Levy: "I said stand down!"
The command sliced through the air like a blade.
The Shining Crusaders halted instantly, their armored boots grinding against the stone as they froze mid-motion. The undeniable authority of their captain pressed down on their very instincts, enforcing obedience without question.
Suddenly, Gerald slammed into the armored soldiers with reckless desperation, forcing his way past them as he stumbled forward.
His boots scraped against the stone before he dropped to his knees beside August.
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in tightly. His entire body trembled as he shielded her from the suffocating presence looming nearby.
He made sure to keep his distance... from Jerry Windfield.
Jerry watched the scene unfold with a faint smirk tugging at his lips, mildly amused by the little interaction between him and August.
His light-blue curls glimmered beneath the sunlight, drifting through the air in soft, flowing waves. A single, long braid looped behind his head, swaying gently with each subtle movement of his frame.
His eyes then wandered toward the Shining Crusaders.
Jerry: "Oh? Looks like this graveyard of a town actually has something to offer. How refreshing."
Hera's voice cut right through his thoughts before they could even begin to develop.
Hera: "Shut the hell up and keep moving. We don't have time to waste on your childish distractions."
Jerry let out a deep sigh, losing his smile instantly as Hera's cold words washed over him. He waved his hand dismissively.
Jerry: "Hold on. Interesting things tend to lead to even more interesting outcomes. That's how it works.
You start small… and then you find yourself standing at the center of something far greater."
A faint grin returned to his lips.
Jerry: "And I can already see the path forming."
Without waiting for a response, Jerry shifted direction and began walking—straight toward Levy and the Crusaders.
The townspeople scattered like rats.
They fled in all directions, their movements frantic and uncoordinated. No one dared to remain in his path. No one dared to even hesitate.
Sweat streamed down Levy's neck. For a brief moment, her breath caught in her throat as she watched him approach—each step heavy… inevitable.
She quickly composed herself, inhaling slowly and forcing the fear down into something more controlled.
Her fists tightened as she stepped forward, planting herself firmly in his path. She straightened her resolve.
Levy: "You must be the First Captain of the First Ones—Jerry Windfield. I am Levy Kronos, Captain of the—"
Jerry: "Yeah, that's nice and all, but I really don't remember asking."
The crimson fabric of Jerry's cloak surged forward, sweeping over levy like a passing wave before slipping past her figure entirely.
Levy choked on words, freezing in her place with a baffled expression.
Jerry just kept walking.
The Crusaders watched as Jerry finally came to a stop. It was before the statue. The towering figure of gold loomed over him in silent grandeur.
The Lord of Prosperity.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, a quiet hum creeping past his lips as he observed the town.
Jerry: "You know what's funny? This town feels like life itself has been drained out of it. Like its mere existence repels anything of good nature.
And yet… I keep stumbling upon a few things here that defy that logic. The children, the castle in the distance, and now this statue. They all feel… alive."
His voice softened slightly at the end, touched with a strange curiosity.
Jerry: "It's weird."
Slowly, his eyes lifted toward the monument's face. That's when he saw it…
A violent jolt of recognition pierced straight through his heart. His breath caught, and his body staggered backward before he could stop himself, boots scraping harshly against the stone beneath him.
His eyes widened, locked onto the statue as if it might suddenly move.
Then a twisted, filthy grin crept onto his lips—utterly unclean.
Jerry: "No way… You've got to be kidding me."
A low chuckle escaped him. It grew, warping into something louder—something unhinged.
Jerry: "Heh… hah… Hahahahaha—!"
His laughter erupted, echoing through the hollow streets as he threw his head back like a madman.
Jerry: "DEAR GOD! That's fucking hilarious!"
He cackled like a hyena, his entire body shaking as glee swept through his soul, so intense it was borderline painful.
Hera stepped forward with a scowl, clearly irritated—only to slow… then stop entirely. She was taken aback, her expression filling with disbelief once she laid her eyes on the statue.
Around them, the townspeople stared, confusion quickly giving way to anger. A few stepped forward despite their fear, their voices cutting through the mayhem.
Townsman: "Tsk! What the hell is so damn funny?!"
Townswoman: "How dare you laugh in the face of Lord Tellewin!"
Jerry dropped to his knees, still wheezing, both hands clutching his stomach as he struggled to even breathe.
