Chapter 324: Child of Chaos

The city fell into complete silence once again.

The screams beyond the enormous gate had disappeared with Zeri, and General Malakar’s body remained motionless on the ruined road. There was no longer any battle, no demonic laughter and no soldiers crying out in pain. Even the unnatural wind surrounding the shadow figure had vanished.

Only two sounds remained.

Two heartbeats.

Yuuta’s.

And Elena’s.

The shadow figure stood silently for several moments before turning away from the place where Zeri had disappeared. Its crimson eyes moved toward Yuuta, who remained unconscious on the shattered road.

It walked toward him.

As the figure approached, the true condition of Yuuta’s body became impossible to ignore. Both shoulders had been severely damaged from the repeated impacts he had endured. His legs were barely in any condition to support his weight, several bones were broken, and his chest had suffered such terrible damage that every breath should have been agony.

Yet somehow, this human had continued fighting.

Even after the recovery potion stopped helping, even after his aura was nearly exhausted, even after his body could no longer obey him, Yuuta had continued forcing himself forward. He had crawled when he couldn’t walk, stood when he shouldn’t have been capable of standing, and continued attacking when his body had already reached its limit.

The shadow figure stopped beside him and looked down.

"To think you continued struggling in this condition..."

There was no mockery in its voice this time. Instead, the figure seemed genuinely impressed as it studied Yuuta’s broken body.

"That stubbornness of yours..."

A faint smile appeared beneath the darkness.

"That’s exactly what I need from you."

The figure slowly knelt beside Yuuta and reached toward his face. Its fingers brushed against his cheek with surprising gentleness, completely different from the same hands that had torn Zeri apart only moments earlier.

"Just don’t give up."

Its glowing crimson eyes remained fixed on Yuuta.

"No matter how painful the path becomes, no matter how many times you fall, keep moving forward."

The shadow figure placed its palm against Yuuta’s forehead.

"And I promise you... we will change destiny."

Darkness immediately spread from its hand.

Unlike the horrifying aura that had caused everything around the figure to rot and die, this darkness didn’t harm Yuuta. It moved gently across his body, covering him from head to toe like a thin black veil.

His damaged body began repairing itself beneath it.

Broken bones slowly returned to their proper positions. The terrible damage across his shoulders began healing, while the injuries covering his legs and chest gradually disappeared. Torn muscles restored themselves, and the wounds accumulated throughout the battle began closing one after another.

Yuuta’s breathing, which had been dangerously weak, slowly became steady.

The shadow figure watched until it was satisfied before rising again.

Its attention shifted toward the battlefield.

Bodies of the Shadow Corps were scattered across the ruined street, some lying beside shattered vehicles while others remained buried beneath debris from the battle. The figure’s crimson eyes passed over them without much interest until they eventually stopped on one particular body.

Captain Raven.

The shadow figure became still.

Then it smiled.

"Fascinating..."

It approached Raven’s body and studied her for several seconds. Its eyes moved across the traces of black aura that still remained around her weapons and body, remnants of the power she had drawn upon during her battle against Zeri.

"So this human managed to use my power."

The shadow figure studied Raven for several seconds.

"Interesting..."

A faint smile appeared beneath the darkness.

"Even after death, you’ve managed to leave quite the troublesome trace behind."

His crimson eyes narrowed.

"Perhaps this isn’t the end for you after all."

Its crimson eyes moved from Raven toward the other fallen members of the Shadow Corps.

"And eventually, there is always a price for stealing what belongs to me."

The shadow figure said nothing more. It simply stared at Raven for another moment before suddenly raising its head.

Something had changed.

A presence had moved.

The figure looked toward the distance as though it could see something far beyond the boundaries of Yuno City. For several seconds it remained completely still, listening to something that no ordinary person could hear.

Then a faint smile appeared.

"So the Eternal Covenant has moved again."

Its eyes narrowed slightly.

"Good. It’s still following the path."

The shadow figure slowly turned its gaze elsewhere.

"I can feel him coming."

There was no concern in its voice. If anything, it sounded satisfied, as though some enormous arrangement that had been disturbed tonight was finally returning to its intended course.

"Then everything can return to its proper track."

The figure prepared to leave.

But before it could disappear, another presence touched its senses.

This one came from much farther away.

From the ocean.

For the first time since its arrival, the shadow figure seemed genuinely caught off guard. It turned its head toward the distant coastline, remaining completely still for several seconds as though confirming what it had just sensed.

Then it smiled again.

"Fascinating..."

The figure’s crimson eyes seemed to look far beyond the ruined buildings surrounding it.

"To think even she could sense my presence from that distance."

The darkness around the figure began to loosen.

Its reason for descending into the mortal realm had already been fulfilled. Yuuta’s seal had been prevented from breaking completely, the path of the Eternal Covenant had been corrected, and whatever had nearly gone wrong tonight had been placed back on course.

