novelraw Chapter 55: Out Like a Star
Chapter 55: Out Like a Star
He led the charge against the almighty being, as if waging war on the Sun itself. How quickly it all burnt; once the fulminare took motion, the hue of the clouds shifted to crimson, if only for a moment.
A shock wave of heat roared, knocking him back amidst his rush as he witnessed lines of burning energy lash out through the sky. The tendrils of solar heat spanned miles, leaving trails of fire in the air with each movement.
["I understood it, even with what meager sense of self I had left. The man, the force I resisted, was nothing short of a god. I knew that, if I didn’t exist, there would be nothing humanity could do to stand against something like him. More than ever, I understood my purpose."]
"This has gone on long enough, Champion of Mankind," Ignatius coldly claimed, hovering to a higher point of the stratosphere. "If I mean to put you down, I understand what I must do. It will need to be complete obliteration, in one shot."
From the fulminare’s position, an emission of burning, white light manifested, expanding into humming rings. The scenic view into the bare cosmos was overwhelmed by the incinerating shine. It was blinding, more intense than the sunlight, as if peering into the exposed soul of a star itself.
The man who burnt countless worlds was fixated above like an angel of death, bathed in the burning light. Each ring was connected, covering miles across the stratosphere before converging into a single point.
"If a being with your power intends to stand against the fulminare, I will eliminate you by any means. Even if your world will be burnt for that purpose," Ignatius reprimanded, his elemental hair turning to the same, pale-white shade of fire.
A light so bright, it could be seen from any point of the world; a risen sun, expanding its indiscriminate shine to all corners of the Earth.
"I have been sent to thousands of worlds. So many have been burnt, so many–to nothing. It’s for...the greater good. Make no mistake; I hold no ill-will towards you, Champion of Mankind. The strength you’ve shown today is among the greatest I’ve witnessed. Be proud," the grand fulminare complimented. "I will grant you the respect of listening to your last words and committing them to memory."
Against the great, bright end, the lone human stood atop the cloud in silence. Whatever was left of his active consciousness understood the words relayed by the fulminare, though he did not care for them.
["If you were a fox and a hunter shot your entire family dead, claiming it was for the benefit of the ecosystem–what would you feel? Maybe it is for the "greater good" of the big, old universe out there, but that’s not my concern.
What matters is those around me, the world I was born into, the people I care for. If the "greater good" calls for the damnation of humanity, then let the bad come."]
The will seeded within Seven’s mind manifested physically, expelling the akashic fluid into countless limbs, intertwining forth. A great mass of arms, all connected, spiraling and morphing; the vague shape melted and solidified into an ebon barrel.
A biological cannon; born of adaptations allowing the cellular restructuring into both guns and space-faring ships, resulting in a one-hundred meter long super-weapon. It was entirely born of the silent man’s conviction, with one, simple goal:
["Make God bleed."]
The impervious presence fixated above him might as well be nothing less than that; a "god."
Since the injection of the akashic fragment into his body, from each blow suffered, to each time his unstable body fixed itself, the residual kinetic force remained, patiently waiting for release.
Each cell in his body was supercharged, throttling like a parade of triumphant soldiers ready to cheer forth. The sky rumbled with the build-up of such immense, volatile energy, as did the sky burn with the gathering of the pale flame above.
It was blinding, all-enveloping; the white-hot fire coalesced into a series of rings, as if guiding the heat into one, immaculate point. From the golden man’s direction with a single downfall of his hand, it descended.
"This is the Heart of a Dying Star; collapsing unto this world," Ignatius claimed.
At the same moment, the biological cannon fired.
Every ounce of pain, each burn, each impact; all of it was condensed into that shot, taking the form of a helix of silver light.
–
From beyond the reaches of the sector into the barren landscapes, the pale lights ignited the sky for all to see.
"What is that!? It’s blinding!--" Alexander gasped, shielding his eyes.
Haoyu frantically smashed the keys on his laptop, studying the monitor, "These readings...It’s impossible–the source of the phenomena in the sky, it’s beyond anything we’ve seen!"
"How bad?" Alexander asked hesitantly, holding onto the railing inside the truck.
"If it reaches the surface, the damage will cover the country, no, the entire continent..." Haoyu calculated before mumbling to himself. "It will be the death of mankind–wait, no, it can’t be...?"
"Well, spit it out–!" Alexander impatiently demanded.
"There’s a second energy source...It might just be him," Haoyu reasoned.
Outside the fleeing vehicles, the Proto-Reapers acted as extra sets of eyes, observing the chaos from a distance, unable to get any closer, as much as Haoyu tried.
–
Beneath the great descent of the colorless fire, the released energy contested the world-burning heat. With every ounce of strength, each cell worked in unison to empower the force expelled from the organic cannon.
Yet, as hard as he fought, the heat overwhelmed; the shell around his body melted.
It felt as though he’d suddenly woken up, his consciousness unshrouded as though the abyss was reduced to ash. He sat there, at the world’s summit, consumed by the all-burning flames.
