The Fifth Racial Alliance Force finally arrived to provide assistance. Along with them, Captain Kaynan, Rin, Mary, Commander Veyra, and the entire crew of the Kaynan Caravan began gathering and making their way toward the scene. As soon as they arrived, the soldiers spread out. Some inspected the ship and the parking area, while the others headed toward the station to rescue several officers who had been caught up in the battle. Several officers were found injured. More concerningly, their injuries had not all come from the battle that had just taken place. It seemed the attackers had deliberately assaulted the station officers in secret beforehand. They had made sure that no one would be able to provide assistance once the attack began.
The icy mist slowly faded away. The remnants of snow drifted through the night wind before finally falling onto the ground, which was already covered in cracks. The sound of ambulance sirens and security vehicles rang out back and forth, shattering the silence of the night that had been filled with explosions and screams only minutes earlier. I was still standing where the mage had disappeared. My hands clenched tightly. Damn it. He got away.
I looked around. This place could no longer be called a parking area. The ground was destroyed. Several vehicles were damaged. The walls of the buildings around us were cracked, and some had even collapsed. Remnants of ice still clung to several places, slowly melting and flowing between the cracks in the ground. I looked back toward the spot where the mage had been standing. There was no one there. Several members of his group who had previously been lying there unconscious were gone as well. I had no idea whether their companions had carried them away or rescued them before the Alliance forces arrived.
I let out a long sigh.
"That guy..." I wiped away the blood still flowing from my shoulder.
"...is seriously a pain." I had just started walking back toward the ship when I heard footsteps behind me. Many of them. In formation. I turned around. Captain Kaynan, Rin, Commander Veyra, and Mary were approaching me. Their expressions varied. Rin looked worried. Mary appeared relieved and anxious at the same time. Veyra, on the other hand, wore a serious expression as he surveyed the entire area. As for Captain Kaynan... strangely, he was silent. There were no jokes. No goofy smile. His eyes were fixed directly on me. Rin was the first to reach me.
"Hey, Zen! Are you okay?" She immediately checked me from head to toe, making sure I had no serious injuries. "What actually happened here?"
I raised both hands. "Relax. I'm still alive." Rin was still examining my shoulder.
"You're bleeding."
"It's just a little."
"Just a little, he says..." She sighed. I was injured, but my body had fairly rapid regenerative abilities, so an injury like this wasn't much of a problem. Commander Veyra then walked over. He looked at the destruction around us.
Then he looked at me. "Remarkable." He placed a hand on his chin, as though he were a detective who had just discovered a major case.
"You fought them alone?"
I shrugged. "More or less."
Veyra looked at the ruined ground behind me. "And you're still standing after taking that many attacks?"
"I guess."
Veyra narrowed his eyes. "Interesting."
I immediately felt uncomfortable under his gaze. Why was he looking at me like I was a research specimen? I'd been watched plenty of times because of my abilities, but Veyra's stare was different. It was as if he were trying to find something that even I didn't know about myself. Meanwhile, Mary approached with a wide smile.
"Whoa, Zen really is incredibly strong."
She immediately rubbed my head. "Good job."
"Ahh!" I quickly brushed her hand away.
"Mary, stop! I'm not a little kid anymore!"
Mary simply laughed. "Hehehe."
I smoothed down my messy hair. "Besides..." I looked at her. "When did you join this elite force?"
Mary thought for a moment. "Hmm..." She looked up at the sky. "When was it?"
I stared at her blankly. "Mary..."
Mary smiled innocently. "It's been quite a while."
I sighed. "Huh..."
I looked at Captain Kaynan, then back at Mary. "Father and daughter are equally annoying."
Smack!
A punch landed on my back. "Ow!" I turned around. Captain Kaynan had approached me from the side. His punches still hurt like hell. Did this guy seriously not realize I was a patient?
"Good job, Zen."
He patted my back once more. "You protected Erhan and our precious ship."
I stared at him. The precious ship? Seriously? Not me? Not Erhan? The ship? Ugh... What else could I expect from this old man?
All of this had happened because of him. The idiot captain who picked up random junk.
I pointed at his face. "This is all your fault, Captain!"
Kaynan raised an eyebrow. "How is it my fault?"
"Who was the one who picked up that weird object?"
Kaynan fell silent and pretended not to know. Rin immediately turned toward him. So did Veyra. Mary looked at her father as well. I crossed my arms.
"Well?"
Kaynan scratched his head. "Now that I think about it..."
He smiled awkwardly. "...I have no idea."
I almost blew my top. "Captain, I almost died!"
"I know."
"Captain!"
"Yeah, yeah."
I pointed at the ship, its shields damaged.
"Whatever. I don't care. Captain, you have to buy Erhan and me some premium Dragonkin rendang."
