Zeo

Sirens pierced the night as ambulances and police cars flooded the streets of Fallen Star. Prey of panic, people ignored the authorities and tried to abandon the town in their vehicles. Zeo stood beside his car on the roadside, witnessing how a colossal column of black smoke and fire rose where the Azul Factory used to be. Everything else was in ruins, where molten metal and concrete sprawled across kilometers of devastation.

Zeo clenched his fists and ran toward the chaos, the heat in the air intensifying with every step. A group of firefighters tried to warn him not to go beyond the safe zone marked with red lights, but he ignored them.

On the horizon, an intense orange glow blinded Zeo, and a massive crater emerged before him like the very gates of hell.

As he contemplated the endless chaos, loud thuds shook the ground, echoing in his chest.

When a violent gush of wind battered his face, Zeo realized the fight was far from over. He moved closer to have a clearer view and discerned Ozura facing someone. He could barely follow their movements but recognized The Hunters' Uniform in her adversary.

An explosion flashed across the clouds, and a smoking body fell rapidly from the skies.

Ozura crashed onto the ground, sending rocks and debris flying everywhere. Zeo jumped over the ruins and reached her side. The lady lay half-buried in stones, her clothes destroyed and blood covering her face and chest. Her left arm was gone, and so was one of her horns.

"What are you doing here?" Ozura murmured weakly, opening her blood-filled eyes.

"Sorry, but I won't let you die alone here," Zeo told her and turned to face his new enemy.

An eerie man hovered in the sky, looming over them like the angel of death. His ripped coat waved wildly against the scorching wind, and scars covered his exposed muscular chest. "Are you Marakudra's wonder boy?" he asked, his deep black eyes glowing like onyx. "What has brought you to this place?"

"I came to face my destiny." Zeo glared at him.

"Don't be stupid . . . " Ozura said, holding his arm to draw herself up. "This is futile. You should've gone with Manzur." She staggered over the loose rocks, but Zeo held her firmly.

"Maybe so, but your daughter is waiting for you."

Ozura widened her eyes and hesitated before speaking. "Nonsense." She gritted her fangs. "I'm no mother. I deserve no child."

"You're wrong." Zeo raised his voice, scowling. "Despite everything, you're here willing to give your life to protect your daughter. That's what a true mother does."

Ozura lowered her gaze. "Is she okay?"

"Yes. When I left, Amy was sleeping with a smile."

"I see." She took a deep breath. "As long as my girl is safe, I don't care about anything else."

"She will be." Zeo's vectors buzzed like millions of bees around their bodies. "She's a warrior like you, after all."

The lady wiped the blood from her lips with her backhand. "Though, you should've never come." She locked her fiery eyes on the enemy, who descended from the skies and landed before them. "That man is Zagado Rain, a Vetzlayer. He can manipulate every known elemental and use telekinetic powers. There's very little we can do to stop him."

"Is that so?" Zeo turned to face him, scanning him from head to toe, and shrugged. "Well, I guess this will be my last battle then."

"Stop it!" she shouted, gripping his arm. "Amy needs you, and so does Remnya!"

Zeo gave her a sidelong glance and smiled while his veins bulged, the chemicals sending a rush of adrenaline and insane power throughout his body. "Amy needs her mother more than she needs me."

"What are you saying? Did you—" Ozura's jaw dropped when she realized Zeo had used the LCT shots. She tried to hold him down, but the ground exploded around her as all his power erupted from his body, forming a green, electric aura. "Don't do this!"

Her words faded behind Zeo as he strode toward his life's biggest challenge. Zagado smirked and locked his heavy eyes on him. Unlike anything he had faced before, that man emitted an eerily calm energy, almost as if his intentions weren't despicable. The Hunters had mentioned his name before, and Edo had always expressed his admiration for him.

"Azlanin Zeo," Zagado said, brushing two strands of jet-black hair off his face. "What's your mission here?"

"My only mission is to protect her." He scowled, his vectors hissing as they touched the ground.

"Why?"

"Because she's an honorable warrior and doesn't deserve to die here."

"No." Zagado chuckled. "You have another reason to be here. There's something you're trying to hide."

Zeo thought for a moment. If the rumors spoke truly, perhaps there was a chance to talk to that man and make a deal. "What if I asked you to spare her life and let her go?"

"I'd tell you that's impossible." The Hunter closed his eyes.

"Why?"

"She did not only interfere with our mission here but also killed many of our soldiers. Besides, she is Debrin Kavram's loyal Lieutenant."

"What if I turn myself in and swear loyalty to you?"

