Kai froze.
The White Flame around his body continued to burn.
"...Kai."
A soft, gentle voice echoes on the field.
Ipomoea stood beneath the descending moonlight.
Her crimson eyes stared directly into Kai's eyes.
Not at Raya.
Not at Estelle.
Directly at Kai.
Kai's breathing stopped.
She knows me?
Kai's thoughts struggled to process what he had heard.
"Impossible."
She had only been born moments ago.
Yet the Nightmare standing before Kai had spoken naturally.
Like someone recognizing a person they had been searching for their entire life.
"Kai..."
Her voice was soft.
Almost fragile.
Kai's pupils trembled.
"How..."
Kai's swallowed his saliva.
"How did you know my name!?"
No answer came.
Ipomoea simply stared, tilting her neck.
Then her expression changed.
The overwhelming presence surrounding her remained terrifying, but beneath it was something completely different.
Concern.
Sympathy.
Pain.
Her crimson eyes slowly became wet.
A single tear rolled down her pale cheek.
"Kai..."
Another tear.
"Kai..."
Another.
"Kai..."
The word repeated.
Again.
And Again.
Like a broken memory desperately trying to become whole.
Nocti tremble.
Luna's grin disappeared.
Even Estelle's expression became confused.
"How...?"
"That's impossible."
Nocti's fingers trembled around his ceremonial bell.
"The Child knows his name..."
Luna looked between Kai and Ipomoea.
"How could this be possible?"
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew.
The pressure released from Ipomoea slowly getting heavier.
The grass surrounding her flattened.
Cracks spread through the ground.
The Nightmares lowered their heads.
Even Estelle's crimson threads trembled beneath the pressure.
Kai tried to move.
Yet his body refused to respond.
His legs were locked.
His arms remained still.
His White Flame continued roaring, but even it seemed unable to overcome the presence of the newborn Nightmare.
Ipomoea took a step.
The ground cracked beneath her foot approaching toward Kai.
Slowly.
She look...
Sad.
As if she had finally found someone she had been searching for.
"Kai..."
She raised both hand.
Her fingers trembled.
"Kai..."
Another step.
Her arm slowly opened.
As if she wanted to embrace him.
Kai's heart pounded.
"Don't..."
Kai's voice barely escaped.
"Don't come near!"
Ipomoea stopped.
Her eyes widened slightly.
Pain appeared across her face.
"Kai..."
She reached toward him.
Then—
WHOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
A violent surge of wind erupted from the ruined hospital.
Ipomoea's body was violently thrown away.
Her silver hair exploded outward.
Her body flew across the field before crashing through the remains of the hospital wall.
BOOOOOOM!
Dust swallowed her.
The pressure immediately disappeared.
Kai's body was released.
"What...?"
He turned around.
"Raya!"
Raya was on the ground.
Blood poured from his mouth.
The explosive wind had taken most of his strength.
Kai's expression changed.
Kai sprinted toward him.
Raya looked up.
His breathing was shallow.
His eyes were losing their light.
"Kai..."
Kai dropped beside him.
He grabbed Raya's shoulders.
"Hold on!"
Raya coughed.
Blood spilled across his mouth and the abdomen.
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"Sorry..."
"Don't apologize!"
Kai's voice cracked.
"Just stay awake!"
Raya smiled weakly.
"I'm sorry, Kai."
"Please..."
Raya's eyes trembled.
"Survive."
Kai froze.
"What are you talking about?"
Raya raised his hand.
Wind began gathering around Kai's abdomen.
A faint green current spiraled around Raya's palm.
"Kai..."
"Even if only you-"
Raya coughed blood.
"You had to survive."
"No!"
Kai immediately understood.
He grabbed Raya tightly.
"Don't!"
Raya's eyes became gentle and smiled.
"Wind Surge."
BOOOOOOM!
A massive explosion of wind erupted.
Kai's body was launched away to the sky.
"RAYA!"
Kai's feet left the ground.
He reached forward desperately.
"RAYA!"
The distance between them expanded.
"No!"
Kai ignite his White Flame hoping to stop the wind, yet failed.
