Yuna Shirosaki — Perspective
The moment we escaped the ruins, I thought everything was finally over.
Fresh air.
Sunlight.
No giant guardian trying to crush us.
Honestly, I almost relaxed completely.
Then suddenly—
“Don’t move!”
Voices echoed from every direction.
Before I could react, armed elves appeared from the forest surrounding us.
Archers aimed directly at us from the trees while several warriors blocked every possible escape route.
Too many.
Way too many.
I instinctively moved closer to Kaito.
“…This is bad.”
Reina quietly whispered from beside us.
“We can’t win against this many.”
And honestly…
She was right.
Then Elira suddenly stepped forward.
“Please wait!”
The elves immediately reacted after hearing her voice.
“…Lady Elira?”
Their expressions changed instantly.
Shock.
Relief.
Confusion.
So Elira is more important than we thought.
A tall elf wearing silver armor walked forward from the group.
Unlike the others, he looked calm and cautious.
But the moment his eyes landed on Kaito…
The atmosphere changed again.
“Humans,” he said coldly.
Definitely not friendly.
Elira quickly explained everything.
How we saved her.
How Kaito defeated the goblin.
How we protected her inside the ruins.
The elves around us became visibly surprised while listening.
Especially after she mentioned the Genesis ruins.
Then one of the soldiers noticed the glowing entrance behind us.
“The ruins are active…”
Immediately, everyone looked toward the ruins.
The blue Genesis symbols were still glowing across the stone walls.
And somehow…
The energy felt even stronger than before.
The armored elf narrowed his eyes.
“…Who activated the ruins?”
Silence.
I slowly looked toward Kaito.
So did Reina.
And unfortunately…
The commander noticed immediately.
His sharp gaze locked onto Kaito.
“…You.”
I felt nervous immediately.
The atmosphere suddenly became heavy again.
Then suddenly—
Kaito froze slightly.
Probably another system notification.
At this point, I can almost tell whenever Genesis talks to him.
But before anything else could happen—
The ruins reacted again.
The glowing symbols across the entrance suddenly became brighter.
Far brighter than before.
Blue light spread throughout the entire area.
Even the elves looked shocked now.
Then something appeared above the ruins.
A glowing blue symbol floating in the air.
Beautiful.
Ancient.
And somehow…
Powerful enough to make everyone silent instantly.
“…What is that?” I whispered.
No one answered immediately.
Even the elf soldiers looked frozen in place.
Then I noticed something strange.
The symbol wasn’t randomly floating.
Its light pointed directly toward Kaito.
Like it was marking him.
Recognizing him.
The armored commander’s expression completely changed after seeing it.
For the first time since meeting us…
He looked genuinely shocked.
“…Impossible,” he whispered quietly.
Elira looked pale beside me too.
Almost scared.
Then suddenly—
Every elf there slowly lowered their weapons.
One by one.
The tension disappeared completely.
I blinked in confusion.
“…What’s happening?”
But nobody answered me.
Because every single elf there was staring at Kaito now.
Not with hostility.
Not with suspicion.
But with respect.
And honestly…
That scared me more than the weapons did.