Damon staggered up, coughing, dust sliding off his shoulders. Velmira's kiss and Draven accepting it—flashed in his mind. His ribs screamed in pain.
"What the hell is going on?!" he snapped.
Draven didn't look at him. "It's complicated."
"How?!" Damon shouted. "I'm being thrown around like a toy! Why are you holding back?!"
Draven finally turned, eyes cold.
"You're a hypocrite."
Damon blinked. "What?"
"Don't act stupid. If Velmira was Natsuki, would you fight her seriously? Would you risk killing her?"
Damon's jaw tightened. "It's not that simple."
"It's exactly that simple," Draven said. "Velmira isn't holding back because she knows I can take it. And if I went all out… I could kill the only woman I've ever loved. Love makes a fool of warriors, Damon, we're both fools."
Silence.
Damon exhaled. "…You really love her."
Draven didn't need to say anything.
"So how do we win?"
A blade of green wind flickered into Draven's hand.
"Together."
"How sure?"
Before Draven could answer—Velmira's Ki swept across the horizon.
They hid their Ki instantly.
"When Velmira fights, she burns her energy fast," Draven said quietly. "Right now she's running on sheer will. We wait for her to tire. Avoid close combat."
Damon coughed. "Didn't need to tell me that." He said as he vanished his daggers.
Draven nodded. "Good plan?"
"It's the best we've got."
They didn't hide their Ki well enough.
Velmira appeared between them instantly.
"Would you two stop being lovebirds? This is war."
Damon and Draven split apart as she slashed down, two vertical blades of wind cutting the air.
"We both know I'm not into men!" Draven yelled.
Velmira smirked. "We've all changed a little, haven't we?"
Damon blasted forward, fire bursting from his feet. She backflipped over it—elegant, deadly. Damon twisted mid-air and fired again; she dispersed it with a burst of wind.
Draven punched the air—compressed wind cracked like a whip and gunshot combo. Velmira dodged one, the second clipped her.
She caught herself on her palms, legs arched, firing back a blast of wind. Draven spun aside easily.
"Hmm. I see what's happening here" Velmira muttered—then blurred at Damon.
He barely dodged her punch. The wind behind it sent him skidding, boots carving deep trenches.
"How old are you again?!" he yelled.
"Sorry," she laughed, "my heart belongs to Draven—even if you're cute."
She kicked him across the jaw; Damon planted his feet, the ground cracking.
He caught her follow-up punch in his palm and slammed a fist into her gut.
WHAM.
She flew backwards.
Recovered.
Rose into the air.
Damon and Draven gave her no breath—twin kicks from opposite angles.
She fell fast, slicing wind from each limb—four razor arcs. Damon and Draven pushed off each other mid-air, splitting the slashes.
Draven nearly uppercut her—but stopped an inch from her jaw. The wind shock launched her upward instead.
He spun, slicing down with a vertical arc that cratered her landing.
Velmira staggered up. Draven softened. Damon seized the moment.
Then—
Four light swords formed around her. A tornado of fire roared from above.
Velmira exhaled.
"Okay, Damon. Playtime's over."
She snapped her fingers.
Light bent.
Fire died.
Oxygen vanished.
She coughed blood.
Damon inhaled—nothing.
Air refused him.
Panic stabbed straight into his ribs.
Draven tried to reach him—but she ripped oxygen from his lungs too, flinging him away.
Velmira rose and descended.
Two massive wind-drills spiraled beside her, emerald-lined, rotating to a lethal point.
"Spiral Requiem."
The air shrieked and drills dropped.
For one second, there was oxygen.
Damon's vision cleared just enough to activate Radiant Veil.
Impact.
The ground twisted into a double spiral crater—deep, coiled, carved like twin drills bored into the earth.
Damon lay at the center, half-buried, shoulder dislocated, steam lifting off his skin. Light flickered weakly.
Velmira landed, torn between regret and pity.
She whispered, "Don't get up."
On Earth, Natsuki stared blankly at her textbook. Her bag glowed.
"Natsuki," the teacher snapped, "take the phone outside."
Natsuki grabbed her bag and sprinted out, vaulting a desk, rushing into the bathroom. She locked herself inside. The shard burned hot in her palm.
She pressed it to her chest.
Dust—
A crater—
Then Damon.
Bloody.
Barely breathing.
"Damon?" she called telepathically. No answer.
"DAMON WAKE UP!"
Her eyelids held back an ocean of tears and fear.
"Damon, please—"
"Please wake up." she called out.
Still nothing. But she saw him breathe.
Desperate, she reached into his thoughts—
"AGHHH GET UP!.
