When he opened his eyes, the first thing Hyogaki felt was a scorching heat первой hitting his face. His eyelids felt as heavy as if they were covered with a thousand years of sand. As he tried to open them, he felt like he was sinking. When he finally managed to pry his eyes open, the sight before him defied all logic. He was surrounded by an endless, boundless sea of reddish sand stretching to eternity. The sun blazed like a giant ember in the sky, filling everywhere with a searing brilliance. As he tried to understand where they were, the last memory in his mind was the 'WC' on his watch screen as they were about to go to Kronos, the ZC universe.
"This can't be... Wasteland…" he muttered to himself, his voice lost like a faint whisper in the sandy air. "This is a complete nightmare. One of the most dangerous, most unpredictable universes..."
He quickly looked around. Neither his teammates nor any trace of where they had teleported from was visible. The first wave of panic gripped his throat, but he tried to maintain the composure he had learned from Berwick. He struggled to stand, the sand pulling his feet in. Before he sank further, he decided to call out.
"Berwick! Alchio! Akemi! Ren! Kiko! Hana! Is anyone there?!" he shouted, his voice hoarse. Even his own voice seemed to be muffled by the steamy heat of the sand. He got no response. "Dammit... Did we get separated?"
Just as he was about to give in to despair, he noticed some movement in the distance, among the sand dunes. At first, he thought it was a mirage, but the movement became more distinct. A human silhouette! "Hey! Is anyone out there?!" he yelled once more, with all his might.
Berwick, buried up to his waist in sand, had slowly opened his eyes. Everything was blurry at first. As he wiped the sand from his eyes and hair, he heard a voice in the distance. "Is that Hyogaki?" he thought. Shaking off more sand, he lifted his head towards the sound. He could barely make it out, but yes, it was Hyogaki. A faint smile appeared on his face. "Hyogaki! Yeah, man, that's definitely him!"
"HYOGAKIII!" he yelled, his voice turning into a feeble whisper combined with the scorching power of the sand and sun. "I'M HERE! STUCK IN THE SAND! HELP!"
Hyogaki's eyes widened when he heard Berwick's voice. "Berwick! Are you okay?!" He tried to move quickly towards Berwick, but the sand hindered him. He began to step carefully to avoid sinking.
Berwick grimaced as he saw Hyogaki approaching. "Do I look okay to you?! I'm buried up to my waist! I feel like I've fallen into a giant anthill!" He started grumbling to himself and digging at the sand. With his strong arms, he slowly began to pull himself out. As he pushed the sand away, the Ether accumulating in his body caused the surrounding sand to glow faintly. Within a few minutes, despite the difficulty, he managed to free himself completely. He was covered in sand, his hair looking as if it had been dyed red.
Once free, Berwick took a deep breath and looked around. Hyogaki was still staring at him in astonishment. "So… What happened? Did you get scared for a moment when no one was around, Super Mario?" Berwick teased.
Hyogaki frowned. "What?! N-no, man, we probably landed within a 100-meter radius, it's highly unlikely we'd be separated."
Berwick laughed, "Whatever, whatever, let's go with that. Now, where are the others, I wonder? I'll just call for Alchio, he's a chatterbox anyway."
Berwick yelled Alchio's name. "ALCHIOOO! BERWICK TO ICE-HEAD ALCHIO! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
A muffled voice was heard from not too far away. It was faint but understandable. "B-BERWICK! HELP! SOMETHING'S EATING ME! I THINK I'M GONNA BE DINNER!"
Berwick and Hyogaki quickly moved towards the voice. When they got closer, the sight that greeted them sent Berwick into fits of laughter. Alchio's upper body was completely buried in the sand; only his legs were flailing in the air, looking panicked and crazed. He was in a total state of alarm.
Berwick couldn't help himself and burst out laughing. "Hahaha! He looks just like an ostrich! Look at the state of him! Hahahaha!"
Alchio's muffled voice came from beneath the sand. "Berwick! It's not funny! Get me out of here! I think this monster is trying to swallow me!"
"Monster? You idiot, it's not a monster. It's sand! Anyway, let's get you out before you suffocate…"
Berwick approached Alchio and grabbed his leg to pull him out of the sand. It only took a moment to free Alchio, though Alchio promptly face-planted back onto the ground. He got up, brushed the sand off his head and clothes, and glared angrily at Berwick. "Thanks a lot, you pull me out like a potato from a field!"
