"You alright? You haven't said much. Well, I guess that isn't out of the ordinary, but it seems different today."

"Everything's alright, Yujo. I'm just tired. Very tired."

"It is getting late, true. I know that's not the culprit, though. Still bothered by your magic being locked, aren't you?"

The kid focused on the many trees before him in silence as he was carried. A black cap sat on his head, hiding his restless eyes and nonchalant face.

"Don't worry too much about it!" He boasted with a mighty grin, "It couldn't have just vanished. It'll come back around sooner or later, I'm sure. Considering how much you advance your strength? I'm sure you'll break that lock soon."

"Maybe," he mumbled with a pause of silence to follow. The fallen leaves did provide soothing crunches as Yujo strolled over them. The wind breezing through the trees cooperated well, too, as it added a serene breeze to ears and skin.

"Yujo," Hielo said.

"What's up, my man?"

"Are you not scared?"

"About?"

"Your magic. After it was changed. You don't seem bothered by it."

"Do you think that I should be?"

"Ye—no…. I don't know..."

"Are you bothered by it?" Yujo questioned.

"No—well… a little…"

"What about it bothers you, son?"

"What if something bad happens to you because of it? What if it makes you sick or… worse…"

"Well, there isn't much I'm able to do about that if it is the case. Guess I best do what I need while I can then, huh?" He said playfully, "You don't need to worry about that, Hielo. I'll handle whatever is thrown at us "

"That means anything thrown at us. Can you really handle everything?"

"Well, I told you much of my sea plundering days so you tell me.”

“You guys fell apart.”

“Well… yeah, but… You're too smart for your own good, y'know that?" Yujo laughed, "Of course it isn't realistic for me to handle absolutely everything, but that's why I make sure that I keep grinding as much as possible, to handle as much as I can. Same reason why I train you, too. Speaking of which, how is it? Think it needs to be taken down a notch?"

Hielo shook his head with disapproval, "If anything, it's too easy."

"Oh? Is that so? I'll keep that in mind for later. We should just focus on getting home first. Dynex shouldn't be much further.``

The sun struggled to pierce through the dense leaves. It didn't help that the clouds were also becoming aggressive, so it began to call it quits and rest for the moon to take over. A lone cabin sat amongst a heavy forest and a neat little waterfall of black stone. Yujo trekked towards it, slipping between tree and stone so casually despite gazing at the leaves above straining the sun. The little wood cabin was hidden so well behind nature. Its exterior had clearly endured the elements long enough to blend in with the forest and not much light could shine upon it. The porch was old and worn, but it still stood out since it was in better condition.

Yujo let Hielo down and opened the creaking door for his son to enter first, revealing a sight drastically different from the outside. The inside of the cabin was very well kept, although doing so wasn’t very much of a challenge for the single-roomed home. There was an old couch near the door on the right and two wooden chairs to the left. At the center end of the cabin rested a dead fireplace. On the left side of it was a bed - the right had two adjacent chests. The sleeping fireplace provided a mellow light from its lethargic flame. Yujo opened the left chest and dug through some clothing before pulling out scissors. He then unlocked and reached into the right chest, taking a can of beans from it and a bent spoon. He grabbed one of the chairs and took it outside to place it down on the porch and turned to Hielo who was resting on the old couch, “You can eat these while I shave the rest off. Try not to move too much,” he said as he beckoned Hielo outside.

The boy climbed onto the chair and sat hunched forward. He kept the open can of beans in his hand and the bent spoon in it, but didn’t bother with it otherwise. Yujo eyed him with concern, “Eat up, you haven’t had anything in days. And I need you to sit upright, I don’t want to reach that low and mess something up, just like you’re gonna do to your back if you don’t fix your posture.”

Hielo looked down at the spoon with disappointment. Instead of utilizing it, he removed it and brought the can to his lips. “Only because you said so,” he mumbled.

“Because I said what?” Yujo queried, scissoring off a patch of the boy’s hair.

“Nothing.”

“What’s up? You mad that I’m providing you food?”

“No.”

“What’s the matter then, boy?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure why I’m doing things.”

Another lock of brown hair falls to the ground. “What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t know. Should I know? I feel like I do know, but I don’t know why I don’t know when I feel like I do know.”

Yujo laughed with bewilderment overrunning his face. “What?”

“I don’t know.”

