"...Emilio-boy…" Excelsior said faintly, wincing as she held her arm, falling to a knee.
He looked back, standing in front of the fallen woman as he could feel his own knees buckling beneath the simple concept of standing. The soles of his feet were tender and aching, his joints ached and his flesh throbbed after repeated beatings, though he kept himself up, if only by threads of will.
"Find a way out…We can't win this fight. Darkness is just toying with us at this point. It'll break the seal either way, but that doesn't mean we both have to die, ya hear me? I don't want it to happen again," Excelsior said as tears formed in her eyes, "Him, then Ash-boy…not you, too. It'll be bad if the seal is broken, but if you can get to the Guild Foundation–if you can tell them, it can be stopped before the worst happens."
"--" Emilio stayed standing, silently, raggedly breathing as he struggled just to remain upright.
Excelsior tried to stand, though her bruised legs refused, "Dammit, Emilio, are you listening to me…?! I'm sick of this damn cycle–! I'm not going to keep watching others die! I'm ready for it! I've accepted it already! I can die in peace! But, you–! The Oracle told me what you've been through, I can't let you–!"
"I'm not leaving," Emilio firmly responded without looking back.
"...Huh?"
Using his own sword as a crutch as the creatures of the dark slowly inched closer, surrounding them completely, he breathed out.
"I've experienced the same thing you have. Over and over again, I've had to watch those around me die. Even in death, I had to leave them behind. Everyday I question if the life I'm living is worth it, if it meant they had to die," he said through his teeth, "There's not a day that goes by where I don't think of what I could have done differently–if I had just done this, or that. But…! Thinking like that, getting caught in that spiral of self-pity, all it does is waste the opportunity we were given! All I know is that right here, right now, I'm alive! I can still fight! I can still fight for your life, too! I can still make that choice–! So, I'm not leaving you behind, do you hear me?!"
Excelsior found herself unable to speak for a moment, only looking upon the back of the man who stood before her, seeming so fragile in that moment, yet unbreakable.
"You're stubborn, aren't you…?" Excelsior sighed.
Somehow, through sheer grit, the silver-haired woman managed to pick herself up, standing alongside the blonde-and-black haired man.
"That makes two of us, doesn't it?" He wryly replied.
At that moment, completely surrounded with perhaps only sparks of hope left that continued to be dimmed by the encroaching darkness, a change occurred: the ceiling above suddenly burst through with the arrival of something.
"...What?" Emilio let out, looking up.
Though, for a reason he would soon find out, a bright smile found itself forming across the lips of the woman beside him, who couldn't help but laugh.
"Right on time," Excelsior muttered with a grin.
A radiance poured in through the newly-opened hole above, shining with such potency that it swept through the darkness like a mop through impurities; it was blinding enough that Emilio found himself shielding his eyes, though forcing himself to watch.
'Who is it…? Is it help?' He questioned.
Descending into the underground seal, a figure with angelic wings entered the domain, casting away the darkness with a hand raised up. It was undoubtedly a male through a muscular physique, their face soon seen–having a scruffy, unkempt beard and bright-blue eyes.
From the lavish gauntlet the figure wore, hundreds of strands of golden light expanded, each targeting the unsightly creatures that had surrounded the two on the ground floor. It was effortless and swift; just as the stranger's boots reached the ground upon his descent, every one of the abyssal creatures was eradicated by the burning light.
'All at once…? Not only did he wash away the shadows, he killed every single one at the same time? Just who is this?' He questioned.
Before the man could configure another attack, the Primordial Aspect of Darkness fled the scene, seeming to know it was at a disadvantage against the stranger who wielded such abundance of light.
"Took ya long enough, Bastian," Excelsior said.
The man held a half-cocked smile, allowing the wings that carried him down to dissipate into gilded particles, "I did my best to make it here as fast as I could. Sorry for being late."
After apologizing, the cloak-wearing man's eyes moved over to the blonde-and-black haired figure, approaching him.
"--" Emilio met his gaze.
