CHAPTER 7 : Family (3)

The sound of Kei and Karsid’s screams echoed from the underground.
Raven, who had been holding himself back all this time, finally snapped.
She stepped forward, pushing open the cracked wooden door—
and the world before him froze.

In front of the shack, Kei, Karsid, and the others lay helpless on the ground.
Raven’s vision trembled.
In an instant, every emotion she had buried deep within—
rage, fear, sorrow—
all burst out at once.

And something within her... ignited.

The wind howled violently, sweeping up leaves as the ground quaked beneath her feet.
From the girl’s small body, unseen energy exploded outward like a raging storm.

“W–What... what the hell is this?!”
Adur shouted, struggling against the crushing pressure radiating from Raven.

Karsid froze, eyes wide.
He tried to speak—but his voice vanished into the roaring chaos.

Union Surveillance Room — Drone Control

The flickering light of the monitor cast pale shadows across Alice’s face.
She stared at the small figure standing at the center of a blazing storm,
the light swirling around her like a miniature sun.

“Who... who is that? I’ve never seen her before,”
Alice whispered, her voice trembling.

Beside her, Daichi stepped closer, his expression tightening—
his pupils shrinking in disbelief.

“That’s... impossible. Isn’t she supposed to—”

“Daichi!” Alice snapped sharply. “Stop staring!
Deploy every available Xentra unit! I’m going there myself!”

Without waiting for a reply, she turned and dashed out of the control room,
her footsteps echoing down the metallic hallway.

Daichi remained frozen before the screen,
his pale face reflecting the image of Raven—
as if he knew something no one else was supposed to.

Battlefield

Raven screamed.
The energy within her body raged like a wild beast freed from its cage.
She clutched his head, trembling violently as radiant waves engulfed everything around her.

“Threat detected,”
a mechanical voice crackled through Adur’s headset.

Red text flashed across his visor:

⚠ THREAT LEVEL: SS — EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY ⚠

Then it blinked again—

⚠ THREAT LEVEL: SS — EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY ⚠

“W–What?! SS?! Why is there an SS-class threat here?! That’s impossible!”
Adur’s voice broke, trembling amid the storm of energy.

Warning lights flared red across his display—
but before he could react, the earth trembled violently.
The air screamed.

Karsid looked up at Raven, his voice barely a whisper.
“Raven... what happened…”

The ground rippled like a living sea,
trees snapped apart, and waves of dirt surged upward.
The Xentra units were thrown into the air—
some fainting instantly from the sheer pressure.

“RAVEN! CALM DOWN! I’M HERE!”
Karsid’s desperate shout was swallowed by the roaring wind.

But Raven heard nothing.
Her world had already sunk into blinding white and unbearable pain.
She cried, screamed,
and the light within her grew even brighter.

Then—everything stopped.
For a brief, dreadful moment, the world fell silent.

The energy that had been bursting outward
suddenly drew back into Raven’s body.

“No... No! He’s going to explode!!”
one of the surviving Xentra screamed.

Karsid crawled toward her, blood dripping down his face.
“RAVEN! LISTEN TO ME! DON’T—!”

But Adur only laughed—a wild, terrified laugh.
“Hahaha… damn it all! If you’re gonna blow, then do it!
Let’s see who dies first!”

Thick green smoke erupted from Adur’s body,
forming two enormous spectral hands.
He hurled them toward Raven—

But a deafening boom tore through the air.
A particle shield manifested before Raven,
blocking the attack in a burst of brilliant light.

Sparks and green energy collided,
engulfing the forest in blinding white radiance.

“H–How?! What the hell is that?!”
Adur stumbled back, his face pale with terror.

The shield pulsed—absorbing the green mist,
devouring it completely like fog under sunlight.

Raven stood motionless at the center.
Her body trembled, skin pale,
and the light within her churned like a reactor on the verge of collapse.

“Th-this is bad… we’re all gonna die…”
Tarn whispered hoarsely.

Karsid, Vynn, Reiss, Mila, Tarn—
they could only stare, frozen in horror.

Amid the chaos, Kei was still alive.
He crawled across the fractured ground,
his trembling hand reaching for a small teleportation device
that had fallen a few meters away.