“A lot happened over the last few days… Admittedly, a lot more than what anyone should ever experience… supernatural type of shit.”

“So why are we just here!” Hielo exclaimed, almost forgetting to keep himself still, “After all of that, we’re just… here! At home as if nothing happened!”

“A man doesn’t get stronger by continuously tossing himself into the jaws of demons, Hielo. He has to rest for his body to heal and strengthen. And you’re in a worse case than even that. You can’t use your abilities right now and that has to be figured out first. You aren’t winning a gunfight with your hands. Maybe mine - but definitely not yours.”

“I know that! But…”

“Calm down, son,” Yujo eased, “You’re too eager to jump into the fight before you even got the strength back to stand. We can take a few days of a break, maybe a week. We’ll go to Dynex town tomorrow and I’ll get you something nice, alright? All you need to worry about right now is resting up.”

Hielo eyed forward through the woods before the porch, staring at little Dynex coldly in the far distance. His scalp was finally freely exposed to the now slowly drifting moon. “Going bald was probably a good call. Don’t want you running around looking like a badly trimmed bush,” he joked, chuckling. "What are you looking at over there?"

"The sky's flashing again. Besides that, I feel like someone from Dynex is watching."

"From all the way over there, huh? What makes you say that?"

"I don't know. I feel like I've seen the same person walk between those two buildings over and over again.

It just doesn't feel right."

"I think you're just paranoid. You don't have magic to protect yourself, so you're on edge. And it hasn't exactly been a good time in the recent past, to put it nicely. Go to bed, it's been hell and we both need a brea-"

A loud clap of thunder shook the land and boomed in the skies. A dead azure blue temporarily illuminated the place, before returning it all to its natural colors.

Yujo froze for a moment. "Oh yeah, you said that’s happening, again... Come on, Hielo,” Yujo beckoned to the door. “We can worry about more shit tomorrow… since there always is,” he grieved. He locked the door with a rusty key and took to the rough couch as Hielo went to the old bed. As Yujo had been defeated by slumbered and subjected to a deep sleep, drowsiness could not conquer Hielo. His eyes were locked on the plank ceiling now, the door later, and then sometimes the couch which Yujo kicked back on in his sleep. He repeated the loop many times throughout the night. He raised his right arm, channeling his energy to it in an attempt to summon his casting circle - not very wise seeing his current environment. But alas, it was to no avail. He tried his left hand, meeting the same disappointing end. In frustration, he kicked the broken footboard of the bed, sending a chunk of wood off of the already damaged thing. He shifted his attention to Yujo, who was still bear-snoring away. Stop acting like a child… There's no time for that. I don’t want to give Yujo more to do than he already does. Acting like a baby won’t help anything at all.

With the recapture and containment of his anger, Hielo replaced it with fabricated tranquility and rolled down the rocky slope into the dreamworld, one of darkness. But dwelling in the darkness was the figure of a man, one he immediately recognized. His blood steamed with rage at the site of this dream-man, who looked quite similar to him. In this world, his brown hair had returned. Despite pigment differences, his and the man’s black hair were fairly similar. They both had the same spiky-edges and they shared similar dark hair and angular eyes, although Hielo seemed to have strayed a bit away from the optical trait and his own were more hazel than brown.

The man laughed at him and went in to strike the boy with a balled fist, but froze as the right half of his body turned black and cracked as if hit with a raging blaze. He then melted down into a nasty puddle of blood and bone, screaming watery swears at Hielo. The puddle then hardened and began to reform into a horrible beast with six bloody-splashed tusks protruding from its mouth curving back into its throat and wide, lidless red eyes. It was hunched over with multiple sharp bones curved from out its back and two arms on each side, each drastically disproportionate from one another. From behind the thing was a woman with blonde hair reaching well below her back. Her blue eyes pierced the darkness like shining jewels in a dark mine. She looked down at Hielo and turned away from him with shame and disgust on her face, and instead held the hand of the abominable demon. The lady and the monster shared a kiss before walking off into the darkness, taking the void with them and sending Hielo into a freefall. He did not scream during his descent. He did not cry. He did nothing but await the impending field of black and red shards to pierce him. But as they touched his back, he jumped up drenched in sweat and eyes running as sunlight from the ajar door intruded, despite the many trees filtering it. Hielo dropped his face into his hands and wiped away his liquified despair. He got up from the bed and passed by the vacant couch, which he expected seeing as the door was open. He stepped out the door and began his way to the waterfall behind the home. The crunching of leaves filled the ambience of the woodland before turning into the cold clapping of sole on stone. Ultimately, the overwhelming downpour from the falls drowned out the rest of nature’s noise. Yujo had been suited in new, clean wears, although they were virtually the same as his old ones. "Hell happened to you?" He jumped, startled a fair bit by Hielo's disaster-ridden aura.

