Arc III: “Return of Darkness”
Chapter III: “Fading Darkness / Tales Untold”
Episode II: “The Guardian Returns”
Just what the hell was that… Rikito’s jaw locked as he tore through the clouds. Akira created an entire star—a real one. That size… that density…
He drove himself harder toward the south-western border, chasing the horizon like it could outrun the memory.
“Rikito!” Sikira shouted, pushing her Flux harder to keep up. Just where the hell does he think he’s going?
The surge in his Flow still hadn’t settled. It wasn’t exhaustion—it was that sharper, unstable edge that came after a near-death spike.
[A few hours later]
Kyte plunged into the sea and hauled the Adaptoid’s ruined frame from the depths—metal bones warped, core split, its “skin” still humming with residual aether conductance.
I don’t sense Apocalypse anymore… So that shockwave… did they actually win?
[Earth’s Atmosphere – The Zenith]
The Zenith drifted above the planet like a watchtower that could move—silent engines, old stonework fused with alien metal, built for monitoring, not comfort.
“Leo? What are you doing up here?” Kyte asked as he touched down at the Zenith.
“Kyte?” Leo blinked. “Where’d you vanish to yesterday?” His eyes dropped to the ruined frame slung over Kyte’s shoulder. “...What is that?”
“This,” Kyte said, dropping it with a heavy clang, “Is some kind of advanced construct that jumped me in the Southern Region. I was on my way to back my brother up—and it found me first.”
Leo noticed that Kyte was roughed up. “Seems it gave you a bit of trouble. Was it really that powerful?”
“It adapted mid-fight,” Kyte said. “Kept climbing. By the end, I had to empty damn near everything I had just to put it down.”
Leo’s brows lifted. “Even you?”
“It wasn’t stronger than me across the board,” Kyte corrected. “It was a bad matchup. It had absurd resistance to raw physical output… but it reacted to aether-based Arts. Like beams and shaped discharge could actually bite.”
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“So, someone with a wider Craft would have done better,” Leo muttered.
Kyte tapped the branding near its neck. “Adaptoid-P. That ‘P’ is the part I don’t like. Because if there’s a ‘P,’” Kyte added, “there must be other versions out there too.”
Before they could continue their conversation, someone walked outside the palace.
“Oi—what’s all the noise?” Zane groaned, stepping out.
Then he saw the body.
“What the—” In an instant, he was in front of it, eyes wide, hands already hovering like he couldn’t help himself. “I’ve never seen a build this clean…” Zane breathed, running a gloved hand along the plating. “And this material—layered like nanoplate composites, but not anything I’ve touched.”
He looked up, grinning like a kid. “This would be insane in one of my suits. Leo—where’d you get it?”
“Kyte did,” Leo said, nodding.
Zane didn’t even blink. “Cool. I’m taking it.”
He finally glanced at Kyte. “Unless you’re telling me this thing might wake up again. Then… I’m taking it carefully.”
“No, I think it’ll be alright. I was hoping you could help me find out more about its origins. I believe on its neck it’s labeled as an ‘Adaptoid.’”
“Adaptoid, P. I see, I see. I’ll get back to you. Give me a few days.”
Another figure stepped out—quiet enough that even Zane’s excitement died for half a second.
“...L-Lian?” Kyte froze.
He’d heard the stories after the UFA attack. “Lian never made it.”
Yet here he stood—staff in hand, ancient engravings catching the morning light like they remembered every oath ever carved into them.
Leo exhaled. “Yeah… I never told you. When Kyoto and I were at the UFA, we found him barely breathing. I thought he was already gone.”
“Yes…” Lian said. “Forgive me for staying secluded for so long… but I had some business to attend to.”
Lian’s eyes didn’t soften. If anything, they looked older. “Rumors were useful,” he said. “They bought me time.”
Inside, the Zenith was quiet again—but the walls still held yesterday’s echoes.
Lian told the story of his whereabouts for the last few days.
“So, the Old Guardian of Solaris gave you the last of his lifeforce,” Leo said slowly, “and told you to seek his other half?”
Lian nodded once. “That’s the shape of it.”
Kyte swallowed. The pressure coming off him now wasn’t loud; it was anchored.
“I can draw on my master’s remaining current,” Lian continued. “But the other half… that’s the part I still have to harmonize with.”
Leo leaned back. “Then train with us at the UFA.”
“I may,” Lian said. “But I’m not only a fighter now.” His grip tightened on the staff. “I’m the God of Solaris. The Zenith exists to watch the entire system—and I can’t neglect that duty.”
He paused, then looked up at the void overhead. “The job isn’t glory,” Lian muttered. “It’s vigilance.”
[Wave Island]
Rikito landed on the small, remote island in silence. Not hiding—withdrawing.
Away from the village, he reached the hills where he had built a small house.
“What are we doing back home?” Sikira asked, following close behind. “I know you didn’t come here to relax.”
Rikito didn’t answer at first. He moved like a man already halfway gone, packing with calm precision.
“You’re leaving again?”
He finally faced her. “Yeah.”
A pause.
“There’s something I need to do.”
He tightened the strap on his bag. “I know we’ve spent a lot of time traveling, but… a war is coming.” His voice dropped. “I can feel it in the way the world is moving. And next time,” he said, eyes hard, “I won’t be late to it.”
Sikira’s throat tightened. “Okay…”
“You deserve a break, too,” she wanted to say. But you don’t know how to live with peace.
She didn’t argue. She just watched him go—because arguing wouldn’t change what he was.
The next day, Rikito returned to Apocalypse’s island. He climbed the long staircase and stepped into the castle like he belonged there.
[Akira’s Shrine – Hidden Heights]
Akira exhaled as the last array locked into place.
Golden sigils rotated under the soil—barriers nested inside barriers, each one tuned to seal what little remained of the Dark Heart’s signature.
“Alright,” he muttered. “That should do it.”
His stomach growled, loud in the quiet.
He blinked.
“…Now I’m hungry.”
Somewhere beneath the seal, something cold refused to feel finished.
[Next Time on Lyte of Utopia]: “Birth of a New God”
[Yield Levels]:
Rikito: 5z
- Aether Resurgence: (Surge): ~6z
Sikira: 6z
Kyte: 6z
Leo: 10 – 5z
Zane: 50 – 3z
Lian: ???
Akira: 5z
- Aether Resurgence: (Surge): 6z