CHAPTER 15 : A Shattered Fate

The air between them was thick with unspoken tension. The broken land stretched behind Maika, the scent of scorched earth and blood lingering in the air. In front of her stood Shiba—smirking, unwavering, as if the chaos around them meant nothing.

“You’ve saved us all,” Shiba said, her voice smooth, almost too calm. “Thanks to you, we’re finally free.”

Maika’s emerald eyes remained cold as Shiba took a step forward, her gaze predatory yet inviting.

"If you'd let me," Shiba continued, her tone laced with amusement, "we should spread rumors about this place. No one from Thalvaris would dare step foot here. Let them know an immortal like you exists."

Maika didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Her silence was suffocating.

Shiba tilted her head, watching. “"What do you think, Maika? This time, I shall fight alongside you—to end Elyssian's slavery and spark a revolution against our government.” A slow, creeping smile spread across her lips, sending a wave of anger pulsing through Maika’s chest.

Maika’s fingers twitched. A shadow of something dark flickered behind her expression—something unreadable.

Then, she finally spoke.

“…Maika?” Her voice was empty, detached. “Who is that?”

Shiba’s eyes twitched.

“I don’t remember that being my name.” Maika’s eyes lifted to meet hers, a cruel glint reflecting in their depths. “But I do remember what you did to me.”

For the first time, a flicker of unease passed through Shiba’s face.

"I did that… for your sake."

Maika scoffed. "For my sake?"

"Haven't you realized it yet, Maika?" Shiba stepped closer, her voice smooth yet taunting. "If we hadn't drugged you, your ability to create dark power would have remained buried... forever. You might've been devoured by the monsters instead."

She smirked, eyes gleaming. "You're unique.. Powerful.. Immortal enough for us to corrupt you..!"

The ground rumbled beneath them as Shiba stomped her foot into the earth. Jagged rock formations burst upward, aiming to impale Maika where she stood.

Stone Fang!

The sharpened spires launched toward her, fast and deadly.

Maika moved in a blur, her form flickering between reality and shadow. Just as the spikes were about to impale her, she vanished—only to reappear beside Shiba with eerie precision.

“Fight alongside me? I doubt you'd ever be useful if I let you.”

Before Shiba could react, a streak of dark energy lashed out, barely missing her but grazing her cheek. A thin cut formed, a single line of crimson tracing down her skin.

Shiba hissed, stumbling back as she touched her face. Her blue eyes sharpened.

Maika’s fingers still crackled with divine energy—except there was nothing pure about it. The dark power laced within her divine essence shimmered ominously, swallowing the light around it.

She took a step forward, her presence suffocating, overwhelming.

“After all,” Maika whispered, leaning in, her voice dripping with venom, “you’re just a dog obeying whoever is stronger than you. What a shame.”

Shiba’s eyes flared with rage.

“You piece of—”

With a furious roar, Shiba leaped back, slamming her hands against the ground.

The earth trembled, responding to her fury.

The ground split apart beneath Maika as Shiba unleashed a new wave of power.

Quaking Bind!

A massive hand of solid stone shot up from the ground, its fingers curling to crush Maika as Shiba leaped onto it, using the height to her advantage.

But before the stone could close around her, Maika’s dark energy surged, shattering the hand into pieces. The explosion sent debris flying in all directions, forcing Shiba to flip mid-air, barely managing to redirect her attack.

Maika, however, was faster. With a swift counter, she struck, sending Shiba hurtling backward. Her breath came heavy, but not from exhaustion—excitement. She clenched her fists, feeling the raw energy coursing through her veins.

"Dark power in me… feels amazing," she muttered, a twisted thrill in her voice.

Without hesitation, Maika lunged forward, a gleeful thrill coursing through her as she hopped in excitement. Spinning mid-air, she summoned The Divine Rapture Blade, a jagged sword of pure energy pulsing with Elyssian and dark magic.

Her blade met Shiba’s stone barrier, shattering it on impact. But Maika didn’t stop—she struck again and again, each slash tearing through the defenses as Shiba stepped backward, struggling to keep up.

Then, in a sudden move, Shiba ducked beneath Maika’s next strike, her eyes locking onto a fallen spear nearby. In one swift motion, she grabbed it, dark energy crackling as she enhanced it into an unbreakable weapon. Without hesitation, she spun and countered, her spear clashing against Maika’s blade with a force that sent shockwaves through the battlefield.

