40. The Sacred Protection of the Guardian Naaru [Countdown to Explosive Update 2/2]

"Click."

The gem-encrusted airlock of the Naaru starship *Genedar* slid upward. Under the watchful eyes of a group of heavily armed peacekeepers and priests, the "Five Little Heroes" sprinted out, carrying a stretcher.

"Wait!"

High Priestess Ishana, standing at the forefront, raised her holy staff to command a halt. She released a burst of Holy Light to sweep over the group, confirming there were no hidden Nathrezim among them, before stepping forward to inspect the casualty on the stretcher. One look at the bizarre nature of the injuries made her gasp.

"Who is this?" she asked, glancing skeptically at Captain Nali, who sighed and replied, "It is Brigadier Diakum. We arrived a little too late."

"You are telling me that this... mass is Diakum?" Ishana was shocked once more. As a legendary priestess nearly two thousand years old, she had seen her fair share of horrors. Having spent her youth on Argus assisting her priestly parents with emergency triage, she had encountered countless strange and gruesome cases, but this was a first. It was no wonder she used the word "mass" to describe the patient; Diakum’s state was truly peculiar.

"Get him to the medical bay, quickly!" she ordered. She examined the heap of irregular, high-temperature-fused crystals interspersed with mangled flesh and bone. Upon confirming that the Brigadier still had a faint pulse, her resolve to save lives took over. As the Five Little Heroes hurried away with the stretcher, Ishana looked around, grabbed Nali’s hand, and whispered, "Where is Brigadier Maladaar? He went down with you, didn't he? Why hasn't he returned?"

Nali clenched her fists, a trace of grief etched onto her smoke-stained face. "The Brigadier... he sacrificed himself. He used a secret technique of the Holy Light that none of us had ever seen to save Brigadier Diakum from a desperate situation. But the price was that he himself was melted away in the storm of fel energy. I feel as though he had foreseen this all along; he chose to walk toward his own destiny."

"Alas." Priestess Ishana traced a triangular holy symbol over her chest. "The Eredar have lost another protector. May the Light bless his holy soul... his wife and children are still waiting for him to return. Oh, Light above, how am I to break this tragic news to them?"

"Let us save the living first," Nali said softly. "I will speak to the widow of Brigadier Maladaar."

"Very well." Ishana nodded. After taking a few steps, she turned back, looking at Nali with a hesitant gaze. She glanced around before lowering her voice: "Did you see Commander Kil'jaeden and his soldiers on the battlefield? They..."

"They have fallen," Nali said, closing her eyes. Her voice was hoarse. "I saw it with my own eyes. They embraced the fel, becoming Man'ari, merging with the demons. But... our escape pod did not encounter any demon fire as we departed. We weren't even harassed by the Felbats or Doomguards. This is not normal. The demons would never be so kind as to watch us leave. Therefore, I suspect that Commander Kil'jaeden must have made some kind of bargain with the demonic master. They sacrificed themselves to secure our safety and the safe escape of the other Eredar today."

"This must be kept secret!" Ishana’s expression shifted. "The Exarch Velen is currently receiving treatment as well. Until he is recovered enough to govern, this information must not spread. Our people are already filled with grief; we cannot let such devastating news further poison their hearts. Go and report to Governor Hatuun, Captain Nali. In this current situation, this ship desperately needs an excellent commander like you to assist the Governor in restoring order."

"I will," Nali nodded. "Although I know a Naaru priestess like you will do everything in her power to save Brigadier Diakum, I still hope you will try even harder. The people need good news. If Diakum survives, it would undoubtedly be seen as a great omen..."

"At a time like this, you can be honest with yourself, Nali," Ishana sighed. "It is difficult to hide one's concern for another. Perhaps some subtle feelings have already blossomed between you two. Keep the faith. I believe the Light will not abandon its devout apostles, and I wish for your feelings to find their harbor, child."

With that, the High Priestess leaned on her staff and hurried toward the medical bay. Nali remained in place, feeling somewhat overwhelmed—perhaps by Ishana’s candid advice, or perhaps by the weight of the task of delivering the tragic news. At this moment, the usually capable Assassin’s Court commander felt afraid. She suddenly felt exhausted, wanting nothing more than to sleep right there just to let her numb mind recover.

But soon, she sensed someone approaching. She opened her eyes to see the twins, supporting each other, standing nearby. "Captain, what should we do next?"

"You should rest," Nali said hoarsely. "Once your energy returns, go report to the Governor. Outstanding Arcane casters like you will surely be of great use on the journey ahead. Go rest."

"But we feel it would be better to stay and finish the work with you," Salaraas whispered. "You look terrifyingly pale, as if you might collapse at any moment. Forgive my bluntness, but you need the rest more than we do."

