Chapter 285: A Whisper Louder Than Leviathan

Yuuta slowly raised his head.

Through the shattered balcony windows, beyond the dust still drifting between the buildings and the debris falling through the night, he saw something above Yuno City.

A brilliant white figure crossed beneath the moon.

Two enormous brilliant-white wings were spread behind her, glowing softly against the darkness like moonlight given form. Silver-white hair moved around her beneath the remaining wind while the familiar figure flew high above the damaged city.

Yuuta’s eyes widened.

For a moment, the destroyed apartment disappeared from his thoughts. The distant alarms, the ringing in his ears and even the blood running from the small cuts across his face and hands no longer mattered.

He knew that silhouette.

He would have recognized her anywhere.

"Erza..."

His voice came out barely above a whisper.

Yuuta stared upward, almost afraid that if he blinked she would disappear again.

"Erza..."

She was far above him, moving through the night at a speed no ordinary human should have been capable of following. To anyone else watching from the streets below, she might have appeared as nothing more than a streak of brilliant white light crossing beneath the moon.

Yet somehow, Yuuta could see her.

For those precious few seconds, it almost felt as though the entire world had slowed down just enough to allow him to look at his beloved wife again.

After spending hours searching for her, regretting everything he had said and wondering whether she would ever come home, she was finally there.

Alive.

Close enough for him to see.

Yuuta’s lips parted as another tear gathered at the corner of his eye.

Then Erza accelerated.

The beautiful white figure shot across the sky toward the coastal region, rapidly shrinking against the darkness until Yuuta realized she was leaving.

His heart dropped.

"No..."

Yuuta immediately stumbled toward the destroyed balcony, ignoring the pieces of glass beneath his feet as he grabbed the railing with both hands.

"Wait!"

Erza was already disappearing into the distance.

Panic surged through him.

"ERZAAAAAAAAA!"

Yuuta screamed her name with everything he had.

His voice tore painfully from his throat and disappeared into the ruined city, completely insignificant against the enormous distance Erza had already crossed. She didn’t slow down, nor did the brilliant white figure turn around.

Within seconds, she was gone.

Yuuta remained gripping the railing.

"No... no, I have to meet her."

His breathing quickened as his thoughts immediately began racing. He had finally found her after searching for hours, only to lose her again before he could say a single thing.

"I have to go after her."

Yuuta turned around frantically.

"I need to tell her. I need to....."

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Yuuta stopped.

The crying came from behind him.

For one terrible second, his mind went completely blank before he turned toward the living room.

Elena was awake.

The little girl stood among the chaos of what had once been their peaceful apartment, crying so hard that her entire body shook. Her hair was messy, tears covered her face and she looked completely terrified as she stared at the broken windows, overturned furniture and pieces of glass scattered throughout the room.

"Papa!"

Yuuta’s expression changed instantly.

"Elena...."

"Papa! Papa!"

She ran toward him.

Yuuta barely had time to react before Elena reached him and wrapped both arms tightly around his leg. Her small fingers clutched his clothes desperately while she buried her face against him, crying louder as though she had been holding everything inside until the moment she finally saw him.

"Papa...!"

Yuuta stared down at her.

His panic over Erza disappeared beneath an entirely different kind of fear.

He had almost forgotten.

Not Elena herself, but everything around him. For those few seconds after seeing Erza, his mind had become so desperate to reach her that he had forgotten the roar, the shattered apartment and whatever terrifying event was unfolding outside.

Yuuta immediately crouched and pulled Elena against his chest.

"It’s okay. It’s okay, Elena. Papa’s here."

Elena clung tightly to him.

Yuuta held the back of her head and looked around properly for the first time since the roar had ended.

His apartment was destroyed.

The balcony windows were completely gone. Glass covered the floor, furniture had shifted from its original position, drawings and papers were scattered everywhere and several objects had fallen from the shelves. The electricity was still out, leaving the apartment illuminated mostly by moonlight and the flashing emergency lights coming from outside.

Then Yuuta looked beyond the balcony.

His expression slowly changed.

It wasn’t only their apartment.

The entire city had been hit.

Countless windows had shattered across the surrounding buildings. Dust still hung between the streets, alarms screamed from every direction and distant emergency lights flashed through the darkness while people began appearing outside their homes.

Yuuta’s eyes widened as he tried to understand what he was looking at.

Elena suddenly tightened her arms around his leg.

"Papa..."

Yuuta looked down and immediately noticed how badly she was trembling. He quickly bent down and lifted her into his arms, and the moment he did, Elena wrapped both arms around his neck before pressing herself tightly against his chest.

