The Solstice

The Dominion facility was in ruins.

With the Chrono Reapers unleashed, the once-impenetrable research base was now a battlefield of metal and destruction.

The air was thick with smoke and flickering embers, the metallic scent of scorched Arcana circuits filling the space.

Eclipse Zero stood at the loading bay exit, ready to leave.

They had the evidence.They had destroyed the relic.They had freed the Reapers.

The mission was almost complete.

But then—

Footsteps.

Slow. Unrushed. Deliberate.

A rhythmic clapping followed.

"Quite the ruckus you made."

The voice was calm, almost amused.

Everyone froze.

Hugo's entire body tensed.

Slowly, a figure emerged from the smoke.

A man.

White hair. Black eyes.

And in his right hand—

A black Arc-Blade, radiating an ominous energy.

A blade that Hugo knew all too well.

Vengeance.

The moment Hugo laid eyes on him—his breath caught in his throat.

A feeling he hadn't experienced in a thousand years gripped him.

Fear.

For the first time in so long, Hugo felt pure, absolute fear.

The man smirked.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Hugo?"

Silence.

Eclipse Zero stared at Hugo, waiting for an answer.

But he didn't speak.

Didn't move.

Didn't even breathe.

His hands trembled at his sides.

Darius frowned. "Boss? Who the hell is this guy?"

Iris glanced between Hugo and the man. "Ooooh, what's this? A reunion~?"

Ethan, confused by the tension, asked, "Wait, Hugo… who is he?"

Still—Hugo said nothing.

His lips parted slightly, but no words came.

The man took another step forward, tilting his head.

"Nothing to say? That's not like you."

Then—he turned toward the others, flashing a cold, amused grin.

"Well then. Since my dear friend won't introduce me… allow me to do it myself."

His black eyes gleamed under the dim, broken lights of the facility.

"I am Xander, the Solstice."

He lifted Vengeance, resting the dark blade against his shoulder.

"One of the Seven Commanders of the Neo Arcane Dominion."

Silence crushed the air around them.

The weight of his words hit everyone at once.

Stella's eyes widened. "Wait… you're the Solstice?!"

Darius gritted his teeth. "The same guy Hugo sealed away?!"

Lena's hands clenched into fists. "That's impossible—he's supposed to be gone."

Even Iris looked genuinely surprised for once. "Oh~? Now this is interesting."

Ethan, still trying to process everything, looked at Hugo again.

"But… Hugo… he was your brother in arms, right?"

Still—Hugo didn't respond.

His body shook slightly, his hands clenched into fists.

His eyes, wide and hollow, were locked on Xander, as if his mind was somewhere else entirely.

Because in this moment—

Hugo wasn't just looking at a Neo Arcane Dominion commander.

He was looking at the ghost of his past.

A nightmare that had returned to life.

The tension in the air was thick.

Hugo was frozen, his body rigid with fear, his mind trapped in the past.

Xander stood calmly, an amused smirk on his face, his black Arc-Blade, Vengeance, resting against his shoulder.

The others were still processing the situation—except for one.

Darius moved first.

His eyes blazed with fiery energy, his clothes shifting as flames erupted around his body.

"GEAR SHIFT: BLAST GEAR!"

In an instant, his entire body surged with intense Arcana energy, his movements becoming faster, stronger, more explosive.

His coat turned red, lined with burning streaks, his stance shifting into an offensive burst position.

Xander barely even glanced at him.

Darius's grip tightened on his Arc-Lance, Drill Fang, as its rotating mechanism roared to life.

With a powerful push, he shot forward like a bullet of fire.

"DRILL RUSH!"

A high-speed spinning thrust, reinforced by Blast Gear's energy, aimed directly at Xander's chest.

The sheer force of the attack tore up the floor beneath him, a shockwave rippling through the air.

But then—

CLANG.

Darius's attack stopped.

Blocked.

Xander had effortlessly raised Vengeance and caught the full force of Drill Rush with a single-handed block.

Darius's eyes widened in shock.

Only one other person had ever been able to stop Drill Rush so easily.

Hugo.

