Gacha Summoner: Pulled into Another World

Chapter 20: After the Storm

**Chapter 20: After the Storm**

The sound of the mountain’s collapse still echoed in the distance, reverberating through the valley as the dust cloud slowly settled. The silence that followed was heavy, thick with the weight of everything they had just survived. Yuuji sat on his knees, his hands trembling as he clutched the now-dim Blade of Eterna. His breath came in ragged gasps, his body utterly drained from the effort it had taken to stop the chaos.

Beside him, the knight leaned heavily on his shield, his armor dented and scratched from the battle. The archer, still catching her breath, looked at the mountain with wide eyes, as if she could hardly believe they had made it out alive. The mage, though exhausted, moved to Yuuji’s side, her eyes filled with concern.

“Yuuji,” she said softly, kneeling beside him. “Are you okay?”

Yuuji nodded weakly, though every muscle in his body ached, and his mind was clouded with fatigue. “I’m… fine,” he muttered, though it was clear he was far from it. The strain of channeling the Blade’s power had taken its toll, but they had succeeded. That was all that mattered.

The knight let out a long sigh, sinking down onto the grass beside them. “I still can’t believe we made it out of there,” he said, staring up at the sky. “For a moment, I thought we were done for.”

The archer nodded, her face pale. “Me too. That… thing… whatever it was. I’ve never felt anything like that before.”

“It was chaos,” the mage said quietly, her eyes flickering with the memory of the dark power they had faced. “The purest form of it. We were lucky to survive.”

Yuuji exhaled deeply, the weight of their victory settling in. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “It wasn’t just luck. We stopped it—together. The Blade, the seals… we did it.”

The mage smiled softly, her hand resting gently on his shoulder. “You did it, Yuuji. You were the one who wielded the Blade. Without you, the world would have fallen into chaos.”

Yuuji frowned, his grip tightening on the Blade’s hilt. “But it’s not over, is it?”

The others looked at him, confusion and concern flickering in their eyes. The knight sat up, his expression serious. “What do you mean? We destroyed the entity, reforged the seals. The chaos is gone.”

Yuuji shook his head, staring at the Blade as it rested in his hands. The once-blinding light had faded to a dull glow, its power diminished after the intense battle. But in the silence that followed the collapse of the mountain, Yuuji could still feel something lingering—a faint presence, a whisper of the chaos that had been unleashed.

“The chaos isn’t gone,” he said, his voice low. “We stopped it from spreading, but it’s still there, just beneath the surface. The Heart of Eternum… it was only a fragment of something bigger. Whatever it was connected to is still out there, waiting.”

The group fell silent, the weight of Yuuji’s words sinking in. The archer’s eyes darted toward the distant horizon, her hands tightening on her bow. “You’re saying… there’s more of them? More entities like the one we fought?”

Yuuji nodded slowly. “I don’t know how many, but I can feel it. The Heart wasn’t the end. It was just the beginning.”

The knight cursed under his breath, his fists clenching in frustration. “So after all that… after everything we went through, we’re not done?”

The mage looked at Yuuji, her expression grim. “What do we do now?”

Yuuji stood slowly, his legs shaking but his resolve solidifying. He had come too far, fought too hard, to let this be the end. The Blade of Eterna had shown him the truth: chaos was eternal, but so was the fight to contain it.

“We find the others,” he said, his voice steady despite the exhaustion in his bones. “We find the other sources of chaos, and we stop them. For good.”

The archer frowned, glancing at the Blade. “You can’t do that again, Yuuji. Using the Blade like that—it nearly killed you.”

“I know,” Yuuji replied, his eyes hardening. “But it’s the only way. The Blade of Eterna was forged to keep the balance. As long as there’s chaos out there, it’s my responsibility to stop it.”

The knight stood beside him, his shield slung over his back. “Then you won’t be doing it alone. We’re in this together.”

The archer sighed but nodded, stepping forward to stand beside them. “As crazy as this is, I’m not about to back down now.”

The mage stood last, her gaze soft as she looked at Yuuji. “We’ll figure it out. There has to be a way to stop the chaos without destroying yourself in the process.”

Yuuji smiled faintly, grateful for their support. Despite the overwhelming odds, despite the exhaustion that weighed on them all, they were still standing. Together.

The wind stirred the trees around them, carrying with it the faint scent of the battle they had left behind. The mountain was gone, but the chaos it had once contained was not. Somewhere out there, other Heart fragments pulsed with dark energy, waiting to be unleashed.

Yuuji tightened his grip on the Blade. There was no telling how long their fight would last, or how many more battles they would face. But one thing was certain: they couldn’t turn back now.

“Let’s go,” Yuuji said, turning toward the horizon. “We’ve got work to do.”

And with that, the group set off once more, the remnants of chaos trailing behind them, and the weight of an uncertain future looming ahead. But they walked forward, undeterred, ready to face whatever darkness lay in wait.

Because now, they knew one thing for sure: the fight for balance was only just beginning.