Jerry: "I—I can't believe it… I thought that loser was dead! Don't tell me he got so tired of being humiliated that he ran all the way out here… just to play god?"
His voice sharpened, dripping with mockery.
Jerry: "I thank you sincerely, 'Lord Tellewin.' Truly. Deserting your post without warning and turning what was meant to be a First Ones' colony into a kingdom that worships you…"
He licked his lips. A low, feral snarl rumbled in his throat as his eyes gleamed with something far more dangerous than amusement.
Jerry: "That's high treason. Which means I get to burn this entire place to the GROUND! Finally, something exhilarating!
Levy's eyes widened, horror flashing across her face as the weight of his words struck.
Around her, the town erupted into chaos—screams tearing through the air as people began to run for their lives.
Hera exhaled quietly, shaking her head as she cracked her glossy knuckles. Light refracted sharply through her glass fingers, sprinkling faint glimmers across the ground.
The town knights scrambled together, forming a rushed defensive line as they pushed forward, shouting desperately in the name of the Balance and Senson Town's so-called "eternal prosperity."
Their silver blades caught the light as they moved, each weapon gleaming with radiant intensity.
Jerry snapped his head around like a hawk.
The stone below his feet shattered as he launched forward, his body leaving rows of blurry afterimages.
In a single, fluid motion, he tore through their ranks—tens of heads separating from their bodies before the men could even comprehend what happened.
He drove his bare hands through armor and flesh alike, ripping into them with brutal precision.
His fingers carved through their bodies, clawing open muscle and spilling organs with savage, unrestrained force. He shredded through them ferociously.
Blood burst into the air in violent sprays, thick streams of red and pink painting the streets. Jerry adjusted his glasses mid-slaughter, watching the fragments of rotten flesh rain down on him.
A few pieces struck against his hand, which he caught absentmindedly, as if plucking fruit from a tree.
Jerry: "Deliciously cruel. They're like a bundle of fresh steaks."
A sudden gust of wind curled through the ruined streets, sweeping across the carnage with eerie grace.
From somewhere beyond the chaos, rows of soft pink petals were carried into the air, gliding delicately through the blood-soaked scene.
Levy moved.
She blitzed past the buildings at incredible speed, her form cutting through the air with absolute precision as her hand shot to her side.
In one clean motion, she unsheathed her Blessed Tool—Yviengadar.
The unspoiled white crystal of the blade shone brilliantly underneath the sun, its surface untouched, almost sacred in its clarity.
Levy's scarlet curls whipped over her head as she spun, using the force of her own momentum to launch herself forward with even greater speed.
The ground cracked under her steps as she rushed toward Jerry without hesitation.
Levy: "I won't let these people suffer for the sins of their foolish king… even if it means standing against someone like you!"
Snap.
A storm of unseen force exploded from Jerry's bloodied palm, thousands of compressed airwaves bursting outward in a single, deafening release. They soared through the town like living veins, distorting everything in their path.
The naked fist of gravity slammed directly into Levy's body, crushing her bones within seconds as the space around her folded unnaturally.
The invisible structure of the world itself seemed to split and bend, as if reality had been forcibly bent inward by something cataclysmic.
The gravitational pull… of the Moon.
Jerry: "How bold."
Blood spewed from Levy's nose like a swarm of flies as her body was launched backward, ripping through hundreds of buildings.
Stone and wooden structures got torn straight off their foundations as she was hurled through them like a cannonball.
Levy rebounded off the crumbling walls, ricocheting through the wrecked streets with relentless force. She was barely able to drive her feet into the ground.
The earth split underneath her as she skidded across it, carving a deep trench through dirt and crushed stone before collapsing into a rough halt.
Shining Crusaders: "CAPTAIN!"
Their voices rose in unison, fury overtaking their fear as they charged toward Jerry. But the beast had already moved.
He had vanished from where he was earlier positioned, reappearing within their formation like a phantom.
His movements were erratic, almost animalistic, weaving between them with disturbing fluidity as a thin trail of saliva flicked from his lips.
He seized two Crusaders by their chins, digging his fingers deep into their jaws. With a slow, deliberate pull, he leaned back—smiling innocently.
Before they knew it, their heads and spines were torn free in one grotesque motion. Strings of muscle and flesh stretched apart as their bodies collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
Jerry then clapped his hands together, causing the Scarlet Horcriax to materialize into his left palm.
