The Fifth Layer (13)

Zephyr jumped above Aaron and toward Gabriella. She flew away, and Aaron fired bullets at his back, but they bounced off his armour.

"I have to aim for his head," Aaron told Gabriella. She nodded and flew above him.

As Zephyr landed on the hard concrete, the vampire sneaked up behind him with her claws. His armour moved on its own, dodging all of her attacks. Two chains bolted out of his shoulders, forcing Gabriella to retreat.

-Woosh!

Aaron pushed his feet off the ground with wind magic. Gabriella flew up and, with enough momentum, kicked Zephyr back to the concrete floor. The reptoid fell on his stomach.

He noticed Anne in the distance. "Another wind mage?"

As he got up, a gust of wind pushed him back to his knees. The reptoid struggled to move as Aaron joined her, releasing his own wind magic.

He aimed his pistol at Zephyr's head.

"Argh!" The reptoid tried to protect his face but couldn't raise his hands. "This is it."

He closed his eyes, but an unfamiliar energy disrupted his mana. Zephyr Dragos felt comforted as a pink glow illuminated his body. "It feels like I'm twice as strong!"

The reptoid pushed his legs against the ground and leapt against the wind. He made eye contact with Aaron who was still pointing his gun. Zephyr blocked the bullets with his arm and approached him blindly.

Aaron dodged his first punch but received an elbow to the stomach.

"Die!"

A chain shot out of Zephyr's wrist as Aaron missed his steps. Christopher pushed the young mage away, taking the attack as a werewolf. Unfortunately, the chain was silver and easily pierced into his skin.

The reptoid grinned. "Get out of my way!"

He used his augmented strength to fling Christopher away. The werewolf looked down and saw the field below. He had fallen from the roof when wind magic suddenly slowed his fall.

"Anne! Save me!"

Having distracted Anne and Christopher, Zephyr leapt toward Aaron again. The wind mage dashed away repeatedly, but he was exhausted. He had to do something.

Zephyr's chain bolted out of his wrist again, and Aaron slowed it down with wind. He intercepted it with his hand and fired explosive magic bullets at the reptoid.

The reptoid couldn't react in time. A bullet hit his face, but his scales had protected him. A smile grew on his face as Aaron fired desperately.

"See? You're weak! How do you expect to go against the higher-ups in the Dark Faction if you can't even defeat one of its pawns?!"

Aaron blinked as sweat dripped into his eyes. The chain in his hand started to retract and he had to let go, remembering how Zephyr had thrown Christopher.

"So what if I'm weak?! If I don't give up, I'll get stronger!" Aaron jumped into the air, boosting himself with wind magic, and levitated above Zephyr for a second.

The reptoid looked up. "You want to fight in the air? Good luck-"

A stinging sensation entered his throat just as he was about to jump. Gabriella had stuck her claw in his neck, between the scales. He had left his weak spot unprotected when looking up.

Blood gushed out, and his lungs fluttered. "I see…."

Zephyr Dragos, the Second Seat, closed his eyes. "Please… I hope… you defeat the Dark Faction."

Taking his dying breath, the man grew scared of the dark. He opened his eyes and looked at the bright sun polishing his armour. It burned, and his eyes were wet, but he kept looking as he fell, his armour banging against the concrete roof.

'I wish I could see what will happen next.' Zephyr went blind as he exhaled the remaining air in his lungs. The reptoid went to rest with his eyes open. He looked strangely peaceful for a tyrant.

Having rescued Christopher, Anne joined Aaron and Gabriella. "What was that pink magic? Did it make him stronger?"

Aaron knew what it was, for he had encountered it twice before. That strange glow that had buffed Zephyr's reptoid strength could only belong to them.

"Rico…" he muttered, but explosions and cries muffled his voice. The Amon soldiers used to be loyal to his parents, and yet here they were, fighting against the Democratic Alliance under Rico and the Topaz Guild. Despite this betrayal, Amon couldn't blame them. He had also fought in the war this past month and had killed countless of them.

He knew that as soldiers, they simply followed orders. Only after the deafening noise had ceased would they regret what had happened.

"RICO! I know you're over there!"

Rico's head popped out from behind the barricade. "It's nice to see you, Aaron."

"So many died today. You CAUSED this!"

"That I did! Didn't I do a good job?" He was smiling.

"....Don't you feel any remorse?"

"Why would I?" Confused, the kid tilted his head, "I'm just doing what needs to be done."

"What? That doesn't make sense! You're being used!"

Rico jumped down from the barricade. "Used? You're wrong, brother." 

Aaron froze as he saw the look in his brother's eyes. He barely recognized him. Rico had lost his humanity.

"I'm the one using them."

"Really? For what?"

"Well, I'm a guild master now." Rico walked forward.

"You're an immature tyrant!"

-Swing!

Rico's knife came within two centimetres of Aaron's neck.

The kid looked disappointed. "Do you remember this knife? You have good reflexes, Aaron."

Gabriella pushed Aaron away. "Rico! Drop the knife." 

"Urgh, fine. You're lucky that, unlike someone I know, I don't have a self-destruct mechanism."

Rico pointed the knife at his own neck… and pushed. Gabriella froze. Anne gasped. But Aaron simply leaned down and tore off the knife from his brother's throat.

"Of course, I remember this knife. It's one of the kitchen knives we had back home… the same knife that sliced my throat when you first tried to kill me."

He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Anne's. "Was he your brother? I'm sorry."

Aaron bent the knife until it snapped in his hands. "Don't be. He isn't dead yet. That's not his real body."

…

-Gasp!

Rico awoke in a cold capsule, his skin pale as a ghost. He wiped the drool off his face and got up. There was nobody around in the white, empty room. Not even his servants were allowed here.

"Aaron! This isn't over. You will die before I let you defeat the Obscure Guild."

…

The remaining soldiers capitulated, and some even helped with repairing the damages. There was a moment of peace.

When night came, the soldiers were still on the battlefield. Silent, they strolled on the hard soil, looking at the horizon. On the edge of the eastern wall, the corpses burned united.

James Rack, Bryan Moon, Adia, hundreds of vampires and reptoids, and thousands of humans had lost their lives.

Anne shared Stephen's orders with the soldiers around. Nearby, Isaac meditated on a hill, absorbing the solemn souls.

After staying near Isaac for a while, Gabriella joined Ejiro and Victor on a hotel's rooftop. Victor almost cried as Ejiro recounted how he had caused many deaths when he had gotten hypnotized.

Staying in a room at the same hotel, Aaron cleaned the blood stains off his translucent cape.

Asleep, Luo and Jenna hid in their aircraft.

Gathering on the concrete roof, Christopher howled at the moon with his pack as a ritual for the dead.

Zephyr's body was sent to the Grey Dome in the Third Layer's Karl City to research his body, hoping to find traces of the Dark Faction's red magic curse that prevented the Seats from unveiling its secrets.

Seth shook his head as they hadn't found anything. He glanced at his watch; it was already the next morning, and he had only slept for a few hours on the way there. This was only a taste of what the Dark Faction was capable of. 

The storm was coming quicker than he had imagined.