Her tiny fingers grabbed his shirt so hard that the fabric bunched between them.

"Papa... Papa..."

"I’m here."

Yuuta held her more securely and gently placed one hand against the back of her head.

"I’m here, Elena."

She continued crying against his chest.

The roar had torn her awake without warning, and Yuuta had never seen his daughter this frightened before. Elena was usually curious about almost everything, sometimes to the point where Yuuta wished she possessed a little more fear, but there was none of that childish curiosity now. Her entire body trembled in his arms, and every distant crash from outside made her grip his shirt even tighter.

Yuuta kissed the top of her head.

"It’s okay. Papa’s here."

He said it for Elena, although he had no idea whether anything was actually okay.

"What is happening...?"

Yuuta looked outside again.

Yuno City was an absolute disaster.

The streets below were filled with people looking around in confusion while others remained near the entrances of their buildings. Broken glass covered roads and sidewalks, several vehicles had been damaged by falling debris and dust continued drifting between the buildings.

Somewhere farther away, Yuuta could see smoke rising into the night while emergency sirens mixed together from seemingly every direction.

Dust rolled through the streets in thick clouds while people rushed away from damaged buildings. Broken windows continued dropping glass onto sidewalks and roads, forcing those below to cover their heads as they ran. A traffic signal hung sideways over an intersection, swinging violently from damaged supports, while several abandoned cars sat with shattered windshields beneath piles of debris.

A loud metallic groan suddenly came from the building across from Yuuta.

His eyes snapped toward it.

Part of a large rooftop sign slowly tilted forward.

People below noticed it too.

"GET AWAY!"

The sign tore free.

It crashed onto the street with enough force to crush the roof of a parked car and send dust exploding across the intersection. People screamed and ran in every direction while Elena immediately buried her face deeper against Yuuta’s shoulder.

"Papa! Papa!"

"I know, I know."

Yuuta backed farther into the apartment.

"What the hell is happening...?"

Then sirens grew louder.

A loudspeaker echoed through the city.

Several emergency vehicles raced through the intersection, weaving around debris while their lights flashed across the damaged buildings. Fire engines followed behind them, and farther above, the heavy beating of helicopter blades approached through the darkness.

Yuuta looked up.

Military aircraft were moving across the night sky.

A several helicopter passed between the buildings, its searchlight sweeping over the streets as a loudspeaker suddenly echoed throughout the district.

"ATTENTION, CITIZENS. THIS IS AN EMERGENCY. PLEASE REMAIN INSIDE YOUR HOMES."

The helicopter continued forward while another vehicle repeated the warning from the road below.

"STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. DO NOT ENTER THE STREETS. AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS."

"ATTENTION, Citizens, this is an emergency. We request that everyone remain inside their homes."

The warning only made the situation feel worse.

The announcement repeated several seconds later.

"ATTENTION, Citizens, this is an emergency. Please remain inside. Stay away from windows and await further instructions."

People who had already rushed outside hesitated, unsure whether to return to buildings with shattered windows or remain beneath falling debris. Emergency personnel shouted instructions from the streets while firefighters moved toward damaged structures, and somewhere farther away another tremendous crash sent a fresh cloud of dust rising between the buildings.

Yuuta stood in the middle of his destroyed living room with Elena clinging to him.

"What the hell is going on here...?"

He couldn’t understand any of it.

Elena whimpered against his chest.

Yuuta immediately lowered his voice and rubbed her back, but his own thoughts were racing. He had no idea what had produced that roar, why the military and emergency services were suddenly moving through Yuno City or whether another attack was coming.

Then his eyes returned to the sky.

Erza.

The image of those brilliant white wings immediately appeared inside his mind.

Erza hadn’t been flying randomly.

She had been heading somewhere.

Toward the coast.

Yuuta turned his head in the direction where she had disappeared. His breathing remained uneven as he tried to connect everything that had happened within the last few minutes.

That impossible roar had come first.

Then the city had been thrown into chaos.

And immediately afterward, he had seen Erza flying toward the coastline at a speed no ordinary person could possibly follow.

Why was Erza going there?

What had made that roar?

And why did he suddenly have the terrible feeling that the two were connected?

Yuuta stared toward the distant coast for several seconds before shaking his head.

"No."

Whatever was happening out there didn’t change what he needed to do.

He had finally seen Erza again after spending hours searching for her. He had spent the entire night regretting what he had said, begging an empty sky for her to come home, and now that she had finally appeared, he couldn’t simply sit here and wait for her to disappear again.

"I can’t stay here."

