Bloody content warning.

Episode 55 Shattered Spectrum

The airship of the Rift World forces, built in the likeness of the Orbis ship, though larger, remains stationary, hovering just over the great, floating island of Ludibrium. Its colorful block towers rise high into the sky, their shadows steadily lengthening as the day wears on and evening approaches.

Kunai, Ivy, Ryuu, Ayame, Lily, Sasha, Silver, and Tide hurtle down the eerily empty boulevards, carrying their weapons out in the open, ready to use them on the fly.

“It looks like they’re still rebuilding this place, huh?” Ayame pants, glancing around as they hurry towards the center of town.

“No kidding,” Ryuu replies darkly, “this place is still empty as hell.”

“Now that you mention it,” Kunai mutters, “it is suspiciously empty around here. It’s almost too quiet. Where are the monsters?”

The group comes to a stop, as they arrive at the crumbled ruins of Eos Tower. Overhead, the sky darkens into a fiery ambiance of crimson and fuchsia, and the shadows begin to become even more elongated.

“Did you think it was a good idea to leave the rest of the army behind on the ship?” Ivy asks quietly in the tense silence.

“They wouldn’t be able to handle the Paradoxes on their own,” Silver replies bluntly. “Remember, they’re just ordinary peasants. I wish we could’ve brought along some better-trained men, but we just didn’t have the time or resources. However, we should be enough to counter this assault.”

“Let’s hope you’re right,” Ayame replies.

Kunai’s sharp hearing suddenly causes him to turn. His eyes rove over to his right side, and instinctively, he jumps back immediately, yelling for the others to do the same.

A black-white explosion crashes into the ground, splitting the broken spire of Eos Tower in half. Everyone leaps back only just in time; a smoking crater now lies where they had been standing moments before.

Over the rubble looms a black head in the shape of a dragon. The Paradox snarls, and opens its mouth wide, charging up another beam of black-white light. It rears up, flapping its wings, and towers high above the ground, shielding the light of the sun.

Immediately, the ground below becomes a cavern of darkness, thrown completely into shadow. The Paradox fires its rattling beam.

“Duck!” Kunai shouts, throwing himself to the ground.

However, Ryuu darts in front of the others at the last moment, and brandishes his sword. The next moment, the Paradox’s attack fizzles out, and fades away with a faint buzz.

The others gasp in astonishment. “Ryuu!” Kunai cries, eyeing him impressively. “What was that move just now, and how did you block it?!”

“Tch,” Ryuu smirks, “this Paradox isn’t all that tough. I actually expected something stronger from the Myougun. But oh well. All I did was cancel out the attack with one of equal pressure. Simply put, I blocked the attack with my own fire attack.”

“Here it comes again!” Ivy cries, pointing up at the Paradox.

“Tch!” Ryuu growls. “Don’t give up very easily, do you?” He swings his sword to cancel the attack again; however, this time, several shadowy hands grab Ryuu and his sword, pulling him down.

“More of them!” Sasha shouts, panicking, as several Humanoid Paradoxes restrain Ryuu, pulling him further and further down. They place their swords over his throat.

‘I didn’t even see them come!’ Kunai thinks to himself, shock written on his face. “Ryuu!” Kunai hastily grabs several Steelys, and unfolds an Avenger. “Take that, you bastards!”

The Avenger sails through the air, cleanly slicing the arms off of several of the Paradoxes. It then spins around in the air, coming back to Kunai like a boomerang. On its way back, it knocks off another of the Paradoxes’ arms.

Kunai catches his Avenger lightly, and is about to swing it again, before Lily jumps on the remaining Paradoxes, finishing each of them off with a skillful stroke of the axe. She impales each one through the chest, before allowing them to sink to the floor dead.

“Finish them off before I have to, Kunai,” Lily shouts over to Kunai.

A smile flashes across Kunai’s lips, as Lily runs off to help Sasha, while another onslaught of Humanoid Paradoxes begins to pour in from all sides.

Ryuu rises shakily from the ground, just as the initial Paradox fires its lightning blast. He leaps out of the way, countering it with a fire explosion.

“Ryuu!” Kunai cries, jumping into the attack alongside Ryuu.

“Move out of the way!” Ryuu shouts, flailing his arm at Kunai. “I can handle this alone!” With a loud battle-cry, Ryuu leaps into the sky, planting a deep cut several stories long across the Paradox’s side.

He lands smoothly on the ground, as the Paradox shrieks menacingly, collapsing to the floor. Ryuu sheathes his sword, while the Dragon Paradox disintegrates. “No need for you to jump in, Kunai.”

“A-All right,” Kunai replies, stuttering slightly. His hand automatically reaches for the necklace clasped around his neck. The weight on it seems to grow a very little bit.

