Seventy-three: A Celestial being

Interspatial Pathway

Fuyuki Star road

Murim Star system

Charlie Sector

After paying for the tea—much to his irritation—Leon left Ryu behind and returned to base. Predictably, Emily was furious. The moment he explained what had happened, she unleashed a barrage of complaints about his recklessness and lack of caution. He endured the lecture in silence, letting her get it out of her system. Despite her frustration, she ultimately agreed to accompany him. One week later, the two of them stood aboard a starship alongside Ryu, preparing for their mission.

The first thing Leon had Emily do was scan Ryu's mind for any trace of ill intent. When she found nothing incriminating, Leon felt himself relax slightly. At the very least, Ryu wasn't lying about his motives. The ship they had stolen from the base was a medium-sized Swift Seizer, a combat-class vessel designed for high-speed pursuit and precision maneuvers. With enough room for ten people, it was more than sufficient for their needs. Its advanced tracking systems and powerful engine meant they could locate the transport vessel long before it entered their visual range.

"So, let's go over the plan one more time," Ryu said, his voice steady.

Dressed in black Wa combat armor, he carried himself with the quiet discipline of a warrior. The traditional attire of the samurai suited him, reinforcing everything Leon had heard about the warriors of Wa—that they were formidable enough to rival even the Paladins. If Ryu was merely average among them, then Leon could hardly wait to cross blades with their best.

"Master Haravok and I will use the pods to infiltrate the transport vessel," Ryu continued, "while Lady Legens will remain on this ship to block their path. While Master Legens keeps the captain occupied by hailing them through the communication cell, we will use the Exodus to open a gateway, allowing our pods to enter undetected."

Ryu had brought with him a massive Exodus, a device capable of generating a portal within the transport vessel. The success of the plan, however, hinged on the pod ship's camouflage system concealing their presence until the moment they boarded.

Emily folded her arms, her sharp gaze fixed on Ryu. "What are you really after?" she asked. "What's in it for you?"

"There is something aboard that ship—something that could bring salvation to my clan," Ryu replied.

Leon had never concerned himself with the internal affairs of Wa. The planet was one of the most secretive in the universe, its isolationist policies making it nearly impenetrable to outside influence. Most of what he knew about its people came from his time in the IO Dojo Sect, and even that knowledge was limited, focusing primarily on swordsmanship rather than politics.

"Salvation?" Emily repeated, her skepticism evident.

"That's all you need to know," Ryu said simply. "You scanned my mind. You know I'm telling the truth."

Emily narrowed her eyes. "I only scanned your surface thoughts, as we agreed to," she countered. "But I suppose it's enough for now."

Leon glanced at the monitors. Their ship had stopped along the Fuyuki Star Road, an interstellar pathway far from Federation-controlled space. They were now close to the Murim Star System—dangerously close. If the transport vessel was heading in this direction, it meant only one thing.

"They're taking the object to Wa," Leon muttered.

Ryu nodded. "The transport vessel is en route to a collection agency within the Murim Star System. The Fuyuki Road is the fastest way there. I know they'll take this route. That's why we're here."

"To ambush them," Leon concluded.

Before Ryu could respond, a sharp beeping from the console signaled an incoming vessel. The transport ship was close.

"It's time," Ryu announced. Without hesitation, he turned and strode toward the pod bay.

Leon followed, but just as he reached the door, Emily caught his wrist.

"Be careful," she said, her voice low.

Leon raised an eyebrow. "What is it now?"

Emily hesitated, glancing toward Ryu before leaning in slightly. "Something about him gives me the creeps."

Leon followed her gaze. Ryu stood by the pod door, waiting patiently. His expression was unreadable, his stance disciplined, but nothing about him seemed outwardly threatening.

"You said he wasn't malicious," Leon reminded her.

"He isn't," Emily admitted. "At least… not straightforwardly malicious. I couldn't access the deeper parts of his mind."

Leon considered her words, then exhaled through his nose.

It didn't matter. If Ryu tried anything, he would personally cut him down.

Leon was so close—so close to getting what he wanted—that in hindsight, he should have paid more attention to Emily's concerns. But his desire had blinded him.