"You are my subordinates, Captain," Orosess added softly. "You do not need to hide your feelings from us. We have, after all, lived and died together."

"Little girls, do you even know what pain is?" Nali curled her lip. "Come here!"

The twins stepped forward and were surprised to be pulled into a shoulder-embrace by the typically stern Nali. The three women leaned against each other as Nali whispered in a voice only they could hear, "Our home is gone... we have become wanderers. Children, I am... afraid. I am so tired... am I useless?"

"Now that you mention it, I feel a bit..."

"We were too busy fighting to think about it before, but now that we're idle, it's normal for these emotions to surface. Wait... whose tears are dripping on my hand?"

***

"It's blood! Sister, hurry! Take the Captain to the medical bay! No wonder she looked so terrible; she's wounded."

Meanwhile, in the Naaru starship’s medical bay, Priestess Ishana had donned her physician's robes and was performing emergency surgery on Diakum alongside other priests from the Temple of L'ura. Because Diakum had faced the fel storm unleashed by Xal'atath’s predecessor at the moment of his death, part of his torso had been incinerated. However, that was not the most severe injury; his body was covered in mysterious crystal shards.

Those broken shards had been melted by the extreme heat and fused almost entirely with his body, making him look like a semi-enclosed "amber." The irregular, melted crystals encased his shattered torso, leaving only his head and most of his neck exposed. The priests attempted to remove the melted crystals first, otherwise, they could not cast any healing spells on the Brigadier, nor could they debride or stitch his horrific wounds. But as they cast their magic, they were shocked to discover that all curative and diagnostic spells vanished into him like a stone dropped into the sea.

"These crystals are absorbing magic!" a priest exclaimed. "I have never seen such a thing. Is this some kind of demonic dark art? Are they using this to torture Brigadier Diakum?"

"Should we use surgical tools to cut them away?" another suggested. "We don't know the material or rigidity of these crystals, and they are bonded too tightly. If we slip, we could cause secondary trauma. The only good news is that there is no fel contamination in his body; some power seems to have purified him. Priestess Ishana? Why aren't you speaking? Have you discovered something?"

The other priests looked toward their leader, who was indeed lost in a strange silence. She did not speak for several seconds. Finally, she reached out to touch the irregular, melted crystals around Diakum, saying with a hint of sorrow, "Tell me, what do you think these crystals are?"

"Perhaps some kind of protective magical effect?"

"But it is clearly composed of many shattered fragments fused together under intense heat. Look, there are obvious cracks in the crystal—these are the result of the fragments merging. Before I became a priestess, I was a jeweler. I can swear by my thousand years of craft that this is not the deformation of a single piece of crystal! Perhaps there were similar crystal shards nearby when Brigadier Diakum was injured, which led to this strange state. Could they be shards from the shattered Arcanite crystal towers on the Seat of the Triumvirate?"

"No! That's not it!" The priests discussed among themselves, but were soon interrupted by Ishana. The High Priestess seemed to have confirmed a "terrible" suspicion. With trembling hands, she pulled a peculiar pendant from her robes—a traditional Eredar handcrafted ornament featuring a golden crystal carefully carved with sun patterns at its base. She kept it close to her heart; it was clearly her most cherished possession.

Ishana took a deep breath. Under the gaze of the other priests, she removed the sun-patterned crystal pendant and placed it upon the melted crystals surrounding Diakum. A moment later, to the astonishment of all, the pendant "melted" into the crystals around the Brigadier. The fusion was so natural, as if they had always been one.

"The material of that pendant was a reward given to me by L'ura centuries ago for my contributions to the spread of the Light's teachings. It was a part of its holy body." Ishana sighed, her voice filled with pity as she touched the crystals around Brigadier Diakum. "Stop guessing, brothers and sisters. It was the remains of L'ura that protected the Brigadier in his moment of peril. These crystals are the melted form of a Naaru's body. They are mythical beings born of the Light, and even after death, they possess miraculous effects. Absorbing magic is merely one of them. Our Naaru protected our hero; that, in itself, is a miracle."

The death of the Guardian Naaru, L'ura, had already been confirmed; all three Naaru on the starship had verified it. They could no longer hear L'ura’s song. This meant their companion had perished in the final battle on Argus. For the Naaru, this was the glory of guardianship, but they, too, felt emotion, and all three were deeply saddened.

"This is a situation beyond our ability to heal," Priestess Ishana said, pulling her hand back and wiping away tears. "Take Brigadier Diakum to K'ure. Perhaps it has a way to heal our hero."

