Finn and Nara stood motionless, their eyes locked on Sylas in front of them.
But Sylas… he wasn't the same man anymore.
His short, spikey golden hair seemed to have had years of growth in a few moments and now flowed down his back with dark green streaks.
His shirt was gone, revealing a swirling sigil tattoo that pulsed like a second heartbeat. The design branched across his shoulders, down both arms to his hands.
His eyes, once a sharp blood-red now glowed with the same dark green as the streaks in his hair.
"…What." Nara breathed.
"What is this power…?"
Her CPI scanner blinked wildly in the corner of her vision.
Sylas: 3,250,000 CPI
"It's a… resonance transformation." Finn muttered, his voice soft, awestruck.
"He's merged with his artifact… just like the captain did in the final match of the tournament against Myzen."
The guardian, now crouched, stared forward as well, his black eyes narrowing at the being before him.
"…Where is your sword?" He asked cautiously
Sylas's voice cut through the air like a blade.
"Gone. Or rather… no longer separate."
He raised his hand slowly, green wind spiraling around his fingers.
"When a wielder and a cosmic artifact perform resonance, they merge completely in every way except one… the soul. That sword you saw, his name is Atlas, once a guardian like you. He served my elder brother before me. Now, he serves through me."
Finn's ears perked up slightly as his eyes widened.
"Wait… does that mean—"
"I see…" The guardian muttered, slowly rising to his feet.
"Interesting indeed. But I believe you are mistaken."
Sylas's eyes narrowed.
"…Explain betalite."
The guardian tilted his head slightly, observing Sylas not like an enemy, but almost like a puzzle.
"You said your bodies are one, yes? That only your souls remain separate. But that's not entirely true."
"…Go on." Sylas added.
The guardian stepped forward, wobbling slightly from his injuries.
"Your essence… it's immense, yes. But it isn't singular. I can feel it—two distinct frequencies of essence flowing through your form. Which means either your information is flawed…"
He paused.
"…Or the two of you haven't perfected that form yet."
Sylas didn't answer.
A faint breeze swirled around him.
Then the guardian blinked.
"What…?" He whispered.
He looked down only to see his feet weren't on the ground.
"I'm… floating? But how?"
He looked back toward Sylas only to see him levitating effortlessly inches above the rusty dirt, his body wrapped in a gentle cyclone of glowing green wind.
Sylas raised his hand slowly, fingers open. His voice came low and calm.
"…Fly."
BOOM.
The guardian vanished in an instant, blasted away like a cannonball. His body tore through the air before slamming into a distant mountain range so violently, it nearly destroyed half of one.
Nara shielded her face as wind ripped across the ground.
Finn's jaw dropped.
But it wasn't over.
Sylas raised his palm to the sky, the dark green essence around him condensing into a single arc of pure air.
Then, he brought his hand down.
"Arcus Severus."
A blade of compressed air exploded forward, hundreds of meters long. It tore across the landscape, cleaving through the top of the entire mountain range. Every single mountain.
Finn stared in wide-eyed disbelief.
"…A wind affinity…?" He murmured.
His eyes flicked to the cleaved mountain tops..
"That level of control and power… it's not on Kaeline-sensei's level, but… with that much power… there's no way he loses."
A soft grunt pulled his attention downward.
"Ugh…"
It was Luis.
He immediately crouched next to him.
"Hey—Luis? You're awake?"
Luis's eyes fluttered open, groggy and dazed, but filled with panic the moment clarity returned.
"Lorian… Livia—!"
He jolted upright, ignoring the blood oozing from his side.
"My siblings! Our ship—!"
"Relax!" Finn grabbed his shoulder, pushing him gently back down.
"You're safe! Don't move too much—"
Luis pushed his hand aside.
"No—you don't get it! Our ship… they're still on it!"
He pointed across the battlefield toward the battered remains of a partially buried starship.
"I need… to help them…" His voice cracked as he tried to stand again.
But his knees buckled beneath him. He fell forward before being caught again by Finn.
"I got you." Finn whispered.
He pulled Luis's arm around his shoulder and helped him to his feet.
"Let's go get them. Together."
Luis hesitated, stunned by the support. Then slowly… he nodded.
"…Thank you."
Above the battlefield, in the licensing station Ari'Va's hands hovered motionless above her datapad.