Meanwhile, Ayame blows past several of the Paradoxes with skillfully planned Assaulters, finishing each Paradox with a thrusting stab to the chest. They all drop dead in a circle around her, as Ayame pauses to catch her breath.

“Look out!” Ivy cries, pointing to the space behind Ayame. She turns, just as a Humanoid Paradox rushes at her. Ivy fires a Holy Arrow at it; the Paradox stops, jolted back by the attack.

It glances around, bewildered, before Sasha leaps on it with her Berzerker, killing it with a harsh blow to the head. The Humanoid Paradox drops, and fades away into the air.

Silver struggles, as several Humanoid Paradoxes circle about her. They close in, brandishing their heavy blades. Tide notices, and jumps into the fray immediately. “Oi, Lady Silver!” Tide cries obnoxiously. “Need a hero to save ya?”

Yelling fiercely, and grunting needlessly, Tide pounces on the nearest Humanoid Paradox. However, the same moment he is about to wrap his arms around its gritty neck, the Paradox steps forward.

Tide falls to the ground facedown and lays there for a moment, mumbling to himself. Finally, he rises slightly, rubbing his nose where he’d fallen. “Oww.”

Silver darts over to Tide’s side. “Heh, heh,” Tide smiles sheepishly, “sorry ‘bout that little mistake there, Lady Silver! No need to tend to my manly injuries.”

“You’re in the way!” Silver shouts, kicking Tide out of the way.

He hurtles through the air, shouting and gesticulating vividly in his surprise. “Oww! Whoa! It’s like flying out of a cannon! Man, you sure can kick hard, Silver!”

However, Silver ignores him, firing a Strafe pointblank at the Paradox Tide had aimed for previously. It disintegrates, but not before Silver fires another round of arrows through its disappearing chest, knocking another one behind it down.

Tide scrambles to his feet, and shoulders his Zard. “Nice job, there, Silver…”

Silver sighs, not even glancing at Tide. “You’re so pathetic.”

Tide turns, gibbers, and a frustrated frown plants itself on his face. “Whoa, hey, I’m more pathetic than you think! Wait—I mean, I’m more useful than you think!”

However, Silver continues to ignore him, chasing after the other remaining Paradoxes. “Silver?” Tide cries. “Silveerr! Come back!”

Tide suddenly falls again, this time a humiliating pratfall. His eyes widen ridiculously in surprise, as he rubs his butt from the floor. “N-Nice kick, Silver…”

Within minutes, the scene at the site of the collapsed Eos Tower clears, and falls into a state of grave silence again. The group glances at each other apprehensively, the sound of the soft wind playing in their ears.

Above, in the sky, the sun slips just under the horizon at last, throwing the area into an even greater abyss of darkness. Stars begin to twinkle in the steadily blackening sky, until at last they become the one source of light, blinking into life the ghostly abandoned town of Ludibrium.

“It’s…become quiet again,” Ayame says, glancing cautiously about them. She slowly lowers her Geta as she begins to relax. “Looks like the enemy really is gone.”

“That can’t be,” Ryuu growls, “that was hardly even an assault. More like a minor skirmish between enemies. It’s incredibly suspicious. There has to be more to the purpose of the attack. It was far too easy.”

Kunai blinks, and turns, crying out loud just in time. Ryuu reacts swiftly, cutting the air with his sword in order to produce an enormous wall of fire to protect the group.

However, Kunai is the first to take action, counteracting the offending beam with his own. As the smoke disappears, it becomes clear an enormous beam of light had descended from the sky.

Clouds of smoke hover around Kunai, as he pants slightly, having negated the attack easily. Ivy gasps out loud, running over to Kunai’s side. “Kunai, are you all right?!”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Kunai pants, staring avidly at his claw.

‘Impossible,’ Ryuu wonders, ‘he took a direct hit from an attack of that magnitude and wasn’t even scratched?! I can’t believe it.’

“There’s more!” Kunai hisses suddenly, staring wide-eyed at his claw now. A white seal, still smoking, is flapping gently in the night breeze, attached to Kunai’s claw. He rips it off and examines the message written on it.

As Kunai reads, his eyes continue to grow wider and wider. “What’s wrong?” Silver asks, stepping forward to read the letter. However, Kunai crumples it up, shaking his head.

“There was only one sentence written on it,” he replies, “it said, ‘We are waiting for you.’”

The others give each other puzzled looks, but Ryuu narrows his eyes. “Who is waiting for us?” he asks, rather aggressively. His fingers tighten around the hilt of his sword.

“It doesn’t say,” Kunai replies, shrugging. “At any rate—” Kunai turns, inclining his head. His eyes narrow dangerously, and he remains still for quite some time.

