Chap 128: Headless

Miko soared through the enclosing nebula to reach Kie. He was the blue energy streak zipping around at super-fast speed. His light contrasted sharply with the red glowing cloud that nearly surrounded them. The opposing orange glow came from Legion’s eyes and his shining axe. Neither seemed aware of the dangers about to befall them.

The energy attacks from Kie’s swords and Legion’s axe mostly missed, but they continued, at great distances, only to be consumed by the surrounding nebula. Thoughts of how to get Kie’s attention left Miko as she watched their blasts collide.

The collision created a bright explosion, sending a powerful force in all directions. It reached her with a strong smack, breaking her concentration and halting the energy blasts from her hands. Pain flared from her missing nose as she spun through the void.

When she finally stopped, she realized the red nebula had been pushed back slightly—but it still moved to form an orb, threatening to enclose her, Kie, and Legion. The body-shaking war-yell reached her, and she darted her eyes to Kie. Engulfed in blue energy, he soared toward Legion’s axe like a flaming missile.

Kie channeled all his rage into one final blow to destroy the axe. The energy surrounding his sword solidified, forming a crystal-encrusted sheath. The axe snapped under his strengthened blade—but the bright orange razor wave that erupted was unexpected. Legion roared as the wave struck, and an energy shield appeared in front of Kie before shattering.

Miko saw Kie collide with Legion, followed by a blinding white light. It lit up the entire void before another force pushed her back like a tornado.

Zod and Saeda still raced ahead of the protruding red cloud stretching toward them until the white light forced their eyes shut and struck them with a strong force. Like Miko, they stopped blasting energy and spun around aimlessly. The Omega matter was pushed away from their trail, feeling the force as well.

The light vanished, leaving the dispersed red nebula in the void. The red stood out against a dark phenomenon—an expanding wormhole. It was formed by the thousands of spirits fleeing Legion’s body, creating a dome over him to prevent anything from approaching.

Inside the dome, Legion remembered the day he was born. An inexperienced Vergant had been desperate enough to use dark sorcery to save their life—but had slipped up. The vultures the lad tried to evade were sucked into him, and he was the first.

He bonded with the lad’s remains, developing a superior form. Now, he could control spirits, and the more he possessed, the stronger he became. But unlike the day he acquired nine million souls, he felt deprived and weak at that moment… something was wrong.

The light from the explosion illuminated the corpses of Sade's dead beasts hovering in space. It vanished as quickly as it appeared. The mortal’s white hair made her stand out against the dimness as she fidgeted restlessly.

Her shallow breaths sounded like strained snoring in the silence. The land had long disappeared, and the strong wind pushed her and the corpses slightly to one side. Sade and Riven, however, remained unaffected, their attention unwavering.

The Sealed Bond had long been deactivated, and the fragment rested on Sade's head like a crown. Riven’s four red eyes moved in circles as its intangible smoke form blended with the void. It watched the darkness run down the mortal’s shirt, soaked with blood from her burst veins.

Riven was willing to let the sorcerer continue until the mortal’s entire shirt was drenched. After that, it would suggest Sade call it quits. But like Sade, Riven had grown tired of hunting fragments. It was eager for another way to achieve their aim. That way was the vessel.

Sade sensed the dark energy rising in the space, his open palms seeking the source. Yet he still could not pull from the mortal, the vessel. His low energy hindered his sorcery telekinesis. He glided closer until he could make out the outline of her hair.

He had watched her grow up, and it wasn’t the first time he had been physically that close. Her eyes were shut tight from unending agony, but he could not help her. The silence inside his chest reminded him he had died years ago—but he didn’t need an organ to confirm what he felt.

A cold grip on Tee’s shoulder came with flashes of fire in her mind. Thoughts of Sade and Riven came and went in the same instant, overwhelmed by the exploding pain in her chest—until her shriveled lungs finally drew air.

Strength surged through every aching muscle in her body. It felt like when she had sparked her supersonic scream. Thoughts of the Harbingers discovering her dark side faded into the background. She had to save herself and she would not let them take her!

