The heavy, suffocating silence of the wreckage was shattered as Reno's voice tore through the air, sharp as a rusted blade.
"Where in the hell were you?!"
Sam stretched his arms lazily and let out a soft yawn. Despite the suffocating tension hanging over the ruined battlefield, a carefree—and almost infuriating—grin spread across his face.
"Just taking a little nap," he hummed smoothly, a lighthearted smirk resting on his lips.
Asuna released a sharp, trembling breath.
Her shoulders visibly dropped as relief washed over her pale features, but the relief lasted only a moment before her brow furrowed into a scowl.
"Don't lie, Sensei!" she snapped, genuine exasperation creeping into her voice. "Do you have any idea how worried we were?!"
Kirito stepped forward, his boots crunching against the scorched gravel. His dark eyes swept over Sam, his brows drawn tightly together in confusion.
"What actually happened back there, Sam?"
"I'll explain later," Asuna cut in abruptly.
She stepped partially in front of Sam, her amber eyes narrowing as she shot him a stern look that practically begged him to keep his mouth shut.
Sam merely chuckled.
With a casual wave of his hand, he brushed aside their concerns and strode toward Reno. Yet the moment he passed Asuna, his playful demeanor vanished.
The change was almost instantaneous.
The carefree smile disappeared, replaced by a cold, calculating expression as his eyes swept across the devastation surrounding them.
"What a mess you people created here…" he muttered.
Reno completely ignored the jab.
Cold sweat rolled down his temples as he dropped to his knees beside the fallen Hawk. His blood-stained fingers hurriedly searched through the thick coat, fumbling through the inner pockets.
Then—
His fingers brushed against something rigid.
Parchment.
Reno's hand immediately tightened around it.
With a harsh tug, he pulled out a folded document. The parchment was heavily saturated in crimson, the blood having soaked deep into the material.
Sam's expression sharpened.
"Did you find it, Reno?"
Reno slowly rose to his feet and lifted the blood-stained parchment.
His jaw was clenched tightly, a vein pulsing near his temple.
"Yeah. But it's completely drenched. Most of the writing is already blurred beyond recognition."
"Tch!"
Takashi's expression twisted with frustration, a vein standing out on his forehead.
"Then how the hell are we supposed to know what they were after?! Without that, we're walking straight into the dark!"
Kirito's gaze darkened.
His posture stiffened as another thought surfaced.
"They were after Rin, too…" His eyes swept across the ruined area. "Speaking of which, where is he?"
Reno froze.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
The sudden silence felt agonizing.
"I… put him to sleep while you guys were in the middle of the fight," Reno stammered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "After that… I don't know where he went."
"What the hell?!"
Kirito and Takashi shouted at the same time, their combined anger echoing through the shattered ruins.
"You couldn't even keep an eye on a single child?!" Takashi shouted, taking an aggressive step forward.
"Like it's only my fault?!" Reno snapped back, his face flushing red as he raised his voice defensively. "He was with you guys first!"
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Takashi's eyes flashed with fury.
"Now you're blaming me for this?!"
The two immediately began hurling accusations at each other, their voices rising over the ruined battlefield.
Amid the argument, Sam stood quietly beside Asuna.
He tilted his head slightly, a subtle flicker of curiosity breaking through his otherwise calm expression.
"Who is Rin?" he asked softly.
Asuna's demeanor softened noticeably as she turned toward him.
"If they're talking about the boy… the Dark Knights already moved him to the ambulance. He was receiving first aid and a preliminary magic checkup."
"So he's in the ambulance?" Kirito asked, turning back toward them with a heavy frown.
"Yeah," Takashi grunted, crossing his arms.
"Yes, exactly," Reno added quickly, nodding.
A collective breath of relief seemed to pass through the group.
For the first time since the battle began, the immediate danger appeared to be fading.
Then—
A violent shockwave slammed into their chests.
The night sky erupted in a column of orange and crimson fire somewhere in the distance. Heat rushed across the battlefield as the explosion rattled the fractured pavement beneath their feet.
The ambulance had been reduced to ash.
Kirito's eyes widened in sheer terror.
"What the hell was that?!"
"Shit!"
Reno cursed as his hand instinctively snapped toward the hilt of his weapon.
"Did we miss a survivor?!"
"Move!"
Without a second thought, the group bolted toward the rising column of smoke.
Their boots pounded against the fractured ground as they raced through the wreckage. The closer they came, the more intense the heat became, brushing against their skin and forcing them to narrow their eyes.
They finally skidded into the clearing.
