Blayke and the three young skycommanders led Azelno down a hallway, the end of which was marked by a sturdy iron door. Blayke took out a device from his pocket and fixed it on the inner side of his uniform coat's collar.
The youngsters waited patiently as Blayke got his eye scanned from the lock on the door. In the next moment, the circular portal spun and the layers behind it did so too, opening up shortly, revealing the room beyond.
As they entered the room, Azelno looked around in fascination. The walls of the room were all completely transparent, the floor and ceiling included, making it as if the cubical room was floating in midair.
Looking ahead as his shackles were being unchained by the skycommanders, Azelno noticed Blayke walking up to two other men wearing skyguard uniforms with insignia similar to his. Of course the other two grand skymasters would also be present for Azelno's execution.
"Should've muzzled that animal too," commented Edven, the taller grand skymaster with wide shoulders and a boxy face.
Ysak patted Blayke on the shoulder. "If you keep this up, we'll be left in the dust."
"The credit for capturing the criminal will not go to me," Blayke said dryly. "I thought we already discussed it earlier."
The much older grand skymaster looked disappointed. "How can you pass on an opportunity to become the supreme skymaster?" Ysak asked frankly.
"Unearned achievements don't stick for long," Blayke said with a stern look. "Four grand skymasters is what we need to stand against these criminals. And tonight we'll finally have that."
Azelno almost snorted at that remark. 'I don't know if I like him more for his integrity, or for his optimism.'
"What're we even contributing here?" softly said the white-haired skycommander from behind. "We should just leave."
"Can you think of anything better to do?" said the golden-haired skycommander. "The party is like three days away."
The black-haired skycommander cleared his throat. "Duty. We're supposed to our Ethershells and Ethercruxes into this—not excuses."
"You must be super fun at parties," she said offhandedly.
"While you waste away your pathetic existence into meaningless things like those," he said, turning toward her, "I walk on the path to become the next supreme skymaster. And you better believe me, once I'm there, none of you'll be getting any time for useless bullspit like that."
'Quite an intense one.'
The skycommander girl chuckled. "You blurted the fattest bullspit just now! Ha! The day you somehow become the supreme skymaster, I'll shave my whole flucking head, and you know just how much I love my super pretty locks."
"It's a done deal," he said, returning his gaze forward. "Not that I care about it or anything."
"Sure my man," said the white-haired one. "Now let's try to do what you told us. Duty."
She snorted softly.
The intense skycommander flushed. "R…Right."
Azelno smiled, but was cut short as he was pulled to the front by the large man Edven. Azelno stood behind the three grand skymasters, looking through the far wall, down at Light Square.
Even though every person looked tiny from up here, the ignorant crowd had grown bigger. People from all across Highplexia would be present among them, Volants included. No wonder so many skyguards were handling the crowd.
Azelno could see people on top of other buildings of Light Square, the same buildings on the screens of which his face was plastered all over. Final Tower's height was astonishing. Not that this was the highest Azelno would go tonight.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway behind Azelno, but before he could turn, the whole room came alive and started to move forward, as if the Tower was pulling out a glass cube from its heart. Drones started hovering around the floating room.
The neon dressed buildings of the Light Square started closing in.
"Good people from Nova Zephpolis and all across Highplexia," Blayke said into his collar, his voice booming below, "this is your Grand Skymaster Blayke Klaytin, and I formally announce the commencement of the execution of the worst criminal alive: Azelno Kelfen."
The crowd erupted into loud cheers, a great deal of support coming from the citizens of Zephpolis. But Azelno could hear the curses blended in with the cheers. Those were from the Volants below. However, they were not cursing the skyguards. All of their curses were targeted toward Azelno himself.
They were disappointed. Azelno felt sorry for them too.
A figure appeared from behind him and walked closer to Blayke. She was a skyguard with long black hair and bright red eyes. Her uniform was emblazoned with the insignia of a skymaster, just a rank below a grand skymaster.
