Valwa!! Valwaaa!! A little girl called out to Valwa when he arrived and ran towards him, embracing him.
The girl looked at his red hair and said, "What… How did your hair become red like this?"
Valwa smiled and said, "Don't you like it, Layla?"
Layla's laugh showed her missing teeth as she said, "No… I like it very much! I want my hair to become like yours.."
Valwa laughed and picked her up, saying, "Where is Zern?"
She said while playing with his hair, "He is inside the temple."
The rest of the children came to greet Valwa happily. A little girl came up to him, looking around him shyly, and said, "Valwa… Where is …Vera?"
Her face turned red with embarrassment, and she quickly said, "And Eita and the rest?"
Valwa laughed and patted the children's heads, who were playing with his hair, saying, "Vera will come shortly… Then," he winked, "Same with Eita… and the rest…"
Layla said, "Brin was asking about Vera all the past months."
Brin, the shy girl, said angrily, "Shut up, Layla… My brother Valwa… I was not…"
Valwa placed Layla on the ground, approached Brin, and held her face, smiling, saying, "There is nothing to be embarrassed about… The god created us as pairs… The god created us to be bonds and relationships… This is what distinguishes us humans from the rest of God's creatures…"
Her cheeks reddened, and Valwa continued, "Vera is a good young man… He seems reckless, but he is kind-hearted."
Valwa began walking towards the temple, but he turned to her and said, smiling, his red hair shining in the sun, "You two will make a wonderful pair in paradise…"
Brin's eyes widened, then she smiled and said happily, "Yes!!"
Valwa entered the temple and found Zern sitting in front of a statue of the fire god Vihara.
Valwa approached him and kissed his hand, smiling.
Zern smiled and said, "Have you returned?"
Valwa said, "Yes… Vera, Eita, and everyone will join us."
Zern said, "I never doubted your abilities ever… But seeing you… with that red hair…"
Tears streamed from Zern's eyes, and he said, "You are truly the god Vihara's weapons…"
Valwa smiled and said, "We will move tomorrow… on the day of the festival… We will attract their attention with Farata, then Bial… And once we eliminate all the descendants of the lights, we will eliminate all the inhabitants of the earth…"
Vera and Eita had already joined them, and Vera said, "Valwa, you handsome bastard… Why did you precede us…"
Eita approached Zern and kissed his hand, saying, "You are the one who slowed me down!"
Valwa's eyes welled up as he watched them and said, smiling, "Even if our farewell is short… but I will miss you all…"
Vera almost teared up before shaking his head and saying, "What are you saying, Valwa… It would be like taking a nap."
Eita said happily, "Yes! As soon as we wake up, we will be with everyone once again…"
Zern, while preparing some solution, said, "We will precede you…"
Then he smiled and said, "We place our trust in you, the three weapons of the god…"
They smiled and all said together, "Yes!!"
Valwa's eyes filled with tears as he and his men stood before them and said, "It wasn't supposed to be like this… You descendants of the lights… you were never supposed to be born… And we humans, we are God's favorite creatures… we were supposed to die at the hands of His soldiers, a blissful death… It wasn't supposed to be this way…"
Valwa stood there, sorrow apparent on his face.
But… his words had no effect on those on the battlefield…
The weapons of Valwa's men weighed down the air around them…
With every blow that Nier blocked… the flames of the red-cloaked man's sword flared before him, colliding with his face.
Nier's eyes welled up from the blazing flames sparkling before them, and he responded angrily, "Ah… This is what we've heard all our lives… We were never supposed to be born…"
He parried with his weapon, raising it in front of his head to block the man's strike, screaming, "I know we were never supposed to be born! I know our blood is impure… But why won't you just let us live our filthy lives in peace anyway?"
Elir looked at Nier, listening to his sorrowful voice…
Before he jumped backward, as the cloaked man's sword struck the ground where Elir had just stood with full force, shattering the earth beneath it.
