Chapter 316: She Needs You

Zeri’s hand trembled as he slowly raised it toward his neck.

His fingers touched the place where Yuuta’s sword had nearly passed through. The skin was intact. His head was still attached to his body, his tentacles were still moving behind him, and there wasn’t even a wound to prove how close the blade had come.

He was alive.

Yet Zeri couldn’t stop trembling.

Sweat ran down his forehead and along the sides of his face as he stared at his shaking hand. He didn’t understand what had just happened to him. Yuuta’s sword hadn’t touched him, so there should have been nothing to fear, especially for someone who had already survived being beheaded once.

But that final attack had been different.

For the brief moment before Yuuta’s concentration broke, Zeri had felt something he couldn’t explain. It hadn’t been the fear of getting hurt, nor the strange sensation Raven’s black aura had forced upon him earlier. Something much deeper had reacted to the mysterious power surrounding Yuuta’s blade.

It had felt final.

As though if that sword had actually reached his neck, there would have been no regeneration afterward. No severed head laughing from the ground, no body picking it back up, no second chance.

Just an end.

Zeri swallowed as his fingers tightened around his neck.

Why did it feel like I was going to disappear forever?

He didn’t know.

That uncertainty disturbed him enough that he remained standing in the middle of the street, completely motionless.

For once, he didn’t laugh, make some childish joke or immediately rush after Yuuta.

He simply stared at the ruined building where Yuuta had disappeared, trying to understand what he had just experienced.

Those few seconds of hesitation were enough to give everyone else a chance to move.

Three surviving members of the Shadow Corps rushed through the devastated street.

They were the same soldiers who had been assigned to Group C and ordered to evacuate Elena, but the moment their equipment registered Captain Raven’s death, they had turned back.

Every one of them was already injured, yet grief had pushed them forward despite their condition.

Their captain was gone.

Tears filled their eyes as they drew their swords and positioned themselves between Zeri and the destroyed building. There were only three of them now, facing a High Demon who had already torn through nearly their entire unit, but none of them lowered their weapons.

Elena didn’t even notice them.

The moment she had seen Yuuta flying through the wall, everything else had disappeared from her mind.

"Papa!"

She ran toward the collapsed building as quickly as her small legs could carry her, stumbling over broken pieces of concrete before catching herself and continuing. Dust covered her clothes, and tears blurred her vision, but she didn’t stop until she found him among the rubble.

"Papa...!"

Yuuta wasn’t moving.

Blood marked the path where his body had crashed through the wall, and pieces of shattered concrete surrounded him. Elena dropped beside him and immediately grabbed his hand with both of hers.

"Papa, wake up! Papa!"

She shook his hand desperately, but Yuuta didn’t respond.

His eyes were already closed.

Strangely, there was still a faint smile on his face. He looked almost peaceful despite the terrible condition of his body, as though the moment he had finally lost consciousness, every burden he had been carrying had disappeared with it.

"Papa... please..." Elena pressed his hand against herself, sobbing harder. "Papa, wake up... Elena is here. Papa...!"

One of the Shadow Corps soldiers hurried over and dropped to his knees beside Yuuta. He placed two fingers against Yuuta’s neck while another soldier remained standing guard, sword pointed toward the motionless Zeri.

The soldier’s expression changed.

Yuuta’s pulse was there.

Barely.

His heartbeat had become frighteningly weak, so faint that the soldier had to concentrate just to feel it. Yuuta’s breathing was shallow and slow, with longer pauses beginning to appear between each breath. Worse, after everything his body had endured, his skin was gradually becoming cold.

"Sir...?"

The soldier checked again, desperately hoping he had made a mistake.

He hadn’t.

Yuuta was still alive, but only just.

It felt as though he were standing with one foot on the other side already.

Elena looked at the soldier’s face and immediately understood that something was terribly wrong. She didn’t understand pulse rates or the severity of Yuuta’s injuries, but she could see the fear in the man’s eyes.

"No..."

Her little fingers tightened around Yuuta’s hand.

"Papa..."

Nothing.

"Papa, please wake up."

Still nothing.

Elena’s shoulders shook as she leaned closer to him. Her entire world had narrowed to the man lying motionless in front of her. She had already watched him get hurt again and again that night, but Yuuta had always gotten back up. No matter how tired he was or how badly he was injured, Papa always stood again.

This time, he wasn’t standing.

This time, he wasn’t even opening his eyes.

Something began to change around Elena.

A faint pressure rose from the little girl’s body.

The Shadow Corps soldier beside her noticed it immediately and turned toward her, but before he could understand what he was sensing, the pressure increased. Dust around Elena’s knees shifted across the rubble while her crimson eyes remained fixed entirely on her father.

