I Guard The Book That Slays Gods

Raiden fixed Lost Child with a stare that twisted a smile on his face, too sharp to be genuine, too steady to be human. His smoking blade of darkness gripped tight, he lunged forward in a shadow-trailing dash.

He closed in on Lost Child faster than he could draw a full breath; his blade hissed as it sliced forward, the air parting around it. Just as steel met flesh, Lost Child's eyes blazed yellow, and he slipped past the sword's edge—so close the edge grazed a strand of his hair.

But his escape led him straight into danger as Ash whipped her shadowy chains toward him, seeking to bind him in her dark snare.

His stare tracked every movement, patient and unblinking.

Shifting his grip on the hilt, he prepared to strike the moment Lost Child escaped Ash's chains.

But in an instant, Lost Child was gone. Raiden's menacing grin faded as his thoughts churned, eyes darting across the landscape in search of his vanished prey.

However, before he could process his confusion, pure instinct drove him forward in a desperate leap. He narrowly escaped Lost Child's strike, the boy having somehow positioned himself at Raiden's back.

Raiden's pulse hammered in his ears as he reached behind himself with trembling fingers. Despite dodging the strike, searing pain tore across his back where the blade had found its mark.

That twisted smile returned to Raiden's face. It was steady now, measured, stripped of all warmth. Lost Child's movements were beyond his ability to track, but he sensed a weakness—something in the boy's technique he could turn against him.

[Cover my blind spots, Papa.] Ash's mental voice cut through his thoughts. In the same breath, she lunged forward, her chains whipping toward Lost Child.

Raiden saw Lost Child's eyes glow yellow as he dodged the first strike instantly. Ash pressed her advantage with another lash of chains, which he narrowly avoided by a hair's breadth.

But Raiden suddenly shifted into a combat stance, his feet rooted in shadow as he channeled mana through his blade. Power coursed toward the sword's point while his eyes fixed on the one vulnerability Ash couldn't guard—her exposed back.

His attention shifted away from Lost Child entirely, but as Ash had requested, his gaze remained fixed on her back. Before long, Lost Child reappeared exactly in that blind spot, just as she had foreseen.

Raiden moved the instant the opening appeared. His legs locked into position as he gathered every ounce of strength into his front stance and dominant arm. He struck with merciless accuracy of instinct, the blade releasing a wave of darkness that carved straight toward Lost Child's neck.

Lost Child's face grew grim, yet his eyes blazed yellow as he disappeared, evading the deadly strike. The slash split the ground, dirt and stone erupting in its wake.

Shock flashed across Raiden's face, but before he could make sense of Ash's sudden turn, her shadowy chains whipped toward him with deadly intent.

[On your right, Papa!] Ash's voice cut through his mind again.

Even with his mind in turmoil, he readjusted his grip and struck to the right. His perplexity transformed into a wicked smile as he felt his blade carve through Lost Child's neck, decapitating him in one swift motion.

Crimson sprayed across the ground as Raiden observed his handiwork, exhilaration and triumph flooding his system. His body shook with uncontrollable laughter, triumph flooding him, sharp and dizzying, almost painful.

He chuckled, shaking his head as if disappointed the fight had ended so quickly.

The group fell into stunned silence, their eyes fixed on Raiden standing over Lost Child's lifeless body. Freya and Speed, however, wore expressions of clear displeasure.

Levi kept watch as Freya knelt and began her ritual, the ground beneath her hands erupting in sparks and flames with a series of sharp, sizzling sounds.

[ALERT]

[MANA SOLIDIFICATION SUCCESSFUL]

[+5XP]

[CURRENT STATUS: NUMBER 6: LEVEL- 80 /100 XP.]

[STAMINA: +5

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: +5

DRAGON MANA POOL: 1120/5000

SOUL OF DRAGON: 70%

HEART OF DRAGON: 70%

MOON DRAGON'S VEIN: 60%]

Ash dismissed her moon dragon form and moved to Raiden's side. "We did it, Papa."

Warmth spread through Raiden's chest as he gently patted her head. "Yes, Ash. We did it."

"No, you didn't." Speed hauled himself upright from the ground where he'd been lying, his hand clamped tight over what looked like a serious gut wound.

Raiden's victorious grin crumbled, darkness clouding his features as confusion seized hold. He turned sharply to Speed. "What do you mean?"

"This wasn't the first time he killed him." Speed's finger traced beneath his own eye. "You caught that glow, didn't you?"