Kaynan immediately frowned. "Huh... do you know how expensive that is?"
I smiled. "The important thing is that you're paying."
Rin covered her mouth, trying to hold back her laughter. Veyra only shook his head. Mary chuckled. Kaynan raised both hands.
"We'll talk about it later."
I snorted. "Typical." But before I could say anything else—
"Big bro Zen!"
I immediately turned around. Erhan was still standing on the ship's deck. His face was pale. His body was visibly trembling. Yet he was still trying to smile. I ran toward him, followed by Rin and Mary. Captain Kaynan and Commander Veyra were still talking about something.
"Erhan!" I leaped high into the air and landed on the ship's deck. Rin and Mary followed using the stairs. I immediately went over to him.
"Are you okay?"
Erhan slowly nodded. "Still alive."
I sighed in relief. "Good."
I gripped his shoulder. "Don't move around too much."
Erhan just smiled. "But I managed to help you, big bro."
I fell silent. He was right. This kid really had helped. If not for the wind he'd created earlier, I might not have been able to find an opening to attack that mage. I sighed.
"Yeah." I patted his head. "This time..." I gave him a small smile. "...you did great."
Erhan's eyes immediately lit up. "Seriously?"
"Don't let it go to your head."
"Hahaha!" Erhan laughed. But his laughter lasted only a few seconds. His body suddenly lost its balance, and I caught him at once.
"Erhan!"
"I'm just..." He yawned. "...sleepy."
I looked at his face. What a kid. He was on the verge of passing out and still had time to smile. I shook my head.
"You really pushed yourself too hard." I carried him inside the ship. "Come on."
I took him to the medical bay.
"Get some rest."
"But..."
"No buts." I pushed him toward the ship's medical bay. "If you pass out later, I'll be the one stuck dealing with it."
Erhan finally obeyed. But before going inside, he turned to me. I carried him into the medical bay.
"Big bro."
"What?"
"Is Captain going to be mad?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Mad about what?"
Erhan pointed outside. "Well... we destroyed half the parking lot."
I looked at him for a moment, then shrugged.
"The Alliance forces can deal with the damage. It's not our problem."
Erhan stared at me in confusion.
"Besides, the Captain has no right to be mad."
I pointed outside. "We're the ones who should be mad. This all happened because of the thing the Captain picked up."
I flashed a wide smile. "I've already demanded premium Dragonkin rendang. We're going to eat well later."
Erhan immediately perked up. "Wait, seriously? That expensive rendang?"
"Yep."
"Do you really think the Captain's cheap enough to buy it for us?"
I smiled. "We'll force him."
"Hahahah!"
Erhan chuckled. But his laughter slowly faded. His eyes began to close. I noticed immediately.
"Hey." There was no response.
"Erhan?" His body went completely limp. I immediately carried him inside.
"What a kid..." I laid him down on one of the beds in the medical bay. His breathing was steady, but his face looked extremely pale. He had overused his magic far too much. I watched him for a few moments. Earlier... he'd even started bleeding from the nose. If I'd been just a little late... I shook my head.
"Don't do anything stupid like that again." I knew he couldn't hear me. But I said it anyway. A short while later, Rin and Mary entered carrying a special magical medical device.
"How's Erhan doing?" Rin asked as she set up a device resembling a laser scanner beside Erhan. Rin bent the scanner until it was aimed directly at Erhan's body.
Bzzzt...
A thin beam of light swept over him.
Several symbols appeared on the device's small screen.
Rin studied the examination results intently.
I stood beside the bed.
"This kid pushed himself using too much magic, and now he's like this."
Rin nodded. "Probably because he saw you having trouble fighting the enemy, right?"
I was silent. "He was too worried."
Mary, standing on the other side of the bed, smiled faintly. "That's called caring, you know, Zen."
I turned toward her. "Huh?"
Mary chuckled. "You two really are close."
I scratched my head. "Yeah... he's my little brother."
Rin glanced at me. "Your little brother?"
"Yeah."
Rin looked at me with a confused, almost disgusted expression. "I didn't know words like that could come out of your mouth, Zen."
I was a little annoyed by Rin's comment. I looked at the sleeping Erhan.
"What else was I supposed to call him?"
Rin gave a faint smile. "Who knows?"
Mary then checked Erhan's condition. "He's just severely exhausted. Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be any serious damage to his body."
I sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."
Rin turned off the scanner. "But he can't use a large amount of magic for a while."
I nodded. "How long?"
"At least until his body recovers." I sighed.
"Then tomorrow, he can just stay in bed."
Hearing that, Mary immediately looked at me.
"Tomorrow?"
I nodded. "Captain said we're leaving tomorrow morning."
