"Ugh, uuugh... Brother, everyone...!"
"Fee! Pull yourself together! Fee!"
Fee had briefly lost consciousness from the shock of the explosion. The voice calling his name jolted his hazy awareness back to reality, and his eyes snapped open.
Yui was right there, shaking his shoulders. Relief washed over him when he saw that she hadn't sustained any major injuries, and he managed to find his voice.
"Yui... thank goodness. You're safe."
"It's because you and Skull shielded me. I'm so sorry..."
Just before the blast, Fee had remembered his brother's warning and instinctively pulled Yui into a protective embrace. Skull, likewise, had thrown his own body over the two of them. Thanks to the horse's flame attribute, he had been able to mitigate the worst of the damage; though Skull groaned in pain, his injuries weren't life-threatening.
As the dust began to settle, the two of them scanned the area for any sign of Yugo and the others. They both gasped when a dark silhouette emerged from the haze, approaching them.
"Fee, Yui... you're alive. Thank the gods..."
"Anhel-san!"
Fee’s initial relief at seeing Anhel vanished the moment he realized her injuries were anything but shallow. She groaned and collapsed to the ground, prompting Fee and Yui to rush to her side. Despite the pain, she forced a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry about me. We’re okay. Melt cast some support magic on us just in time, so we managed to avoid any fatal hits."
"Is that true? Thank goodness...!"
"Is everyone alright?! Answer me if you can hear my voice!"
"B-Brother!"
Yui’s heart leaped as she heard the shout. In the middle of a battlefield scarred by repeated, catastrophic explosions, her friends were still standing. Fee’s face lit up with joy as he saw Yugo approaching, with Marcos leaning heavily against his shoulder. However, as the smoke cleared and the full scale of the devastation became visible, their hope was quickly replaced by a suffocating sense of despair.
"This... this is a massacre..." Anhel groaned, putting words to the horror they all felt.
The destruction wrought by the Gigantroses' self-destruction was far beyond anything they had imagined. The terrain itself had been reshaped by the chain of explosions. The students who had been assisting with security were scattered across the field, completely unconscious.
The Hero Candidates, who had been in the thick of the fighting, had taken the brunt of the shockwaves at point-blank range. They had been slammed into rock walls or tossed like ragdolls, and now lay motionless across the scorched earth. Even Fee and his group, who had been further away, were in no condition to resume the fight.
Koumaru, the man responsible for this carnage, surveyed the hellscape with a look of clinical satisfaction.
"And with that, we no longer have to worry about pursuers," he said calmly. "We shall take our leave at our leisure."
"Ugh...! W-Wait...!"
"Give Raiha... Give her back...!"
Setsuna and Sakura struggled to rise, desperate to stop Koumaru from retreating with his prize. But the damage they had taken was too severe. Their legs gave out, and they collapsed back onto the dirt. As Koumaru watched them with mocking indifference, Ryuga—driven by a volatile cocktail of rage and a need for vengeance—forced himself to his feet and lunged forward.
"Koumaru! You... of all people...! Ghuak!"
Ryuga had intended to strike down the diplomat who had orchestrated his father's death, but his body had finally reached its absolute limit. Zaraki swatted the attack aside with ease. He looked down at Ryuga, Setsuna, and Sakura as they lay groveling on the ground, his voice dripping with contempt.
"The weak are truly pitiful! You can't avenge your father, and you can't even protect your precious little friends! While I transcend this world as a dragon, all you can do is crawl in the mud! Gyahahaha!"
"Ugh... nngh...!"
"Dammit... dammit all!"
The air was filled with the agonizing cries of Setsuna and Sakura. Their magic tools had been stolen, their comrade had been taken, and they were utterly powerless to stop it. Fee and the others felt a sharp pain in their chests as they watched the scene. Ryuga, battered and bloodied, glared up at Koumaru with eyes filled with murderous intent.
"You... I'll kill you... I'll kill you...!"
"Brother! Stop! Please, stop!" Yui screamed. "If you do anything else, he'll kill you!"
"Hmph... Zaraki, take his katana and finish him off. Don't waste too much time playing with your food, alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you...!"
With Koumaru’s permission, Zaraki began walking toward Ryuga, a sadistic grin spreading across his face. He cracked his knuckles with a sickening series of pops.
"Once you're done with him," Koumaru added, "behead those Warrior Shrine Maidens as well. If we show Raiha the ghastly remains of her friends once they've been properly steeped in fear and despair, her spirit will break quite easily."
"Hah! I get to kill that many? Better get to work then!"
Zaraki laughed, a sound of pure, unadulterated joy at the prospect of taking lives. Yugo watched the villain approach Ryuga. He looked at his comrades, weeping in frustration at their own helplessness, and he heard Yui’s desperate screams for her brother's life.
Yugo gently passed the weight of Marcos over to Fee and the others. Then, he spoke.
"Sorry, Ann... Looks like I won't be able to keep that promise."