Anima Durans

“What…was that just now?”

A stroke of lightning cut across the sky in an instant. Even for my automaton eyes, tracking its movement was nearly impossible.

Derrick turned back, his expression a mix of confusion and worry. “I-I don’t know, but that magecraft…it felt familiar, didn’t it?”

“Right,” I replied. “It must have been the lieutenant.”

Keresaspa laughed at the suggestion, not out of derision, admiration. “My, what beauty! To think the lieutenant was this strong; she must have been holding back all this time.”

“Even so, it must have come at a great price. Will the offensive on Grausheim hold for much longer?” Derrick gripped the hilt of his sword, hands dripping with sweat.

I placed my hand on his shoulder; a standard attempt at easing nerves. “It will be fine. As long as we’re still standing, victory is still within reach. We’re the Problem Children of Barrack 12D, aren’t we? Anomalies that can turn the tide of battle at a moment’s notice?”

“Yeah…you’re right. I need to have faith in them.”

Good, it seemed that Derrick was regaining some confidence. At this stage in the war, our condition needed to be in top shape. Any measure of hesitation would result in a swift defeat.

From here on out, our journey throughout the districts became noticeably shorter, as the successive high districts seemed to shrink in total area. Lower districts were large in part due to their population, geography, and labor-intensive industries. Anything past District 12—Yana—was considered a “service environment,” where population greatly increased with urbanization and a higher paying job market.

The cities were dense, yes, but they were not impossible to navigate, thus allowing for more efficient modes of travel.

Having made our way past the dense cityscapes of Astra, we arrived at the border to the neighboring district, a vacant area with nothing but a single highway leading us ahead. It was empty, suspiciously so.

“...?” Keresaspa came to an abrupt stop.

“What is it?” I asked.

“This…is strange. What is it? This power? Is it small, or is it big? Nay, I cannot say.”

“...?”

I’d never seen this type of reaction from Keresaspa before. Her skill in discernment had always been supernaturally high. Even a mere scent was enough for her to decipher thousands of pieces of information in an instant. That was her true strength.

So why now, of all times, did she waver?

“...!” Suddenly, a purple, refulgent star shone in the brisk summer sky. Its sheer intensity was akin to a second sun. “That energy…it's enough to wipe out an entire district!”

“Can we evade its pursuit?” Derrick asked.

I shook my head, “Unlikely. It’s simply too little time with too great a distance.”

“Damn…”

Our options were limited to an all or nothing gamble, a clash to decide the fate of the war. There was only one person who could make such a call on a moment’s notice.

Standing firmly before us was Keresaspa, a wide, childlike grin stretched across her face. Even after witnessing the aftermath of the Gaulf Strait, she felt no apprehension or hesitation in her quest for might. Even the ultimate weapon of the Shura was but another challenger for her to annihilate.

“In other words, we must face the great wall before us and overcome it, yes? Quite the simple ordeal.”

There was no use in reasoning with her. We knew that from the moment we met. It was that very conviction that gave Derrick and I the strength to trust her with this responsibility.

“Keresaspa,” I began. “Assuming you can intercept that weapon, how long will it take you to regenerate?”

“Well, it would take around 20 minutes if it attacks my cells, maybe up to an hour if it assaults individual atoms.”

“A 40 minute downtime…it’s not good, but it certainly isn’t a death sentence.”

“Aye, I will meet you when the time is right. But for now, let us do battle!” With a resounding battle cry, Keresaspa took to the sky, her fists poised to strike her sworn enemy. If we’re lucky, the bomb will detonate high enough in the air so that we may avoid any unnecessary damage.

That, however, was the best case scenario.

We were on a thin highway with nothing but road for miles behind us, and a large expanse of water underfoot. The ensuing blast would likely flash-boil the water, cooking us alive, while the intense heat would vaporize us in an instant. We needed to come up with something, and fast.

Now, think, Ereth! What could you use to overcome this obstacle? To increase your odds of survival by even a fraction?

Should I waste Talismans? Were they even strong enough to withstand the blast? What about my Mang? No. That won’t work. No amount of refinement could endure something like that.

My mind raced through the endless possibilities, only to end with the same conclusion every time—absolute failure.

Was this all I, the son of the Legendary Hero, could manage?

Just when I had nearly run out of options, a small spark of light emerged from the hilt of my sword.

