บท 9: 9. The Golden-Horned Unicorn Spirit

Kairav grabbed his younger brother's hand instinctively, pulling him along as they ran as fast as their feet could carry them. Sagara's loud cries filled the air as he glanced back, his terrified eyes locking onto the horrible creature relentlessly pursuing them.

Kairav's only thought was to protect his younger brother—to get Sagara out of the forest safely. But as the thick mangrove trees closed in and the light faded, it became harder to find their way. Panic surged through him when he heard a loud thud behind him.

"Brother..." Sagara whimpered, collapsed in the mud, his body trembling from fear and the pain of hitting jagged rocks hidden beneath the water.

Kairav rushed to his side. "It's okay, I'm here. Hurry, we have to go—"

The menacing growl of the Giant Man cut him off. The creature was closing in fast, only a few feet away.

There was no time to run. Without thinking, Kairav charged toward the monster, throwing himself between it and his brother. "Run!!!"

A massive blow struck Kairav before he could react. The force sent him flying through the air, slamming into a mangrove tree with a sickening crack. He felt sharp pain as blood trickled from his forehead, and then everything went cold as he landed hard in the mud.

"Brother!" Sagara's scream echoed faintly in his ears.

"Go..." Kairav whispered, his vision blurring.

The sound of Sagara's cries faded, replaced by the pounding footsteps of the beast. The sun had disappeared, leaving only the pale light of the rising moon. A light drizzle fell, gently hitting Kairav's motionless body, as if urging him to wake.

Kairav stirred, his senses slowly returning as he felt something wet brush against his skin. "Nala...?" His eyes blinked open to see his dog beside him, licking his face.

The memory of the attack rushed back to him. He sat up quickly, staring in disbelief at Nala's battered form, her body riddled with deep wounds.

Meanwhile, Kairav felt a mixture of sadness and fear as he watched his dying dog, feeling anxious about Sagara's fate, whose whereabouts he did not know. At that moment, he seemed to feel no pain from the wound on his forehead. "Nala... Nala... Wake up... Where is Sagara...?"

Amidst his sobs, a drop of his blood fell onto one of the large wounds on Nala's body. In the blink of an eye, Kairav was transfixed by the sight of the night skyline, which sent shockwaves through him.

Between the moon and the stars, a rumbling wave of colorful light resembling an aurora erupted in the sky. As a spectrum of glowing colors swirled around the red star Luminous Remnants within the unicorn constellation, Kairav subconsciously activated the Radiant Soulforge Awakening move. The Cosmic Resonance Radiation shot bright white light onto Lushterra, instantly entering Kairav's small body.

He could only stare in shock, bewildered by the phenomenon that had suddenly engulfed him. A soft golden mist enveloped his body, and warmth began to spread around his back.

Unbeknownst to him, the golden-horned white unicorn totem had reached its awakening, slowly engraving itself onto his back, stamping its feet with power.

In an instant, the spirit of the white unicorn surged forth from within him.

Kairav froze as he witnessed the majestic creature emerge, its golden horn shimmering. The graceful animal spirit approached Nala's dying body.

From its golden horn, a warm, soft mist flowed out, surrounding the dog. Kairav watched in shock as Nala slowly opened her eyes, the wounds that once marred her body fading away.

But the opposite happened to Kairav; he collapsed once again from loss of consciousness. And before he knew it, the ruby-red jeweled necklace that had hung around his neck fell off, disappearing during his tense escape.

***

Nusantara Kingdom

Meanwhile, in the northern mountainous region of Sapphire Island, one of the islands in the Nusantara Kingdom, a young man with light brown skin stood impassively before a towering rock cliff. He was high up in the hilly area of Dusk Ridge Village, a place where traditions were still deeply woven into the daily lives of its inhabitants.

The young man, clad in a black leather jacket, held the hilt of a sword that hung from his waist. His sharp facial features betrayed no emotion, and the silver mask covering the right side of his face added to the air of mystery surrounding him.

He stared blankly at the dozens of holes in the black granite cliff before him, filled with human remains. Occasionally, his gaze shifted to the rows of wooden statues, dressed to resemble living beings, which served as personifications of the people buried in the place known as the Stone Grave.

This nameless young man, as he was known to the locals, had momentarily paused to observe a black hole in the twilight sky—an ominous sign that Shadowrift Abominations had emerged from the void and descended into the world of Lushterra.

Now, he paused again, noticing the presence of Cosmic Resonance Radiation illuminating the night horizon, emanating from the unicorn constellation. "The Eternal Crimson Guardian is missing..." he whispered.

Without hesitation, the nameless young man ran to one side of the cliff at the Stone Grave. A blindingly bright white light flashed as he darted into a portal, which connected this place to a mangrove forest in the fishing village of Coral Reef Peninsula.