CHAPTER 37 —
The last words of the Herald didn't echo.
They burrowed.
Into the air.
Into the stone.
Into the shadows.
Into every terrified heartbeat in Aetheria.
"TIME'S UP."
"I AM COMING."
And then
everything stopped.
No wind.No sound.No light.No movement.
Even Airi's trembling breath froze against Haruto's chest like the world had forgotten how to breathe.
Then the sky split open.
Not cracked, not shattered.
It dissolved.
Like wet ink washing away.
"Airi—!"
Haruto grabbed her tighter as the entire world beneath their feet disintegrated. Frost lunged forward with a growl that vibrated through the collapsing plaza. Lunara spread her wings instantly, pulling Lyria close protectively.
Aetheria
their home
their city
their sky
their everything…
fell apart like sand thrown into a black river.
Buildings melted into streaks of darkness.
Rails bent and unraveled.
Streets folded inward.
The Skyhub collapsed in complete silence.
The whole city sank into nothing.
Not destroyed…
erased.
Airi clung to Haruto, screaming, "Onii Chan! Onii Chan what's happening?!"
"I'm here!" Haruto shouted, pulling her against his chest as their last remaining platform vanished beneath them.
But they didn't fall.
They didn't float.
They didn't land.
They simply existed.
Suspended.
Surrounded by…
Nothing.
There was no ground.No sky.No horizon.No light.No dark.No air.No sound.
Just.
Nothingness.
Airi's breath caught.
She looked around, shaking violently.
"Onii Chan… it's the same… it's just like…"
Haruto stiffened. He knew exactly what she meant.
"The place after the plane crash…" she whispered. "…the place where we opened our eyes…"
Lyria's glow flickered weakly as she hovered near Haruto.
"Is… is it the Void…?" she asked, voice trembling.
Haruto shook his head.
"No. If it were the real Void… we wouldn't be able to see each other."
Frost growled low, scanning the emptiness.
Lunara narrowed her eyes, voice sharp.
"Then what—"
A voice answered.
Not from around them.
Not from above.
Not from below.
Not from the distance.
It spoke directly inside their minds.
"CORRECT."
The voice was layered.It echoed impossibly.As if every direction and no direction spoke at once.
Haruto's grip tightened around Airi.
The voice continued:
"THIS IS AN ILLUSIONARY VOID REALM."
Airi gasped. Frost's claws scraped against invisible ground. Lunara's wings spread wide, protective. Lyria whimpered softly.
Haruto stepped forward, putting himself in front of everyone, eyes narrowed.
"That voice…" he said quietly. "So you're the Herald."
The nothingness vibrated.
A shape materialized in front of them.
Not all at once.Piece by piece.
Foot first.Then leg.Then torso.Then mask.
A tall, slender figure cloaked in twisting darkness.A smiling black mask.No eyes.Only a carved, permanent grin.A staff with the Grinning Circle symbol at its tip.
The Herald of the Circle had arrived.
Airi stepped forward despite trembling.
"Onii Chan… we will finish it…"
Haruto placed a hand on her head gently.
"Yeah… we will."
Then he lowered his hand, eyes sharpening into a killing glare.
"…Seventy percent."
The moment he whispered it.
The world reacted.
A violent burst of mana exploded from him, swirling like black hurricanes around his body. His hair flashed from black to a deep silver-black gradient. His brown eyes ignited into burning violet rings, the mark of the Prince of Death.
The Illusionary Void Realm itself cracked.
A thin white split formed across the invisible floor under Haruto's feet, zigzagging outward like lightning.
Airi's eyes widened.
Frost stepped back, growling.Lunara's wings trembled with excitement.Lyria shielded her face from the wind.
Haruto stepped forward.
"I defeated the God of Dominion's fragment with this much power."
His voice deepened, growling through the swirling mana.
"You won't stand a chance."
He rushed.
Faster than a sound wave.Faster than a heartbeat.Faster than light in this realm.
His sword appeared in his hand, forged from condensed mana, glowing pitch-black with energy swirling violently across the blade.
The Herald didn't move.
Then.
With a lazy motion, it lifted its hand.
Darkness twisted around its palm.
A blade formed.
No metal.No mana.Pure void shaped into a sword.
Lyria gasped, clutching her chest.
"Is that… the ancient Void Sword from the myths?!"
Lunara's expression hardened.
"No. The real one can only be wielded by IT. This is… a replica. But deadly enough."
Haruto swung.
The Herald swung.
CLANG.
The shockwave tore through the nothing around them.Cracks split across the invisible sky.Wind howled where wind shouldn't exist.
Haruto slid back several meters.
The Herald didn't move.
Haruto's lips twisted into a snarl.
"Again."
He lunged.
Their blades clashed again and again, each collision creating ripples that warped the realm itself.
Haruto vanished and reappeared behind the Herald.The Herald spun mid-air, deflecting his strike with impossible precision.Haruto flipped over the next slash, landing with a skid that cracked the invisible floor.The Herald countered with a thrust so fast it blurred into five different angles.
