I Guard The Book That Slays Gods

"Do you remember the promise?"

Speed's question remained suspended between them. Raiden found himself remembering their previous talk, when he'd supposedly vowed to protect Speed's twin sister, Soul, if Speed were to die.

As he reflected, their entire conversation came into focus for Raiden. He watched Aeris gently remove Speed's torn shirt, exposing the angry bruises that bloomed across his chest and stomach, spreading up to his neck in swollen patches of crimson. The evidence made it all clear.

"Your condition got worse because of the cursed air on Hour Island, Speed," Aeris explained, still working to heal him.

Raiden's fist tightened as the memory came flooding back in sharp bursts. Speed's tone of voice, the way he'd suddenly thrust Soul's protection onto him, those sluggish, pained movements as he'd drawn near. He had known his death was coming.

Speed straightened the black skeletal mask in his palm before sending it arcing toward Raiden. When it settled into Raiden's grasp, he turned to stone—motion abandoned, speech impossible.

Speed shoved Aeris's hands aside, holding that death's-head smile with his exposed teeth grinding together, while the fierce confidence in his golden eyes burned undoubtedly.

Aeris startled at his abrupt action, but Speed's hand rose in a calming gesture, silently urging her to settle.

"This asshole won't heal," Speed muttered, pride blazing in his eyes as he gripped his wounded stomach.

Raiden's eyes narrowed as understanding dawned. Speed had likely taken the damage in the Dark Dream, wounded while struggling to break his loop and save Soul.

He'd pushed through the injury regardless, which explained why it was proving so hard to heal. The toxic air of Hour Island certainly wasn't doing him any favors.

"If it had to happen, I'm glad it was while I was fighting to save Soul."

Speed's words came measured and deliberate, deepening Raiden's unease. Not just from what he said, though that unsettled him too, but from the desperate gleam in his eyes. Raiden could see the tears Speed shed beneath his skeleton facade.

"You have to move on… there's still more left for you to do." Speed's voice finally broke as he tilted his head away from their faces. "I… I think my journey ends here."

Raiden's gaze shifted between the mask in his hands and Soul, still held in his arms, her sobs now loud and unrestrained.

Painful as it was to acknowledge, Speed was right. The way he was now, he was dead weight to the group. Truth be told, he was probably holding himself back too—he'd rather his sacrifice count for something than have them burn through their strength trying to save his dying ass.

"I can't be healed." Speed turned in their direction again. "…and that's fine by me." His voice had grown tender.

He broke into harsh coughs, and though Aeris reached toward him, Speed held up a hand to stop her. When the spasm finally eased, he spoke again:

"I don't like you, bookkeeper… but… but I think we both want the same thing for her. For Soul." He coughed out crimson once more. "I don't know what your twisted plans are… but I know you won't hurt her."

His eyes glanced in the direction of the rest. "Ash made you human… the same way Soul did for me."

Raiden inhaled deeply, letting Speed's words wash over him as his racing heart began to quiet. The realization came with startling clarity: Ash had become his family, his only living family. And when they'd been forced into that impossible choice, she had stepped forward willingly.

Judging by what he'd been through himself, Raiden could at least understand where Speed was coming from.

Raiden's eyes swept over his wounded allies with newfound darkness, his hands unsteady as he separated Soul from their desperate hold on each other.

He knew how to fix their situation, but the solution reeked of hatred and rage. He stared at the mask cradled in his shaking hands, his heart strangely peaceful despite the tremor in his fingers, as though all feeling had drained from him. Yet buried beneath it all, Speed's words rang true: Ash had made him human.

"Speed can't continue. He said it himself."

Raiden narrowed his eyes, meeting Speed's gaze directly. "The longer we keep him alive, the more he suffers."

Thick silence settled over the group as those behind Raiden shifted uneasily, recognizing the decision forming in his mind.

"You sacrificed Ash… and now you're going after Speed?"