Elena clutched Yuuta’s hand against her chest.

"PAPA!"

Her scream tore through the ruined building.

At that exact moment, somewhere far beyond the battlefield, something shifted.

The endless darkness surrounding Yuuta trembled.

He had already surrendered himself to it. There had been no more pain there, no exhaustion and no need to continue fighting. His consciousness had been sinking deeper into that peaceful emptiness when a distant sound suddenly reached him.

Papa!

The darkness rippled.

Yuuta’s awareness stirred.

Huh...?

For a moment, he didn’t know where he was or why that voice had reached him. It sounded impossibly distant, as though someone were calling to him from another world.

Did... someone call me?

Yuuta had expected nothing after closing his eyes. He had expected the pain to disappear and his consciousness to sink so deeply that he wouldn’t have to think anymore.

Instead, when he opened his eyes again, he was standing.

There was no ruined building around him. No shattered concrete beneath his body, no blood, no pain, and no distant sounds of battle. There was only an endless darkness stretching in every direction, so complete that Yuuta couldn’t even tell whether there was ground beneath his feet.

He recognized this place or at least, he recognized the feeling of it. The same strange familiarity crawled through him as he slowly turned his head and searched the endless emptiness surrounding him.

Confusion gradually replaced the exhaustion that had consumed him only moments earlier.

"Again...?"

The darkness answered.

"Fascinating."

Yuuta immediately stiffened.

The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. There was no direction to it, no source he could turn toward. It simply existed within the darkness, calm and strangely amused.

"You’re not nearly as surprised as I expected."

Yuuta’s eyes narrowed as he searched the emptiness around him. "Who said that? Who are you?"

A quiet chuckle passed through the darkness.

"Who am I?" the voice repeated.

"That isn’t what you should be worrying about right now. Although I must admit, despite how immature you still are with your power, you fought remarkably well. Watching you fight that creature... even I was speechless for a moment."

Yuuta’s expression hardened.

He had no patience left for this.

"Show yourself."

The darkness remained still.

Yuuta clenched his fists. "Seriously, I’m done with this. You keep appearing in my dreams, dragging me into strange places and building mystery on top of mystery. If you have something to say to me, then stop hiding and say it to my face."

For several seconds, there was no response.

Then the voice spoke again, and this time the amusement had faded slightly.

"I know you’re exhausted."

Yuuta frowned.

"Believe me, we’re exhausted too. Watching you struggle again and again while trying to understand everything on your own has been... difficult."

"We?"

Yuuta immediately caught the word, but the voice continued before he could question it.

"Unfortunately, you’re still not ready."

Yuuta’s jaw tightened.

There it was again.

Another vague answer.

Another mystery.

He lowered his head for a moment, thinking over everything that had happened to him—the nightmares, the trials, the black figure he had seen before, the strange power that kept appearing when he was pushed beyond his limits.

Then his eyes slowly widened.

"I see..."

The voice became silent.

Yuuta raised his head.

"You’re him, aren’t you?"

No answer came.

"The shadow."

The darkness seemed to become heavier around him.

Yuuta continued, now increasingly certain of his conclusion. "You’re the one who’s been tormenting me in those nightmares. The one behind those trials. I’ve seen you before."

Silence.

For the first time since the conversation began, the mysterious voice had nothing to say.

Yuuta’s eyebrow rose slightly.

"Hey."

Still nothing.

Despite everything, a faint trace of satisfaction appeared on his exhausted face.

"Did I hit the nail on the head?"

The atmosphere changed.

Yuuta felt it immediately.

The darkness ahead of him began to shift. At first, it looked like nothing more than a distortion within the emptiness, but slowly, something separated itself from the blackness.

A figure appeared.

Yuuta’s expression changed.

The figure had no face he could clearly identify, nor any features he could properly make out. It was simply a humanoid silhouette walking toward him from the endless darkness.

Yet the instant it appeared, Yuuta felt something he had never experienced before.

Pressure.

Not the overwhelming demonic pressure Zeri had released. Not Raven’s Black Fusion, nor even the immense presence Yuuta had felt from Erza.

This was different.

Yuuta couldn’t measure it.

He couldn’t even understand what he was sensing.

Standing before that shadowy figure made him feel as though the things he had considered powerful until now belonged to an entirely different scale. The figure wasn’t attacking him or deliberately releasing its strength, yet Yuuta’s instincts understood that whatever stood before him was far beyond anything he had personally witnessed.

The shadow stopped several steps away.

Yuuta stared at it.

"So it really is you."

The figure said nothing.

Yuuta’s frustration quickly returned. "Why are you doing this to me? What do you want? And who the hell are you?"

