Disclaimer:
Issei Hyoudou and all its characters belong to Ichiei Ishibumi .
I don't own anything other than the original characters I create.
Chapter 5: The Dragon's Exhaustion
The wind roared in his ears as he ascended at full speed, leaving behind the graveyard of metal and fire that had been Ferak .
His body was heavy.
Every fiber of his being screamed in protest.
The Boosted Gear still glowed on his arm, but the intensity of its radiance weakened with each passing second.
He was in no condition to continue fighting.
I had no destination.
I didn't know where to go.
But that didn't matter at the moment.
I only had one thought on my mind.
"Get out of there."
--
The night sky stretched endlessly above him, a black canvas dotted with scattered stars.
From above, he could see the devastation he had left behind.
The orange glow of the flames still burned in Ferak , marking the spot like an open wound in the earth.
Valhara would look for him.
Feron too.
And whoever was watching that spectacle of destruction probably would, too.
He couldn't sit still.
But…
The fatigue was relentless.
He felt his energy draining rapidly , as if the world's own gravity wanted to pull him back in.
Balance Breaker 's systems began to flash in warning.
And then, it happened.
The glow from his armor faded.
His energy wings flickered...
…and then they disappeared completely.
The strength left him.
And heaven claimed him.
— " Shit."
And fell.
--
The wind hit his face brutally as he fell at full speed .
His body spun out of control , the remains of his scarlet armor crumbling into the air , dissipating into fragments of light.
The clouds passed quickly above him, and in the distance, he could see the landscape beneath his feet.
Mountains covered with forest.
Rivers meandering in the darkness.
And beyond... lights.
A small town , barely a patch of civilization in the middle of the wilderness.
If he survived the fall, at least he wouldn't be completely lost.
But first…
Had to survive.
--
The trees rose like giants in the gloom , and within seconds, he found himself submerged in the thick forest.
The thick branches struck him violently, breaking into splinters as his body flew through the treetops.
The impact was brutal.
His back hit a huge trunk, causing him to spin before falling heavily to the ground.
The ground shook slightly with the impact, and a cloud of leaves and dust rose around him.
For a moment, everything was silent.
He didn't move.
He didn't breathe.
He just lay there on the wet grass, staring up through the branches at the starry sky above him.
It hurt.
Everything hurt.
But he was alive.
— "I've had worse landings..." he muttered with a weak smile.
His body was unresponsive.
I was completely exhausted.
But then, he heard something.
The wind whispering through the trees.
The distant murmur of running water.
And, more importantly...
The distant sound of voices.
The town was nearby.
Issei He closed his eyes for a moment, gathering the last of his strength.
I still couldn't rest.
He still had to move.
--
The air was different.
Purer. Wilder.
The ground beneath his back was neither cold metal nor a battlefield littered with rubble and corpses.
It was soft, wet, real.
Issei He slowly opened his eyes.
The forest roof stretched above him, the treetops gently moving in the night breeze. The sound of crickets and the murmur of a nearby stream filled the air , an overwhelming contrast to the mechanical roars and explosions he had left behind.
There was no war here.
At least for now.
He stood up with effort, feeling every muscle protest. His body was still exhausted.
But he was alive.
Where the hell had it fallen?
--
This world was not Earth.
He had understood this from the moment he opened his eyes after his arrival. The stars in the sky were not the same. The air had a different weight , and the energy that flowed in the environment was strange, ancient, almost alive.
His name was Gairos .
A planet divided by war.
From the little he had learned in Ferak , he understood that there were three great powers in conflict.
✅ The Valhara Empire , an expansionist, highly militarized nation that sought to conquer the world with its legions of advanced mecha.
✅ Feron , one of the few nations able to resist Valhara , with its own war technology and a military hardened by conflict. Ferak had been one of its most important bases. Now, it was no more.
✅ Hesperion , a mysterious territory across the ocean, with even more advanced technology, but no interest in war… at least for now.
These were the main players . But there were also other minor forces , kingdoms, city-states and mercenaries that survived in the shadows of these giants.
And now, he was caught in the middle of it all.
--
From what he remembered from the maps he had seen in Ferak , he had fallen in Eldoria , one of the regions furthest from the war fronts.
It was a wooded territory, full of valleys and mountains , with small towns scattered throughout its expanse.
It was not a strategic location for Valhara or Feron . There were no mecha factories, no major military bases.
It was… peaceful.