The cloaked man said to Elir, "Don't lose focus on our fight… Do you know what I'm sacrificing by standing here, fighting you!!"
Tears fell from his eyes as he continued, "I want to finish this and leave here as quickly as possible…"
Anger and annoyance appeared on Elir's face. Why is he crying…? As if Elir is forcing him to commit these killings…
Elir had been forced into many fights… but he never cried…
Elir advanced towards the man, raising his weapon, striking his left foot on the ground to help him leap high, as if flying above the cloaked man. He shouted angrily, "Then go! Why are you wasting my time by standing in front of me here?!"
The man screamed, and the flames of his sword intensified as he blocked Elir's descending blow, "This is my duty… I have every reason to stand here and fight you…"
Elir's eyes darkened. Reasons?
Elir spun in midair…
Instead of landing on his feet in front of the man…
He landed behind him… turning his back to the man…
Before the man could turn around…
Before he could realize what was happening…
Elir swung his weapon… its sharp tip settling into the cloaked man's heart…
Elir had not yet straightened up from his landing… his knees still bent to cushion his descent… and the man fell…
Elir said in a frightening voice as he straightened himself, "You lose if you have reasons…"
Elir pulled out his weapon…
The man bled from his stomach and mouth as he finally collapsed to the ground…
Before Elir flicked his weapon to clean the man's blood off it…
Valwa watched that scene… discarding his follower's blood… as if… as if he's cleaning off some kind of trash…
Valwa screamed, "Galan!!"
Galan said before losing consciousness, "Nihara…"
Then his breathing stopped…
Silence fell on the battlefield for a few seconds… not complete silence… for the fires blazing in the surrounding buildings still roared… they could still hear the rubble of collapsing buildings hitting the ground…
But… the clash of swords went silent… the fighters ceased their shouting… everyone stared at Galan, fallen on the ground, and Elir standing over him…
Elir said coldly, "Are you done with this game of wooden swords you're playing now?"
He turned to his squad, his extinguished eyes widening as he said, "Will you keep blocking their strikes forever?! Why do you carry those weapons then?? If you don't aim at their hearts? Their lungs? Their faces?? If you don't kill them?? If you don't kill them… they will kill you… and they will kill Nier… then… I will never forgive any of you!!"
Valwa emerged from his sorrow, screaming, "Finish it now, worshipers of Vihara!!!!"
The fighters' strength and their sorrow for their companion fueled them… a cloaked man advanced before Rin… Rin was still muttering in terror, "We kill them…? Wait… they're humans… how do we kill them… how do I kill…"
The cloaked man swung his sword with all his might… with moves faster than before… before Rin could snap out of his shock… the sword had settled in Rin's hips… Rin screamed in pain as the cloaked man pulled his sword out… allowing torrents of blood to flow from Rin's body… Rin fell to the ground, clutching his wound, leaving his weapon on the ground.
The cloaked man raised his sword to Rin's neck, saying, "Galan… he wanted to meet Nihara in paradise, victorious… and now… he lost… he can't go proud now because of you!"
The flames flared, embracing Rin's face… the pain… greater than he could bear… perhaps… perhaps this strike will finally relieve his pain… Rin thought he would die as he lived… weak…
Berko screamed as he saw the cloaked man's sword move swiftly… approaching Rin's neck… the sound of flesh being pierced… the sound of blood splattering onto the gravel and ground… Is it Rin… his best friend…? The sound of something heavy falling to the ground… a body…
They all looked at the falling body… the man… the cloaked man… fell to the ground… after Elir's weapon had pierced his stomach…
Berko stood, eyes wide, staring at the one who saved his friend… but… why this heavy feeling in his heart… as if… Elir should not be on their side…
Elir flicked his weapon to clean it of blood.
That… that is what angers Valwa… not the martyrdom of his comrades… but flicking the blood off his weapon like that…
Rin looked at Elir before him through blurry vision, listening to his frightening voice, "What's wrong, Commander Rin… I thought I said to kill them…"
He raised his head, a terrifying look on his face, and said, "Didn't you hear me?"