Its form started to morph.
Silver liquids coiled and hardened over the twisting metal. Jagged clusters of steel surged outward as the staff restructured itself, condensing into the form of a massive, shimmering battle axe.
Arcs of bright-blue electricity crackled across its surface, swimming through the weapon like living energy.
Without slowing down, Jerry advanced forward.
The axe swung cleanly through armor and flesh alike, its edge biting deep as if resistance did not exist. White-and-gold plating ruptured on impact, unable to withstand the overwhelming force behind every strike.
Jerry propelled himself into the air, latching onto one of the leading Crusaders with unnatural speed, clinging to him like a parasite.
His grin widened, revealing rows of sharp, shark-like teeth glinting under the sun. He bit down right on the man's nose, tearing it free between his jaws.
Jerry spat it onto the road with a look of pure joy.
Before the Crusader could even process the pain, the axe flashed again—clean and precise. His head was separated instantly.
Jerry: "Ewgh… do you even wash?" He snickered.
The rest of the Crusaders remained undeterred.
They charged onward without delay. Their resolve was unbroken, their minds consumed by duty as they threw themselves toward the First Captain like possessed men.
The Scarlet Horcriax trembled faintly in Jerry's grasp before slowly reshaping itself, its jagged form smoothing and lengthening until it returned to its original state.
Without ceremony, Jerry drove it into the earth.
A pulse rippled outward. It was minor… at first.
Jerry: "Now… now it's time to cut the cake."
His fingers roamed along the staff as threads of sea-blue energy began to spill from its surface, thin strands of lunar force twinkling like woven starlight.
They curled around his hand as if alive, bending to his will as he toyed with them idly.
Then he snapped, and the effect was immediate.
A thunderous surge of gravity erupted outward, spreading across Senson Town like a rampant virus. The air was squeezed under the pressure, warping vigorously as the invisible force expanded in all directions.
The enormous wooden gates lining the town's borders groaned. Then they exploded.
Splinters burst in multiple different routes as the reinforced structures were completely obliterated.
Entire chunks of terrain tore free from below, ripped viscously from their roots and hurled skyward. Massive slabs of dirt and stone floated into the air, suspended helplessly in the air as the sky filled with drifting debris.
The Crusaders were taken.
Their bodies jerked wildly as the force took them, dragging them forward against their will. Armor scraped and bones strained as they were pulled through the air, helplessly drawn toward Jerry like prey caught in a web.
They never reached him intact.
The moment they entered his range—it was over.
His fists blurred. A barrage of heavy blows crashed into them mid-flight, every collision giving them an early sentence to their graves.
Their mutilated bodies folded under the sheer force as he dismantled them one after another.
Snap.
Jerry: "Reverse."
The gravitational field twisted, switching directions in an instant. What had once pulled now repelled, unleashing a catastrophic blast that threw everything back.
All of it was launched away from Jerry in a gigantic explosion of weight.
The townsfolk shrieked as they were thrown backward, their bodies slamming into the fractured remains of the town's borders. Splintered logs jutted outward like spears, impaling them in a brutal fashion.
The wood raced through the flesh with sickening ease, skewering the bodies and leaving them hanging as blood gushed down the broken stakes.
Jerry: "Again."
Another snap. Reverse.
The entire town seemed to lurch as the gravitational flow shifted again, dragging everything back inward. The battlefield itself was pulled into motion, caught in an infinite cycle of attraction and repulsion.
Jerry: "Again!"
Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! SNAP!
Pull! Push! Pull! Push! Pull! PUSH!
Each snap came faster than the last, his fingers moving at blinding speed as they danced through the air with perfect precision.
The hundredth snap landed.
His movements were flawless—like the wings of a butterfly flickering through the air, too fast to follow, gone and back within the blink of an eye.
In the midst of all the destruction, Gerald clung desperately to the edge of a nearby well. His fingers dug into the stone as the world broke apart around him.
His entire body ached under the strain, yet he refused to let go.
August was held tightly beneath his arm, her small frame pressed against him as he shielded her from the chaos.
His teeth clenched so hard they threatened to crack.
A sudden spiral of rose petals swept back into the battlefield, their once-pristine edges now simmering with embers as they burned away into nothing but black dust.