"Nothing. Are you done bathing?" Hielo asked.

"Answer me. Clearly it isn't 'nothing.'"

"It was hot."

"Really? Even though the winter season’s around the corner?"

"You don't seem to mind the cold. You didn’t even turn on the damn fireplace."

“Alright, alright. I won’t impede on what you wish to keep to yourself. Clean up, we’re going into town later to get some stuff.”

Despite the cooling climate, Hielo did not seem to be bothered by the water. It seemed to boil and steam a bit, even. He smiled at this observation. Perhaps this meant that he did not lose his power. But oddly, the water was ice cold despite boiling and steaming. As he grew skeptical of it, the steam ceased and the boiling slowed. Hielo concluded his washing and returned to the cabin, passing by Yujo who was shaking his head on the porch. He went to the back of the house and put on another plain red shirt with some brown shirts that were tossed on the bed. As he stepped outside Yujo stopped him. "I told you already to bring your clothes with you. Stop walking around the woods ass naked! Have you no shame?"

"Does it matter? No one else is out here but us and animals, and they don’t ever have clothes on."

"Of course it matters! What kind of question is that? Just take your shit with you when you're going to bathe. It isn't difficult and you won't catch a disease or a cold or some shit."

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"Fine," he surrendered with a roll of the eyes, "I'll remember next time."

"Yeah, that's what you said last time. Anyways, we should go before they run out of shit again. We’re low on food, could use some new utensils too. And maybe get some clothes that aren’t the same as one another. There should be an array be an if we get there early.”

Although there was a nearly straight way from the home to Dynex, Yujo and Hielo took a longer route by going along the internal perimeter of the forest. They went out the door and headed west. Going east could bring one to Dynex, but not only would that be heading to Fayeign, the woods would prove too dense. Crossing such a path multiple times would not be worth it for such a little reward. The western route, while still crowded, was not nearly as overwhelming as the east. Still, the trip took ten minutes instead of two minutes if they were to move out in the open, well worth the walk in the eyes of Yujo.

Dynex was starved of bodies. Other than Hielo and Yujo, there were only a handful of people who began scurrying along. Many of the old, frankly rundown, stores were closed. The little market tents were rather dead, too. “Did we come too early?” Hielo asked.

“No, we shouldn’t be,” Yujo replied, “it should be around nine in the morning, a bit later than sunrise. Shouldn’t take more than an hour for these shitboxes to put themselves together for the day, which they should have finished with two hours ago.”

They moved onto a nearby market tent where a lone shopkeeper stood. His eyes looked old, but he himself was fairly young. He was bored before the two arrived, but as he noticed Yujo and Hielo moving towards him, fright was written all over him. “Wh-what’s going on? Need som-something?”

“Other than for you to pull it together? Yeah, got any canned foods?” Yujo mocked.

“No, no I don’t have anything. Anything else?”

Yujo’s eyebrow raised with suspicion, “You don’t have anything? It’s early morning, don’t you think someone trying to make a profit should have shit to sell?”

“Oh, yes, yes… I have can-I have beans and, uh, bread,” he stuttered, reaching under the table.

“I thought you didn’t have anything?”

“Sorry, Mr. Breech, I’m just tired, is all… Really,” he insisted, placing the two cans and loaf on the table, “Forty-seven galleons for them.”

“Yeah, yeah, here take it. Pull it together man.”

Yujo handed over the cans to Hielo and he carried the bread. As they took their leave onto the next store Hielo’s face contorted into uncertainty and he questioned Yujo, “You and that seller know each other? Must be pretty close for you to give your last name to someone.”

Yujo laughed. “I don’t know who the hell that is. Why would I associate with any of these uppity bitc-”

The man froze and his senses sharpened like the edge of a fresh blade. He scanned Dynex and that gave him all he needed. Those god damned dogs… Why the hell wasn’t this so fucking clear to me before?! They’re close… no, they must already be here!