“You…have an idea?”

“...”

It glimmered with a faint golden light. Words could not wholly describe the feeling, but it was as though the ‘feelings’ of the blade were coursing through me. I knew its intentions, and it knew mine.

“Alright, Sword of Promised Victory. I’ll try it your way.”

Responding to the broken sword’s demands, I thrust the tip of the blade into the concrete pavement below, before releasing a mountainous wave of Mang.

“Get behind me, Derrick, and don’t move an inch!”

“Alright!”

Up until now, I had only taken a collection of vague, scattered dreams and converted them into tangible power for the Broken Sword of Promised Victory. Never did I think to select and express individual wishes. Something of that caliber was simply beyond me.

And yet, here and now, I knew that I could do it; that the Broken Sword of Promised Victory had granted me its blessing.

“Gather together! Grant your blessings of protection and austerity! Anima Durans! ”

Golden hands of translucent spiritual energy solidified in the air, forming a protective barrier around Derrick and I. Its warmth was akin to a mother’s warm embrace. It was a familiar sensation, a sensation I had felt long ago, though I had no memory of such an event.

“Hold on!” I commanded.

A brilliant light illuminated the world for but a fraction of a moment, reducing the world to a thin white canvas, before dyeing it with deep purple strokes of flames. Every cell of my body shuttered under the pressure of a thousand exploding suns. Never had I been met with such vast quantities of energy. Having now witnessed the destructive power of the V.E.Ls , the horror of the Gaulf Strait was now sickeningly familiar. No ordinary human could survive an encounter with the devil himself.

Though, I suppose an exception could be made for me, a doll lacking in ‘humanity.’

An instant that seemed to last an eternity.

A veritable hurricane of hellfire.

On the outside world, I’m sure that only a mere few seconds had passed, yet it felt like the bombardment had lasted an eternity.

“Derrick! Are you there?”

“Yeah! J-Just Barely!”

“Just hold on for a few more seconds!”

“I…I’ll trust you, Ereth!”

Agonizing second after agonizing second. I felt it. My hands. They were burning, burning a bright red, just as any heated object would. Perhaps if I were human, I would be burned to a crisp right now. It was only thanks to my father’s meticulous design that survival was possible at all.

Three seconds.

Four.

Five.

And then, a dim.

My vision, once blurred by the extreme increase in temperature, had slowly begun returning to normal. Anima Durans had all but broken, yet the ability proved invaluable. We survived the explosion of the V.E.L super-weapon.

“Kere…Keresaspa?” Derrick scanned the battlefield with a worried, almost helpless expression. “Is she…here?”

The area around us had been reduced to a literal blank slate, the water beneath the highway having evaporated in an instant. Not a single trace of life had remained.

Not one.

In other words…

“I don’t know.”

Those were the only words I could conjure without irritating my already extreme nausea.

Keresaspa? Dead? The very idea was laughable. I had thought the woman invincible above heaven and earth. Nothing would bind her. Nothing would make her kneel.

And yet, I found myself doubting her very strength. My faith had wavered, if only for a moment. I really was terrible at keeping my promises.

“It is irrelevant.” I returned to my robotic inflection, trying my best to keep the madness at bay. “We have one mission, and one mission only—slay Skadhi Bhattacharya. Her sacrifice will prove necessary in that endeavor.”

A pause.

“After all…” I continued. “You have a certain grudge against that man, don’t you?”

“Yes…but this sacrifice…is it really necessary?”

“I’m just a machine, remember? It’s not my responsibility to decide such things. I need only follow the kingdom’s justice.”

“You know, I once told you that I was jealous of that attitude, but I find myself increasingly annoyed by that passivity of yours.”

“I wouldn’t call it passivity. It’s more like distance. ”

Derrick let out an exasperated sigh, as though the conversation drained him of his energy by the second. “Fine. Let’s just get out of here and put an end to all this. I can’t stand to see anyone else die.”

I lowered my head in response. Any more would only worsen his mental condition. Was there anything I wanted to say, could have said, that Derrick would find suitable? No. Probably not. It wasn’t my obligation to care for it. I was a soldier, after all.

And yet, something about me felt sharp, hot, and inflamed. My chest expanded. I could hardly breathe when I looked at Derrick.

Was I in pain?