[Edanian Journey] Sylvia

Chapter 13: One Moment, Together

I rose once more and faced Hadum. I barely managed to kindle Ynix, but the flame went out just before it could reach her, and I was driven back again.

Hadum demanded to know why I still resisted. To her, it made no sense to defy destruction for the sake of mortal lives, or to cling to a single lifetime instead of accepting eternity.

Instead of the despairing future Hadum had just shown me, I thought of the moments of hope that still remained in this world.

Soldiers reuniting with their families. A young man setting out on a new beginning. Children running through the city. Hashashin returning home, merchants going about their lively trade, and pilgrims following the beliefs they had chosen. The Bartali family together in peace, and childhood friends gathered at the castle in Serendia. Encarotia pursuing her ambitions, Bareeds III and Sirare standing together. The Nesser royal family, and the Ganelle and Vedir preparing for reconciliation. The beauty of the Mountain of Eternal Winter, Gyeongbokgung busy with the affairs of the nation, and Drieghan at peace once more. People simply living their lives.

And even now, my companions were fighting desperately against the end.

I could not erase today simply because it would one day come to an end. I knew one thing for certain: I wanted to protect them.

Only then, with our <b>wills united as one</b>, did I stop holding back out of fear that I might lose myself.

As the flames of Ynix engulfed my body, the shattered <b>Heart of Atomagia</b> rose once more, filled with that will. Ator rose through the Heart and moved alongside me. Together, we drove Hadum back.

But Hadum twisted time and brought it to a standstill, trapping me just as I was about to strike the final blow.

Then her words began to distort and falter. Illezra, absorbed within Hadum, was disrupting her from the inside. She was disrupting what none of us could reach from the outside.

Goyen broke free as well and drove his sword forward. A crack opened in Hadum's hold over time, and my body could move again.

In the single moment they had created for me, I struck.