"Spread out and search for any survivors!"
"S-spread out, Captain? Are you sure?"
The young soldiers hesitated, exchanging uneasy glances. For all they knew, the ones responsible for this massacre could still be nearby.
"Did I stutter?"
At the captain's hard stare, they quickly scattered in different directions, moving through the wreckage in tense silence.
The captain chose a path of his own and began searching as well.
'Everyone is dead.'
Even after several long minutes, he found no signs of life.
"I found a survivor!"
"Hm?"
The captain snapped his attention toward the voice and immediately broke into a run in that direction.
'A survivor.'
Finally, someone who could tell them what had truly happened here. The voice led him into a wide open space where the ground was charred black and more burnt bodies were scattered across the area.
'A battle occurred here.'
"Where?"
The soldiers had already gathered around the survivor, doing what they could to help. The moment the captain spoke, they straightened and stepped aside, clearing the way for him.
His eyes fell on a teenage boy lying on the ground, his back resting against a scorched heap of rubble. Both the boy's arms were charred black, and a metal rod jutted out from his right thigh.
'He looks… familiar.'
The captain studied briefly, then froze when their gazes met and he saw the boy's still purple eyes.
'W-what is this?'
A chill ran through his body, followed by a sharp warning screaming through his mind, urging him to draw his blade.
'This feeling…'
Unease filled his heart. What kind of child could make a veteran like him feel this wary?
"Stay back."
The soldiers who had been about to help the boy froze, then turned toward the captain with confused expressions.
"Captain?"
"He's injured… we need to help him…"
The captain silenced them with a glare, then fixed his gaze squarely on the boy.
"What happened here?"
The boy's face was drenched in sweat, yet none of his injuries appeared life threatening. He had time.
"Pyrians."
"So they're responsible… where are they? Are they still in the area?"
His grip tightened around the hilt of his blade as the soldiers around him went on alert, scanning their surroundings for any sign of danger.
"He's dead."
"He?" The captain stiffened. "You mean there was only one?"
Every hair on his body stood on end as panic surged through him. If a single Pyrian caused this, it had to be at least a Mark Four Vessel.
"Wait! Did you say he's dead?"
This was a small village, guarded by no more than a few dozen soldiers. They had no hope of standing against a being of that level.
"Yes."
The boy nodded quietly, then gestured just behind the captain.
He turned sharply and froze at the charred corpse in the center of the clearing.
He moved toward the corpse at once, studying it closely. It had been burned beyond recognition, blackened to the point where nothing identifiable remained.
'The insides are burnt… he self destructed…'
The captain narrowed his eyes. Pyrians were known to detonate themselves when they sensed death closing in.
'How…?'
Who could have possibly pushed such a being to this point?
"Tell me everything that happened."
While the soldiers around them panicked and trembled, the captain fixed his hardened eyes on the boy.
"The Pyrian came out of nowhere and attacked the village," the boy began. "The soldiers tried to stop him, but… he was too powerful. By the time anyone realized what was happening, the village had already been destroyed."
"What about the Pyrian?" the captain pressed. "How did he die?"
"That…" The boy's expression darkened slightly. "After it was over… the Pyrian let his guard down. We tried something desperate, and it worked. Barely."
The boy's hands tightened into fists as he lowered his gaze, as though weighed down by the memory.
"The only reason I survived was because one soldier threw himself in front of me before the explosion hit."
"He fought a Pyrian?"
"Really?"
"Holy…!"
The soldiers stared at the boy, stunned, but the captain's eyes remained sharply narrowed.
"I grew up in this village and have visited it countless times. I've never seen you before."
"…"
"You also expect me to believe a boy like you fought someone that strong?" His voice hardened. "Impossible."
The captain drew his blade and leveled it at the boy, his gaze fierce.
"Who did this? Who are you working with? Tell me the truth!"
Despite the shout, the boy's expression didn't waver.
"I never said I was part of this village."
"Then who are you?"
The captain stepped forward and pressed the blade to the boy's throat, the air around them growing heavy.
"Tell me now, or I'll slit your throat."
"…"
The blade rested against his skin, the captain's aura pressing down on him, yet there wasn't even the slightest tremor in the boy's eyes.
'What is this boy…'
It felt as though he were staring into the gaze of a savage beast. The captain tightened his grip just to keep his blade steady.
"I'll tell you."
The captain tensed when the boy slowly raised his hand, only to relax when he simply held it out before him.
'What's that?'
Sunlight glinted off the band around the boy's finger, catching his eyes.
'A ring?'
The captain frowned and took a closer look.
"…!"
His eyes widened the moment he saw the crest engraved on it.
"I-it can't be…"
He stared at the boy in disbelief before hastily pulling his blade away and stepping back.
"Huh?"
"Are you okay, Captain?"
The soldiers looked at him in confusion, but the captain's trembling gaze never left the boy.
"C-Calderalth."
As the boy lowered his arm, his still purple eyes met the captain's.
"I am Zephyrion Calderalth."
"!!!"
The shocked expressions that followed were only natural.
After all, this same boy had been missing for the past seven years.