He grabbed Hielo and threw the boy onto his shoulders. “Hang onto the food tight… We’re gonna need it,” Yujo promised, kicking off into a sprint of inhuman speeds, “I’m not sure if we’ll find any more for a while.”

Contrary to the ten minutes it had previously taken to walk the western route, Yujo managed to take the same way back to the cabin in a minute. To his dismay, someone of a feminine build was on the porch sitting on the chair with their leg kicked up on the other in a black suit topped with a black fedora. “Mister Yujo M. Breech,” they announced, “Care to have a chat with us, or are you going to run off again? You can do so if you please, but I advise against it seeing as you won't get very far.”

He smirked, although he could feel it struggling to repress his angst. “I can take you guys on if you want me to. I’ve done it many times over. I suggest you just tell the rest of them to get out from behind the trees and bushes, then take yourselves home. You can go along with them.”

The darkly dressed figure chuckled and got onto their feet. “There is no need to get violent, Mr. Yujo Breech. That would cause a lot more havoc than needed. And you’d also be putting that young man in danger,” they said, looking up to Hielo on Yujo’s shoulders, revealing the bronze face of a woman. Long red and black hair got in her face, but she did not seem to mind.. “What is your name, little man?”

Hielo gazed in cold silence, unmoving.

“Don’t take after Yujo over here. He isn’t a good man, you know that little guy? He isn’t safe to be around and you’ll always be in danger if you stay around him. The only thing he can do for you is set you on a path of destruction and damnation. Those are bad things, little man. We’re here to take the bad man away and then we can bring you to a good pla-”

“Stop talking to me like I’m a dog,” Hielo spat, “Nothing you’ve said is like Yujo.”

“Oh? So he’s been lying to you? I assume he’s never told you how he has murdered multiple innocents. Or how he has raided many towns, no matter how small and impoverished they were. Perhaps he has informed you how he slayed new recruits who wished to join the Grand Navy solely to rid the seas of evils such as himself?”

“You’re wrong…”

“But you’re so poorly mistaken, young man. He simply has just lied to you about his pas-”

“No. I’m not saying you’re wrong because I’m stupid. You’re wrong because he has told me all about that. Yujo is not a shitty man like you want him to be seen as. A horrible man would not have the strength to admit to his faults and he certainly would not be able to regret it. But that isn’t Yujo… he owns up to it all and I know that it hurts him all the time… but now he’s working to do better. He wants to help something grow for once. He wants something great to be developed in this world because of him. That is what he told me, and Yujo is the only one who has never lied to me.”

She took her hat off and lowered it. “That was beautifully said, young man. But that does not change his past and his comeuppance. Anywhere Breech goes, he leaves destruction in his wake. Mr. Breech, you are rather sloppy in your traversions. We don’t know what evil you have created, but it sure aided us in locating you. A black boulder emitting an ominous gas was found near Fayeign where the supposed ‘demon’ was lurking about. I think it’s clear that ‘spirit’ or ‘demon’ is you. We found three bodies around it. Skeletons, to be more precise. The bones were almost fully degraded. The skulls were paper thin... Whatever it is that you can do, you added another three bodies to your long list of slaughter and you seemed pretty bloodlusted when you did it. I highly suggest you come quietly, the Grand Navy will not hold back on our tactics to retain you, especially with your unheard of… ways. Even if it results in your death. And you, young man. I’m fairly certain you are the son of Hirio, correct? Hirio Ikari? Meaning you must be Hielo Ikari. We know what you did to him, and you will not be punished for it. There is no need to be so afraid of jail that you prefer sticking around this devi-”

“I’m not afraid of anything. He should’ve died.”

“I see…” she said with visible worry, “This kind of feeling exposes the influences that someone like Yujo has on innocent children. Yujo, I’m giving you a final chance: stand down and come with us quietly and peacefully if you do not wish to be executed.”

“First of all, I haven’t killed any good person since I’ve been here. If anything, I deserve at least a little praise for helping rid of the cult beneath the ground at Fayeign, which you no-goods failed to ever even come close to doing. And most importantly, I made a promise to someone. I cannot keep that if I roll over for you.”

“I see,” she sighed, taking her leave, “Very well.”

