Kai tried to steady his footing… But the ground seemed farther away than it should have been. Not because he had fallen. But because his body… lagged behind his perception.
His hearing distorted. Sounds became muffled, as if coming from behind a thick wall. He looked at his hand. Blood dripped from it slowly. One drop… Then another.
He watched them fall without blinking. For a moment, he didn't recognize his hand.
—" When did it… become like this?"
His body trembled. Not from pain. But from something else… Something ancient, beginning to stir in a place untouched for years.
One name passed through his mind, unintentionally.
Skyler.
And then… The mountain was no longer in front of him. And he realized… He was no longer looking at the present, But at the place where everything had begun.
Then he said:
—------- Flashback —-------------------------------------
I couldn't remember exactly when our friendship had begun… But I remembered the feeling. We were in the backyard of the children's camp, Too young to wield real swords.
I fell often.
And every time… A hand reached out to me before I even asked for it.
Skyler.
He wasn't different from me in age… But he was different in every other way.
Faster.
Stronger.
More confident.
And I… was just trying not to be a burden.
_
During one of the combat drills, I misjudged. Our opponent rushed toward me with a speed I couldn't comprehend… And I froze.
The strike was going to hit my face directly. But a body lunged in front of me. The sound of impact clashed against bone.
Skyler.
He took the blow in my place. He fell to his knee… The trainer shouting… And the children surrounding us.
— "Because of him, he got hit!"
— "He always gets in the way!"
— "Why is he even fighting?"
I heard the words… As if they were pounding inside my head. But Skyler lifted his head… despite the pain… and said:
"I mistimed it."
He looked at me… and smiled. A smile… bright. Warm, like the spring sun.
_
Later…
He invited me to his home. It was the first time I had entered a house… not resembling barracks.
We sat and ate together.
I held my spoon slowly… Watching them talk… laugh… argue over trivial things. And I wondered… When was the last time I had sat with a family?
I lifted my gaze toward Skyler.
In that moment… I realized something.
Skyler… had everything.
_
After months… the day of the selection came.
The day to choose the stone's wielder. A golden light exploded into the air… Hot… majestic… almost like a real sunrise. Whispers spread immediately.
— "The Sun Stone…"
— "As we expected…"
— "It's him…"
There was no doubt. This stone… was made for him.
I stood beside him… Trying to smile. And he was looking at the light… with the wonder of a child. Then he suddenly turned to me.
"Kai."
His voice was sincere… simple… as it always was.
"No matter what happens… we'll stay together, right?"
I paused for a moment. I didn't know why… But my heart tightened. Still, I reached out my hand.
— "Yes."
He smiled. And gripped my hand firmly.
"Promise."
—--------------------- Return —--------------------------------------------
…A promise.
The sound returned first. The scream of stone… And the roar of demons. The cold of blood on his fingers.
Kai blinked slowly. The mountain was back in front of him. The present… returned. Dust rose slowly… Revealing what remained of the battlefield.
Skyler was standing. But his stance… was not as steady as it should have been. His left shoulder was drenched in blood.
The fabric of his cloak was torn… And the wound was deep enough to reveal the flesh beneath. Red streaks ran down his arm… Then dripped from his fingertips onto the rocky ground.
And yet… He did not bend. His breaths were heavy… His chest rising and falling with visible slowness… But his eyes remained sharp… Blazing with sunlight.
Kai finally arrived… stumbling with each step. He stopped when he saw him. For a moment… Time froze.
The blood.
The first thing he saw… was the blood. A tightness in his chest… without permission. An old… unsettling feeling… One he didn't want to admit. But when his voice came out… it was calm, as always.
— "…You look terrible."
Skyler smiled faintly… despite the pain.
"You're late."
Kai took two more steps forward. He stood beside him… not in front of him. Without looking at him directly… he said:
— "Don't die before we're done. I still need you."
A cold sentence. Practical. But Skyler understood it immediately. He smiled more… A smile he had known since childhood.
"As if you could manage without me."
Kai didn't respond. But something small happened… He took half a step forward. Instinctively. To place himself between Skyler And the void ahead of them.
