Episode 37 Crossing
Kunai narrows his eyes. “The Sheath of the Maple Hero’s Sword…” Azuma hisses under his breath, the words escaping into the air with a cold whisper. Even in the warm, sunny air of the grassy slope, the words come out with a chilling gravity.
“I see,” Lord Kimura says beside Kunai, “you’ve been thinking about using the Sheath as well.”
Turning from one to the other, Kunai continues to frown suspiciously. “I don’t understand. Just what is this ‘Sheath’ you’re talking about?”
“The Sheath of the Maple Hero’s Sword was originally created to neutralize the Maple Hero’s Sword should it have fallen into the wrong hands,” Azuma explains. “Although it is not one of the original two weapons of Nexon and Wizet, it is on par with their level. The Sheath can neither be destroyed by the Sword of Nexon nor can it be summoned by the Shield of Wizet. It is the perfect weapon for defeating the Maple Hero’s Sword.”
“If that’s the case, then we would be capable of defeating the Fatalists if we had that sheath…” Kunai murmurs with wonder.
“Exactly,” Lord Kimura replies, “but the cost of summoning the Sheath of the Maple Hero’s Sword is a sin too costly for one to bear.”
“Yes,” Azuma says quietly, “just as with the Maple Hero’s Sword, the Sheath was broken up into three pieces and hidden throughout the world. The only way to summon the Sheath of the Maple Hero’s Sword is by destroying the souls of the three vessels that carry it. In other words…in order to obtain the Sheath of the Maple Hero’s Sword, you must destroy the souls of the three Anti-Phonemes and reconstruct it.”
Kunai’s eyes steadily widen as he hears Azuma’s words. He breathes in and out slowly, as if digesting this new information. “Who…who are the Anti-Phonemes?”
Azuma shakes his head. “I am afraid their identities remain a mystery even to me.”
Three days remaining until the Fatalists return.
Ryuu leans against the stone wall, the dark light splashed across his bright red hair. Shafts of sunlight climb into the cell, barely reaching his cold, pale face. He raises his head, staring into the eyes of the imprisoned Fatalist before him.
Flynn glares back, biting his bleeding lip. Ryuu breaks the silence. “I think I’ve got the hang of figuring out how to use the Shield of Wizet, no thanks to you. I’ve instructed two of my students to bring you food every now and then. You won’t die, but you’ll be here for a while.”
“Then why the hell did you come down here to see me?” Flynn hisses weakly, his face smudged with dirt and grime from days of going without washing.
Ryuu folds his arms, staring down at the floor and avoiding Flynn’s eyes. “It might be pretty naﶥ of me, but I was hoping to hear about Arai from you.”
Flynn chuckles once or twice, before suddenly bursting into a cackle. “Hahaha!” he sneers. “His Majesty will slaughter you fools as soon as you arrive in our dimension if he so wishes. Do not think that because he once called you ‘comrade’ in the past that you are friends. His Majesty cares not for vermin like you!”
“I thought as much,” Ryuu replies quietly. He frowns, stepping away from the wall and towards the door. “I’m sorry to have bothered you, then.”
Without another word, Ryuu opens the door with a creak and slams it shut behind him. Flynn stares for some time at the door, his cell now having fallen into complete silence once again. Suddenly, he smirks. “Tch!” he snarls. “The King would never you a friend!”
Despite the warmth of the day, a fire burns merrily in the hearth in Ryuu’s house. Smoke and fumes linger low over the house, as the smell of food being prepared hangs over the entire property. Ryuu stands at the threshold of the kitchen, peering inside with a large frown on his face.
Inside, Sasha is bent over a stove, while their child sits idly in a highchair nearby. Sasha glances at Ryuu, who is standing still broodingly. She flashes him a weak smile. “Ryuu…don’t look so worried. I know the risks. Don’t forget I used to fight out there with you guys. I’m sure everyone will return safe and sound. You worry too much sometimes.”
“Maybe,” Ryuu heaves, shifting about restlessly. He remains silent for a moment. “Th…thank you, Sasha, for helping me through all those difficult times these past five years.”
“R-Ryuu…” Sasha says, blushing slightly. “Don’t make it sound like you’re going off to die or something. You have to promise me you’ll come back, so we can—”
However, Sasha’s words are drowned out, as Ryuu walks right up to her and wraps his arms around her in an embrace. She drops the ladle she’d been holding with a plop into her pot of soup.
