"Why the hell is it on your back... The mark of claim?"
Obari turned the way I was standing and said quietly, "It's not the time."
"For what?" Jaipa raised his voice. "What the hell are you muttering about?"
"It's not the time... time of truth," Obari replied.
Turning back to Jaipa, he raised his hand. "Do you think now is the time for questions? Fight... fight to survive, fight to live. That's the only response you get after becoming a true slave, a puppet of the world." His gaze locked directly on me, his words carrying weight beyond their meaning.
Then as he stretched his hand skyward, the massive circular blade began to rotate above his palm, slowly at first, then gaining speed. Within seconds, it transformed into an orb of brutal wind before shooting toward Jaipa. I remained distracted by the revelation—the mark of claim on my cheeks and on Obari's back were mirror images of each other.
My questions about this mark had only multiplied, along with questions about the book of Etresh. The mark and the book were linked in ways too complicated for me to understand yet. Another realization was growing inside me—that everything I had done, every path I had chosen, every person I had faced until now in this Book of Etresh... it seemed it had all been decided for me from the beginning.
"A complicated thing indeed," I muttered, focusing back on the battle between Obari and Jaipa.
As the orb of wild wind hurtled toward Jaipa, he sighed and whispered words I shouldn't have been able to hear, yet somehow did.
"Seventh technique... Moon phase!" followed by a sharp "BUZZ!"
In that moment, I felt like I had missed something crucial. The next second, Jaipa was standing exactly where Obari had been, while Obari had vacated his position. The look on Obari's face told me everything I needed to know his eyes wide open and his had face pale, sweat beading on his skin
As I turned to look around, I saw that the remaining five Stones who had been resting lazily until now were suddenly on high alert, weapons in hand. Even the one I had been fighting was now looking at Jaipa with wary caution
When Jaipa raised his hand, Obari took a step back. The other six looked as if they were about to intervene in the fight. And there I stood alone, once again understanding nothing at all.
Jaipa pushed his hair back with his fingers, then turned to look at the five Stones who watched him as if he were a threat to them all.
"Why!" That single word shattered the silence, inviting something even more ominous
"Why is it always like this... why! why ! why why! WHY?!" His voice cracked. "
"Is it too much to ask for a little peace?" As he spoke those words, tears began streaming down the left side of his face.
"Everything is a mess! Me, you, this life, this society... even this world. All of it, a complete mess ! "
What had just happened the way he moved was too fast. He hadn't teleported he had simply run there on his feet. Even I, the fastest of all Stones, couldn't follow his movement. The most worrying thing was the energy that radiated from him it was just like " them "
"But there is no way right ! anyone could be alive without being noticed by them ! "
The tattooed one moved closer to the one holding the staff. "Did you feel it too? That energy?"
The bandaged one nodded, as did the child-like man and the old man.
The old man narrowed his eyes as he studied Jaipa. After a while, he said, "He's too different from them. They were the delicate blades of the fallen but this one... he looks like a monster. Yet that energy was unmistakably theirs. And he even mentioned his bloodline as i remember anyone in there bloodline there is no mention of 11 forbidden technique but that energy ."
"But again, we all felt that energy. Without a doubt, it was theirs."
Muttering amongst themselves, the five turned to the one I had been fighting. They exchanged glances before turning their gazes back to Jaipa and Obari, who still wore that look of caution on him
"I CAN'T!" Jaipa suddenly shouted, his voice carrying in the unnatural silence. Even the passing wind seemed audible in the tense atmosphere he had created.
"I can't even remember there faces. It's all blurry my father, my mother, my brother. I can't remember their faces at all "
Suddenly jaipa just blackout in silence
"Jaipa! Jaipa!"
The voice echoed faintly, as if carried by the wind. He blinked and dazed his body was trembling and aching where was he? The battlefield… wasn't he just there, fighting Obari in that bloody land ?
Then, a warm hand rested against his cheek
In suprise he lifted his head up
A woman's voice, stern but full of concern, spoke above him. "What were you thinking, beating those kids like that?"
"Mother…?" he whispered, his voice cracking like the brittle memory surfacing from deep within
But still he couldn't see her face no matter how hard he tried, it remained blurred as if his mind refused to piece it together, afraid of something and distant
"Don't go around hurting those weaker than you," she said gently, brushing a thumb across his cheek. "Did we teach you martial arts to become a bully? Is that who you are?"
Suddenly another voice joined in. It was smaller and thinner
"But Mother brother didn't just—!" It was his little brother that voice… that tiny protest it tugged at something inside Jaipa he had long buried
" How long had it been since i heard his voice, i almost forgot his voice ? "
His mother didn't respond to the protest right away. She just looked at Jaipa with that a gaze he could feel in his soul
"You're not like the others, Jaipa," she said, her touch softer now "You've always been different… special ! "
Her fingers trailed through his hair, a motion so tender it made his chest ache
"If you beat the weak, what makes you any different from this cruel world? What will separate you from those who crush others to feel alive?" Her voice trembled, not with fear, but with hope hope carved from pain
"You are a star," she whispered. "A Sirius. Bright… burning… waiting for its moon to arrive. Until then, use your strength not to dominate, but to protect.
This world which consider weak peoples like us as a sinner you can be there hope a burning star "
Jaipa's breath caught in his throat. He could feel it in his his heart pounding against his ribs, his chest heaving
Huff… huff… huf..
And suddenly he was back at the bloody battlefield standing infront of Obari
——(Rudra's POV)
"What's wrong with Jaipa? Why is he breathing that heavily ?"
He stood still for a moment, then slowly lifted his head to the sky. A breath escaped his lips before he murmured
"I think I have found my moon "
That's how it all started a fight. Seven against one Jaipa against the seven Stones. When Jaipa spoke those words and took his first step a slow, deliberate movement each one of the Stones grew wary. The battle had begun.