After they managed to pull Alchio from the sand with some difficulty, Alchio was still brushing himself off, looking panicked. "And what kind of universe is this?! It's so hot! I hate the heat, I get all sticky, and I'm dying of thirst!"
Berwick patted his back. "How should I know? I guess we're in one of those unexplored universes. Besides, you can create ice, you numbskull, so you can make unlimited water and unlimited refreshment! It's like the powers-that-be gave with one hand and took with the other, shame they took your brain."
Alchio frowned. "What's that got to do with anything! What do my spells have to do with my stupidity? I can't just produce infinite ice whenever I want, mister! What part of 'Ether' did you not understand?!"
Berwick sighed. "At least I can learn. Think of your Ether as a huge room. If you divide it into many small cells and use them, it becomes like an arsenal that can last you a long time in battles. Of course, since you don't know this, you use up all the Ether in the room at once."
"Yeah, but doesn't that weaken my power?"
Hyogaki interjected. "Think of Ether like gasoline. Do you think the power provided by 1 liter of gasoline is different from that of 10 liters? It's going to the same engine, after all."
Alchio looked at Berwick and Hyogaki with an expression of someone who had just had a massive epiphany. "No way! I've just been enlightened! This is amazing!"
Berwick looked around. "Now we need to find the others. Hyogaki, where do you think they are?"
Hyogaki adjusted his glasses. "I don't know, but if we climb that hill over there, we might have a good chance of spotting them. Wormhole generators usually drop a team within a 100-meter radius."
And Hyogaki was right. When they reached the top of the hill, they found Ren around Akemi, Kiko, and Hana, digging them out of the sand. Ren was calm and confident, with barely any sand on him. Akemi's clothes and hair were sandy, but Kiko and Hana's small bodies were almost completely buried.
"Oh, so you managed to get out of the sand," Ren said when he saw Berwick and Alchio. His voice was calm and a bit distant, as usual. "I'm glad none of us got lost. This place looks dangerous."
Akemi grumbled as she wiped sand from her face. "Ugh... My hair! I'm covered in sand…"
After Kiko and Hana were out of the sand, they looked around in amazement. Hana still had a worried look on her face. "What kind of universe have we come to? It's definitely not ZC…"
"Let's do a situation analysis," Hyogaki said with an authoritative voice. Even though it was high-pitched and thin, his intelligence made it feel like he could take on the leadership role even in this environment. He took a deep breath. "I believe we are in a WC universe. This means unpredictable dangers and different physical laws may apply. Also, the concept of time might work differently here."
Berwick nodded. "You're right. What Master Tomo taught us in his lessons was exactly this. WC universes are places outside the standard universe codes, where sometimes even reality itself functions differently. And we all get one wish, but let's not forget there's a price. So don't wish for anything for now, nobody knows what the cost will be."
"So what do we do now?" Akemi asked, looking around anxiously. "We can't stay in this heat forever. Oh, Alchio, can you make us some ice hats?"
Alchio gave Akemi a strange look, then made an ice hat for everyone. "Try not to stray too far from me, otherwise the ice effect wears off quickly. The closer, the longer it lasts."
After some discussion, they all decided to head north. In the distance, an indistinct silhouette was visible on the horizon; it looked like a city, but even from afar, it seemed like an abandoned pile of metal. "It might take us a day or two to get there," Ren said, squinting at the distant silhouette. "Maybe even more."
They set off. Walking on the sand made every step a struggle. Their feet sank, and they expended extra energy with each step. The sun beat down mercilessly from above, rapidly depleting their water supplies. Berwick, despite his fatigue, led the way, trying to motivate his teammates.
A sudden roar, accompanied by a trembling shadow rising from between the dunes, tore through the air. The ground began to shake. The team looked at each other in astonishment. "What was that now? Hey Ren, this isn't funny, is this your idea of a joke?!" Alchio shouted.
Ren looked at Alchio. "What? I'm afraid I don't have such a power-" Ren's eyes widened. The ground was shaking violently. Sand scattered as a colossal shape rapidly approached them. What erupted from the sand was a creature of astounding size. It was a giant desert worm, its scaly skin the same color as the sand, its mouth filled with saw-like teeth, and its length extending to the sand dunes disappearing on the horizon. A terrifying roar from its suddenly opened mouth deafened them.
