The escape became a blur of broken stone and silent breath.
Kieran didn't look back. Not once. He moved with Aleron's weight over his shoulder, cutting through the twisting canyon paths with precision born of countless covert manoeuvres. Every step sent a jolt of pain through the bruises still fresh from yesterday's match.
But he didn't slow.
He didn't ask Roy to heal him, as he didn't want to forget. The pain of it all.
Aleron's breathing was shallow. The man was conscious, but barely; thin trails of blood ran down his coat, dark against the pale moonlight. He didn't speak. He didn't complain. He just held on.
It wasn't until they reached the charred ridge on the northern slope of the valley, a dead zone where prana signatures were distorted by old, buried ruins, that Kieran finally allowed himself to stop running. He set Aleron down against an old stone pillar and tapped the comm-sigil at his wrist.
"Solenne, extraction point R-7. One carrier."
Her voice came back instantly, soft and clear.
"Roger. Stand by."
In less than thirty seconds, the air shimmered, and a shimmering veil appeared on the nearby stone face. It peeled open just enough for Kieran to pass through with Aleron, vanishing behind them with not so much as a sound.
They were safe.
But Kieran didn't relax.
Because the last thing he saw before turning his back on the valley was Roy, still there, still standing in the open, watching the Judicator unit on the ridge as if he'd been waiting for them.
Far below, dust still swirled in the wake of the first anchor strike. Four judicator officers lay defeated across the rocky ground, crushed, disarmed or unconscious. Spread in a wide circle around a single unmoving object.
Roy.
He stood perfectly upright, coat flaring gently in the wind, hands relaxed at his sides like the battle had never even happened. His breathing was slow. Steady. His eyes remained fixed on the point above.
Boots crunched against stone.
The three silhouettes that appeared at the top of the ridge and then descended the slope. Their movements were calm and deliberate. The one in the centre wore a high-collared black coat, the gold crest of the Celestial Watch emblazoned across his chest.
It was a commander. Orrin Vale. The Judicator himself.
To either side of him flanked what looked like two subordinates. One with a halberd crackling faintly with prana, the other carrying a massive spellbook bound in silver chains.
Roy watched them approach, not with caution, but with that same detached stillness. Like this was just another page turning in a very long book.
"You fought my men," Orrin said finally, his voice deep but controlled. "And defeated them without killing a single one."
"And?" Roy replied simply.
"That means you are not a murderer." The Commander stopped a short distance away and studied him with sharp, intelligent eyes. "And that you are strong. Very strong."
Silence swelled between them.
"Your strength could serve the world and make it better," Orrin said. "Walk with me. Help build something better than this broken system. You have that power within you."
Roy blinked once. His face remained unreadable, but the answer came without hesitation.
"…Nah."
The commander's eyes narrowed not in anger, but in curiosity.
"Nah?"
Roy's voice remained calm and almost casual. "I'd rather use it for the people standing beside me. That's all."
Orrin didn't answer immediately, but one of the subordinates stepped forward, fury flashing in his eyes.
"You speak as if you have a choice. Show some respect; you stand before a man of great honour, A PROTECTOR OF THE LAND! Tone your arrogance down, you insolent boy!"
Roy's head tilted slightly. His tone didn't change.
"Right."
One word. Soft. Unbothered.
Almost bored.
Then the wind shifted.
Orrin's coat rippled in the sudden pressure that snapped through the canyon. The earth beneath Roy's feet stretched faintly as raw prana began to pulse outward from that man's body, like tremors of an earthquake.
The two subordinates took a step back without meaning to.
Orrin's gaze sharpened.
"So," the commander said, voice lowering, "if that's your answer… then show me the resolve behind it."
Roy's eyes lifted, bright and steady.
"I was already planning to."
The canyon went silent.
And then, just for a moment, the air seemed to shudder between them, as though the world itself understood that this was the beginning of something far larger than anyone expected.