Nothing worked.
"STOP!"
Kai's body continued flying away.
"RAYA!"
Kai screamed his throat out.
"I'LL COME BACK!"
Raya watched Kai disappear into the distance.
He smiled.
Then his hand fell.
Silence.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Nocti stared at the empty space where Kai had been.
Luna's expression twisted with disbelief.
Estelle looked toward the ruined hospital.
Even she had not expected Ipomoea to be thrown away.
Then—
Luna's crimson eyes turned toward Raya.
"You!"
His voice trembled with rage.
"You!"
Luna crouched.
Then—
BOOM!
Luna launched himself upward.
Then shot himself toward Raya with a kick.
His body streaked across the battlefield like a bullet.
"Body Enhancement!"
"Heavy Drop."
Raya looked upward.
His eyes widened.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Luna slammed into the ground.
A crater is formed.
Earth and debris exploded in every direction.
But Raya was no longer there.
He barely managed to roll away by the used of the wind pressure.
The impact missed him by inches.
Raya struggled to stand.
His body shook.
Luna slowly emerged from the crater.
His eyes were filled with fury.
"You dare to hurt Lady Ipomoea."
Raya stared at him.
Raya chuckled mockingly.
"I did."
Luna's expression became monstrous.
"I'll make you pay for that."
Ding.
Ding.
Ding.
Ding.
Nocti frantically rang his bell.
His hands were shaking.
"Attack!"
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
"Attack!"
The bell rang repeatedly.
All around the battlefield, crimson eyes opened.
The Nightmares moved.
Thousands of bodies surged forward.
Human Carcass Variants crawled over the rubble.
The Human Hanging Carcass swayed violently as it advanced.
The Human Rooted Carcass tore chunks of pavement apart with its flesh roots.
The Human Crawling Carcasses rushed forward on their twisted arms.
The Human Veiled Carcass walked calmly among them.
The Human Choir Carcass opened every mouth within its chest.
And then—
Screamed.
The entire horde surged toward Raya like a living tide.
Raya's breathing became heavier.
He looked around.
There were too many.
Far too many.
Then crimson threads appeared around him.
Snap!
They wrapped around his arms.
Then his legs.
Then his torso.
Estelle stood in the distance.
Her wounds were already healed.
Her crimson eyes burned with fury.
"How dare you..."
More threads emerged.
"Lay a hand..."
Then tightened.
"...on the Moon's Child!"
Raya struggled.
The threads pierced into the ground around him, completely restraining his movement.
Raya could not escape.
The Nightmares approached.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Raya looked toward the distance.
Through the smoke.
Through the ruined streets.
He could barely see Kai anymore.
Kai was already far away.
Raya smiled.
A tired smile.
"Good."
"Don't look back."
"Please."
Raya's eyes flow tears.
For a fraction of a second everything slowed.
There were so many things I wanted to tell you Kai.
So many things I had never explained.
So many questions you would probably ask.
But there would be no return, Raya thought.
Slowly the raging Nightmare continue to approach in every direction.
Raya could feel his body shutting down as he fell on his knees.
I'm sorry, Kai.
I should have told you.
I should have explained more.
"I'm just happy, I'm able to be with you even for just a moment."
Raya's breathing became weaker.
But if I ask for your help...
You would have stayed.
Raya's eyes closed briefly.
And if you stayed...
You would-
"No."
Raya opened them again.
"It's already in the past now."
Kai was almost impossible to see now.
Only a small silhouette remained.
Flown toward the darkness.
Raya smiled.
Even if you hate me for this and regret this very moment.
Even if you never understand why I did this.
Live.
Raya's lips trembled.
"You have to Survive, Kai..."
Raya smiled.
The Nightmares surrounded him.
There was nowhere left to run.
Nocti lowered his bell.
Luna stared with hatred.
Estelle watched coldly.
Raya looked toward the moon.
The smiling moon.
Then toward Kai's fading silhouette.
Maybe one day...
You well understand.
Maybe one day you well realize...
Raya's smile slowly faded.
"I just couldn't let the past repeat itself."
