Aedan stood alone on the icy island, his breath visible in the frigid air, eyes fixed on the horizon. He awaited the forces of the Northern Star Empire, the stark and desolate landscape around him a prelude to the chaos about to unfold. The floating icebergs cast long shadows under the dim, northern sun, adding to the eerie atmosphere.
From the distant sky, enemy silhouettes began to materialize. The first wave consisted of sleek, dark-armored soldiers known as the Shadows. Their armor, designed for mobility and speed, allowed them to move with an unsettling fluidity, almost blending into the shadows. Their helmets were sleek, with visors glowing a menacing red.
Hovering above, supported by anti-gravity belts, were the Winged Archers, elite marksmen equipped with long-range energy bows. Their lighter armor featured sleek, aerodynamic designs and feather-like patterns. The Archers' visors glowed a piercing green, and they moved with a grace that belied their lethal precision.
Interspersed among these troops were the Imperial machines. Massive, hulking robots with thick, impenetrable armor and glowing eyes advanced methodically, their heavy footsteps causing the ground to tremble. Armed with an array of devastating weaponry, these machines formed the backbone of the Northern Star Empire's military might.
Leading the battalion was Trika. Her presence was unmistakable, exuding an aura of sheer might. Her feathered arms and legs, combined with her compact yet powerful physique, marked her as the strongest individual combatant among them. Her cat-like amber eyes scanned the battlefield with a predator's focus.
Aedan tightened his grip on the Harmony Claymore, feeling the power of the heartsparks coursing through him. The enemy forces spread out, encircling him, their weapons raised and ready.
With a roar, the Shadows surged forward, their speed making them nearly invisible. Aedan swung his claymore in a wide arc, the blade slicing through the air with crackling energy. The first wave of Shadows fell, but more took their place, undeterred.
"Come on, then!" Aedan shouted, his voice echoing across the ice. "I'll take you all on!"
He unleashed a barrage of heartspark arts, sending the heartsparks flying over the battlefield like drones. Anger heartsparks glowed a fierce red, diving through enemies and piercing their armor with explosive force. Joy heartsparks radiated soft yellow light, shooting beams of energy that disintegrated enemy weapons. Sorrow heartsparks weaved through the air, emitting waves of blue energy that slowed and disoriented the enemy.
Despite his efforts, the forces of the Northern Star Empire seemed endless. The Imperial machines advanced, their energy cannons blasting the ground around Aedan, forcing him to dodge and weave. The Winged Archers fired from above, their energy arrows striking with pinpoint accuracy, each hit weakening his armor.
Aedan's movements grew more desperate as the battle dragged on. His armor showed signs of wear, cracks forming along its surface. The heartsparks, once vibrant, began to flicker with diminished light. He fought on, each swing of his claymore cutting through the enemy, but the tide was against him.
In a moment of distraction, a sudden blur caught Aedan off guard. Trika, in her enhanced, feathered form, moved with blinding speed. She appeared behind him, her claws flashing. Aedan felt a sharp pain as one of his arms was severed cleanly at the joint, his claymore clattering to the ground.
Before he could react, Trika pressed a blaster to his side and fired at point-blank range. The blast tore through his armor, sending him sprawling to the ground. Pain shot through his body, his vision blurring as he struggled to stay conscious.
Amidst the chaos, Kayla and Alina couldn't remain hidden any longer. They leapt from their hiding spot, sprinting toward the fallen Aedan. Kayla reached him first, dropping to her knees and hugging him tightly. Alina, eyes wide with horror, noticed the color of his heartsparks fading along with his armor.
"No, Aedan!" Kayla cried, her voice breaking. "Stay with us, please!"
Aedan's ears caught Trika's voice, cold and commanding. "Take him and the space beast. Eliminate the others."
The soldiers advanced on Kayla and Alina. Desperation filled their eyes, but they stood their ground, determined to protect Aedan. Green flashes lit up the icy battlefield, and the two women fell, their bodies collapsing beside Aedan.
Aedan's heart ached as he saw Kayla and Alina fall. The last of his strength ebbed away, his vision fading to black. But as darkness threatened to consume him, a flash of dark, furious red followed by white erupted from his belt, throwing all except Kayla, Alina, and Seph off the floating island of ice.
Aedan seemed to simply be lying on the ice, arm severed and armor shattered. However, the large orb at the center of his belt turned white, and time seemed to freeze.
The imperial forces had no way to see what was going on inside, but for the space beast that had chosen Aedan as her pilot, it was witnessing something astonishing. First, she could feel Aedan's overwhelming emotions through their connection. The sheer magnitude of his anger and resolve was unprecedented. The red aura began to flood Seph's core and her own innate energy seemed to flow through the same path back to Aedan. This exchange of energies was a first in the history of interaction between space beasts and pilots. As the pilot and space beast exchanged energies, thin colorless crystals began to grow from the stump where his arm had been severed. The crystals formed a new arm, fresh blood flowing into it until it matched the tone of his skin.
Seph watched as a small red crystal emerged from the orb, yet this one was different as it possessed spots of violet and white. Not the same purple as his purple heartsparks but one that carried the same feeling as a Leviathan. It must be known that each clan of space beasts possessed a unique innate ability like spatial bending for Leviathan, undying fire for Phoenix.
Over the years, many species tried to replicate it for their manmade ships but none could cross the cosmos like a Leviathan. Before she could continue, a change in Aedan's state brought her attention.