She ripped her eyes open, seeing everything sharp and clear. The blue shimmer in Sade's eyes, just inches away, vanished behind the hand she moved toward his face. Her eyes widened—not from the absence of claws, but from the flash of blue light between her hand and Sade's face.

A blow to her wounded tummy made her scream. She glided a foot away from Sade as metallic blood gushed from her mouth.

Riven stopped gliding in circles, keeping its four red eyes fixed on its injured member. Sade disconnected from the telepathic link, but Riven had already heard the scream of pain. Dark mana could not have caused that much damage. The vessel had attacked him with advanced light energy. But what did that mean for their progress report to Lilith?

Tee hugged herself, realizing her hands no longer glowed blue. She drew deep breaths, ears twitching for screams, but none came. Then she remembered—Sade was mute. But wait… how was she even breathing?

She forced her head up, but the question vanished when she saw the oversized ring—the fragment. It no longer rested on Sade's head but hovered between them amid the floating balls of blood. Movement from Sade pulled her gaze away from the fragment to him.

Squinting through the darkness, she made out Sade’s hands on his face. Her eyes didn’t dart to the red glowing eyes that had stopped moving when Sade removed both hands. Her soul seemed to leap from her body at the horrifying sight.

Tee blinked rapidly, her brows knitting into a tight unibrow. She saw it correctly—there was only blackness where Sade's pale face had been. If she had been on solid ground, she would have stepped back several feet. But it got creepier.

The pale patch on his forehead fell away like a mask. The material around his neck matched the darkness behind his pale hair strands. Only his hair and hands stood out against the void. She couldn’t grimace—her jaw had already dropped.

A red vortex swept over Sade, snatching him from her locked gaze. She glimpsed the fragment hovering before her as the hairs on her head stood on end. Her eyes darted to the four red glowing eyes above, and she screamed in her mind. No!

She reached for the fragment. Its solid structure in her grip did not distract her from the red hell flashing around her. She pulled her arms and legs in to hold the fragment tight, keeping her eyes wide open. The never-ending red tunnel dragged her down, mimicking an infinite fall.

The walls of the tunnel kept expanding and contracting, forming hypnotic circles. She shut her eyes and thought of her teammates. Would they miss her if she got trapped forever? But the Harbingers wouldn’t leave her stuck there with the fragment. That thought forced her eyes open. She needed to see where they would come from and summon a sword if necessary. The four-eyed freak was going to regret snatching her!

Her fury erupted through her mouth in a bloody barf as she found herself back in the void. She spun five times before stopping. Everything still moved in circles through her eyes. Her pounding heart filled the silence as she stared at the vast space, which began to fade into shades of blue, almost like a distant underwater view.

She looked around and saw the red glow filling one side of the blue void. Dark clouds formed in her mind before she realized she was breathing. She inhaled a lungful of harsh air and choked. Forced to breathe slowly through her nose and exhale through her mouth, it was harder, but she wasn’t suffocating.

Was she not back in the void, but in some prison dimension?

Where the freck was she?

Tee breathed hard as she checked her holo-map. Her teammates were too far away, but their signals confirmed she was still in the void. She must have been spat out of the endless tunnel nightmare through another vortex. But why? Why did Riven let her go…?

She squeezed the oversized fragment in her grip and looked back at the massive red glow on one side of the blue void. Not long ago, she had been suffocating from the absence of air. Then she started breathing again and remembered her hand over Sade's face—her hand had flashed blue light and damaged him. She shivered at the memory of the pitch-black void behind the grey strands of his hair.

Hope filled her as she realized she had sparked an Ultraman-like ability—glowing hands. If only she could see the expression on the Commander’s face when he learned what she had done. She activated communication and spoke into her telecom.

“This is Tee calling in. I have the fragment, but I’m still unsure why. What’s everyone’s position…?”

She waited two minutes, then spoke louder. “Hello? Is anyone there…?”

A spasm in Miko’s left hand made her rip her eyes open. She inhaled hard, exhaling through her mouth to prevent coughing. Her eyes no longer glowed, though she wasn’t aware. She blinked several times, letting everything sharpen. A voice from her left ankle reached her ears, but it held no meaning as her gaze fell on the red cloud surrounding them.