Yuuta tightened one arm around Elena while looking toward the direction Erza had gone.

"I have to find Erza."

__________________

Far above the ruined skyline of Yuno City, Erza tore through the night air, the wind screaming past her as she dashed toward the coastline, the city and everyone in it already shrinking to nothing beneath her.

Her enormous white wings cut through the air as she accelerated..., covering kilometers in seconds. The coastline rapidly approached beneath her while the colossal silhouette of Leviathan grew larger on the horizon, surrounded by thousands of demons moving across the ocean.

Erza could feel her blood growing hotter.

The excitement she had felt when she first saw Leviathan was becoming increasingly difficult to suppress. Her heart pounded harder with every kilometer she crossed, and her violet eyes remained fixed upon the enormous mythical beast waiting in the distance.

It had been far too long since something had made her feel this way.

Most creatures were disappointing. No matter how frightening they appeared or how confidently they challenged her, the result was usually decided the moment Erza drew her blade. Yet Leviathan had announced its arrival with a roar powerful enough to shake cities from kilometers away.

Perhaps this one would be different.

A smile slowly appeared on Erza’s face.

For a moment, the enormous creature in the distance almost reminded her of a mouse unfortunate enough to catch the attention of a particularly interested cat. Killing it immediately would almost feel wasteful when she could first discover exactly how much punishment something that large could endure.

Her fingers twitched slightly.

Then Erza saw the city beneath her.

Her smile disappeared.

She had already crossed several kilometers, but the destruction caused by Leviathan’s roar remained visible everywhere below. Emergency vehicles raced through darkened streets, shattered windows covered roads and damaged buildings stood beneath clouds of dust. These were cities Erza had spent countless ordinary days walking through, shopping in and exploring with Yuuta and Elena.

Her heart tightened.

The excitement disappeared almost instantly.

Erza slowed in midair.

Her wings spread wide as she came to an abrupt halt high above the city, the tremendous momentum behind her flight sending a violent gust through the clouds around her.

Then her head turned slightly.

"...I heard something."

Erza remained motionless.

The wind rushed around her while distant alarms continued below, but she ignored all of them. Something else had reached her ears during those brief seconds of flight.

A voice.

Someone had shouted something from impossibly far behind her.

Her name.

Erza slowly turned around.

"What was that...?"

She stared back toward Yuno City.

Her apartment was already many kilometers away. She had been moving far too quickly, and even after stopping, she had travelled an enormous distance from the place where she and Yuuta had lived together.

Yet Erza knew what she had heard.

Her heartbeat suddenly changed.

"Yuuta...?"

The name escaped her before she realized she had spoken.

Erza stared toward the distant city, genuinely stunned by how quickly everything else disappeared from her thoughts.

Did Yuuta call me?

Her wings remained spread behind her, but she didn’t move toward Leviathan.

For one brief moment, Erza almost forgot that the mythical beast existed.

Almost forgot the thousands of demons waiting in the Atlantic.

Almost forgot the war she had just declared had begun.

All because somewhere far behind her, she thought she had heard Yuuta call her name.

Far out in the Atlantic, Leviathan noticed.

A deep growl rolled through the mythical beast’s enormous throat.

Its crowned head remained raised above the ocean while its glowing eyes tracked the distant white figure in the sky. The sound it produced was lower than its earlier roar, almost resembling the warning growl of an enormous predator that had suddenly encountered something it didn’t understand.

Zeri, sitting comfortably upon Leviathan’s massive head, immediately looked down.

"Elder."

General Malakar remained standing upon Leviathan’s head with his arms folded.

"Something is wrong with Terry."

"I can see it."

Malakar’s voice remained calm, but his attention hadn’t left the distant sky above the mainland.

Erza was no longer above Yuno City.

She had already flown several kilometers beyond it toward the Davenport coastline before hearing what she believed was Yuuta calling her name. She had stopped before reaching the coast and now hovered high in the night sky somewhere between Yuno City and the sea, her brilliant white wings spread behind her.

Her body was facing back toward Yuno City.

Far behind her lay the apartment she had shared with Yuuta and Elena. Far ahead of her, beyond the remaining stretch of land and the coastline, Leviathan waited in the Atlantic surrounded by the demon army.

From Leviathan’s position offshore, Erza was incredibly distant. She appeared as little more than a tiny white point suspended beneath the moon, so small that most of the demons around Malakar couldn’t have distinguished her from the night sky.

Yet Malakar could see her.

More importantly, he could feel her.

Even across that enormous distance, the presence coming from the woman hovering above the mainland was immense. Malakar had stood before powerful demons countless times, but something about this presence caused an instinctive fear to crawl through his body.