“I’ll definitely return,” Ryuu growls, “and we’ll raise our child, little Arai, together.”
Streams of sunshine trickle down onto the wide open fields of the Joukai Academy from a clear blue sky. Clouds, white and puffy, drift by slowly in the atmosphere. All remains calm and peaceful around the vast forests of Ellinia.
The sound of wind whistles past Cynthia’s fiery orange hair as she threads her way elegantly through the forest. Several trees give way before her, as she dashes agilely past tree after tree, until she finally breaks through into a wide, open clearing ahead.
Warm sunshine greets her face as Cynthia emerges at the very edge of the Joukai Academy. Already gathered in the clearing are five other individuals. They each turn to stare at her as she arrives, breathing heavily.
Fayvard cocks his head to the side, eyeing Cynthia up and down. He waves a hand at her. “Yo, nice to see ya again,” he grunts deeply.
Cynthia peers about quietly at each face now pointed towards her. Rill and Zack are also standing side by side nearby Fayvard. However, Cynthia fails to recognize the remaining two. She turns to the two of them, a woman and a man, both silvery-haired.
“Nice t’see ya again also, Hyacinth!” Zack says, leaning against his Kage. He nods to Cynthia, whistling casually. “So, this is gonna be the group sent off t’war against the Fatalists, huh?”
Cynthia blinks. “Hm? This is it? Just us six?!”
“Seven, includin’ Ryuu,” Zack retorts lazily.
“S-Seven…?” Cynthia stutters, glancing around a bit frantically. “What about…what about Kunai?”
“We don’t have any time left,” Ryuu says, walking abruptly into the clearing. His normally bright green eyes are dark with a certain sense of grimness. At his side, as usual, is his sheathed sword. “I don’t want to leave without Kunai, but he knows he should have been back by now. If we were to sit around waiting for him, the Fatalists would get here first, ruining our plans. Even if it means leaving without Kunai…we have no time to waste.”
Ryuu turns to the two silver-haired individuals, who have been standing by silently up until now. “You two ready to go?”
Cynthia turns to them as well, looking at them quizzically. “Who are you two?” Cynthia asks bluntly.
“Ah, sorry, I forgot you haven’t been introduced to each other yet,” Ryuu says. “This is Silver—”
The female Bow Master nods to Cynthia. “A pleasure to meet you. I’m Silver, leader of the Rift World army.”
“And I’m Wake,” the boy cries cheerfully, stepping forward to Cynthia’s hand vigorously. “I’m Silver’s First General.”
“N-Nice to meet you,” Cynthia murmurs, bowing slightly.
“Hmm, so we really are gonna leave without Kunai, huh?” Zack wonders out loud. “I dunno how he’d feel ‘bout that.” Next to Zack, Rill stands broodingly, his eyes darkening though no words escape his lips.
Ryuu raises his hand in the air, as the Shield of Wizet materializes into his hands. The shield gleams brightly in the sun. “Silver,” Ryuu says, “get your troops ready as well. We’re all going to travel into the next dimension together.”
“Very well,” Silver says. She turns to Wake. “Wake, order for the men to show up. Make sure that they’re organized and that there are no stragglers.”
“Aye aye, Lady Silver!” Wake replies, saluting Silver. He runs off, disappearing around a bend into the trees.
Ryuu lowers the heavy Shield of Wizet, cradling it in his arms. “This thing sure is heavy…” he mutters, staring into its glimmering surface.
“There are still three days remaining, Ryuu,” Cynthia says. “Wouldn’t it be better to wait for Kunai until we absolutely have to leave?”
“No,” Ryuu says, “I’d prefer—”
“You weren’t actually going to leave without me, were you, Ryuu?” Kunai says with a smirk, striding up behind Ryuu suddenly. Clasped around his arm is his weapon, Myou.
A faint smile appears on Ryuu’s lips. “As expected of you, Kunai. Always showing up at the last second.”
“As expected of you, Ryuu. Always in a hurry to go somewhere,” Kunai returns tauntingly.
