A Pair in Two Fronts
"Taihou, heed my call!"
"-!"
"
You might be a Miyazono Gardener and I, a simple Kanbu officer in the Sumeragi group…
"
*BYAK-! Pyiiii-!!!*
"Crap-!"
But right now, I do not care about such things.
"
"Enough!
"
My personal anger towards my own personal problems is enough to oftentimes make me do things that are horrendous… but when it is those whom I share a deep relationship with who becomes the reason for my anger, I definitely go so far off the field that once I return to my sanity, there is nothing left of the one I poured my hatred into.
This current circumstance is no different.
"The ice-! How did you-?!"
"You pushed your arrogance far too much, you wretch."
"You-!"
"I will set this in stone… You will not come out of this Subspace without paying the price of wounding my student."
Truly, I have no more reason to hold back now unlike before.
"You think you're better than me?! Let's see you grovel on my feet later!"
"…"
From behind his broken wall of ice, he lunged forward, planning to rush near me in order to disable my ability to use my Augmenter weapon.
"
"Did you really think that you can use that novice trick on me?"
"What on-"
"Stay right there."
He was about to cast his ability at a point-blank range near me when he was stopped on his tracks by a pair of iron rebars that I manipulated out from the concrete floor beneath us.
"
"URGH! RAAAAHHH!
*Pyink-!*
"Tch!"
"Wahahahaha!!! You're too slow!"
Before I can pull the trigger, he froze the rebars that are holding his legs and they shattered, freeing him from their hold. Because of this, I had to jump back to gain distance from him again and cancel out the bullet that I was making in the barrel of my gun.
"You're right… I'm getting slow with this kind of weapon."
"Heh! Learning a little from me, ain'tcha? Such is just expected from someone like me who is superior to-"
"Save me of your bullcrap. I wasn't even praising you.
"Wait… that sword-!"
"I expected that expression from your face… from the brat that almost died because of this sword ten years ago."
"Why, you-!!!"
"I apologize, Kirin-san… I will be borrowing master's sword for a moment."
After holstering my personal Augmenter weapon, I drew out a katana from out of nowhere that has a sealed scabbard. I am not sure if it was the general appearance of the sword or how it reminded him of that day, but I am sure from how he reacted that this sword reminded him of a terrible memory.
"So, you are here for revenge after all… Of course! What else do I expect from low-lives like you who can't let go of such things?!"
"His death who was insignificant to a mongrel like you is far too important and painful to us who held him dear and wanted to spend more time with him."
"What did you just call me?!"
"I do not expect someone like you who is lower than scum to understand what these losses mean to us."
After saying those words, I peeled off the seal on the sword and drew it out of its scabbard. From it, emerged a blade that pulsated with Astra energy that is almost in a critical mass.
"I don't care about those! You two have not recognized my brilliance! You will pay with your lives!"
"Come then… I will make sure that what master started, I will end."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
In another Subspace in the battle area of the school, a different match is being held in an unequal manner.
"Jinrai… heed my call!"
"…"
"You were a fool to think that we would just forgive and forget your treachery because Kaede still yearns for you… but even if she would curse me to death, I will not let you walk this earth freely anymore after this."
"You speak too much bluster for someone whose power has been on the decline since her husband's death… I heard from the spy that your student caught that the Sakoku faction has been gaining influence and your faction has been losing ground to them for a long time."
"…"
"Do you really think you can still throw your weight around and threaten me when you've clearly lost-"
*Tshk-!*
"Huh…?"
"William! Your arm!"
I lost a lot of things in my life… My child had to grow in a cytostatic form because of a birth condition, I lost my husband after this traitor in front of me brought him to a situation where he had to sacrifice himself to let his comrades live, and soon, the clone of my child whom I doted on for almost two decades will soon be "decommissioned".
I indeed lost a lot of things at every step of my life that I took… but I have also gained more and more things as I went on. And one of them…
"How are you still able to-!"
"Just because I lost influence in the General Council doesn't mean that I lost my strength as a warrior of the Sumeragi group and the leader of the Imamura clan."
I stepped forward as he clutched the stump of his detached arm and the young woman behind him stepped back slightly.
"I am telling this to you right here and right now, William… You are still as insignificant and powerless against me as that day when you challenged and lost to me in a duel."
"You wench!!!"
"I will avenge all of the lives that you took.
Everything became a blur to me as I lunged forward towards them with my sword in hand.
"Tch!
"
William attempted to stop me by firing off a pillar of light towards me. The young woman on the other hand, formed a wall of crisscrossing trails of wind to protect the two of them.
"What did I just tell you, William? You're still nothing to me."
"What the hell-?!"
*KA-TAAAAR!*
The moment I reached an appropriate distance from them, I stopped my charge and poured all of my momentum into sending the raging storm of lightning in my blade towards them.