Zagado smiled and folded his arms. "What makes you think you have a choice, young Zeo?"

"I do." Zeo took a fighting stance. "You won't take me alive. I can assure you that."

"I have to respect your courage." The Hunter opened his arms, and the earth began to tremble. Rocks and debris ascended around him while the quake intensified. "However, I'm afraid your delusional journey ends here."

"We'll see about that." A green aura covered Zeo and his vectors, electric arcs forming around him as his energy increased. His muscles swelled with immense power, and his eyes glowed, feeling the LCT reaching its peak.

Zeo charged at Zagado, his vectors unleashing a furious onslaught. The Hunter responded with a magnetic field, absorbing each impact and sending shocks through Zeo's muscles. Yet he resisted and intensified his assault.

His vectors darted and swayed like furious snakes, striving to sink their fangs into Zagado. The Hunter parried and dodged every move until one vector scratched his skin, causing his smug face to change to amusement. Undisturbed, he seized the spectral arm, sending intense pressure throughout Zeo's body.

Clenching his hand, Zagado crushed his vector, causing it to explode into a spectacle of green lightning and sparks. An intense electric shock paralyzed Zeo and sent him to the ground.

He quickly recovered but realized his vector felt numb and unresponsive when he tried to summon it again.

"Vectors are energy," Zagado's cold voice whispered in his ear. Zeo recoiled in surprise and saw him standing inches away from him with a big smile. "All I did was block your Anlas receptors."

Zeo tried to punch him, but The Hunter disappeared like a ghost before his eyes.

"I can kill you anytime I want, Zeo."

The voice murmured behind him. Zeo turned desperately, but there was nothing there. Yet, he felt his heavy presence in his head.

"But will I?"

Zeo's fingers dug into his flesh as his remaining vector launched desperate strikes against that monster in an attempt to survive.

"So . . . " Zagado emerged before Zeo and grabbed him by the chin tightly, forcing him to look him in the eyes, his pupils resembling poison and darkness. "Do you still think you can save her?"

Before Zeo could answer, a large energy beam exploded on his enemy, propelling him toward the blazing crater. Zeo regained his balance and beheld Ozura standing with her lone arm outstretched, trembling, and wreathed in smoke. She panted and bled, yet the fearless look in her eyes conveyed that surrender was far from her thoughts.

Ozura fell to her knees, and Zeo ran to her. "You can't win this fight," she said, coughing blood. "Leave while you still can."

Even though her words held truth, Zeo had promised to fight until the end. "He won't kill me," he assured her. "I'm still useful to them. We need to use that to our advantage."

Ozura remained silent with her gaze fixed on the ground.

"Hey!" He put his hand on her shoulder. "We can do this, trust me!"

She chuckled bitterly and murmured with trembling lips. "You know what hurts the most?"

"Uh?" Zeo tilted his head, taken aback.

"It's not the wounds in my body."

"Ozura . . . "

"It's knowing that I never hugged my own child." A crimson tear rolled down her eye.

Silence.

"You can still do it. There's still time!" Zeo shouted, leaning closer to get her attention. "We'll survive, and I'll take you to where Amy is!"

"Zeo." She held his hand tightly. "Spare my little girl the pain of losing her mother again." Her blood stained the ground beneath Zeo's boots. "Don't tell her anything about me. She'll be happier believing her mother never existed."

"How can you ask me that? Amy deserves to know her mother was willing to give her life to protect her! She didn't abandon her!"

"No." She shook her head. "I'm begging you. Don't tell her, please." She buried her teary amethyst pupils into his gaze. "Promise me, you'll never tell her."

Zeo's heart sunk to the bottom of his stomach, finally understanding the true meaning of her words.

Overwhelmed by frustration and anger, he nodded. "I promise."

"Thank you," Ozura said, and a purple aura emanated from her body. She released him and stood firmly on her own while plasma wrapped around her remaining arm. "I have enough energy for one more attack before my body collapses. Do you think you could buy me ten seconds?"

Zeo's throat closed when he witnessed Zagado emerging from the crater unscathed and grinning. He took a deep breath and bobbed his head. "I can. I'll distract him for as long as possible."

Pride and hope illuminated Ozura's face as she stared at Zeo. "You're just like Rem described you." She smiled.

"I'm probably worse," Zeo admitted, smiling back at her, and stood to face Zagado one more time.

The Hunter extended his hand, a taunting invitation for him to attack.

Zeo concentrated all his energy into his remaining vector until it glowed in an intense green light, becoming visible to the naked eye. He charged at his enemy, swinging his lone vector like a lethal weapon of emerald flames.