The silence exploded as Noelle's angry voice rang out, making Soul's gaze snap to Raiden in desperate realization. Her composure finally shattered into uncontrollable tears, and Leo rushed to pull her into his arms.

"Just how cruel can you be?" Noelle's hands balled into fists as she resisted the impulse to touch Raiden.

But Raiden remained facing forward, unmoved. To follow through with such a decision, he needed to be ready for their rage. That's exactly why he'd chosen to shoulder this responsibility himself.

Blocking out Noelle's outrage, he walked over to Speed and dropped to a crouch beside him, their golden eyes locked in unwavering contact.

"He's my slave… which means I can break him any way I like." As soon as Raiden's words left his lips, Speed's eyes blazed with renewed intensity.

"I knew it… you're human, after all."

Raiden couldn't suppress a small smile. Speed knew exactly what he was thinking: that Raiden intended to bear this guilt by himself. And Speed was okay with letting him.

He narrowed his gaze and fitted Speed's black mask over the lower half of his face, covering nose to jaw while his eyes remained stark and exposed above.

Raiden raised his fist, focusing his mana for the killing blow that would stop Speed's heart instantly. Before he could deliver it, Speed's hand found his, stopping the motion entirely. A wave of cold terror washed over Raiden, exposing the part of him that desperately hoped Speed would choose to fight for his life.

However, the forced confidence shining in Speed's eyes indicated exactly the opposite.

"With the mask on… you're Soul's brother."

Speed's voice came in cold and bold. "Protect her as much as I would… I'm counting on your promise."

A smirk crossed Raiden's face under the mask as he felt its supple texture, smooth and comfortable as cotton.

Speed's eyes sharpened, his gaze turning grave despite being moments from death. "No matter what, don't rule out the Dawnbringers."

Raiden felt his heart sink into his stomach, finally encountering something that could pierce his emotional walls. The Dawnbringers, his bloodline's greatest nemesis, but hadn't he already crushed them? What knowledge did Speed possess that escaped him?

"They won't stop. If not you, then Soul."

The second he expelled those words, he was choking on crimson that seeped through his locked jaw, his face contorting with each agonized cough.

Raiden was caught between two needs: his burning desire to learn what Speed had discovered, and the searing pain that made each moment feel like an eternity.

"Please, don't…"

As Noelle spoke again, Soul wrenched herself from Leo's grasp and darted to Speed, falling to a crouch at his side.

"Let me do it…" The words came out broken and raw as Soul raised her hand to strike Speed instead.

What unfolded next defied description: Soul's dying twin, the enraged Noelle, and Raiden all surged forward to stop her, as though something vital had shattered within each of them in perfect unison.

Raiden's pulse hammered as his lips parted, his throat tight and heavy. Though drowning in chaotic thoughts, some part of him remained coldly rational. Their abrupt lunge toward Soul had left Speed exposed—his left side unguarded.

Before conscious thought could intervene, Raiden's fist drove forward, punching clean through to grasp Speed's fluttering heart. Blood sprayed in all directions, drenching Raiden in scarlet.

Raiden's breath came in ragged gasps. Though he fought to comprehend what he'd just done, the reason behind it was crystal clear. He couldn't let Soul carry the weight of killing her own family—not when he'd been crushed under that same guilt for twelve years.

When his thoughts finally cleared, Raiden took in the scene before him. Speed's heart lay still in death, but somehow his corpse maintained its protective hold on Soul as she wept freely, with Noelle motionless at their side, her hand gently placed on Soul's shoulder.

Despite the sorrowful atmosphere weighing down on them all, Sulli's recognizable voice continued to break through.

[ALERT]

[CONTRACTOR ELIMINATED]

[CONTRACTS: ACTIVE 4]

[MANA SOLIDIFICATION SUCCESSFUL.]

[+5XP]

As Raiden stared at the blue screen, he felt a flicker of confusion at seeing his active contracts, given that Ash and Freya were dead. Yet consumed by everything happening around him, he dismissed the thought almost immediately.