Heroes of the Holy War

"No... who gave you permission to die?" Gamble said in a trembling voice, clenching his fists. He stared at Akira, who emitted no trace of mana, his heart having stopped. With every breath Gamble took, as if in response, he fell to his knees with a loud thud, powerless.

Elara, freeing herself from the rubble, spotted Gamble and Akira lying motionless. As she approached, a gigantic roar echoed behind Gamble. "Your buddy overdid it with the sage mode, huh?" Vecton laughed arrogantly, standing in the shadows with a wide grin on his face.

Gamble, consumed by despair, didn't know what to do. Though unwilling, memories of Akira and the words he always repeated came rushing back: "A warrior's glory is to die by the hand of a warrior who was strong. But for his comrades, it's a disgrace if they don't avenge the fallen. When I grow up, I'll master my curse so I won't have to worry about my comrades being dishonored!"

At the thought of Akira's genuine smile, Gamble clenched his eyes shut. From his hands emerged a staff made of shadows. "Yeah... but as some fool once said: for him, it's glory, and for me, it's disgrace if I don't kill you now," he said, his voice void of emotion. Turning toward Vecton, his face, dry as a desert, reflected the nightmares tormenting him. "I wanted to spare your life, but now I'll just kill you."

Striking the ground three times with his staff, Gamble bound Vecton with dark chains. Seraphina, just regaining consciousness, could barely see and thought it was Vecton who had bound Gamble. "Damn... I don't know if I should attack; I can barely see anything," she muttered to herself, but eventually, full of determination, she loosened her fingers, releasing a stream of lava that destroyed one of the chains. "I'd rather take the risk," she added, collapsing back into unconsciousness.

"Elara, take her! She's barely conscious!" Gamble shouted, blocking Vecton's strike.

Elara, without hesitation, shot an arrow toward Vecton. The arrow pierced his foot, and Elara immediately ran to get Seraphina.

"Bitch..." Vecton muttered irritably, watching as Elara carried Seraphina away.

Gamble pulled the arrow out of Vecton's leg, then began stabbing him with it as if it were a knife.

"Every wound will heal, but..." Vecton thought, trailing off as he noticed an opportunity to strike. He lunged and grabbed Gamble's arm. Gamble finished the thought in his mind: "Every wound hurts like any wound a human suffers."

Gamble surrounded his hand with shadow and severed his own arm. "Is this guy stupid?" Vecton thought, baffled, watching as Gamble's arm dissolved into dark energy and reformed, whole and intact, in its place.

"I'll show you the will of the dead!" Gamble yelled, launching a flurry of attacks at Vecton. Vecton didn't hold back, retaliating just as fiercely. The fight erupted, with their blows demolishing the district, tearing the field apart at an incredible pace. When one of Gamble's strikes damaged Vecton's mask, he let out a terrifying scream that brought everyone to their knees, overwhelmed by unimaginable pain.

"What the hell?!" Gamble shouted as the noise subsided. Vecton began to change, as if he was no longer himself. Looking at Gamble with glowing white eyes, he screamed, "You! Yes! I WILL HAVE FUN WITH YOU!" and attacked again. Gamble disappeared into the shadows to avoid the strike. Jumping out of Vecton's shadow, his shadow staff shot four blades that pierced Vecton, while Gamble leapt back, wondering, "Did his personality change? Is it because of the mask being damaged?"

Without hesitation, Vecton attacked again, ignoring the pain caused by the blades. Gamble managed to dodge, but his mask was slightly scratched. "You failed..." said a mysterious, distorted voice. Frightened, Gamble started looking around, but apart from Vecton's terrifying silhouette in the dust, there was no one else.

"Be careful, because your stupidity has brought me back to life," repeated the mysterious voice, but Gamble didn't have time to ponder who had spoken, as Vecton attacked him with earth ripped from beneath his feet.

The fight continued, while in a bunker near the city, the evacuation had been completed.

"I have to help them," said Aki, tearing off her wedding dress.

"And where do you think you're going, you stupid bitch? This is your fault!" her father shouted.

Ignoring him, Aki changed into the robes nearby, fastening her belt. She replied coldly, "But you're the one who started it."

