Dawn Approaches
Late at night.
In a snow-covered canyon, a place that should have been silent except for the howling of the cold wind, the wind ceased, replaced by the clanging of metal. Kakkō illuminated the darkness, and countless figures clashed and fell, splattering crimson blood.
"Jikade, stop resisting. Just lay down your weapons and surrender. You and your troops are no match for them."
High in the valley, a blue-haired youth stood with his arms crossed and a faint smile on his face. He shouted loudly at the blond youth who was fighting fiercely in the valley.
Jikade pierced the heart of his enemy with a single sword strike, the brief exhaustion nearly causing him to collapse.
He gritted his teeth; in fact, given their marching speed, they should have reached Tianna by now. But unexpectedly, while passing through this valley, they encountered Kailin, who was also heading there. Kailin was a capable lieutenant of Bolunte, and his strength was comparable to that of Jikade. However, he was with a unit of Shadow Skull, and the two sides clashed almost without reason.
Later, it was learned that Bolunte had made a deal with the Dark Guild, sparing Tianna's life and allowing Kailin to take Tianna away. Since their goal was simply to destroy the town, there was no conflict between them.
Jikade suddenly raised his head and roared, "Kailin! As a member of the Magic Council, how dare you cooperate with the Shadow Skull! You beast!"
The young man laughed loudly, "Jikade, you're as old-fashioned as ever. Well... Tianna will be taken care of by my master... As for you... you're not leaving here anyway, so just go die..."
Jikade sneered, then leaped into the air.
The young man revealed a disdainful smile, and a dazzling magic circle appeared beneath his feet, radiating brilliant light.
Everything vanished—the barren mountains, the corpses, the monsters—all disappeared without a trace.
On the earth, the long sword mark resembled a gruesome scar, still containing chilling energy.
The survivors stopped fighting and showed relief at surviving the ordeal. But when their eyes fell on the long gash on the ground, the scene and the fear they felt resurfaced in their minds.
At that time, they all thought the sky was about to be split open.
Suddenly remembering something, their gazes swept around before finally settling on a certain spot. They saw the enormous black giant slowly turn white, then gradually shrink and dissipate into specks of light, flashing away into the night.
The boy finally collapsed, carrying the girl's almost unbearable corpse, falling to the ground with a loud thud.
The snow continued to fall silently, drifting across the ground that had been almost completely transformed. Before long, the ground was once again covered in a blanket of white.
The town had long been destroyed by the war, and the people cried out, but no one answered. A large number of monsters and members of the Dark Guild arrived from nowhere to provide support. They stretched their fangs towards these ignorant and powerless people, and it would not be long before they were all killed and the town was completely destroyed.
Tianna's efforts ultimately came to naught; the justice she upheld seemed to be crumbling bit by bit. Just like her death, which destroyed the promise Chiba believed in.
Luodi was dead, utterly dead, his body completely obliterated. The vice-president of the Shadow Skull, the middle-aged man who had stopped Mira and the others, had a face so dark it was almost dripping with water, and a raging fire was churning within him.
Of the four thrones of the Shadow Skull, excluding the Throne of Fire which fled the Northern Region, the remaining three thrones were all slain by this young man!
"Damn it!"
He cursed and unleashed an extremely terrifying magical pressure. Taking advantage of everyone's inattention, he rushed towards the fallen boy.
If he doesn't kill this kid, how is he going to explain it to the guild leader?!
Just as he was about to reach the boy, his brow twitched suddenly, and a strange feeling welled up in his heart.
But it forcibly ignored this eerie feeling and reached out its hand, rushing straight towards the boy.
He finally reached Chiba, his palm brimming with immense magical power, and slammed down with it.
"Stop!"
"Don't want!"
Chiba!
The girls gasped in unison, but they were too far away to arrive in time, even at top speed.
"Bang!"
The expected sound rang out, but unexpectedly, the hand didn't reach the boy's chest; instead, it was blocked by a slightly muscular arm.
Before Chiba, a person shrouded in a large black robe appeared out of nowhere. His arm blocked the middle-aged man's hand, and all the magic power vanished in an incredibly eerie way at that moment.
"Stop it..."
The voice of a young man came from beneath the black robe. His voice was not pleasant, and was even a little hoarse, but those who heard it couldn't help but imagine a handsome face with a smile beneath the black robe.
The man in black robes slightly raised his head, his eyes meeting those of the middle-aged man. In that instant of eye contact, the middle-aged man felt as if struck by lightning, his entire body trembling.
It was like... seeing something that made his soul tremble.
The middle-aged man was no longer the imposing figure he had been moments before. He turned around as if in a daze, his face filled with extreme terror, and then... he fled frantically into the distance.
Some unnamed valley.
The place was littered with corpses and bloodstains, and the snow of the night had covered up the horrific scene.
The blond youth sat on the cold snow, which covered his entire body, and in his hand he held a crystal ball.
"Captain! Captain! Can you hear me?!"
Suddenly, a man's voice came from the other side of the crystal ball.
"Is that Jien?" Jikade asked with a smile.
The man opposite him became very excited upon hearing Jikade's voice. "Captain! You're alright! We've taken down the headquarters of the Sword of Slaughter! They surrendered with almost no resistance, we..."
"Could you pass on a message to Tianna for me?" Jikade interrupted the excited Jien, speaking softly.
Jien was stunned and didn't react for a moment.
A deep tenderness appeared in Jikade's eyes, and he was also lost in deep memories.
Numerous images flashed through his mind. He and she had shared many warm moments, yet the images inexplicably froze on one evening.
That night, Tianna returned with a bruised and swollen face, her face contorted with grief. She was on the verge of tears, but she didn't shed a single one. She explained to herself that she had fallen into a ditch... Of course he knew. Her little face was filled with the grievance of being bullied. He didn't ask, afraid of hurting her pride.
He took her to the hospital. That night, instead of staying with her, he found the bully who had led the bullying and gave her a good beating. The bully's parent was a high-ranking official in the council branch, and Jikade's superior. Kicard was demoted from captain to captain of the first team because of this incident.
He didn't let Tianna know. He knew the girl never wanted to cause him trouble, so he always acted as if he didn't care about Tianna. But how could he not care? Just like when the girl was slacking off, he was expressionless, but he sighed countless times in his heart, feeling disappointed in her; just like when the girl was competing, he remained calm, but secretly he was sweating for her countless times.
The girl always complained that he didn't have time for her, and he would just smile silently. Because the girl never knew that there was a gaze that had been on her from the very beginning.
He loved her, but never said a word.
"Nana... remember to make yourself a glass of milk before bed..."
He spoke with almost all his might, and then cut off the communication crystal.
His arm slid down limply, revealing a bright red, glaring wound. He had bled out overnight.
As the sun rose, the light of dawn pierced through the dark clouds and spilled across the snow-covered earth. White birds chirped and preened each other's feathers on the bare branches. Light streamed through the cracks in the valley and shone on his face. He finally closed his eyes, peaceful and serene.