Morning fog blanketed the skies of Persetta. A few early risers passed by Memento's HQ, unaware of an approaching danger.
Inside, Maro and Ringo sat around the wartable. Maro held a freshly brewed coffee, still steaming. His map lay sprawled across the tabletop, with markers freshly placed.
Ringo looked on, with arms folded. His shy personality seemed at complete peace around Maro.
Maro smiled faintly. "Tona and Phantom have made landfall in Galion. No confirmations of reports as of yet, but nonetheless, it will be soon. Igumi's assault is supposed to launch here shortly as well."
Ringo nodded. "With our supply lines steady, we're positioned well. Additional squadrons have arrived in Jon as well for medial defense between Zimala and Riche. Finally, a moment of peace."
"Indeed."
Maro sat with a soft smile. He grabbed a nearby spoon to mix his coffee. The distant sound of boots echoed through the hallway outside his door.
"All we need now is—"
Suddenly, a soldier bolted through the door, panting heavily. He was covered in streaks of ash, and a line of blood ripped his lip.
"Sir! Sir, we're under attack!" he panicked, pointing out the door. Maro instantly stood with his arms outstretched onto the table.
"What!?
"A full APC invasion sir! Stalkers—dozens of them! They're massacring everything! They bypassed the northern barricade—the outer units are gone!"
"Gone?" Maro said in disbelief. He spun around, grabbing his Memento cloak, before making his way to the door in a hurry.
"Wait sir! I'll call in Tona and Phantom! He can gate them here quickly!"
"No time Ringo. I won't let them touch my district—my home. These are my people."
With that, Maro disappeared down the hallway after the battered soldier. Ringo was left alone in the war-room with widened eyes.
Tona crouched in the northern reaches of Galion. He was perched on a tree—the spot the reports had came from. The bodies of soldiers and scouts littered the forests—an attack from Chaze himself marked by the remaining blood tendrils through their corpses.
"Now… where did you run off to, bastard?"
Phantom Squad remained further away, in active search for the maniac, leaving Tona by his lonesome.
Tona leapt down, landing on a branch in perfect balance. He'd seen no activity—it was all done beforehand. He scoured the trees once more—until a voice rang faintly in his head.
"To… Tona."
Tona stopped cold, every muscle in his body tensing.
"Ringo? What's wrong?"
"It's Persetta! We're under attack! An invasion from the APC… there's thousands of stalkers! People are being massacred and Maro went to confront them!"
Tona's eyes snapped open. His hand twitched toward his ring, but he didn't take it off—not yet.
A long pause followed. The howl of the wind took leaves for a short ride across the ground.
"Maro… don't you dare," Tona muttered.
Was Galion just a ploy? A feint to drag me away? How did they get through our lines?! If Maro dies… no. I won't allow it. Hold on, old man. I'm coming.
Tona disappeared into a roar of violet Solena around him. Every tree around responded to the action, bending out of sheer force.
Maro stepped throughout the district he called home—now covered in raging flames and soaked in the blood of those he protected. The scent of ash fluttered through the streets just as incense had earlier that same morning.
Citizens ran, clutching their children and valuables. Memento soldiers fought valiantly in small pockets—but more lay topping rubble.
"...No…" Maro whispered with horror across his face. The remains of a charred squad lay next to a crumpled and scorched building. Stalkers marched through the flames, slaughtering all in their path.
"No…this—this is my home… you— you WILL PAY!"
His voice rose from a mere whisper to a raging outburst. His arms ignited into violent blue flames. The phoenix flared behind him.
He charged through the streets, launching a massive firestorm that scorched an APC squadron alive. Civilians watched in hope as their leader passed.
Nearby soldiers stood against overwhelming odds. Maro snapped, and their enemies reduced to ash.
"Evacuate the citizens! Get everyone you can, out of this! Now!"
The soldiers gave a grateful salute, before rushing to work, gathering civilians and pushing them towards the southern exit.
Smoke now covered Persetta—like fog, but with bringings of chaos. Cries of Memento soldiers echoed in the distance, and Maro surged forward.