Ren completed his sentence, "...yet."
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me…" Berwick muttered, an entirely instinctive reaction.
Alchio screamed like a girl and started sprinting. "Run, run, run, run, run!!" Along with Alchio, the team scattered in panic. The sandy terrain was an even greater obstacle in their moment of terror. Alchio created an ice track in the sand with his ice magic and, pulling everyone onto it, they began to flee quickly. Akemi readied her arrows, Ren quickly moved away, while Hyogaki was sliding along, seated, clearly thinking about something. Kiko and Hana ran after Berwick.
The worm, swallowing sand with its open mouth, advanced on them with terrifying speed. Berwick looked back; it was enormous! "Does anyone have any idea how we're supposed to fight this thing?!" he yelled.
However, their escape was insufficient against the worm's speed and size. The worm rapidly closed the distance. "It's getting closer! It's getting closer to us, we're all gonna die!" Alchio cried out desperately. "Stop whining! We're not going to die, we have to fight!" Berwick paused for a moment. Alchio was right. Running would only delay their deaths. "Alright! Plan, uh... Hyogaki?!" he was about to say, but there was no time to make a plan. As the worm slammed its massive body into the sand once more, the team members lost their balance. Hyogaki, in a split-second decision, answered without thinking. "Everyone, do what you know best!" he shouted.
And at that moment, a perfect example of uncoordination and amateurism was displayed. Alchio created a giant ice sword and ran towards the side of the worm, but when the worm suddenly thrashed its head, Alchio swung his sword haphazardly, rolled in the sand, and nearly impaled Berwick's head. "You're gonna take my head off, Alchio! Where do you think you're aiming?!" he yelled.
Akemi drew her bow and aimed for the worm's eye, but due to the sand and wind, her arrow missed its mark, hit the worm's scaly hide, and ricocheted. As it bounced off, it headed towards Ren, but Ren easily dodged it. "Arrows aren't working! Its hide is too thick!" Ren drew his sword and began to circle the worm with invisible speed, but due to its massive body, he couldn't find a weak spot. He managed a slash or two, but the worm didn't even seem to notice. Hyogaki was still thinking, researching the worm's type and weaknesses on his universal watch. "Just a second! This thing's Ether flow... It's very unstable! Its weak point is..." he mumbled. Kiko and Hana were trying to hit the part of the worm emerging from the sand with small Ether blasts, but their attacks were like mosquito bites to the giant monster.
Berwick, meanwhile, had drawn 'Green Dawn'. He rushed towards the worm's body and, filling his sword with Ether, tried to make a cut. The sword struck the worm's hide, but due to its slippery scale structure, it couldn't make a deep wound, only a scratch. "Dammit!" Berwick yelled. "We've never fought anything this big before! This thing is way bigger than the Zindan Guardian's mount from the exam!"
The worm opened its massive mouth towards Berwick. Berwick rolled aside at the last second; the torrent of sand and saliva from its mouth almost sucked him in. "Hyogaki! Where's its weak spot?!" Berwick shouted. Hyogaki's eyes lit up; he had finally found the creature in the database. "Found it! Its throat! There's an Ether concentration inside!"
Hearing Hyogaki, Berwick tried to anticipate the worm's movement. The worm lunged at Berwick again. Berwick plunged his sword into the ground and used it like a catapult to launch himself towards the worm's mouth. "Alchio! Ice!" he yelled. Alchio understood what Berwick was thinking. He quickly sent an ice blast towards the inside of the worm's mouth. The ice momentarily froze in the giant beast's throat.
At that very moment of freezing, Berwick, with all his strength, thrust his sword into the worm's throat. As he released the Ether within, a flash of light erupted from the tip of his sword. A violent tremor ran through the worm's body, followed by a green explosion. The massive monster writhed in agony, the entire sea of sand shaking. A few seconds later, its enormous body collapsed lifelessly onto the sand. A yellowish, sticky fluid and blood oozed from its mouth.
They were all out of breath. They were covered in sand and the worm's blood. "Did we... did we do it?" Akemi murmured in disbelief. Berwick collapsed to his knees, his sword stuck in the sand. "Yeah... We did. But... that fight was total chaos. We had no plan." Alchio laughed. "At least we didn't die! Hooray, folks! Alchio saved the day again!" Berwick looked at Alchio, exasperated. "If I hadn't said anything, you'd have been trying to stick that ice sword in my head. Besides, it was Hyogaki's analysis that saved the day, not you." He winked at Hyogaki. Hyogaki smiled tiredly.