The light pouring from Raven’s body grew brighter—
like a sun being born from the earth itself.

“Hhh... I won’t let... any of you die…”
Kei whispered, barely audible.

As the energy reached its breaking point—
click.

He pressed the button.

In an instant, a blinding white light swallowed them:
Karsid, Tarn, Vynn, Mila, Reiss, Raven, and Kei.

And just before the explosion consumed everything—
they vanished.

Only searing wind remained,
leaving behind a gaping crater and a sky that seemed to shatter.

Karsid kept his eyes shut, bracing himself for death—
but confusion crept in when he realized he felt... nothing.

“W–What’s going on? Why can’t I feel anything?”

Slowly, he opened his eyes.
A sharp beam of sunlight struck his face, forcing him to squint.

“Where… am I?” he muttered, disoriented.

Karsid and the others had been teleported much farther than anyone could have expected.
He found himself lying inside an old, half-collapsed garage—
dust swirling in the air, broken tools scattered across the cracked floor.

As his blurred vision steadied, he saw them—
Vynn, Raven, Kei, and the rest, all sprawled across the debris, motionless.

Gritting his teeth, Karsid tried to move.
Every muscle screamed.
His body was covered in deep gashes, decaying wounds, and shattered bones.
Even so, he forced himself upright, breathing heavily, each breath sharp as a blade.

Step by step, he stumbled toward Kei,
his hand dragging along the crumbling wall for support.
Every few meters, his legs gave out, sending him crashing to the side.
But still—he kept going.

When he finally reached Kei’s side, his strength ran out.
He collapsed to his knees beside him,
the dust rising softly as his body hit the ground.

“Kei…”
He shook the boy’s shoulder weakly.
“KEI! Kei, wake up! Kei, please—wake up! Don’t leave me… please…”

Karsid’s voice cracked, trembling with desperation.
But Kei didn’t respond

Flashback: Elyseam — Years Ago

Years ago, Kei had been nothing more than a scavenger in a forgotten corner of Elyseam.

The metallic clatter of tools echoed through narrow alleys,
where rusted junk and collapsed machinery piled up like corpses of a bygone age.
There, amidst the ruins, a ragged boy with dirt-brown hair dug through a heap of broken parts.
His small hands moved quickly, eyes sharp and hungry—
not for knowledge, but for survival.

Kei had no home, no family name, no future.
He lived by dismantling old machines, selling scraps to black-market dealers.
But even then, there was something different about him—
a gift to build things from nothing, as long as his ether reserves held out.

That day, the sky over Elyseam was dark blue, heavy after a storm.
The air smelled of wet iron and dust.
Kei crouched amid the wreckage, examining a pile of rusted circuit boards and bent frames.

“If this works… I can sell it at the border market.
Maybe it’ll feed me for three days,” he whispered.

But in the distance, two figures approached along the narrow path.
The first was a man with sharp eyes and a torn long coat,
his presence steady and cold like steel.
The second—a young woman with red hair, a sword strapped to her back—
walked lazily beside him, yawning.

“Karsid,” the woman said, “are you sure this dump has anything worth finding?”

“According to the report,” Karsid replied curtly,
“this area once held data on the Union’s experiments.”

Vynn sighed. “Let’s hope it’s not another dead end like last time.”

Neither of them noticed the small pair of eyes watching from behind the junk piles.
Kei held his breath, studying them carefully.
Their clothes were clean, their weapons gleamed—clearly not ordinary people.

“Rich folks…” he muttered under his breath.
“If I can steal just one thing from them, I can eat for a week.”

He waited for the right moment—
then activated a small bracelet strapped to his wrist.
A faint shimmer of light enveloped him, masking his ether signature.

Then—
SNAP!
His hand darted out, snatching a small energy tube from Vynn’s bag.

“Heh. Got it,” he grinned.

But before he could take two steps back—

“...My bag feels lighter,” Vynn said, turning sharply.
Karsid’s eyes flicked toward the metal shadows at the alley’s edge. “There.”

“Seriously?! After him!”