As the suited crimson-haired lady moved off into Dynex, a group of roughly two dozen revealed themselves from corners around the cabin’s vicinity.. They all wore similar basic Grandy Navy uniforms except for one with a large white cap and orange pads on each side. Sewed into it on the left were the letters “G.N” and sewed on the right was the title “High-Captain Lanzo Lance.” He was a man of average height and black pompadour hair. He raised a single hand up and announced, “I’m giving you from the count of five to surrender, Yujo. Don’t make the wrong decision.”

Yujo lifted Hielo and set him on the ground to his feet. “I’m sure I can handle them… but on the off chance I don’t, run. Run as fast and far you can. Fight as hard as you can if they catch you.”

“But I can’t use my abiliti-”

“Five!” Lanzo roared, bringing down his thumb.

“You have your will. Will that rivals even the mightiest of soldiers. That is the most important thing in you.”

“Four!” Lanzo bellowed, lowering his pinky.

“Get ready, Hielo.”

“Three!” He shouted, descending his ring finger. “Two!” triggering the middle to shelter.

Lanzo’s face went stern. “One,” he uttered, closing the final finger. Immediately upon descending his index finger, a major gust of wind blew past Yujo, taking a shouting Hielo with it and into the arms of a soldier who grasped him tightly all the way back at Dynex. “Bombard!” Lanzo roared, triggering a flurry of magical attacks that engulfed Yujo from his men. Yujo tanked much of the assault head on, even punching through much of it with his vein-overridden fists, but he could withstand the gigantic combustion from Lanzo’s Explosion abilities. The cabin had been obliterated and trees collapsed aflame. Breech erected a circular shield of his dark Earth, but even that failed to withstand the bombardment for it was taken down in mere seconds. He launched the magic at the soldiers, but his targets easily out-maneuvered them. It’s so much slower than my normal Earth… I can’t let Hielo down like this. I’m gonna have to take matters into my own hands.

Forsaking his magic, Yujo brought up a dense shield of the dark Earth and fled deep into the eastern side of the forest, baiting the navy. The squad of two dozen stampeded, while many with gaseous magic took to the sky. Amongst them was High-Captain Lance, screening from above. “He’s hiding amongst the trees, captain. Should we clear out the forest? He’ll either die from the heat and falling trees or be smoked out,” a soldier of Plasma named Browse suggested.

“No, we’ve already committed much of the same damage on a smaller scale mere minutes ago. And not only would that run the risk of destroying this ecosystem and much of the resources the villages around here rely on, have you noticed where he’s heading?”

“It looks like he’s just running into the woods to me… wait, that clever bastard.”

“Exactly. He’s leading us right into Fayeign, he knows we’ll hold back on our assault when near citizens. Nolan, Ryjin and Vain, you three’s Minds are amongst the fastest of us. Go ahead into Fayeign and order an evacuation of the town. While I will try to keep damage to a minimum, it would be favorable for no citizen to be around.”

“Yes, captain!” they boasted in synchronization, jetting off with varying Wind and Light.

“As for the rest of us!” Lanzo roared, “Keep pressure on the pirate! The enemy is way too close to justice to let loose now! Advance!”

Between the shadows of an apartment dealer and clothing store sat a panting Yujo, spying on the three soldiers guiding the Fayeign people out to safer routes of the island or out to sea aboard Grand Navy frigates. Too late to slip in there now… I’m sure they’ve plastered images of me around at this point.

A young woman in a baker boy’s hat stood up to soldier Ryjin of Light Mind. “I am Mayor Tapolian of Fayeign. What is the meaning of this chaos?! The people have responsibilities that YOU are intruding on! You all just run in here and start yelling at them to leave without any given reason and expect us to abandon our duties?!”

“Mayor, we deeply apologize for the unannounced barge, but this situation is critical. A very dangerous criminal has been found on Valtrice and he’s taking cover here in Fayeign to cover for himself, regardless of the dangers it puts you all in. We will do our very best to assure that Fayeign remains in the condition it was before our arrival. God forbid, but if we fail to do so you will all be insured. Now please, evacuate the area for you are not only risking your life by remaining here, but even more abroad if this man is to be let free once again. He has something monstrous that we have never seen before and has already killed more with it.”

Tapolian went teary eyed. “Fayeign has been under the care of the Tapolian family for generations. I can’t say that I am pleased you all are here under these conditions, but I understand it is for the best. Please, don’t reduce it to rubble if you can help it…”

Ryjin placed her hand upon her chest. “We promise to keep our damage dealt to a minimum.”

