When the dust settled and the howling winds died down a few hours later, Duncan trudged back into the inn with Lucy. Thankfully, this building was built into the cave system, so it wasn’t blown away as easily. Fubuki, on the other hand, had left on her own to tend to her overturned stall.
The other stalls fared just as badly. A literal hurricane had just torn through the entire market, after all. Still, the vendors wasted no time tidying their stalls with the aid of magic, so it didn’t take long before the market was functioning as per normal again.
“So, what’s the plan?” Lucy asked as Duncan dropped his body onto the couch.
“I… I know not,” he admitted.
The woman frowned slightly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means—” Duncan raised his voice in frustration. “—I’m knackered cleaning up everyone’s mess! It means I don’t want to get involved anymore!”
Lucy chose to remain silent, which gave him a much-needed pause to recollect his emotions.
Duncan lowered his voice. “Mayhap if I’d just stayed away back then, none of this bad luck would’ve happened. I should’ve just ripped up that bleedin’ letter and stayed at the hotel.”
He fell silent as well, facing away. It wasn’t fair of him to snap at Lucy like that, but these few decades had taken a much larger toll on him as compared to the past few centuries.
The wars were a part of it; he had never seen such brutality before the twentieth century. But there was something else in the air. People were getting more desperate, more violent. Even liminal spaces were popping up everywhere. Perhaps Kubo and Miguel were right. Maybe the world really was about to end.
Duncan’s guilt grew in the tense silence, but he was spared from having to apologise when a set of hands wrapped around him tightly.
“Tis not your fault, Duncan. None of this is,” Lucy breathed in his ear, although her voice sounded a lot more motherly than it normally did. “Thou owest the world nought.”
Duncan looked at her with his jaw still clenched. “I can’t stop them from killing each other, and Yuri… Yuri isn’t the lass she used to be. What worth have my vow if she lives in defiance of it?”
“You don’t understand yourself. I doubt you ever did.” Lucy shook her head slowly. “Ever have you gazed upon the world through such tainted glass, and ever has it marred thy sight. Verily, the world doth grow dark at times, but it is no patient of yours. You can talk about your vow all you want, but I reckon that is not the reason behind your purpose.”
“Nonsense.” Duncan shifted his eyes away from her gaze. “Why else would I be doing this?”
“Because you love them. You love mankind through and through. All that prattle about keeping a vow is but an excuse. The truth is, you want to help them. That is thy nature, Doctor Duncan Ward.”
“They don’t deserve it,” he muttered behind gritted teeth. “They don’t— I can do this no longer. You haven’t a clue the things I’ve seen on the battlefield. The savagery, the— the pain… So much… pain…”
“So the world is a little broken.” Lucy let go of him, but she kept her gaze. “And to speak plainly, so are we all. Yet you have no need to take it upon yourself to heal the world. You need only be who you already are: a good man.”
The memories came back to Duncan one by one. Every scar, every war, every life he couldn’t save. He closed his eyes painfully, and more memories surfaced. Every smile of relief, every word of gratitude, every life he managed to save.
Duncan opened his eyes slowly. Bugger it, Lucy was right on all accounts.
“Since when were you such a sage, Carpenter?” he chuckled lightly.
“Old people like us must needs have wisdom.” Lucy broke into a smile as well. “How else should we justify our years?”
Duncan simpered audibly at the feeble joke. Lucy joined in as well, covering her mouth as she giggled. It was more than what it deserved, but still, it felt good.
“So,” Lucy asked after a brief pause. “What is your plan?”
“Kubo mentioned ‘taking the world’ earlier,” Duncan said. “No doubt he’s planning to rejoin the war, maybe give the world a glimpse of whatever power he’s got. Question is, where lies his stage?”
“Rumours abound of American retaliation for Japan’s bombing of one of their naval bases, Pearl Harbour,” Lucy mused. “Surely America would also strive to hinder Japan from disturbing the Soviets’ invasion of Hokkaido. That means they are likely to strike at a strategic naval base. Considering all this…”
“Kure Naval Base. It’s the only place near enough to this market since Kubo cannot open portals as I do,” Duncan said firmly. “Were I Kubo, I’d head over there to give the Americans a proper fright.”
