Chapter 153:
anwhile with iyo and the rest of the Vanguard
The wind howled across the barren burned up wasteland that had once been the Maou-Sama's Demon Empire Decoy Castle. The ground was still cracked and scorched beyond recognition, smouldering with the lingering heat of Kouki's final attack, the scorched earth a burning testant to the destruction he had left behind. And yet, despite their survival, Thanks to the Sky Hawks wind Barrier skill iyo used which negated all damage of anything of equal dinsionality, despite the fact that they were still standing—the Phoenix Vanguard felt no victory.
Because Kouki wasn't with them.
Because he could be dead.
Because they were cocky.
iyo stood motionless, staring at the place where Riza had controlled the Shadow Realm and had it swallow him. Her Sky Hawk Vision flickered faintly, her golden-blue eyes scanning the darkness, hoping—praying—for sothing. Anything.
Nothing.
Her jaw clenched, her breath shallow.
He's gone.
No—not gone. Not dead.
Just... sowhere else. Sowhere beyond their reach.
"iyo," Rika's voice was softer than usual. Almost hesitant. "I know what you're thinking. And you need to stop."
iyo exhaled sharply through her nose, still refusing to look away. "Then tell how to get him back," she demanded, voice cold, flat.
Rika hesitated.
And that hesitation told her everything.
iyo's hands clenched into fists, nails biting into her palms.
"You can't, can you?"
Rika sighed, running a hand through her violet hair. "Not yet," she admitted. "I told you before, I can only control five layers of the Shadow Realm. Whatever's happening in there... it's way beyond . When i sent him there so we can preserve him sothing happened so golden light like sothing else entered the Shadow Realm so he was cast out of my Layers of the Shadow Realm"
"Then learn," iyo snapped, turning on her heel, her expression sharp. "Right now. Figure it out."
Rika's violet eyes narrowed. "That's not how it works."
"Then make it work!"
The air tensed.
Akari, who had been silent for far too long, finally broke.
"You think yelling at her is gonna help?!" Her voice was raw, shaking with barely restrained emotion. "You think that's gonna bring my Kouki back?!"
iyo's glare snapped toward her, eyes sharp as daggers. "I think standing here doing nothing isn't going to help either."
Akari's breath hitched.
She didn't have a response.
Because she knew iyo was right.
But she hated it. She hated feeling this powerless.
Kaito let out a sharp breath, rubbing his temples. "Look, arguing isn't gonna get us anywhere. Right now, we need to focus on getting out of here. The Demon Empire turf is where are and guess what this area Kouki destroyed isn't gonna stay empty forever. The mont those bastards realize their Hydra is dead and fake castle destroyed, they're gonna send their monsters and demons at us and maybe more Hydra."
iyo knew he was right.
That didn't make it any easier.
She turned away, forcing herself to breathe, forcing herself to think. "We can't use the Shadow Realm to transverse," she muttered. "Not until Rika figures out what's happening with Kouki."
Rika nodded. "Yeah. If I try to pull us in without knowing where he actually is with my lack of control i might even lose access to where he was dropped or sending him sowhere worse. Maybe if Morgan Suzuki was still alive or my..."
Akari shouted interrupting her. "Worse?"
Rika exhaled. "There are places in the Shadow Realm that even I can't see into. Dinsions that exist beyond reason, beyond existence. If he falls into one of those..." She trailed off. She didn't need to finish.
Akari swallowed hard.
iyo took another breath. "Then we travel on foot."
"Through Demon territory iyo-Chan?" Hakashi asked, raising an eyebrow. "We barely made it here and that was using the Shadow realm as a alternate space to travel."
iyo shook her head. "Yes we just need a safe or safest route."
She closed her eyes, letting her Sky Hawk Vision expand, her senses stretching across the land. The battlefield unfolded before her—not just what was in front of her, but beyond.
The quickest path to the Phoenix Kingdom was straight through the Demon Empire.
That wasn't an option.
So many monsters and high dinsionality monsters.
The second option...
"The Forest of Crossroads," iyo said, eyes snapping open.
The others exchanged glances.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Duck asked, crossing his arms. "That place is connected to the Phoenix Kingdom, yeah, but also to Yokaihi part of the forr Dragon Kingdom our parents destroyed. What is there still so inhumans who want revenge on us"
At the ntion of the forr Inhumans, an uncomfortable silence settled over the group.
They could attack and they will be less rciful.
But iyo know they did not have a choice.
"We don't have a choice." iyo said.
Kaito scoffed. "You an we do have a choice, but you don't care if we run into trouble. You want to risk everyone to save Kouki"
iyo t his glare without flinching. "Trouble was always going to be part of this mission. You can either co with , or you can stay here and wait for the Demons to find you."
Kaito clicked his tongue but said nothing.
iyo turned away. "We move now. The longer we stay, the worse our chances."
The Vanguard hesitated—but only for a mont.
Then, they followed.
The Forest of Crossroads.
The place where routes to and from every Kingdom of this world t naturally.
A place that had existed since the founding of the Phoenix Kingdom and the Demon Empire. A place where fate itself seed to twist and turn in unpredictable ways, where paths shifted, where ti and space did not always obey the rules.
Legends said it was once neutral ground—a eting place for the rulers of all kingdoms. But now, it was a land soaked in blood, a battlefield between the forces of old and new.
And at its heart...
The ruins of the Dragon Kingdom.
iyo's expression didn't change as she led the group forward, but inside, she was bracing herself.
She had never stepped foot inside the disowned trashes Noboru's kingdom.
Never wanted to.
After all why would she the princess of the Phoenix kingdom enter that trash's trash kingdom full of monsters like the inhumans,
But now, she had no choice.
As they walked, an eerie silence stretched between them. The trees lood overhead, their twisted branches reaching out like skeletal fingers, the air thick with an unshakable sense of history. However what She saw now—the shattered remains of hos, broken swords embedded in the dirt. The charred bones of people who had once called this place ho. And for the first ti... she wondered. The looks of so definable inhumans off horror and fear
She saw them all.
Ghosts of the past.
The past her family helped to destroy.
The Genocide she was all so proud of.
And for the first ti...
iyo found herself rembering.
Rembering him.
Noboru Chikara.
The disgrace.
The traitor.
The monster who had dared to call himself a king.
She knew the stories. She knew what their parents had told them.
How he took her dead brothers na.
How he was the rgence of the beast tat attacked the kingdom after they sealed the beasts power into Kouki and iyo.
How the soul took over their brother body and used it to haunt them.
and how mother cried saying the reason they never killed the beast was because they didn't want to destroy Noboru's body but Kouki and her had no attachnts they would destroy the body free it from the beast.
But now, standing in this place—his place—she felt sothing else.
Sothing she didn't want to admit.
Guilt.
Because she had never cared. Never questioned.
Never wondered if maybe, just maybe...
He hadn't deserved what had happened to him.
Maybe the people that lived didn't deserve to be destroyed for a tal.
She clenched her fists, forcing the thought away.
Now wasn't the ti.
Now wasn't the place.
Because mother and Father must be right.
And the deeper they went into the Forest of Crossroads...
The more the truth would co to light
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