THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 221. THE SHADOW AND THE WARNING

Sagiri stood at the center of the forest clearing, his blades clenched tightly in his hand as the darkness around him began to move not as individuals, but as a single, living mass. The Shadow Unit no longer struck in isolated bursts. They converged, their movements blending until they became indistinguishable, a storm of fleeting silhouettes that pressed inward from every direction. It was the whirlpool shadow formation. Not many can escape the formation. It was meant to trap, and by the time it broke, the one at the centre of it could be nothing but small pieces of what they once were. The more violent the formation became, the more cuts were torn into his body.

Blades flashed within the shifting gloom. Each step Sagiri took was met with another strike, each defense forcing him deeper into a tightening circle. The air itself seemed to constrict, leaving no path of escape. He could no longer track individual attackers; they were everywhere at once, a vortex of silent death.

They had him cornered.

Sagiri’s breathing grew heavier as shallow cuts accumulated across his body. Even with his high endurance for cuts and stabs with his now weakened body, he could not heal, and the last of the black rot residue was yet to disappear to leave his body. The shadows advanced with merciless certainty, their synchronized assault allowing no room for escape. The mass surged even higher and even darker. How were they even able to do that?

For a fleeting instant, Sagiri understood the truth. This was not a battle. It was an execution. They could have killed him already, but after what he had done, they must have considered him a high threat, and even with the formation, they remained cautious. They were deadly and cautious. Even at his full strength, they remained a deadly threat. The current formation was one of their deadliest, but Sagiri was sure they had hundreds of formations more, each one more deadly than the last. Sagiri fell to his knees in agony. He could feel himself fade from the deep cuts and blood loss. He could not make it much longer.

Then just as he was clinging to his last shred of consciousness, Something changed.

A violent distortion ripped through the encroaching darkness, like a blade slicing through fabric. The shadows suddenly faltered and slowed as a new presence entered the battlefield, one so fast that even Sagiri, with all his heightened senses, could barely perceive it. Well, they were crippled a little since he gave in to the darkness inside of him. The whirlpool of shadows pulled back a little at the sudden interruption, but Sagiri’s condition was still bad.

The whirlpool of shadows held their formation for a while, but suddenly, a single streak of motion tore through the Shadow Unit and the formation with so much force that the ground shook. One operative was thrown aside before their strike could land. Another was sent crashing into a tree, their formation fracturing for the first time. The mass of shadows recoiled and faded. Sagiri felt a powerful arm seize him around the waist and hoisted him off the ground.

The world blurred.

The forest vanished into streaks of shadow and moonlight as he was carried forward at unimaginable speed. The wind roared in his ears, and before he could even attempt to comprehend what was happening, the motion stopped as abruptly as it had begun. The shadow placed him on the ground gently before he retrieved something. Sagiri, even with his now crippled senses, could not perceive any killing intent from him. Just like the shadow unit, he could not even perceive his presence.

Sagiri did not have even the strength to resist, and he choked down the round substance that was shoved into his mouth. Sagiri could not handle the pain and the agony anymore, and he passed out right after. When he came to again, he was still being hoisted up by the shadow man, and he was still tearing through the terrain like a falcon. This was the fastest Sagiri had ever seen a person move. He was a blur. Sagiri was still drowsy, but he was not in too much pain now. His vision was still blurred, however, and with the current speed they were moving at, he would not see anything properly. The shadow man finally set him down firmly on solid ground. His senses were regaining their sharpness, and he could perceive the hundred people around them.

He staggered slightly, regaining his balance, and realized he now stood at the center of a warrior’s barricade. A defensive formation of heavily armed fighters, their shields raised and weapons ready, formed an impenetrable perimeter around him. Torches flickered along the barricade, pushing back the darkness. Had the shadow saved him only to dump him straight in the enemy camp? Even Sagiri could not have seen that coming. The figure who had brought him here was already turning away.

Sagiri caught only a glimpse. A silhouette cloaked in motion, edges blurred as though the world struggled to keep pace with him. Even standing still, the man seemed poised to vanish at any moment. Then he spoke, and sagiri froze.

"This is the only way to save you for now. Don’t do anything stupid." The voice was calm, familiar, and unmistakable.

Sagiri’s eyes widened in realization.

"...Salka."

The name left his lips in a breath of disbelief. The figure paused for the briefest moment, just long enough for Sagiri to see the faint outline of his profile illuminated by the torchlight. There was no time for further explanation, sagiri could already hear the warrior in the place start to whisper in recognition. He was still wearing the Galka Academy combat suit.

He should have known that only one man could move that fast. A man strong enough to break the deadly whirlpool formation in one move. And right now, he was grateful the man was not on the other side. Just what other secrets did Salka have under his sleeve? If he was such a deadly shadow unit member? Why did he quit to become an academy captain?

In the next heartbeat, Salka was gone. He vanished like a shadow and dissolved back into the night with the same impossible speed with which he had arrived. Beyond the barricade, the forest remained shrouded in darkness. The Shadow Unit lingered at its edges, their presence still undetectable, but sagiri could feel their presence looming, like predators assessing a sudden and unexpected obstacle. It seemed the shadow unit was on a different order from the unit he had currently been dumped in the middle of. Their orders were to kill him, but the squad that Salka had dumped him with must have had orders to capture him. The only reason they were not attacking now must have been because this was now another’s territory.

Sagiri tightened his grip on Nokai’s handle, his mind racing. Salka’s intervention had saved him from certain death, but it had also raised countless questions. Why had he appeared now? And what danger awaited that required Sagiri to remain within this fortified sanctuary?

"Raise your hands in the air and take a knee!!" A command rang suddenly, and Sagiri could feel the thousands of weapons pointed at him. He had not expected this turn of events, but in his current state, this was the best. For now, he would heed Salka’s words and not do anything stupid.