Chapter 283 - End Of A Bloody War

"Come on, Manfred...just a bit further."

Stained in the crimson essence of the very friend he carried over his shoulder, Leon's steps were dulled by his fractured mind as the icy cold rain continued to fall down upon his form. 

An upward slope met him, his boots slipping against the muddy, slippery surface of the path ahead of him as he struggled to surmount its form in his hazed state. 

"...just a bit more." 

He isn't dead. He's with me still. He can be saved. He will be saved, these were the thoughts flooding and repeating through Leon's mind. 

With his next step, the sole of his down-brought boot met only with the unstable, slippery mud of the storm's making, losing his footing as he tumbled back down the hill. As the result of his fall, the body of his dear friend met face first with a hefty puddle of mud, having Leon retrieve him with desperation in his wordless gasps. 

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry…"

Sitting on his knees at the sight of the lifeless corpse, Leon's tears blended with the downpour of the cloud's tears. 

A hum resounded through the forest, shaking it to the core as a vibration set beneath the young man's body, bringing his gaze up to the gloomy, tearful clouds--he witnessed the birth of something amongst the somber sky. 

Protruding from an unknown facette of the heavens, a sable head protruded; born not of this plane, but of magic and darkness, its existence whispered of only maledictions and destruction. It took the form of a dragon, with only its maw that resembled death itself being visible. 

"...I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

It was all he could say as the sight of this enigmatic force was too much for his compromised mind to handle. 

A gathering of boundless destruction gathered in its parted maw as it pointed directly at the forest that laid below its form amongst the stygian sky. Even in his absence of coherent, reasonable thinking, he could understand just by the air that came with the entity's presence. 

Keeping a tight hold on the cold hand of his fallen friend, the aura of inevitable death wrapped itself around his shoulders like a prickly coat. 

"...This is how it is. Together then." 

Releasing an unsteady breath between his trembling lips, Leon watched as the coalesce of destructive magical energy gathered in the maw of the sable entity in the sky. 

"Another death of a young lad would be far too sad. Not today, lad." 

The voice came from seemingly nowhere, though it was distinctly familiar in its tone. Turning his head to face the source of the voice he recognized, Leon was briefly snapped from his stupor of death. 

"...Navigator…? You're ali--"

His words became trapped in his throat as he saw the state of the Argonaut; with an arm mangled beyond repair and a stomach impaled by a combination of timber and steel, it was a miracle that the man managed to walk all this way. 

"Ay, not for much longer though…I won't let the same be said for you."

"Navigator…?"

"Far too many have fallen today...I am partly responsible for my own negligence; when aboard my ship, you were all under my protection--I failed you. But...I refuse to make today a complete loss, as such sadness would be far too cruel…!"

With an arm drenched in crimson, his own bones protruding from his torn flesh, Navigator shot his arm to the sky as his beard swayed in his words. 

"This is my final action, the last of my ability, my mana, my spirit--carry away into the sea of clouds, Vessel of Melancholy!"

Following his command shouted from his bruised throat, Navigator manifested a small-scale ship around the young man and his fallen friend. Though, it fell short of its original glory; as if stitched together by desperate hands, it was mostly just planks of wood reinforced by steel. 

Nonetheless, it began to carry off into the sky while Leon peered over the side of the two-man ship at the near-death Argonaut below. 

"Navigator…!"

"Don't worry about me, lad. You'll learn soon...that to be an Argonaut...death is something you must accept. However, that reality is a faraway tale for you, lad!...There is no road but the one ahead; don't look back--persevere!"

Standing strong in his last moment's under the gaze of another, Navigator gave the brightest smile he could, perched on his previously perpetually melancholic expression. 

Swim through the starry night, my vessel. Carry forth the young soil aboard your back; take him away from this gloomy forest--give him salvation from this world of sadness! That is all I've wished for as an Argonaut; my sole wish--to relieve just a bit of this sad existence to others. I'll do it now, with my last breath--sail forth, my friend, Navigator thought. 

With a swipe of his bloodied, mangled hand, the Argonaut dressed in sable, pirate-like gear sent forth the skyborne vessel carrying Leon at a speedy pace. 

We are destroyers; that goes for both of us--Argonaut and Outlander alike. Savage creatures with nothing to offer to this world other than the bleakness of death; maybe you can break this cycle, lad. 

But who am I kidding…? It is I, who wishes to break the cycle, by saving your life and by dying myself, perhaps I can even out the disaster my life was. I do not know your name, lad, but I hope you will remember me, the nameless navigator, Navigator thought. 

Watching the small-in-scale vessel carry off into the distance within the storm night, Navigator, at last, slumped over as the state of his flesh bound body took its final toll. Lying on his back, droplets of cold rain cascaded down on his body as he watched the mystical sky above as the destructive maw continued to gather its ominous force. 

"...Plan Cataclysm, eh…? So, you really fell, Avdima? That's...a surprise, heh. I guess we can talk it over in the afterlife; without a doubt, we're going to the same place, friend." 

Even my last-minute act of heroism may not be enough, lad...the range of that blast....it may very well still take you in its grasp, he thought.