The hunters returned to their own country in silence. It was yet another victory that didn't feel like one.
Vrai and Wave ended up leaving after having lost their partners during the fight.
"Ah." Josh went upon spotting Terrence as they went back "I'm glad that you're alive. We all thought that… y'know."
"Mm." He paused for a second, as if trying to remember something "Where are the others?
Josh hesitated, working out what to say.
"Vert didn't make it. As for Joseph, he just ran off chasing that Tigrex. I've got no idea where he is now."
"I see." Terrence responded without emotion.
Josh could tell that something happened to him, but he no longer had the energy to hear about it, so for now he decided to leave it be.
Zach and Callum watched Natalie and Natasha return, their fear only increasing as they saw that Ben and Plessy weren't with them.
Natalie walked off, while Natasha explained what had happened.
"Huh…" Zach responded slowly "I can't say it wasn't a fitting end for him, at least…"
"I guess, but just-" Callum replied "I didn't think it could happen. Hell, I don't think I've even processed it yet."
"I get ya. It hasn't hit for me yet either."
He thought to himself.
"I didn't think those days would ever come to an end. Yet, here we are now. It's frustrating. More than anything, I want to challenge it. To find some single cause and fight it so this tragedy is avoided. But I don't think that's ever gonna be possible, so all I can do now is say goodnight, brother."
About a week passed.
The hunters had returned to their own country, to hold funerals for the ones they'd lost.
Despite the loss of its leaders, the guild seemed to be functioning like normal.
They finally found Joseph a short while after returning. He was surprised by Terrence's survival as well, yet he didn't react that much. What did affect him was the news of Ben's death, alongside all the others who were lost during the battle.
No one could say for sure what emotion he was experiencing. Whether it was sadness or anger, the result was the same.
The aura users isolated themselves. Not just from the other hunters, but from their partners as well.
Joseph stumbled around the city at night, eventually crashing into an alleyway.
A black stare towards the sky, at which point he reached it.
He found himself in a different place.
It was unlike any other he'd ever seen.
An invisible voice spoke.
"What is it you seek revenge on?"
He paused, deciding what to answer.
"It was that Tigrex, until recently. Now… I don't know anymore."
"Your powers still haven't disappeared, meaning that you haven't given up the desire. In that case, what you need is a new target."
"Unfortunately, that doesn't seem likely. All the awakened monsters are gone. I don't have anyone to take revenge on anymore."
"So that's what you believe. Allow us to explain."
He finally noticed his surroundings. The walls of the place were lined with the dead, staring down upon Joseph. He recognised a few, specifically Isaac and Aron
"Wait. First off, what are ya?"
"Perhaps we should've explained from the start. We are the will of humanity. All of the fallen warriors across time have been gathered here, into this world."
"...Seriously, what? I'm not in the mood to get things like that, explain it better."
"Let's start from the beginning, then. All warriors have a basic set of skills. An aura that increases their battle instinct, the ability to recover from injury quicker than most, and an unaging body. What sets them apart is their manifestation. A special power each has, that can be accessed by using up their aura. What shapes that power is the feelings from when you awaken as a warrior. But, among all those powers, there is a more unique type. That is this world. One that has no power of its own, but draws in the wills of other fallen warriors."
"How the hell'd I end up with that?"
"It requires a specific wish. The desire to grow in power so you can crush your enemies. One of a child that wants nothing but revenge. We're not sure of the specifics, but that seems to be the link between the cases so far."
"So there's more than just me?"
"Yes. The one who awakened the world before you, the previous incarnation of humanity, was Fallon Bachika. With her death, it has been passed on to you."
"Wait. This all started back with the Tigrex, right? In that case, how come I've aged? Wait, more than that, I've got a manifestation of my own anyways. That move that lets me cut through anything. If it's a one power per person deal, then what's up with that?"
"The world has no manifestation of its own, so it begins weaker than other auras. It's likely that this is also because you both awakened as children, too weak to change anything. You lived like an almost normal human until you were fourteen."
"...That's when David…"
"Yes. That man too was a warrior. It was his will that you inherited first, giving you the blade that can cut through anything."
"...So that's how it was. I still don't get something though."
"What is that?"
"What the hell is the aura exactly? Where'd it come from? Even when I've been dealing with it for this long, it just feels unnatural."
"That was what we were about to explain. Let us start from the very beginning, in a world without monsters."
"...Huh?"
"Yes. originally, humans alone ruled over the earth."
The surroundings changed. Joseph found himself in yet another unfamiliar world. This one was less ominous than before and more just strange.
The streets were much like the ones he was used to, but more built up. Strange objects he didn't recognise moved around the streets, filled to the brim with people.
Monsters were nowhere to be found. A few animals were there, but they barely came close to outnumbering the humans.
The city stretched for as far as he could see, seemingly never ending.
He took in the strange world for a while, until something changed. A semi familiar roar in the distance, at which point the destruction began.
Blasts of energy spread through the streets, annihilating everything in their path. The ones who survive didn't have any time to rest, as immediately strange creatures began to attack them.
They weren't the ones Joseph was familiar with, but they had the same feeling to them. With their weapons destroyed, the people were unable to defend themselves. All they could do was run.
