3. Pleading to the Celestial Lotus

Kairav immediately turned his head and stared in the same direction as Arkana. 

There, he saw a young man with deep blue eyes kneeling on the ground, clutching his spear tightly. His hand pressed hard against his chest, his face twisted in unbearable pain. Beside him lay his tiger spirit, motionless and weak.

"Galen! Galen, are you okay?!" Kairav shouted in concern.

Galen merely waved his hand dismissively, as if to say he was fine—even though it was obvious he was lying.

Just as Kairav and Arkana were about to rush toward him, a sudden cry from another direction stopped them in their tracks.

"Kairav! Help!"

Kairav and Arkana instantly turned and ran toward the source of the desperate plea.

There, they saw Casildo cradling an unconscious girl in his arms. A green peacock spirit lay lifeless beside her.

"Aruna!" Arkana froze for a moment as he realized the blood-covered girl was his cousin. "What happened?!" he demanded, dropping to his knees beside her.

Casildo shook his head weakly, his eyes filled with fear and despair. "She was poisoned by the lizard monsters..." he whispered hoarsely.

Kairav immediately knelt beside the girl, examining the blackened wound on her arm.

His gaze shifted to her chest and stomach—there was no movement. Not even the faintest rise and fall of breath.

"I know... but please, try. I'm begging you..." Casildo's voice was barely above a whisper, his desperate eyes pleading with Kairav.

Understanding the painful reality his friend refused to accept, Kairav's hands trembled as he took his spear and sliced his palm open. He let a few drops of his blood fall onto Aruna's wound.

But seconds passed, and nothing happened. Not even a flicker of his unicorn spirit's presence.

Slowly, Kairav lifted his gaze, his expression hollow as he looked at Casildo. "I'm sorry, Casildo. I can't heal her. Aruna is already gone..."

Casildo let out an anguished scream, his grief exploding in raw agony. He clutched Aruna's lifeless body tighter.

Prince Arkana lowered his head, his eyes shut tightly as he fought back the tears threatening to spill for his fallen cousin.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Aruna's body disappeared from Casildo's arms, vanishing like dust carried by the wind. Her peacock spirit, lifeless beside her, also faded away at the same time.

And in her place, a small green seedling suddenly sprouted from the ground where her body had lain.

"She hasn't vanished. She's only been reborn in another form. Just like Rakai... who now exists as an eternal flame that never fades..." Kairav murmured, his gaze heavy with sorrow as he stared at the tiny plant.

Slowly, he rose to his feet, glancing at Casildo and Arkana, who were still lost in their grief. His ocean-blue eyes, shimmering with unshed tears, swept over the battlefield's devastation.

The monsters had completely overrun the battlefield. Only a handful of Myth Slayer Taskforce soldiers were still alive, while one by one, the Astral Conjurers fell alongside their spirit animals.

Seeing their inevitable defeat unfold before him, Kairav's eyes, filled with despair and hopelessness, lifted toward the crimson sky.

There, half of the blood-red full moon had already been consumed by a monstrous titan. A colossal, disembodied head with a golden crown, blazing red eyes, and a terrifying visage.

Arkana, noticing Kairav's dread, spoke in a somber voice, equally filled with despair. "The Time has already devoured half the moon... If this continues, the world will—"

Kairav's knuckles turned white as his grip tightened around his spear, his body trembling at the unfinished sentence.

The storm raged on. The torrential rain brought a chilling cold, reminding him of the presence of snow. His head tilted upward, his blue eyes settling on a distant peak—the only place covered in snow in this tropical land.

For a moment, Kairav looked back, his gaze landing on the black dragon-serpent spirit that had burst from the ground, still fighting with relentless determination.

After ensuring his host was still alive, Kairav turned and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Arkana called after him.

Kairav remained silent.

But then another voice called out behind him, one filled with panic and desperation. "Brother! Where are you going?!"

For a moment, Kairav hesitated. But in the end, he continued ascending the mountain slopes, heading toward the summit of Carstensz, where the eternal snow lay—the last place where hope remained.

The echoes of the battlefield faded, drowned by the howling wind and the relentless downpour as he moved further away.

Time pressed forward without pause, and his footprints marked his path through treacherous valleys, cliffs, dense forests, and vast fields of edelweiss.

Finally, he reached the coldest point on the mountain.

White snowflakes drifted down from the crimson night sky. His breath came in shallow, ragged gasps as he crossed the frozen expanse of the mountain's peak.

Large rocks lay scattered, buried beneath the snow. And in the distance, a vast frozen lake stretched out before him—its icy surface resembling a giant shard of glass.

He had chosen this destination from the beginning, and as he neared the lake, the reflection of destruction in his ocean-blue eyes became clearer.

His footsteps crunched against the ice as he stepped onto the frozen lake. White lotus flowers bloomed, scattered across the entire surface.

His gaze fell upon a small flame flickering atop the ice—a lonely fire burning before a withered, massive white lotus that had once bloomed at the center of the lake.

Kairav dropped to his knees before the flame, the last remaining vestige of his fallen friend. "Rakai..."

He clenched his spear tightly, shutting his eyes as he tried to suppress the rage and sorrow consuming him.

Slowly, he opened his eyes once more, lifting his head to stare at the withered lotus before him. His voice, heavy with emotion, addressed the flower.

"You placed your hope in me to save the world... but I couldn't even save my friend. The prophecy of the tree spirit was nothing but a lie. In the end, I failed to reignite his flame..."

His grip on his spear tightened, and with a furious strike, he slammed it against the frozen lake, causing cracks to spread across the ice.

"The Luminous Remnants will always be Luminous Remnants. They will never become Emberlight Celestials, let alone the Majestic Red Luminary. The Eight Asterian Envoys have failed to awaken, and the Garuda will never spread his wings again..."

His voice trembled with frustration, but the only response was the whisper of the wind and the silent fall of snowflakes.

"We Astral Conjurers don't have the power to defeat The Time and the Queen of the Underworld Darkness..."

For a moment, he fell silent. The veins of anger in his face softened, and his rage-filled eyes dimmed, replaced by sheer despair.

"If you truly wish to place your hope in us... then please, grant us your aid..."

His voice cracked as he pleaded, "Mother... aren't you a celestial envoy? Please, help your son... I don't want to see any more of my loved ones die..."

"Enough. I've had enough suffering from losing my father... from losing Rakai... and from losing my other friends..."

A tear slipped from his eye as he gazed at the withered lotus in despair.

His head bowed weakly as he whispered his final plea. "Please... hear me this time..."

"My son..."

Kairav's ocean-blue eyes widened in shock as another voice echoed through the silence of the night. He immediately lifted his head, staring at the withered lotus as he whispered, "Mother...?"

"I'm sorry... I couldn't do much to help you all this time..." The gentle voice of a woman continued to flow, yet no other figure was present besides Kairav himself.

"Mother, do I have another chance?" Kairav whispered desperately. "I want to change this fate, even if it means defying the will of the heavens... I don't want to lose the people around me..."

The voice did not answer immediately, as if hesitating to speak. "There is a way... But even the heavens will not approve of it..."

Kairav fell silent for a moment. He lifted his gaze toward the colossal figure of The Time, which was now on the verge of completely devouring the blood moon, leaving only a sliver of crimson light visible on its surface.

Realizing that there was no time left, he immediately spoke, "Tell me, Mother... I have no other choice right now..."