The atmosphere screamed.
The Jeshilaanga hit the outer wall of the Dildillaac like a hammer striking glass.
Azure Oba led the charge. The Sanguine giant was not riding a glider; he didn't need one. As a master Akin, the Passive Weapon Art of the Arrow was woven into his very essence. The "Feather of an Arrow" aspect granted him true flight.
He soared through the air, his imposing Ijele masquerade—a terrifying parade—dancing in the wind.
"Break them!" Azure roared.
He manifested his Active Weapon Art. A massive Spear construct made of red Aura materialized in his hands. He hurled it. The spear pierced the chest of a looming Kifofirist cloud-giant, detonating in a flash of red light. The spirit shrieked as the Ase disrupted its form, dissolving it into harmless vapor.
Around him, the non-Akin soldiers in their aerodynamic leather armor unleashed volleys of cosmic-energy infused bolts from their skiffs. The Kifofirists swarmed back, a legion of grey ghosts diving with claws made of freezing Iku.
It was a chaotic ballet of gold and grey. The Lumen pearls of the universe watched silently as the Sky of Middle Earth fought for it.
The Cage of Mist
Ahia clutched the freezing bars of her prison. The battle below was a blur of flashes and explosions, but she wasn't looking at the war. She was looking for him.
"He cannot see you," Sirocco mocked, floating beside her cage. The storm-lord was absorbing the ambient chaos, growing larger. "The Dildillaac is a labyrinth of entropy. To him, you are just a needle in a stack of needles."
Ahia closed her eyes. Sirocco was right. Physically, she was hidden.
But Ifunanya did not rely on physics.
Makoma, she thought, pressing her hand over her heart. Find him.
She didn't try to shout. Instead, she pushed her Dapabie outward, bypassing the wall of fear and tapping into the raw Green Huenergy of her soul. She visualized the golden thread that connected them in Zamani. She visualized the dirt on her hands, the smell of the Lumen-vine, the feeling of his chest against hers in the dream.
I am here Libaax, the earth is here, come home.
** The Battlefield**
Libaax Akoma dodged a bolt of black lightning. He was fighting blind, slashing through Kifofirists left and right with an Aura Sword, but every time he killed one, two more formed from the mist.
"Where is she?" he gritted out.
Then, he felt it.
It wasn't a sound. It was a tug behind his navel. A sudden, warm pulse of Green Aura cutting through the cold grey of the storm. It was a GPS signal made of pure love.
Libaax's head snapped to the right. He saw nothing but a dense thunderhead, but his Makoma screamed that she was inside it.
"Azure!" Libaax shouted into his comms. "Cover me! I'm going in!"
"Go, My Lord!" Azure's voice crackled back, accompanied by the sound of thunderous laughter. "I will keep these ghosts busy!"
Libaax leaped from the glider.
He activated the Passive Weapon Art of the Arrow, the flight taking over. He became a blue streak, diving straight into the heart of the thunderhead.
The Eye of the Storm
Libaax burst through the wall of clouds and landed on a platform of solidified lightning.
There she was.
Ahia was huddled in a cage of mist, suspended over the void. Standing guard was Sirocco, now a towering monstrosity of swirling wind and debris.
"The Sky arrives," Sirocco hissed, turning to face him. "But you are far from your throne, little 'King of kings'"
"And you are far from the grave," Libaax replied.
He didn't hesitate. He raised his hand. Active Weapon Art: Sword.
A six-foot Akrafena blade of crackling Blue Aura materialized in his grip. of the sword edge hummed, vibrating the air.
Libaax lunged.
Sirocco countered, blasting a wave of blue-black Iku slime at him. The entropy hit Libaax's Aura shield, hissing as it tried to eat through the life force.
Libaax grit his teeth. Iku was the antithesis of Ase. If it touched his flesh, it would rot him instantly. He poured more cosmic energy from his immense Silhouette reservoir into his shield, the melanin in his skin glowing as he burned his reserves.
"You cannot kill death!" Sirocco roared, forming a scythe of grey wind.
"I don't need to kill you," Libaax shouted, dodging a swing that sheared the top off a cloud-pillar. "I just need to banish you!"
Libaax feinted left, then used the Flight art to propel himself vertically. He soared over Sirocco's head, spinning in the air.
He descended.
CRACK-A-BOOM!!!
The Aura Sword slammed into Sirocco.
Sirocco shrieked as the floor disintegrated beneath him. The Kifofirist king sent tumbling into the endless drop of the atmosphere, screaming curses as the wind swallowed him.
Libaax landed on the crumbling edge of the platform. He sprinted toward the cage.
"Libaax!" Ahia cried out.
He slashed the mist-bars with his Aura Sword. The cage dissolved.
Ahia fell forward, and he caught her.
The moment they touched, the world seemed to stop. The Ifunanya resonance flared so bright it blinded them both. Blue and Green Auras merged, creating a shockwave of turquoise light that blasted the remaining mist away.
Libaax held her tight, burying his face in her neck. She smelled like fear and ozone, but underneath that, she smelled like home.
"I got you," he whispered against her skin.
"You took your time," Ahia broke into tears, letting herself go in the safety of his desperate embrace.
Libaax looked around. The platform was disintegrating. The battle was still raging outside.
"Hold on," he commanded.
He scooped her up in his arms. With a powerful kick, he launched them both into the open air. And they soared upward, away from the rot of the Dildillaac and back toward the golden light of the day.