They panted, near collapse, their eyes darting across the alien desolation, searching for another familiar face in this death-soaked land. Their legs trembled, yet they stood resolute amid the smoldering wreckage of twisted metal.
"Raizen!" Kael's hoarse cry broke through the haze, raw with ash and disbelief, laced with boundless relief. He lurched forward a few steps, then froze under Raizen's icy, probing stare from the cliff above. "You're… you're alive? How did you escape that explosion?"
Seiryu followed close behind, her dark eyes locking onto Raizen with unmasked worry, tinged with a faint, reproachful edge. Her grip tightened on the small scalpel, but her gaze softened briefly, seeing him stand tall despite his wounds. That warmth vanished as she turned to Kael, her eyes hardening to ice.
"Speak, Kael," she snapped, suppressed fury simmering. "What do you know about this? I warned you Valen was a dangerous lunatic, but you blindly trusted him and let him do that insane thing!"
Raizen said nothing, swiftly descending the cliff using Selena's rope, his wooden spear thudding into the ashen earth as he landed before his two closest friends. His cold gaze flickered with profound relief at seeing Kael and Seiryu alive after the blast. At least two more survived… But what of the others—Veyra, Leon, Anya, Roric, Elara? He buried the questions and gnawing worry, focusing on the urgent present.
"I'm still here," he answered Kael, his voice low, resolute, and commanding. "But why are you here? What the hell really happened with the Asvaria machine? Valen Kabe—what did he do?" His piercing eyes bored into Kael's—the childhood friend, the genius scientist who'd faced countless trials with him in the Eternal Seed camp, always wearing an optimistic smile even in the darkest moments. Then he glanced at Seiryu, the doctor who'd quietly supported him, her eyes now a storm of anger and concern, as if shielding him from those he'd once trusted most.
Kael shook his head frantically, clutching the warped metal slab until his knuckles whitened, his voice heavy with regret, helplessness, and a creeping fear. "It wasn't my fault, Raizen, believe me," he said, his pale blue eyes dimmed by ash and haunting memories. "It was Valen Kabe—he activated Asvaria on his own. I tried to warn him the machine wasn't stable, that we needed more time to check safety parameters, but he wouldn't listen. He said it was our only chance to change everything—to erase past mistakes, to save us from inevitable collapse. I tried to stop him, but he shoved me from the main console, and then that blinding white light swallowed everything. Somehow, Seiryu and I were pulled here with you—I don't know why, or where this is." He raised the metal slab, its faint red circuitry flickering like a dying lamp. "This… it's part of Asvaria's core. I'm not sure how much of it still works, but with time and tools, I might figure out what happened—and, more importantly, how to get us home."
Seiryu let out a cold scoff, brushing disheveled black hair from her soot-streaked face, her voice icy with unrestrained anger cutting through the heavy air. "Valen Kabe is a madman driven by ambition," she said, her knife-sharp gaze sweeping from Raizen to Kael, brimming with unhidden reproach. "He activated the machine despite every warning, every erratic data point. I tried to pull him from the console, but he threw me down, and everything shattered. I saw the white light engulf the lab, heard Leon's final scream before I was dragged into that chaotic vortex. Raizen, I don't know what corner of the universe we're in, but I swear we won't die here—not because of Valen's lunacy, not for anyone or anything." She pointed to the forest, where a larger Asvaria fragment lay tilted among charred trees, its metal surface etched with the same red spiral symbol as the Twistfangs' brows—now glowing faintly, like a fading ember in the cold wind, black smoke curling from it like an unresolved curse.
Raizen tightened his grip on the spear, a complex sorrow flashing in his eyes as he thought of Valen Kabe—the Eternal Seed mentor who'd taught him strategy and politics in Thiên Long Tower's long nights, yet was consumed by a quest for absolute power and reckless experiments beyond moral bounds. He recalled Valen's smile, cold but brimming with arrogant confidence, saying, "I'll show you a new world, Raizen—one where we'll be gods." Now he understood—that "new world" was Noxvaria, a living hell Valen had callously hurled them into without warning or hesitation.
"Valen," Raizen muttered, his voice low and fraught with anger and futility. "He always wanted to master time—now he's thrown us all here, no idea if we'll live or die, no clue what we'll face." He turned to Kael and Seiryu, his gaze regaining its steely resolve. "If we're to survive this damned place, I need both of you. Kael, use that genius brain to study that wreckage, find any way to use it or at least understand it. Seiryu, you're in charge of keeping us alive, especially Kaelric and those two Aerith—they're wounded and spent. I don't know where the others are—Leon, Veyra, Anya, anyone—but if they're alive, I'll find them later. For now, focus on surviving."