Kai, gripping his father's arm tightly, added just as coldly, "Stay out of it, father. I told you, if you hurt one of the sisters again, I'll either kill you or sell you."

Aki, heading toward the battlefield, spotted Elara carrying Seraphina.

"What happened?" she asked, worried.

"If you're going to help them... don't," Elara replied with sadness in her voice. "It's better to run."

With those words, Elara continued on, and the rain began to pour even harder. Aki froze, shaken.

"Run? What do you mean... run?" she asked herself, her mind filled with unease.

When she reached the devastated district, she saw Akira's body buried under the rubble. She began frantically digging it out. Upon seeing the purple burns on Akira's chest, she broke down, losing her composure. She struck Akira's body, screaming in despair:

"Why?!" she cried out repeatedly, almost in a frenzy.

"Why are you crying?" asked a young boy, whose apparition suddenly appeared before her.

Through her tears, Aki looked at the boy, who was Akira.

"Does my death really bring you only sorrow?" the boy asked, gazing at her with sadness in his eyes.

Aki couldn't hold back her tears.

"You weren't supposed to die... You were supposed to become Kamihi... You were supposed to become a god... You were supposed to be my beloved!" she replied, as sparks began to rise from her golden hair.

The boy gently embraced her head.

"I believe you will become the goddess of fire. You're the one who can fulfill my dream," he said softly, and his words warmed Aki's heart.

A massive wave of flames erupted from her body, fiery energies surging around her.

Gamble and Vecton, sensing the immense power, paused their fight.

"Aki?" Gamble wondered to himself, while Vecton, like a wild animal, charged toward the source of the incredible strength.

When Vecton reached Aki, he saw her in a completely transformed state. Her hair glowed with an intense crimson hue, and her clothing had turned into a cloak of flames that rippled like living fire. Aki had entered the Master of Flames State—a form similar to Akira's, but her aura seemed even more overwhelming, almost unbearable. The last tear rolled down her cheek as she gently laid Akira's body on the ground.

"I'll crush you..." she said coldly, discarding any remnants of gentleness.

Before Vecton could react, Aki appeared above him and slammed him into the rubble with incredible force. Gamble wasted no time, grabbing the stunned Vecton and hurling him into the air with superhuman strength. In a split second, Aki leapt after him, grabbed his arm, and threw him toward the forest. Vecton crashed into the ground with immense impact, shattering trees and leaving behind a crater.

Rising from the debris, he wiped his face as his mask split in half. A scream of pain filled the air as the remnants of his power left his body. The light in Vecton's eyes disappeared—he now behaved like a wild beast, devoid of reason.

"If we kill him quickly, there's a chance we can save Akira," Aki said seriously, looking at Gamble.

The star symbol on Gamble's mask glowed with golden light.

"Then I'll obliterate every atom of his body. Just make sure he doesn't move," he replied, crossing his fingers and focusing golden mana into them.

Aki charged at Vecton, but he struck first. With unimaginable strength, he slammed her into the ground, destroying more buildings in the area. Aki quickly broke free from his grip and unleashed a flurry of swift, powerful strikes, finishing with a flame-infused blow. Vecton's face was slightly scorched, but he responded with a feral roar, like a maddened beast, and lunged at Aki again.

Attempting to block him, she misjudged his intentions. Vecton's attacks, though chaotic, were immensely powerful. He struck her repeatedly, driving her deeper into the ground. Finally, Aki grabbed his face, shoved him back, and delivered a kick to his jaw while grabbing his neck.

Vecton, unfazed, reset his broken neck and attacked again.

"Fucking zombie..." Aki thought, parrying his blows.

When she finally found an opening in his defense, she used the "Rising Sun" technique. A blazing strike of fire slashed through Vecton from the ground to the top of his head, leaving a deep gash. However, Vecton cauterized his wounds with flames to keep from dying and continued fighting.

Sensing her mana running low, Aki summoned four pillars of fire that shot skyward, releasing flaming chains to immobilize Vecton.

"Now's your chance! Do it!" she shouted, leaping to a safe distance.

