The square was silent. The villagers could only hear Rei's shallow, broken breath as the weight of gods crushed the air.
For the first time, the Dark Elders turned their heads. Their faceless gaze fixed on Rei.
Envelon staggered forward, dragging Enid by the ropes. His voice trembled but rose to meet the silence. "No! Not him! You misunderstand. He is not the Awakening. The boy who carries such danger is not…"
Then one Elder turned its head.
Envelon froze mid-word. The Elder's hand twitched. Time folded. Silence ripped through the air.
And then, without warning, Envelon's head was torn from his shoulders. Not cut. Not burned. Ripped like paper pulled apart. His body dissolved into rot before it struck the ground.
Enid fell, bindings snapping loose from the shock. Rei was hurled into the dirt, his skull cracking against stone. Darkness swallowed him.
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
Then the villagers screamed.
"Mira!"
"Kaien, run!"
"Mother, where are you?!"
Chaos tore through the square. Mothers grabbed children and fled. Fathers raised spears and charged, but their weapons crumbled to dust in their hands.
Everything they had trained for, every night spent firing beams into the air, every whispered hope that they could resist, their strength was nothing. They knew it now. They were lambs before wolves.
The Elders began their work.
One gesture, and time fractured. Men froze mid-step, locked in endless loops, dying before their own screams left their throats.
Another breath, and decay spilled across the crowd. Flesh withered, bodies collapsed into husks.
The ground shuddered, swallowing houses whole, families vanishing in an instant.
Darkness bled from the Elders, devouring torches, voices, even the sky itself.
Hurukoya screamed as it died.
Enid staggered to his knees, blood on his hands, his throat raw as he screamed. "Grandfatherrrrr!" His Enso erupted in a burst of perfect light, but it bent and shattered against the void. His cries broke into sobs. "Why… why him?!"
Beside him, Reganu flash-stepped, tearing at what remained of the ropes. "Enid! Listen to me! Run! You're the only hope left!" His voice cracked with desperation, each word drenched in grief and rage.
But before his hands could free his son, an Elder appeared above. Its shadow blotted out the ground. Reganu barely turned before the air split, his body torn in two, blood raining over the boy he tried to save.
"Fatherrrrr!" Enid's scream was agony itself, echoing through the square.
Mira and Kaien fought through the panic, forcing their way toward Rei's unconscious form. Mira's arms glowed with protective Enso as she shielded his body. Kaien loosed arrow after arrow, his voice hoarse. "We won't leave him! We won't!"
Decay swallowed them. Mira shrieked once before her body shriveled, collapsing in silence. Kaien's chest burst as he loosed his final arrow, and he fell with blood staining the stones. Their hands still reached for Rei even as life left them.
Rei stirred faintly, blood on his lips, but the darkness inside him was heavier than the world. His body didn't move. His mind drifted.
Through the madness, Shira's chant cut the air. The Blackstone burned in her palm, her life spilling into the sigils she carved. A gate opened, light screaming against the night. Her face was pale, eyes blazing with fury and grief. "Through the gate! Go!"
The villagers shoved Enid forward, believing he was their last hope. Enid staggered, his eyes red, his breath ragged, but he clutched Rei's limp form with shaking arms.
An Elder appeared above him. Enid roared, his perfect Enso blasting upward, forcing it back for a single heartbeat. "Live!" he shouted, his tears mixing with blood as he hurled Rei through the gate.
Rei vanished into the light.
Shira's gaze fixed on the shadow falling through. She thought it was Enid. She thought she had saved their future. Without hesitation, she stepped into her second portal, her chant burning the last of her years.
Behind them, Hurukoya burned. The Elders moved without sound, without haste, but with certainty. Their power erased everything, homes, voices, prayers.
The village was gone.