Upon hearing those words, Cyan's eyes widened in horror—and then he screamed.
It was a raw, gut-wrenching sound, torn from somewhere deep inside him, a sound that carried pain too vast for his body to contain. Tears poured freely down his face, blurring his vision as he fumbled for her hand, his fingers shaking so violently he could barely grasp it. His breath came in broken gasps as he pressed his trembling palm against Aris's mail, aura flaring weakly beneath his skin as he poured everything he had into her.
"Please… please…" he whispered, voice cracking.
Orion's voice cut through him, cold and absolute.
Orion: "Notice. Your aura is insufficiently weak to heal wounds inflicted by an Archon."
Cyan shook his head violently, teeth clenched as his face twisted in desperate denial.
"No—no, no, no!" he shouted hoarsely. "This has to work!"
He forced more power out, far beyond what his body could endure. His aura surged wildly, unstable and frantic, flooding into Aris in a desperate, reckless attempt to pull her back from the edge.
But Orion's words echoed in his mind like a death sentence.
"Wounds un-healable."
The phrase repeated over and over, merciless, crushing what little hope he had left. Cyan's vision swam. His muscles trembled violently under the strain, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as exhaustion gnawed at him—but still, he refused to stop.
Then—
A soft sound.
Footsteps.
A gentle thud against scorched earth.
Cyan didn't notice.
Aria did.
Her eyes swept across the battlefield, sharp and predatory, piercing through the drifting dust and smoke. She could feel them—taste their desperation in the air, smell their fear like blood. A faint smile curved her lips, slow and satisfied, the look of a hunter who knew her prey was already cornered.
The dust offered cover.
Only for a moment.
Aria's patience was endless. Her power, absolute. She would find them—and when she did, escape would no longer exist.
Cyan's strength began to fail.
His aura flickered.
And then Aris's hand twitched.
Her fingers brushed against his.
The contact was weak, fleeting—but unmistakably real.
Cyan froze.
He looked up.
Their eyes met.
Her gaze was dim, unfocused, yet her voice—when it came—was steady, soft, devastating.
"Stop… Cyan…" she whispered. "It's too late… Just run."
His face crumpled.
"No," he sobbed, shaking his head as tears spilled faster. "No, no—don't say that. Please—"
Her grip slackened.
Her fingers slipped from his.
Her eyes lost their light.
Cyan's breath hitched—and then broke completely.
The footsteps grew louder.
Closer.
Aria's presence flooded the air, heavy and suffocating. Cyan's vision tunneled, the world collapsing inward until nothing remained but pain, grief, and a single unbearable truth.
And then—
Darkness.
Silence.
Only the distant echo of approaching footsteps remained, steady and inevitable.
The dust slowly settled.
What it revealed was ruin.
Smoldering trees stood like blackened corpses against the horizon. Charred earth cracked beneath faint, dying flames. The air burned with the acidic sting of smoke and ash, crawling into the lungs with every breath. Firelight flickered across the devastation, casting a sickly yellow glow over the ruins—an obscene spotlight on annihilation.
Aria stood amidst it all.
Her eyes, cold and red like lifeless stone, seemed to drink in the light rather than reflect it, rendering her almost invisible in the shadows. Her voice cut through the oppressive silence, flat and merciless.
"You brought this on yourselves."
Cyan's head snapped up.
Rage twisted his features beyond recognition, his eyes blazing with ferocity so intense it made Aria's skin prickle. He screamed—an animal sound, broken and furious.
"Damn you!!!"
The cry echoed through the desolation, carrying hatred, grief, and madness in equal measure.
He moved.
Cyan lunged forward, body blurring as he charged, Aris's sword clenched tightly in his left hand. His boots thundered against the ground, each step shaking the earth beneath him. His aura erupted outward, violent and unrestrained, warping the air as it surged.
His hair whipped wildly around his face, eyes burning with a fierce, golden light—no longer a boy, but something feral, unleashed.
The wind screamed as he accelerated. Sweat, ash, and embers scattered violently as he gathered energy into his right palm. Lightning crackled across his skin, sparks snapping and crawling like living veins of light. The stench of ozone filled the air.
With a savage cry, Cyan launched himself skyward.
A sword formed in his grasp—its shape twisting unnaturally, its surface writhing like a living thing.
He swung.
The blade tore through the air in a devastating horizontal arc, leaving a luminous trail behind it.
Aria responded by lifting a single finger.
She blocked it.
The impact detonated outward.
Shockwaves split the ground apart, fissures racing through the earth like shattered glass. Dust and debris exploded skyward, the force ripping through the battlefield.
Cyan snarled, teeth grinding together as his rage boiled over.
"I will make you pay for what you did to my sister!" he roared.
The air itself seemed to bend around him, reality warping beneath the weight of his fury.
Aria remained unmoved.
Her pale skin glowed faintly in the firelight, her expression utterly impassive.
"Will you now?" she replied coolly. "I'll be looking forward to it."
With a furious snarl, Cyan hurled Aris's sword.
The blade streaked through the flames like a bolt of silver.
Aria deflected it with the same finger.
The clash rang out like a death knell, metal shrieking as the sword spun violently before snapping back into Cyan's grasp, its surface pulsing faintly with malevolent light.
Aria sighed.
"You still don't get it, huh?"
Her voice was calm—too calm.
"You still don't understand how unmatched you are," she continued, gesturing casually. "Take a look at where your sword landed."
Cyan's eyes followed her finger.
His breath caught.
The blade was pressed firmly against her finger.
Sparks danced between steel and skin, sizzling violently as energy crackled in the air. The smell of ozone burned his senses. Only now did he realize she had blocked the blow barehanded—the force strong enough to fracture the ground beneath them.
Her finger had not moved.
Stronger than iron.
Aria's smirk widened, cruel and inhuman—a demon's grin carved into her face.
"This," she said softly, "is the reality of how weak you are."
Then she moved.
A fist crashed into Cyan's stomach with overwhelming force.
His body folded instantly as he was sent flying like a discarded doll, the impact of his body smashing into stone echoing like thunder. Before he could even process the pain, Aria was already there.
Her fists descended.
Relentless.
Precise.
Each blow struck with terrifying accuracy, the sound of flesh and bone colliding filling the air. Blood sprayed. Breath was ripped from his lungs again and again.
She moved like flowing death, steps blurring, eyes gleaming with cold malice.
The stench of blood and sweat thickened.
The world dissolved into blur.
Cyan's vision shattered as his body was hurled through the air once more, his senses overwhelmed by the sheer, merciless force of Aria's assault.
END OF CHAPTER 16