MOVE!!.
C'MON YOU USELESS BODY—PEOPLE WILL DIE—MOVE—AGHHHH—JUST MOVE!!!"
It was raw. Ugly and human.
She inhaled sharply, a sense of pain and relief.
Then her voice, crumbling, cut through the panic:
"Damon… you don't have to win.
Just get up please, that's enough."
He tried. And failed. Broken shoulders wouldn't let him lift his arm.
He tried crawling. He did, slowly.
"Natsuki..."
His fingers dug into the dirt.
He lifted his head.
Barely.
"…don't look," he whispered. "Please don't look at me like this."
"I'm not," she said gently but her eyes tearing and nose sniffing. "I just need you here. With me."
Damon felt his Eterna react to the sad in her voice.
"Emotions power Eterna." He thought.
He swallowed blood, forced a knee under himself. Barely standing.
"Thanks… Natsuki."
A steadying breath.
"I just… needed a sec. One moment."
His heartbeat aligned.
His Light answered.
He stood. Broken—but standing.
"Aghhh." Pain shot through his knees.
Damon stretched out his hand. Inhaled deeply.
A pause.
"Twilight… unveil."
In the castle, Queen Thessa froze, stopping the light beams from her eyes.
The metal rod streaked through the sky—green—blue—whitish.
She smiled. "He's done it."
Across the realm, others saw the flash.
On the battlefield, Nyra and Rika dodged it. Then it spun slicing their enemies.
"What...was that?" They asked in unison.
The sword reached Damon, locking onto his palm. A second bracer formed over his forearm, flooding his body with living Eterna and blue light.
"Natsuki… don't look at this. Please."
She lowered the shard, sniffing. "You'll be fine Damon. You'll be okay."
Damon inhaled as his tattoo glowed. Wounds slightly healed. Blue glowing in his eyes.
"Alright. Let's see what you can do."
Draven slammed Velmira into a mountain. Hand on her throat. She coughed blood. "This is nostalgic."
"Why did you use that attack, Velmira?" he asked softly.
Draven let go of her.
They both sensed Damon approaching—fast.
Damon arrived like a chaotic storm—light, fire, wind fused by instinct.
FLASH.
Velmira barely blocked the first strike. The second. The third cut her cheek—her first real wound.
Her eyes widened.
"He's adapting."
Damon spun into his new technique:
"Will-Flare: Radiant Cyclone!."
A drilling vortex of light, fire, and wind blasted her through three islands.
She rose, trembling.
He charged another attack—deadly, unstable.
Her eyes widened in shock and for the first fear.
"If that hits me… I'm dead."
He disappeared bending light—he hid his Ki.
"I can't read his ki...where did he go?" Her mind trembled.
He appeared behind her and swung—
Draven appeared—
"DAMON, NO—!"
At the same time, Velmira sensed a greater threat behind Draven—the Wind Brother drawing an arrow of wind.
She leapt forward—
"NO!"
Damon shifted the attack mid-swing.
Damon's attack split the heavens.
The Wind Brother fell in two halves.
Damon collapsed, coughing blood. The attacks price on him.
Draven turned—slow, dread already freezing his lungs—
Velmira fell.
A clean hole through her torso.
"...Velmira…?"
He dropped to his knees so fast he scraped them.
He pulled her into his arms. She was still awake—barely. Her eyes tinted red from shock. Blood on her hands as she lifted them weakly.
His tears hit her cheek—
Her cheek healed instantly.
His breath hitched.
He immediately grabbed her waist, trying to push his tears onto the hole—
"JUST HEAL—please—come together—COME TOGETHER—PLEASE—PLEASE!"
Nothing.
His eyes shook.
He fumbled for the comm device.
"Tolrex—Tolrex—help, PLEASE—she's dying—what do I do—what do I DO?!"
Tolrex's voice cracked instantly.
"Draven—show me the wound."
Draven tore the cloth away.
The hole had grown.
He could see light through the other side.
Tolrex froze.
Tears fell down his own face.
"Draven… I can't… I can't do anything. It reached her heart. I'm sorry."
"NO—NO!" Draven screamed. "You healed Thorpax—YOU FIXED HIM—TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"
Tolrex's voice nearly broke.
"It didn't reach Thorpax's heart. Hers… Draven… hers did."
Draven slammed the device off and threw it aside.
His voice shook.
"Okay—okay—Velmira—stay with me. I can force your platelets, just—just hold on—"
He used his wind—pressing—compressing—trying to close it—
She screamed.
Her whole body curled in agony. Her voiced cracked with her scream.
