Chapter 25 ~ Mist and Wind (2/2)
Hikari, his golden hair catching the nascent light of dawn, his blue eyes fixed and resolute, stood upon the scorched, barren earth where the previous cataclysm had erased all traces of grass. The Water Fox Fang was a steady, cool presence in his right hand. From his very form, a subtle, ethereal mist had begun to emanate, swirling gently around him. Behind him, Rentarou had touched his gauntleted hands to the ground, and a sturdy, grey stone dome had sprung up, encasing him in its protective embrace, leaving Hikari alone on the frontline.
He faced his adversaries: Arujo, the blond swordsman with the piercing green eyes, stood on the unscathed grass just beyond the blast radius, his posture tense. Beside him, yet slightly elevated, Yuta floated, his long black hair rippling like a dark banner in the cool morning breeze, his obsidian eyes narrowed.
Hikari tightened his grip on his cerulean blade, his voice cutting through the charged air, calm yet imbued with an undeniable gravity. "Mist Flood!!"
As if a colossal, invisible dam had burst, a torrent of greyish-white mist erupted from Hikari's body in a breathtaking, almost miraculous deluge. It wasn't water, but a dense, roiling fog that billowed outwards with astonishing speed, swallowing the landscape, the remaining grass, everything, in its silent, consuming embrace. Above, the sky was a canvas of transitioning hues, the stars of night surrendering their last luminescence to the encroaching fingers of dawn.
In moments, both Yuta and Arujo were engulfed, their forms vanishing within the opaque shroud.
Yuta instinctively raised an arm, shielding his face as the disorienting fog enveloped him. Arujo, however, reacted with swift precision. He swept his hands outwards—FWOOSH!—and a vortex of wind, tinged with a faint, greenish hue, tore through the mist immediately around them. A small, clear pocket formed, the grass visible at their feet, a miniature whirlwind battling against the oppressive, dense fog. Within this temporary haven, Arujo could see Yuta. "Don't worry," he said, his voice sharp, "and don't lose your focus. This mist is harmless in itself. It's a diversionary ability, designed to facilitate escape or concealment."
At that very instant, a strange, distinct sound reached their ears through the swirling fog – the rushing, slicing sound of a powerful wave of water.
Their eyes widened. An arc of luminous blue water, a cutting wave of pure energy, tore through the mist, materializing with terrifying speed directly behind Yuta, who was still hovering a few feet above the ground.
Yuta spun around instantly, his reflexes honed, thrusting his hands forward and unleashing a concussive blast of wind.
SPLASH!!!
The elemental forces collided with spectacular violence. Wind and water warred, exploding into a fantastical, atomized spray of glittering droplets that filled their small clearing. Some of the cold, errant drops spattered against Yuta's hair, his face, and his dark attire. He let out a sharp, anxious gasp, instinctively dropping to the ground, his feet finding solid earth.
"Escape or concealment, you say?!" Yuta panted, his voice tight with a newfound urgency as he shot a worried look at his companion. "Arujo… perhaps we're the ones who should be considering a hasty retreat!"
Arujo's hand tightened on the hilt of his sword, his jaw clenched. He heard it again – the tell-tale shussh of another water wave slicing through the unseen air. Where will it appear from this time?! he thought, a bead of sweat tracing a path down his cheek.
He caught a fleeting blue glint in the dense mist to his right. "There!!" he yelled, thrusting his left hand out in that direction. A powerful, compressed blast of wind, like a cannonball of pure air, erupted from his palm. It tore through the fog, momentarily clearing a path. And indeed, at the end of that path, the wind cannonball reached Hikari, who, with a fluid, almost contemptuous movement of his blue blade, neatly split the gale in two. The mist continued to pour from Hikari's form, undiminished. Arujo managed a grim smirk. "You won't escape this time!"
"Arujo!!" Yuta suddenly screamed, his voice high with alarm. "Above you!!"
Startled, Arujo snapped his head upwards. His eyes widened in disbelief as a third razor-sharp wave of cutting water descended directly upon him. At the very last possible second, he swung his sword in a desperate, upward parry. He managed to intercept the attack, the water wave exploding against his blade, shattering into a shower of tiny, almost gentle droplets that rained down over him and the surrounding grass.
Arujo stood there, stunned, his blond hair plastered to his forehead, his clothes soaked. He stared at his dripping sword. It looked… damaged, the metal showing signs of stress and minute fissures. Damn it, he thought, a cold dread seeping into him. The sword… it won't withstand many more of these water-based assaults…
He quickly scanned the area, trying to relocate Hikari, but the mist had reclaimed everything, pressing in again, thick and disorienting. He's using his physical presence as a decoy, Arujo realized with dawning horror, his mind racing. His attacks are originating from entirely different vectors. He'll send a wave from the north, for instance, then create a diversionary noise elsewhere so I don't focus on the sound of his true attack approaching… What in blazes am I supposed to do in this situation—
His thoughts slammed to a halt. A profound, chilling silence enveloped him, broken only by the faint, almost inaudible swirl of the mist. His eyes widened.