Ryuu’s eyes dart toward Myou wrapped around Kunai’s arm, as a slight frown quickly replaces the smile on his lips. “So you were able to defeat your clone after all, Kunai?”
“Yeah,” Kunai growls, clenching his clawed fist. “I was able to learn some new techniques from Azuma as well. More importantly, Azuma told me something pretty interesting in the Underworld.”
“Underworld…? Techniques…?” Cynthia mutters to herself.
“Interesting?” asks Ryuu. “What did he tell you?”
“He offered me a way to defeat the Fatalists, an opportunity…”
Wake returns to the clearing, leading a group of several dozen men dressed in armor and equipped with a variety of scrounged-up weapons. “Yo, Silver!” he shouts upon arrival. “We’re ready.”
Silver turns to Wake. “Good. Men, in formation! We are about to travel into the Fatalists’ dimension.”
Ryuu glances at the men assembled before Silver as well, before turning back to Kunai. “I agree with your choice, Kunai. There is no way we could do something like that… Destroy the Anti-Phonemes’ souls, huh? It’d be just like what Ice—no, Arai—did. I would never forgive us if we lowered ourselves to that level as well.”
“Yes,” Kunai replies. “Besides, even if we did want to do something like that, there would be no time to find the Anti-Phonemes, as we do not know their identities.”
“Very well…we shall fight the Fatalists fairly, with our own power. We will defeat them and prove to them, prove to Arai…that our combined wills cannot be defeated!” Ryuu mutters. He breathes in deeply, before shouting in a powerful voice so that his voice emanates throughout the clearing.
“Everyone, those gathered here to fight the Fatalists! We are now about to embark on a war to defend our dimension against the Fatalists. Blood will be shed, and not all of us will return victoriously from battle. It may be that not even the majority of us will live to see this dimension, our homes, again. However, we are going to fight despite knowing all this, because the fate of the world relies on us. The whole world is watching, depending on us to protect it. Knowing this, we cannot let it down!
“Therefore, we must move forward and fight with our backs against the wall! We must fight and leave nothing else behind! We will fight and prevail, because we fight for the sake of justice! In that case, we must—at whatever the cost, whatever the pain, however much sorrow we feel—we will triumph over the Fatalists!”
“Yeah!” all those present before Ryuu shout as one, their voices rumbling like thunder through the air.
Ryuu raises the Shield of Wizet in his hands, pouring forth his mana into it. The shield glows yellow, and then turns bright white, shining with a blinding flash of light and energy. At once, the light spreads forth from the shield, engulfing all those standing around it.
From the center of the light, Ryuu cries out loud once more: “We will now arrive in the Fatalists’ dimension! No matter what, we must defeat them! There is no holding back once we arrive!”
“Yeah, this is what we’ve been preparing for all these years! We will not lose!” Kunai shouts.
“I guess there’s no helping it,” Fayvard growls, “you guys’re so into this that I can’t help but get excited either!”
Zack nods. “It’s time for the Fatalists t’pay for all the horror they’ve caused…it’s time to make them pay back the debt owed to Shuriken!”
“And this shall be vengeance for Tide as well!” Silver hisses above the whirling bright lights.
“Yeah!” Wake agrees.
“The day of judgment has come!” Rill whispers hoarsely.
“Yes…justice for the Three Phonemes, the Fatalists cannot be allowed to succeed in their evil!” Cynthia says.
With one last burst of vivid, blinding energy, the eight heroes and the army of the Rift World disappear entirely from their dimension.
They reappear at last, touching down upon solid ground. Around them is a mountainous terrain, as they stand at the top of a range of hills, looking down upon a massive valley below, where, across from them, situated above another hill, looms a castle the size of a large city.
In the spacious, drafty halls of the castle overlooking Henesys is a single man, with cold blue hair and shockingly electric yellow eyes. Sunlight filters in through the open-air roof of the throne room on a peaceful day.
Arai sits comfortably, his head resting on one arm as he watches the Joukai appear through a magical mirror in his lofty position at the throne of his castle. The faintest of smiles appears on his lips. “Well, you have arrived in this world at last, have you now, Ryuu and company? We may be friends, Ryuu, but this is considered an invasion. Very well, then, this shall be war indeed!”
—END THIRTY-SEVEN—
After a long preamble, the showdown with the Fatalists finally begins at last!