The ground exploded as the Aberrant's violet axe struck their position.
The shockwave tore through the air, pulverizing stone and sending dust spiraling like a veil of war. Vane leapt skyward, his black coat flaring like raven's wings beneath the darkened heavens, while Lyra slid sideways with the aid of thrusters in her boots, leaving a thin streak of light across the fractured earth.
"Vane! I'll lock its movement—find the gap in its armored joints!" Lyra shouted.
Without waiting for a response, Lyra drew her bow of light to its fullest extension. Blue energy condensed, forming three brilliantly glowing arrows. But this time, she did not aim at the monster's body.
She aimed at the sky.
"Heavenly Rain: Calibration Lock!"
The arrows shot upward, piercing the dark clouds before bursting apart into hundreds of tiny needles of light. Like miniature meteors, they rained down around the Aberrant's massive frame.
Each needle that struck embedded itself into the ground and generated a miniature gravitational field.
The earth trembled.
ROOOAAARRRR!
The monster roared. Its black-purple muscles bulged violently, its horns quivering as it struggled against the invisible forces locking its joints in place.
This was Vane's opportunity.
He landed silently. The rusted sword in his hand radiated golden light once more—this time steadier, deeper.
But Vane did not only touch his blade.
He touched the air before him.
"Atomic Tuning: Air Solidification."
The air beneath his feet hardened into transparent footholds. Glass-like steps formed from forcibly compressed oxygen atoms. Vane ran through the sky itself, each step leaving a thin crack of light before dissolving back into ordinary atmosphere.
With speed beyond the eye's ability to follow, he shot toward the creature's towering head.
The Aberrant noticed.
With brute force, it wrenched its right arm free. Lyra's light-needles shattered one by one. The colossal axe spun in a deadly vertical arc, cleaving the air with a deafening roar.
"Too slow," Vane whispered.
Midair, he twisted his body.
As the axe nearly bisected him, Vane pressed his palm against the flat side of the weapon.
ZING—!
Golden lines surged from his hand into the violet axe. Its atomic structure shifted violently—molecular bonds loosened, its mass lightened until it was nearly weightless.
The swing's momentum collapsed.
The monster staggered forward, losing balance as its weapon suddenly became lighter than dust.
"Lyra, now!"
Lyra was already prepared.
She concentrated all her energy into a single massive arrow forming at her bow. Blue light fused together, pulsing like the heartbeat of Aeterna itself.
"Prepare yourself... Aeterna Burst!"
The arrow launched.
A streak of azure brilliance pierced the Aberrant's chest, carving a radiant cavity at its core. The monster howled in agony as its energy core was exposed—a wildly pulsating violet crystal.
Vane was already directly above it.
He reversed his grip on the sword, holding it with both hands. Golden lines now traced from his arms to his neck. His eyes gleamed a sharp blue, stark against the dark sky behind him.
"Total Collapse."
He drove the blade straight into the violet core.
What followed was not an explosion.
But… emptiness.
Every atom forming the monster's body was commanded to cease interaction.
Deg.
For one second, the world fell silent.
Then—
KRAAAKK!
The colossal body did not explode. It unraveled into glowing violet grains of sand, peeling away piece by piece like a statue stripped of its very meaning of existence.
The night wind of Aeterna City carried the remnants away until nothing remained.
Vane landed on fractured ground. His sword returned to harmless rusted iron.
He dropped to one knee, breathing heavily. Sweat slid down his forehead.
At his neck, the star-shaped pendant pulsed intensely, radiating warmth that flowed through his body—restoring the energy he had expended.
Lyra walked toward him, her bow of light fading slowly.
"Vane… are you alright?" Lyra asked gently.
Vane looked up. He stared at his palm, where faint golden particles still shimmered.
"I… I remembered one thing," he murmured softly.
Caelia and Eyon rushed over.
"What? What did you remember?!" Caelia asked impatiently.
Vane looked toward the Void Fracture in the sky, which was slowly closing like a wound stitching itself shut.
"This name… it's not just a name," Vane said quietly. "This sword… it's calling me."
"Huh? The sword is calling you? How is that possible?" Caelia asked in confusion.
Suddenly, the star pendant on Vane's chest shone brightly.
From within it emerged a small floating dragon—adorable, crowned with a tiny white diadem and bright blue eyes.
"Hey, hey, what's going on? Why are you disturbing my sleep?" the little dragon spoke in an incredibly cute voice as it floated toward Vane.
"Ehhh?! What kind of creature is this? It's so pretty and adorable!" Caelia tried to approach it, eyes sparkling.
"Huh? You have a companion? Why is it fused with you? Do you remember how you two became one?" Lyra asked Vane.
"Hey, little companion, do you remember how you ended up together?" Eyon asked calmly.
"Haa?"
The small dragon suddenly transformed.
Its body shrank and glowed, becoming a tiny fairy with shimmering delicate wings. A crown floated above her head, her blue eyes shining brightly. Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, glowing with a soft bluish radiance like moonlight over the sea.
"I don't remember either… why am I inside his body?" the small fairy—known as a companion—moved closer to Vane.
"I see… Vane, did you forget as well?" Lyra asked.
Vane shook his head.
"I don't remember anything either."
"Ahh, you all can keep arguing. I want to go back to sleep," the little fairy yawned, then turned into light and returned to the star pendant on Vane's chest.
Eyon watched with a serious expression.
But strangely, this companion is different from the others. I can see its energy structure—it's unlike any other companion. In other words… I'm not sure it's merely a companion. There's a mixture of mysterious energy I don't recognize, Eyon thought.
"Companion… you've been talking about companion this whole time. What is a companion?" Vane asked.
"A Companion is a Calibrator's battle partner. We obtain them by converting Aberrants into our power. The atomic energy of an Aberrant that fades into ash—we retrieve it and reconstruct it into a Companion that assists us in battle," Eyon explained.
The atmosphere settled once more, though the air still felt heavy with lingering Void energy.
"It seems you don't have a destination. Why don't you come with us to Aeterna City and meet our leader, Iris? Perhaps you can ask our city's leader," Eyon suggested.
Vane gave a faint smile and nodded.
"Yoshh, let's go! This place isn't safe," Caelia said, moving ahead of them.
Lyra simply smiled at her friend's behavior.
They walked toward the gates of Aeterna City.
Energy lamps glowed along the city walls, forming a transparent barrier that protected the inner territory from Void threats.
After five minutes of walking, they arrived at Aeterna's gate.
The massive steel doors slowly opened, revealing life within—a modern city standing in the midst of a post-apocalyptic world, protected by the Divine Guard Aeterna.
But from the shadows behind a nearby tree, someone was watching.
A beautiful woman with long light-green hair and soft bangs. Her eyes were pink, gleaming with obsession.
She watched Vane, Eyon, Lyra, and Caelia enter the gates of Aeterna City.
The woman smiled.
"Oh my love… you've finally returned, my precious flower," she giggled softly.
To be continued…