Aedan's eyes snapped open, interchanging between blood-red and white as the belt's six slots reverted to three. The newly formed arm reached up, grabbing the red spark above him along with two red sparks, and inserted them into the belt. The mutated spark took the superior slot, while the two red sparks filled the left and right slots. He growled with a fierce intensity, "Die!"
An overwhelming rage surged through him, fueled by the sight of Kayla and Alina lying motionless beside him. The anger coursed through his veins, his vision tinged with a crimson haze. The power of his heartspark armor melded with his aura, transforming his fury into a visible force.
Seph's voice echoed with astonishment. The aura coursed through its entire body, replenishing and surpassing its energy reserves, which surged past 300%. The ship seemed to pulse with renewed vigor, the once damaged systems coming back to life with enhanced functionality.
Aedan stood tall, clad in an astonishing suit of red crystal armor that resembled a Leviathan in human form. The chest plate, a solid mass of deep red crystals, pulsed with life, featuring intricate, scale-like patterns that interlocked perfectly. His gauntlets ended in claw-like points, glowing ominously, while the leg plates echoed the same scale design, with reinforced greaves.
The crowning piece was his helmet, sculpted to resemble the head of a Leviathan. It had menacing ridges and sweeping horns that curved back in a display of raw power. The faceplate was open, revealing Aedan's determined face, but his eyes were shielded by two gleaming, dark red crystals, glowing like the eyes of the beast itself.
Seph gasped as the feeling she had from Aedan was that of a space beast like her, not exactly a Leviathan but something else, something more.
With a feral roar, Aedan launched himself at the enemy, moving with a speed that surpassed even Trika's enhanced reflexes. To her and the other soldiers, he appeared as a blur, warping from place to place with terrifying agility. In one moment, he was ripping through the Shadows with his claws, in the next, he was dismantling the massive Imperial machines as if they were made of paper.
Trika tried to track his movements, but Aedan's speed was beyond anything she had ever encountered. He was everywhere and nowhere, a ghostly specter of destruction. His claws tore through the giant robots, their armor proving useless against his newfound strength. The battlefield became a maelstrom of shattered metal and dismembered foes, a testament to Aedan's uncontrollable wrath.
Aedan's eyes glowed with an unearthly light as he continued his rampage, his movements a blur of savage precision. The Shadows fell before him in droves, their fluid forms no match for his relentless assault. The Winged Archers, once so graceful and lethal, were torn from the sky, their bodies crumpling under the force of his attacks. The Imperial machines, once thought invincible, were reduced to heaps of smoldering wreckage.
Trika, desperate to regain control of the situation, lunged at Aedan with her claws extended. But he was faster. Much faster. He dodged her strikes with ease, his own claws slicing through her armor like butter. She barely had time to react as he delivered blow after devastating blow, her body reeling from the onslaught.
"You will pay for this!" Trika hissed, her voice filled with venom and pain.
Aedan didn't respond. He was beyond words, beyond reason. His fury had consumed him, and all he could think about was the destruction of his enemies. With a final, thunderous roar, he lashed out at Trika, his claws glowing with a dark, crimson energy. The force of the blow sent her flying, her body slamming into the ground with bone-crushing force.
As Trika struggled to rise, Aedan's rage reached its peak. He could feel the power of the Leviathan coursing through him, amplifying his hatred and transforming it into a devastating weapon. He drew forth nine red sparks, each one glowing with an intense, fiery light. The ground beneath him trembled as the sparks coalesced, their combined energy creating a vortex of raw power.
Aedan raised his arms, and the nine red sparks merged into a single, pulsating orb of crimson fire. "Dead Star," he growled, his voice echoing with the fury of a thousand storms. "Heartbreak Finish!"
The orb exploded, enveloping Aedan in a blazing inferno. The shockwave ripped through the battlefield, annihilating everything in its path. The ground cracked and shattered, the atmosphere itself seemed to buckle under the force of the blast. A huge crater formed, its edges glowing with molten rock, as the power of the Dead Star tore through the planet's surface.
Seph, connected to Aedan through their shared energy, felt the immense strain on the planet's atmosphere. The power of the Dead Star was so great that it began to tear a breach in the fabric of space itself. The void opened, a swirling vortex that sucked in everything around it. The remnants of the Northern Star Empire's forces were drawn into the void, their screams lost in the chaos.
As the energy of the Dead Star dissipated, Seph moved quickly. She could still sense life in Kayla and Alina's bodies, and she wasn't about to let Aedan's sacrifice be in vain. Using her own energy, she created a protective barrier around the three of them, shielding them from the collapsing planet.
With a final surge of power, Seph transported Aedan, Kayla, and Alina to the safety of her ship's infirmary. The space beast's systems worked tirelessly to stabilize their conditions, the advanced medical technology healing their wounds and restoring their vitality. Aedan lay unconscious, his body exhausted from the immense power he had unleashed.
When Aedan finally awoke, he found himself in a dimly lit room, the hum of machinery and the soft glow of monitors surrounding him. He felt heavy, his limbs aching and his head throbbing with a dull pain. As he looked around, he realized he was in the upper layer of Seph's ship, near the bridge.
Groggily, Aedan pushed himself up, his body protesting with every movement. He stumbled to the window, his breath catching in his throat as he gazed out into the never-ending expanse of space. Stars twinkled in the distance, and a small, yellow sun cast a warm glow over the ship. It was a sight both beautiful and haunting, a reminder of the vastness of the universe and the power he now wielded.
For a moment, Aedan felt a sense of peace. But as he looked out into the void, he couldn't shake the feeling of shock and confusion. The events of the battle replayed in his mind, and the reality of his situation began to sink in. He was in space, far from the icy battlefield, far from home.