After securing the Exodus device inside the backseat of the pod, Leon and Ryu moved to the front. The pod was a compact, rectangular-shaped escape vessel, designed primarily for emergency evacuations. It could fit no more than four or five people, making it a tight fit. Ryu settled into the passenger seat while Leon took the controls.

With practiced ease, Leon steered the pod out of the Arkship and onto the Dimensional Space Road, activating its camouflage mode to prevent the transport vessel from detecting them. Now concealed, the pod drifted silently through the void, waiting for the transport ship to come into range.

"Your partner, Lady Legens," Ryu said after a moment. "She's a peculiar one."

Leon barely glanced at him. "Sorry, but you're not her type." His focus remained on the ship's display screen, tracking the incoming vessel's distance.

Ryu chuckled. "I'm not interested in her like that," he clarified. "She scares me—those eyes of hers."

Leon frowned. "What do you mean?"

"She's got the eyes of a true Death Dealer," Ryu said.

Leon stiffened slightly at the term. He had heard it before. Folktales from across the stars spoke of Death Dealers—agents of Death itself, roaming the universe in search of lives to claim. Legends said they could be contracted to buy and sell death at will. But myths were just that—myths.

"If you mean she's a killer, then so are we," Leon said. "It comes with being a Paladin."

"That's not what I mean," Ryu replied.

Before Leon could question him further, the transport vessel finally came into view. It was massive—long and cylindrical, its metallic hull painted deep red with bold white lettering that spelled HINOKAMI. Armed with an array of high-powered weaponry, the ship's firepower easily outclassed both Emily's combat vessel and their small pod.

But fortune was on their side. The transport vessel hadn't detected them, instead coming to a full stop in response to the combat ship blocking its path. Emily was doing her part, diverting their attention.

Ryu activated the Exodus, initiating a two-way connection between their pod and the transport ship. Leon waited as the machine powered up. Moments later, a surge of Xeta beam energy pulsed through the pod, enveloping them in a bright blue wave. Within seconds, they were teleported straight inside the transport vessel.

Leon exhaled as the pod touched down inside what appeared to be a cargo bay. "I expected the ship to have a counter-Xeta shield," he muttered.

"Technology capable of countering Xeta beam teleportation at this level doesn't exist yet," Ryu replied.

Leon's gaze flickered to the Exodus machine. He had never seen one capable of generating such a powerful Xeta field—certainly, not one that could teleport an entire pod into a secured vessel. It was beyond even Federation technology.

No point dwelling on it now. "We should move," Leon said.

Without hesitation, they disembarked, Ryu, leading the way through the cargo bay. As they navigated through the maze of shipping containers, Leon's eyes landed on one in particular—its reinforced glass walls revealing a monstrous, coiled serpent within.

It had eight heads and eight tails. Each head twitched slightly, as if sensing their presence, though it remained confined.

"That's an Orochi," Ryu murmured, his expression darkening. "A Yokai—a legendary beast from Nihon. It's also one of the most trafficked creatures by Outsiders."

Leon wasn't surprised. He had heard rumors of Wa's strict policies on stolen relics and creatures.

"The Samurai make it their duty to recover anything taken from Nihon," Ryu continued. "It's one of the reasons—"

"The Land of Wa keeps to itself," Leon finished.

Ryu nodded before moving on. Leon followed, watching as the weaponsmith-turned-samurai pulled a small, tennis-sized metallic sphere from his pocket. With a click, the device unfolded into a mechanical moth-like bug, which skittered up the wall and burrowed into the keypad.

Seconds later, the door slid open. The metallic bug detached, rolling back into a sphere as Ryu caught it.

"Nice tech," Leon admitted.

Ryu smirked. "Thanks, but from here on out, we need to be cautious. The hallways will be monitored."

Leon grinned. With a subtle shift in energy, he bent the light around them, rendering them invisible. "Let's hope their sensors can't see through this trick."

They slipped out of the cargo bay, moving swiftly through the long, red-hued corridors. Ryu checked the Zodiak monitor embedded in his sleeve, mapping out their path.

"We turn left and keep straight," he instructed.