Sam's gaze immediately locked onto the terrified squad of Dark Knights surrounding the burning perimeter.
"What the hell just happened here?!"
One of the Dark Knights stumbled backward.
His face had gone deathly pale, and his hands trembled as he pointed toward the sky.
"S-Sir… a spirit… a spirit has been obstructed inside the boy's body!"
Sam's expression hardened.
His gaze snapped upward.
There, suspended above the burning ruins, was Rin.
The boy's unconscious, limp body floated in the center of the swirling embers, hanging unnaturally in the air. A jagged, ghostly blue aura wrapped around him, flickering and twisting like a ravenous beast desperately trying to break free.
"A spirit… inhabiting a child?" Sam whispered.
His hands slowly curled into fists until his knuckles turned white.
This isn't a simple possession.
His eyes narrowed.
It's violent.
"What is going on?!" Kirito shouted over the roaring flames.
"Not the time to panic!" Reno barked, bracing himself against the thermal wind. "Everyone, fall back!"
The frontline Dark Knight raised his shield.
"Get back! Stay clear of him! He's about to—"
A deafening roar swallowed the rest of his warning.
The spirit within Rin erupted.
Dense mana rapidly condensed around the boy, gathering into an enormous, spinning sphere of fire. The flames twisted violently around themselves before the massive projectile launched toward the group like a falling meteor.
"I'll deal with it."
Sam stepped forward.
There was no hesitation in his voice.
"Fall back!"
The others immediately retreated.
A brilliant thread of azure flame spiraled effortlessly around Sam's right hand. He raised his palm toward the approaching inferno, his eyes gleaming with cold concentration.
"Dematerialize, flame spirit…"
The moment his words left his lips, the enormous fireball abruptly lost its form.
The flames scattered in midair, breaking apart into harmless sparks that drifted through the night like glowing embers.
The resulting thermal shockwave swept across the battlefield, forcing Kirito, Takashi, and the Dark Knights to shield their faces.
Sam didn't move.
He didn't even relax.
His sharp eyes followed the turbulent air around him, carefully analyzing the residual magical signature left behind by the attack.
It's not a natural spirit flame.
His thoughts raced.
It's simply manipulating the ambient hydrogen and oxygen.
His gaze sharpened further.
The spirit is forcing atomic control over the raw elements.
Slowly, Rin's unconscious body began drifting back toward the ground.
For a brief moment, it seemed as though the danger had passed.
Then the aura surrounding him changed.
The ghostly blue glow darkened, shifting into a terrifying shade of abyssal navy.
Strange, luminous lines began crawling rapidly across Rin's skin.
They spread like cracks in a failing seal, twisting over his body as though something enormous was struggling to break through from within.
Sam's expression grew serious.
"There's no time."
He closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
Now my turn.
"Atomic Rail."
Glowing geometric runes instantly traced themselves through the air, forming intricate patterns that bent entirely to Sam's will.
He thrust his palm forward.
His hand struck directly against the center of Rin's hand.
A blinding blue flash erupted.
Kirito and Takashi instinctively raised their arms to shield their eyes from the sudden burst of light.
For several seconds, the battlefield disappeared beneath the radiance.
Then the light faded.
The dark lines crawling across Rin's skin began to move.
They shifted and intertwined, reweaving themselves into an entirely new and intricate mark.
Rin's ragged breathing gradually steadied.
His body trembled once.
Then again.
And finally—
The suffocating aura vanished.
The oppressive presence that had filled the battlefield disappeared as though it had never existed.
The spirit had been completely silenced.
An eerie, heavy silence descended over the scorched battlefield.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then—
A piercing shriek shattered the quiet.
"Aaahhh!"
In the distance, civilians from the neighboring residential blocks began flooding into the streets in chaotic panic, drawn out by the explosion and the column of fire that had torn through the night.
Sam clicked his tongue.
"Damn it. We don't have time for a crowd."
His gaze swept toward the approaching civilians.
"Evacuate them immediately!"
"On it!"
Asuna barked the command without hesitation.
She turned on her heel and immediately began rallying the scattered Dark Knights.
"Guide the civilians away from the perimeter!"
The knights moved into action.
Asuna rushed off with them, leaving Kirito standing beside Sam.
Kirito slowly stepped forward.
His hands were clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
His eyes remained fixed on Rin.
More specifically, they were locked onto the unfamiliar glowing mark left on the boy's hand.
"Sam…"
His voice was tense.
"What the hell just happened?"
He took another step closer, his gaze never leaving the strange symbol.
"That mark on Rin—what does it mean?!"