Soldier Nolan aided a teary Tapolian onto the ship and the final few people around the island, including the old apartment keeper that was unaware of the commotion before having his business searched. When they were sure Fayeign was cleared, Nolan fired off a bright Light from his palm into the sky, out shining even the daylight.

“Alright my fighters, advance. We should keep in mind that damage is preferably kept to a minimum, but do not prioritize it over retainment of Breech. The calamitous damage he can deal to the seas far exceeds what we could unleash here.”

Lanzo shifted his sight to the small space between the apartment where a small amount of black gas emitted. He pointed his finger at it and fired a beam from a tiny Explosion magic circle at the end of his index. The small beam quickly expanded into a wall of combustion on each opening of the alleyway and formed a rounding ceiling of immense heat above. “Those of you with Iron and Earth, investigate that area. Divide yourselves amongst each end. Remain alert.”

Twelve soldiers circled the alley with stone and iron shields summoned before them. They peered into the combust, finding nothing but a small rock emitting a dark gas and some litter. The gas was being contained by the dome of combustion. They turned back to the captain with shaking heads. He remained high in the sky with Explosion spewing from his feet, keeping him afloat as he hands remained behind him. “I figured it was too simple. He’s duped us, but seeing as the stone is still releasing that stuff, it must have been recently set there. He is not far, search the tow- soldiers, defend your six!”

The six on the far end of the alley were met with a large black boulder launched down the small way, corroding through most of their bodies almost instantaneously, collapsing the apartment building it took a large chunk of the wall away and running through numerous other buildings. The ignition dome had been eaten through and one more soldier on the other side was hit, losing their leg as they failed to evade. Lanzo’s gaze turned to shock. “Do what you must to take down the enemy, submit him to death if you wish! We end this terror here and now!”

Kicking off the rebuttal of the Grand Navy, Lanzo clapped, conjuring a massive Explosion circle beneath Yujo, adding to the decimation and erupting debris into the air. Stone, shattered furniture, and street lanterns rained down like hail, but Captain Lance disregarded it as he descended to the ground. “Keep your rage on the enemy! Disregard me and continue your downpour of assault, my men!” Lance ordered.

He spotted Yujo who was standing boldly away from him amongst the rubble. The two men shared a duel of gazes before the soldiers began firing off. Lanzo increased the destruction by pushing back the Deadrock with a constant stream of violently booming heat to the shore. As the Navy’s target had been shoved back far enough, the Explosion captain casted two circles on his left and right. The magic circles grew wider and larger as the soldiers continued their onslaught, preventing Yujo from defending against them. Yujo gave a final cold stare and simply uttered, “Sleep.”

And with that, a titanic explosion by the captain shook the Earth for miles and a behemoth mushroom filled the sky. When the smoke cleared and the mess settled, a huge metal wall that was summoned by the Iron magic users through a conjoined effort had been revealed. They brought it down and moved over to the apparent corpse, now free of an arm and half a leg. The captain analyzed the corpse with clenched fists.

“You could have simply subdued. Instead you chose this. The mind of a monster is an enigma,” he grieved, “My soldiers… Although the path taken to this final destination was horrendous, the end is at least a silent one. We’ll let the clean up crew handle the rest of this. Return to Dynex to retrieve the kid and then we’ll head to base.”

The sound of crunching debris from little steps pushed its way through. They faced the noise and discovered a little boy in a hat and shirt with parts of them seeming to have been taken away by flame. He drug himself with dread on his shoulders and dead eyes, only focused on the body. “Is that the kid? Wasn’t Handel ordered to take him to the ship to head back to base?” One soldier questioned.

“She was,” Lanzo confirmed, “Investigator Kendra was supposed to comfort him. Seems he probably lashed out and ran away. Just restrain him, we’re going back.”

“It’s not safe here, kiddo. We’re gonna make sure you’re taken care of,” they said, reaching to uplift Hielo. But his hand made contact with the underside of Hielo’s arm, the boy’s cold dead gaze transformed into a vengeful stare and he blasted their head with a magnificent cyan flame that was drastically shifting into a crimson. Skin, flesh, and all but the skull remained as they crashed to the ground.