"It doesn’t matter."

Yuuta’s fingers curled into fists. "Of course it matters."

"Not yet."

The answer immediately irritated him.

"Then when?"

The shadow ignored the question.

Instead, it looked directly at him.

"Arise."

Yuuta froze.

The single word seemed to pass through the darkness itself.

"What?"

The figure’s voice remained calm.

"Wake from your sleep."

Yuuta stared at it, completely confused. Only moments ago, he had accepted that his body had reached its limit. He remembered the pain disappearing, his consciousness fading and the strange peace that had followed.

Why would he wake up?

Then the shadow spoke again.

"She needs you."

Yuuta’s crimson eyes widened.

"She...?"

Before he could ask who the figure meant, the entire darkness collapsed.

Yuuta’s eyes snapped open.

Pain immediately consumed him.

"Ah...!"

Yuuta’s entire body jerked the moment his consciousness returned, and he instantly regretted moving.

Agony spread from his neck down his spine, burning through his chest and limbs until it felt as though knives were being driven into him again and again. His back felt broken, his ribs screamed with every shallow breath, and even the slightest movement of his fingers sent sharp pain racing through his arms. For several seconds, Yuuta couldn’t understand where he was or why his body hurt this badly.

Dust hung thickly in the air. Broken concrete covered the floor around him, twisted pieces of metal protruded from the ruined walls, and daylight poured through the enormous hole his body had created when Zeri sent him crashing through the building.

Where... am I?

Yuuta tried to raise his head.

"Ugh...!"

Pain shot through his neck so violently that he immediately stopped. His head dropped back against the rubble, and he remained there breathing through clenched teeth while fragments of memory slowly returned.

What am I doing here...?

Only moments ago, he had been somewhere else.

The darkness.

The endless black space where he had encountered that mysterious shadow again. Yuuta remembered the figure standing before him and the overwhelming presence surrounding it. He remembered demanding answers, accusing it of being responsible for the nightmares and trials that had tormented him for so long.

Most importantly, he remembered its final words.

Arise.

Wake from your sleep.

She needs you.

Yuuta’s brow tightened.

She...?

Before he could think about who the shadow had meant, a quiet sob reached his ears.

"Papa...?"

Yuuta barely registered the voice at first. His entire concentration was on trying to make his body respond. He planted one trembling hand against the rubble and attempted to push himself upright.

Nothing happened.

His arm shook violently beneath his weight before collapsing.

Yuuta clenched his teeth.

Come on.

He tried again, forcing his elbow beneath himself despite the pain burning through his shoulder and ribs. He managed to lift himself perhaps a few centimeters before his strength disappeared completely, sending him back against the rubble.

"Papa!"

The voice was louder this time.

Yuuta finally turned his eyes toward it.

Elena was kneeling beside him.

Her little face was covered in tears, both hands still clutching his damaged clothes as though she were terrified he would disappear if she released him. For several seconds she simply stared at him, her crimson eyes wide with disbelief.

Yuuta blinked weakly.

"Elena...?"

Her lips trembled.

"Papa...?"

Yuuta’s eyes had opened.

Elena stared at him as though she couldn’t understand what she was seeing. Only moments earlier, her father had stopped responding. His breathing had become frighteningly faint, his body had begun growing cold, and even the Shadow Corps soldier checking his pulse had looked terrified.

Yet now Yuuta was looking at her.

"Papa!"

Elena threw herself closer, grabbing his hand with both of hers as fresh tears poured down her cheeks.

"Papa is alive! Papa... Papa woke up!"

Yuuta winced when she touched him, but he barely noticed the pain anymore.

His exhausted mind had finally caught up.

Elena?

Why was Elena beside him?

She was supposed to be far away from here.

Then everything returned at once.

Zeri charging toward him.

The strange power that had suddenly emerged from somewhere deep within his body.

His sword approaching Zeri’s neck.

The overwhelming certainty that this attack was different, that if the blade connected, Zeri wouldn’t simply reattach his head and regenerate again.

And then...

Papa!

Yuuta’s expression slowly changed.

That had been Elena’s voice.

He had heard her at the final moment.

His concentration had broken, his sword had slipped away from Zeri’s neck, and the four tentacles had struck him before sending him through the building.

Yuuta looked at his daughter’s tear-covered face.

She didn’t know what she had done.

Of course she didn’t.

She was only four years old. She had watched her father charge directly toward a monster, terrified that he was going to die, and she had called for him. There had been no way for Elena to know that her frightened cry would reach him at exactly the wrong moment.

Yuuta didn’t blame her.

What frightened him was something else entirely.