"Lady Aishi! Move away!"
"Kh-!"
"I'm not yet done.
"Behind-?!"
I sent a lightning bolt from the skies towards their backs. Once it hit the ground, it produced a shockwave from the thunderclap that was enough to push them towards the incoming bolts of lightning.
"Kh-!
"Reverse-aspect psychic abilities… I must admit, you did grow a little if you can conjure spells that are on the counter-side of your psychic aspect."
"Hah… hah… hah…"
"But as expected, it tires you far too much than what it's worth."
Reverse-aspect abilities. It's exactly as how it sounds. It allows you to break the usual limits of your psychic aspect and let you use abilities that are in the border of what you can control and what is the opposite kind of power of it. For William, he conjured as small controlled blackhole to absorb the lightning storm that I sent their way.
"Don't you dare underestimate us, you hag! I and Will can bring you down easily!"
"Do you really have enough power to rightfully insult me like that, you brat?"
"-!!!"
"You've been doing nothing but punch-down on those who are weaker than you and hiding behind that fool's back when someone stronger has come in your presence. Underestimate you? You two defeating me easily? Don't make me laugh…"
"You…!"
I sheathed my blade and took a stance from my sword-style technique. After seeing me lower my hip and sharpen my gaze towards them, William desperately stood back up and prepared himself.
"Sasayuri... I will never forget how many lives of my comrades that one slash took back in Old Osaka."
"Yes… and you will join them soon."
"I'll show you how strong I am then!
"Lady Aishi! No-!"
This girl… even after seeing her Gardener desperately scramble to his feet in order to slug this slash for her sake, she still charged forward just because I told her that she is a weakling who only picks on others who are weaker than her.
"Imamura Kenjutsu. Fourth Form."
"What-?!"
"Sasayuri no Hirameki." (Flash of the Summer Lily)
Before she can even react, before William can even reach out to her, before I was even able to re-sheathe my blade, a slash that cleaved into her right shoulder and out of her left chest formed and separated her body in two.
"Aishi… Lady Aishi…"
"Give up, William… I sliced her through her heart. She will die."
"No, no, no, no!!! I will not let her die! Lady Himari will never let this go!"
"Then I will give you an easy way out."
I took my stance once again, ready to split this traitor's head while he is still preoccupied with binding the dismembered head and neck of his master to her torso.
"Subspace…"
"Lady Aishi!"
"…Subjugation."
"-!!!"
From her labored and dying breaths, I heard something that made me break my sword stance immediately in order to stop her from speaking further.
"
I was right. This is like that power that I discovered once.
"
But this… isn't how I expected this place to be like.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"
"
In my side, the chaos of the battleground has eaten away the previously mundane look of our subspace.
"I'll freeze and torment you after this!"
"Defeat me first before you give threats like that!"
Each and every corner of the schoolyard is covered with boulders of ice, the classrooms of the academic building above us has collapsed after I kept on pulling out the metal rebars and struts of its structure and the temperature around us has been lowering to dangerously cold levels.
"
"
"Tch!"
"Looks like you don't appreciate having your own cold antics being flung back to you."
"Silence!!!"
Because I came into the fight with my Augmenter weapon that has the form of a revolver, he didn't expect me to be someone who can overwhelm others in a close combat fight.
"
"Not again!"
"Surge!"
"Damn it!
From the ground, I attracted the steel rebars that I took out earlier and made them heat up so much that once I flung them, the boulder of ice that he was hiding at was pierced several times before he can even cast a counter ability that lowered the temperature of the flying steel bars.
"Found you!"
"Darn!"
I drew out the blade after I became sure of where he is hiding at behind that boulder of ice. Once it made contact with it, the blade's innate Astra energy exploded out sporadically and demolished everything in front of its blade.
"Wounded or dead? Answer me quickly or I will send another one your way again."
"You… YOU!!!"
"Psh… So, you managed to put up a defense in time. That's some timing."
"How can you use that weapon?! Even that guy can barely use it in a fight!!!"
"…"
"Answer me, you wretch!!!"
"Isn't it obvious? I made this weapon."
"Huh?"
Can't he connect the dots properly? I literally pulled this sword out of thin air earlier when I decided that using Taihou wouldn't be the most efficient way to fight him.
"I'll let you in on something about the Sumeragi group before I end your life… Since I am a psychic that uses metals, I have the proper credentials to become the Weapons Master of our group."
"You… So, you are-"
"Right… Any weapon that can conduct Astra energy, weapons that are called Augmenter weapons, I made them with my own hands."
"-!"
"More so than the person whom it was made for, the one who created it knows more about it than anyone else."
This isn't a coincidence. I literally worked on my Doctorate degree in Applied Mathematics just to have enough knowledge to study Astra energy with Professor Akari and Kaede and apply those findings to making Augmenter weapons.