Their eyes widened in terror as the flame lingered around the skull before dissipating and leaving behind only a melted mush of flame. Hielo turned to them with a chaotic glower, for his rage had not yet been quenched. His eyes filled with tears and fury as his vision had been given the full image of the man who took him in was now face down, lifeless and torn apart.

“Attempt to restrain! Death is not required for the child! Hielo, you have to surrender now or you will force us to harm you! It is not what I wish to do, but if you leave me no choice, I will not hesi-”

A massive wave of flame mixed of red and orange rushed Lanzo, running over him. He defended against it just in the nick of time with a barrier from his magic, but several soldiers behind him wailed in agony as the dark flame devoured them, melting even their bones into a slurry. Nine including the captain now remained. What the hell is going on in this place… what are all of these outrageous abilities and shit… Doesn’t matter anymore, that kid is as malevolent as the man he follows.

“Do not hold back anymore!” Captain shouted, “He is too far gone for reasoning! Go for the kill, the only chance of incapacitation from now on is through coincidence!”

Before they could even raise their arms for assault, the boy cried fury and subjected seven to a char imprisonment imposed by his immense heat. Their bodies were casted in ash; they were petrified by the sheer temperature of his magic. His eyes were reddened with rage and showed no sign of bloodlust being quelled. “Withdraw, now!” Lanzo ordered his final soldier and they took back to Dynex, but the oni within the boy still craved more death to

He shot a lash of flame that wrapped around the final soldier’s leg and dragged them back. “You will not be taking anymore of my fighters, you hellspawn!” Lanzo roared, firing himself back at the boy from a kick off of Explosion. He charged an explosion in his fist and nailed Hielo directly in the face, spinning him, freeing his final soldier. “Reimus, withdraw!”

They disappeared back into the woods, leaving the fallen Yujo and unconscious Hielo amongst the field of death and destruction. They scurried through between tree, bush, and stone like a fear-ridden hare after a coyote’s ambush. Despite returning to the same natural road they had before, it had clearly experienced drastic changes in the small amount of time since their first traversion. The once lush forest had been reduced to a desolate wasteland of scarlet fire. Despite the flame, there was no smoke being actively produced. “Eyes ahead,” Lanzo ordered, “We must gather reinforcements.”

As the two remaining survivors stomped past their initial point of destruction, they recognized a babbling body wrapped in a very faint, gray flame. Upon closer inspection, the blaze was discovered to be a very, very faint violet. “Handel? Handel, respond!” Reimus shouted. As he went in to shake Handel back to awareness, he was shoved back by Lanzo.

“Are you not thinking?! Those two have something unseen in this world, and you believe you can disregard that and go ride in to touch it. Even then, it’s at least fire. You willing put yourself into flames, Reimus?!”

“Oh, yeah… Right, but what do we do? We have to help him!”

“I hate to say it, but the best course of action right now is to get off this island and return later, leaving Handel here for now. He doesn’t seem to be dead, but he definitely isn’t sound. So we should hurry. Believing that we can carry him back would just be stupid. What if we end up like that? We’d be here waiting far longer, destined to demise. We go to the ship and return, quickly.”

"Right… sorry, Handel. What about Kendra?"

"We will have to return soon. She's either dead or in a similar state to Handel. No point in spending more time looking with nothing else in our hands to properly handle the situation if we do find her. We head back now

It's still early in the day, so we should hurry while the sunlight makes it more difficult for them to hide."

"What in the hell-blazened seas happin 'ere?!" An old geezer exclaimed on horseback. The white mare contrasted the man greatly with its bold and youthful physique. As quick his body allowed, the elder dismounted and limped through the calamity. "Damn… whatever did this was greater than a storm… I dun think a storm can create mushroom bombs…"

He noticed a red thing in the distance. As he walked over to it, he could make a body and astonishment grew on his face. "I'll be damned, that's a forest elf! Those bastards called me crazy for believing in 'fantasy!' Gonna make them eat their wo- that fella missing a leg! And an arm! Good hell, what happened?! Oh yeah, booms!"

The old man carried the "elf" and laid him in the wagon besides some barrels. He then did his best to pull the shattered man, taking a long while before successfully loading him onto the wagon, too. He then pulled himself onto the mighty mare and took a final cringe at the destruction. "Go, Mary, go girl! Damn!" He shouted. The horse shook its head at the loud noise and snorted stubbornly before trotting off, flaunting its insubordination.