Unquenchable Flames

Kevin wasn't sure how long it took him to fully widen his eyes. He wanted to scream to mask his terror, but his throat was constricted, unable to make a sound.

He thought of Mei behind him. Wasn't this the time to show his manliness? "If I turn around now, grab Mei, and slide out the other door, we can both be saved – and I'll earn some brownie points with her, too."

But when he tried to turn, his body was stiff, unresponsive.

He belatedly realized that it wasn't time slowing down or anything like that… In this moment of crisis, his mind was racing, electrons firing between neurons at an incredible speed, his consciousness briefly surpassing time itself…

But consciousness couldn't control matter. No matter how much his mind struggled, his body wouldn't respond to the approaching maw of the Yaksha.

Then, his consciousness resynchronized with reality. The abyssal jaws continued their advance, about to swallow him whole.

Kevin could only react instinctively – ignoring his contorted posture, he swung the baseball bat at the Yaksha's face with all his might.

A sharp crack echoed as the Yaksha's nose was knocked askew. It seemed stunned, its white exoskeleton flushing red with rage. It roared, spraying Kevin with saliva.

Its teeth were less than an inch from his face.

He felt a tug at his waist. Kevin felt a flicker of hope. Judging by the position, it seemed Mei was trying to pull him back.

"But there's no time… Mei, don't worry about me, just run! Jump out the other door!"

In his despair, he saw a blue light, like threads, wrapping around the Yaksha. The other ends of these threads were held by someone, or some machine. With a sudden pull, the translucent threads, almost digging into the Yaksha's flesh, yanked it away.

"Whew! Saved!"

Kevin's legs went weak. Before he could celebrate, the helicopter, now free of the Yaksha's weight, tilted again. He lost his balance, stumbling back into Mei's arms.

He was immediately punished for this.

"Ow, ow, ow! Mei, I'm sorry!"

Mei pulled him up by his ear. The helicopter had stabilized.

Mobius, ignoring the two bumbling high school students, leaned out of the open bay, watching the battle below. Mei and Kevin quickly joined her.

Two figures, one blue, one red, clashed rapidly above the turbulent sea. Even from hundreds of meters away, they could feel the vibrations in the air from the impacts.

"Boom!"

Michael and the Yaksha collided again, the sea surface beneath them caving in, waves surging outwards. Both were flung back by the force of the impact.

The Yaksha, with the advantage of its wings and tail, quickly regained control in mid-air, turning to face the sea and descending in a controlled glide.

Just before it hit the water, frost spread from its feet, instantly freezing the sea surface into a sheet of ice.

Its claws dug into the ice, stopping its momentum. Before it could fully regain its footing, it raised its forelegs and slammed them down onto the ice.

Its red and yellow wings flapped powerfully.

A chilling blast of air, transformed into thousands of icy shards, shot outwards, turning the falling rain into thumb-sized hailstones. Fueled by Honkai energy, the seawater surged towards Michael, still retreating in the air. The freezing air, the hailstones, and the waves converged, instantly freezing everything in their path.

Michael, anticipating his landing spot, used the Void core to solidify the space. But as he landed on the sea, the Yaksha's freezing wave was almost upon him.

"Tch!"

He gritted his teeth, tiny blue hexagonal matrices appearing before him, forming a solid energy barrier. The freezing air, the hailstones, and the waves, unable to penetrate the barrier, flowed around him.

But Michael had underestimated the intensity of the Yaksha's freezing power, amplified by the water and the rain that had soaked him.

His joints stiffened, his thoughts slowed.

"Not good…"

Facing the Yaksha alone in these unfavorable conditions was proving difficult.

He couldn't expect any help. Himeko, Sakura, and Elysia didn't have his versatility. They could only be deployed when Fire Moth One flew over Ruruye.

Damn it! It all came down to Fire Moth One being incomplete. If it were fully operational, with its thousands of missiles, dozens of railguns, and fighter squadrons…

Michael shook his head, dispelling these unrealistic fantasies.

Just then, the massive shadow of Fire Moth One passed overhead, darkening the already gloomy sky.

Seeing its attack succeed, the Yaksha charged towards Michael. In his weakened state, Michael couldn't risk a direct confrontation.

"Retreat, buy some time, use Surtr's heat to dispel the freezing effect, and catch it off guard."

The aftereffects of excessive spatial manipulation lingered, his head still throbbing. He didn't want to overuse his powers.

But he had no better option. He had to push himself…

"Huh?"