Lucy narrowed her eyes. “I will come with you.”
“Never was there any doubt of it,” Duncan smirked as a portal materialised in front of him. “Thank you, Lucy. For everything. Time to stop a madman.”
“Let us hope we are not too late.”
~ ~ ~
Not for the first time, Duncan was late. The all-too-familiar flashes of gunfire and bombing runs were already midway through when he arrived. In fact, it looked like Kure Naval Base had been under attack for a few days.
Heat seared his face as a fighter plane crashed just a dozen metres away from him. Duncan stood unflinching on the hull of a sunken ship, staring grimly at the hundreds of black flying figures making circles around the American jets.
“I don’t reckon those are Japan’s new designs for their flying machines,” he muttered, watching a few of those… things tear through another plane as though it were a sheet of aluminium foil.
“Rather hideous-looking ones, if they be so,” Lucy commented, ignoring a small group of Japanese soldiers yelling at them from far away. “Nay, there is no doubt. They do resemble the same beast I fought. That Japanese general must have found a way to replicate them.”
“And yet they’re oddly organised.” Duncan folded his arms. “Tis almost as though someone is pulling their strings—”
“You!”
He turned to the person yelling in Japanese. It was a young soldier, his clothes torn and his face stained with dried blood.
“What are you doing here? Hurry, get out of here!” The soldier jabbed at them desperately. “The monsters will spot you!”
Duncan opened his mouth, but the soldier’s eyes turned red as his body went stiff.
“Heed my command, mortal,” Lucy spoke, red hypnosis magic flickering in her irises. “Flee with thy comrades. Help has arrived.”
The soldier scurried back into the base and disappeared from view.
“That’s one less thing to worry about,” Lucy said. “I shall deal with these monsters. Seek out Kubo—”
“No need. I have found him.”
Duncan pointed at the solitary figure a few dozen metres ahead of him. Unsurprisingly, Kubo was using the Rakshashi’s Fan to chase the jets away. Tornadoes burst out with every flick of his wrist— two or three at a time— and crashed into the planes.
A few planes were nimble enough to avoid the artificial freak weather, but most of them were still sent spiralling in the powerful gusts of wind. Some of them must’ve been bomber planes; the explosions created in their collisions were spectacular, to say the least. Along with the swarm of monster bats in the air, it was certainly a sight to behold.
Duncan sent a stream of yellow magic at the figure, knocking the fan out of Kubo’s hands. The general turned around in surprise, but it was too late.
“Motus Prohibere!” A golden beam rushed towards Kubo—
The ground shuddered as one of the flying monsters landed out of nowhere, taking the hit for him. More of them landed as well and began walking towards Duncan menacingly.
“Oh no you don’t!” Lucy shrieked as she rushed forward.
She transformed into her monstrous form immediately, drawing attention to herself. A gust of wind whipped up the hem of Duncan’s coat as the vampire burst into the air, engaging the bat monsters in aerial combat.
“I ought to kill you.” Duncan drew a glowing sword from a glyph in the air. “Make a move towards the fan, and I will strike you down where you stand.”
“Does it matter?” Kubo remained motionless with his hands behind his back. “The world has seen the power I can harness. I have already won.”
“How did you get it?”
“Wars are won by competent men, not mindless soldiers.” There was a hint of regret in Kubo’s voice. “It was a pity that Yoshida chose to be nothing more than a mere soldier.”
Demonic screeches from above grated Duncan’s ears.
“But even in death, he has aided me,” the general continued, determination focusing in his eyes. “With his new biology… his core traits… everything about him, I replicated an army of loyal soldiers at my beck and command. Courage, loyalty, grit. He was the perfect soldier, and now… I have a perfect army.”
Duncan glanced at the monsters again. “You mean you killed the rest of your men by forcing them into that accursed machine. You’re a pathetic excuse of a leader.”
“They died to stop the fighting, while you live only to fail at saving your soldiers. Tell me again who’s pathetic,” Kubo snarled. “But it all ends today. Today, we unite mankind in their fear of the unknown. Today, we will become death, destroyer of worlds. That is my purpose in both life and death. This is the only way to save humanity from itself.”
