“You reckless idiot!” Hiraya shouted, her boots crushing dry leaves as she reached him. She grabbed his arm, hauling him upright with surprising strength.
Sugat could only stare at her, his mind struggling to keep up. “W-why did you come back?”
“Were you even listening earlier?” she snapped, her annoyance a thin mask for her relief. Her hands began to glow with a soft, pulsing violet, and intricate runes began to spiral around her fingers like miniature galaxies. She pressed her palm lightly against his chest, and warmth spread instantly through his limbs. The searing pain in his ribs vanished; the dizziness faded into a calm, steady clarity.
“What did you just do?” he whispered, looking down at his chest.
Hiraya lifted her chin with a flicker of her usual pride. “Don’t underestimate the famous wandering witch.” She began to dust off her travel-worn robe as if the battle were already over.
Sugat started to relax, but then he saw it—a flash of movement in the periphery. Fast. He didn't think; he lunged, shoving Hiraya aside just as a kampilan cleaved through the air where she had been standing. Sugat rolled across the uneven ground, narrowly dodging a follow-up strike that hissed past his ear.
“Die, shadowless!” a Sentinel snarled, bringing his blade down for a killing blow.
SLASH. A compressed sphere of howling wind slammed into the attacker, launching him backward until he hit a massive tree trunk with a sickening crack. Hiraya stepped forward, her breath coming in sharp, disciplined bursts. As another Sentinel charged, she flicked her wrist, and the air exploded outward, sending him tumbling into the undergrowth.
A third man managed to cut down a sapling, sending the trunk hurtling toward her like a battering ram. She pivoted on one heel, the wood smashing into a nearby stone with bone-shaking force. More Sentinels were rising now—five, six, seven of them—closing in a tight circle.
Sweat rolled down Hiraya’s face, her breathing growing heavy as the strain of the mana began to take its toll. She took one deep, lung-expanding breath. The very air around them began to tremble.
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BOOM. A violent shockwave erupted from her body. The force was so immense that the surrounding Sentinels were thrown back like rag dolls, disappearing into the dark treeline. The entire forest seemed to shake with the impact, followed by a sudden, ringing silence.
Sugat stared in awe. “She… she defeated them all…”
Hiraya swayed slightly, her violet eyes dimming as exhaustion set in. Sugat smiled at her, unaware of the shifting air behind him. “You were amazing—”
The temperature plummeted. The air grew heavy, like lead in his lungs. Sugat turned, but time seemed to move through water. Steel flashed in the moonlight. He raised his arms instinctively, but the impact was absolute. The blade struck him with the force of a falling mountain, launching him backward until he slammed into a jagged stone.
“Worthless,” Neyoundo said calmly, stepping out of the shadows.
Hiraya’s heart stopped. A jagged wound had split Sugat’s midsection, and blood sprayed across the clearing, reflecting the red of the dying moon. Neyoundo lifted his sword slowly, his own shadow stretching unnaturally long across the dirt.
“You are nothing,” the Captain said, his voice devoid of pity. “No destiny. No meaning. Born useless, and you will die useless.”
“SUGAT!” Hiraya screamed, lunging toward him, but she was too late.
Somehow, Sugat forced himself up. He staggered forward, his movements jerky and wrong, and collapsed into Neyoundo’s chest. It looked like a dying boy clinging to his executioner—a final, desperate embrace. Blood smeared across the Captain’s pristine white armor, seeping into the gaps in the metal.
Then Sugat fell face-first into the dirt.
“Pathetic.” Neyoundo looked down at the boy with utter disgust.
Hiraya unleashed a massive, desperate blast of wind, but Neyoundo didn't even flinch. He slashed once, and the spell split in half, the resulting shockwave shredding the trees behind him. “You two have no place in Hera,” he said coldly.
Hiraya dropped to her knees beside Sugat, her hands trembling as she reached for his still, cooling body. Neyoundo stepped closer, raising his kampilan for the final execution.
Then, the Captain froze.
His body gave a violent, involuntary twitch. He grabbed his head, a strangled, wet gasp escaping his throat. “What—what is this…?”
Beneath his skin, veins began to glow a sickly, pulsing red. His armor began to crack and warp as if something were expanding inside it. Neyoundo screamed—a sound that tore through the forest like a wounded animal. He ripped off his helmet, scratching at his face as if something were crawling beneath the flesh.
“I beg your forgiveness, my King!” he shrieked, drool spilling from his lips.
Hiraya stared in horror. The blood Sugat had smeared on the armor wasn't drying—it was reacting. On the ground, Sugat’s body began to shine with a rhythmic, crimson light. The earth beneath him darkened, but the blood didn't flow away; it gathered and moved, pulsing like a living heart.
Neyoundo convulsed, his bones cracking audibly in the silence of the woods. Something ancient and primal howled from deep within him.
Hiraya slowly stepped back, her eyes fixed on the boy she had called a "chosen one." The forest was no longer silent; it was terrified. And in the center of it all, Sugat’s blood continued to glow.
What just happened?! > Sugat's blood is reacting to the Captain's armor... and the "perfect" Captain of Hera is screaming in agony. It seems being "Shadowless" is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Sugat's true nature.
If you were shocked by that ending:
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