Crystal met stone. Immortal met earth. Fury met defiance.

Shiba lunged forward, wielding the enhanced spear, its surface pulsing with raw energy. With every strike, she aimed to overwhelm Maika, using both speed and precision. But Maika met each attack head-on, her blade clashing against the unbreakable spear, sending sparks flying with every impact.

The force of their battle shook the ruins around them.

Shiba twisted, thrusting the spear with deadly accuracy, forcing Maika back step by step. But even as she attacked, she manipulated the earth beneath them—shifting the terrain, raising jagged stone pillars, and sending sudden tremors through the ground to throw Maika off balance.

Maika, however, barely flinched. She moved like a shadow, evading with impossible speed, spinning and slashing through every stone Shiba summoned.

A sudden downward strike from Maika sent shockwaves rippling through the battlefield, collapsing an entire building behind Shiba as she dodged. The ground cracked beneath them, energy waves erupting with each clash of their weapons.

Shiba gritted her teeth and retaliated, driving her spear forward in rapid succession while launching a barrage of earth spikes to corner Maika. But Maika countered with ease, deflecting the projectiles mid-air with a single flick of her blade, each movement effortless and precise.

And the longer the battle raged on, the truth became undeniable—

Maika was untouchable.

Shiba was fast, skilled, and tactical. But Maika was relentless. Inhumanly precise. No attack left a mark on her. No opening lasted long enough to exploit.

Shiba's breath came heavy as she realized—she was fighting against something far beyond human.

And then—

Shiba misstepped.

The ground beneath her crumbled from the force of their battle, sending her stumbling backward.

Maika was already there.

Her blade glowed as she raised it, aiming for the final strike—

Then.

Shiba’s hand flashed as she pulled something from her belt.

The Sapphire Heart.

Not just any crystal—but one that had been blessed by the Botanist for commemoration.

A rare, purified version—one designed to seal dark energy.

Shiba slammed it into the ground between them.

A shockwave of light erupted from the crystal.

Maika’s body froze.

A sudden, invisible force pressed against her chest, pushing her backward. Her fingers trembled as dark energy flickered and cracked around her, struggling against the power of the Sapphire Heart.

Shiba, still gasping for breath, wiped the blood from her lip and smirked.

“You didn’t see that coming, did you?”

Maika’s body staggered, her vision flickering.

The energy inside her—the cruel, destructive force that had given her strength—was weakening.

For the first time since this battle started—

Maika stumbled back.

Shiba’s smirk widened as she straightened.

“It seems the great immortal still has limits after all.”

Shiba lunged forward, her spear striking Maika with brutal force. Maika staggered but held her ground, parrying with her sword. Gritting her teeth, she summoned fragments of broken concrete, sending them floating in the air before launching them at Shiba. But Shiba was quick—she rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the attack. Before Maika could regain her stance, Shiba retaliated, deflecting with her spear before striking again. The impact sent Maika stumbling backward—her feet slipping near the jagged edge of a pit where the Greeds lurked hungrily below.

Maika’s breath hitched as she gazed down at the writhing creatures beneath her. Panic set in, and she scrambled back, desperate to keep from falling. But Shiba was already advancing. She let her spear clatter to the ground, grabbing Maika’s shirt and hauling her up. Step by step, she dragged her toward the edge, her grip unrelenting.

Shiba leaned close, lowering Maika ever so slightly over the abyss, the Greeds’ guttural sounds echoing below.

“What’s wrong?” Shiba’s voice was silk laced with venom. “Afraid to be eaten?”

Maika exhaled sharply, eyes flickering with defiance. "Be eaten?" She scoffed, lips curling into something almost amused. “You should be the one afraid.”

Shiba’s expression darkened, her grip tightening. “You think so lightly of me,” she muttered, her glare like ice. “I never wanted to argue with you… but calling me a dog? That was your biggest mistake.”

Maika tilted her head slightly, a smirk ghosting over her lips. "Aren’t you already?"

Something in Shiba snapped. With a snarl, she jerked Maika lower, the abrupt motion nearly making her slip through her grasp. Maika clung onto Shiba’s wrists, her fingers trembling but firm. Shiba, unfazed, leaned in until their faces were inches apart,

“I’m glad this insult ends here.”

Just as she was about to release her grip—

"Shiba!"

