The fort greeted Ryu with an ocean of black carapace. Sunlight glinted off of the Bug’s natural armor, and he pondered for the briefest of moments why he bothered. Only the gods knew, however, so he imagined it was best left to them, disappointing as it was.

No, providence had assigned Ryu a singular goal, and that was to throw his personal safety into a line of blades until one stuck. A man for both overthinking and under-thinking, he imagined there were few deeds in his life that might have still happened with a night to think it over, yet life had only rewarded his recklessness. Or perhaps punished it, depending on one’s view of power and its responsibilities.

He chewed the inside of his cheek. Better the silence of death than the wails of hunted innocents, at least, and with his decision made, he threw himself behind the remains of a shattered building.

Opposite the fort was a stone bridge that connected to Bug territory, and if that had been the aliens’ staging point, Ryu would not have worried. It was not, however. The Bugs had shattered another fort to skir behind this one, trapping it on all sides. They had cleared the surroundings of buildings, set their forces up in surrounding districts, and slaughtered the innocents around.

Gods, he longed to shatter that bridge into bits, but whatever evil had crafted the Rings was too clever to make the bridges the least bit breakable. At least, to him. And neither could Ryu slaughter his way through the Bug forces. In the off chance he was not overwhelmed, he would be painting a large target across his back and brandishing it about for good measure.

His solution was not much more intelligent than his failed ideas, if he was honest. Still, hesitation killed as many as poor planning, and he was not keen on having to contend with both.

Black smoke curled around his legs, and he leapt over the wall, landing in the midst of a group of Bugs. Then he leapt again. And another time after that. He was painting a target on his back, no doubt, but he would not be staying to see it poked full of holes.

A Bug soldier met his fourth leap, but Ryu’s aura sensed it was not his match. The two collided in the air, and Ryu grasped and pulled, shredding the monster like wet paper. Aye, a naked man ripping monsters apart in the sky was less than subtle. It was too late to worry now, however.

His feet landed on the fort’s stone wall, and Ryu looked up to see an Evolved Bug fighting… Emiko. His sister. He blurred forward in a puff of black smoke, punching his chitinous arm through the alien’s chest. It shuddered a few times before slipping off of his limb.

His eyes locked with his sister’s. The wave of emotion he expected to feel never reached him. It was the hollowness of seeing his people suffer, or so he chose to believe. Of course he cared, right? He dismissed the thoughts with a shake of his head. Right.

“Ryu?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Clothes?”

He sighed. Blissfully alive, once more.

---

Dozens of eyes measured him from the high-backed seats around the large stone table. Ryu only cared for one set, however. Ishida Jinn, his father by choice if not birth, sat next to his brother, his smile wide in spite of his tired, sad eyes.

“And where have you been?” a noble asked. His face was pinched and arrogant, but Ryu noticed his aura contained the power of Monarch Realm cultivation. A Master, then.

Sadly, the Bugs had warped Ryu’s sense of power, and he knew the noble would die as easily under their assault as anyone else. Which made him wonder why they were holding back. One problem at a time, he supposed.

“How long?” Ryu said, ignoring the noble. “How long has the fortress been under siege? What’s happened since my capture?”

“Jinn, brief the boy,” Haru said with a wave of his hand. The lord of House Ishida turned to another person at the table. “Daisuke, return to the others in the war room. The rest of you are dismissed as well.”

Inosuke’s father and commander of the fort’s defenses before the Bug attack, Daisuke was an experienced soldier Ryu had only just met before the Contest began. The graying man spared him a look and a bow that was more of a nod before leaving the room. After him went the other serious fighters and attendants, until the room was left with only three people.

Haru leaned back in his seat, flicking a hand towards Jinn. “On with it, if you don’t mind.”

“While the Contest was being attacked,” Jinn said, a grimace on his face, “dozens of other important spots were being raided by Bugs stronger than any we’ve seen before. They blindsided us, claiming some forts and circling around others. Many of the noncombatants were evacuated, and the old monsters of the forces are out tying up the Bug elites while they can. Our forces were assigned to hold this position, and Lord Haru was allowed to bolster our numbers with some of the weaker forces that were stationed closest to us. The Bug’s goals seem to be twofold; they want to push us out of the Ring and claim the Gate to the Seventh.”

“And we’re just holding out?”

Haru barked a laugh. “What would you have us do, boy? My position in the Aristocracy’s Parliament is tenuous at best until I claim position as Shogun, and I don’t have the strength to march into the bloody Circle myself. Our strongest are out there. The forces are meeting as we speak. The Gate will not be given up easily.”

Ryu shook his head. “You don’t understand. How many Master Classers do you think there are that dwarf my strength? My true strength.”

Haru shrugged, his smile never fading. “How am I to know? Perhaps twenty or thirty. I know of only seven in the Aristocracy capable of such a feat, at any rate.”

“The Bugs have seventy-three elites stronger than me, and they only grow stronger. Seventy-three. I might, might, be able to fight one of the weaker members of the Sixty-Four, but the Upper Eight? I imagine they are Fabled Classers, beings capable of levelling this city in a blink. Why they do not do so is beyond me. And the One? She is probably close to the Pinnacle, if such a thing truly exists.”

Haru’s smile curled into a sneer, his eyes drifting over Ryu’s loose robe to the chitinous arm at your side. “And you are now one of them, then?”