Her six fingers trembled as she stared at the screen in front of her.
"CPI: 3,250,000… sustained..?" She whispered, eyes wide.
"That's… that's the second highest peak ever recorded at a licensing station in this entire galaxy in the last hundred stellar cycles."
She leaned closer to the display, her breath catching in her throat.
"Just who is this elf…?"
Astra's cold voice answered behind her.
"He's no ordinary elf."
Ari'Va turned to her where she sat.
"He's much like those two's captain you're watching so intently." Astra continued, nodding slightly toward Finn and Nara's icons on the screen.
"Like Elara the Destroyer… He too, is a descendant of one of the four core races. He's a Varynthian elf."
Ari'Va blinked, stunned.
"He's… a Varynthian elf?"
Astra's lips curled just slightly, but her tone remained low and cold.
"Yes. But that's not what makes him special."
Ari'Va's ears twitched slightly.
"Then… what does ma'am?"
Astra looked over, her eyes narrowing with something akin to reverence… or curiosity.
"A few stellar cycles ago, an… incident occurred at the highest level of the Varynthian court. It involved Sylas's older brother—Theron."
Ari'Va frowned.
"Theron…?"
Astra's narrowed, before nodding.
"He was a prodigy. Graduated from the same special star traveler academy as Elara. Top of his class like her. He was destined to become head of the Varynthian race."
She paused.
"But on the day of his ascension… he vanished."
"Vanished?" Ari'Va echoed.
"How?"
"No one knows." Astra's voice was quiet now.
"And what made it more disturbing is that no one seemed to care. His family, the council, the people… it was as if he'd never existed at all."
Ari'Va shook her head, confused.
"But that doesn't make sense. A person of his degree and caliber like that disappearing? There would've been records, rumors… something right?"
Astra turned her head slowly toward her.
"Then tell me, Ari'Va… Have you ever heard of Theron before today?"
Ari'Va opened her mouth… then closed it. Her brows furrowed as she searched her memories.
"…No. I haven't."
Astra faced the screen again, her four glowing eyes narrowing.
"Exactly. It seems you too have forgotten him… just like everyone else."
Her voice dipped into a whisper, laced with eerie fascination.
"Which begs the question…"
She stared at Sylas, the green winds swirling like halos around him.
"…Why do we still remember him… Sylas?"
Back on the battlefield, the guardian muscles contorted and flesh regenerated, but slowly.
Too slow.
He struggled to stand upright, his once muscular body visibly smaller now, grey skin cracked, but that wasn't his only worry…
Sylas was walking towards him.
Step by step, he closed the distance. The air churned around his body like a storm waiting to be unleashed.
The guardian backed away, body trembling. His knees locked. His back twitched.
"What… is happening to my body…?" He muttered.
"Why… why won't it move properly?"
"This sensation… this feeling… I—I don't understand—"
"You feel fear." Sylas said, his voice calm.
He stopped several meters away, golden-green hair flowing in the spiraling winds.
"What you're experiencing is your body's natural response to overwhelming dominance. Your cells understand… even if your mind resists. In my presence, you are not a warrior…"
He pointed his finger slowly toward him.
"…You are prey."
The guardian stared down at his quivering hand. The tremors… they weren't stopping.
"Fear…?"
He whispered.
"So this is what it feels like."
He looked back up, his black eyes now softer and filled with curiousity.
"In that case… thank you."
Sylas raised an eyebrow slightly.
"You've shown me more in this brief exchange. For that, I am… indebted."
Sylas's expression darkened.
"You speak as if you'll survive beyond this moment."
He raised his hand towards him, wind howling.
"But you are mistaken."
Dark green essence surrounded his arm.
"Let's finish this, Atlas."
But just as he was going to launch his ability, the tattoo on his chest suddenly pulsated. Sylas staggered, a hiss escaping through his teeth.
"What…?"
The pulsating grew faster and faster before remaining solid, glowing brightly. The next moment, lightning-like arcs tore through and around his body.
"Atlas—what is this!?" He growled through clenched teeth.
On the station above, Astra's eyes went wide. She leaned forward, whispering—
"…A cosmic seal?"
Back on the ground, the light exploded across Sylas's body as he slowly returned to his normal form. Then in a single flash, he collapsed.
Atlas returned to sword form, clattering to the ground beside him as his unconscious body hit the dirt.