A blur of motion.

Renwick slammed into Shiba, sending her sprawling to the ground. Maika barely managed to seize the cliff’s edge, her nails digging into the dirt. Renwick, seizing the moment, snatched the Sapphire Heart from Shiba’s belt and flung it to the ground.

Shiba’s breath hitched. For a moment, she didn’t realize what had happened. Then rage consumed her. She kicked Renwick hard, sending him rolling across the ground. He coughed violently, struggling to rise.

"What is WRONG with you?! Are you trying to stop me?!"

She kicked him again, harder this time. Renwick grimaced, pain rippling through his body.

"Ah… of course…” Her voice was hoarse, laced with bitterness. “You ruin everything—JUST LIKE YOU RUINED OUR EXPERIMENTS IN THE UNDERGROUND! YOU’RE THE REASON!"

Another brutal kick, knocking him to the dirt. But this time, Renwick's fingers found something—Shiba's discarded spear. With a sharp inhale, he gritted his teeth and drove it straight into the Sapphire Heart on the ground.

Shiba froze. A sharp gasp escaped her lips, her gaze frightened. This was it. The end had come for her.

And then—Maika was behind Shiba.

The air grew heavy, thick with an unnatural force. Shadows curled around Maika, twisting and writhing, her presence now something other. Her outstretched hand grasped nothing yet held Shiba in an invisible vice—an unseen force tightening around her throat, hoisting her into the air.

Shiba struggled, her fingers clawing at nothing. The pressure constricted. Her legs kicked uselessly. The abyss yawned beneath her, filled with the shifting, seething mass of Greeds, waiting for their meal.

A dark mist spiraled around Maika, her eyes blank and unreadable. Shiba’s breath came in ragged gasps. Panic flickered in her widening eyes as she glanced below.

"I swear… I’ll kill you…!" She rasped. "You’re only strong because of that filthy darkness! It should have been mine— it should have—”

Maika’s fingers twitched.

Shiba dropped.

The abyss swallowed her whole.

A shriek tore through the cavern, raw and shrill, as the Greeds lunged. Limbs twisted, flesh ripped. Shiba’s body convulsed violently as they tore into her—shredding, feasting.

"NO! NO! LET ME GO!! LET ME GO, YOU FILTHY, USELESS MONSTERS!"

Her screams fractured, dissolving into a gurgling wail.

Maika stood at the edge, gazing down. Still. Silent.

Her face remained blank, yet something dark gleamed in her empty stare.

She watched.

Only when the last shuddering breath left Shiba’s mangled form did Maika finally part her lips, barely a whisper escaping.

“It should have been mine.”

Before Renwick could fully rise, his gaze locked onto Maika, who had collapsed to her knees, her body trembling with exhaustion. Her eyes remained fixed on the Greeds below, and with a slow, deliberate motion, she stretched out her hands. As if testing an unknown force, her fingers curled, drawing in the thick, malevolent aura that swirled around them. A dark wind howled in response, twisting violently as it was sucked into her grasp.

Then, the Greeds screamed—a chilling, echoing wail that shook the air. The cries of her friends, their voices laced with agony and despair, reverberated through the monstrous forms. The very souls of the girls who had perished when the land collapsed had fused into the Greeds, their torment lingering within. Maika could hear them. She could feel them. Their sorrow seeped into her like a relentless tide.

"I'm sorry.. I couldn't save you."

In a single breath, the world shifted. The deafening chaos collapsed into an eerie silence.

Renwick remained frozen on the ground, eyes widened in disbelief. Maika slowly rose to her feet, tears slipping down her face, yet her lips curved into a sorrowful smile. But the hope she once carried was gone. As she turned to Renwick, her voice, soft yet resolute, broke the silence.

"Thank you."

He could only stare, speechless. Maika extended a hand toward him.

"Let's go."

Renwick hesitated, his gaze flickering between her hand and the destruction around them. "...Where to?"

Maika stilled. The weight of his question pressed against her, suffocating.

"...There is nowhere to go."

He continued, exhaled slowly and rose to his feet. "After all, you destroyed everything we built."

Maika’s eyes snapped up to him. "Why are you still blind to the truth?! Why do you insist I was the one who destroyed your home?!"

Renwick clenched his fists, his jaw tightening as he looked away. "Because I had no one... This... this is my punishment." His voice trembled with grief.