Silence stretched from Raiden as chill crawled up his spine, settling in his bones.

Speed pulled himself forward, inch by agonizing inch, toward Freya. "I don't understand the process, but when his eyes burn like that, it's like he becomes untouchable. Every strike, every strategy, he has the perfect counter waiting."

Raiden studied the corpse through narrowed eyes before catching Ash's attention. His subtle gesture toward Noelle spoke volumes. She was already in motion.

Speed's revelation ignited fresh dread within Raiden as he approached the Lost Child's corpse. The moment he drew close enough, he seized the severed head and stared into its lifeless eyes.

Terror seized him as his skin prickled with unnatural sensation. He snapped the head upward, and his blade found it again and again, reducing it to scattered remains.

Something still crawled beneath his skin. He drove his fist into the corpse's chest, bones snapping like twigs around his knuckles. Blood slicked his fingers as he tore free the heart and carved it into nothing.

Bewildered stares fixed on Raiden as he stepped back from his grisly work, blood still dripping from his fingers.

Speed adjusted his mask with trembling fingers. "Were his eyes yellow?"

Raiden met his stare and nodded grimly. Speed remained silent, his masked face unreadable as he watched Raiden for several heartbeats, then shifted his attention away.

Raiden's body betrayed him, trembling from somewhere deep within his core. The Lost Child's eyes weren't the intense, burning yellow of the others, but the pale shade was unmistakable.

The thought alone sparked his will to survive, but he believed no one could return from what he'd done to that corpse. And if he did return, then he was a true monster. But Raiden knew very well that's what the Elusives were.

"We need to leave now!" Freya's voice cut through the air, deep and commanding. "He could return any moment."

Raiden barely glanced back. He shook his head in disapproval, convinced no human could return from that level of destruction. He doubted even his regeneration could accomplish such a feat. But deep down, he knew it was possible.

"My lord!" Freya's voice rang out once more, pulling Raiden from his dark thoughts.

He turned to see Chrono and Odard disappearing into what looked like a hole carved in the earth, their comrade close behind.

"What is going on?" Raiden muttered, and instantly his instincts took over, propelling his body backwards.

Raiden's gaze snapped to the corpse. His chest thudded unevenly, every beat betraying his fear. The destroyed form pulled itself upright, skin bubbling and twisted until a new face forced itself into being.

"Could it be?" His voice fractured. "Is he countering everything through a dream?"

"You need to leave, my lord." Freya's tone grew more insistent.

He turned back to see that only he, Ash, Levi, and Freya remained.

He closed the distance in an instant and looked through the opening. Lava dripped from its edges as Freya fought to hold it stable, and far below stretched a sunlit forest.

"It might close soon, leave!" Freya's voice strained as Raiden watched the effort crushing her.

Raiden was immediately taken aback by her words. "Wait, what?" He squinted as he stared at Freya, confusion and dread warring in his chest. She simply gave him a warm smile and winked at him.

"My place is always at your side… but if I go now, none of you will live." She motioned with an understanding smile. "I might die soon, anyway… the snake venom got me."

"So let me keep my promise and kill him, even if it costs me everything." She turned to the Lost Child, her expression turning grim. "Trust me, I won't lose."

Raiden immediately understood what was happening. She wanted to stay behind. And for some reason, he couldn't move despite wanting to live. He clenched his fist as his sword vanished, his hands trembling with something between rage and helplessness.

He could feel the Lost Child's regeneration finally complete, and yet leaving Freya behind felt so wrong. His body began fidgeting as coldness crept through him.

"No, we aren't—

Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a push on his shoulder, and suddenly he was falling from the sky, the hole hovering midair above him. He could see the vast ocean beneath, the sun resting above the horizon, as his body battled the wind, and his emotional state forced his dragon mana form to deactivate.

He watched as Ash and Levi leaped through the hole after him as well, and the hole abruptly disappeared. In that instant, his chest locked tight, every breath scraping like metal on stone and words lodged in his throat, thick and immovable.

Everything about it felt so wrong, even though this was what he had always wanted.

He clutched at his chest, fingers digging into his heart. "Why?" he muttered to himself as branches clawed at his arms as he crashed downward.

His body pinballed through the canopy, each impact bruising him deeper before slamming into the solid ground. Jolts of pain surged through his entire body, and yet there was only one thing that lingered in his mind:

"What is happening to me?"