Trascender : The Fourth Gust

Chapter 30 : The Bind

Kokuto stood amidst the settling gray ruin, Shinji's unconscious form draped over his shoulder like a sack of grain. The Swordwrath Monarch's gaze swept the desolation, lingering on Torento's grotesquely twisted corpse. A flicker of disdain crossed his impassive features. With a negligent wave of his free hand, a pulse of void-dark energy erupted, engulfing the fallen Monarch. No flame, no smoke; Torento's body simply unraveled, dissolving into motes of ash that scattered on the silent wind, joining the eternal fall. No eulogy. No marker. Only erasure.

Spatial energy crackled around Kokuto. He stepped forward, not into a rift, but through the fabric of reality itself, folding distance into insignificance with pure speed. Universe 6 blurred and vanished behind him as he traversed the shimmering, chaotic currents of the void, Shinji a dead weight against the unnatural stillness of his crimson scarf. His destination: Universe 3. His objective: the Fifth Trascender. Saganbo's command was absolute.

Merus materialized back in the cavern sanctuary within moments of Kokuto's departure. The air still thrummed with the fading echoes of cataclysm – the psychic scream of Nirvana's final attack, the thunderclap of Shinji's desperate detonations, the chilling silence after Kokuto's void-shear. But the overwhelming, clashing signatures – Shinji's defiant golden-green storm, Nirvana's decaying pink miasma, Torento's chaotic pulse – were gone. Snuffed out. Only the cold, sterile scent of void-travel and a lingering ozone burn remained.

*Where is he?*  Merus's cerulean skin seemed to pale, his ancient eyes scanning the psychic residue. *The energy... it didn't fade naturally. It was... severed. Captured? Don't tell me he actually fell... Did they take him?* A cold dread, deeper than any cosmic void, settled in his gut. The Trascender, their hope, their weapon against oblivion... silenced.

A soft groan echoed from the cavern floor. Miryoku stirred, her starlight hair tangled, her luminous violet eyes fluttering open, filled with confusion and residual pain. She pushed herself up, wincing as her bandaged chest protested.

"Y-You're awake?" Merus's voice was taut, the usual divine resonance strained.

Miryoku's gaze darted around the cavern, taking in Merus's grim expression, the absence of Shinji, and Kuro still unconscious nearby. "Merus... what happened? The battle... Shinji?"

Merus knelt beside her, his voice low and urgent. "The energies vanished. Abruptly. Nirvana and Torento... their signatures are extinguished. Shinji's... gone. Not dead – his core signature persists, faintly, but it's moving. Fast. Away from here. He was taken." The word hung heavy in the air. Taken.

Miryoku's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with horror. "Taken? By... by the Monarch? How do we get him back?!"

"One Monarch signature remains faintly in the residue," Merus said, his mind racing, tracing the psychic trail Kokuto left. "The victor. He took Shinji... but he's not heading towards Saganbo's core universe going to the 7th's direction. He's vectored towards the 5th... a significant detour. Why bypass the direct route? Why risk encountering us if he looped back? It makes no tactical sense unless..." His brow furrowed. "Unless his primary mission wasn't just Shinji."

Another groan. Kuro stirred, his obsidian eyes snapping open with sharp, analytical clarity, instantly taking in the situation: Merus's tension, Miryoku's distress, Shinji's absence. He sat up, rubbing his temple where Nirvana's Rod had struck him. "Status report," he demanded, his voice raspy but focused.

"Alright," Merus said, standing, his form radiating a renewed, grim determination. "Since you're both functional, listen closely. Kokuto – the Swordwrath Monarch – has Shinji. He's unconscious but alive. Kokuto is en route away from Saganbo's throne, towards Universe 5, but he must eventually return to Universe 3523. We intercept him before he delivers Shinji. We hit him hard, we hit him fast. Kuro, you have the key."