Chapter 64: Final Lights of Pascoloid, when the summoners leave

Chapter 64: Final Lights of Pascoloid, when the summoners leave Sergeant Lloyd and Fex had arrived on Planet Pascoloid. The atmosphere was dense with tension, a stillness that didn’t belong. They were immediately briefed upon arrival, handed communicator phones which displayed the terrain layout and marked the last known locations of missing students. Without wasting a second, the two launched into the mission. A small team had been assigned to accompany them, though they had all split into pairs and scattered across different sectors of the forest. The weight of responsibility hung thick in the air. Lloyd and Fex moved with sharp awareness, their eyes scanning every shadow. It didn’t take long before they encountered the first group of students—terrified, injured, but alive. Then a few more. They weaved through the deep forest, branches brushing against their armored suits, collecting the scattered survivors. In total, they had gathered twelve students. But then they saw it—the cause of the chaos that plagued Pascoloid. Creatures, twisted in their form, forged entirely from beast bones, moved with unnatural grace. Their presence exuded a dark aura, a suffocating pressure that seemed to crawl over the skin. They had no visible weaknesses. No organs. No flesh. Just bone, animated by something dark and ancient. Without hesitation, Lloyd acted. He charged, swinging his Core Weapon with precision and force. His blade cleaved through the first creature, separating its upper and lower halves at the waist with a swift strike. The sound of bone shattering echoed, but it was too soon to celebrate. The beast’s lower half twitched violently. In a grotesque display, it began crawling back toward the torso, dragging itself with its remaining strength. Within seconds, the parts reconnected as if stitched by invisible threads. The boned beast stood once more, unphased. It lunged at Lloyd. This time, Lloyd met it with a charged slash, infused with raw energy. A visible wave of white force erupted from his blade, howling like a storm through the trees. It collided with the creature, shattering its joints and scattering its bones into fragments. The forest fell silent—but Lloyd knew it wouldn’t stay that way. Though the creature was defeated for now, it wouldn’t take long for the bones to piece themselves back together. He had merely bought them time. With urgency gripping his chest, he made the call to retreat. "Fex, we’re pulling back! Let’s take the students to base." Fex didn’t hesitate. His terrain mastery and navigation skills allowed them to evade most of the remaining boned beasts without stopping to study them. Each maneuver was deliberate. Every step was survival. They repeated this process, over and over, diving deeper into the cursed woods and returning with survivors. By the time they had completed their runs, the number of rescued students had reached sixty-three. But there were two more. A boy, his arm mangled—bitten off in the most horrific way imaginable. Fex had him slung over his back. And a girl, her eyes wide with fear, silent and trembling. As they moved through the dense undergrowth, trying their best to remain unseen, a massive shadow cut across the sky. It soared above them like a phantom, silent but not invisible. Lloyd’s instincts flared—he raised his head before the sound even reached him. His eyes narrowed. The silhouette... It looked familiar. It descended quickly, passing into the forest, vanishing behind the tree line. Lloyd could feel it—its presence thrummed through the ground like a heartbeat. His eyes sharpened with a determination Fex recognized but didn’t understand. "Come on, follow me Fex!" Lloyd yelled, his voice firm and focused. He didn’t wait for a response. Trees cracked and splintered as Lloyd burst through them, slashing aside anything in his path. Fex grunted, slightly annoyed, but followed. His curiosity had been piqued. Eventually, they broke through to a clearing. The light of the two suns glimmered off the tips of ankle-high grass, swaying in a faint breeze. Few trees stood here. And in the open, just beyond the break, they saw them—more students. Bruised, bloodied, and barely conscious. "You’ve really got sharp eyes," Fex said with a half-smile, impressed. But the flying creature... his thoughts turned to one person immediately. Lina. If she had summoned it, everything made sense now. That presence in the sky, that shadow—it must’ve been her doing. Lloyd, however, didn’t find what he was hoping for. His suspicions remained unanswered. But he had no time to search further. The students came first. "Alright, students. I can only carry two at a time. If you can walk, help someone else. Let’s move. We’ve got very little time before nightfall." The group moved in unison, leaning on one another. Every breath was labored, every step careful. Lloyd slung one of the students, Kairos, over his back. The boy was weak, barely clinging to consciousness. They moved slower now, the burden heavier. But Lloyd and Fex pressed on, guiding the fragile line of survivors through the darkening forest. Kairos could feel it—the pull of sleep. His body ached beyond measure, and his mind drifted dangerously. But he couldn’t afford to sleep. Not yet. Too many secrets. Too many unfinished plans. Mikey who still had a video of his abilities,band Rivet also who could betray him at any time. The shadow dragon... he hadn’t even begun to analyze what happened. He had bonded too quickly, pushed his summoning abilities too far. And now he was paying the price. His eyes fluttered, his breathing grew shallow. Fear crawled into his chest, cold and suffocating. He couldn’t afford to be unconscious—not when his secrets risked falling into the wrong hands. Not when he didn’t know if he’d wake up in Titanfang again... or on a cold, metallic bed... stripped of his freedom... a subject for dissection and study. His thoughts spiraled. How long would he be asleep? Would he even wake up? As his mind faded, his eyes caught a glimpse of the horizon. The twin suns of Pascoloid had vanished over the edge of the world. And in their place—darkness. There was no moon. No stars. Just pure black, swallowing the forest, the sky, and everything in between. And as the final shred of light slipped from his vision, Kairos thought one final thing: The darkness would take him too. Just as it had taken this world.