He drew a gun, and Duncan creased his eyebrows slightly. Kubo obviously knew that Duncan couldn’t be killed by mere bullets, so what was he playing at now?
The general aimed his gun into the sky instead, and a red flare burst from the weapon’s nozzle. Seconds later, a monster crashed beside him, carrying two struggling figures. Duncan’s eyes widened with apprehension.
“Hilda! Yuri!” he yelled, every fibre of his body preparing to leap forward. “Hang on! I can save you!”
“Now that’s what I like to hear,” Kubo smirked. “Last chance, immortal. Your elixir for their lives. Would you rather lose them? Or lose the world?”
Duncan pursed his lips as a small glyph materialised over his palm. With a casual gesture, he crushed the glyph and produced a glowing, golden pill. Time seemed to slow down as he tossed the pill to Kubo, watching it fly through the air—
Something huge slammed into Kubo without warning.
The pill bounced onto the floor as Lucy rolled to her feet with nimbleness supposedly impossible for something her size. The monster beside Kubo turned around too late, and its head was promptly ripped off its neck.
Kubo threw himself onto the ground, crawling desperately towards the elixir, which was quickly slipping into the sea.
“Duncan, here!” Lucy called out before practically throwing Hilda towards him. Duncan darted forward and caught the girl handily. Lucy turned back to reach for Yuri—
Kubo’s scream rang out.
Everyone watched on in shock as Yuri drove a dagger deeper into the man’s side, causing him to cry out in pain again. Duncan widened his eyes in shock; he didn’t even realise when Yuri had gotten hold of a Transylvanian Darting Dagger.
“This… is for threatening my family,” the woman hissed as Kubo sank to the floor, his blood turning the water brownish-red. “And this—”
She kicked the elixir into the sea. “—Is for killing my husband.”
Kubo stretched his fingers as though he could somehow reach the elixir, but only choked on his blood instead. Yuri rolled his body to the side, letting it fall into the sea.
Duncan rushed forward. “Yuri—”
It was too late.
The woman rolled over as traces of purple magic began leaving her eyes. Duncan’s stomach sank in realisation. Yuri’s soul must have been bound to Kubo via some sort of pact meant to deter her from attacking him. But if she chose to do so…
“Mother…?” Hilda sank to her knees and held Yuri’s hand, her face wrought with confusion and despair. “Mother, you’re so cold… What’s happening?”
Duncan watched grimly as Yuri’s soul left her body, particle by particle.
“I’m sorry, Hilda…” Yuri’s voice came out as nothing more than a bare whisper. “I’ve been… such a selfish, bad mother…”
“No, no, no… why? R— Respiration rate dropping… Body temperature… dropping… Pulse rate… Pulse rate—” Hilda put her ear to her mother’s chest, struggling to figure out what was wrong. “I— I can’t…”
She shook her head frantically and turned to Duncan. “Please! Please, you have to save her!”
“He can’t… You can’t. It’s okay, it’s okay… I wanted this…” Yuri forced a smile, her skin turning greyer by the moment. “My sweet, precious… Emiko. I’m sorry for… neglecting you. For only thinking… about myself all this time. If only I had turned from my mistakes earlier…”
“Mother! Save your energy, please!”
“I should have—” She coughed weakly as more purple magic escaped from her mouth. “I should have spent more time… with you. Look after yourself… from now on, alright…?”
“I… love you…” Hilda sobbed loudly, holding her mother’s hand close to herself. Duncan knelt beside her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“I never got to thank you properly for saving me, Duncan.” Yuri’s eyelids flickered. “I’m sorry… for repaying your kindness with such ingratitude.”
“I forgives ya… I forgives ya.” Duncan clenched his jaw, holding back his tears as much as possible. “Yuri… Thank you for helping us.”
“I see it, you know?” Yuri cracked a small smile as the last of her magic left her eyes. “Our little cottage. Music in the air, books everywhere… It’s beautiful. It’s so… peaceful. If only… If only.”
Her body went slack as her chest stopped heaving. The sound of plane engines continued to rumble from above, but only silence remained in the air now.
Duncan closed her eyelids. “Rest well, my friend."24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLtBfD3eZis
and then Add to home screen.