Xander's black eyes gleamed with amusement.

"Ah… I see."

He tilted his head, studying Darius like he was nothing more than an insect.

"You're the new wielder of Drill Fang."

Darius gritted his teeth, pushing harder against Xander's blade—but he didn't budge.

Xander's smirk widened slightly.

"A cheap imitation of Cosmos and Vengeance."

Darius's rage flared. "The hell did you just say?!"

Xander's grip on Vengeance tightened.

Then, in an instant—he pushed forward.

A powerful shockwave blasted outward, sending Darius skidding backward across the ground.

He barely managed to regain his footing, his mind racing.

Xander… was on an entirely different level.

And Hugo was still standing in silence.

Still shaking.

Still frozen in fear.

Iris had never seen Hugo like this.

The ever-calm, ever-powerful Hero of the Eclipse—shaking.

His hands trembled at his sides, his white eyes locked on Xander with something that looked like pure fear.

Her usual teasing nature vanished.

For the first time, Iris felt something unfamiliar inside her.

Worry.

Hugo was scared.

And she hated it.

Before she could say anything—

Stella moved.

With blinding speed, she lunged at Xander, her blade already glowing.

"RADIANT SLASH!"

Her sword ignited with pure light energy, cutting through the darkness like a burning comet.

Xander, still smirking, effortlessly sidestepped, dodging at the last possible second.

But Stella wasn't done.

The moment her first strike missed, she twisted mid-air, flipping her sword into reverse grip.

"RADIANT EDGE!"

A second, even faster slash came from the opposite side, arcing with golden light.

Xander's smirk faded slightly.

CLANG.

At the last second, he raised Vengeance, catching Stella's attack with one hand.

A pulse of force erupted, shattering the ground beneath them.

Stella gritted her teeth, pushing forward, her golden eyes blazing.

"You talk big," she hissed. "But let's see if you can back it up."

Xander's grip on Vengeance tightened.

Then, with a single flick of his wrist—

He parried her blade, throwing her backward.

Stella landed on her feet, skidding across the ground, but she didn't look away.

She refused to back down.

Xander, now actually studying her, gave a small nod of approval.

"Not bad," he admitted. "You're better than I expected."

Then—he glanced toward Hugo.

"But you're not my opponent."

His black eyes gleamed.

"Hugo is."

Hugo's hands were still shaking.

He could barely hear the battle around him.

His mind was stuck in the past—in that final battle a thousand years ago.

When he had failed.

When he had been forced to seal away Xander.

"He's supposed to be gone…"

"This isn't possible…"

"I can't beat him."

Then—

"Hugo!"

A voice cut through the fog in his mind.

A voice filled with warmth and something else—something genuine.

Worry.

Iris.

She stepped forward, her silver hair reflecting the dim light, her usual teasing nature nowhere to be found.

She was serious.

Concerned.

She had never seen Hugo afraid before. And she didn't like it.

"Come on, Hugo," she said softly. "I don't know what's going on in that head of yours, but I do know this—"

She pointed toward Xander.

"He's here. Right now. And whether you like it or not, you have to deal with it."

Hugo breathed in sharply.

"You're the guy who always keeps moving forward, aren't you?" Iris said, taking another step closer.

"Then prove it."

Hugo's eyes widened slightly.

Iris never talked like this.

And yet…

She was right.

The fear didn't disappear.

But something else pushed against it.

A reminder.

A spark.

And then—

A gunshot rang out.

BANG!

A silver bullet, glowing faintly with Arcana energy, raced through the air.

"PHANTOM BULLET!"

Lena fired a precise shot, the projectile moving faster than the eye could track.

It wasn't a normal bullet. It phased in and out of existence, slipping through defenses, striking from unexpected angles.

Xander's black eyes flickered.

Without even looking—

He tilted his head slightly.

The bullet missed.

Before Lena could even process what happened—

Xander moved.

With a single, lightning-fast step, he closed the gap between him and Stella.

"Too slow."

CRASH!

In one brutal motion, he kicked Stella in the stomach, sending her flying backward into a pile of debris.

