Chapter 42 - Pilse Arc
Sonny steps back from Ruin’s broken body. The room is quiet and still now. He lifts his eyes and finally takes it all in. Bodies cover the training facility. Some twisted where they fell. Some still clinging to weapons. Blood stains the stone floor in dark, uneven streaks.
His breathing slows. Then stalls. His legs give out and he drops to one knee. For a moment, everything feels distant. Unreal. A shadow moves.
One of the remaining Anti members grips a knife tightly, eyes wide with fear and desperation. He sees Sonny lowered, vulnerable. An opportunity. He lunges. The blade shoots toward Sonny’s back. Sonny turns and catches it through his palm. Barehanded. The steel stops inches from his body. Blood runs down Sonny’s hand and arm.
He looks up. Their eyes meet. The man freezes.
Sonny’s voice is low. Steady. “No more killing.”
The man trembles.
“It’s over. You’re free,” Sonny says.
The knife slips from the man’s hand. He stumbles backward, shock overtaking him. Then relief. He turns and runs toward the others. They pull him in, clinging to each other like they’re waking from a nightmare.
No one attacks. No one moves toward Sonny again. One by one, they begin to leave the room.
Soon only Sonny and Ruin remain.
Sonny stares at the ground for a long moment. Then it hits him. Everything at once. His chest tightens. His breath becomes uneven. And then…
He breaks. A quiet sob escapes him.
“I thought it would stop,” he whimpers.
His voice cracks. “I thought… after the Omegas… the killing was done.”
His hands tremble. “So why…” His voice lowers to a near whisper. “Why are there so many bodies?”
Behind him, Ruin lets out a weak laugh.
“You took my magic…” he mutters, struggling to speak. “You’re… something else.”
Sonny doesn’t turn.
Ruin coughs, blood slipping from his mouth.
“And you’re crying?” he continues, a twisted smile forming. “Over these pathetic corpses?”
Sonny’s jaw tightens. “They had lives,” he says. “Families. People waiting for them.”
Ruin scoffs. “And they still chose the life I offered.”
“They were forced and broken into it,” Sonny replies sharply.
Ruin laughs again, though it hurts him to do it.
“No. I freed them,” he says. “I simply offered them an alternative life, giving them power. A place where there are no rules. No judgment. No consequences.”
Ruin’s eyes sharpen. “And you took that from them.”
Sonny’s fists clench.
“You call this freedom?”
“I do,” Ruin fires back. “You’re the fake one. Acting like you’re better, but you’re just as dirty.” His voice lowers. “Look around. You killed them. Not me. You.”
That lands. Hard. Sonny goes silent. For a moment, it feels like the room presses in on him.
Then he moves. Slowly. He pulls the blade still lodged in his hand free. Walks forward. And drives it into the back of Ruin’s right knee. His last good limb.
Ruin screams. Raw. Broken.
“No more talking,” Sonny says quietly.
Ruin tries to speak again anyway.
Sonny doesn’t let him.
He grabs Ruin’s jaw, forces it open, and tears out his tongue, silencing him for good..
Ruin chokes, gasping in agony before going limp as Sonny knocks him unconscious.
The room goes still again.
Sonny wraps bandages around Ruin’s body and hoists him onto his back.
He doesn’t look at the bodies again.
But he doesn’t ignore what it cost either.
He exits the training facility.
The courtyard is calmer now.
The survivors who fled the training room earlier stand uncertain. They are gathered with the other Antis who were left outside to guard the gate and slaves.
Some guards raise their weapons when they see Sonny emerge.
Then they see Ruin. Broken. Carried on his back.
They hesitate. A few step forward.
Sonny meets their eyes. “It’s over.”
No one moves.
“He doesn’t have power anymore,” Sonny continues. “I took it from him.”
Confusion spreads through the group. But no one challenges him. Not after seeing how broken Ruin is.
“…We’re free?” one man asks, barely able to say the words.
Sonny nods once.
The man collapses to his knees. Others follow. Some laugh. Some cry. Some just stand there, stunned.
Over the next stretch of time, the compound changes. Locks are broken. Chains are removed. Doors are opened.
Sonny moves through it steadily, helping where needed, stopping fights when anger boils over between captors and captives.
Pain runs deep here. Not everyone lets it go easily.
Sonny reaches the room where he left Lela.
He opens the door slowly.
She sits on the bed.
The knife pressed against her neck. Prepared to take the easy way out.
Her eyes snap to him. The blade drops instantly. She runs to him. Wraps her arms around him tightly.
“Is it over? Are we free?” she asks, voice shaking.
“Yes,” Sonny says.
She pulls back. Then she sees Ruin.
Her body recoils. “Why are you carrying him?”
“He won’t hurt anyone again,” Sonny says. “But he needs to answer for what he’s done.”
Sonny offers his hand to Lela.
She studies him. Then takes his hand as they exit the room together.
Soon, everyone gathers near the front gate. Around sixty people. Broken. Exhausted. Alive.
Sonny steps forward. Ruin hangs on his back like a weight that won’t lift.
“Anti Society is finished,” Sonny says.
His voice is calm. Monotone. But it carries.
“This place is over. Go home. Live the rest of your lives in peace.”
No speech. No grand moment. Just the truth.
Sonny raises his hand. Ether gathers. Then releases. A massive blast of Ether Force shatters the gates outward. Stone explodes into dust and debris.
Silence follows.
“Go,” Sonny says.
They move. Slow at first. Then faster.
Groups form by village. People cling to each other. No one looks back.
Before leaving, Sonny turns. He deeply inhales. Then unleashes Fire Breath. Massive flames roar across and engulf the compound. Wood, stone, cloth. Everything catches. The structure burns. Crackling. Collapsing. Ending.
Some watch in silence. Some cry. Some smile through tears.
As Sonny steps through the gates, people approach him. One by one.
“Thank you.”
“You saved us.”
“We’re going home because of you.”
He doesn’t respond. He barely acknowledges them.
All he sees… Are the ones who didn’t walk out.
He joins the Pilse group and they begin the hike back.
Some time into the walk, Ruin stirs.
A few people panic.
Sonny drops him briefly. Knocks him back into unconsciousness. Then hoists him again.
“Why bring him back?” someone asks.
“For judgment and revenge,” Sonny replies. “Calo wants him alive.”
Reactions vary. Some nod. Some look disgusted. Some wish he was already dead.
As they walk, the people want to know their hero. Questions come in rapid succession.
“Who are you?”
“Where did you learn to fight like that?”
“How did you beat them all?”
Sonny answers simply.
“Nowhere.”
“A long time ago.”
“I did what I had to.”
The answers don’t satisfy them. But they accept them.
They stop a few times. Some are too weak to continue. Sonny uses ether to heal where he can. Nothing excessive. Just enough to keep people moving.
By the time night falls, the group reaches Pilse.
Voices rise. Names are shouted. Window unlatch. Doors open. People run into the streets.
Reunions explode across the village. Tears. Laughter. Relief.
Families come back together.
Something long broken begins to mend.
Joy spreads throughout the dark Pilse evening.
Sonny walks through it all. Silent. Unseen.
Unchanged on the outside. Inside… not quite the same.
He moves through the crowd. Toward Calo. Ruin still on his back.
The job is not finished yet.