Maika stepped closer, her fists shaking at her sides. "Then why did you save me—again?"

His answer did not come immediately. It lingered in the air, heavy and uncertain. Finally, with a quiet sigh, he admitted, "...Because I realized you deserve a world to see ahead of you. A world where you don’t have to hurt anyone. Not even me."

Maika's voice hardened. "But I did hurt people."

Renwick’s expression darkened. "Then... you don’t deserve to be here."

Before she could react, he grasped her shoulders, his grip firm yet desperate. His eyes locked onto hers, filled with something unreadable.

"At least... not here... Maika. Leave."

He whispered before he pushed her away.

Maika staggered, confusion flickering in her gaze—until it happened.

A streak of dark lance—sharp, precise, and merciless—pierced through Renwick’s chest. His breath hitched, and for a brief, shattering moment, silence claimed the battlefield once more.

Maika's eyes widened in horror as he crumpled before her, blood pooling beneath him.

"Who... Who did this?!"

She dropped to his side, her hands trembling as she held him. The truth sank into her like a blade—he had been trying to warn her.

Her breath quickened, rage boiling in her veins. "No... no...!" She clenched her teeth, her body trembling. Then her voice erupted, raw with fury.

"WHO DID THIS?! WHO IS STILL ALIVE?!"

Her burning gaze darted around the ruins until she caught sight of movement—a shadow lurking behind a fractured wall.

Ryven.

He panted heavily, clutching something in his hand—the Enhanced Sapphire Heart. The most powerful divine stone, capable of amplifying dark energy beyond limits.

"We should let Maika kill Shiba first. And then… Maika."

The words echoed in his mind, a fragment of a past decision now unraveling before him. Renwick’s fingers trembled slightly as the memory surfaced—a command he had once given, now cruelly playing out.

Renwick’s gaze wavered, uncertainty creeping into his features.

“You said you wanted to end this, right…?” the voice from his past murmured. “Then we have to do this. I've always trusted you, Renwick.”

Trust. A word so heavy, yet fleeting.

Leaning against the cold stone wall, Ryven clenched his jaw, his fists curling tightly. His breath was ragged, his chest heaving with frustration and grief.

"Damn it… Renwick… why!? Why did you have to throw your life away for her?!"

His voice was a whisper, a curse carried away by the thickening tension in the air. But then—he felt it.

A shift.

A deep, primal disturbance.

The earth beneath them groaned as if awakening from a slumber, cracks splintering outward like veins of raw fury. Maika’s rage bled into the very foundation of the world. The ground trembled, shuddering in violent protest, and the suffocating pressure of something far greater than them all settled into place.

"Tch…!"

He immediately turned to flee, but it was too late. The ground split open before him, and as he stumbled, his leg became trapped in the collapsing terrain. His breath hitched as he looked up—just in time to see an landslide of debris crashing toward him.

Maika stepped forward. Each step sent cracks surging through the earth. The ground bulged, buildings groaned before shattering, and the entire battlefield trembled beneath her presence.

Shiba’s power surged within her, amplifying her rage beyond control.

And yet, through it all, tears streamed down her face.

She was alone. Again.

........

By sunrise, the battlefield was unrecognizable—a graveyard of shattered ruins, swallowed by silence.

Maika wandered aimlessly, her eyes dull, searching for something—anything. Some of the girls had managed to escape. Others had perished, consumed by the merciless quake.

Then, amidst the rubble, she spotted it.

A broken clock.

She picked it up, staring at its cracked face. Once, it had been a celestial relic, pulsing with divine energy. Now, it was nothing more than shattered remnants of the past.

She turned toward the gate. It stood wide open, a silent invitation to leave. Beyond it lay a world she no longer belonged to.

She should leave. She could leave. But to where?

The Celestials? They had long abandoned her.
Her friends? Gone. Swallowed by the earth, by the Greeds, by fate itself.

She glanced back at the ruins, the crumbling remains of what once was. Her feet felt heavy, weighed down by the ghosts of the past.

Even if she stepped through that gate, there would be no destination waiting for her. No home. No purpose. No one.

A slow, shuddering breath left her lips.

She turned away.

The gate remained open behind her, untouched, forgotten.

She stepped back into the ruins, her grip tightening on the broken clock, the last fragment of a time that no longer existed.

She had nowhere else to go. Nowhere left to belong.