“Damn it!” Kei cursed, scrambling up the scrap heap.
He kicked down pieces of metal to block their path.
“Don’t let them catch me! Don’t let them catch me—!”

Karsid raised a hand.
The flying metal froze in midair—then rotated gently in place.

Kei’s eyes widened. “W–What the hell was that?!”

“Metal manipulation…” he muttered in disbelief. “Then I’ll just—try something else!”

He tapped his bracelet twice.
“Deploy: Scrap Spider!”

From the junk around him, tiny spider-like drones unfolded and skittered forward,
each one exploding in bursts of smoke as they neared the pursuers.

Vynn coughed through the haze. “Damn brat’s got toys too!”

Within the smokescreen, Kei bolted away,
firing a magnetic line that pulled him up a wall and into the shadows.

“Wow,” Vynn laughed. “The kid’s running like a rat—with his own gadgets.”

Karsid merely exhaled. “Interesting. Not many children can channel ether that precisely.”

They followed him to the outskirts of the slum,
where half-collapsed shacks stood in silence.

Kei ducked behind a rusted drum, panting.
“They’ll never find me here…”

Then—
a low voice behind him.

“Kid.”

Kei froze. Slowly, he turned.
Karsid stood just a meter away, eyes like tempered steel locking onto his.
Vynn leaned casually against a broken fence, holding one of the spider drones.

“Not bad,” she smirked. “You built this from trash?”

Kei stumbled backward, panicked.
“D–Don’t come any closer! I just needed food, I don’t want a fight!”

Karsid didn’t move. He just stared.

A few seconds passed—then, quietly,
he extended a hand.

“If you can make things like that from nothing,” he said,
“you don’t belong in a place like this.”

Kei blinked. “Huh?”

“My name is Karsid,” the man said simply.
“If you come with us… maybe you’ll do more than just steal to survive.”

Vynn shrugged. “Hey, at least he didn’t blow himself up when we caught him. That’s progress.”

Kei hesitated. “You’re… not taking me to the Union, right?”

Karsid’s gaze darkened. “Union? I stopped trusting them long ago.”

Kei’s eyes widened. “You’re not Xentra?”

Karsid didn’t answer. He simply turned away.
“If you want to live—follow me.”

Kei bit his lip. His dirty hands trembled.
For the first time, someone had reached out to him—
not to strike him, not to call him trash,
but to offer him a place in this world.

Slowly, he reached forward and took the man’s hand.

From that day on,
Kei was no longer a scavenger.
He became part of the small, broken family
fighting against a world that refused to accept them.

Back to the Present

“Cough… cough…”
A faint cough broke the silence.

Karsid flinched. He turned around sharply—and his eyes widened when he saw Kei stirring weakly.
“Kei! Kei, are you okay?!” he shouted in panic, grabbing his friend’s cold, trembling hand.

Kei’s eyelids fluttered open. Blood trickled down his cracked lips, yet a faint smile still found its way onto his face.
“Ha… ha… what’re you worried about, Boss…” His voice was hoarse, but he tried to sound calm.

Karsid’s gaze trembled with guilt.
“You idiot… you almost died just to save us.”

“Heh.” Kei chuckled softly—his laugh cut short by a violent cough that splattered blood.
“If I didn’t trigger the teleport, you’d be ashes by now.”

Karsid froze for a moment, unsure whether to scold him or laugh. Kei was still joking at death’s door.
Carefully, he placed a hand on Kei’s shoulder, afraid that too much pressure might break him apart.
“Why do you always do stupid things like this…”

Kei’s eyes softened, dim yet warm.
“Because… back then, when I was just some gutter kid in the back alley… you were the only one who reached out your hand.”

Karsid fell silent for a long while.
He took a deep breath, then looked at Kei with sorrowful eyes.
“And ever since that day… I’ve always regretted it,” he whispered. “For dragging a kid like you into this kind of life.”

Kei smiled faintly. “You’re wrong, Boss…” he murmured. “If it weren’t for you… I’d never know what it feels like to have a home.”

Silence.
Only the faint wind slipping through the cracks and the dying beep of a half-broken monitor filled the air.

“…Boss,” Kei whispered weakly. “I’m thirsty.”

“Alright. Hold on.”