As he tried to retreat, he realized something was wrong – his legs wouldn't move!

He looked down. The freezing air, creeping up from the seawater, had encased his legs in ice from the calves down.

"Damn it!"

A shadow fell over him. The Yaksha was upon him.

Michael leaned back, his eyes widening, but it was too late.

"Boom!"

Shards of ice sprayed everywhere, pelting Michael.

But the pain wasn't from the Yaksha.

A translucent pink crystal pillar stood between him and the Yaksha.

"Is that… Elysia?"

He saw a flash of pink. Elysia, wielding a massive crystal rose, plunged it into the Yaksha's arm.

The Yaksha roared, swinging a clawed hand at her. But Elysia, smaller and more agile, dodged its attacks, even finding time to counterattack with the pink crystal.

Michael, seizing the opportunity, broke free from the ice. Seeing the Yaksha's attention focused on Elysia, its back turned to him, he flipped backwards into the air, pushing off the solidified space with his feet. His feet glowed blue, transforming into engine nozzles. Golden flames erupted, propelling him forward like a missile.

The Yaksha heard the sound behind it. It wasn't unresponsive. Michael had anticipated it using its space-freezing ability to dodge.

But it hadn't used the ability in over ten minutes. It seemed that tanking the railgun blast had taken its toll.

Perhaps it could have dodged with its agility alone, but Elysia, standing before it, smiled mysteriously.

The Yaksha found itself unable to move – just like Michael moments ago.

Pink crystals bloomed within its body, crystallizing its joints. It struggled to suppress the effect with its Honkai energy, then felt a sharp pain in its back as it was sent flying like a meteor, crashing through the castle-like breakwater several kilometers away.

The breakwater, made of resilient stone, crumbled into dust, a thick cloud of debris rising into the air like smog. The constant rain turned the dust into a sticky, cotton-candy-like substance.

"Boom…"

"Boom…"

"Boom…"

With each step, the Yaksha's massive form left giant footprints in the stone and green crystal.

Even the nearby buildings seemed to tremble with each of its steps.

Beneath the dust cloud, a faint outline of a small mountain emerged.

The outline solidified, its colors deepening, until its white exoskeleton, pink ears, crimson eyes, and one damaged wing were clearly visible.

The Yaksha had finally reached Ruruye Island, thanks to its enemies.

It rubbed its aching back, feeling the destructive urge within its genes finally unleashed.

Especially when faced with this "forest" of human construction.

But it quickly realized things weren't so simple.

Green camouflage netting was pulled away, revealing dozens of mecha, piloted by the remaining Fifth Squad combatants and the Ruruye defense forces, surrounding the Yaksha in a crescent formation.

The lead mecha attacked first, unleashing a barrage of missiles and machine gun fire.

But the projectiles stopped mid-air as they approached the Yaksha, as if blocked by an invisible force, forming a metallic cocoon around it.

Raindrops striking the metal shell froze into frost before they could even spread.

Then the rain stopped, turning into hailstones of varying sizes.

Space froze, yet again.

As Michael, clutching his head and wiping his nosebleed, climbed onto the breakwater, supported by Elysia, he saw the missiles and bullets, along with the hailstones, suddenly reverse direction, flying back towards the mecha that had fired them.

"It's recovered!"

Amidst the explosions, the dozens of mecha were reduced to scrap metal. The shockwave from the blasts struck the nearest hundred-meter-tall building, causing it to collapse onto the Yaksha.

The Yaksha swatted the falling building aside, but something else was behind it.

Behind the falling debris, Himeko raised Surtr, flames blazing.

At the same time, a small figure darted out from the Yaksha's right, enveloped in a crescent of flashing blade-light.

"Now's our chance!"

Pink crystals spread across the ground, creeping up the Yaksha's legs.

Michael also summoned Surtr, its blade wreathed in blue flames, unlike Himeko's.

A four-pronged attack!

We can take you!

One hit from any of them would either kill or severely injure the Yaksha.

Victory is ours!

Facing this predicament, the Yaksha had only one option – freezing space.

A bone-chilling cold spread outwards.

But the sensation was too familiar to Michael, so familiar that his body reacted instinctively –

A golden light flashed from his chest…

Michael smiled – if he could pull this off in frozen space.

"It's finally over…?"

"Ugh… Aaargh!!!" A sharp pain shot through his head – his mind, overloaded from overuse, had reached its limit!

It felt like someone had jammed a metal rod into his brain and twisted it.

