All Chapters of Barrier Fall : Chapter 21
- Chapter 30
68 chapters
Arena of fists
"What are you?" Vox asked, straightening his stance."How about you come find out?" Ren replied, his grin stretching wider.The sun was almost gone, twilight clinging to the edges of the sky. The air was unnaturally still. The shattered trees stood motionless like silent witnesses. Nox remained kneeling, stunned at Ren's sudden change of demeanor.Shuri held her breath, bracing for whatever was about to happen.For a moment, the world seemed to stop.Then Vox dove headfirst into the crater, straight at Ren.Ren's grin only sharpened. He slid his hands from his pockets, moving with an almost lazy grace.BOOM! Vox's fist slammed downward as he dove.Ren caught it overhead with his palm. The ground beneath him split apart, cracks racing outward as the force drove him deeper into the crater floor. Dust and stone exploded upward, choking the air.Still pressed down by Vox's strike, Ren twisted, seized Vox's wrist, and flung him sideways. Vox slammed against the crater wall, bracing with hi
How far are you willing to go
"What the hell was that?" Nox asked, still seated on the ground.Shuri finally dropped her guard and sank down beside him. "Yeah… what the hell was that?""Couldn't you tell? It was a fight!" Ren grinned and pumped his fist like a child.Nox shook his head. "When Raizen trained us, every strike that mattered, we fueled it with iora. But just now?" His voice cracked with dread. "There was nothing."Shuri perked up, curiosity shining through her exhaustion, forgetting entirely she had been trying to kill Nox not long ago."We were just testing each other," Ren said, his tone briefly serious."Testing?" Shuri and Nox echoed, then both turned away, cheeks red with embarrassment."Calm down," Ren waved his hands casually."Raizen told me the demon saved you once in the forest," Ren said, glancing at Nox. "Back when you fought that horned Dreknar. He figured the demon lord might return, and he was right. That thing was watching from the start."Nox's stomach turned. "He was here the whole t
Hunting Rabbits
Soren whipped his head left and right, frantic, searching for something. He barely noticed the new face among them.Ren's."Where are they?" he growled, clutching the leg Gelly had stabbed in their earlier fight, his shoulders,throbbed from pain as well."They're not here," Ren replied flatly.Soren blinked, confused by the stranger's calm. He was about to ask who he was when a firm hand clamped down on his shoulder."They left," Nox said, his grip steady.Soren snapped his head back, anger blazing, but froze. Nox's eyes,fierce, unshaking. The fire in them doused his rage, forcing him to look down. His fists clenched, jaw locked, and hot tears dripped onto his knuckles.Ren raised a brow. The timid boy he'd seen a moment ago was gone, replaced by someone steadier. That change intrigued him."Well, if you're both done tucking in your emotions, I'll go find us something to eat," Ren cut through the heavy silence."You should really learn to read the room," Nox muttered.Soren wiped at h
Small joys
Ren sat on the remains of a porch, burnt to a crisp but still standing against all odds. Around him stretched nothing but pitch black ruin, the silence heavy as ash. The only contrast was his hair, streaked with white, catching faint glimmers of the fading sun.He sat cross legged, hands clasped and resting on his knees, chin balanced upon them. His face was the very image of a storm, rage restrained and grief simmering, yet his voice remained silent.Nox staggered back from the two corpses, horror painted across his young face. His body trembled as he collapsed onto the ashen ground, curling into himself and clutching his knees as though he could hide from the world.Soren stood motionless, a statue in the midst of ruin, the only proof he still lived the shallow rise and fall of his chest and the occasional blink of his hollow eyes."I'm tired." The words slipped out of Nox in a whisper so faint it was almost lost to the dead air.He was tired, not merely in body though hunger gnawed
A promise of bulls and blood
"They'll be here by morning. We've still got a few hours," Kirian said, his voice steady as he strode toward the largest house.Ren fell in behind him, loose steps that trailed like a shadow.Nox wanted to carry Soren, but Soren waved him off with a strained smile. "Don't worry. I can walk. A little better now." He limped slightly behind Ren and Kirian.Nox stole one last look at the distant columns of torchlight as the enemy army crept closer, he clenched his jaw until his teeth rattled, and then he fell back a step, keeping a watchful eye on Soren, ready to jump in should he falter.When he fell shoulder to shoulder with Ren, curiosity burst out of him. "Those rings on your fingers… are they binding rings?"Kirian glanced back, amused.Ren held his hand up so the lamplight caught the metal. "Not bindings," he said simply. "Seals. They lock away sections of my strength—my abilities, and my Iora."The words landed like a weight, and Nox had to stop and breathe them in, then ran to clo
Rebirth of the souless
Darkness.No sound. No body. No breath.Solar's mind spun.Am I not dead? …Why do I still feel? Why is it so cold?He tried to move, but his arms weren't his. His legs weren't his. He could sense himself and yet… not touch, not see, not even be.Is this death? he whispered into the void. Will this be my eternity?Memories poured in, his daughter's laugh, the villagers sweating under the sun, rainsoaked nights, their smiles, their pain. Everything was too fast. Too sharp. Every joy, every loss, everything he had ever felt, pressing down on him at once.Are these here to comfort me? Or to break me forever?The emotions tore at him. Fear. Anger. Joy. Disgust. Hope. All at once. Caged. Freed. Empty. Full.Then.Voom.A flicker of blue light sparked before him. A flame. Small at first. Then swelling, burning until it painted the endless dark in blue fire.Solar staggered upright, or at least thought he did. For the first time since he died, he could move.From the flame came a voice. Low.