Karsid pushed himself up. His body trembled, his steps unsteady. The wound on his leg reopened, blood dripping down his thigh—but he kept walking.
His eyes scanned the shattered room: cracked walls, shards of glass, and dust dancing in the air.
In the corner, something glimmered faintly—a fallen water bottle lying among broken glass.
“Thank God…” he muttered.

He bent down, picked up the bottle with trembling hands, and walked back toward Kei.
Kneeling beside him, Karsid unscrewed the cap and gently lifted Kei’s head.
“Here… drink a little…”

But there was no response.
“Kei?”
Karsid’s eyes widened.
“Kei…”

He touched Kei’s cheek—it was cold.
The bottle slipped from his grasp, rolling slowly across the dusty floor, spilling water drop by drop.

“Kei… hey, open your eyes.”
Karsid patted his cheek lightly.
“Kei…”

Still silence.
Kei’s face remained peaceful, lips curved in that same faint smile—as if he was still listening to their conversation.
But his breath was gone.

Karsid lowered his head. His shoulders began to shake.
For a moment, the entire world went still.

He looked down at Kei’s hand—still gripping the hem of his coat tightly, refusing to let go.
“…Stubborn brat,” Karsid whispered softly. “You even died smiling.”

He closed his eyes, clutching Kei’s hand tighter, and let the tears fall freely.
For the first time—not as a leader, not as a fighter—
but as a man who had lost his family.

Battlefield After the Explosion

The night wind blew cold, carrying the scent of iron and ash.
Alice stood amid the ruins, her eyes scanning what once had been a battlefield.

Yet strangely—there were no explosion marks, no craters, no traces of fire.
Only blood… scattered and still.
Bodies torn apart, motionless, frozen in eerie silence.
As if the great battle that should’ve taken place… never happened at all.

Alice narrowed her eyes. “What happened here?” she murmured—her voice calm, but echoing in the heavy stillness.
She stepped through puddles of half-dried blood.
“Looks like they managed to escape…” she whispered, her tone shifting into cold command.
“Adur! Where are you!”

Silence.
Only the whisper of the wind and the rustle of dust answered her.

“Adur! Enough games!” Alice’s voice rang sharp, slicing through the night air.

Then—
Laughter. Soft but chilling, echoing from nowhere and everywhere.
“Hahaha… it seems I can’t ever joke around you, can I?”

Alice spun around, her gaze sweeping through the shadows between the ruins.
No one.

Then, something stirred.
The severed bodies on the ground began to rise—floating slowly, drawn together by an unseen force.
Thick green liquid oozed from their wounds, glowing faintly like venom under the moonlight—merging, weaving flesh into flesh.

Alice’s expression stayed cold. She already knew who it was.

Moments later, Adur stood once more—his body whole again, skin still slick with steaming green mucus, like vapor rising from freshly healed wounds.
The blood around him evaporated, drawn into his body by dark energy.

Adur took a deep breath and chuckled. “Ahh… it feels damn good to be alive again.”
He wore only torn pants, his muscles tense, his aura shaking the air.

“Adur,” Alice’s tone was sharp. “How many times must I tell you to be careful? Look at this mess!”

Adur rolled his shoulders lazily, giving her a crooked grin.
“Relax, Alice. I’m not planning to let them go. I’ll kill them all.”

His killing intent flared.
The air quivered. Cracks formed beneath his feet.
The Xentra soldiers of lower rank who had just arrived froze instantly—choking under the crushing pressure.

Alice exhaled sharply, her gaze turning steely. “Enough. I won’t tolerate another failure, Adur. If you fail again… I’ll handle it myself.”

Adur turned, his eyes narrowing, a smirk twisting across his face.
“Hah? An Erthian’s thinks she’s above me now?”

He stepped toward her slowly—each stride cracking the earth below. Their auras collided, twin forces clashing violently in the air.

Alice met his gaze without flinching. “What did you just say?”

The tension spiked—
The air grew heavy, almost frozen. Even falling leaves stopped midair, caught in the pressure between them.

Then—suddenly—Adur let out a small laugh, lowering his aura.
“Heh, relax~ relax~. I’m kidding. I’ll bring them back soon.”

