Titus

With slow steps, Ryo took hold of his spear again.

He drew his breath in, gathering all his strength into his grip, his eyes fixed on Hiro with an intensity that seemed to anticipate an ending from which there could be no escape.

He knew that what was coming was not simply another attack. It was a catastrophe.

Wendy felt something strange in the air. She stepped back quickly, raising her hands, and around her several layers of her magical shield formed, overlapping like glass rings tinted turquoise. In a moment of tenderness amid all that madness, she pulled Stella close and held her tightly, wrapping them both in a doubled shield, as though her heart were screaming that she would not let the world touch her.

Then everything began to change.

The atoms in the air, which moments before had danced like glowing dust, slowly turned a deep, saturated red. It was not an ordinary red. It resembled the blood of stars, dense, pulsing, charged with a raw energy that did not belong to this world.

Hiro raised his hand and let out a sound of terrifying calm, without words, without a scream, only pure intent toward annihilation.

The energy was released.

An enormous beam, like a river out of hell, surged from his palm toward Ryo. The air tore apart under its force, and space itself seemed to fracture along the beam's path, as though the laws that governed it had simply stepped aside.

Ryo did not retreat. He raised his spear with everything he had, planted his feet in the ground, and let his eyes burn with resolve. But he did not know that this was no ordinary energy. It was atomic, feeding on matter itself.

The instant the beam touched the blade of the spear, everything exploded.

It was not merely an explosion. It was annihilation. The energy spread in every direction, scattering like waves of cosmic fury, and the sky lit up in colours no human eye had ever seen. The great Pine Forest, which had once stretched across fifty thousand square kilometres, a forest once home to speaking trees, undying spirits, and sacred beasts, was reduced to ash.

No fire remained, and no smoke. Only grey ash drifted slowly through the air, settling over the stillness as though mourning those who had departed into an eternal silence. The sky darkened again, and a cold breeze passed over the scorched earth, trailing the echo of the blast behind it.

When the dust cleared, Hiro appeared.

He stood with difficulty, his body covered in deep wounds, dark blood flowing from his shoulder and his ribs. But his eyes still glowed, as though the fire he had unleashed had never been meant only to destroy his enemy.

In the moment his guard dropped, Ryo stood behind him. His body was shattered, but he still held his spear, and a mass of red energy gathered at its point. Behind him lay Stella and Wendy, their bodies burned completely.

 Ryo drove the spear into the center of Hiro's face, and the fiery blow tore away the upper half of his body, sending his legs flying into the air. In that same instant, Ryo used his reversal ability to restore his own body to full strength, then applied the same reversal to Stella and Wendy, returning their bodies to their natural state.

Wendy woke in a state of panic, unable to grasp what had happened.

"Did you use your ability to heal us? But how did you survive that explosion? Did you actually use Aka to absorb the attack?"

"No. It was simpler than that. This spear, the Summer Blade, holds one final trump card. When danger reaches a certain threshold for its bearer, it draws on every last bit of energy in that body to guarantee a single strike. To deliver that strike, the body becomes briefly immortal, able to survive anything until the attack is released. That is how all three of us survived. And it seems my Aka technique has finally completed itself. This battle is over."

The smoke thinned and the ground fell still, while Hiro stood in the middle of the wreckage, his burned body rebuilding itself with a terrible calm.

 Bones formed out of nothing, muscle knit together, and clean skin returned as though it had never been touched.

Hiro returned to his old form, but he was no longer the same.

He stood motionless, without breath, like a statue carved from a fate no one yet understood.

Then the crown appeared.

Threads of light, faint at first, gathered above his head.

 Golden lines curled as though writing symbols from the heavens, belonging to no language the old kingdoms had ever known. In a moment, a crown of golden twilight took shape.

And then a horn sounded.
It came from nowhere, its source unknown, yet it filled every space between sky and earth. It was a sound not only heard but felt, one that shook the soul to its depths.

Then the stars began to fall. 

In broad daylight, the blue mask of the sky tore open, and fragments of light plummeted from above. On the other side, the moon was drawing near. It was no longer a distant disc in the sky but a colossal body looming over the forest, as though the heavens themselves were bending down toward the earth.

In the midst of that overwhelming cosmic scene, another light emerged. It was not the light of an explosion, nor the glow of battle, but a warm, gentle beam that reached the heart before it reached the eye. 

A stillness no one could explain settled over every soul there, despite the ruin, despite the ash, despite the cry of the horn.

That light did not come from the sky. It came from Hiro himself, from his sixth wing.

The final wing was unlike the others. It was made of no gold, no crystal, not even energy. It was made of pure light, a light woven from the very core of life, from absolute truth.

When he spread that sixth wing, light poured across the whole forest, and every living creature trembled.

