Raym's gaze was impossible to read...Was it pure disbelief???Sorrow???Or an outright refusal to accept reality???
"Zak… what are you doing, you idiot???""There's no time for jokes!!!"
Zak's expression hardened instantly. His voice turned cold, almost venomous...
"Oh, bright boy… how I adore this habit of yours...""You always let your emotions outrun your mind... You insist on seeing the world as you want it to be… not as it truly is..."
He laughed softly...
"Yes... I am that intruder you never noticed...I made it all look as though that useless old man was the culprit—but you uncovered me a little too early..."
Without hesitation, Zak lunged forward again...
Still reeling from shock, Raym reacted too slowly and suffered a shallow wound... He staggered backward, staring at Zak with unmistakable disappointment—only to see him charge once more, relentlessly, like a stranger he had never known...
Raym tried to keep up, but barely managed... Zak clearly had the upper hand...
He laughed loudly, his voice rough and cruel..."How pathetic… You can't keep up at all...I can hardly believe you're the same person who endured longer than anyone else against that dragon..."
Then he sneered...
"Emotions… sometimes they're stronger than any weapon..."
His smile twisted...
"Soon, you—and everyone you know—will die without mercy...And first among them… Lonz..."
Rage flared within Raym. He attacked wildly—but Zak dodged as if it were nothing...
"Hahaha! You're such a disappointment... I thought I'd get a real fight out of you, but it seems our plan will succeed far too easily..."
Raym glanced at his sword... His reflection upon its blade looked dull, hollow...
Is this what I am now???Is this the world I live in???A world this filthy???People who don't believe me… people close to me dying… others stabbing me in the back after all those moments together???
Is this the world we dreamed of saving???Do they even deserve to live???
His aura began to shift...
"No… no, never," Raym shouted..."No one is worth sacrificing myself for—not even those I once trusted..."
His expression vanished entirely, replaced by a chilling calm... He looked at Zak with a dangerous, defiant gaze—and attacked again...
Zak only smiled, dodging every strike effortlessly...
"Hahaha, how ignorant...I lived beside you long enough… fought alongside you long enough… to learn every single move you make..."
"You'll never be able to touch me..."
But Raym didn't listen. His attacks grew fiercer. Zak continued evading.
Then Raym invoked his element...
For the first time, Zak looked excited—yet still, the advantage remained his. He counterattacked, slamming Raym to the ground and slowly approaching him...
Blood stained Zak's blade...
He licked it—with a smile...
Fury surged through Raym. He prepared a decisive strike with everything he had—
—but suddenly, another scream echoed through the tunnel...
Lonz's scream...This time louder.More agonizing...
Raym froze...
He remembered the promise he had made...
You'll be the first to see my new technique...
Calm returned to his eyes. Confidence followed...
He plunged his sword into the ground...
Zak frowned in confusion...
Raym dragged the blade along the earth, channeling everything he had into it, flooding it with pure light. With added resolve, a blazing surge of light and flame erupted...
Zak sensed the danger and dodged immediately.
But that wasn't the attack...
It was merely the spark.
A blinding flash engulfed Zak, followed by a massive, sustained slash that struck his chest and sent him crashing to the ground...
In that instant, Zak remembered their conversation—when Raym had said his new attack resembled Commander Seroh's technique...
Raym steadied his breath...
Zak, bleeding heavily, forced himself to stand. Rage burned in his eyes. As he prepared to strike again—
"Raaaaym!!!"
The familiar voice rang out...
The moment Zak heard it, he fled into the darkness...
Vail and Lyra emerged behind Raym...
From Raym's expression—and Zak's retreat—Vail understood everything... He couldn't meet Raym's eyes... He couldn't even raise his head...
"Come on," Raym said. "Follow me. No time... Lonz is in danger."
They ran...
Soon, bloodstains appeared along the path... Then bodies—soldiers of the SI Army...
Fear gripped Lyra. Unease settled deep within Raym and Vail...
That feeling…They had felt it before. Somewhere. Somehow...
But there was no time to turn back...
The deeper they went, the more mutilated corpses they found—limbs severed, bodies torn apart...
At last, they reached the end of the tunnel...
A massive hidden chamber lay beneath their camp—unknown until now...
There, bound to a chair, was Lonz...
As Raym approached, revulsion, horror, and shock overwhelmed him...
Lonz was… deformed...
Additional limbs fused to his body... Severe wounds and bruises covered him. Arms and legs scattered everywhere...
Lyra turned away, on the verge of vomiting...
No one could bear to look at him...
Raym and Vail tried to wake him—but he was barely breathing...
Then applause echoed from afar, followed by laughter...
"Hahaha!!! Well done. You arrived at the perfect time—the feast is ready..."
It was that bastard—Araki...
"If I were you," he continued, "I'd step back..."
Something stirred around Lonz...
The moment they retreated, black smoke poured forth, engulfing his body...
Lonz screamed again...
Raym clutched his ears...
A familiar shape began to form within the smoke—unstable, grotesque...
A dragon...??!