"However," Blayke continued as the skyguards below softened the chants of the crowd, "before we put an end to the evil that is Azelno Kelfen, let us all celebrate the greatness of the skyguard who captured the criminal plaguing the peace of Highplexia. Let us all be grateful to Skymaster Reolina!"
The crowd followed Blayke's instructions. From every direction, all Azelno could hear was the thundering of claps and shouts of praise. The skycommander standing near the back of the floating cube also clapped to congratulate their senior. The grand skymasters praised the skymaster by shaking her hand.
"With that," Blayke said proudly, "let us also congratulate Skymaster Reolina for her promotion and welcome the fourth grand skymaster with open arms. For Grand Skymaster Reolina!"
Another strike of thundering claps.
Blayke nudged Reolina forward with a proud smile. "Would you like to say a couple words regarding your promotion, GRAND Skymaster?"
The crowd below grew quieter as Reolina stepped forth and became more visible to the drones capturing the footage to feed onto the hexagonal screens on the faces of the buildings of Light Square. She cleared her throat.
"I am very grateful for the support shown by all of you," Reolina said firmly. "I will be indebted forever to Grand Skymaster Blayke for even considering me good enough to stand beside him in equal ranks. I also appreciate every citizen of Highplexia and would like to vow once again to put fellow Highplexians before my own life."
Grand skymasters in the room were visibly shaken by her speech, the passion in her voice making them applaud. Blayke was smiling like a fool—so basically, like himself. The crowd seemed overjoyed at their new protector as well, reigniting their chants—
"However," Reolina continued, "I would like to humbly decline your offer and continue my duty as one of the eight skymasters of the Highplexian Aegis, Grand Skymaster Blayke. Thank you for your support, everyone." She stepped back.
The fire in the crowd seemed to have smoked out, the fuel being snatched so abruptly.
The grand skymasters eyed each other, equally confused from her decision now as they were shaken from her passion before. A couple of huffs and puffs went around behind Azelno.
"With all due respect," said the intense skycommander, "our senior has lost her mind completely."
The fluffy-haired one sighed. "So this was all a waste of time, then?"
"I want to know her reasons," said the bubbly skycommander. "They must be SUPER interesting."
Reolina leaned toward Blayke. "May I take my leave now, sir?"
Blayke cleared his throat, giving half a nod. "Y-Yes, Skymaster, you may leave."
Reolina nodded, turning, disapproving eyes from all across the room following her. She passed Azelno with her head down—
"Smile, Reo," Azelno said with a big smile of his own. "That's one of the five things nobody can rob off of us."
Reolina's eyes were shaded by her bangs. "I'll make this right," she whispered. "I'll keep our promise."
"Tell me something I don't know."
"I'm…sorry."
The door closed behind the skymaster after she left the room.
Edven yanked Azelno to the very front. "Let's start the execution!" he barked. That prompted the other two grand skymasters into taking out their Subjugators as well—weapons used by skyguards that required Ether to fire. The crowd cheered, forgetting their disappointment of a moment before.
All three grand skymasters pointed their weapons toward Azelno's head. Upon the trigger being pulled, the Subjugator would shoot out a focused beam of Ether, piercing Azelno's head, ending him instantly.
"On my command," Blayke said. "Three, two…"
The anticipation in the crowd grew as they held their breaths. The moment seemed to stretch uncomfortably long. Someone had to change that.
Azelno turned and gave a smile to the grand skymasters. "One!"
Darkness, for sometimes you had to take help from your enemies.
Chaos and confusion ensued as a blanket of blackness fell over Light Square, Etherlights being too dim and too high in the sky to alight the place.
Azelno pulled apart his wrists with a snap, breaking his xordite cuffs without much effort.
Ysak's eyes widened as he heard the sound, redirecting his barrel toward Azelno's head, Edven moving back to protect his juniors—
Azelno tackled Blayke to the side, disarming him of his weapon, pulling off the grand skymaster's coat and throwing it in the air as Ysak fired his Subjugator.
The beam of light drilled a hole in the airborne coat before it fell to the transparent floor.
With a loud crashing sound accompanying it.