Spark of war
The entrance of the village was bordered with golden wheat, glowing under the soft blue light of morning. The stalks swayed like a sea of firelit gold, leaving only a narrow path, barely ten feet wide, for anyone to pass.If the army pressed forward, they would crush every stalk under their boots, destroying the harvest.Kiran stepped to the edge of the wheat, shoulders squared. Ren moved just behind him, with Soren and Nox following close at their backs.Farther back, the villagers clustered near the main gate. They had sworn to fight to the death to protect their homes and children. But now, standing before the advancing army, courage drained from their bodies.Their hands trembled around machetes, hoes, and rusted tools. Three hundred souls, men, women, elders, and boys barely past childhood,stood against eight hundred seasoned killers.The hopelessness was suffocating. This wasn't going to be a fight. It was going to be a slaughter. The cruel smiles stretching across the soldiers'
Snap
Ren bolted forward and snatched up one of the spears from one of the two headless corpse.Soren picked up the other.Nox blinked, trying to guess what either of them planned to do with it.Ren adjusted his stance mid sprint. As he neared the formation line, he gripped the spear by one end and slammed it forward with monstrous force.Bang!Soldiers were flung into the air like rag dolls, some falling helplessly onto the upright spears of their own allies, others crashing into comrades and tearing the formation apart down the center.Soren and Nox darted into the opening Ren had carved.Nox threw a fierce punch into the next line of soldiers, the shockwave sending men flying, but he held back, careful not to kill.The soldiers staggered to their feet almost instantly, the glow from their Iora rings fueling their bodies.Getting to the children at the rear wasn't going to be easy.Not in this sea of armored flesh."Launch me forward!" Soren commanded."Understood, Your Majesty!" Nox shou
First Kill
Gran had no binding ring on his finger.He's not like the rest of these weaklings, Nox thought. He definitely has an ability. That punch felt defensive, not offensive, his punch was steel strong but hollow of force. What is it?"Planning your attack, killer?" Gran mocked, grinning. "Too bad I'm not gonna let you."He charged forward with frightening speed, fast, but not beyond Nox's sight.Gran swung for Nox's head. Nox ducked under the massive arm, slipping into his guard. His torso was wide open.Nox sprang up, driving his fist straight into Gran's stomach.Bang!That same unyielding resistance hit his knuckles, almost like striking a wall."Huh!" Gran scoffed, swinging his left arm.Nox gathered Iora in his chest right as the hit landed.Bang!He was sent rolling across the dirt, skidding twice before stopping flat on his back. Before he could catch his breath, a shadow loomed over him, Gran's leg crashing down.Nox rolled aside just in time. The ground where he'd lain split apart
The blind executioner
(This event unfolded simultaneously as Ren, Soren, and Nox charged into the crowd.)The grey-haired commander sneered. "Aren't you going to draw even one of those swords?"Kirian smirked. "Nah. If I did, this would be over too quickly. I want you all to die really slowly. Besides… you're weaklings."The grey haired man snickered, while the one with the murderous eyes smiled like a predator that had finally cornered its prey.Then, like a spark before a firestorm, they ignited. Ren, Soren, and Nox launched themselves into the tide of soldiers, tearing through the ranks like a living storm."Hmph. So this is how you choose to die, by diving headfirst into inevitable death?" the old man scoffed, casting Kirian a scornful glance."Five minutes." Kirian raised his fingers."Huh?""It'll only take five minutes to put you and your army on the ground. The only hard part about this fight will be clearing out your corpses."The grey haired man laughed. "Your arrogance will be your undoing."The