Ryu shook his head. “If I were, you would already be dead at my feet, you wretch.” And there it was. Boiling, white-hot rage that battered at his self-control. The only emotion not drained from his soul.

Jinn stood up, standing between the two warriors. “Before anything, we must break this siege and the communication-blocking enchantments surrounding the fort. We have been able to keep some contact by sending Classers to sneak through the Bug forces, but that will become less viable the more agents that are caught.”

“True enough,” Haru said, tilting his head and rubbing the pale blade of the sword laid along his knees. “Speaking of, I assume it will not bother you to resume your place amongst the forces here, Ryu? Unrestrained, of course. I will worry about the fall out should any arise over your power.”

“Sure,” he said. [Shadow of One’s Self] was his vital Skill, yet he found he had little need for it anymore. For much of his life after the Trial, it had helped him go unnoticed and unbothered, but now? Restricting his power was a death sentence now that he knew what monsters really roamed the Ring.

He was tired. Tired to his bones. Tired of the Bugs. Tired of being forced to play the games of politics and intrigue. Tired of being weak.

Again. Fight again. War again. Throw himself into death’s jaws again. That was what he was signing up for, but in the end, what choice did he have? Concede and let the Bugs have the fort? Watch as they killed his half-sister and his father? It was not a choice at all.

Haru stood. “For now, go to young Kaito and assist him in defending his portion of the wall. I will have permanent orders for you tomorrow. Dismissed.”

Ryu started to leave, but Jinn caught his arm. “Ryu, walk with me for a moment.”

“Alright,” he said. The two walked out of the large stone room into a smaller hall, the large arches to their side opening out to the siege around them. The stone floor beneath them was checkered.

“There is something I must tell you,” Jinn said. “But I’m afraid it’s not my secret to tell. I hope you’ll forgive me, son. After losing you though…” Jinn stopped, his voice full of emotion. He ran a hand over his bearded face. “Bonny is home. At my keep. And she’s-”

“Bonny’s safe?”

“Yes, son, and she’s-”

Ryu gripped Jinn’s wrists and pulled him into a hug, sickened that he felt no emotion at the admission. Bonny was safe. She was home. His real home. Not here, trapped in a war or at risk. He did not have to worry, right?

“Thanks for telling me, though I’m sure she told you not to.” He stopped in the hallway to lean against one of the arched windows, the sounds of battle rattling through the stone and glass around him.

Jinn leaned beside him, patting him on one shoulder. “She’s pregnant, son.”

A heartbeat passed. Then another. And another after that. Ryu’s mouth went dry as he worked his jaw. A baby? Pregnant? He waited for tears to come, waited for a wave of emotion, waited for anything. Nothing.

“W-what should I do?” Ryu asked after a long moment.

Jinn laughed. “Why be a father, of course. Look, we’ll settle this mess here, and then you can move back down to the castle with your old man, eh? We’ll build you and her a hall of some sort in town. Might be a bit boring compared to what you’re used to, but I’m sure we’ll find you something to do.”

“A book,” Ryu croaked, knowing a peaceful life was not for him. Still, it was a lie that would not harm Jinn. “I’ve always wanted to write a book, categorize all the monsters and creatures of the new world. Like Yorune’s Bestiary, but for all of the Rings.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do, son. But first, we have business to attend to. Win that future, alright?”

Jinn left him then, muttering about finding some other retired fighters for this task or that. A baby. Ryu was to be a father. He looked at his hands. Images of the Bugs’ warehouse flitted through his mind. These were not hands crafted to hold a child.

A better, more peaceful world. Now more than ever, the idea sounded ridiculous, yet Ryu clung to it ever so tightly. His child would not grow up in this violent, war-torn mess. Aye, he longed for the reality where he could retire to live with his family in peace, and perhaps it would happen someday, once the Bugs were pushed back to the other side of the river. He doubted it. Until then, he would give himself over to war and leave his child the only gift he might be able to give: peace.

I have not forgotten our training, Ender said in his mind. You will have to restore those metal walls for us to practice Soul Eater on.

Ryu grunted his agreement. His Shard Twin had been quiet since absorbing the body-snatcher, but he had little time to investigate it. Before he fought, however, there was one new development he had to look into.

His arm. Gods above, what the hells was up with his arm? Pale, almost porcelain, one moment and then chitinous the next. He looked like a damned monster. He willed it to return to normal, focusing his mental energy on the strange limb, and well… it did.

Black chitin slid off the arm, turning to ash and drifting down to the checkered stone floor. He flexed his hand and turned it over. Normal. Well, it was still oddly pale but close enough. With a weary sigh, he dismissed it. It would have to be a problem for future Ryu, though he would miss the weight and durability the carapace had provided.

He shifted his priorities to the battle below. The wall was steady, at least for the moment. Marksmen and ranged Classers above targeted the stronger Bugs that tried to ruin or leap over the walls, and the others on the wall dispatched the ones that leapt up to meet them in a bloody grind of attrition. The only burrs in this monotonous pattern of back-and-forth slaughter were the battles between elites, the walls enchantments almost buckling under their power. Gods, but he pitied the craftsmen and engineers that had to restore the wall and manage its defenses. Unsung heroes, craftsmen. Their Skills and Techniques changed the world, while his kind only took from it.

Still, the wall would hold without him for the moment. He was not so special as that. First, he needed arms and armor. His storage ring was still missing, and with it went most of his material wealth and weapons. He only hoped there was something strong enough to withstand his strength.