Why is she still here?

His lips moved.

"Why...?"

Elena leaned closer immediately. "Papa?"

Yuuta gathered what little strength remained in his body. Even speaking sent pain through his ribs, forcing him to pause between the words.

"Why... are you here, Elena...?"

"Sir, please don’t speak."

Yuuta’s eyes shifted toward the unfamiliar voice.

Three members of the Shadow Corps stood near the destroyed opening of the building, forming a defensive line between Zeri and the father and daughter behind them.

Yuuta stared at them.

He recognized them.

Group C.

The same three soldiers Raven had specifically ordered to escort Elena away from the battlefield.

They were supposed to be gone.

Instead, all three stood here with their weapons drawn.

Their condition was terrible. One could barely put weight on his injured leg, another had blood running down the side of his uniform, and the third struggled to keep his sword steady. Their bodies were exhausted and wounded, yet all three remained between Zeri and Elena.

Then Yuuta noticed their eyes.

They had been crying.

Raven.

The moment their equipment had confirmed their captain’s death, they had turned back. Whatever orders remained no longer mattered to them as much as the woman who had trained them, commanded them and fought beside them until the very end.

Yuuta understood their grief.

That was exactly why seeing them here horrified him.

You idiots...

They were supposed to protect Elena.

Instead, three wounded soldiers who could barely stand had returned to confront a High Demon who had already slaughtered most of their comrades. Their captain was dead, their division was nearly destroyed, and still they were preparing to throw away whatever remained of their lives.

Yuuta wanted to scream at them.

Take Elena and run.

His mouth opened, but before he could force the words out, he tried once more to rise.

His hand pressed against the floor.

His shoulder trembled.

Nothing.

Yuuta’s eyes widened.

Move.

He tried his legs.

Nothing.

Come on... MOVE.

His body refused.

The mysterious power from earlier was gone. He couldn’t sense even a trace of it anymore. His normal aura had been almost completely exhausted, the recovery potion had long since reached its limit, and his battered muscles had nothing left to give.

For the first time since the battle began, determination wasn’t enough.

His body simply couldn’t continue.

Elena noticed him struggling and immediately grabbed his arm. "Papa, don’t move! Papa is hurt..."

Yuuta looked at her.

The shadow’s words returned.

She needs you.

His heart tightened.

Now he understood.

Yuuta looked toward the three wounded soldiers and then back at Elena. His own injuries, Raven’s death and even the mystery of what had happened inside that darkness suddenly became secondary.

Only one thought remained.

Can I still save Elena?

His fingers twitched weakly against the rubble.

That was all he could manage.

Then a laugh came from outside.

"Heh..."

Everyone froze.

The three Shadow Corps soldiers immediately tightened their grips on their weapons.

"Hehehe..."

Yuuta’s crimson eyes slowly moved toward the enormous hole in the building.

Zeri was laughing.

The High Demon still stood in the middle of the ruined street, but there was something different about him now. His hand remained pressed against his neck, his dark-blue skin covered in sweat as the strange patterns across his body shifted with every breath. His tentacles moved behind him while his golden eyes stared down at his trembling fingers.

Then he started laughing harder.

"Hahaha..."

Zeri slowly raised his head.

"Sorry, Uncle."

He wiped the sweat from his face and looked at it almost curiously.

"I almost got lost in thought for a minute."

Yuuta said nothing.

Zeri touched his neck again.

"I just couldn’t stop thinking about it." His smile remained, but Yuuta could see something unsettled beneath it. "That feeling when your sword was coming toward me... I’ve never felt anything like it."

His fingers tightened against his throat.

"You were so close."

For the briefest instant, Zeri’s smile disappeared.

"I really thought I was going to die."

Not lose his head.

Not regenerate.

Die.

The memory made his hand tremble once again, and Zeri stared at it with visible irritation. He clenched his fist until the trembling finally stopped.

Then he looked toward the ruined building.

He saw the three wounded Shadow Corps soldiers standing between them.

He saw Elena beside Yuuta.

And finally, his golden eyes settled on Yuuta himself.

The fear disappeared from his expression.

His familiar smile returned.

"But I’m done thinking about it now."

The tentacles behind Zeri slowly spread apart.

The three Shadow Corps soldiers immediately raised their swords, positioning themselves closer together despite the fear visible on their faces. Elena instinctively pressed herself against Yuuta, while Yuuta desperately tried once more to force his broken body to move.

It wouldn’t.

Zeri stepped forward.

This time, there was no playful excitement in his eyes.

"No more games, Uncle."

His golden eyes locked directly onto Yuuta’s crimson ones.

"I’m going to kill you for real."

To Be Continued...