Then—
The Nightmares lunged toward Raya.
A mass of twisted limbs descended upon him.
Raya's body disappeared beneath them.
CRACK!
Raya's limb tore through his shoulder.
Another struck his torso.
Claws ripped through flesh.
The Human Carcasses dragged at his arms.
The Crawling Carcass sank its teeth into his side.
Raya screamed.
In pain.
In agony.
But the sound was drowned beneath the hymn.
"O Enlightened Moon..."
"Harvest our memories..."
"Harvest our tears..."
"Make our sorrow beautiful..."
"Make our suffering bloom..."
Another Nightmare struck him into the ground.
Raya's body barely recognizable.
Blood spread across the earth.
Raya's vision became blurry.
And still...
His eyes remained fixed toward the direction Kai had gone.
"Kai."
A final tear rolled down Raya's face.
Then Human Tank Carcass hand descend.
The battlefield became a storm of claws, teeth, limbs, and crimson flesh.
Raya's body was torn apart beneath the swarm.
A giant hand descended.
Thud!
The giant hand smash Raya to death.
What left on him is a pile of flesh and blood.
"We bloom beneath the silver light..."
"We bloom beneath the endless cries..."
"Hand by hand..."
"Head by head..."
"Let the savior claim us whole dead..."
_______
Far away—
Kai saw everything.
He was already nearly a mile away.
His body continued to flown away.
Every moment.
Every Nightmare.
Every attack.
Raya.
His friend.
Dead.
The person who had just sacrificed himself to give Kai a chance to live.
"RAYA!"
Kai screamed his lungs out.
Yet the wind hinder his movement.
Slowly.
The wind finally disappeared.
Kai crashed into the ground.
BOOM!
Dust surrounded him.
His body rolled several times before stopping.
For several seconds, Kai couldn't breathe.
Then he pushed himself upward.
His hands shook.
His vision blurred with tears.
"Raya..."
"Lin..."
Kai looked back.
The hospital was barely visible in the distance.
The smoke.
The ruined buildings.
The countless Nightmares...
Raya is dead.
Lin is dead.
Kai clenched his fists.
He wanted to go back.
But he remembered Raya's final word.
Survive.
Kai slowly stood.
His body trembled.
His White Flame flickered weakly.
He wiped the blood and tears from his face.
"I won't waste it."
His voice was broken.
"I won't waste the chance you gave me."
Kai turned south.
There was no destination.
No plan.
No safe place.
Only distance.
Kai began running.
One step.
Then another.
He didn't know where he was going.
He only knew that he had to survive.
Because Raya had died for him.
Kai's fists tightened.
Bleed.
Kai's eyes became cold, tears slowly flowing.
"I'll survive."
Kai ran faster.
"I'll become stronger."
His White Flame burned brighter.
"And one day..."
Kai looked toward the ruined hospital one last time.
His expression hardened.
"I'll come back."
The tears continued falling.
"I'll kill every Nightmare."
His voice trembled with hatred.
"I'll destroy the cult."
"And burn everything to ashes!"
Kai disappeared into the darkness of the southern road.
______
The hymn continued.
But something else was happening.
At the ruined hospital—
The rubble shifted.
A pale hand emerged.
Then another.
Silver hair appeared beneath the broken concrete.
The surrounding Nightmares suddenly stopped.
Nocti's bell went silent.
Luna looked toward the rubble.
Estelle slowly turned.
A figure rose from beneath the collapsed hospital.
Ipomoea.
Her body was covered in dust.
No injury.
Her silver hair brush lightly.
Yet her crimson eyes remained open.
She slowly stood.
Her gaze moved across the battlefield.
Searching.
Looking.
Waiting.
She looked toward the southern horizon.
Toward the direction Kai had disappeared.
Her lips moved.
A single word escaped.
"Kai."
Low.
Pitiful.
Silence.
She took one step.
"...Kai."
Another.
Her crimson eyes trembled.
"...Kai."
The smiling moon illuminated her face.
And beneath its light...
The Child of the Enlightened Moon continued searching for the one person she somehow remembered.
"Kai."
To be continue...