The sky was calm. Too calm.
After long hours of rest, both squadrons were beginning to relax. Some soldiers allowed themselves to laugh, others to sleep. It seemed that, for once, the war was granting them a respite.
And then… hell came.
A symphony of engines rent the air.
From the east, an entire squadron of Communist Federation fighters emerged from the clouds, accompanied by a squadron of air mages, armed to the teeth. The attack was as sudden as it was brutal.
The first bombs exploded near Tanya's squadron, but they, trained to react even before thinking, activated their magic shields and retreated. Several were wounded, but none fell.
Itsumi's squadron, on the other hand, attempted to counterattack.
And that was their mistake.
The soldiers took flight, trying to form an offensive line, but the enemy attack was too coordinated, too savage. One by one, they were shot down from the sky, their bodies exploding like bloody fireworks.
Except one.
Itsumi.
Before he was hit, his body rose higher and higher… higher than any enemy eye could follow. As if fleeing death itself.
From the heights, floating alone, Itsumi looked down.
There they were. The charred and torn corpses of his comrades.
Those who had shared bread with him. Those who, however clumsy, had shown for a moment that they cared. Now they were just ashes in the wind.
Itsumi didn't scream. He didn't cry. He didn't grit his teeth.
But inside him, something creaked.
A dull hatred. A silent rage. Not for revenge. Not for justice.
But out of exhaustion. Out of boredom.
Enough.
The communist fighters were now circling Tanya's squadron, buzzing like sharks. The air mages fired incessantly, searching for a weak spot in the shields. The Imperial soldiers held on as best they could… but they knew they wouldn't hold out for long.
"We're not going to hold, Major!" a soldier shouted.
"Hold formations! Don't lower your shields!" Tanya ordered coldly, though her eyes remained focused on the sky.
And then they saw it.
A light descended from above. A figure.
Itsumi.
he activated a magic shield around his body. he empowered every cell of his being with raw magic. His bayonet-rifle shone like a divine spear.
And then he flew.
With inhuman speed, he tore through the first fighter as if it were paper. The second exploded as soon as it felt its shadow. The third didn't even have time to turn.
A firestorm erupted in the sky. The soldiers inside the planes tried to flee, screaming desperately. Some fired in their direction, but it was useless.
Their last vision was of that boy… expressionless, his gaze blank, flying toward them like death itself.
One by one, the fighters fell. Roar after roar, explosion after explosion.
"What the...?!" Viktoriya said, astonished.
"He... is he doing this alone?" a soldier whispered, his eyes wide open.
The Federation magic soldiers tried to intercept him. They only succeeded in signing their own doom.
Itsumi rammed one of them, stabbed him with surgical precision, and used his body as a battering ram to smash him into another. Then another. And another. One after another, like living dominoes.
The sky became a monstrous symphony of flames.
Tanya remained silent, her eyes fixed on him.
"This isn't normal magic," she murmured.
Finally, when there was nothing left to destroy, her body descended... or rather, fell.
The magical shield collapsed after taking so much damage, and everything it failed to block was transmitted directly to his body. He crashed to the ground with a thud, like a broken doll. He wasn't moving. But he was breathing.
Viktoriya was the first to react.
"I'm going with him!" she shouted, and flew without waiting for permission.
She landed with a thud, knelt beside him, and without hesitation, gently picked him up.
"Itsumi!" she yelled, shaking him. "You're crazy, you bastard! What the hell was that?! What are you thinking?!! Why are you doing this?!"
Her voice broke between screams and sobs. Itsumi could barely open his eyes. His body wasn't responding. But… he was alive.
"They're dead… all of them," he whispered, his breath barely there. "I didn't even have time to say goodbye."
"No…" Viktoriya hugged him tightly. "Don't say that… you did what no one else could."
Tanya's squad landed nearby.
Everyone fell silent.
Tanya walked until she was feet away from Itsumi. She watched him for a long time.
"You're the evil one… he's the innocent one."
If she had done the same, she would have done it between laughter and psychotic ecstasy.
But Itsumi…
He just seemed to want it to be over. There was no pride in his eyes. Only exhaustion. Pain.
And perhaps, a childish wish for it all to go away.
I just want to go home.