Her brows knitted together as she realized there was no view of the black void—up, down, or around. Her pounding heart thundered above the troubling reality. The red cloud had surrounded them in a massive orb while she was knocked out. Worse, she had a feeling it was closing in at superfast speed to annihilate them all. But where was everyone? The calling voice began to resonate in her ears, and she moved her telecom to her lips.

“Tee, I hear you. Is anyone else there?” She gasped, remembering. “Kie! Kie—are you there?”

Tee’s heart jerked at Kie’s name. She wasn’t sure why.

Zod and Saeda were separated by a great distance but still within sight. Breathing was difficult, and their eyes weren’t glowing, but they didn’t comment. That was the least of their concern with the glowing red cloud surrounding them. Comprehension returned to their troubled minds through the voices on their telecoms.

“I’m here,” Zod replied.

The wound at the stub of Saeda’s right leg flared painfully. Her voice cracked as she said, “I-I’m here.”

The pain in her voice made Zod turn to her. He blasted short bursts of energy from his fists to push himself toward her.

“Kie didn’t respond,” Miko panicked. “He was fighting Legion the last time I saw him. What if he’s…”

The others knew what Miko’s silence implied.

Zod didn’t reach Saeda but stopped blasting to speak through his telecom. “We should regroup and find him—before the cloud closes in on us. But wait… what if it’s a trap? What if the Harbingers have him, and that’s why he’s not answering?”

“I don’t think so,” Miko answered. “The last time I saw him, he collided with Legion, causing a massive explosion. He could be knocked out.”

“Go,” Saeda told Zod. “You’re the fastest of us right now. Go find Kie while I try to recreate my blasts to move and regroup.”

Zod nodded and activated his holo-map.

Miko tried to reactivate her blasts as well, but nothing came. She was stuck.

“Where are you guys?” Tee asked. “And what’s this cloud you’re talking about?”

Saeda punched the air in exhaustion. “You mean you aren’t surrounded by the creepy red cloud of annihilation?”

“No. But I do see a massive red nebula on one side of the blue vacuum.”

“That means you’re far away,” Miko added. “How are we going to teleport?”

“How about long-distance teleportation?” Tee blurted.

“No.”

Tee knitted her brows. “Why not?”

“The Harbingers could attack us while we’re frozen, and the Lieutenant and the Commander forbade us from using it.”

“Who gives a damn about the Commander or the Lieutenant?” Tee fumed, her voice sharp and trembling with frustration. “We’re the ones stuck out here! Since I sparked an Ultraman ability, it should work. Plus, I have the fragment, and it’s not glowing. I swear, this place… it’s going to disappear any second!”

“Maybe the elders will—”

“The Harbingers could still be here since I still have the fragment!” Tee shot back, eyes blazing. “Those old creeps in robes aren’t coming for us now. Not while I’m holding this.”

“My point exactly,” Miko said, her voice tense, trying to stay calm. “That’s exactly why we shouldn’t do long-distance teleportation. The Harbingers could still be here…”

The faint pinches on Saeda’s skin made her clench her fists and push against the sensation. She needed no more proof that the red cloud was surging closer. The thought of the pain if her other three limbs were snatched away made her shiver uncontrollably. A flash of blue light erupted from her hands, but it barely made a dent in the relentless pressure.

Zod ignored Tee and Miko’s frantic attempts to reason with each other, focusing instead on soaring toward Kie’s last known location. Every hair on his body stood on end, but he chalked it up to nerves—heading straight into what could very well be a trap.

Two black specks popped against the red background, and Zod finally drew a steady breath. He halted his blasts, holding himself still. His holo-map confirmed what he feared. The larger speck was Kie. He surged forward, heart pounding, his brows knitting tighter with each passing second.

There were only two colors breaking the black on Kie’s body—the purple line across his shirt and the brown of exposed skin on his arms and the stub of his neck. But as Kie remained slightly turned toward him, Zod realized something horrifying—he couldn’t make out the brown from his face. His jaw dropped, and a scream tore from his throat. It was Kie’s body… minus the head.