Chronicle of Burden

Chapter 14

With the demise of the Behemoth, a great burden is lifted off the hearts of the three companions. The Captain can't help but stare at the body of this powerful beast that possessed such overwhelming strength and nearly overwhelmed them so many times over with brute force and savagery.
As the Behemoth's body begins to break down, small countless purple-colored twinkling lights begin to emerge. They float upwards towards the sky and disappear without a trace. Some of these lights flow close to the Captain, he takes a cautionary step back thinking to avoid coming into contact with potentially pure Honkai energy. Surprisingly, these small lights are absorbed by Shamash's Blade, the lights flowing directly into the blade of the weapon granting it a drop of power with each little light absorbed.
The Captain throws Shamash's Blade at the Behemoth's remains, the sword spins end over end in the air before stabbing the ground a few feet away from the colossal body. It begins to absorb as many lights as it can to replenish its lost power before the body breaks down entirely.
In the meantime, the Sage steps down from her vantage point and walks toward Kallen and Sakura. They meet up halfway and the Sage gives them a soft smile saying:

Sage: You learn your new abilities fast. I am impressed. I have not seen someone best an Oni in such small numbers in a long time. It was a worthy foe to test yourself against.

The Captain soon joins the conversation but remains quiet as Kallen and the Sage exchange a few words.

Kallen: Yes, it was.

Kallen lowly bows her head and says:

Kallen: Thank you for everything, my Lady Sage. I will never forget what you've done for me. Now, I'm afraid we must leave. There's still one last challenge I... we, have to face.

Sage: I understand. But allow me to offer you my aid, one last time. Please, follow me. Do not forget to retrieve your belongings.

The Captain looks towards Shamash's Blade and sees that the Behemoth's body has entirely disappeared. There ground where it fell is now stained with residual Honkai energy that corrupts the soil and stone. As he grasps the sword's handle, the Captain feels the stored energy inside it. It was quite the harvest, the weapon is more than half full of energy and should last well enough till the end of his time in this world unless he decides to continuously battle the Honkai.
Before leaving, the Captain takes a look at the mark Shamash's Blade left on the ground when he performed that unexpected feat of destruction. He is quick to discover that the ground wasn't only scorched, but the cut in the ground was so deep not even the source of light from the palm of his left hand could reach the bottom. Even some of the treetops were touched by the blade of fire. Scorched leaves swirl in the wind and thin lines of smoke emanate from the branches that were touched by the shearing blade that nearly severed the Behemoth in half if it only had more power to fuel itself with.
After catching up to the rest, the Captain sheathes his sword and notes that Sakura keeps throwing the occasional glance over her shoulder at him. There's no way to tell what was in her mind, Sakura might be upset or weary of the Captain since what he did a few moments ago nearly hit her as well if she were a little bit slower to react.
The Captain hurries up his pace and when he walks side by side with Sakura, he says:

Captain: I want to say that I'm sorry, I almost hit you back there and I would never forgive myself if I did that. And thank you, I did what you told me, and... everything became clearer in the fight. It's how I managed to do that... thing, back there.

Sakura listens to the honesty in the Captain's voice as he expresses his apologies and gratitude. At first, Sakura doesn't say anything, but her ears twitch a little bit when she heard the Captain offer his thanks for the modest advice she gave him a while ago. There's a glimmer of pride in Sakura's eyes even though her face doesn't betray anything that would resemble joy or excitement. She remains stoic and plans to say something, but Kallen slows down her pace all of the sudden and then gives the Captain a nudge with her right elbow.