Haruto barely dodged.
A slash grazed his cheek.
Airi screamed, "Onii Chan!"
Haruto didn't flinch.
He wiped the blood with his thumb.
"You're fast."
The Herald's mask tilted.
"You are predictable."
Haruto growled and the battle resumed.
He swung in a wide arc.The Herald dissolved into shadows.Haruto struck downward.The Herald reformed above him, blade slicing toward his neck.Haruto parried and unleashed a blast of destructive mana, exploding the space around them.
The Herald flew back.
Not from damage
but from being pushed.
Haruto didn't let up.
He dashed in again
a black comet burning across nothing.
Their blades met with a thunderous shock.
Sparks of black and white exploded.
The entire Illusionary Void Realm shook violently.
Airi shielded her face with both hands. "Onii Chan… you're pushing yourself too hard…"
"Haruto," Lunara warned. "You'll tear your own body apart!"
But he didn't stop.
Not yet.
Not until he proved.
That Airi would never face this thing alone.
The Herald twisted its arm unnaturally and slammed its blade into Haruto's guard. The impact sent him flying backward, skidding through emptiness.
Airi gasped and ran forward, but Frost nudged her back protectively.
Haruto steadied himself mid-air, flipping and landing on a cracked plane of nothing.
Airi's voice trembled.
"Onii Chan… let me fight too…"
Haruto's breathing was heavy, glowing eyes locked on the Herald.
"Airi… please just stay behind me a little more."
"But—"
"I promise you," he said softly, "if I can't beat it alone… then we'll fight it together."
Airi swallowed.
"O-ok… but don't push yourself too hard…"
Haruto smirked faintly. "I won't."
He lifted his sword again.
"For real this time…"
His mana roared outward like a dying star exploding.
"I never used full power on Earth… because I was afraid I'd cut the whole planet."
Airi's eyes widened.
Lyria gasped.
Lunara stepped closer.
Frost's fur rose in instinct.
Haruto inhaled sharply.
"Now…"
"One hundred percent."
The Illusionary Void Realm shattered.
Cracks spiderwebbed across every direction.Light ripped through the darkness.A silent explosion ruptured the nonexistent sky.Haruto's hair whipped wildly before turning pure white-black with swirling energy.His eyes glowed with black and silver flames.His coat split apart as his mana reshaped it into a regal black armor lined with silver veins.
Airi stared, breath stolen. "Onii Chan… you look like a god…"
Haruto's power surged so violently the nothingness beneath him caved in like broken glass.
The Herald tilted its masked head slowly.
"You are powerful, Prince of Death… but you still do not stand a chance."
Haruto's grin sharpened.
"Then come find out."
He launched.
The fight this time
Was different.
Haruto's blade moved too fast for the eye.His footsteps cracked space.Each slash ripped holes in the illusionary world.Every time their blades met, light and shadow burst everywhere.
He landed a hit.
A small one
but it drew black smoke from the Herald's shoulder.
Airi gasped. "You hurt it!"
Haruto didn't stop.
He appeared above the Herald, slashing downward with a destructive arc that distorted the realm.
But.
The Herald blocked.
Then struck.
Hard.
Haruto flew backward, spiraling through darkness, crashing into a plane of invisible ground. His sword shattered in his hand, breaking into glowing shards of mana.
Airi screamed, "Onii Chan!"
He coughed once, sitting up.
"Yeah… I'm okay…"
Lunara landed beside him. "Your sword—"
Haruto stared at the broken fragments on the ground.
"What should I do…?"
Airi stepped forward, wiping her tears, determination burning in her aqua eyes.
"Onii Chan. Let's use that sword."
He looked up at her.
"Yeah… it's our only trump card."
Airi stepped beside him, grabbing his hand.
Haruto whispered, "Are you ready?"
She smiled softly.
"No need to ask."
They stepped forward together.
Haruto raised his hand.
"Darkness that swallows everything."
Airi lifted her hand.
"Light that creates everything."
Their voices merged.
"Eclipse Edge… hear our call!"
The realm exploded with light and darkness.
In Haruto's hand
a blade materialized slowly:
Half obsidian black.Half radiant silver.Light and darkness swirling together.
In Airi's hand
a staff formed:
A twin to the blade.Half dark, half light.A symbol of creation and destruction in harmony.
Haruto spoke:
"Eclipse Edge,
the blade that pierces everything."
Airi followed:
"Eclipse Edge,
the staff that destroys and creates everything."
They stepped forward as one.
Their hair shimmered.
Haruto's white-black transforming into a swirling eclipse pattern.Airi's silver glowing into luminous starlight gold.Their eyes became pure cosmic rings of black and blue-white.
Cloaks of white and black appeared on their bodies, fluttering in nonexistent wind.
For the first time
the Herald stepped back.
Haruto pointed his blade.
Airi pointed her staff.
And together
With voices that shook the Illusionary Void Realm itself.
They shouted:
"NOW—YOU ARE GONNA DIE HERE!"
END OF CHAPTER 37