"You're Emilio Dragonheart, aren't you? It's a pleasure to finally meet you," the man introduced himself, extending his hand, "I'm Bastian Seraphheart–a Reincarnator from Earth, like you."
["It doesn't matter where we came from. It doesn't matter who we were in our previous lives, or what we did. For one reason or another, we chose to leave behind our old lives behind, leaving behind the world we were born into itself. That choice is what brought us to one another. Now, we're together in this. It might hurt, it might be painful, it might be difficult just to continue living–but we have to. Even if this world feels as though it hates us at times, even if fate itself seems to reject us, we can't abandon the path we chose–we can't make the lives we left behind meaningless. That's what makes this all real. The family I've been born into and raised by, the friends I made, the pain I've gone through, and the victories I've embraced–it's all real. That's why, even if this world rejects us, we have to fight for it."]
–
[...A Short Time Ago…]
[Outskirts of The Scarlet Forest | Ennage]
Stepping through a bundle of foliage, a man with a scruffy beard, wearing a tattered, beige cloak, let out a sigh as he looked up towards the rain clouds.
'It's been raining an awful lot lately, hasn't it?' He thought.
The man looked worn out by his travels, though unmistakably a force himself as his muscle-bound body couldn't be hidden beneath his dirty, rain-drenched cloak. Before the nomad was the sight of the old, moss-covered skull that rivaled the mountains that neighbored it; a monument that spoke of the dormant legends of the Continent of Demons.
'It reeks of death. That's the signature stench of "them",' the man thought, touching his own nose briefly.
Every step the man took seemed imbued with authority; though he tried to lay low with his cloak and hood, there was undoubtedly an imposing presence that exuded from him. Approaching the mountainous skull with calm steps, the man came to a stop for a reason that was not visibly apparent.
"Come out," he commanded.
Standing alone in the stone valley that led to the monumental, old skull, that lonesome state was no longer the case as a figure revealed themselves, having been tucked behind one of the trees.
It was a woman that stood over two meters tall with short, fluffy, dark-red hair and golden-brown, tan skin. She wore pitch-black armor with a devious smile and a "X"-shaped scar etched onto her left cheek, looking towards the man as she stood across from him, blocking his path to the mountainous skull.
"Hiding ain't really my style, anyway," the woman said with an excited smile.
The sable armor she wore was heavy and bulky in certain sections, like the skull-shaped pauldrons on her shoulders and the boots she wore that were shaped like the feet of a bear.
"You're with the Children of Chaos, aren't you?" He asked.
"Correct! I came here looking for a little dragon whelp, but it looks like I found quite the bonus, ain't I lucky?!" The woman said, "--Bastian Seraphheart! The elusive legend himself–what a treat!"
The man stood there silently for a moment before quietly letting out a sigh, lowering his hood as he stared directly at the woman. As he flexed his own sight, his blue irises briefly turned into a seraphic shine of gold:
["Eyes of The Seraphim"]
The unique skill wielded by the nomad granted him vision that saw the truth of whoever he looked at; deceit was unraveled and hidden truths were brought to the surface as etchings of light visible only to him. Upon looking at the abrasive woman that blocked his path, he found the truth he was looking for.
'She's one of the Aspects. As I thought–the Children of Chaos must be after the Dragonheart. It's good I showed up here when I did,' Bastian thought.
"You're Katliah. The aspect you wield is 'Bloodlust'," Bastian called out after peering at the figure's hidden truths.
The woman in black armor held a surprised expression as she pursed her lips for a moment before letting out an arrogant laugh, "Scaaaary! So, that's your ability at work? I always wanted to do battle against you. It's not everyday I get to see what the entrails of a legend like yourself look like!"
Bastian remained composed and unflinching to the heavy-armored woman who without a doubt had a screw or two loose inside of her head. A quiet sigh left his lips as he brushed his cloak aside as his muscular arms were revealed.
"I'm in a hurry, so I'd suggest staying out of my way. I'm not the kind of guy that likes being late," Bastian warned.
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