Before the chaos could reclaim them, Levy burst through the storm.
She yanked both Gerald and August by their clothing, throwing them across the ravaged street and sending their bodies crashing safely into a trench carved out by a few surviving Crusaders.
For a fleeting moment, Jerry stood still—his eyes catching the motion, witnessing her silhouette flicker and vanish in a streak of light.
Levy: "Didn't you hear me?!"
She reappeared behind him. Suspended in the air. Yviengadar raised. Execution poised.
Her body shuddered, doused in her own blood as it streamed down her arms and soaked through her armor.
She was already breaking—already past her limits—but the fire in her eyes refused to die.
Jerry: "That speed…"
Boom.
Hera's glass knuckles collided with Levy's jaw in an abrupt flash, the force ripping through her skull and sending her hurtling down the street.
Her body skipped and slammed against the stone again and again, each impact echoing like a death knell.
Hera took a step forward, her bright blue cloak whipping wildly in the howling winds, clashing against the suffocating pressure that consumed the town.
Above them, Jerry leapt—ascending onto one of the massive floating chunks of earth.
He crouched atop it, grinning faintly as something far more dangerous began to gather around him.
Below, Levy forced herself upright.
A broken tooth slipped from her lips, clinking softly against the ground as she spat blood. She slowly steadied her stance, her expression twisting into raw, unfiltered fury.
Hera exhaled, unfazed.
Hera: "Give it up, girl. Your chances of stopping this are painstakingly low. I'm trying to end this quickly… and you're wasting my time."
She lifted her glistening prosthetic hand, turning it slightly as light refracted through the transparent surface.
It was her Blessed Tool. The Glazed Pierce.
Levy pushed herself to stand, ignoring the screams of protest coming from all over her body.
Hera rolled her eyes, forming a razor-sharp glass icicle in her hand… and drilling it straight into her own pupil.
A sickening crack split across her face.
Fragments of her skin shifted and separated, revealing what lay beneath—half of her visage now composed of glittering pane-like glass.
A dark-brown, smoky mist bled into the open air, devouring the scattered remains of the town and shaping them into a makeshift arena.
At its center, the two women stood—facing one another in silence.
Levy burst from the steaming earth like a ferocious lioness unleashed, cutting through the air with explosive speed.
Flipping forward, she spun mid-motion and brought Yviengadar crashing down in a lethal arc aimed directly for Hera's shoulder.
Hera didn't flinch.
She slipped past the strike with effortless precision, her body sliding backward as Levy's blade carved into the ground beneath them.
The moment Levy landed, she pivoted sharply—her feet digging into the soil as she redirected the blade in one swift motion, swinging low at Hera's legs.
Hera quickly sprang upward, her body spiraling gracefully through the air before snapping downward with a brutal kick—straight into Levy's skull.
The impact detonated across the town.
Levy's body rolled across the dirt, tumbling violently through debris and broken stone. Yet even then… she didn't stay down.
Her fingers clawed into the earth. And somehow—through sheer will alone—she forced herself back to her feet.
She reseted into her stance, eyes flaring with determination.
Hera tilted her head slightly, a slight hint of interest crossing her expression.
Hera: "Hmph. I guess you're not entirely predictable."
Without warning, dozens of keen glass spikes spouted upward—lancing through Levy's legs, abdomen, chest, and arms.
They tore through her in an instant.
A splash of crimson burst outward in viscous streams, splattering across the battlefield as her body spasmed against the impalement. Levy bit into her own tongue, refusing to give the pain a voice.
Hera's long brown curls flowed gently in the heated air—and then shattered.
They splintered apart into newly formed glass, cascading into elegant, deadly strands—each one a translucent sheet reflecting the lone shards of rainbow light within.
She stepped forward.
Levy's tears ran silently down her face, her body quivering as the pain intensified with every passing second.
Hera: "You have potential… potential I'd rather not deal with in the future.
So I'll kill you here."
A single rose petal floated down from the sky.
It spun gently through the haze… guided by simmering embers… until it laid against the edge of Yviengadar, resting softly against the marvelous crystal.
Levy: "Stand down… both of you."
She lifted her head.
Levy: "I said Stand DOWN!"
Jerry and Hera froze.
Their eyes widened—not in fear, but in shock. Something began churning from the inside.