Rin fell silent. Then she looked at me with a slightly strange expression.
"Zen..."
"Hm?"
"After something like this..." She pointed outside. "...you really think we're still leaving tomorrow morning?"
I fell silent. She had a point. After being attacked by a mysterious group, suffering damage to the ship, having several crew members injured, and with Commander Veyra himself getting involved... our journey most likely wasn't going to proceed according to plan. I sighed.
"Yeah..."
I looked at Erhan. "...looks like our trip is going to be delayed a little."
Suddenly—
BEEP!
A sound came from the ship's communications device. The three of us turned toward it. A message appeared on the medical bay's main screen.
[WARNING — SHIP AREA ACCESS RESTRICTED]
Rin frowned.
"What now?"
I immediately got a bad feeling. "Don't tell me there's another enemy."
Mary stood up. "I'll check."
But before we could move, Captain Kaynan's voice came through the communicator. "All crew, remain at your assigned positions." His tone was different. Unlike usual. Serious. Very serious.
"No one leaves the ship."
Rin and I exchanged glances. Then Veyra's voice came through the same channel.
"Ed."
"I know."
"What did you find?"
There was silence for several seconds. Then Kaynan answered.
"A trace."
"What kind of trace?"
Kaynan didn't answer right away. I could hear his footsteps through the communicator. Then—
"A mana trace." I frowned. "Mana?" Rin immediately became serious.
Veyra asked again. "How strong is it?"
Kaynan answered quietly. "Strong enough to leave a mark after the magic has dissipated."
I stood up. "Captain..."
Kaynan's voice came through again. "Zen."
"Hm?"
"Don't come out."
I frowned. "Why?"
"Because..."
Kaynan's voice paused for a moment. "...I found something where that mage disappeared."
Rin and I exchanged glances. "What?" There was no answer for several seconds. Then Kaynan's voice came through. "A symbol." My heart suddenly began beating faster. I didn't know why. But that word made my head ache. A symbol. I'd seen it before. Not here. Not on the ship. Not in the real world. I'd seen it in a dream. A white-haired man. Children from various races. And a voice I could never quite hear.
I clutched my head. "Ugh..."
Rin immediately came over to me. "Zen?"
I closed my eyes. "What kind of symbol?"
Kaynan still hadn't answered.
Then Veyra's voice came through the communicator.
"Ed."
"Hm?"
"Don't touch that symbol."
"I know."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
The connection cut out.
I opened my eyes.
Rin was still staring at me.
"What's wrong?"
I shook my head. "I don't know." I looked at Erhan, who was still asleep. Then I looked at the medical bay door. For some reason... ever since the fight, something had felt different. Not just because we'd been attacked. Not just because the mage had escaped. But because, for the first time... I felt that the object Captain Kaynan had picked up might not merely be something other people were searching for. Maybe... that object was searching for something too. And for some reason... I felt that something was me.
When I stepped outside, I saw something that brought me to a halt. Veyra was standing in the middle of the battle site. His blue crystal hovered in front of his hand. Blue light slowly swept across the entire ground. Several Alliance soldiers stood behind him, waiting for orders. Others were clearing away the remnants of the battle and tending to the injured station officers. Meanwhile, Kaynan and Rin were speaking with one of the station officers.
I walked closer.
"What happened?"
Rin turned toward me. "They found several injured officers behind the station."
"How bad is it?"
"Pretty bad."
Veyra answered without turning around. "They were attacked before the battle began."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
Veyra finally turned toward me. "That group didn't show up out of nowhere."
He pointed toward several officers being evacuated. "They were already around the station before you started fighting."
I fell silent. "They attacked the officers first."
Rin continued. "So no one could call for help."
I rubbed my chin. "So all of this was planned?"
Veyra nodded. "It seems that way." I looked toward the place where the mage had disappeared.
If that was true... then they already knew the ship's location. They knew when to attack. They even knew how to prevent help from arriving. And most troubling of all... they knew something about the object Captain Kaynan was carrying. I turned toward the Captain.
"Captain."
"Hm?"
"That object..."
Kaynan was silent. I continued.
"They really are after it, aren't they?"
Kaynan put both hands in his pockets. "Seems like it."
"Seems like it?"
I stared at him. "Captain, we almost got killed because of that thing."
Kaynan sighed. "I know."
Veyra fixed Kaynan with a sharp stare. "Ed."
Kaynan turned toward him. "What?"
"We need to talk."
Kaynan gave a faint smile. "I know."
Veyra looked at him. "And this time, don't change the subject."
Kaynan chuckled. "All right."
I frowned.
I didn't know what they were hiding.
But one thing was clear.
Tonight's battle wasn't the end of the problem.
If anything...
this was only the beginning.