The priests were sorrowful. As members of the Naaru Temple, they were all, in a sense, disciples of L'ura, having studied the teachings of the Light alongside the Guardian Naaru. A thousand years of companionship had led them to view L'ura as a friend and kin. Seeing L'ura use its final strength to shield an Eredar hero after suffering its own misfortune was a story that deserved to be written into the history of the Eredar.

They quickly gathered materials to construct a makeshift "coffin." While it was somewhat ominous to put someone in a coffin before they were dead, his current state made transport difficult without such an enclosure, and the current situation allowed for no formalities. There were many wounded outside waiting for treatment; they had no time to spare, not even a moment to express their grief.

Ten minutes later, under the personal escort of Priestess Ishana and carried by several peacekeepers, Diakum’s coffin was brought before the navigation console where the Guardian Naaru K'ure resided. Upon seeing Diakum’s state, the Naaru emitted a mournful, ethereal chime. The emotion contained in those otherworldly tones needed no interpretation; it was grieving for its companion L'ura while feeling joy that Diakum had survived.

However, when K'ure shone its Holy Light upon Diakum in an attempt to heal him, another radiance erupted from within Diakum’s body. Compared to K'ure’s gentle Holy Light, this burst of radiance was highly aggressive, instantly igniting the coffin holding him. The milky-white holy flames were so intense that even Ishana could not get close. She had almost never seen such aggressive sacred fire; it seemed to have stripped away all the healing and protective aspects of the Light, utilizing all its power to punish evil. The flames were scorching and magnificent, emitting light and heat like staring directly into the midday sun.

The sudden turn of events caught K'ure off guard. The Naaru emitted a sound of confusion and swept its light over Diakum’s body with a gentler touch. It soon discovered the cause of the flare-up and communicated this to Ishana through a series of rhythmic rotations.

Ishana was startled. "You say there is a 'foreign object' near Brigadier Diakum’s heart? Aside from the remains of L'ura protecting him, there is another sacred object within his shattered torso? This... it's unimaginable! What kind of complex situation was the Brigadier in when he faced such danger? So, we are powerless to do anything about it now?"

K'ure provided a concise response to Ishana’s query: They could not intervene externally. The sacred object hidden within Diakum was clearly in an "agitated state." Even the Naaru’s own Light triggered its retaliatory flames; other healing methods would undoubtedly cause the same disastrous results.

However, K'ure also provided a reassuring conclusion: Although Brigadier Diakum’s injuries were severe, he was currently in a miraculous state. The Light protected him from slipping into death, while the fragments of the Naaru formed the most durable external defense, preventing him from falling into an even worse condition due to accidents. It could not determine how long this would last, but until Diakum’s state changed, he would remain in this "between life and death" state without further immediate risk to his life.

This conclusion brought some relief to Priestess Ishana. She glanced at Brigadier Diakum, who was protected by the milky-white holy flames, and after a few sighs, requested that he be temporarily housed in K'ure’s area. Given his current state, he was truly unfit to be touched by others to avoid dangerous accidents. The Naaru agreed.

Ishana was busy; she had to return to the medical bay to treat the wounded, as Exarch Velen’s condition was also far from optimistic. On this starship, which had already left the Argus system, most had not yet recovered from the sorrow of fleeing their homeland, but one way or another, they had to learn to accept the reality.

***

Hours later, supported by the twins, Captain Nali found the area where Brigadier Maladaar’s wife and children were quartered. They had been assigned a room on the third deck of the starship. Because Maladaar’s wife had long served as a volunteer at an orphanage in Oronaar, Governor Hatuun had entrusted her with the care of children who had lost their families to the war.

When Nali found her, Maladaar’s wife was holding a toddler who had just learned to walk, feeding it water. She was gently rocking the child, humming an old Eredar lullaby. Her own children were well-behaved, assisting the other ladies in caring for the crying little ones.

Seeing this scene, not only Nali but even the twins felt a pang of guilt and pain. They could not imagine the despair Maladaar’s wife would feel upon learning of her husband's death. *Light, why must you force such good people to face such a terrible fate? Is this some cursed trial of faith?*

To the surprise of all three, the noble lady did not faint upon hearing the news of her husband’s sacrifice. She wiped away her tears, struggling to maintain her composure, and asked in a choked voice, "So, my beloved gave his life to buy back the life of Brigadier Diakum, is that correct?"

"Yes! Without Brigadier Maladaar’s sacrifice, we would not have been able to bring our hero back to this ship," Nali said, her voice hoarse from the effort of walking after her own emergency treatment. "It was too chaotic at the time. I didn't hear the Brigadier’s final words clearly, but I heard him reciting the Light... He fulfilled his duty; he is a hero the Eredar are truly worthy of!"

