The Starborn gathered atop a wind-bitten hill, their figures cloaked in the soft blue of early morning. The fortress below loomed like a slumbering beast—massive walls bristling with steel and smoke, its towers twitching with the occasional flicker of magical surveillance.
Sosuke sat alone on a jagged rock outcropping, his back hunched slightly, arms resting on his knees. His eyes weren't focused on the base, but the sky—cloudless, pale, endless.
This is the day. Judgment day.
A crunch of gravel. Rin sat down beside him, close but not touching. Her black hair was tied loosely, strands dancing with the morning breeze. "You doing okay? You've got that faraway look again. We need you clearheaded."
Sosuke let out a short breath, not quite a sigh. "I've felt better. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping someone tells us to stand down. That today's not the day."
"But you know better," she said.
"Yeah." He didn't look at her yet. "I felt Lance's presence from that clone. It was like staring into something… bottomless. What if that wasn't even one percent of him? What if his full power hits us head-on, and there's no coming back?"
Finally, he turned. There was a rare softness in his expression—no bravado, no shield. Just quiet fear.
Rin leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees. "Fear's always there. I'd be worried if it wasn't. I feel it every time we go into battle. But fear means you still care about tomorrow. You still want to live." Her voice was steady. Real. "That's what keeps me going. If I give in to the fear, if I freeze up—I don't get to see the next day."
Sosuke blinked slowly, almost in awe. "Spoken like a real hero." He chuckled under his breath. "You've changed."
Rin smirked without looking at him. "Barely. I just don't want you thinking this ends today. You start believing that, and you've already lost."
Sosuke stood, rolling his shoulders, stretching his arms out as the light crept higher over the horizon. "You're right. I've got more to fight for than revenge this time."
"Oh yeah?" Rin asked.
"My friends. And you," he said, staring toward the fortress, hands resting on his hips like a commander preparing to charge.
Rin's smirk softened into something gentler. She didn't say anything—she didn't need to.
Reid's arms suddenly wrapped around both their necks from behind, breaking the moment. "You guys getting sentimental again?" he grinned. "Hope that means you're ready. 'Cause I'm not. I'm practically shaking over here."
Sosuke laughed. "Same. I'm just hiding it better."
Reid let go and raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Poker face is insane."
Across the rocky clearing, Nina stood and powered off a mana transmitter shaped like a slim metallic box. She turned to the team, her tone flat from exhaustion. "HQ's barely able to back us. Westoria's under siege. All we're getting is a limited strike from prototype bombers. After that, we're on our own."
Reid's expression dropped. "They're being hit too? Does that delay us?"
Nina shook her head. "No. But it means whatever's inside that base is on our heads."
"Prototype bombers…" Arthur muttered. "So the sky's getting carpet-bombed and we're charging in after?"
"I don't see the flaw," Clyde said plainly, arms crossed.
"If we move in seconds after the airstrike, we could catch them still reacting," Ren noted, tapping his chin. "Timing will be everything."
"There's a lot of soldiers down there," Elowen said, her voice quieter but firm. "And from what we've seen, they're not afraid to shoot first. We should stick together. Sosuke's the only one who can self-heal."
"Which is why we can't have him tanking everything," Arthur added.
"Not unless we're more coordinated," Ren said. "This can't be a reckless brawl."
Isabelle unfurled a rolled map from her satchel, her hands steady despite the anxious look in her eyes. "I mapped out what I could. No idea how accurate it is."
Lyra stepped forward, scanning the map as it spread over a flat stone. Her eyes moved quickly, analyzing every angle. "This might actually work," she muttered.
The others leaned in.
____
The sky filled with the sounds of screeching Engines growled above like distant thunder. Sleek mana-powered bombers slipped from the clouds—silent, invisible, until they were almost on top of the fortress. The illusion broke in a shimmer of blue light as the planes emerged from concealment.
"Breaching the outer rim should be easy," Lyra reminded them, her eyes locked on the towering walls ahead. "But everything important's deeper inside. That's where it gets bad."
