The Sun

A party of four entered a diner in the city of Eigo. The Spineful party was treating an unusual person they found in the forest to a meal. Ansel ordered two beers. One for him and one for their new acquaintance Kaito. The three introduced themselves properly one by one.

“I’m Ansel, I use reinforcement earth magic.”

“I USE LIGHT MAGIC!! At least I think so, it always feels kinda off, like its flame magic but with light.”

“You have to tell him your name too” Eira looked at him with a reproachful gaze that could have killed Kaito if it had been aimed at him.

“But he already knows.”

“It’s polite to reintroduce since we’re planning to help him out for a while,” Ansel chimed in.

Kaito’s strain smiled stopped.

“What? You’d really do that?”

“I mean it’s just a feeling I have. I feel like I should help you out.”

“But-”

“Just accept it already,” Eira sighed, rolling her eyes.

“You know,” Ansel looked around the table, “I just know that we’re gonna get along just great.”

You did it.

The tail flew mercilessly through the air catching the two blindfolded girls in its wake and flinging them out of the doorway, flying above the three siblings in front of the doorway. The momentum the tail had, kept it moving in from left to right. He had only been caught in a sporadic motion, one that Shuna had been unable to prevent. Kaito’s body had been mangled beyond repair, the tail had made contact just at the base of his neck, snapping his spine and killing him instantly— without any pain. It had been flown into a pile of fallen stone which cemented the possibility of him surviving into a confirmed death.

Talos was the first to get up and rush back in. He stepped into the unknown palace once more and turned to his left. Kaito’s body laid peacefully embedded in the stone as a waterfall of blood began to slowly form. Talos couldn’t believe his eyes. His head began to hurt, his emotions were all over the place, and mana began to leek from his body.

The monstrous demon looked his way having sensed the intense amount of mana. Milandra cackled to herself and thought about the other two girls that she’d launched into the air in celebration. She looked at the boy, his eyes now glowing a bright white and orange light.

You DID it.

He screamed in agony, not being able to process what’d just happened, all his emotions turned into rage and sorrow. There was no need for him to chant anymore, the headband had long since made him able to cast magic without chants. Talos fell to his knees in despair and sent out a shockwave of pure solar energy throughout the surrounding area. The sphere of light grew and charred all the rock and wood in the room, ultimately reaching Milandra and staining her green scales black.

Talos looked up at the demon, his eyes now brimming with fury. Six spheres of light appeared behind him as he positioned himself. A jet of pitch black flames was released from Milandra's mouth aimed straight at Talos. The spheres around him shot beams of light which concentrated into one powerful laser. The two attacks, the light of Talos and Milandra’s flames, evenly compete and cause the surrounding area to heat up like a furnace.

Talos put all his might into his magic, allowing him to push past his limits and begin to push his light further of the torrent of blackness. His rage was immense, the light from the spheres grew brighter and even more orbs of light began to surround him. Milandra’s scales were beginning to burn up which led to her spreading her wings of flames and escaping the palace turned furnace. She swiftly avoided Talos’ beams as she flew further up, yet she failed to see the lake-sized pool of water right above her, which weakened her wings as soon as she flew through them.

YOU DID IT.

On the ground below, Eira and Ansel had freed the two other girls from their mind controlling headbands. They’d been just as confused as Talos was for a moment until they saw the giant demon taking flight in an effort to escape. The blaze shield, Zehra, put all her might into her next shot, the flaming arrow now spinning at a high speed. Ansel and Eira saw Talos shoot from the palace into the air, his back being pushed by beams of light from a jetpack, quickly catching up to Milandra.

He was quickly reaching his limit, his rage filled state being the only reason he was able to even damage the demon. The girl dressed in white, Cassy, created a dome of a multitude of spears made out of water and launched them at the demon. Milandra was caught off-guard and created orbs of black flames to evaporate the spears before they reached her. Zehra launched her arrow and landed a clean hit, as Milandra had been preoccupied with Cassy's attack.

In that moment, Talos shot straight through a gap in Milandra's defense, flying high above her before letting himself freefall downward.

YOU DID IT! YOU KILLED HIM!

Talos' body was glowing brightly. He pointed his palms down at the demon, having been given only one shot to take it down. The breeze in the sky all but evaporated around him. His light was shining just as the sun was beginning to peek along the horizon. His brother and sister looked up at him in awe, a loud beam of light shooting down in an instant, tearing a hole in Milandra’s body as the concentrated shot left no room to regenerate.

In that moment Talos was shining brighter than the sun itself, lighting up the town and birthing the dawn of a new age. A screech of pain resounded throughout the city. Milandra had tried to use her wings to and flaming breath to prevent the attack from connecting but Shuna had stopped her from doing such a thing.

{YOU MONGREL WE’LL DIE!!!}

[It’s time I accepted my death. I know he did.]

The beam of light pressed the demon's body into the ground, and a memory of the man Shuna had helped came to her in her final moments. The night had been cold but the light in her chest was warm. She’d known the moment they met that they were both Japanese, but more than that, she’d known it was him that she saved. The hair and build, she’d never forgotten it. Her life was slowly slipping away yet she felt no fear. The moment she saw him and saw her tail move, it was too late. She watched the man she’d saved die a second time, his second chance at life thrown into the rubble along with all chances of telling him who she was. Unlike him, she had kept her youth, a permanent state of being inside Milandra’s body, but her time with her had taken its toll. Shuna decided to help Milandra end the war—however her way of doing it was different than hers. She’d already indirectly caused many deaths in the war which is why this was her atonement.

The light in her eyes faded and the last thing she saw was the light of a boy, the boy named The Sun Shield.

—--

The sun shined upon a new day. The demons scattered at the sight of their king's death. Cassy and Zehra went and removed the headbands off the two other shields, Nuru the force shield and Rose the wind shield. Chaos spread in the streets of Ydiria as the royal family had been killed off in its entirety overnight. Ansel, Eira, and Talos looked down at the ground, having spent the entire morning burying their friend and grieving for his sacrifice. 

Talos engraved a stone with what they thought his name spelled like, not knowing much about the amnesiac man’s past until the end. He had been the strongest man they knew, a near superhuman without any mana. From the beginning of his journey to its end, Kaito had never once truly been… Powerless.