They advanced carefully, watching for patrols. When they reached another intersection, Ryu gestured to the right. The hallway led directly to another compartment—but stationed at its entrance were two armored guards.

Leon recognized their armor—similar to Ryu's but colored deep crimson with white markings.

Samurai.

Though they remained invisible, Leon knew better than to underestimate them. Some warriors possessed strong sensory abilities, capable of detecting fluctuations in the Odyllic. Even now, he and Ryu were using mystic suppression techniques to mask their presence. But that didn't mean they were undetectable.

Emily, for example, would have easily sensed them.

Yet the samurai guards remained still, unaware of their presence.

Leon struck first. Moving with precise speed, he knocked one out in a single calculated motion. Ryu dispatched the other just as efficiently.

"Kind of disappointing," Leon muttered.

"Not all warriors are Yui like you," Ryu remarked, referring to Leon's status as an Ascendant Mystic.

Ryu moved to the door, deploying his device once again to hack the security system. Leon took up position behind him, his senses expanding outward. His internal sense tracked the movement of every guard aboard the vessel, noting their positions. From what he could tell, none were approaching their location.

"How long until that thing gets the door open?" Leon whispered.

"Not long," Ryu said.

A faint click sounded, and the door slid open, revealing a dimly lit compartment. The space was small, bare, and cold, save for a large metal containment unit stationed at its center. A reinforced window was embedded into the front, but thick fog obscured whatever lay inside.

Leon frowned. Even with his sensory abilities, he couldn't feel what was inside. Something within the container was blocking him, an unnatural void where his awareness should have been able to reach.

Ryu wasted no time. He knelt beside the console, fingers working swiftly as he hacked into the container's security system. A soft hiss filled the air as the locks disengaged, and the front panel lifted.

Inside, sealed within the chamber, was a man.

Pale-skinned with silver hair and matching silver eyelashes, his striking features were almost inhumanly refined—sharp cheekbones, a perfectly symmetrical face, and an eerie stillness that sent a cold shiver down Leon's spine. Despite his beauty, there was something off about him.

His armor, black and nearly identical to Ryu's, bore heavy damage—gashes, dents, and torn plating. Whatever fight he had been in, it must have been brutal. But what caught Leon's attention wasn't the armor—it was the iron spikes embedded deep into the man's body.

They jutted out from the gaps in his ruined armor, piercing through flesh like anchors pinning him in place. Leon recognized them immediately—restriction spikes. They were used to suppress Odic flow, limiting a mystic's power and movement. Only an Earth-elemental user could craft and wield them effectively.

Leon's gaze flickered back to the prisoner's face just as his eyes opened.

Dark gray irises met him, but they weren't empty. There was a wild glint to them, sharp and dangerous, like a predator recognizing prey. Then his attention shifted to Ryu, and the grin that stretched across his face was nothing short of unsettling.

"…Bastards," Ryu muttered under his breath.

A sharp voice cut into Leon's mind.

(Hey! Leon, hurry it up back there. I don't think I can keep this ruse up much longer.)

Emily's voice echoed through their Odic force link, her frustration laced with urgency. She was still back on the Starship, maintaining the charade—playing the helpless damsel to keep the transport vessel occupied just long enough for them to break in and get out.

Ryu moved swiftly, his hands gripping the iron rods. One by one, he pulled them from the prisoner's body. With each spike removed, Leon felt something shift—a gradual, terrifying build-up of pressure in the air.

When Ryu reached the final spike, Leon took a step forward. His instincts screamed at him. He didn't like this.

"I thought we were after—"

Ryu yanked the last restraint free.

The moment the final spike left his body, the prisoner exhaled slowly, stretching his fingers. It was as if the very atmosphere changed. The Odyllic in the room pulsed violently, thick and oppressive.

Leon's body locked up as a chill ran down his spine.

Ryu stepped back, bowing low. "Master Kira."

Leon barely heard him. He was too focused on what he was feeling.

Kira's presence expanded, his Odic force flowing through the room like an unseen tidal wave. The sheer weight of it sent a sharp pang of warning through Leon's senses.

This was wrong.