Sosuke nodded once. "Let's do this."
They crouched beneath the brush, hidden by twisting roots and the shadows of old stone. Then—roaring engines overhead. The bombers passed low, their underbellies opening. Mana bombs dropped in screaming clusters, their descent burning with violet trails. Impact.
The fortress shook.
Towers buckled. Walls burst open. Barracks collapsed into flame and dust. From above, it looked like a hole punched into the heart of steel and stone.
Sosuke was the first to move—his violet eyes sparking to life. He summoned his katana in a flash of light and sprinted toward the breach. A grin flickered across his face, not from joy, but from momentum. Purpose.
Lyra, Arthur, Isabelle, and Nina peeled off toward the perimeter, taking up defensive positions and sealing off the outer rim. The rest—Sosuke, Rin, Clyde, Elowen, Reid, and Ren—cut through the wreckage and passed through a ruptured gate into the inner wall.
The air inside was thicker. Darker. Burnt mana and smoke clung to the ceiling.
Sosuke turned a corner in the corridor—then froze.
A lone guard stood ahead, rifle already raised. Their eyes met.
The man's hands were steady. His voice wasn't. "Stop there."
Sosuke raised his free hand slowly. "You don't have to do this." His voice was calm, almost pleading. "You can walk away."
"But I can't," the soldier answered, his grip tightening. "My family gets money if I die in action. It's the only way they'll survive."
Sosuke's eyes widened. "That's… what they told you?" His voice dropped, anger creeping in. "They push you into poverty, then offer relief only through death? That's not service. That's cruelty."
The soldier closed his eyes—and fired.
Sosuke's arm snapped up to block. The bullet punched clean through his forearm, blood trailing in the air. Gritting his teeth, Sosuke surged forward, grabbed the soldier by the collar, and slammed him against the wall. The man crumpled to the floor—alive, unconscious.
A shimmer of light.
Clyde stood down the hall, ethereal bow drawn, mana arrow aimed square at Sosuke's chest.
Sosuke turned, blade low, breath steady. "What are you doing?"
"I thought you'd kill him," Clyde said, voice cool and quiet. "It looked like you might."
Sosuke stared.
Clyde lowered the bow. "You didn't. I wasn't aiming to kill either." He turned without another word and disappeared around the bend.
Footsteps approached. Ren skidded into view, a wide grin stretched across his face. "We found a way in! Come on!"
Sosuke sprinted after Ren, boots hammering the stone corridor as the walls grew tighter and the light ahead dimmed. They emerged at a sealed entrance—tall, metallic, unyielding. Reid stood nearby, his knuckles red and raw.
He reeled back and struck the door with a fierce punch. The impact rang out, but the door barely budged. Only a dent.
Ren stepped forward, his dagger shifting and elongating into a slender white sword that shimmered with frost. "Step back."
Rin leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "It's no use. The door absorbs force. Physical attacks won't do it."
"Maybe not," Ren replied, and drove his blade deep into the gate. A pale blue web of frost spidered outward from the point of impact, crawling across the surface like veins of ice. He pulled the sword free and stepped back. "Now try."
Reid cracked his neck and focused. He drove his fist into the center of the frost. A thunderous crack echoed through the air as the ice burst apart—followed by the door. It shattered into jagged fragments and fell inwards like broken glass.
The path ahead opened into a massive courtyard. A lone building stood at its center, and off in the distance, the metal hatch loomed—partially obscured by mist and debris.
"If we move fast, we can make it." Reid dashed ahead.
Then, the ground trembled.
Sosuke halted. A low rumble echoed through the corridor. Stone creaked and groaned.
He spun around. "Did you hear that?"
The walls began to shift. Dust fell from the ceiling in trembling waves. Clyde turned, his expression sharpening. "It's collapsing!"
Ren was the first to move, sprinting through the entrance. The team followed—but before Sosuke could exit, the ceiling cracked. A slab of debris came crashing down.