Zagado dodged each attack, but Zeo channeled his Air skills into his arms, forming a vortex of razor-sharp wind capable of slicing through steel. He launched it at the Hunter, who leaped aside to evade it. At that moment, Zeo seized an opening. He hurled himself at his adversary and delivered a thunderous punch across the Hunter's face with all his strength.

His enemy was briefly stunned, and Zeo saw a chance to grab his neck with his vector. All his energy focused on crushing his bones. Zeo roared, his veins bulging as he released all his power, trying to strangle that monster.

However, a dark aura emanated from Zagado, who turned to stare at him with a smirk. A shrilling sound in the air made Zeo shiver. It was an elemental he had never seen before.

"Tenebra," a voice resounded in Zeo's head, and he realized it was Ozura using her Air skills to connect with his mind. "He can manipulate Dark Elementals."

Zeo remembered the books in The Hunters' library. Tenebra: the combination of negatively charged elementals to create more powerful ones, capable of destroying matter at the touch.

"RUN!"

A ghostly aura shrouded the sky, and a claw-like specter emerged from the ground. It lunged toward Zeo, who vaulted away to escape its grasp. Nevertheless, it brushed against his forearm, inflicting a gelid pain that seemed to freeze his veins.

His skin turned pale and purple, and the pain reached his bones, making him grit his teeth not to scream.

"Good job!" Zagado smirked and winked at him. "I made it easy for you, but the next one will be faster, okay?"

Zeo widened his eyes, realizing his remaining vector had stopped working and disappeared from The Hunter's neck, which was unharmed.

The smell of death filled Zeo's nostrils, and a large hand loomed over him, covering the sky.

Unable to dodge, Zeo summoned his magnetic field to protect himself. The Tenebra energy destroyed his shield, but the explosion caused by it sent him flying away toward a pile of rocks. The unyielding surface stopped his body abruptly, making him groan in pain.

"Again, good job." Zagado smiled and clapped his hands. "Not many can survive that."

For a brief moment, Zeo felt as defenseless as the weak kid from the orphanage, yet he shook his head, pushing his intrusive thoughts away, and focused on his enemy. He had to survive, no matter what.

"Since our fight is over, I'll finish with the Karx's lady." Zagado turned to Ozura, who had stopped charging energy and dropped to the ground.

"Wait!" Zeo shouted, standing up with his legs trembling. "I can still fight, you asshole!" Two vortexes formed in his hands, and he threw them at his enemy in a desperate combo.

The Hunter blocked them with ease and chuckled at his pitiful attempt. "Perhaps it'd be better if I put you to sleep."

Zeo didn't wait for his attack and charged at him, driven by all his fury and honor. He tried to hit The Hunter with punches and kicks that landed nowhere.

A single punch to the stomach emptied Zeo's lungs, sending him to the ground on his knees. Zagado followed up with a kick to the jaw, burying his head into a concrete wall with such force the whole world spun around him.

The wall collapsed, and Zeo fell before his enemy's feet.

Refusing to give up, he grabbed his ankle, feeling the leather and steel of his cold boots.

Another kick to the face sent him rolling across the ruins until a totaled car stopped him.

The pain seemed to disappear as his body began to shut down.

Zagado began to walk away, but Zeo crawled behind him. "Wait . . . " he muttered. "I've not given up yet!"

The Hunter ignored him and focused his eyes on Ozura. "I let him live, just as you requested," he said as he marched toward her.

"What does that mean?" Zeo roared and tried to stop him with his vectors, but they never responded. Not even his wind worked anymore. Zagado's Tenebra skills had consumed all his energy quickly, and his body withered like a dying rose. "DAMMIT!"

The sky darkened, and the furious fires ceased, giving way to an eerie silence.

Zagado loomed over Ozura.

She lifted her fiery gaze at him, fearless, and murmured, "Thank you. The boy has nothing to do with me or Karx. Don't make him suffer for my mistakes."

Zagado contemplated her request in silence and then nodded.

He raised his right arm, and his hand glowed with an underworldly aura.

Zeo watched, powerless, cursing himself for not being strong enough. Guilt tore his insides, knowing Amy would never meet her mother.

. . .

Zagado made it quick, and his impenetrable eyes exuded respect.

. . .

When fires ceased, the skies cleared, and another great warrior abandoned the battlefield with all the honor of the world.

She left, but the indelible mark of her love resonated in Zeo's soul.

The love of a mother who gave her life for her child.

*°*°*