Rem approached slowly, her steps muffled by the dry earth.
Guts didn't turn around.
He knew it was her.
Not from the sound.
From the absence of sound.
Rem was one of those who knew how to be silent — gently.
She remained a few steps behind him, not daring to close the distance.
But when her voice came, it held no hesitation.
Rem:
"This tree… it's seen more deaths than any battlefield."
Guts:
"Then it must've rooted itself in corpses."
A pause.
The wind passed between them, tossing Rem's blue hair and the straps of Guts' armor.
They didn't look at each other.
But they were there, together, in that silence before everything falls apart.
Rem:
"Aren't you afraid?"
Guts:
"I am."
She lifted her eyes slightly, surprised.
But he added, evenly:
Guts:
"I'm always afraid.
But that's not what stops me.
It's what keeps me awake."
She watched him quietly, for a long time.
He wasn't saying it like a hero.
He said it like a man who had seen too many faces disappear.
Rem:
"Sometimes I wish you'd talk to me more...
And sometimes, I'm glad you don't."
(she smiled, a little shy)
"I know it means you're still here."
Guts lowered his eyes slightly, staring at the massive roots of the tree.
He hesitated.
Guts:
"You're different from the others.
You don't try to understand me...
You just wait for me to stay."
A silence.
A long breath.
Rem:
"Because you stay.
Even when you could leave.
Even when no one asks you to.
You stay."
She stepped closer. Close enough to almost touch his arm.
But she didn't.
She just spoke, calmly.
Rem:
"You don't have to be a hero for me, Guts.
You don't need to save me.
But I want you to come back.
Afterwards.
Even if it's just to say nothing."
He stood still.
Then slowly nodded.
Guts:
"Can't promise.
But I'll make sure this isn't the end."
A distant rumble echoed through the valley.
Like a breath.
A groan.
A monstrous inhale.
They looked up at the same time.
Something was coming.
Rem (softly):
"It's coming."
Guts (calm):
"Finally."
They rushed back toward the camp.
The troops were already in formation.
Ranks aligned, faces tense, weapons clenched in sweaty hands.
The tension hung like a shroud of lead.
Few spoke.
Most stared at the horizon. Fixed.
Not knowing exactly what to expect.
And yet, everyone knew.
It was here.
Somewhere, in that strange mist that had risen without warning.
It was lurking.
Still unseen — but present.
Like a nightmare waiting its turn.
Then...
A sound.
A deep, distant rumble.
Not a roar.
Not yet.
A droning, like a wave forming in the pit of the sky.
A soldier trembled. Another looked up.
Others followed.
And then, at last...
It appeared.
A white wall.
A monstrous belly slicing through the clouds.
Aerial, floating, unreal —
Like a mountain that had learned to fly.
Screams rang out.
A mix of awe and terror.
Some cried out in wonder.
Others dropped to their knees.
Guts didn't move.
He looked up.
A faint smile — almost savage — curled at the corner of his lips.
Finally.
A real challenge.
A monster.
An enemy worth the fight.
His heart beat faster —
Not out of fear.
But out of anticipation.
He took a step forward.
Rem (voice trembling):
"Guts… It's…"
Guts (without looking at her):
"It's prey."
It was diving toward them.
Right at the camp.
A white, furious, immense mass.
A roar split the air — a cry without throat, from somewhere beyond.
Orders flew on the wind.
Soldiers took position.
Mages, archers, spears pointed skyward.
But despite all the preparation…
You could see it.
The fear.
In trembling hands.
In shoulders drawn too tight.
In eyes that no longer blinked.
What was coming...
Was not a beast.
Was not a monster.
It was a calamity.
An aberration, ripped from another world.
Even the veterans had gone silent.
Rem, frozen beside Guts, whispered a prayer.
Ferris clenched his teeth.
Wilhelm stared at the horizon, fists white with tension.
And in the middle of them all...
Guts.
Standing tall.
Silent.
Eyes locked on the Whale.
But instead of smashing into the army below…
It rose.
A blast of wind.
A colossal shadow passed over the camp.
Men looked up — stunned.
The Whale did not strike.
It didn't crash into the lines.
It... watched.
Like an ancient spirit recognizing a forgotten name.
Its massive eye — red, slit with a morbid gleam — glided slowly over the gathered army.