Selena stepped forward from behind Raizen, her gleaming sword raised across her chest like a warning, her sharp voice slicing through the group's heavy reunion. "Done with your family chat?" she growled, her dual-toned eyes scanning Kael and Seiryu with unmasked suspicion. "I don't care about your past—I want to know who you really are, and what that burning scrap heap has to do with the Duskborn. It's not from Noxvaria—I can smell the deadly danger radiating from it, and I don't like outsiders bringing threats near me without clear answers." She pointed her blade at the smoking Asvaria fragment in the forest, her fiery eye flaring like a warning flame, her hand gripping the hilt as if ready to strike.
Raizen calmly faced her, his voice low but firm and persuasive. "They're not enemies—they're my comrades, dragged here unwillingly like me. That's the wreckage of the Asvaria machine from our world—it brought us to Noxvaria through someone else's mistake. I don't know if it's tied to the Duskborn, but if you want to survive them and the Shadowfangs Kaelric mentioned, we need to work together. I don't know this land, but I know how to fight, how to plan—and I see you're a true warrior. Help us, and we'll protect what little both sides have left."
Kaelric stepped up, clutching his bleeding shoulder, his hoarse voice steady with the resolve of a leader seasoned by hard choices. "He's right, Selena," he said, his gaze flickering with initial reluctance but settling into grudging acknowledgment. "I don't easily trust outsiders, but this young man saved my life twice today—once from the Twistfang in the pit, and again from the pack at the cliff's base. If these people bring danger, I swear I'll be the first to drive this spear through their hearts—but right now, we need allies. The Aerith tribe alone can't stand against the Shadowfangs' brutality—you know that as well as I do."
Selena slowly lowered her sword, its edge grazing the ashen ground, but her dual eyes never left the three outsiders, like a lone wolf warily sizing up a strange herd before deciding to strike or watch. "I never fully trust outsiders," she said, her voice cold as the night wind sweeping the desolate cliff. "But you fight well, and if that burning metal can help me destroy the Duskborn, I want to know more. Fine, I'll go with you for now—but I'll watch your every move. Noxvaria doesn't forgive betrayal, and neither do I. Don't test my patience, outsider—I've lost too much to learn that trust is a luxury this cursed place doesn't afford."
Before anyone could say more, the Twistfangs' roars echoed again from the distance, closer than ever, now mingled with heavy, rhythmic footfalls—perhaps the Shadowfangs, drawn by the explosion's din and the acrid metal smoke. The sounds reverberated through the dead forest, low and menacing like war drums of death, making the two remaining Aerith cling tighter, their eyes wide with panic as they stared into the approaching darkness.
Raizen gripped his spear, his gaze swiftly scanning the cliff and the forest below, where black smoke from the Asvaria crash still billowed, forming a temporary veil that partially obscured the advancing beasts' sight. "We can't stay here," he said, his voice sharp as a blade cutting through the tense air. "We need to get off this cliff now, find a way out of this forest—the smoke will blind them for a bit. Kaelric, lead us to the Aerith outpost. Selena, take the rear, watch for a flank attack." He turned to Kael and Seiryu, his eyes cold but flashing with unyielding resolve. "You heard me. We're not in Saigon anymore—this is Noxvaria, and I need you both sharp and focused. Kael, don't let Valen's madness win—find a way to use that wreckage. Seiryu, your job is to keep us alive, especially the wounded."
Kaelric nodded without hesitation, descending the cliff using Selena's firmly tied hide rope. The two Aerith followed, their trembling hands clutching the lifeline, slipping on slick moss but pressing on, driven by survival's thin thread. The jutting rocks were icy under their palms, green moss clinging to their fingers, as if the cliff itself sought to drag them into the abyss below, where the Twistfangs' furious roars still echoed threateningly.
Raizen, Kael, and Seiryu climbed down after them. The thick black smoke from the Asvaria crash spread across the area, swirling through the last charred trees of the dead forest, blurring the path of the nearing beasts. Their roars grew fainter but didn't vanish—they were still out there, lurking in the shadows, patiently awaiting another chance to strike.