From a puddle of blood behind, a titan emerged. A sickening slow voice caught Maro's ears.
"Mmm… the Phoenix shows his filthy face. What a delight."
Maro froze in his tracks. His eyes bulged as he turned—torn into a glare of hatred.
Chaze lifted a finger, dragging it across his cheek slowly. Blood trailed like warpaint.
"Psycho… bastard," Maro said, low and venomous. His teeth grit in fury.
"Perhaps," Chaze mocked in a smile.
Chaze's officers behind stepped forward, ready to engage Maro—but the Butcher of Igumi raised a hand.
"Go. This one's mine."
The officers nodded without a word, vanishing from the battlefield in unified steps.
"My people cry for vengeance. Their hearts burn alongside mine," said Maro, steadying himself.
Chaze's grin widened. "Good. More hearts, pump more blood. My specialty."
Maro stepped forward. "Also makes victory sweeter, when I rip yours out!"
Chaze moved both hands in an upward motion, drawing blood from every corpse that lay.
"Try me."
They exploded forward at once. Maro forms into a spiral of fire—a living flame streaking across a dying plaza. Chaze smirks as blood geysers erupt below him, launching to meet Maro head-on.
Fire and blood collide like a warhead, the sheer pressure shatters the stone below them. Both are thrown backward by force—crashing into opposite ends of the square.
Maro is the first to move. He coils a flame and spins it around his body—like it gathered momentum—before hurling it like a disc. Chaze responded by forming grasping tendrils all around—one of which caught Maro's ankle.
Maro stepped down, incinerating the blood that had attached with the heat of his flames.
Chaze laughed. "Ain't half bad, Phoenix."
Maro didn't respond, instead, he dashed forward again. He maneuvered around Chaze's jagged slashes. Sparks fly as their fists of fire and blood collide. The air pulsed from the shockwaves of impact.
Maro flips over Chaze in a clean arc, landing a heavy kick—
—but Chaze counters with his own, and the two clash mid-air before landing opposite one another again.
The fight becomes a blur of motion—every step leaves incinerated ground below Maro, and a pool of blood below Chaze. Every clash—proofed by devastating destruction.
Chaze lashed a blood tendril, barely catching Maro by the cheek, drawing the first drop. Maro responded instantly with a searing blast that connected with Chaze's face. His head whipped backwards, with the flames sucking the life from his skin. His right cheek was now rawly blackened.
"Damn you!" Chaze snarled.
"Still smiling?" Maro asked, the faintest hints of a smile kicking at his face.
Maro stepped forward once again—this time, different. The air reacted itself.
A deep hum pulsed from his chest as he activated a technique known only by the highest in Memento.
"Bluelight Flare," Maro whispered.
A dome of blue flames erupted around the two, swirling in an endless flow. The ground trembles, and heat warped the air. It wasn't just a flare—it was alive, with a purpose.
Chaze tilted his head, grimacing, before straightening.
"Trapping us? That's bold… but ultimately, your final mistake."
"You'll burn here, alone… like the sick thing you are!" smirked Maro, unfazed by the heat. His eyes glowed in a vibrant blue.
"You can't beat me Phoenix! You've known that!"
Maro's eyes grew fiercer. Chaze continued.
"You've known that! Since the day I bested you… if only the higher ups let me finish you that day. But you were bait!"
"Enough! Besting you isn't my goal." Maro said dismissively.
"Oh?" Chaze cocked his head back with a twisted grin. "So what then? What're you stalling for?"
"I'll keep that to myself," Maro said, before lunging forward. The flames around reacted themselves as the two connected again in a flurry of hand to hand combat. Maro landed a blow to Chaze's face, sending him flying backwards toward the erupting flames. But, Chaze used blood to catch himself and return a blow.
The blood maniac shot forward, summoning crimson pillars from every direction. They speared at Maro like honing missiles. Maro flips and weaves between three, but the fourth connects. It slams him hard, and sends him pummeling to the ground.
Chaze appears above him midfall, and hammers a blood covered fist down Maro's spine, cratering the ground below them.
