The ruined plains had finally gone quiet.
No flames remained.
No collapsing storms.
Only scars stretched endlessly across the battlefield now, carved deep into the earth by a battle powerful enough to reshape the land itself.
Vaelor stood near the edge of a shattered ridge, Vaeloris resting loosely against his shoulder.
The five elemental golems remained nearby, silent and motionless now.
Watching.
Across from them, Gramps stood calmly beneath the cold wind, Scarlet fully sheathed once more at his waist.
The overwhelming pressure from earlier had vanished.
But the memory of it still lingered heavily in the air.
For several long moments, nobody spoke.
Then...
Tempestus suddenly stopped moving.
The storm entity, which had been circling lazily overhead, froze mid-air.
Aquelis rippled strangely.
Even Ignirion's flames lowered slightly.
Vaelor noticed immediately.
His eyes narrowed toward the distant cliffs surrounding the plains.
Gramps noticed it too.
His eyes slowly lifted toward the distant cliffs.
Then...
he laughed quietly to himself.
"...Of all the people who could've tracked me here."
A slow wind crossed the ruined plains.
Gramps closed his eyes briefly before muttering:
"...I was hoping not to see her again."
The wind shifted softly.
Then came footsteps.
Slow.
Unhurried.
Not hiding their presence at all.
Stone cracked quietly beneath armored boots.
And then...
she appeared.
A woman stepped through the drifting mist overlooking the battlefield.
Tall.
Silver-white hair flowed behind her like moonlight against the wind. Dark armor covered most of her body, elegant yet terrifyingly practical, lined with faint glowing markings that pulsed softly beneath the metal.
A long black cloak moved behind her slowly.
And the moment she arrived...
the battlefield itself felt quieter.
Vaelor lowered his head slightly.
Not fear.
Respect.
"Supreme Guardian..."
His voice remained calm.
"...Valkyria Mors."
The title settled heavily across the plains.
One of the strongest beings in the world.
One of the Protectors' highest authorities.
A woman whose name alone had ended wars before they even began.
But Valkyria didn't even look at Vaelor.
Her eyes remained fixed on only one person.
Gramps.
Silence stretched between them.
Then finally...
she spoke.
"...So you're still alive."
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
The kind of calm that only came from someone completely confident in their own strength.
Gramps scratched lightly behind his neck.
"Barely."
Valkyria's silver eyes slowly moved across his battered body.
The torn coat.
The blood.
The scars.
And finally...
Scarlet.
For the first time since arriving, her gaze sharpened slightly.
"...You drew it."
Gramps sighed.
"Unfortunately."
Vaelor stayed silent nearby.
Even he wasn't stupid enough to interrupt whatever this was.
The wind rolled quietly across the broken plains.
Then Valkyria tilted her head slightly.
And smiled.
Just faintly.
"Ryudo Akizane."
The world suddenly felt heavier.
Not because of power.
Because of the name.
Vaelor's eyes shifted slightly.
Even the golems became still again.
Ryudo Akizane.
Not Gramps.
Not Tensuke.
Not Sensei.
His real name.
The one buried beneath years of silence.
The one history itself hadn't forgotten.
Gramps clicked his tongue softly.
"...Been a while since somebody called me that."
Valkyria crossed her arms calmly.
"What was the fake one again?" Her expression remained perfectly composed. "Tensuke?"
Vaelor immediately looked away, shoulders shaking slightly.
Gramps frowned.
"It's a perfectly fine name."
"It sounds like a retired fisherman."
Vaelor coughed violently to hide a laugh.
Gramps shot him a glare.
"Careful, kid."
That faint smile remained on Valkyria's face for another moment before disappearing completely.
Then her eyes sharpened again.
And suddenly...
the atmosphere changed.
No killing intent.
No visible power.
Yet the plains themselves felt tense.
Like the world was bracing for something unspoken.
Valkyria looked directly at Scarlet again.
"...The last time that sword was drawn..."
Silence.
"...three kingdoms disappeared."
Vaelor's smirk faded instantly.
Even the wind stopped moving for a second.
Gramps remained relaxed.
"Exaggeration."
"No." Valkyria's voice stayed calm. "It isn't."
The silence afterward felt different now.
Heavier.
Ancient.
Like the battlefield itself remembered something terrible.
Vaelor slowly looked toward Gramps again.
Not at Scarlet.
At him.
For the first time since this battle started...
even Vaelor seemed to fully realize it.
Scarlet wasn't what made Ryudo Akizane terrifying.
Ryudo Akizane was what made Scarlet terrifying.
Valkyria's gaze narrowed slightly.
"You disappeared for years."
Gramps shrugged lazily.
"Took a vacation."
"The world thought you were dead."
"World worries too much."
"No."
For the first time...
her voice lowered slightly.
"The world was relieved."
Silence.
Even Vaelor didn't speak now.
Because that sentence carried something dangerous beneath it.
Not hatred.
Fear.
Real fear.
Valkyria slowly stepped closer.
The ground cracked quietly beneath each step.
"You vanished after the war."
Her silver eyes locked onto his.
"You abandoned everyone."
Another step.
"You disappeared with Scarlet."
Another.
"And now..." Her gaze sharpened faintly. "Your presence appears again at the exact same time the world begins whispering about impossible things."
The wind picked up softly around the ruined plains.
Far overhead, Tempestus circled uneasily.
Valkyria stopped only a few feet away from him now.
Close enough to kill.
Close enough to die.
And yet...
neither felt threatened.
Because this wasn't fear.
This was recognition.
Two monsters from the same forgotten era staring at each other after surviving history itself.
Then Valkyria spoke again.
Quietly.
"...Tell me something, Ryudo."
Gramps looked at her calmly.
Her next words cut through the battlefield like a blade.
"Was hiding really worth it?"
Silence.
A long one.
Then...
Gramps smiled.
Not casually this time.
Not lazily.
Something older.
Something heavier.
And for the first time since Valkyria arrived...
the air around him changed again.
Not power.
Presence.
The kind that made even legends stop speaking.
His voice came out low.
"If the world still fears my name after all these years..."
His eyes sharpened slightly.
"...then maybe I didn't disappear long enough."
The plains fell completely silent.
Vaelor's smirk vanished entirely.
Even Valkyria's expression changed slightly for the first time.
And somewhere far beneath Scarlet's sheath...
something laughed quietly.
---
To Be Continued...