THE LAST SOLDIER

The battle lasted eleven minutes.

Later, Ren'ō would remember it as eleven lifetimes.

He chased the War God through the upper atmosphere, across the debris of the broken moon, and back into the capital. He learned by surviving. Golden force answered anger. Space bent when he moved with purpose. Wounds closed around light, though each healing took something from him he could not name.

The War God adapted faster.

He stopped blocking. Began teaching.

A strike broke Ren'ō's jaw. A gesture erased a district behind him. Red geometric lines spread through the sky, dividing the planet into target zones.

"You were not selected for strength," the War God said as he drove Ren'ō into the earth. "You were selected because your mind resists divine overwrite."

Ren'ō rose from a crater. "You talk too much."

"You remain yourself while power enters you. That makes you dangerous."

"Finally, something we agree on."

He launched upward.

Their fists met. The collision stopped every clock on the planet for half a second.

Laana's voice reached him through the damaged military channel.

"Ren'ō, the lattice cannot sustain this. Core destabilization is accelerating."

He caught the War God's wrist and threw him toward the eastern sea. "How long?"

"Three minutes."

"Can you evacuate?"

Silence.

"Laana."

"No."

The word cut deeper than any divine strike.

Ren'ō looked down. La-Sol 7 was coming apart. Cracks of orange light crossed the continents. Oceans boiled near the equator. The capital shield had collapsed.

He understood.

The War God rose from the sea, black and white hair streaming behind him.

"Your world is already dead."

Ren'ō descended until they hovered face to face.

"Then why are you still here?"

The War God's red pupils narrowed.

Ren'ō smiled with blood on his teeth. "Because you are afraid of what walks away from it."

He attacked with everything he had.

The sky became a golden wound.

In the laboratory, Laana watched the energy readings climb beyond every predicted limit. She recorded one final file and transmitted it into Ren'ō's military implant.

Her voice arrived beneath the roar.

"You were right," she said. "Power does not decide what you become. Choice does."

Ren'ō faltered.

The War God struck his chest.

The planet cracked.

"Laana!"

Her final breath crossed the channel.

"Remain a man."

La-Sol 7 died.