This power—this level of power—was beyond anything he had ever encountered. It eclipsed that of an Admiral, reaching into something far greater.

No…

Leon had fought Pleiadians before. He had killed Pleiadians before. Kira was something else. Was he… Celestial? Leon's jaw tightened. No. He didn't look like one. And yet...there was no denying the truth of what he felt. Whatever he was…

He was dangerous.

"Leonard Haravok," the prisoner said, his voice carrying an unnatural weight. "The Herald told me we would meet… though I did not foresee our first encounter resulting in my rescue."

Leon's body tensed. "Herald? Who the hell are you talking about?" His instincts screamed at him—every fiber of his being alert to the wrongness radiating from this thing standing before him. The Odyllic around Kira was oppressive, unsettling, and it only grew more suffocating by the second.

A deafening alarm suddenly blared throughout the ship. The Samurai had been alerted. Their captor had been freed.

Leon turned to Ryu, his jaw clenched. "We had a deal," he growled.

Ryu met his gaze, his expression unreadable. "And I intend to keep my promise," he said. "To the Herald."

Leon's blood ran cold.

Kira floated from the container, his very presence warping the air around him. There was something inherently wrong about him—something beyond mortal comprehension.

"Honoring one's word is essential to the path of a warrior," Kira mused, his voice smooth yet heavy, as if he were speaking in a language deeper than words.

Leon forced himself to stay focused. "What do you mean? A promise to whom? Who is the Herald?" He tried to step forward, but the pressure from Kira's mere existence froze him in place.

Ryu exhaled. "I'm sorry, Leon."

The tone in his voice sent a rush of fury and realization through Leon.

"The Herald told me to bring you here at all costs. You had to be here. You had to meet your destiny."

Leon's muscles tightened. "What the fuck are you talking about—"

But before he could finish, Kira raised a hand.

Shadows erupted from the floor—twisting, writhing tendrils that lunged at him with terrifying speed. Leon barely managed to throw himself backward, dodging out of the compartment just in time. The shadowed appendages slithered aside, revealing Ryu calmly opening a portal within the room.

Leon's rage boiled over. "You fucking snake!"

Ryu turned, his expression strangely neutral, as if he hadn't just betrayed him. "You have two choices, Leonard."

"One, you prevent an intergalactic war between Wa and the Divine Federation." His voice was eerily calm. "Two, you do what you have to do—and bear the consequences."

Leon clenched his fists, fury twisting in his gut. "How— Emily scanned your mind! How the hell did you hide this from her?!"

A slow smile spread across Ryu's face. He lifted a hand to his ear, fingers digging in—and then he pulled something out.

A thin, spindly-looking device lay in his palm.

"A Mind Veil tech," Ryu explained casually. "Designed to camouflage one's inner thoughts and intentions."

Leon's breath hitched, and then his rage exploded.

"You fucking—"

He wanted to kill him. He wanted to rip his heart from his chest and feel his life drain away, just as he had done to those criminals on Lamentias.

But Ryu only tilted his head. "The Herald told me to tell you… if you choose the second path, then the cure you seek will be placed before you."

Leon's fury staggered. "The cure…?"

Ryu's eyes glinted. "You're dying, aren't you?"

The words struck deeper than Leon expected.

"If you want to live, then do whatever it takes to survive," Ryu said. And with that, he stepped through the portal, disappearing alongside Kira.

Leon barely had time to move before the Odyllic spiked violently. His instincts screamed—he dove to the side just as an explosion tore through the ship, ripping a massive hole in its hull.

"FUCK!"

Another boom rocked the vessel. Leon barely steadied himself, his mind racing. His pod—Ryu had planted a bomb in the fucking pod.

That bastard.

Alarms wailed through the ship. Lights flashed red. The transport vessel was now in full lockdown. That explosion was going to draw attention— a lot of attention.

Leon gritted his teeth.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" His fists trembled with rage. "How could I be so fucking stupid?"

He had played right into Ryu's hands. And now? Now, he was stranded inside a hostile vessel. With the Federation and Wa on the brink of war. This was bad. Really fucking bad. And the Federation could not afford a war. Not now. Not yet.