He didn’t show it.

His arms remained folded and his expression remained unchanged, but he finally understood why the Demon King had insisted that Leviathan accompany them tonight. He understood why Allen had given such specific instructions about the terrifying presence they might encounter once they reached Liebus.

Leviathan hadn’t been brought here merely to destroy the country.

It had been brought here for her.

Malakar’s eyes narrowed.

"Zeri."

Zeri looked toward him.

"Yes, Elder?"

"Take command of the army. Enter Yuno City and capture the human alive."

Zeri blinked.

"Huh? Already?"

He looked toward the distant coastline before turning back toward Malakar.

"We haven’t even seen the whole country get destroyed yet, Elder. Why are we going in so early?"

Malakar slowly turned his eyes toward him.

"Do what I said."

The atmosphere around him immediately changed.

A crushing demonic pressure descended upon Zeri so suddenly that his smile disappeared. His body stiffened, and for a moment it became difficult for him to breathe beneath the weight of Malakar’s aura.

"Do not argue with me."

Zeri quickly raised both hands.

"Okay, okay, Elder. Chill."

Malakar withdrew his pressure.

Zeri took a breath before stepping toward the edge of Leviathan’s enormous head.

"You’re no fun."

He jumped.

His small body dropped toward the ocean before landing effortlessly upon the head of a gigantic octopus-like creature moving among the demonic forces below. Its enormous tentacles twisted through the water while Zeri straightened himself and looked across the army.

Thousands of crimson eyes stared back at him.

Zeri grinned.

"Come on, guys!"

He pointed toward Liebus.

"Spread throughout the country!"

"HAIL THE DEMON KING!"

Weapons immediately rose throughout the army.

"HAIL THE DEMON KING!"

Thousands of voices answered together.

"HAIL THE DEMON KING!"

The ocean erupted into movement.

The enormous formation that had crossed the Atlantic together began splitting apart. Demons riding monstrous aquatic creatures rushed toward different sections of the coastline while armored warriors raised spears, swords and axes above their heads. Other groups disappeared beneath the water entirely, separating toward different cities as the invasion finally moved beyond the ocean.

Zeri’s grin widened.

"But remember His Majesty’s order! The red-eyed human is to be captured alive!"

He pointed toward Liebus.

"Everyone else....."

"SLAUGHTER THE HUMANS!"

A deafening cheer answered him as the demonic army surged toward Liebus.

General Malakar didn’t watch them leave.

His attention remained entirely upon Erza.

She was still hovering several kilometers inland from the Davenport coast, high above the land between the coastline and Yuno City. Her back was presently turned toward the Atlantic because she was still looking in the direction of her distant apartment, wondering whether Yuuta had truly called her name.

Malakar’s expression hardened.

The woman had been approaching them only moments ago.

Now, for whatever reason, she had stopped.

Malakar had no intention of wasting the opportunity.

His gaze lowered toward the mythical beast beneath him.

"Terry."

Leviathan’s golden eyes shifted.

"Use your Solar Beam."

The growling stopped.

Leviathan slowly raised its enormous crowned head.

Its jaws opened.

At first, nothing happened.

Then golden light appeared deep inside its throat.

The surrounding darkness immediately began changing as countless particles of golden energy gathered between Leviathan’s enormous jaws. The light grew brighter with every second, illuminating its ivory teeth and reflecting across the dark-blue scales covering its face.

The ocean beneath Leviathan began trembling.

Water pulled away from the beast as the energy continued concentrating inside its mouth, while waves rolled outward in every direction. The remaining demons nearby immediately urged their mounts away, knowing better than to remain anywhere near Leviathan’s head.

Malakar’s clothes whipped violently around him.

He didn’t move.

The golden sphere inside Leviathan’s jaws continued compressing until the surrounding ocean was illuminated as though a second sun had appeared above it. Even the clouds overhead reflected the growing radiance, turning the distant night sky gold.

Leviathan’s eyes burned brighter.

Its enormous head adjusted by only a fraction.

The gathering energy aligned directly with the tiny white figure suspended far beyond the ocean.

Erza.

Malakar watched her from the distance.

"Fire."

Leviathan released the Solar Beam.

A colossal pillar of golden light erupted from its jaws.

The ocean beneath the attack split apart from the pressure as the beam tore across the Atlantic, instantly illuminating the night for kilometers around it. Clouds were ripped apart along its path while the enormous golden attack crossed the distance between Leviathan and Erza with terrifying speed.

Straight toward Erza.

To Be Continued...