blade.
It dissolved like paper in fire.
Stella's eyes widened.
Jouki grabbed her by the neck.
— Your light is still weak… you only pretend to shine brighter.
Her eyes burned with madness.
— You seem to like the boy, don't you? You should have seen his face when I pierced you in front of him. So cute.
She whispered with venom:
— This time, I'll reverse the scene. I'll pierce him in front of you. How about that?
And then:
— Lie down. And watch.
With a monstrous motion, Jouki smashed Stella's head against the ground.
Blood sprayed in bursts.
She was thrown again, her body breaking through wall after wall like a broken missile.
Fenra, wounded, bleeding, only watched.
— You seem interesting… — Jouki murmured, turning her gaze to her.
— I've never seen Kaze in this state. Impressive.
— It seems when opponents don't have firearms, you fail, don't you, Kaze? — she taunted.
— Shut up… — Kaze grunted. — Just finish her.
But before he could finish the sentence, Fenra cut him.
Blood gushed like a protest.
Jouki then aimed at Dan.
The black flames shot out.
But Fenra was faster.
In the blink of an eye, she enveloped him and vanished into the rubble.
— Running away, little rat?! — Jouki shouted. — I just want to play a little! I promise I won't burn you completely!
Her laughter echoed like a funeral bell.
In Fenra's arms, Dan breathed with difficulty.
They were now in the spiritual realm—a threshold between worlds, where Fenra could move ten times faster.
She laid him down carefully beside a broken low wall, in a corner protected from the destruction.
But then, she felt it.
A flaming power coming from the sky.
A crimson comet had fallen near the temple where Aisha was fighting.
— Damn it… — Fenra snarled through gritted teeth.
There was no more escape.
Everyone was there.
And no one was retreating.
— Everyone is fighting. Even those who died…
— How annoying! — she yelled.
She turned and reappeared before Jouki.
A few meters away.
The two stared at each other.
Two solitary blades.
Two sharp forces.
— I'm glad you came back to play with me. I'm so lonely… — Jouki said with a crooked smile.
— Fuck you. — Fenra replied dryly.
— I like you. You're my type. — the Reaper whispered.
Fenra stared at her with contempt.
Her eyes streamed blood. But her presence… was growing.
It was like a contained storm.
"Mei, Tenklyn, Akira, Aisha, Tekio, Stella, Dan… everyone fought with everything. Tenklyn… even gave his life."
"And me? I hid. Always in the shadows. Always on the edges."
"Maybe, if I had been by Mei's side from the start, in our youth… she wouldn't have been captured."
"We would all be safe now."
------------------------"The guilt is mine. Only mine."-------------------------------
— No more shadows.
— No more running.
— No more taking the easy way.
She raised her blade.
The wind howled.
Her aura roared.
Jouki smiled.
And the battle… finally began.
To be continued…