Lena barely had time to react before—

"And you—"

Xander flicked Vengeance upward.

A dark arc of energy shot out, slicing through the air.

Lena barely dodged, but—

SLASH!

Her coat was torn, and she was blasted backward, slamming against a nearby console.

She hit the ground hard, coughing.

Ethan's heart stopped.

"LENA!"

He ran toward her, kneeling beside her, panic flashing in his eyes.

"Lena, are you okay?! Say something!"

Lena winced, holding her side. "Ugh… yeah. Still in one piece."

She gave him a weak smirk. "But damn… that guy is ridiculous."

Ethan clenched his fists. This wasn't good.

Stella and Lena were down.

Darius was still recovering.

And Hugo—

Ethan looked toward him.

The fear in his eyes was still there.

But now—there was something else too.

A spark.

A slow, burning flame.

And Ethan could only hope—

That it would ignite soon.

Hugo's body remained still, but inside, his mind was spiraling.

Xander.The Solstice.His brother-in-arms.The man he had once trusted above all others.

Now, standing against him.

Now, stronger than ever.

Now, with Vengeance in hand.

He had defeated Stella and Lena in mere seconds.

Ethan was kneeling beside his sister, desperate to help.Darius was gritting his teeth, his hands shaking in frustration.Iris was still watching him, her silver eyes filled with something Hugo couldn't process.

And he was doing nothing.

Because for the first time in a thousand years—

He was afraid.

He was stuck.

Weak.

"Hugo."

A voice cut through the storm.

But this time—it wasn't Iris.

It wasn't anyone from Eclipse Zero.

It was Cosmos.

The world around Hugo shifted.

The battlefield, the wreckage, his fallen allies—all of it faded.

Instead, he stood in pure darkness.

And before him—

Cosmos.

The sword, floating in the void, its form pulsing with both red and blue energy.

The voice came again, calm but firm.

"Enough."

Hugo's eyes widened.

Cosmos had spoken to him countless times.

Mocked him.Advised him.Fought alongside him.

But this time—it wasn't speaking as his weapon.

It was speaking as something older.Something stronger.Something that knew him better than he knew himself.

"Hugo. Look at yourself."

The void shifted.

And suddenly, Hugo saw himself.

Standing, shaking, frozen in place.

While his friends suffered.

While Xander stood before him, waiting.

While he—the Hero of the Eclipse—did nothing.

Cosmos's energy flared.

"This is not you."

Hugo gritted his teeth.

"Shut up."

Cosmos didn't stop.

"You let the past shackle you."

"I said shut up—"

"You fear him because you failed him."

Hugo froze.

Cosmos's energy pulsed, brighter than ever.

"You fear him because you still believe he is stronger than you."

Hugo's breath hitched.

Cosmos's voice lowered.

"He isn't."

Silence.

Then—

A pulse of warmth.

A familiar energy flooded through Hugo's body.

Not just corona.Not just luna.

But both.

Eclipse.

His power.

The power he had denied himself for so long.

The power that had been waiting for him to wake up.

Cosmos's glow intensified.

"Stand up."

Hugo's eyes burned.

His fists clenched.

And then—

He moved.

The battlefield crackled with tension.

Hugo tightened his grip on Cosmos, his breath steady.

The fear wasn't gone.

But now—it was fuel for something stronger.

He lifted Cosmos, holding it before him.

"Cosmos."

The sword hummed, its energy responding instantly.

Then—

"CORONA MODE!"

A burst of red Arcana energy exploded from Hugo's body, engulfing him in a storm of blazing power.

His white eyes turned crimson.

His coat shifted, becoming deep red with golden streaks, flames dancing along the edges.

The very air around him heated, distorting the space with raw intensity.

The ground beneath his feet cracked and burned, unable to withstand the sheer force of Corona Mode's activation.

Xander's black eyes glinted with interest.

He rested Vengeance against his shoulder, his smirk growing.

"Ah. There's the Hugo I remember."

Hugo exhaled, his voice steady.

"Let's see if you still recognize him."

Then, in a flash of red light—

Hugo moved.

The battle had truly begun.