Blayke regained his balance, only to finally realize what had just happened.
Azelno smiled at the crowd below after he jumped through the far wall, thick shards of the broken walls spraying about him and falling to the ignorant masses like a rain of shattered glass.
"BASTARD!" Blayke yelled as he followed.
Azelno started falling upward, as if the sky itself was pulling him to it. He looked back as he hovered inches above the surface of the Tower and found Blayke trying to scale the building to reach him.
"See you at the top, old man," Azelno said as the sky yanked him harder. He zipped straight toward the top, feet to the sky, the Etherlights dancing about him.
"Get back here, Kelfen!" Blayke shouted in frustration.
Azelno breathed out, shifting the momentum of the upward fall to a gentle decline. He had to start falling down, like every other man, to land onto the top spike of the crown of the Tower, at the heart of the Etherlights and all of Highplexia. So he did, falling in an arc, making a clean landing.
The power around the building returned and neon lights pumped through the Light Square once again, making the city alive.
Drones caught up to Azelno, showing footage of him standing atop the Tower to the world. This was important. It was not every day that the Regime managed a network so big that something could be broadcasted worldwide. And when such an opportunity was at Azelno's hand, he knew he couldn't let it go so easily.
Azelno smiled, pulling closer the device he stole from Blayke's coat just before leaving the execution room.
"WHAT'S UP WORLD!" Azelno said into the device, his voice booming across the Light Square. "This is your SKY KING AZELNO KELFEN and I formally announce the commencement of the GREAT ERA OF VOLANTS, where even the wingless will take off!"
Wilderness. The Volants below were surely not disappointed anymore. But they somehow took Azelno's announcement as a way to justify their crimes, for they started to attack the skyguards and even normal citizens.
"Look what you've done, Kelfen," Blayke shouted from a lower crown spike. "Do you really think this is a better way to go?"
"I am the worst criminal, Blayke," Azelno said simply. "Have to live up to the reputation you created for me."
Blayke pointed his Subjugator. "For justice."
Azelno smiled. "Not now." He pulled the device closer to his mouth. "Do you wanna know what I found at the end of Ultima Labyrinth?"
Silence.
Blayke's Subjugator slowly sunk.
Azelno smiled. "The Offering to Behemoth's Heart is ETHERBLOOD." The device stopped working. The screens throughout the Square went blank, the broadcast being cut. As expected of the Regime.
Controlling and Suppressing information was their true power.
"What does he mean by that?"
"Etherblood? The fluck is that?"
"Explain it to us, ya coward!"
"By Offering, what under the Eight Skies does he means?"
Blayke shot at Azelno. "What was that, Kelfen?"
Azelno flipped, falling to the edge of the base of the Tower's crown. Blayke followed. Azelno turned toward the grand skymaster, who pointed at him without a pinch of hesitation.
"Any last words?"
Azelno smiled and showed a hand sign. "Peace."
"So be it." Blayke pulled the trigger of his Subjugator, the barrel shooting a golden beam of light straight at Azelno's dome.
It drilled through his skull before he could blink.
Azelno's senses started fading as he lost his footing, though he kept staring at Blayke. The grand skymaster wiped an eye.
Azelno fell.
'My part is done. Now it's your turn. Fulfill the Oath. End this darkness. Show the world what it doesn't even know it's missing.
'Give them light, Sunbringer.'
'Thank you for loving me…Madilyn. I'm so happy that I was alive at the same time as you. Nelzard. Iltris. Obyn. Reolina. Phorz.
'Thanks to you too, Kayos.'
'I hope the future will be brighter than any Ethershard… You should hope too. And…
'I'm happy I was born. And even till the end I was free.
'Free enough to choose my own death.'
'That's what I want for you all…
'A world where everyone can fly freely.'
Then… Darkness.
So even in the end, only it stayed with Azelno.
'And the five things no one can rob off you, you moron!'
Azelno smiled as he reached up and grabbed the unseen stars.
'So far away…yet so close…'
Senses gone, Azelno's Lifeforce faded, empty hand falling beside his empty Ethershell.