Dark.

Never-ending.

A void.

No, not a void.

Nic could still feel the ground he sat on and the wall he sat against.

But he couldn’t see it.

He couldn’t see anything.

Everything was gone because of the Irradiation.

Everything was gone because he couldn’t stop it.

This is where his story ends.

I’m sorry Aria. I’m sorry that this is where it ends. I just hope that you can live on…

“Why are you saying you’re sorry, she’s the one at fault here isn’t she? If she hadn’t barged in when the past me was helping you unlock your true magic, you probably would be able to save Sanum from this guy.” Before Nic stood the image of a single person. He had only seen an image of them once, that time also in his mind.

How…? Why are you here now?! Why didn’t you do anything sooner?! Answer me, NOAH!

“But am I really here?”

Huh?

“What if I’m just a figment of your imagination, created from your very few memories of Noah Verilo? What would you do then? What would you say?”

Screw off. If you have nothing helpful to say to me, or any way to get me out of this, then screw off. I don’t need to listen to you.

“Hmmmmm. In that case, I’ll only say this: If you want to save her (which I really don’t think she deserves) then you need to make peace with what your dream is.”

My dream? It’s to… to free the world from what you did so that I can live without the stigma you gave our family name.

“Bzzzt. Wrong. Those were some nice, selfish words there, but that’s not the truth is it?”

What do you mean? That’s… that’s the truth I gave you last time! How can it not be the truth now?

“Tell me, Nic, what’s your light?”

The image of Noah Verilo faded, and in its place was a small green blob. Nic had seen it before. Of course, he had. The blob had been with him since Nic and Aria had been on that hill.

It was his tie to Wind Magic.

It was his tie to Aria.

It was his tie to her dream.

It was his tie to her light. The light he loved.

Aria…

He reached out for the light, trying to grab it. As he did, his hand wrapped around something. A cylinder that felt like it was leather bound.

The world returned to his eyes.

The destruction of the house in front of him.

Yuuki, embraced by Sarman on a pile of rubble in front of it.

Aria face down on the ground in front of it.

The black miasma rising from their bodies.

The black miasma rising all around him.

In his hand was a sword with a black jewel in its hilt. As he held it, strands of black miasma left his body and entered the jewel. Nic realized what happened.

Magic feedback loops.

Since his magic was imbued in the sword, by wielding it in his hand, he was causing the magic feedback loop to affect his absorption of Irradiation, and the jewel was siphoning it out of his body.

He slowly got up, his other sword clattering onto the ground where he had been sitting.

He walked over to Aria, whose body was covered in black veins. He kneeled down and put his hand on her back, absorbing most of the Irradiation in her body.

“How are you…?”

Standing in front of him was the same man he had faced in S-012. He looked a bit more rugged than back then, and the black blade in his hand was brand new. But he was still the Hunter, Jack Cariatel.

“I heard you had escaped soon after we arrived, Jack. I never thought this would be your next action.”

Nic held up his sword and pointed the tip at the man in front of him. Jack swung his own sword at Nic, but the instant the two blades touched, Jack’s was absorbed into Nic’s.

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“What!? That sword… A magic weapon!? HAH! So that’s how it will go today. Well, kid. It’s not too late for you to sit down and die. Just like how your parents killed mine, I will kill you!”

A rocky spear appeared in Jack’s hand. He swung it at Nic, who parried the attack, knocking it to the side. He hadn’t been sitting around doing nothing for the past eight months. He had been training. He knew how to fight now.

The two entered into a fast bout of strikes, but Nic was able to block or dodge every one that Jack sent at him. Nic was moving fast enough, and hard enough, that he had Jack on the backpedal.

The two of them passed by Sarman and Yuuki and entered the square that Jack had initially been fighting Aria and Sarman in.

Their exchange grew fiercer.

Nic was giving his all. His muscles screamed at him in pain while his lungs were on fire. He was pushing himself far further than he should.

A small green blob appeared behind him. It sent wind his way, hoping to revitalize Nic. But it did little to help the situation.

From one of the other entrances to the square a group from the police force arrived. When they saw that Nic was fighting with Jack Cariatel, a hunter widely known in the city of Sanum, they lowered their guards. Nic didn’t know if they saw the massive black tendril being flung at them.

But he wouldn’t let it hit them. He ran, breaking the limit of his body. There was a metallic taste in his mouth. But he wouldn’t let more be infected.

Nic swung his sword at the large tendril and as his sword passed through it, the entire thing was absorbed into the sword, and into Nic.

He stopped in front of the men. When he cut the tendril, it seemed like they had realized what was going on.

“You’re a university student, right? We’re sent by Minister Chapman. We’ll take it from here. Get back!”

One of the men, presumably the leader, tried to step in front of Nic but was stopped as Nic swung his sword through another tendril. A third tendril followed mere seconds after.

“You’re the ones that need to go!” Nic shouted at the man as he intercepted another three Irradiated tendrils. “Help with the evacuation. You will die if you try to fight Jack.”

The man was going to talk back but was forced quiet as Nic danced around in front of the entire squad, stopping five different Irradiated tendrils that were coming in at different angles.