An omnipotent power gripped their very cores, pulling at something deeper than mere flesh. It felt as though their souls were being bent under the weight of an order they could not ignore.
And if they dare resisted it… they'd be in a world of excruciating pain.
Hera: "What the hell—?!"
Jerry: "This girl is insane…"
Levy grinned from ear to ear.
She was unbreakable.
With a wet, splitting motion, she forced her arm free from one of the glass spikes, blood spilling freely as she reached forward—and grasped Yviengadar.
She pulled it close, holding it against her chest. A soft, tender smile curled onto her lips.
Levy: "Thank you…"
Her then gaze hardened—sharp and unwavering.
Levy: "Now… Marksman! Do it—NOW!"
Charles Mousier Marksman.
The Vice Captain of the Shining Crusaders.
He raced into the battlefield like a bolt of lightning, his blonde curls snapping violently in the wind as his long white cloak streamed behind him.
His boots slammed against the fractured pavement as he sprinted onward at full speed, eyes locked onto the madness ahead.
Hera barely had time to react.
Charles dropped low—his hand snapping forward as he tore free his Blessed Tool—The Duval Bat.
With a ferocious roar, he swung.
The gleaming bronze bat crashed into the wasted street with staggering force, unleashing a monstrous shockwave that rippled across the battlefield. The very air contorted as something inside him awakened.
A wild surge of carnal power flooded through his veins, consuming him.
Brown, spiked fur ruptured across his arms, spreading rapidly over his body, swallowing him whole as his form expanded. His muscles bulged, bones cracking and shifting as he grew into something far beyond human.
His golden eyes gleamed—punctuated by black, star-like pupils that radiated something primal.
A human-badger hybrid.
Before Hera could even process what had just transpired—He was gone.
Charles vanished from her sight, blitzing past her in seconds as the ground below him shuttered from the force of his acceleration.
He ascended.
Leaping from debris to debris, he climbed the floating masses of earth with explosive bursts of strength before hurling himself toward the largest piece suspended in the sky.
He dived right in.
His body curled into a spear as he shredded straight through the massive floating landmass, burrowing through it like a beam of sunlight hitting the terrain.
A fiery explosion erupted from within.
A mountain of flames burst outward as the rock's surface cracked and smoldered. Charles emerged from the destruction, finding himself right in front his target—Jerry Windfield.
Levy: "Perfect…! Now I just have to hold on… just a little longer…!"
Bump.
Hera's knees hit the ground. Her eyes widened—not at Charles… But at Levy.
The Crusader Captain hung lifelessly against the glass spikes, her body finally giving out. Her head slumped forward, her eyes hollow—white, empty, devoid of consciousness.
She had fallen.
Charles: "LEVY—!"
He snapped his head toward her—only to freeze. A smooth hand rested gently on his furry shoulder.
Jerry: "I think you've got bigger priorities, bud."
Jerry pitched his bare fist back, snapping his fingers and letting gravity rush through his nerves.
The lunar energy compacted into a single point as radiant, neon-blue arcs of lightning crackled violently along his forearm. The light intensified, flooding his fist with overwhelming power.
Charles: "W-wait—"
Jerry drilled his fist straight into the space between Charles' eyes with unimaginable strength, shattering his skull instantly. Charles's entire body collapsed inward before raging outward.
His skeleton was severed cleanly from his body, launched free in a blazing flash as it tore through the sky, burning fiercely under the sheer friction of its speed.
It didn't stop. It shot through layer after layer of space itself.
The remaining ashes finally disappeared beyond the horizon, hurtling off the Diex Peninsula and into the distant ocean.
Jerry laughed as he flexed his hand, inspecting his scorched fingers with childlike fascination.
Jerry: "Damn. I don't even understand what I did to the poor fella."
He dropped from the floating terrain soon after, landing heavily against the ruined ground below.
Dust and debris scattered on impact as he straightened, brushing off his red cloak with a satisfied sigh and running a hand through his light-blue hair.
Hera barely acknowledged his presence. Her focus primarily remained on Levy.
she was unconscious… but still breathing.
Hera: "She really is something else."
Jerry: "Quite the performance she put on."
That's when they felt it.
A slight shift in the region's aura. It was subtle… yet vast.
The Lord of Prosperity.
The King of Senson...
Tellewin: "Do not fret, my people! Your savior has arrived!"