Reckoning

Diumil did not stop along the way, steering Ark Maxim through the sea of clouds. The golden hull scraped past streams of white mist, producing a low rumble like distant thunder.

When the island cloud moored before the temple came into view, the dents gouged into the ship by thorns and the trenches left across the deck by slashes were laid bare beneath the daylight.

The Winged Heavenly Soldiers silently furled the sails. Their movements were far heavier than usual, as though the scent of gunpowder smoke from above Hachinosu still weighed upon their shoulders.

Diumil leaped down from the railing, Black Wing folding behind him. The flame behind his head had already shifted from its battle-orange back to a clear azure, though its color was paler than usual, showing just how badly his strength had been depleted.

He walked along the colonnade outside the temple, half-obscured by vines, passed through several silent courtyards, and finally found Annus on the suspended Cloud-Fishing Platform behind the temple.

At the time, Annus sat cross-legged at the edge of the platform. Below him lay a bottomless void, where the White Sea churned like milk.

A waist-high wooden barrel sat beside him, piled with chunks of raw meat. Bloody water seeped down the grain of the barrel and spread into a small dark-red stain across the clouds.

In the Sky Shark Pool below the Cloud-Fishing Platform, enclosed by island clouds, more than a dozen Sky Sharks with blue-violet backs and black markings cruised slowly about. Every so often, a dorsal fin sliced through the cloud surface, scattering fine droplets of mist.

"Lord Annus." Diumil stopped several steps away and lowered his head.

Annus did not respond. He merely picked up a piece of meat from the barrel and casually tossed it down.

The meat