Rin screamed in anger and pain, "How??? How can I kill a human soul so easily?? How can you kill so easily too?!"
Elir said as he picked up the cloaked man's sword, still with some flames on it, and approached Rin, "Ah… this isn't the first time I've taken a life… but this is the first time I've killed a human…"
Elir continued as he placed the burning sword beside Rin to cauterize the wound, "I don't know what differences you're talking about… The sound of piercing flesh and the smell of blood are the same…"
Rin screamed until he lost consciousness… all this pain… more than Rin, the weak Rin, could bear…
Berko fell to the ground as well… when he turned to scream Rin's name… his condition was no better… injuries scattered across his shoulder, arm, and chest… they also knocked him down…
Beside them, Ayk lay on the ground… he couldn't continue…
Elir felt a lump in his throat… he turned, searching for Nier… why… why has Nier lowered his weapon… why, when that man was about to…
Elir screamed, eyes wide, "Nier…!"
The cloaked man fighting Nier was about to strike him, but Nier moved back lightly… the man couldn't hit Nier from the start of the fight… Nier's movements were too light and quick… but… Nier didn't hit him either…
The man seemed deeply saddened. He shouted at Nier, "Will you keep blocking my attacks forever!! Come on, let's end this!! My family!! Everyone is waiting for me!!"
Nier continued in anger, tears flowing, parrying his strikes, "I want to make you all pay!! I want to end this too! But why, of all people… the one who killed everyone… has those who love him and whom he loves?!"
The cloaked man was slightly surprised… those tears… is he… telling the truth?
The cloaked man shouted in anger, "You want me to believe that descendants of the lights like you have empathy or feelings in their hearts?!"
He growled, raising his sword, and continued, "You don't want to kill me… it's okay because I will be the one to kill you… know your place, you descendant of the lights!!"
Nier's trembling hands… refused to move… what… why… you killed all these people… the man's flames reached Nier's hair… why… do my hands refuse… to kill you…
Time paused slightly… as if the cloaked man was moving in the slowest pace possible… Nier lowered his weapon… as if what he realized now… paralyzed him…
Why fight? There's no point in fighting… if he can't kill the one who killed all these people… he hears Elir's screams… calling his name… my God… how angry Elir will be with me…
Elir rushed at full speed…
Nier's tears fell to the ground as he continued, "Forgive me, Elir… I just… can't kill him…"
The man's sword touched his head… it burns… hot blood flowing on his face… but the weight of the hot sword on his head… started to fade… Nier opened his eyes slowly… to find a rolling ball… rolling slowly until it reached his feet… a red ball…
No… his vision is still blurry… he looked at this ball again… it's… the cloaked man's head… staring at him with open eyes.
Nier raised his head to find Elir… panting, struggling to catch his breath… looking in horror at Nier's face stained with blood…
Nier couldn't speak… Elir must be so angry… Elir screamed as he held his shoulder, "Are you all right?!"
Nier raised his head, tears falling from his eyes, and said, "I'm sorry… I couldn't kill him… forgive me…"
Elir's terrified expression did not change… forgive him… he almost lost him forever… Elir said with the same horrified expression, "I will kill… I will kill everyone you cannot kill… I will kill anyone you face!!"
Valwa was looking at them from the beginning and said, "Father Zirn was mistaken… for your human mothers' blood still runs in your veins… you are capable of all kinds of emotions…"
He continued in a shaking voice, "You killed my brothers before they could complete their mission… they could go peacefully with their families because they had this mission, and join me…"
His voice cracked as he said, "If I stopped now… their sacrifices will be in vain…"
Valwa looked at his fallen men… only two remained… this young man killed three of them alone…
Valwa gestured to the remaining two, saying, "Leave him to me. I'm the one with the power of Exlazira!!"
He saw that Rin had awakened… Berko and Ayk were standing up too… but… none of the three could move… Elir stood beside Nier… staring at Valwa…
"Leave him to me?" Does he think… he can defeat me?