"He was embracing his destiny, children," the lady said with a sad smile. "On the day I parted from my beloved, he told me he had been having a recurring dream. He said that in that dream, he saw our little Maladaar and little Lelane facing a terrible fate in another world. He told me that fate had been reversed. He saw Diakum in that dream, and he saw our son and daughter, grown healthy and strong, eventually draped in glory, leading countless kin back to their homeland. He believed it was a revelation from the Light! Brigadier Diakum is the messenger of destiny sent by the Light to save the Eredar, and his mission was to ensure that this messenger could embark on this trial of the Light with us. I was actually prepared for this. I feel proud of my husband... I..."

She could no longer continue. Even the strongest person could not hold back the tide of tears. Nali’s emotions burst forth as well; she rushed forward to embrace the lady, and the two Eredar wept together.

Maladaar and his sister Lelane did not yet understand what had happened. They ran over, hand in hand, but were stopped by the twins. Salaraas knelt, recalling the gentle tone Brigadier Diakum had used to comfort the little girl at the Academy of Arcane Arts that day. She placed her hands on the foreheads of Maladaar and Lelane and whispered, "Your father chose to remain on Argus. Like a hero, he fulfilled his oath to defend our home. He will keep fighting there until the day we find a way to save our world and return... The Eredar live for a long time, children. You will surely see your father again."

"You're lying!" little Lelane screamed. "Father would never abandon me, my brother, and Mom! Move aside, I’m going to find my father!"

"Brigadier Maladaar entrusted you to the care of Brigadier Diakum," Orosess said, her tone even gentler. "You know Brigadier Diakum, right? He and your father were true brothers-in-arms. Their bond went beyond blood. Don't you trust him?"

"Oh, if it's Uncle Diakum..." Maladaar touched the glowing short sword at his waist. He took his sister’s hand and said, "Then we believe you. But Mom, why are you and that lady crying?"

"Ah, they are probably rehearsing for the various setbacks they might face on the long, bitter journey ahead. It's like someone once told me, tears at a wedding are to prepare one for the hardships of marriage... Ah, tears. If tears could stop swords, how gentle this galaxy would be."

"Sister! How could you say such things in front of children?"

"It's fine. They won't be children forever. They will grow up. Speaking of which, our own ages are barely past adulthood for an Eredar, and look at the past while... what a miserable time it has been!"

***

That night, Governor Hatuun, who had only managed to cobble together an internal management system for the starship after a day of processing administration, dragged his exhausted body to the navigation console. He looked at the newly constructed gem-encrusted stone coffin and stepped forward to gaze at Diakum lying within.

The horrific injuries on the child made the old shaman’s heart ache. His left arm was gone, a leg was missing a section, and nearly half of his torso had been blasted away—one could even see the bones of his arm. Even through that layer of crystal, one could guess the terrifying battle the child had faced. He had watched him grow up! Although they weren't as close as he was with his foster son, Jaide, he was still a child of Krokul, and the pride of Krokul.

"It is we old men who are useless..." Governor Hatuun reached out, stroking Diakum’s face. The old governor’s eyes welled with tears. "We let you suffer such torment. Forgive me, child."

"Father? What are you doing here?" the voice of Jaide, commander of the Krokul Hunter-Riders, rang out from behind. Hatuun turned to see Jaide, leaning on a crutch, walking toward them. His injuries were not as horrific as Diakum’s, but having walked through the gates of hell multiple times, recovery would not be easy.

"Come here, child. Look at your brother," Hatuun called. As Jaide stepped forward and saw Diakum’s wretched state, the tough grassland cavalryman nearly broke down in tears. He clenched his fists, blaming himself: "If only I had been by his side... Heavens, he’s like a shredded Talbuk. Why would the Light allow him to suffer such torment?"

"Do not cry! It is a bad omen," Hatuun said firmly. "We must hold Diakum’s great deeds and sacrifice in eternal reverence, viewing him as the embodiment of our ideals and morality to inspire ourselves to face all the troubles ahead. He is the pride of Krokul, and so are you! Now that Diakum needs to rest, you must pick up the burden he left behind! Protect our people with all your might, just as he did!"

"I will not let Diakum laugh at me when he wakes up. Don't worry, Father. I will not let my brother’s name be shamed! Krokul is a memory of our past, but the Krokul Hunter-Rider Legion will always stand before our people. Anyone who wishes to harm us must first face the fury of our blades. We have lost Argus, but I will not allow us to lose anything more! I swear it! By the names of Krokul and Diakum, I swear that one day we will return! We will reclaim our sacred heritage! Krokul is waiting for us... Oh, homeland, we will never let you down!"