Skyler noticed. And said nothing. Instead… He shifted his body slightly… Until they were standing almost back-to-back.
A familiar stance.
Old.
Two different rhythms… Gradually drawing closer… Until they synced without realizing it.
The sun shone from Skyler's shoulder. And a pale silver light seeped around Kay. Two lights… But one rhythm.
Skyler whispered, in a low voice:
"Kai …"
— "What?"
"Don't go away."
A brief silence. Then…
— "I didn't plan this."
It was the closest thing to a promise… He could say. And in that moment, The ground shook. The sound of heavy stone scraping Reverberated through the place.
From the dust… Shadows began to move.
One… Two… Then dozens. Giant replicas. Twisted demonic bodies… Forming from rock and shadow…
Emerging from the cracks As if the mountain itself was giving birth to them. Red eyes opened in the darkness. A low… collective roar… Shaking the air.
Within seconds, They were surrounded. A circle of giant demons… Closing in on them from all sides.
The silence broke.
Skyler clenched his fist… Sunlight flaring more intensely around him. Kai lowered his body slightly… A familiar combat stance.
Without looking at each other… Skyler said:
"Right's yours."
Kay replied immediately:
— "Then left's yours."
Skyler smiled.
"As always."
Kay answered calmly:
— "…As always."
The roars rose.
Then, The ground shook with the giants' first step. A single roar burst from all their throats… As if the sound didn't belong to multiple bodies… But to one entity speaking through them.
They advanced at the same moment. It wasn't a random attack. It was… terrifyingly synchronized.
Kai's pupils contracted. Same rhythm… Same intent… The thought flashed through his mind:
"Surely… they have a weakness. Every entity has a breaking point. I have to find it… in the midst of battle."
But thinking ended, When his senses shattered. One of the giants vanished from his sight. Then reappeared Very close. Closer than it should have been.
Skyler's voice rang out:
"Your right!"
Kai moved immediately… but The voice came late. Or early. He was no longer sure. In that same moment… Several overlapping demonic voices whispered:
"The Loom - Thread of Veil - Depth II: Synchronization Slip."
Suddenly, Kai and Skyler felt the strike twice. The first… before it happened. The second… after their bodies took it. The air around his head trembled.
Kai bent with difficulty… Avoiding a blow that apparently was coming from above. But it came from the side. His shoulder slammed into the rock… And pain exploded.
On the other side, Skyler unleashed searing light from his fist… Shattering a giant's arm. But the ground moved beneath him. Or so it felt.
The giants whispered again:
"Depth VIII — Folding of Perceived Distance."
The giant seemed distant But its fist was right in front of Kai's face. He dodged with difficulty… And yet… A deep scratch tore across his chest.
Blood surged.
At the same moment , Skyler shouted:
"Behind you!"
But Kai saw nothing. Because his mind filled the void. He saw an attack that never happened. So he defended in the wrong direction. And the real strike hit him in the back. He fell to one knee.
Blood dripped. His breaths trembled. But his eyes ignited Silver. Something inside him… broke. He lifted his head slowly. And whispered in a rough voice:
— "…Enough."
Moonlight energy rose around his body… Like a silent hurricane. Bones screamed beneath the skin. Veins glowed dark silver. And behind him A shadow formed.
A giant wolf.
Its eyes… a dead moon. The ground beneath his feet sank. The very air… contracted. Kai whispered:
"Stone Art - Moon Wolf Stone - Level 7: Fenryss Awakening."
In an instant, He vanished. Then appeared within the line of giants. One strike, Tore apart an entire giant's body.
The moonlight energy didn't just wound flesh… It scratched the soul.
Screams shook the area.
His steps left craters in the rock. Fenryss' presence… Choked courage itself. Even the giants… stepped back half a pace.
But control… was not complete. His breathing grew deeper… More feral.
Skyler felt it immediately.
"Kai!"
No response.
So Skyler raised his hand toward the sky. The light changed. It was no longer warm. But… immense. As if the concept of the sun itself… Was being redefined. He whispered softly:
"Stone Art - Solar Stone - Level 8: Solar Abyss."