"Damn it! Not now!"

The golden light at his chest vanished. He clutched his head, collapsing to his knees, blood gushing from his nose. Even more despairingly –

Only he had escaped the frozen space.

"It's over!"

The Yaksha flapped its wings, the powerful gust of wind shattering the pink crystals around its legs. Its long tail swept past, grazing Michael's head.

Himeko and Sakura were sent flying, each crashing through several crystal skyscrapers. The buildings in Ruruye, densely packed, collapsed like dominoes…

Dozens of skyscrapers, over a hundred meters tall, were reduced to rubble in an instant.

Too preoccupied to worry about Himeko and Sakura, Michael turned to Elysia. Thankfully, she had been flung towards the sea, the water cushioning her fall. He saw a burst of pink crystals on the sea surface, a sign that she was unharmed.

The Yaksha slowly turned, its fly-like eyes fixated on Michael.

Michael struggled to his feet, summoning Surtr, but as the hilt materialized, a searing pain shot through his head.

"Grumble… Gah!" The Yaksha seemed pleased, a red grin spreading across its face, as if mocking Michael's futile efforts.

A faint sound came from behind the Yaksha, so quiet that even it didn't notice.

Michael glanced discreetly. The cockpit door of a wrecked mecha had opened.

The cockpit was mostly for show. In most cases, no sane commander would allow anyone inside a mecha during combat. The scattered wreckage was a testament to this.

But then, Michael's eyes widened.

Someone was crawling out. That familiar blond hair –

The Yaksha, seemingly sensing Michael's surprise, started to turn. Michael quickly summoned a smoke grenade and threw it at the Yaksha's head – the most he could manage in his current state.

The smoke grenade diverted the Yaksha's attention, but Michael, hidden nearby, saw clearly.

The figure crawling from the mecha had had its legs crushed into a pulp, only shreds of flesh clinging to its thighs.

While the Yaksha was distracted, it slowly crawled towards its tail.

Then, the young man, Alfred von Liechtenstein, carefully pulled out a portable syringe.

He plunged the needle into the Yaksha's tail, injecting the serum.

The Yaksha went berserk, Honkai energy erupting from its body, forming massive purple branches behind it, over a hundred meters tall.

But it couldn't stop it.

It thrashed its tail wildly, pulverizing Alfred's already cooling body.

But it was too late.

The serum, designed for humans, couldn't kill the Yaksha outright, but it severely weakened its Honkai energy.

Michael, wiping the blood from his nose, absorbed the released Honkai energy, recovering slightly…

Surtr reappeared in his hand.

This time, there would be no escape…

Michael swung the greatsword, his expression as frenzied as the Yaksha's. The heavy, blunt blade easily severed the Yaksha's lower leg, sending it crashing to the crystal ground.

Then, he quickly sliced off its wings, its tail, its claws, its remaining leg…

Finally, the blade, wreathed in flames, severed its head.

He left the ears intact, then incinerated the rest.

Embers landed on Alfred's mangled corpse. Michael, leaning on the greatsword, stepped forward, wanting to extinguish the flames, wanting to leave some semblance of a body for this person he barely knew, this person he wasn't sure how to judge.

But he realized Alfred was still alive.

His once handsome face was twisted into a gruesome mask, purple veins, like tear tracks, running from his eyes to his chin. His blond hair, usually tied back, was now matted with blood. He looked at Michael with his remaining eye, an expression identical to Harris's – perhaps, only in the face of death did people truly become equal, their expressions indistinguishable.

His lips moved slightly. Michael leaned closer, barely making out his words: "My… drawer… letter… photograph…"

Michael nodded quickly, wanting to ask if he had any last words, but the words caught in his throat.

"Am… I… redeemed…?"

He received no answer.

A flicker of light appeared in Alfred's single eye, a last spark of life, or perhaps, a glimpse of someone he had been searching for.

His voice grew clearer. "Fire… stay… cold…"

The voice faded.

Alfred von Liechtenstein, his appearance like a fleeting meteor. By the time Michael noticed him, his light was already fading, then extinguished.

Knowing so little about him, Michael couldn't understand him.

He even thought Alfred was a villain.

He even felt this ending was too abrupt.

So, he didn't expect to feel pity, or moved.

But a heavy weight settled in his heart.

The sea breeze picked up, the steady rain turning into a downpour.

But no matter how heavy the rain, it couldn't extinguish the flames.

The flames burned until the morning of the third day.