Gamble, with his hands crossed in focus, recited an incantation:

"Final light, illuminate my world once more! LAST STAR!"

A small orb of golden mana formed in his hands. He hurled it into the air while using earth magic to launch the immobilized Vecton into its range. When the orb struck its target, a massive, blinding explosion erupted. The wave of heat nearly touched the ground, and its force shook the surroundings.

When the dust settled, Vecton's remaining power had vanished, and silence fell over the battlefield.

After the attack, Gamble collapsed to the ground, his mask falling off on its own.

"Heh... I avenged you, Akira," he muttered, gazing at the cloudy sky. The full moon reflected faintly on the surface of the nearby water.

Aki, without wasting a moment, ran to Akira's body—but it was gone.

"Maybe the wind carried it somewhere," she thought.

"Greetings... boy with the shield," called a mysterious feminine voice. When Gamble turned around, he saw Akira standing before him.

"What?... An illusion? No. A body swap? No... I feel his mana," he muttered to himself as he slowly stood up, only to feel a sharp, agonizing pain in his back.

"My back injury... is it back?" he wondered aloud before collapsing to the ground.

Akira, now with sharper golden hair and cold blue eyes, spread his arms wide and asked,

"Is this how you greet a resurrected friend?"

Before Gamble could respond, Akira was struck by a wave of fire from behind. Aki, using the last of her mana for the attack, pushed Akira far away from Gamble.

"Do you have any idea who that is?" Aki asked, crouching beside Gamble as he worked to heal his injured back.

"Seems like... the one who possessed Akira five years ago during the battle with Azazel… or Azazal? That weirdo," he replied.

"Bravo. You remember me," said Akira, appearing beside them.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Aurra Zin In Izumi, a distant relative of your Akira," she declared, her voice echoing with eerie calm as she wielded control over Akira's body.

"Give his body back!" Aki shouted, unsheathing her sword.

But Aurra firmly replied,

"I cannot. I am an emissary of my master, who has one simple goal: to restart the timeline."

Shocked, Gamble stood up and summoned his shield, launching an attack at Aurra. She nimbly dodged, speaking as she evaded his strikes.

"The mask gives you power, but after using it, you revert to your state before donning it. That's why no one uses it in war or crises."

Aki, taking advantage of Aurra's evasive maneuvers, kicked her into the ground and nearly plunged her blade into Akira's body.

"How can I fight someone in Akira's body?" Aki whispered to herself before being repelled by Aurra.

"Enough. End thi—" Aurra began, but her words were cut off as a chilling aura emerged from behind.

Echoing whispers filled the space:

"Void..."

"Peace of the spirit..."

"Nothingness..."

"Collapse of reality... the Sanctuary of Fallen Souls."

Suddenly, a dark dome enveloped Aurra, Aki, and Gamble. Beneath an immense, icy temple stood a stunning woman clad in royal armor. Her long, reddish hair flowed in the wind as she confidently strode toward Aurra.

When the woman spoke, her voice resonated with an elegance and authority that filled the air.

"As Queen and Blood Sovereign of the Drascels Throne, I, Anna Karrona D. Drascels, sentence you to purification... the Judgment of Souls."

With these words, Aurra's consciousness began to fade from Akira's body. His hair and eyes returned to their natural red hues.

"Do you think this will stop me? I will return. I'll ruin his life until he gives up and hands me that body. You will remember me... and especially my master, Kits—" Aurra's voice was cut off as Akira regained control but immediately fainted from mana exhaustion.

"Oh dear, oh dear," Anna muttered, deactivating her technique and stepping onto the destroyed battlefield.

"Queen Anna!" Gamble exclaimed excitedly, attempting to bow but collapsing from pain.

"Don't bow. You stand higher in the hierarchy than a queen," she said, helping him to his feet.

"Could you assist the Hero of the Shield in reaching the bunker… umm," Anna asked, trailing off.

"My name is Aki... and yes, I'll handle it," Aki replied.

The queen chuckled softly and, along with Aki and the unconscious Akira, escorted Gamble to the bunker, where King Zenathan—Aki's father—was waiting for them.