“Kunai, what’s wrong?” Ayame asks.

Kunai shakes his head, looking slightly unnerved. “I could’ve sworn we were being watched just now…”

“This all seems highly suspicious,” Silver sighs, “especially since we don’t know what’s going on. But regardless, we should return to the ship. It’s not a good idea for us to be dawdling around out here if the assault really is over.”

“You’re right,” Ryuu replies, “we should get back.”

As they arrive at the ship, Silver exclaims out loud. She stops in her tracks, and the others come to a stop as well, glancing worriedly at her.

“What is it, Silver?” Ivy asks, as shock etches itself into Silver’s face.

“That…that can’t be right,” Silver mutters, her eyes widening steadily. She points a shaking finger up at the ship’s deck. “The door into the main cabin is open. I specifically told Jirgen to lock all the doors once we left.”

“Hm,” Tide grunts, “it doesn’t sound too good, Silver.”

“Let us go see what is wrong,” Lily suggests.

“Y-Yeah,” Silver retorts.

Upon entering the ship’s deck, the entire group freezes, unable to move any longer. The eight of them remain frozen, their feet rendered immobile by shock, their eyes burnt with one single, horrifying image.

Pools and pools of crimson blood cover the deck, smearing the wooden floor. Twice as many dead bodies, those of the militia men, lie on the ground, about half of them missing limbs. The other half are either beheaded or have been sliced clean in half from the waist.

“There’s…there’s no way…no way this could be happening!” Silver cries, her entire body convulsing so fiercely that Tide has to rush forward to help her stand. “This is…impossible!”

“The work of the Myougun?” Ryuu mutters, his voice strangely low.

Tide narrows his eyes, clenching his teeth. ‘To think that they could be capable of doing such a thing…it must take a heart of ice. Poor Silver…I’ve never seen her like this.’ Tide glances down, and squeezes Silver’s shoulders gently. “It’ll be…it’ll be all right, Silver…”

“If it’s this bad outside, it must be a hundred times worse inside…” Kunai whispers, his teeth rattling, not from cold, but from a sudden chill experienced through the sight of so much blood.

He reaches for the door of the main cabin, pushing it open with a shaking hand. He shouts out loud, leaping back, as a blood-ridden body crawls out from behind the door. “Y-You!” Kunai cries, his eyes widening.

“Jirgen!” Silver rushes over to her fallen comrade, as does Tide.

“They even got Jirgen…” Tide mutters to himself, as Silver falls to her knees, weeping over Jirgen’s dying body. “They’re truly merciless.”

“J-Jirgen!” Silver cries, grasping Jirgen’s bloody hand.

“Silver…” Jirgen mutters. A large gash runs across his entire chest, and blood is released in large quantities from it with his every gasp. “They…came…and…over…powered us.”

“W-Who?!” Silver howls, terror completely gripping her. “Who did this?!”

“I don’t know…his name,” Jirgen coughs, a loud, hacking sound that robs him of life. “But…he called himself…a—” Jirgen pauses, coughing violently, and then closing his eyes as if going to sleep.

“No!” Silver yells. “Jirgen! Don’t die now!”

Silver turns in a mad fever to Ivy, yelling at her furiously. “Ivy! Heal him! Do something, anything, just don’t let him die!”

Ivy bows her head, shaking it sadly. “S-Silver…I’m sorry, but…he’s gone. I could see it in his eyes. I couldn’t have done anything.”

“You’re lying!” Silver cries, choking on her tears.

“What was behind here…?” Kunai mutters, pushing open the door even further. His eyes widen, and the others follow with one united gasp, as they read the message written in blood on the wall inside.

‘SEE YOU IN ELLINIA.’

Special Preview: Tales of a…Sequel?

Hey everybody! The idea has been hanging around for quite some time now, but now I am ready to confirm it: there will be a sequel to Tales of a Lost World. Although I won’t give away any precious details while the sequel is in its early development, in this special preview, I will give you just enough to tease you and whet your appetite.

So what is all this sequel talk? Although Tales of a Lost World will bring about an end to the conflict between the Joukai and the Myougun, the events of Tales of a Lost Sword (tentative title) will be directly related to the plot in both Tales of a Lost Phoneme and Tales of a Lost World. However, the story in the sequel will take place five years after the present time in Tales of a Lost World.

Tales of a Lost Sword will feature some of the same characters in Tales of a Lost Phoneme and Tales of a Lost World, but will also introduce a host of new characters. As usual, Kunai will be the center of the focus while the story’s true enemy (or should I say enemies!) is finally introduced and begins to move, sparking a three-way war between the humans, Hybrids, and the mysterious group known as the Fatalists…

–Rice