That suddenly changed for some of them. Aura appeared around them after witnessing deaths, and they were able to use their manifestations to fight back.
He didn't know how long they spent fighting, but eventually the battles came to a stop. The world was already in ruin. The monsters retreated, leaving just a handful of the humans from before alive.
The normal humans began to rebuild, while the aura users marched off. They couldn't be satisfied with just picking things back up and trying to survive, they had to take revenge, to wipe out the monsters that caused this.
"The idea that monsters were there from the start is a misunderstanding. They emerged suddenly one day, destroying every human in sight. Since then, they've evolved countless times, with that same purpose. You've already seen the awakening for yourself, that's just the most recent example. Make no mistake. No matter what the guild the ones who stayed behind set up tries to say, from the beginning this has been a war between humanity and monsters. Only one will be able to survive. Coexistence is just procrastination."
Joseph was struggling to process all of this, but the explanation continued. He looked, noticing someone he recognised among them. A much younger version of Fallon stood among the rest.
"The warriors wandered around for centuries, fighting everything in their path. One by one, they were whittled down over time, until eventually the owner of the world was the only one remaining, carrying all their wills on her back. It was around then that she became the first incarnation of humanity."
"...Got it."
"After the deaths of the rest of the warriors, she returned to civilisation, joining the guild and aiming for the top, so she could find another group to join her. She already had some idea from the memories of warriors awakened after the group's creation. That's when she encountered them. The ones that are like humans, yet also not."
"...Ya mean wyverians?"
"Yes. They too didn't exist in the old world, and they are the ones trying to lead us away from fighting the enemy. So, they must be on their side."
Joseph didn't respond to that.
"It seems you're still not convinced. In that case, we shall reveal these memories stored within the great will to you."
Memories and emotions flooded his senses, overwhelming him.
Each and every meeting, moment of time spent together and eventual tragedy passed through his eyes.
He saw events just like his own life repeated over a hundred times, going backwards chronologically until he reached the very start of it all.
By the time it was over, the voice spoke again.
"Thus concludes all of the world's known history, our personal akashic records. Now that you've been presented with all of this, the question remains. What are you going to do with the information?"
Joseph replied as he still thought to himself.
"Lemme react a little first. I've gotta say, it's kinda scary how much you got in there. A lot for a guy to take in that fast."
"Did any of the stories catch your attention in particular?"
He thought back to the lives of the dawn hunters, coming to better understand the two he only knew for a short while. He also thought back on Aron, now that he was at least able to understand his motives.
"Hmm. If I had to say, then maybe David and Allen's one. I mean, I knew that something bad happened, but I wasn't expecting something that disastrous. Not that I can't relate, or anything… Ah, maybe Aron's too. I mean, I just thought he was crazy until now. He still was, but knowing a bit about his past changed my perception a little at least."
"In any case, you should've realised."
He decided to feign ignorance, not wanting to accept his own conclusion.
"Realised what, exactly?"
"That all of these stories are the same."
"...Go on."
"Don't try to hide that you already know the answer. No matter who the actors are, no matter what stories they lead, there's a common thread between them all. Their ordinary lives, the things they hold dear, everything that could be considered important, are disrupted by monsters. Destroyed. Annihilated without thought or remorse. No matter what happiness they feel, it can be made to disappear in an instant by these beasts."
The exact same as that conclusion he didn't want.
"Hmm. I suppose I can't prove ya wrong."
"So you already know what you have to do next. You will not be told, you need to say it yourself."
He thought about it. About all the memories. He'd already lost this much to just one Tigrex. The memories had made it clear. Even with that threat gone, another one would surely appear soon. As he kept going, he would keep losing, until eventually there would be nothing left. So, there was only way to save everyone.
"Yep, I know. Until now… what I sought revenge on was that bastard. I figured if it was dead, then everyone would live peacefully. But that was just delusion. My scope was too narrow. At this rate, like ya said, things will just repeat. Everyone will lose everything at the hands of the monsters. So what I must seek revenge on... is this unjust world."
The dead that surrounding him seemed pleased with that answer.
"Now you understand. The problem is this world of monsters, that was created from the ruins of the old world. So, in order to return to the world where they can't take anything away from us, we must first destroy the world they've created. As humanity's next incarnation, you are the one who must lead the charge to destroy the world."
"I get it, I get it. Where do I start?"
"First, you must gather allies. The other warriors created during the war are yours to use, after all, leadership is one of the manifestations."
"I see. Then, unless there's anything else… let's begin the journey to a world without suffering."
TO BE CONTINUED
And so the second half of the final arc begins.
I guess it might've seemed like things were gonna end in Dia at the start of all this, especially with me saying it was the final arc before going there and all, but in pretty much every version of the story plan I've made over the years that was only ever the beginning of something bigger.
This is the final final arc, for real this time. I assure you. Probably.
I can get being confused as to what the point of all of that despair would've been, but it'll all reveal itself in time. Hopefully.
And on a more serious note, if you haven't been paying attention to it or are someone reading after all this is over for some bizarre reason, then now would be a good time to read 0 before continuing, since the upcoming arc will have a few references to parts of that. I'm not saying it's one hundred percent necessary, but I'm pretty sure it will be confusing without it.
That's about all, see you all after the overdramatic finale.