Draven instantly stopped, holding her tight.
"I'm sorry—I'm so sorry—I didn't mean to—I didn't—Velmira I'm SORRY—"
She cupped his cheek with a trembling hand.
"Draven… the sun is rising… take me somewhere beautiful."
He lifted her instantly—no hesitation—and launched upward.
He carried her to the highest cliff.
The sunrise hit the horizon in gold and pink waves.
He sat with one leg forward, letting her rest her head against his chest.
He held her like she would vanish if he loosened his grip.
She stared at the sun.
He stared only at her.
She looked at him—
He turned away, guilt crushing him—
She gently pulled his face back.
"Look at me, Draven. You're not guilty. If anything…"
A tear slid down his face and landed in her eye.
Silence between them.
Soft. Heavy. Eternal.
"…Is the tree with our name still there?" she whispered.
A broken laugh escaped him—followed by more tears.
"Yes… yes… it's still there…"
She smiled, trembling.
"My little raven…"
She wiped his tears, though hers flowed just as fast.
Then her smile wavered as her lips curved downward. A soft, weak cry escaped—
"I'm scared, Draven…"
He froze.
"I'm so scared… I don't want to die… I just wanted a better life for us… me and you… I don't want to go—please— I don't want to die. I'm scared."
She buried her face in his chest, sobbing against his clothes.
Draven held her so tight he shook.
"I know… I know… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
After a moment she lifted her face, sniffing, shaky—
They kissed.
A desperate, trembling, final kiss.
When he kissed her, he tasted blood—warm, metallic… and somehow sweet.
Of course it was.
Everything about Velmira was.
Even dying, Velmira still tasted like spring.
When they parted, breathing shallow, she whispered:
"Draven… I know I'm going to Inferno, but—"
"No."
He cut her off instantly. "No. You're not. You're NOT. You wanted something better for everyone. No one thinks you're a monster...I love you, Velmira."
She stared at him.
Then she smiled—an exhausted, softened smile filled with peace and hope.
She pulled out her core—
A glowing emerald orb—
And placed it in his hands.
"Let a part of me live in you."
"I love you, Draven.
I guess… I'll see you in Nirvana."
Her eyes held his—steady, trusting.
Then slowly…the emerald glint, that little truth-detecting spark he loved,
went out."
Faded. Gone.
Draven froze. Head down. Clenching his fists so hard they bled. Sobbing.
Then—
He screamed.
A sound so raw, battle hardened warriors heard it from orbit.
An enemy soldier crept behind him.
Draven didn't turn.
He removed the oxygen from the soldier's lungs.
Lifted the body to the cliff's edge.
Used his wind like blades — sharp, clean, final.
The body fell.
Draven whispered, hollow, shaken
"Just leave us alone."
Silence.
He laid her body down softly.
Closed her eyes.
His own eyes darkened.
Veins of black Eterna crawled up his skin.
Then—
He launched toward the Earth Brother like a man choosing death over stopping.
The moon cracked as Draven slammed into the Earth Brother. Dust exploded.
"You dare attack me with anger?" the Earth Brother growled. "Anger alone cannot defeat earth."
He stomped—spires of rock shot upward. Draven dodged on instinct.
A massive fist crushed into Draven's spine.
CRACK.
Blood flew from his mouth.
But he stood.
"You think rage is strength?" the Earth Brother mocked.
Draven lifted his head.
"SILENCE!!"
His aura erupted. Wind howled. Stone shattered.
Draven vanished—
Reappeared with his palm on the giant's jaw—
"Break."
Wind detonated.
The Earth Brother staggered.
Draven didn't stop—
Elbows, knees, blades, fists—
Breaking stone, armor, bone.
The giant fell, fear finally entering his eyes.
Damon staggered up. His body wringed in pain. He coughed up the last bit of blood then burst into the upper atmosphere. He saw Thorpax charging toward Draven—
Damon intercepted him.
"MOVE!" Thorpax roared. "Let me go!"
"No!" Damon said. "You're making a mistake!"
"You think I don't know how to handle my own brother?!"
"That's the problem. If you stop him now, he'll bury this pain. And something tiny will trigger it later, something stupid."
Thorpax froze.
Bravira arrived.
"Let him, Thorpax. He's in the Zone State. Stopping him right now would be a lot harder...and dangerous."
Varnex appeared, wounded, Cythera limp in his arms. Damon caught her gently.
She looked into his eyes.
"You'll be fine" he said.
They all watched Draven.
A hurricane of grief and fury as he lifted the Earth Brother by the face.
A storm gathered.
And the moon trembled.