Part 0

(If you don’t mind me asking, how exactly did you get into this city?)

(Through the sky.)

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"Not from this world; what do you mean?" Haruko asked calmly while he was lying on the floor.

There was silence as Nereus chose not to answer the question from the teen.

Haruko's finger began clawing into the dirt.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN?" Haruko shouted out.

"It is just as I’d said. I’m pretty sure that you are aware of the Crystal Guardians abilities at this point and that you have seen those abilities in action through this girl, correct?"

"……" Haruko did not reply to his statement.

"Now think, I know somewhere in the back of your mind a thought came to you: ‘There is no way that a human could create a power like this’ right?"

Haruko's eyes widen at that statement.

"How did you get here?"

"After we lost our home, we came here. Alex Gabriel Deleon was the name of the second sage, the original Crystal Guardian, and it's very creator."

"What?" Haruko whispered.

"A population that is born by fighting will meet its end by the very same method. With no one left to rally against, we turned on each other. At the time, what made the crystal guardians so revered was the fact that, at that point, their powers could not be competed against; that was until new and more powerful abilities, given enough time, eclipsed our very own."

(More powerful abilities than the Crystal Guardians... than hers.) Haruko thought as he looked at Aoi. "That can’t be." After seeing what Aoi could do with her powers, it was hard to believe that there were stronger abilities.

"When the second sage died, it ultimately created a power vacuum that the five of us who were chosen could not fill."

"Wait, you said five; I thought there were six that were created."

"There were six; five were giving out, but he left one to his family. Conflict began to arise when it was time to choose the next leader that we could get behind. What started out as nothing more than a few skirmishes here and there ultimately ended up as a full-scale war between the two races. The second created the Crystal Guardians powers because he believed that the calamity of destruction that appeared before us a long time ago, if given the chance, would do so again."

Nereus placed his hand on his hip.

"The two races, because their abilities were tied to their emotions, raised the threshold with every battle, every loss, and every death. The raw emotion of losing their loved ones pushed their abilities to unprecedented heights, which in turn made their battles even more brutal and destructive. Ultimately, lines had to be drawn."

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Nereus glanced at Aoi.

"Because the two races were both in possession of a crystal, the remaining Guardians had to get involved, which started the Crystal Guardian War. Sides were chosen, three each on both sides, and in the ongoing conflict, our world became a desolate hell, and in the mist of all that chaos, the second’s prediction came true. That calamity came for us."

Haruko stared at the man.

"By the time we were aware of it, three Crystal Guardians, myself included, had lost our abilities to them. It took everything for us to work together with those we were warring with. Those that destroyed our homes and killed our families, but somehow it did work due to the simple fact that we did not want to die to them. By some miracle, we managed to defeat them, but the damage caused by the war between us and the conflict preventing the destruction of our world ruined what was left of it. Taking my broken existence and my followers, we came to this world living in the shadows."

Nereus walked up and kneeled in front of the teen.

"I can see it in our eyes; naturally, you are doubting everything that I am saying, but it is the truth. The instability of the people of this world, the powers they possess, and the chaos in the world, with all this—the only end result of all that instability is its own destruction."

Haruko looked up to the man.

"The world needs someone who can lead it to prevent that, someone who can make the hard decisions. This world is one event away from all the chaos. I can bring peace to your world, which has suffered from multiple world wars, mass outbreaks of disease, and mass counts of death, just by sacrificing one girl."

Haruko slowly looked over to the chained girl with a somber look on his face.

He shut his eyes.

Suddenly, all the memories of the last few hours involving Aoi came rushing back to him.

"No," Haruko said in almost a whisper. "No, I won’t let you sacrifice he-" Haruko attempted to move his body but couldn’t. "What the hell is this?"

"So, you finally noticed," Nereus said as he placed his palm on the white sword. "It does not matter what you believe now or what you would allow me to do. This sword and any other swords I create are made from portions of my soul. Every living being has a soul; when two souls meet, the stronger one always overpowers the weaker one, just like it is happening now. Your idealism is good, but without the strength to back those ideals up, it is meaningless."

Removing his hand from the sword, Nereus began walking towards the girl.

"Wait!" Haruko called out.

With each step, Nereus got closer, ignoring the teen.

(Move.)

Haruko's body twitched, trying to free himself from the sword.

(Move, dammit, MOVE.)

A large amount of blood began pouring out of his palm and forearm.

Fshhh!!!!

White and blue markings appeared on his skin as sparks emitted from his body.

The teen closed his fingers to form a fist.

(Move. I can't let her die here. If I do, then what was the point of all this? What was the point of coming here?)

Haruko's eyes began to glow a light blue before he closed them.

(Move.)

(In the absence of fear, it seems that my voice can reach you now.)

A female voice echoed in the mind of Haruko.

(With this….from this point on….if you want to protect something….)

(Move.)

(Do not retreat….)

(Move.)

(Do not hesitate…….)

(Move.)

(The only way to move forward is to crush every obstacle in your way….)

(MOOOVE!!!!!!!.)

(With this.)

The images of his loved ones and friends flashed in his mind before shattering apart like glass as everything went white.

Suddenly, Haruko let out a loud yell.

Haruko's eyes shot open.

As Nereus continued walking to Aoi, a huge gust of wind hit him, causing him to quickly turn around.

Shielding his face with his right forearm to block the shockwaves of wind and sparks of lightning.

Nereus's eyes widen as he sees his sword break apart, and slowly the teen stands up.

He noticed that the teens wounds were healing. (Regeneration, how?) Suddenly, several crackles of thunder broke out above them in the sky.

A huge strike of lightning from the sky hit Haruko, but he did not react; it was as if the light had no effect on him.

Suddenly, a roar broke out in the sky above them, causing Nereus and Aoi to look up at the sky.

There it was, a dragon whose entire body was composed of lightning, gazing down upon the both of them.

"That is a..." Before Aoi could finish her sentence, the dragon roared, creating a shockwave of wind and lightning that crashed into the ground.

"This can't be," Nereus said as his eyes drifted down to the teen. He noticed that something was glowing on his chest.

A necklace.

(That necklace…..)

A red six-sided was swaying against his chest.

Nereus’s eyes widen as he gets a closer view of the object.

(Don’t tell me... that this person is a Crystal Guardian.)

Sparks of lightning flew from Haruko's eyes as they opened, staring intensely at Nereus as thunder roared out in the sky.

Chapter 5: End.