Elir said as he dashed towards Valwa, "I don't care… what your power is… as long as you have flesh… I will pierce it!!"
In a terrifying speed, Elir reached Valwa… Berko and Rin, injured, stared wide-eyed, and Rin said, "What speed… is this how descendants of the lights are?"
Nier said, "No… this is just how Elir is…"
Valwa smiled, standing firm. In those seconds, while Elir reached him, he did not move… he did not raise his sword… he did not even lift his hand… he did not protect himself… When Elir drove his weapon into Valwa's stomach… all the way… until Elir's hand had entered his abdomen…
Valwa stood, blood flowing onto Elir. Berko said with shaky, terrified eyes, "This… no way… he's a monster…"
Elir pulled out his weapon… he turned to Nier… it's over… it's finally over… and Nier is all right…
Then… Elir flicked his weapon, shaking off Valwa's blood… How… how Valwa hated this move…
Elir looked at Nier… why… why isn't Nier happy? It's over… why is he looking at me with such a horrified gaze… why is he rushing toward me, terrified?
He heard a voice from behind him say, "You shake off our blood… as if we never existed… as if you're disgusted… as if we're trash…"
Elir did not turn around… he still focused on Nier. Why is he running toward me like that??
Valwa's eyes ignited with flames. Terror formed on Ayk's face, who said in panic, "H-… His… His soul… it's red…"
His terror and panic seeped into Rin's and Berko's hearts… even though neither of them could see his soul… but… what they saw was… Elir's weapon, piercing his stomach. How is he standing before them now…?
The raging red color shone as Valwa raised his hand and a giant circle of fire formed before it. Elir felt its heat and power… but… Elir turned slowly… and instead of seeing those angry red flames, he saw golden strands dancing before him… he sees nothing… only Nier's golden locks…
He cannot even see his face… it seemed as if he forgot his features for a moment… as if he hadn't seen them in forever…
Why… why can he only remember Nier's face when he was young…? Is this how Elir always saw him… the crying little boy?
Elir, nine years old, was sitting beside the wall of Azzar's house, his body and face both bleeding… bruises scattered all over, his lips swollen… and his left eye shut. He was panting, resting his small body before going home…
A small blond boy approached him in worry and panic, gripping his shoulders: "What's wrong with you!! What happened!!"
Elir, in weakness, pushed him hard and said, "Get away from me!"
The little boy stood up again, his elbows scraped, but he didn't care. He came near Elir once more and said, "Just tell me who did this to you?? Do you want me to go get your parents?"
Elir said, "My father is at home…"
Nier's face started to scrunch up, tears glimmering in his eyes. Annoyed, Elir said, "Why are you crying!!"
The boy, wiping his tears in anger, said, "Why aren't you crying!!"
Elir replied, "Men don't cry! I mustn't cry even if I'm in pain!"
Nier spoke through choking sobs, "I see!"
His tears increased, streaming down his face, and he said, "I'll cry instead of you then!"
Young Elir's eyes widened in astonishment as he looked at him in disbelief… Cry for me?
Nier's hot blood dripped onto Elir's hands. The smell of charred flesh… drifting into his nostrils… Nier never smelled like that… The face he was looking at was never so covered in blood… nor was there ever a fiery hole in the middle of his body, devouring his flesh…
He couldn't scream… his voice refused to come out… he whispered weakly, "Nier!!" Or maybe he didn't whisper… perhaps he shouted… but he couldn't hear anything over the sound of Nier's burning intestines…
Nier, blood leaking from his mouth, formed a faint smile and said, "Elir… I… saved you… once…"
Elir stumbled as he held Nier, and Nier went on, tears falling, "I didn't want to die… I wanted to do so many things… I'm sorry, Elir…"
Elir looked at him, his dry throat burning… it was filled with the smell of Nier's flesh… He couldn't force any words out… Nier closed his eyes… Elir's eyes widened in horror, and he mumbled, "What? Nier…"