Grabbing a hold of space itself, frantic attempts were made to contort it, folding the bare sky to redirect the fire, yet the mystical flames burnt the very fabric of it.
He found himself completely enveloped in the pale light, though it wasn’t an agonizing experience. Perhaps it was just so hot that his mind could not register the pain, or his nerves burned away that fast. Either way, he held strong, though found once again, his mind reaching out, far, far away.
"...Hey, everyone," he whispered in his mind, transmitting his thoughts to those he was closest with.
Somehow, through his psionic mind, he could see inside the truck where his comrades all rode. The first to react was the giant, blonde-haired man, who jumped to his feet at the sound of his voice, "Seven–!?" Alexander gasped.
"His voice...? It’s not a communicator?" Haoyu questioned, taking the quiet earpiece out.
Those wounded heard it; May woke up, Lily’s eyes only somewhat opened, and though Shin remained in deep sleep, within the depths of his mind, the words reached him.
"It must be one of his adaptations. I never believed it could manifest in this way, but...Seven, can you hear me?" Haoyu spoke to the one not present in the vehicle.
"//Yeah.//"
Alexander nearly jumped at the response that flowed into each of their minds, "Woah...!"
"What’s the status out there? I can’t get any of the Proto-Reapers close. That light in the sky–" Haoyu asked patiently.
Pushing back against the pulsations of unending heat, Seven relayed his thoughts, ’--If I’m being honest, it’s not looking good here. Just one-hundred percent honesty. I’m going to try, though.’
With his fist smacking against the side of the interior, Alexander lamented with a self-loathing huff, "Seven, if you can make it out of there, nobody will think less–"
"//That’s not an option. Even if I tucked tail and ran, there wouldn’t be a world left to hide in. He intends to burn it, and me with it. So, give me the benefit of the doubt here, Alexander.//"
"Right, it was stupid to even suggest it," Alexander sighed, hearing the voice in his head with mixed emotions, though smiling. "’Course you’d never run."
May could only muster the strength for a meager outburst, "Seven, don’t–"
"//I’m not planning on dying, either. Let’s get that straight. One way or another, I’m making it through this, so–save my spot at lunch tomorrow.//"
Alexander couldn’t help but laugh, "Right, right. We gotcha."
"I suppose I will have to let the Professor know you will be tardy. I’ll set aside some notes for you, Seven," Haoyu assured.
Amidst the unsolvable heat, the words of his peers were a comfort. In that lonely void of fire, he burned, though in the same breath, he absorbed. With each moment his cells were incinerated, the heat was stored, building and building.
["Take in...every drop I can, every bit of it. Absorb as much as I can...if I can mitigate it, even just offset it–"]
Like a vacuum siphoning all the air into itself, he used his body as a vessel to bring in the unnatural fire. As he welcomed it, from within, it scorned his cells, drying the moisture from his body rapidly.
He endured it, until the limit was reached. While his body was cooked from the inside and out, thoughts of the comfort of his bed back at the academy surfaced in his mind, lounging with his peers, even the lessons from the Professor.
If it was to distract himself from the pain, he rejected it, embracing the sensation as he held his hands out forward.
["One more time–expel it."]
With his back to the parting clouds, he could make out the vague silhouette of the fulminare beyond the sea of pale heat. Each dwindling cell was used, shifting his right arm into that of a long barrel.
From above, Ignatius guided the world-ending flame, though even his immutable gaze took note of the lone human’s persistence, "Even now, you’re still–?"
Beyond the warrior’s words, it was Seven’s grit that manifested through the last cannon. Using all of the fire absorbed into his breaking body, each droplet of energy, he shot it back–
In the form of a snow-white pillar, ascending through the great, blue beyond, the last hope fired. As his skin cracked and his bones powderized to dust, he saw it, as clear as day: as the final gift he bestowed soared forth, there was a look of genuine shock placed on the impervious alien’s face. With his consciousness fading along with his body, he was able to ease himself with a smile.
["Didn’t expect a human to do that, did you?"]
The impact of the bio-formed cannon erupted in the stratosphere with a great, silver glow, expanding across the sky. A shine seen from all corners of the world, as though two shooting stars had crashed into one another.
Last in the sky, the golden figure remained, yet not unscathed. The right hand of the fulminare was held out in front of his body, as though having used it to shield himself. Much of the skin on that limb was left scarred, dripping fresh blood onto the clouds.
Ignatius hovered there in silence before the faintest delight blessed his lips, "Remarkable, Seven."
With those quiet words relayed to the clouds, the fulminare ascended with one push off the air, exiting the stratosphere.
["On March Fifteenth, 2030, at roughly 11:38 P.M, Sector Fifty, along with the surrounding territories, were wiped off the face of the Earth ."]
["On March Fifteenth, 2030, at roughly 11:38 P.M, the soldier known as "Seven" went MIA."]
["With the passing of mankind’s champion, the Fulminare were never seen again. Suddenly, swiftly, they were gone. Nobody knew why, exactly, perhaps it was out of respect for the young man’s spirit or that they simply no longer had interest in Earth after his passing."]