There was no reason for it to remain any longer.

Black smoke began rising from its body as the shadow figure slowly faded.

That was when Yuuta’s eyelids moved.

His consciousness hadn’t fully returned. His body remained heavy, and everything around him appeared blurred and distant, almost like another dream. Yet through his half-open crimson eyes, he could see someone standing several meters away.

A dark figure.

The same figure he had seen within that endless darkness.

Yuuta’s lips barely moved.

"Why...?"

The word was so weak that no normal person could have heard it.

The shadow figure did.

Its body stopped disappearing.

For a moment, it simply stared at Yuuta. There was something strangely calm in those glowing crimson eyes as the last pieces of darkness continued drifting away from its body.

Then it smiled.

"I’ll be waiting for you."

Yuuta struggled to keep his eyes open as the figure became increasingly transparent.

"Come and seek me..."

The remaining darkness gathered around it.

"...in the Tower of Truth."

Before Yuuta could respond, the shadow figure disappeared into thin air, leaving behind only thin trails of black smoke that slowly dissolved into the night.

At the same moment, the darkness covering Yuno City shattered.

The blackened sky split apart like a veil being torn away, and moonlight poured through once again. The ruined streets, shattered buildings and fallen soldiers returned beneath the pale glow of the night.

A thin beam of moonlight fell across Yuuta’s face as his crimson eyes slowly began to close again. His consciousness was slipping away, but he stubbornly fought against it, forcing his eyelids back open even as his vision blurred.

Not yet...

He could barely understand what he was seeing anymore. The ruined street had become a mixture of distorted shapes and colors, but there was one thing he could recognize clearly enough.

It was over.

Zeri’s mutilated body lay motionless upon the road, whatever remained of his soul already dragged somewhere far beyond this world. Several other demon corpses were scattered throughout the devastated battlefield, while the terrifying presence that had covered Yuno City in darkness had completely disappeared.

Yuuta stared at the scene for several seconds before an enormous feeling of relief washed through him.

It’s... over.

For the first time that night, he allowed himself to believe those words.

There was no demon standing over Elena anymore. No tentacle coming toward him, no soldier throwing away their life to protect him and no monster laughing while everyone around him suffered.

The nightmare had finally ended.

A faint thought passed through Yuuta’s exhausted mind.

Erza...

He could go back to her now.

After everything that had happened, after everything he had learned about her being the Supreme Commander and everything he had done tonight, he could finally find her. He could complain about all the things she had hidden from him, probably argue with her for hours, and then apologize for whatever stupid things he had done himself.

For some reason, that ordinary thought brought him more comfort than anything else.

I should apologize properly this time...

A faint smile almost appeared on his face.

Then something moved in the distance.

Yuuta’s expression changed.

Through his increasingly blurred vision, he saw another shadow standing far beyond the destroyed street.

At first, he thought it might simply be debris or his exhausted mind creating shapes in the darkness. But then the silhouette moved.

Someone else had arrived.

A new presence entered the battlefield.

Yuuta’s fading eyes tried desperately to focus, but he couldn’t make out the person’s face. All he could see was a distant figure standing beneath the returning moonlight, staring across the devastation left behind by the battle.

Who... is that?

Yuuta tried to move his hand.

Nothing happened.

His body had been healed by the mysterious shadow figure, yet the exhaustion remained buried deep within him. His mind had been pushed beyond its limits again and again, and now that the danger seemed to have passed, his body was finally demanding the rest he had denied it all night.

Yuuta clenched his teeth and fought to remain conscious.

No. I can’t pass out here.

The new figure was still there.

I don’t know who that is.

His fingers twitched weakly against the pavement as he tried to force himself upright.

I need to get Elena. I need to hide before...

His thought never finished.

Yuuta’s crimson eyes closed.

This time, no amount of stubbornness could force them open again. The pain, exhaustion and accumulated strain of the entire night finally caught up with him, dragging his consciousness into a deep sleep.

Several meters away, Elena remained peacefully unconscious beneath the spell placed upon her, completely unaware of the new presence that had entered the ruined street.

The mysterious newcomer didn’t move immediately.

The figure simply stood there beneath the moonlight, silently examining the aftermath.

Destroyed buildings surrounded the area. The road had been torn apart by countless impacts, Shadow Corps members lay scattered throughout the battlefield, General Malakar’s body remained where he had fallen, and Zeri’s mutilated remains rested farther away.

Then the newcomer’s gaze settled on Yuuta.

A fist slowly tightened.

Whoever had arrived was not some ordinary survivor who had wandered into the battlefield.

The pressure surrounding that figure alone made one thing unmistakably clear.

This newcomer was powerful.

And they were staring directly at Yuuta.

The figure’s expression slowly changed.

"Black hair..."

His eyes narrowed.

"...and crimson eyes."

A faint smile appeared.

"Found you."

He took a step toward Yuuta.

"Children of Chaos."

To Be Continued...