There, in the sky above the Forest of Dreams, stood the first Jinn. He was no longer a boy. His long white hair streamed behind him like a curtain hiding the past, his face empty of any human feature, his body radiating a power beyond understanding.

Six wings, and a crown of light.

That being was the beginning, and the end.

"Six. There are six of them. Wait a moment, is this even possible? Can we still call him a monster after all this? Even I can't say what that thing standing over us really is."

Ryo raised his hand toward the sky, and Aka energy began pouring out from every part of his body, gathering in his palm. With resolve and confidence, he said:

"What's that look on your face? I told you I would end this battle in three minutes, and here I am telling you it's already over. I am the winner. However much power you gain, none of it matters once it becomes mine. Isn't that right, monster? That power was never yours to begin with, so allow me to take back what I gave you."

Red light blazed from Ryo's hand and swallowed the light coming from Hiro. Within moments both lights vanished, and as they disappeared, Hiro fell to the ground, unconscious. At the same time, Stella's body returned to its natural state, though she too had lost consciousness.

 There was no trace of Wendy anywhere in that place. The only one left standing was Ryo, alone, six black wings adorning his back, markings covering his body, his white hair and the scales beneath his red eyes all suggesting that he was no longer a king, nor even a monster. From his weary eyes, tears began falling in heavy streams.

"Ah, I understand now. So this is what they call grief. What an interesting feeling."

While Ryo was examining his new body, someone leapt toward him and burned his chest with a sword of white fire.

"Huh. I thought you were already finished, but I didn't expect you to survive everything that happened to you. So tell me, are you the monster now, or that boy?"

The one standing there was Hiro, holding a sword of white flame, a single wing spreading from his left shoulder, a wing of white fire that melted everything it touched.

"Did you think the fight was over, old man? I saw everything. But there was nothing I could do. It was like facing the sun itself. That doesn't change the fact that you used all of us."

Before a new battle could begin, the girl of judgment was already waiting for her turn.

 Stella's body rose into the sky, and the clouds began gathering and thickening. When Hiro saw what was happening, he understood exactly what Stella intended to do.

"One of the Three Swords of Light, is it? Not bad. A worthy opponent to test my new power against. Wouldn't you agree, boy?"

As Stella began chanting her words, and before the sword of judgment could fall to the earth, she was struck by a grievous wound to her back and dropped toward the ground. She was caught by a figure in rustic clothing, with white hair and vivid green eyes. A straw hat shielded his face from the sun, and his four wings turned his simple appearance into something that inspired fear. Smiling, he said:

"Would you stop there for now, King of War? This battle is already over."

Astonishment filled Hiro's face at the sight before him, and his hardened eyes and cold expression softened into a quiet smile, a look filled with sorrow. He said:
"Titus. Why are you here?"

The boy looked toward Hiro, a smile spreading across his face, and said:

"Hayami. What are you doing here? Don't tell me you were fighting that old man."

Ryo's body was in disarray, and he was uncertain whether he could still control this much power in his current state. He decided to leave that place.
As Ryo began to withdraw, Hiro would not accept letting things end without understanding anything.

"You're not running now. After everything you did, you're trying to leave as though nothing happened. Tell me what the purpose of all this was. You already had enormous power, so why do you want more? What exactly are you trying to reach?"

Ryo smiled and answered him, looking straight into his eyes.

"It's something foolish. Some might call it stupidity, or even madness. Even so, I don't mind, since only a madman would do something like this. But if you've ever thought about trying to kill the White Crow, then doing something like this to gain power isn't so strange, is it, green-eyed one?"

"Fighting the White Crow, then? I never expected the King of War to have such a grand goal. What a noble ambition. Has pride gotten to you now that you've reached the top of the mountain, reaching your hands up toward the sky? 

How much greed do you have left in you, old man?"

Titus spoke with complete confidence in front of the King of War, showing no sign of fear or unease, which drew a measure of Ryo's attention. Hiro, meanwhile, stood in a state of shock at the king's answer.

 Their talk of fighting the White Crow left him at a loss for words.

"Your name is Titus, isn't it? Even though you're just a small child, you carry eyes that look toward the sky. Eyes like mine. Or perhaps you're simply a fool. In any case, there's no reason for us to fight now.

 Those who look toward the dusk are destined to see it, at least. Our paths will cross again someday, I feel it. Let's see who you'll be by then."

Ryo vanished from their sight, leaving Hiro behind, unable to make sense of what had happened.

"Brother, what was that man talking about? Fighting the White Crow, is that even possible? What did he mean by all of that? Did you understand what he said?"

Titus looked toward the sun, struggling to answer his brother's questions.
"I'm sorry, Hayami. I hurt your friend. But I had no other choice. If I hadn't stopped her, she wouldn't have survived the aftermath of that battle. 

And don't worry about what that man said. It isn't something you can prevent, so thinking about it will only give you a headache. All you need to know is that this summer is going to be very hot."