Yuto sat back against the rough stone, letting his weight settle carefully as he controlled each breath through the lingering pain in his chest. The air felt dry and thin, scraping slightly against his throat with every inhale. His ribs still protested each expansion, sharp reminders of how close he had come to being completely overwhelmed.

Around them, the battlefield had finally gone still.

The violent motion, the crushing impacts, the constant pressure of regeneration and counterattack, all of it had ended. What remained was only silence and devastation. Broken stone jutted from the basin floor at uneven angles. Deep gouges carved through earth and rock marked where the colossal vine beast had moved. Strands of torn vine and shattered organic matter lay scattered, already beginning to wither now that the creature no longer moved to sustain them.

The air carried a faint, heavy scent of damp earth mixed with something metallic and burnt.

Maya stood a short distance away, facing Yuto. Her posture was steady again, though faint traces of strain still lingered in the way her shoulders rose and fell with controlled breathing. She spoke in a calm, matter-of-fact tone, as if reporting events rather than reliving them.

"You passed out from blood loss and pain," she said. "I went to you, gave you my healing potion, and kept you stable until you woke up."

Tami scoffed immediately from the side, breaking the brief stillness.

"That’s underselling it."

He crossed his arms, shaking his head as if offended by the understatement.

"She basically sprinted to you in full panic mode, forced the potion down your throat, and then refused to look away from your face until you woke up."

Maya didn’t react outwardly. Not a flicker in her expression, not a change in posture. She simply stood there as if the description had nothing to do with her.

Tami nodded once, satisfied with his version of events, like he had corrected an important record.

Yuto exhaled softly, a faint smirk forming despite the ache still threading through his ribs. The contrast between the battlefield moments and this quiet aftermath felt almost unreal. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

He turned his head slightly toward Maya.

"So," he said lightly, voice still rough around the edges, "you care that much, huh?"

There was a pause.

Not dramatic. Not long.

But noticeable enough that it held weight.

Maya’s expression remained completely flat, unreadable in the same practiced way she always carried herself. For a moment, it seemed like she would simply ignore the comment entirely.

Then a faint tint of red crept up along the side of her neck, subtle but undeniable against her otherwise calm demeanor.

"I would have done the same for anyone," she said flatly.

Tami let out a short breath through his nose, somewhere between a sigh and a laugh.

"Right."

Yuto gave a quiet chuckle, but it immediately pulled at his chest. He winced, one hand briefly tightening against his side as the pain flared in response to movement.

His body was still far from healed. Even though his accelerated regeneration as an ethereal was already working beneath the surface, rebuilding what had been damaged, it was still in its early stages. Everything felt fragile, like too much strain could unravel the recovery entirely and drag him back into collapse.

Slowly, carefully, he pushed himself up from the stone.

"I’m fine," he said.

Tami frowned instantly, eyes narrowing.

"You’re still too weak."

Yuto didn’t argue at first.

He knew it. He felt it in every breath, every step of internal resistance in his body. There was a strange heaviness to his core, a sickly delay in how his strength responded, as if his system was still rebooting after being forcibly shut down. One wrong movement, one unnecessary exertion, and everything could fall apart again.

But time wasn’t on their side.

It never had been.

And now, after stopping for the vine beast, they had only fallen further behind.

Yuto shook his head slowly.

"We don’t have time to sit around."

His gaze shifted past them, toward the distant horizon where broken terrain faded into heat-hazed emptiness.

"We already lost too much time dealing with that vine beast."

Maya followed his line of sight for a moment, then gave a small, controlled nod.

"He’s right," she said. "Shinto would be way ahead of us now."

Tami clicked his tongue, clearly unconvinced, but didn’t push the argument further. Instead, he let out a long breath and rolled his shoulders once, wincing slightly.

"Fine."

The word carried reluctance, but also acceptance.

Yuto turned slightly toward his summons.

Shinny stood nearby, still, composed, though clearly worn from the battle. The beetle loomed beside them, its armored frame scuffed and dented in places, faint signs of strain visible in its posture and the slow, heavy rhythm of its presence.

After a moment of consideration, Yuto raised his hand.

"Shinny."

The swordsman didn’t hesitate.

His form broke apart instantly, dissolving into particles of light that scattered into the air before fading completely. The space he occupied felt briefly emptier, like a pressure had been lifted.

But Yuto did not dismiss the beetle.

It remained, heavy and present.

He exhaled quietly.

If he dismissed it now, it would not be ready to be summoned again until it fully recovered. In their current state, losing even that single summon would leave them exposed. Too exposed.

Not an option.

"Let’s move," Yuto said.

They set off eastward.

The terrain shifted beneath them as they left the basin behind, transitioning into harsher ground. Broken rock gave way to stretches of cracked earth and wind-swept sand. The afternoon heat pressed down with increasing intensity, turning the air thick and shimmering. Every step kicked up faint dust that lingered briefly before being carried away by dry gusts.

Silence returned between them.

Not the tense silence of combat, but the quieter, more exhausting kind that followed prolonged strain. Breathing, footsteps, and the distant sound of wind became the only constant presence as they moved through the wasteland.

Hours passed in steady travel.

The landscape offered little variation, only endless stretches of ruin and desolation broken by occasional formations of stone or half-buried structures.

Eventually, Tami slowed slightly and raised a hand.

"Look."

Yuto’s eyes followed the direction of his point.

In the distance, partially buried in sand and fractured debris, something stood against the horizon.

A statue.

Or what remained of one.

Its upper half was still visible, worn and eroded, edges softened by time and exposure. The lower portion had been swallowed by the desert, as if the ground itself had claimed it. Cracks ran through its surface, and portions were missing entirely, but enough remained to suggest it had once been something significant.

Yuto narrowed his eyes as they approached.

"It could contain clues," he said. "Or the gemstone itself."

Maya studied it as they walked, her gaze scanning the structure with quiet precision.

She shook her head once.

" definitely clues," she said. "The gemstone won’t be that easy to find."