He turned away, waving lazily over his shoulder.
The darkness around him faded as his body dissolved into the night mist.

Alice stood still, her eyes fixed in the direction he vanished.
“Don’t test my patience, Adur…” she murmured coldly.

After a long moment, she exhaled and looked up.
The pale moon hung high above the ruins, its light reflecting in the pools of drying blood below.

That night, the two went their separate ways—
Adur returning to the Union in Elyseam,
and Alice heading for Erthia Headquarters.

The investigation would continue under the remaining Xentra forces…
But in the air still lingered a strange, chilling energy—
as if the battlefield itself wasn’t done breathing yet.

Erthia - Nightfall

Evening had turned to night in the city of Erthia.

Streetlights flickered to life, painting golden streaks across wet asphalt that still mirrored the remnants of rain.
The cold air carried the faint scent of metal and coffee, while thin clouds slowly swallowed the last traces of sunset’s orange hue.

Ren and Mira walked side by side along the sidewalk.
Toma and Kurogane weren’t with them this time—something urgent had called them.

The city was alive: the hum of traffic in the distance, laughter echoing faintly between buildings, the rhythm of a place that refused to sleep.

“Hey, Mira,” Ren called out casually, hands tucked into his jacket pockets.
“What?” Mira replied without looking, her eyes following the city lights reflected in puddles of rain.

Ren looked up at the darkening sky. “When you finally become a Xentra… what do you wanna do?”

Mira glanced at him sideways, her tone teasing. “Hmm, maybe I’ll become a—*******”
“Okay, okay! I don’t wanna hear the rest!” Ren clamped his hands over his ears, his face turning bright red.

Mira burst into laughter, her voice mingling with the noise of the night.
“Hahaha! I’m kidding, obviously. I’ll probably just… save money.”

Ren raised a brow. “Save money?”
“Yeah,” Mira said lightly, gazing up at the sky. “Hahaha, sounds boring, right?”

Ren shook his head. “Not really… just wondering why all of a sudden.”

Their pace slowed. The streetlights above glowed softly, casting warm light across Mira’s calm face.
“I wanna save as much as I can,” she said quietly. “So I can retire early. Go home to my parents… and let them retire too.
I’ve been a burden for too long. Just once, I wanna make them happy instead.”

Ren said nothing.
The streetlight shimmered in Mira’s eyes—whether it was reflection or something deeper, he couldn’t tell.

“…Wow,” Ren murmured, pretending to yawn. “That’s… so boring~.”
“You jerk.”

Ren chuckled under his breath. “But I don’t hate it.”
He kept his gaze forward, his tone now softer.

Mira turned toward him slightly. “Hm?”

“Not everyone needs to live loud to look amazing,” Ren said.
“Some people fight quietly, work hard every day, just to make someone else happy.
And honestly… I think that’s way cooler than trying to look cool.”

Silence fell for a moment. Only the wind whispered between tall buildings.

Mira stared at him wide-eyed, then—
“Pft… PHUAAHAHAHA!”

Ren turned away instantly, cheeks flushed red. “W-What the hell?! Why are you laughing?!”
“You idiot,” Mira said, holding back more laughter. “You sound like some anime protagonist giving a moral speech.”
“I deserve to sound cool sometimes!” Ren shot back.
“Hahaha, yeah yeah, you’re so cool~.” Mira smirked playfully. “But what about you, Ren?
When you become a Xentra, what’s your plan?”

Ren lifted his chin proudly. “Hmm? Easy. I’ll flirt with all the pretty girls in the Union and—”

Smack!
A swift slap landed on his cheek.

“WHAT THE—?!” Ren clutched his face, looking utterly betrayed.
“Oh, sorry,” Mira said flatly, “my hand slipped.”
“Slipped?! Who the hell slaps like that by accident?!”
“Forget it. Let’s just keep walking~.”

Ren grumbled, but couldn’t help laughing after a moment. “You’re unbelievable…”

Mira smiled softly, eyes lifting toward the starlit sky.

And under Erthia’s gentle night glow, the two of them kept walking side by side—
their lighthearted banter blending into the soft hum of a city that never slept.