As sunset approached, the sky was painted in magnificent shades of red and purple. They found a hollow in the distance, nestled among the sand dunes, which offered some protection from the wind. They decided to make camp. Alchio, with his ice magic, made a small depression in the sand and tried to create a tiny water source by leaving water droplets in it. Hana and Kiko, exhausted, immediately used the sand as pillows and fell asleep.
However, as night fell, Ren, Berwick, Alchio, Akemi, and Hyogaki couldn't sleep. After a while, they realized it wasn't just fatigue.
"Isn't it strange?" Akemi said, looking up at the star-filled sky. "I feel like I just woke up…"
"Yeah, I feel the same," Berwick said, leaning on his elbow in the sand. "My body is rebelling from exhaustion, but my mind and body aren't listening to me. It feels like only an hour has passed for my body, but actually, several hours have gone by."
Hyogaki adjusted his glasses. "You're right. This might be another anomaly of this WC universe. If we are in a place where time flows much slower than in our home universe, this will affect our survival strategy. Resting will take longer, and our resources will deplete faster."
Alchio sighed. "So, while we spend a month here, maybe only a day will have passed in our own universe? What kind of deal is this?"
As Ren watched silently, Berwick started to laugh. "At least look on the bright side, we have plenty of time."
This conversation lightened the mood somewhat. After a while, silence fell, and the desire to get to know each other better under the stars prevailed.
Hana also started talking sleepily; it seemed Kiko and Hana's bodies were tired. "We come from universe AC-209. We're from a tribe. A very ancient tribe. We can communicate with energy and spirits. I guess that's why we're sleepy."
Ren spoke in his usual distant tone, but there was an effort to build trust in his words. "My family too... are members of the Multiverse Council. I prefer not to say too much about myself. It's a matter of principle."
Akemi continued, her voice more sincere. "I'm Stella Hasegawa's sister. She's a Guardian too. I worked hard to be like her. But I'm not that strong. Not yet."
Alchio sighed, his voice tinged with sadness. "My story... well, it might be a bit more tragic. I'm from the Zex Empire, I don't know if you've heard of it, of course. It's probably long gone."
Hyogaki interrupted, surprised. "The Zex Empire… That cautionary tale of an empire, I read about it in books. But I thought it was just a place in stories."
"No, it really existed, though it's gone now. Anyway, I lost my mother and siblings... My father... I despise him, he's both treacherous and without honor. He would do anything for power, even sell his own family. An emperor should treat his people well and take care of them, but because of his lust for power, he starved the people, some died of disease. Some were subjected to genocide. Later, due to his quest for power, a revolution occurred in the empire. Most of my siblings were executed. The rest were slaughtered. My mother… was killed by my treacherous father right before my eyes. The servants teleported me to a safe universe, to a familiar family. I tried to reach them after that day, but I couldn't get any news..." Alchio looked on with sadness in his eyes, then suddenly started to smile. "But afterwards, I became a wonderful and extremely handsome boy!" His words hung heavy in the sandy air, each sentence making Alchio's burden more apparent.
Berwick felt a deep empathy as he listened to Alchio. The tragedies his own family had experienced, Touga's death, Illya's departure... He compared Alchio's pain with his own. "Wow… Sometimes even the most cheerful among us have sad things they hide. Your story... It's really been very hard and dark," Berwick said, touching Alchio's shoulder. "I've been through hard times too. I lost my family, my friends. I know it's not easy. But we're here. Together."
When it was Hyogaki's turn, a slight tension filled the air. Hyogaki adjusted his glasses, his voice more serious than usual. "Actually, my full name is Kenichi Hyogaki. I am the eldest heir of the Hyogaki Dynasty. I come from a royal family. Our kingdom isn't very grand or famous, so you could call it an ordinary kingdom."
Everyone looked at Hyogaki. Berwick turned to him. "What? You? Are you kidding me? I mean, you're a bit…"
Ren interjected. "For a royal dynasty, you are quite sincere and warm-hearted. I mean, usually, people in their teens, especially from noble families, are egoistic. My family deals with them a lot, so I witness it often. You are quite mature for your age." He completed Berwick's sentence.