The cool, cerulean blue blade of the Water Fox Fang was already piercing his chest.
He lowered his gaze, his movements slow, almost dreamlike. He saw the blade, undeniably, impossibly, embedded within him. His vision blurred, then refocused with stark, terrifying clarity on the alien metal violating his form. Beads of sweat, cold and clammy, slid down his face.
A voice, a mere whisper, breathed from directly behind his ear. "I was… one step ahead of you."
With an immense effort, Arujo tried to turn his head. The dense fog seemed to part just enough to reveal Hikari's face, inches from his own. Hikari's blue eyes were like chips of ice, his golden hair a stark contrast to the grey mist. "Your analysis," Hikari murmured, his voice devoid of emotion, "was far too late."
Arujo's green eyes, wide with a mixture of terror and disbelief, stared into Hikari's. Unbelievable… his dying thoughts screamed. His true objective, from the very beginning… it was a direct, close-quarters assault, not just launching those water waves… Damn this kid… he's… wickedly intelligent…
Hikari pulled his blade free from Arujo's chest. There was no blood. Instead, a shower of brilliant, azure digital sparks erupted from the wound, a fantastical, gaping hole briefly visible in Arujo's torso before his form began to shimmer.
At that precise moment, Yuta's frantic voice echoed through the mist. "Arujo?? Arujo, where are you?!"
With a desperate sweep of his hands, Yuta unleashed a powerful, swirling vortex of wind. The mist in a wide radius around him was instantly blasted away, revealing the scene with stark clarity. Yuta's black eyes widened in utter horror as he spotted Arujo, his companion, collapsing to the ground. Arujo's body was already beginning to dissolve, breaking down into a cascade of fading blue digital squares and ephemeral sparks.
Arujo hit the earth, his form completely vanishing before he even settled.
Yuta's eyebrows twitched, then slammed down in an expression of absolute, unadulterated fury. The winds around him, previously a controlled force, began to rage, whipping into a violent, expanding storm. His eyes, blazing with a grief-stricken, vengeful fire, fixed on Hikari.
"I'LL DEFINITELY KILL YOU!!!" he shrieked, his voice cracking with raw anguish and hatred. "RISING STAAAAAAAAAR!!!"
Hikari stood firm against the onslaught of the gale, his expression unreadable, his cold blue eyes fixed on the raging Yuta. His golden hair whipped violently from side to side, a stark banner against the turbulent, pre-dawn sky.
The vortex of wind, born from Yuta's anguish, escalated into a raging tempest. His black eyes, burning with an incandescent hatred, seemed to fuel the storm's ferocity. The last vestiges of Hikari's mist were utterly obliterated, scoured from the area as if they had never existed, leaving no trace behind.
In that same moment, cocooned within the dim, echoing confines of his grey Stone Dome, Rentarou listened. The sound of the howling wind clawed at the exterior of his makeshift sanctuary, a constant, mournful shriek. It lacked the raw, destructive power to breach the stone, yet its presence was an oppressive, audible reminder of the fury raging just outside.
"Hikari…" Rentarou whispered into the deep darkness, his voice a mixture of awe and trepidation. "He's still alive… He's still out there, fighting!"
As if in response to his thoughts, a luminous blue system interface materialized before him, a stark, glowing rectangle in the otherwise pitch-black interior of the dome. A small notification box was prominent:
[ Thread of Fate ] (Displayed in a soft, light blue hue)
Beneath this enigmatic title, a single line of text appeared:
[ Will you leave a lost little girl alone in the forest? ]
The faint, ethereal blue light from the screen cast flickering, ghostly highlights on Rentarou's face, illuminating his wide, questioning eyes in the oppressive darkness.
"Thread of Fate?" he breathed, the words barely a whisper. "What… what is this?" He paused, a new thought striking him with sudden clarity. "This is the very first time I've ever received a direct notification from the system like this… How can I obtain more information about it?"
As if sensing his unspoken query, the interface on the screen shifted. The notification box faded, replaced by the familiar display of the game world map. Vast swathes of it were greyed out, locked and inaccessible, with only two regions clearly delineated: the 'Old Ruins of Rona' and the 'Spring Journey'. The map began to zoom in automatically, smoothly and gradually, focusing on their current precise location – the grassy, transitional land bridge connecting the end of the Rona ruins and the beginning of the Spring Journey territory. A small, bright yellow arrow hovered above his own name, 'Rentarou', displayed in crisp white lettering. Then, in a corner of the displayed map, a small, circular blue dot began to pulse rhythmically, a beacon in the digital cartography.
Intrigued, Rentarou reached out a finger, touching the cool, immaterial surface of the holographic map. He began to drag it, his gaze scanning intently, searching for the source of that blinking blue point. His finger traced a path across the digital landscape, moving towards the depiction of the dense forest they had noted earlier. He continued to scroll, pulling the map further and further for several more seconds, until at last, deep within the representation of the woods, he located the gently pulsing, light blue dot.
"What does this mean…?" he whispered, his brow furrowed in concentration. A sudden, startling possibility bloomed in his mind. "Could it be… is this where the little girl is right now?"