Deliberate.
Cruel.
Silent.
His eyes locked on the Whale.
But instead of crashing down upon the army before it...
It rose.
A roar of wind.
A massive shadow swept over the camp.
The soldiers looked up — stunned.
The Whale didn't strike.
It didn't smash into their ranks.
It… watched.
Like an ancient spirit recognizing a forgotten name.
Its immense eye — red, slit with a morbid gleam — glided slowly above the army.
Deliberate slowness.
Cruel silence.
The silence broke.
Crusch raised her arm.
Crusch (clear, commanding):
"Soldiers, attack!
Cannons — fire at will!"
A second later, the sky exploded.
A rain of magical projectiles tore through the night, waves of light illuminating the darkness.
The magical batteries roared, vomiting their force upon the Whale.
Inhuman screams burst through the air — shrill, twisted, terrifying.
Loud enough to make ears bleed.
Howls that pierced flesh and froze men in place, trembling.
And yet…
It didn't move.
Suspended in the sky, the Whale still watched.
Motionless. Passive. Almost absent.
A flare shot into the air.
A long whistle. A green trail.
The whole night ignited for an instant, revealing the battlefield in an unreal glow.
Guts remained still.
His gaze moved from soldiers to cannons, from the lights to the screams.
He watched these men fighting with all their might against something they couldn't grasp.
And then… a green light flashed in the sky.
A blade of light split the night.
It stabbed into the creature's flesh, blood spraying the clouds.
A clean strike.
Unexpected. Perfect. Deadly.
Guts raised an eyebrow, surprised.
Rem (riding beside him):
"That was Lady Crusch.
Her sacred sword… it has no range.
It can strike from a distance."
Guts said nothing. He had never seen that before.
Rem (softly, almost proud):
"They say her blows could cut down a hundred men in a single swing."
Guts (brief, grave):
"Impressive…"
But in his mind, a doubt was growing.
Guts (thought):
It's strong. Remarkable, even.
But not enough.
Not for a beast like this.
It'll take more than that.
You'll have to get close.
Tear open its side. Break its bones.
Make it bleed like something truly alive.
The barrage continued.
The cannons howled.
The beast seemed to recoil, to falter…
Then, without warning — it dove.
A deep rumble swept across the sky.
Its wings spread like storms.
It charged the human lines, mouth wide open, relentless.
Crusch (loud and clear):
"Scatter!"
The troops scattered immediately.
Guts and Rem followed one of the flanking groups, moving up the line.
In the sky, the White Whale still circled — but now it had set its course.
It was diving toward Crusch.
The impact was imminent.
Crusch was still unleashing her long-range attacks, her sacred blades slicing the night like lightning.
But the beast didn't flinch.
It endured. It watched.
It was aiming.
And from the rear, Guts suddenly saw a flash of movement.
Wilhelm.
The old warrior with eyes forged for war, mounted on his earth dragon, launched straight at the celestial abomination.
No hesitation. No pause.
A charge.
Wilhelm leapt from his mount.
With a prodigious bound, carried by strength untarnished by age, he launched himself…
And landed on the Whale's back.
Shouts rang out.
The creature, caught off guard, roared.
Wilhelm, already standing, slashed ferociously, blow after blow.
Jets of white blood splattered the sky.
The Whale twisted, trying to throw him off.
It writhed in the air, like a living storm, screaming death.
Ricardo shouted an order and launched himself as well.
With a savage leap, he landed on one of its fangs — and with a thunderous blow, shattered it with his axe.
Mimi, Hetaro, and their troops attacked in formation.
Precise, rapid strikes.
They tore open wounds on its side, dug trenches into its flesh.
Mages in the rear rained down fire.
Blazing spheres exploded against its scales.
The sky was ablaze.
The monster screamed.
The Whale flailed in the air, covered in wounds, its skin burning, its blood falling like white rain.
The earth itself trembled.
And yet…
It did not fall.
Guts narrowed his eyes.
All these attacks. All these strikes. All this fire, this rage, this blood…
And still it remained.
In the sky.
Floating like a phantom of steel and howls.
Not a single wingbeat missed.
No collapse.
Still standing. Still alive. Still above.
And at that moment…
Guts understood.
They couldn't kill it like this.
They would have to do more than strike.
They would have to… bring it down.