Hyogaki's face turned red, but he maintained his composure. "Well, it's true I'm small, but I'm not a child. You might find it funny, but I'm actually older than you all. I'm 21."
Alchio burst into laughter. "You? 21?! Who would think you're 21 with that thin voice and tiny frame?! Hahaha-"
"Shut up, kid!" Berwick said, and with a mix of annoyance and playful anger, he hit Alchio hard on the head, and Alchio face-planted into the sand again like an ostrich.
"Ouch, that hurt! Get me out, it's pitch dark in here! I'm scared!" He flailed his legs anxiously. After a while, he managed to get out of the sand.
Hyogaki's thin voice and delicate physique had completely prevented them from realizing his age. Berwick composed himself. "Wow, Hyoga- I mean, Kenichi... So you're basically going to call us 'brats' then?"
Hyogaki smirked slightly. "Well, I should, but it wouldn't look very good from the outside, so addressing you by your names is enough. I expect the same from you. So don't worry too much about it."
"And what about you, Berwick?" Akemi asked. "What's your story?"
Berwick took a deep breath and began to tell his own story. His identity as an assassin in his previous life, the explosion, then the happy days with his family in his new life, followed by the tragedy – the academy raid, Lisandra's kidnapping, Arden's death, Touga's loss. He recounted learning that his father was a Guardian legend, his training, and his journey to become a Guardian. His voice was sometimes sad, sometimes determined. As he told his story, his teammates listened intently. Each loss and struggle showed how Berwick had become the person he was today.
"So, you've been through a lot too, Berwick," Alchio said, his voice softened. "You also carry a heavy burden. A very heavy one indeed."
Berwick shrugged. "Everyone has a story, right? What matters is how those stories shape us. And now, I'm writing my own story, and I'm happy to have met people like you while doing it."
The conversation continued late into the night. As the shadows of their pasts melted away under the stars, the trust and bond between them grew even stronger. This conversation around the campfire had transformed them from just a team into a family.
As the first light of dawn began to illuminate the sand dunes, the team set off again. With the coordinated efforts of Berwick, Ren, and Hyogaki, they began to glide, almost float, over the sand using powerful Ether magic. This eased their fatigue and allowed them to advance towards the city much faster. Within hours, the silhouette that had appeared indistinct in the distance began to take shape.
However, as they got closer, a sense of unease washed over them. What they saw was not a city, at least not a habitable one. It was a complete junkyard of abandoned buildings, rusty metal heaps, giant robot wreckages, and ruined structures. Dilapidated skyscrapers, cracked roads, and silence made it seem like a place forgotten even by time itself. Every corner of this city bore the scars of an endless war or a devastating natural disaster. The unpredictability of the WC universe had once again struck them from the most unexpected quarter. Surprise, concern, and a degree of dismay were visible on everyone's faces. This was not the sanctuary they had hoped for. This was an empty, menacing skeleton.
Alchio stepped inside. "What kind of city is this? There's literally no one around." His voice echoed through the abandoned buildings. Everyone proceeded cautiously.
"There's something wrong here. I mean, WC universes weren't supposed to be habitable," Kenichi added. Alchio turned to Hyogaki and started walking backward. "It's not habitable, look, it's a ghost town!"
"Yes, but someone lived here at some point, Alchio. Normally, it shouldn't have been habitable at all… I wonder if what we were taught-" Before he could finish, the small area of pavement under Berwick suddenly opened up, and Berwick began to fall into a bottomless pit.
Alchio shouted in surprise, "Berwick!", Hyogaki cried, "No, this is a trap! Folks, watch where you step-" Then Alchio and Hyogaki fell. Kiko, Hana, and Akemi, who were already on edge, fell in the same way. Ren managed to avoid the traps. But thinking he had to save them, he let himself fall into the pit Berwick had disappeared into. After a while, they all landed on a soft, inflatable surface. When Berwick opened his eyes, a group of children wearing strange masks were looking at him. He got up from where he was lying and looked around. He couldn't believe his eyes.
"Where... is this place?" Kenichi got up and ran to Berwick's side. "Berwick… Thank goodness you're okay…" He too was astonished by the sight. "Above… was a ghost town. Because they weren't living on the surface… They were living underground…"