A corner of the world that war had not yet touched.
And that could be to your advantage.
If he played his cards right, he could disappear here for a while.
Regain strength.
Think about your next move.
But first…
I needed to get to the village.
--
Issei He took a deep breath and forced himself to stand up.
His legs protested , but he didn't stop.
Leaning against a tree, he looked around.
There was no sign of him being followed… yet.
But he couldn't be too confident.
In the distance, between the trees, he could see the faint light of torches.
The people.
Just a speck of civilization in this world at war.
And your only option right now.
With no other alternative, he began to walk.
--
Far from the chaos of Ferak … beyond the warring fields of Valhara and Feron …
Above the clouds, floating in the sky like a living legend, rose the kingdom of Hesperion .
An impossible city.
A fortress suspended among the stars, supported by technology so advanced that to the rest of the world it seemed like magic.
From above, the inhabitants of Hesperion watched the world in conflict with cold, calculating eyes.
They never intervened.
They never participated.
But that night, something had changed.
--
In a hidden basement in the Feron territories , a black-clad figure was typing frantically on a hidden terminal.
A spy from Hesperion .
One of the many undercover agents sent by his nation to monitor the development of the war.
His mission had never been to act… only to observe.
But what he had seen in Ferak that night...
That was different.
That changed everything.
In front of him, a video loaded on the screen of his communication device.
The images were blurry, captured amidst fire and destruction.
But the content was clear.
🔥 A man.
🔥 A red, vibrant, almost living armor.
🔥 Giant mechas destroyed with blows from their fists.
🔥 A single individual crushing an entire military force.
The spy swallowed.
He knew that his country did not get involved in wars…
But this was not a war.
This was something else.
With shaking hands, he pressed the transmit button and sent the report.
The message traveled through encrypted networks, crossing continents in an instant.
The recipient: one of Hesperion 's high officers .
--
Thousands of miles away, inside the Hesperion Sky Castle , a man in a white uniform received the transmission.
He was a high-ranking officer, a commander in charge of managing his nation's intelligence.
His name was Commander Rydell .
Frowning, he pressed the floating hologram and let the video play before his eyes.
The images took his breath away.
Valhara 's mechas .
The explosions lighting up the night.
The chaos, the terror on the faces of the soldiers.
One man doing the impossible.
The commander closed his eyes for a second.
The decision had already been made.
He got up from his desk and marched straight to the highest balcony in the castle.
Towards her.
--
At the top of the floating castle, a woman was looking at the stars.
Her silhouette was outlined under the moonlight, her long silver hair floating gently in the night wind.
Beside him, curled up on the marble balcony, a small white wolf rested with his eyes closed, breathing peacefully.
The princess of Hesperion .
One of the most enigmatic figures of his kingdom. Respected. Feared. Admired.
She had been raised with the philosophy of her people:
🔹 "Observe, don't intervene."
🔹 "The war of the inferiors is not our war."
🔹 "We are the future, and the future is not soiled by the blood of the present."
And yet…
That night, his mind was not on politics, nor on war.
I was just looking at the stars.
His kingdom floated above the world.
And yet , she felt distant.
Oblivious to everything.
But then, the calm was broken.
Hurried footsteps sounded behind her.
She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
— " Rydell ."
The commander knelt before her in respect.
— "Your Highness. I am sorry to interrupt your moment of peace… but we have received information that cannot be ignored."
The princess finally looked away from the sky.
His cold eyes fixed on his subordinate.
- "Speaks."
The commander stood up and activated his device.
The hologram of the video was projected before her.
And he saw.
He saw the red warrior in the middle of the destruction.
He watched as the mechs fell like broken toys.
He saw the blood, the fire, the carnage.
He saw the impossible.
The little white wolf raised his head, restless, as if he also felt the intensity in the air.
The princess was silent for several seconds.
The wind blew between the columns of the balcony, stirring her blue robe with golden reflections.
Finally, he spoke.
— "Is it real?"
His voice was soft… but sharp as a hidden blade.
The commander nodded solemnly.
— "It is. And the question now is… what do we do about it?"
The princess closed her eyes for a moment.
Hesperion did not intervene in wars.
But this was not just a war.
This was the beginning of something bigger.
He turned back to the sky, but this time he didn't look at the stars.
This time, his gaze was fixed on the world beneath his feet.
Searching for the red warrior.
And then, a smile appeared on his face.
— "Find him."
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