The metallic taste had only grown stronger as he felt something slip out of his mouth while he struggled to breathe. Black blood hit the ground beneath him.

Even with his sword and the magic feedback loop, there was a limit to how much Nic could absorb at one time. Without the ability to purify Irradiation, Nic was coming up on that limit again.

He heard the people behind him move their feet. As the sounds got more distant, he focused back on Jack. He ran at him. With each step he took, his body groaned. His blood boiled and his lungs were ablaze in an inferno of pain.

He swiped right and left with his sword countless times. Each one absorbed an Irradiated tendril sent by Jack. With every tendril that he absorbed, Nic grew more sluggish.

When Nic finally reached Jack, all it took was Jack hitting him with an earthen-made weapon to send him flying to the ground.

“Is that all? You sure put up more of a fight last time. Whatever, I guess that makes my job easier.”

“I’m… Not… Done.” Using his sword to support him, Nic slowly stood back up. He wobbled on his feet, almost falling down multiple times. In front of him, Jack was standing there, surrounded by as much Irradiation as Nic had ever seen.

“You can barely stand! Of course, you’re done for. And once you’re dead, I’ll kill those three over there. When you are all taken care of, all I’ll have to do is cover this entire town in Irradiation, escape, and tell everyone you were the one who did it. Of course, as a Hunter, I valiantly stopped you, but was unable to save the innocent people caught in the crossfire!” Jack flung his arms in the air as if he was presenting some masterful plan.

“Why…? Why blame it on me?”

“Why? Because you’re a Verilo! You’re the villain of this story. Your family always has been and always will be. No matter what happens, a Verilo can never be free.”

“What is your light, Nic Verilo?”

The voice of his ancestor rang in his head again.

“Not until the transgressions of your ancestor have been paid for. And they will never be paid for. So you can never be allowed freedom. That’s just how it goes.”

“No… I…” Nic was whispering, yet Jack had heard him and stopped talking.

“I didn’t want to lose you. When Mr. Chapman said I had to make your body feel intense emotions, it was the only thing I could think of to do… Nic, promise me something. Don’t even go near a person with Irradiation Sickness. Not until you can purify it yourself.”

As he remembered what Aria had said, Nic couldn’t help but look over. She was still lying on the ground. She hadn’t awoken yet.

“I… I simply want to be able to live in peace with Nic…”

It was something that she hadn’t said to him. In fact, he was sure that she hadn’t even known that he was nearby when she said it. He had never told her how he felt in response.

A sigh escaped Nic’s lips as he looked back at Jack.

“You’re wrong. I know that. My dream is the same as hers. We will fight until we can reach that place…”

“Dream? Hah! You don’t get a dream. You’re gonna die here and now as payment for your parents killing mine twenty-one years ago.”

“Twenty-one…?” Nic caught onto that timeframe. It was before he was born, sure, but that also meant that it had to happen in a specific place. “You’re wrong Jack. My parents didn’t kill yours. They were still living at the base of the World End Mountains and your parents were killed just outside of this city, weren’t they?”

“You’re… lying…” Jack narrowed his eyes at Nic. It was clear that Nic was saying something that he didn’t want to hear.

A wild swing came at Nic, but he stepped back. He dodged it while putting some distance between the two of them.

His vision began to darken. He had absorbed enough Irradiation that he would soon be back in that void. But he couldn’t go yet. He had one thing he had to do before then. He couldn’t purify the Irradiation inside his body. Instead, he would absorb as much as he could from the surrounding area.

“Buddie, are you there?” Responding to the whisper that barely made any sound, the small green blob moved to Nic’s shoulder.

It would most likely be his final gamble. He had to repeat what he did back then. He had to hope that Aria would wake up. He had to hope that Sarman, Yuuki, and her would be able to defeat Jack while he absorbed the Irradiation. He had to hope that Aria would be able to activate the purification abilities within him again.

As if understanding what Nic wanted to do without any words, more green blobs of varying sizes began to appear around Nic. The wind began shifting, moving towards the palm that Nic held out. As the green orbs flew through the air, the Irradiation in everything was pulled out and sent toward his hand.

Jack instantly recognized what had happened and tried to attack Nic with the Irradiation he controlled. Every tendril was quickly caught in the wind and brought to his hand. When Jack realized Irradiation attacks wouldn’t work, he tried to punch Nic physically. The green orbs created a wall and blocked the attacks from reaching their target.

Soon, a vortex of wind had surrounded Nic. His vision was rapidly disappearing. He was about to lose consciousness. He willed his body to keep what it was doing, no matter what happened to it.

“Aria, please, save this dream.” Before he completely succumbed to the void, Nic let out one last whisper. A cry to Aria. One he knew would never reach her.

As Nic lost consciousness, the original green blob had been right in front of him. Hearing his master’s final words, he caught them with the wind and flew to the girl they had been addressed to. He flew up to her ear and released the little bit of wind he had caught. He hoped she would hear his master’s words. The only thing he wanted in this world was for his master’s dream to come true.