Maro coughs blood, eyes fluttering. He struggles, but rises nonetheless. A smile formed on his lips as he gasped for a breath, and held his abdomen in pain.
"If you're struggling to beat me… you have no chance," he laughed.
Chaze snarled. "Say that again."
"Tona wouldn't look your way. Hajima'd have his way with you… and Tsuki…"
He coughed blood and spit it to the ground, before smiling.
"She'd kick your ass."
Chaze scoffed. "I only hunt the big dogs… and don't you worry. After you die here, he's next. That's what they called for, don't you know?"
Maro twitched. "What are you talking about?"
"Ah, nevermind. I spoke too much. Anyways… let's end this shall we?"
Chaze shot forward—his veins bulging. His speed blurred into inhuman motion.
Maro spins, but not fast enough. Chaze is behind, and stabs a tendril through Maro's right leg. He drops to a knee in pain. Another tendril follows—this time his left leg.
Then his side.
Maro clutched his wounds, fire flaring loudly around, before it dwindled. The blue flames flickered, and slowly dropped into the ground.
"And just like that…" Chaze chuckled with a voice of cruel satisfaction. "...the Phoenix dies!"
He steps forward, blood dripping from his tendrils. Each step felt like a drumbeat of finality. Maro, legs pierced, chest bleeding—forces himself upright. Barely, but still upright.
"And this one… can't be reborn," mocked Chaze. Maro didn't flinch.
His chest heaved, and his expression tightened—not of fear, but disgust.
"I pity you."
Chaze tilted his head with a raised brow. "Oh? What for?"
"Your life. One of no aspirations… no hope, or anyone who matters. Just mindless killing for pleasure. Love doesn't exist… and for that, I pity your existence."
Chaze's grin faltered, not of shame—just annoyance. Maro continued through the pain and blood, raising his hands to the sky in a shaky motion. They came together in a slow, deliberate motion.
"Even… even if I die here, Memento isn't finished," Maro hoarsely said. His lips curved through the damaged and bloodied skin. "Far from it."
His fingertips ignited with an emberlight. He clasped his hands fully—fingers folding for a final prayer.
"Insignia… Memento."
The words left his mouth in a whisper, and yet, the world heard him. High above Persetta, a massive, flaming phoenix crested the sky. Blazing in pure blue, orange and golden streaks. It ignited in the clouds, and for a moment—
—the world seemed to stop.
That wasn't the end. The insignia pulsed, then spread—burning across the skies of the other districts. Every member of Memento witnessed its presence.
The mark was more than a symbol. It was a call—a soul-cry. The world watched as fire wrote Maro's final message across Alden.
"The hell did you just do?!" Chaze shouted in anger.
Maro's breathing slowed. Still, he raised his head once more. His eyes were clouded, but defiant.
"A message to my family… you wouldn't understand. The APC breeds mindless soldiers… we form families."
Chaze's face contorted. A rare expression of disbelief as he took a step back.
Maro's smile didn't falter.
"You're time's ending, Chaze. You won't outrun what's coming forever. You'd better leave now…"
Chaze's eyes narrowed and his breaths grew faster.
"He's coming."
A long silence, then Chaze growled. A blood tendril shot forward at the Phoenix. Maro now laid lifeless in the crumbling district he called home.
The great phoenix in the sky faded along with him.
But on Maro's lips—a faint smile remained. His eyes open, defiantly watching the storm he set in motion.
Above him, Chaze stood with gleaming eyes at his kill with dark fury and joy. However, even in victory, something crawled beneath his skin. Something felt off.
He knelt beside Maro's body with a tendril sharpened like a knife—and began to carve. Blood painted the stone around him.
With slow precision. A final message into the Phoenix's chest.
"What can you save, Ghost?"
Chaze rose just as the beam hit the ground. Distant, in the reaches of Persetta, an unrelenting line of pure Solena.
Chaze glanced at the beam, knowing he had finished just in time. He looked once more at Maro, before disappearing into red mist staining the stone below.