A single sun appeared above them. Not a star… But a cosmic decree. Daylight compressed into a point. Shadows vanished.
Then He unleashed it. A wave of light swept through the giants… Shredding their bodies… Scrambling their perception.
At the same moment, He shouted:
"Now, Kai!"
Fenryss surged forward. The sun exploded. The moon tore through.
Perfect harmony.
Two opposing strikes… In a single synchronized moment.
Several giants were destroyed.
The ground cracked. But The enemy was not finished. More emerged. And the bodies began to regenerate slowly.
Kai noticed. Regeneration… So there was a core. But his body… Had reached its limit. The transformation began to collapse. Moonlight energy tore at his soul from within. His knees trembled.
And on the other side, Skyler's light suddenly dimmed. The Solar Abyss had drained his energy. His old wound reopened further. Blood poured profusely.
They looked at each other… At the same moment. As they always did. Before thinking. Then They fell. To one knee. Heavy breaths. Blood. Sweat.
And the giants… still surrounded them. The collective roar returned Closer than before.
Unnoticed.
Skyler lifted his head with difficulty. Blood had dried at the edge of his brow, But his eyes remained fixed on the closing circle.
The giants did not advance… Nor retreat. They were waiting.
He stared at them for a long moment. Then breathed slowly and said, in a hoarse voice:
"They are many… like a group of lunatics."
It was not an insult. It was a judgment. And in that same moment, The sound split. Not in the air… But in meaning itself.
It wasn't a scream. A scream is something heard. What happened instead Made hearing remember what sound truly is.
The mountain trembled… Became transparent. Not because a force struck it . But because the definition of "stability" Was suddenly pulled from it.
The rocks did not move But their shadows lagged behind them.
The air did not tear But the distance between its atoms expanded, As if the void had forgotten how to remain empty.
Kai felt his feet were not fully touching the ground. He looked down. The dirt… compacted. In the same way.
The same mark Skyler had seen before. A passage without touch. Skyler whispered, as if the thought escaped him involuntarily:
"…These weren't traces of movement."
He didn't look at Kai. He was looking at the void between things.
— "They were traces of presence."
The giants moved. But their movement was neither delayed… Nor fast. It didn't match themselves.
An arm rose Then its image followed a moment later. The head turned But the sensation of turning arrived before it happened.
As if reality were showing two versions of the same thing… Unable to decide which one was real.
Then The bodies cracked.
No blood.
No flesh.
Only thick, dark smoke Retracting inward instead of spreading. As if each giant had been nothing more than a page being folded.
One by one… They were compressed. They did not fall. They did not shatter.
They contracted. As if their existence were being recompressed Into a single, unseen file.
The battlefield grew still. Nothing remained. Except Absence. A void… unlike any void.
A place shaped like a woman, Through which the mountain could be seen… Yet it could not be ignored.
Kai felt his eyes struggling to focus… And the voice came. Not from in front of them. Nor from behind them. But from the place where thoughts are formed.
"Lunatics…?"
It wasn't angry. It was… shocked.
"How dare you call my children lunatics."
The space between the last two words trembled, As if time itself stumbled. Fleeting moments poured into their minds. Not clear memories. But shards of perception.
Children.
A courtyard.
Hands dirtied with soil.
Laughter stopping abruptly.
The same word… spoken in fear.
Then it cut off.
As if someone realized They had allowed too much.
Skyler tried to summon his light. It responded. But the light was incomplete. It gathered… Then faltered.
For the first time since wielding the stone, He felt the sun did not fully reach him. As if something stood between him And its meaning.
She said:
"You… see them as they saw."
Silence.
"And that means… perception has not yet learned."
She did not move.
Yet the transparent rocks around her lowered slightly, As if the mountain itself were trying to pull away.
Kai clenched his fist. He felt no immediate threat. And this… Was the worst. Because an enemy that does not attack Does not even acknowledge That you are part of the equation.
And there was nothing left to see… Except the void.