Divine Intervention

Kagi’s blade shimmered into her hand with a clean twist, the sound clicking like a key slotting into place.

Her eyes scanned the clearing—open, too open. Enemy positions locked in fast. Pincer formation. They were being surrounded.

“They’re herding us,” she murmured. “Stay close. Don’t break formation. We can’t be separated like we did in Crystalor.”

“Why not?” Rokuro raised his fists up.

“Because you survived by sheer dumb luck.” Kagi sighed, “Just deal with anyone that gets past me. Cover my blind spots.”

Hate to admit she’s right…

“Fair.” Rokuro nodded, fists clenched, nerves boiling under his skin.

The first wave came in hard.

Kagi moved with cutting precision. Keyshot—a soldier’s helm snapped back with a violet burst. Lockburst—a fanned spray of magic sent two more reeling. Her blade danced with light and motion, quick flicks of the wrist unleashing flares and chains and waves of pressure.

Every movement controlled. Calculated. Designed to defend the ground around her—and Rokuro.

Rokuro stayed close. For once.

“Come at me, you bastard!”

A spear darted toward him—he ducked and slammed a hook into the attacker’s head. A clean hit. He could do this.

Not bad… I’ve got this.

Then a guard on the left stumbled.

Rokuro saw the opening. Kagi was handling three on the right. The guy was breaking off. Vulnerable.

I can take that one.

He smirked and moved. He could finally feel useful in a fight next to Kagi.

“Rokuro!” Kagi’s voice snapped behind him. “Don’t!”

But he was already there.

“You won’t get away you—“

He swung.

The soldier grinned.

Steel cracked across Rokuro’s side—another man from the shadows. Then another behind him. Then another.

It was a trap.

He’d taken the bait.

“Shit!” Rokuro cursed, backing away, “Stay away from me, you freaks!”

But of course they wouldn’t.

“It’s the Lock! Apprehend him!”

A shield slammed into his ribs.

A boot caught him in the thigh.

A sword hilt smashed the side of his head.

Rokuro hit the dirt, the forest spinning around him in sickening spirals. Blood poured down from his temple. One eye swelled. His limbs ached.

“Roku!” She blink-dashed toward him, dropping the soldier in front of her with a wide arc of her blade.

But a crossbow fired mid-lunge.

She didn’t stop.

The bolt slammed into her shoulder.

The force threw her sideways—off her feet.

She crashed into the dirt, hard.

A guard stood over Rokuro now, sword raised.

Rokuro blinked up through a haze of blood and dirt. The world swam.

His ears rang.

The pain in his chest flared. Kagi was hurt. She wasn’t coming to save him no matter how hard she tried to. All because of him… Just like what happened with Kenji…

That moment—so much like before.

Kenji’s blood on his shoes.

That final look in his eyes.

Rokuro’s hand twitched. His fist clenched.

Would he sit back, helpless, and watch the same thing happen to her too?

No.

Not again.

He grit his teeth and snarled.

Not this time. Not ever again.

He was done seeing people get hurt because of his incompetence.

The sword came down.

Rokuro’s gauntlet surged to life.

WHAM—his palm caught the blade mid-air, sparks exploding from the impact. The soldier’s eyes widened.

“You… idiot!” Rokuro roared. “Don’t bring a toothpick to a fistfight!”

With a howl, Rokuro yanked the man forward and threw him over his shoulder. The guard—armor and all—crashed into a tree with enough force to splinter bark. That kind of weightless toss wasn’t normal.

Every head turned.

Rokuro rose slowly. He didn’t have magical knowledge and he certainly couldn’t keep his emotions and intent in check. But that didn’t matter.

Because only a single thought filled his mind.

I won’t let it happen again.

Blood dripped down his face, eyes wild. His legs screamed at him to stay down. But he stood anyway. One hand clenched. The other, glowing. The gauntlet pulsed. Not because he knew how to use it—but because he refused not to.

“Anyone else wanna try?” he growled.

The soldiers hesitated.

“He’s fighting like an animal…” one whispered.

“He was just a kid a moment ago…”

“If you don't want your ear bitten off by this kid, don’t come any closer.” He took one step forward—planting himself in front of Kagi’s injured form, as she rose to her feet, “I’ll make you regret the day you put on that armor, you tin-can bastards!”

Kagi looked up from where she knelt, catching her breath. Blood ran down her temple. But her eyes widened—not in fear.

In silent respect.

A crooked smile tugged at her lips. “…Took you long enough to show some spine, Roku…”

Rokuro didn’t respond. He merely turned.

“Can you continue?”

“My job is to stand by your side.” Kagi waved her keyblade, violet dancing across it once more. She pushed away the pain and rose to her feet, “No matter what.”

Together they lunged.

Rokuro fought like a demon.

Every swing was messy. Every block too slow. But he didn’t stop.

Blows slammed into him—shoulders, ribs, legs. He kept standing.

His knees gave out once. He forced them straight with a growl and kept going.

The gauntlet flickered, surging wild with every surge of rage.

But they were still losing ground.

Too many. Too fast.

Kagi was still fighting, magic spraying violet across the clearing—but blood now ran down her side.

And then—

The world shuddered.

A thunderous cry split the heavens, not of this world.

From the sky, the air warped—and a shadow fell.

A titan. Not beast, not god—something between.

Its body was long and sinuous like a dragon, but feathered wings stretched from one horizon to the next, beating with the force of a storm. Shimmering scales covered its hide, glinting like broken glass catching the sun. Light danced along its body—purples, silvers, faint blues—shifting with every breath it took.

Atop its head sat a crown of crystal horns, jagged and gleaming, like a crown carved from starlight.

With a swipe of its tail, the men Rokuro and Kagi were so desperately fighting flew off in multiple directions crashing with impossible force.

And then its eyes—twin galaxies, vast and endless—fell on Rokuro.

The titan stepped forward, each step shaking the soil.

Rokuro, bloodied and dazed, met that gaze. The beast had waved the soldiers Kagi and Rokuro were desperately fighting away with a simple gesture. There was no way they could fight this and win.

“What in the blue hell is… that?”

Kagi stood by his side.

“What the magical barrier protects Crystalor from…” she muttered, “An Aetheralyx…”

“Can we… take it?” Despite it all Rokuro still felt the need to ask.

“We cannot.” Kagi huffed, but raised her blade anyway, “However from the little I’ve learned of you… you won’t just sit down and die.”

“I’m stubborn to a fault, you see…” Rokuro rolled his injured shoulder despite the pain. Despite the despair.

“Any plan… this time?” Rokuro scoffed.

“Why? So you can ruin it again?”

The Aetheralyx seemed to wait for them to get ready. Then it raised its head, mouth parting—

And then a calm voice broke the silence.

“That’s enough.”

The voice was human—calm, clear, and impossible to ignore.

A figure stepped from the thickets. Young, sharp-eyed. His skin was a smooth metallic gray, with thin, wire-like veins glowing faintly beneath the surface—like circuitry woven into flesh. His stark white mohawk stood tall, the rest of his scalp cleanly shaved.

The Aetheralyx turned at once.

It did not growl. It did not move to strike.

It simply… eased.

The titan’s wings folded. Its towering head rose, posture softening.

“What the….” Rokuro could only gawk at the sight.

“Who are you?” Kagi pointed her blade at the figure.

“The name’s Nero.” The man said almost too nonchalantly, “And you must be the Lock of legend and his… key.”

He eyed the two of them, much more relaxed than the situation dictated.

“I’m here on behalf of the rebels of Ironwood Forest.”