"Clyde!" Sosuke shouted.
The rubble pinned Clyde to the floor, jagged stone pressing across his leg. He winced and waved them off. "Just go! You won't make it if you waste time—I'll find another way!"
Sosuke ignored him, pressing his palms to the ground. A sigil formed beneath the debris. Stone columns erupted, lifting the wreckage with a surge of earth mana.
Clyde pulled himself free, limping upright. "You're the most stubborn person I've met."
"We're a team," Sosuke said, clapping him on the back. "Even if we haven't talked much—you're still one of us."
Clyde smiled faintly. "Spoken like a real leader." He stood tall, brushing dust from his uniform. "I still hate what you did—the blood on your hands—but I believe some people earn redemption. Just remember: every life you can spare, you should."
Sosuke turned to respond—but something snatched him by the throat.
A hand.
He was yanked off the ground and hurled across the courtyard. He hit hard, sliding over the pavement in a blur of sparks and pain.
His vision flickered.
A silhouette approached. Heavy steps. Glinting steel.
A knight.
The figure crouched beside him, helmet tilting like a curious animal. "Still conscious?"
Sosuke tried to rise, but the knight grabbed his face and forced his gaze forward. "Eyes on me. I'm talking."
A gauntlet slammed into his cheek. The pain shot through his skull.
"You've got a bounty, Sosuke Estrella. A nice, fat one. My boss is sick of your little crusade."
Sosuke blinked past the blood in his eye. "Who even are you?"
"Reece." The knight shrugged, as if introducing himself at a dinner party. "Your friends? Don't care about them. Just here to kill you."
Sosuke pushed to his feet, wobbling. Reece matched him.
"Last chance. Surrender. I don't like the mess."
"Too bad." Sosuke raised his leg, violet lightning surging up his body. He drove his boot into Reece's helmet—cracking it wide open and sending the knight flying.
Sosuke summoned his katana and leveled it. The air around him shimmered with charged energy.
Reece rolled across the ground and landed on one knee. He tore the helmet off, revealing messy brown hair slicked with sweat. Blood trickled down his cheek.
"God, that was pitiful," he muttered. "I shouldn't have expected much from the son of the cowardly Sword Saint."
Green mana burst from him in a wave. His aura flared, wild and oppressive.
Sosuke gritted his teeth and dug in his heels. He raised his katana with both hands and swung the blade targeting Reece.
A flash of wind sliced clean through Sosuke's katana, tearing the blade in half. He fell to one knee holding the hilt in his hand.
No… no, no, no! How did he…?
Reece grinned. His fist closed and pulled on the air like he commanded it. Sosuke was blown toward Reece, no way to defend. Reece's fist connected with Sosuke's stomach and he fell to the ground.
Sosuke coughed up blood and desperately crawled toward the two halves of his katana.
Why is there no power left inside of it like before? I can't do anything without it!
Sosuke slammed the floor in frustration and forced himself up despite the pain. He raised his arms with lightning flaring out.
Reece sighed. "The theatrics are a little unnecessary. I mean, you could've just stay on the ground like a dead bug. Is the pain worth pushing through?"
"Shut up!" Sosuke took a deep breath and shifted into a fighting stance. "I can't be pushed around anymore."
The power is inside me. I don't need a weapon to enhance my abilities any longer.
Reece didn't seem amused in the slightest. He sighed. "Yeah, yeah." He flicked his wrist, firing another practically invisible slash of wind.
The slash slammed into Sosuke, dissipating like it just hit a brick wall. A barrier of lightning surrounded every inch of him. Any more basic attacks would be rendered useless.
Reece sneered in response. "I don't understand you in the slightest. Is this really better than just giving up?" He swung his arms down, a large whirl of wind blasting against Sosuke.
He slid back slightly against the force, but remained standing. Suddenly, he disappeared. Sosuke's foot landed directly in the center of Reece's back. He was thrown across the ground, his armor cracked.