(What's going on, Leon?) Emily's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, her concern cutting through the growing storm inside his mind.

Leon could feel them. The fleet members—guards, Samurai, warriors—rushing toward his position like a flood of bodies and blades. The two unconscious Samurai he and Ryu had taken down were still lying motionless, their comms crackling with the voices of their comrades.

They're calling for reinforcements.

His grip on his Seriphium blades tightened. If the Land of Wa got involved… if word got out about what had happened here…

That couldn't happen.

He wouldn't let it happen.

Without hesitation, Leon bent down and slit the throats of the two unconscious warriors, a clean, effortless motion. A warm splash of blood struck his cheek, the scent of iron and death flooding his senses. His heart pounded—steady, resolute.

There was no turning back.

Rising to his feet, he gathered everything inside him—his mana, his Odic force, his very life essence. Power surged through his veins, golden light igniting along his body like a sun in human form.

He was going to erase everyone.

His body ached instantly, but he ignored the pain.

The first wave of warriors came into view, their mana flaring as they prepared to strike.

Leon vanished.

For a fraction of a second, the world froze.

Then—

A flash of golden light. A ricochet of death. Leon moved, faster than thought, faster than sight. His blades sang through the air, cutting through flesh and armor with surgical precision. Samurai barely had time to register their deaths before their bodies collapsed in sprays of red mist. He wove through the fleet members like a specter, appearing and disappearing in streaks of blinding gold. Every movement was a death sentence—throats slashed, limbs severed, torsos cleaved through in single strokes.

A wall of warriors formed ahead, swords raised, mana barriers flaring to block him. It didn't matter. Leon twisted his body, shifting his momentum mid-stride. He crashed through their formation, his Seriphium blades ripping through their defenses like paper. They never stood a chance.

More.

I need more.

His life force screamed as he forced more power out of himself, veins burning as his muscles tore and healed over and over. His bones creaked, his cells fractured from the raw exertion of speed and power.

He didn't care.

None of them would leave this ship alive.

Yet at the same time, as Leon reaped through them, he made sure to punish himself. He made sure that the pain of his damaged vitality burned through with so much pain. The blood-slicked halls of the transport vessel turned into a slaughterhouse, bodies falling in heaps, warriors reduced to nothing more than corpses decorating the floor.

Leon barely felt the heat of the blood on his skin anymore.

Then—

A shift in the Odyllic. A new presence. Stronger. Leon turned just as a Samurai Warlord emerged from the corridor ahead, stepping over the bodies of his fallen men. Unlike the others, he sensed Leon's strength—recognized it. And He didn't hesitate.

The warlord's mana surged outward, a violent storm of crimson energy radiating from his body. His blade, wreathed in flickering spiritual fire, roared to life, its sheer presence warping the space around it.

At the same moment, Leon felt his Mana flicker—his combat strength wavering. He had pushed himself too recklessly, and now his power was failing him.

The warlord struck.

A wave of crimson spiritual flames erupted from his blade, tearing through the air like a burning maelstrom, heading straight for Leon. He barely had time to brace—

Then, in a sudden flash of purple light, space twisted. A dimensional ripple unfurled, and from within it, Emily emerged. She stepped through the Warp Steps she had conjured, her expression unreadable. Without hesitation, she lifted her left arm and caught the warlord's raging energy. The moment her fingers closed around it, the destructive flames twisted in her grasp, the force no longer wild but controlled. In an instant, the energy dissipated—vanishing like it had never existed. Leon, now hunched on the floor, his breath coming in ragged gasps, barely had the strength to lift his head.

Emily turned to him, her gaze sharp but silent. Then, without a word, she reached down, grabbed hold of Leon, and vanished with him, teleporting out of the transport vessel in a blink of dimensional magic. As they reemerged outside the ship, the energy she had absorbed from the Samurai Warlord coiled around her right arm—violent, seething, and unstable.

Emily extended a single finger. A massive beam of energy erupted from her hand, a searing lance of destruction that tore through the vessel in an instant. The ship shattered, consumed in a brilliant explosion, annihilating everything inside—everything that Leon had failed to kill.