"Now… it's time for you to die."
"EEEEKKKK!!!"
Before I can bring down the blade and let the explosion of Astra energy mutilate his Astral form into shreds, I sensed someone tampering the Subspace. A clear sign that someone entered the place.
"Haaah… This is the reason why I told Yoshino-chan that her clones are still far from perfect."
"What on earth…?"
"You there, clone of me. Your work here is done, you utter failure."
"W-wait! I can still fight! I can still- GUAAAAAHHHH!!!"
"-?!!"
To my surprise, I saw from one edge of the Subspace another Hirayama Taka. One who strutted into the subspace and talked more like how I remember him to be. He reached out his hand and the Taka whom I was about to kill became covered in ice until it drowned out his painful screams.
"Sheesh… to think that she'll mix my personality with that fool Satoshi. I asked for a clone so I can take a vacation, not to ruin my image by being an overly arrogant punk."
"Did you just say Yoshino?"
"Yep. Aokigahara Yoshino… I'm not surprised why that name stuck out to you?"
"…"
"I'm amused to see you here again, Prototype Subject 25-E…"
"Aokigahara Mifune… what happened to him if it's Yoshino who is the Gardener now?"
"Well, if it isn't already obvious… That madman got killed by her equally mad daughter. As for how he is doing now, I believe Yoshino has been playing around with her father's cells, trying to salvage as much successful genetic edits from him as possible to advance her own genetic engineering and cloning experiments."
"Too bad, huh?"
"Yeah… For you, that is."
After hearing that the man whom I've been trying to hunt down and finish for the past 20 years has died formed a deep void in my mind and heart. I felt as if all of those years of carrying that very personal hatred has been for naught just in an instant.
"Listen to me, 25… You don't have to go further than this. Those two may have slighted you to fail your specifications and still called you a fluke, imprisoned you in their laboratory to become a spineless slave and in the end, abandoned you when they made a breakthrough in their studies that turned you obsolete…"
"…"
"But you can still serve your existence's purpose… We might have been enemies for the past 20 or so years, but I am ready to vouch for you if you are ready to cross sides into us."
As I expected, he still holds that strange kind-heartedness in him after all this time.
"Serve my existence's purpose…"
"Right. You're a product of the Miyazono corporation's objective of finding a way to free humanity from the grip of death. You might have stumbled here and there when those who should've kept you on your way of life became to ones who hampered you… but I believe that it's not too late for you to come back to us again, 25…"
Right… I am a Replicant made by the Miyazono Corporation. My whole existence's objective is to aid humanity's goal of escaping the clutches of death and its limiting of life. That is supposed to be my path and reason to exist.
"You really know what to tell other people in order to win over their hearts and minds… That talent is exactly the reason why the Gardeners back then made you the leader of the Psychic Society… because you can convince newly Awakened Psychics and those from the enemy's side to switch to the Miyazono corporation's side."
"Hehe… Don't praise me too much, 25. I'm not really that good at-"
"Unfortunately, I am not a normal person. And I don't have the same heart and mind as they do."
I turned around and in one clean move, drew and cocked back the hammer of Taihou and pointed it towards his head.
"…25. I'm already telling you… You are making a big mistake."
"I am not making a mistake. This is how I have decided about things for the past 20 years."
"You will live aimlessly and without any true goal at the end of your life. You will die exactly like these people who hasn't taken our side or who are going against us."
"…"
"You were born as a no-name, no-freedom clump of cells that are disposable on the consent of either your gene source or those two mad scientists…"
What he said is true… I am indeed born that way.
"It's only through us that you can have an identity and a noble goal to reach out into… You need us more than anything now that the man you've been wanting to kill has died at the hands of someone else. You will surely take our side soon as you lose hope in your life-"
"You're wrong."
But that doesn't mean that I will remain as such throughout my life.
"…And what am I wrong about, 25?"
"I have a reason to exist. And that is to stop you and protect everyone who is dear to me."
*Klack! Coo!*
"And I have a name that was given to me by someone who gave me the love that no one else has given before."
As the chamber of my gun synthesized the bullet that started our fight, I shouted my name that was given to me by that certain someone.
"My name is Furuta Renjiro! And I will not stop until all of you are dead!!!"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Lady Aishi! You are alive!!!"
"To think that someone would one day be able to conjure this Subspace again… You have really stooped so low to even be called as humans."
"Silence! Who are you to decide what makes others human or not?!"
"…"
"You have pushed your luck too much. And now, you will pay dearly for it!"
I am currently inside of a place almost indescribable to a normal human being's eyes. On one side, the young woman whom I cleaved into half earlier was rebinding her head back to her body and beside her is her bodyguard who is marveling on her successful recovery.
It was like a closed dome of natural stone, but the texture of the rocks and how it moves strangely like it pulsates with life makes it seem flesh-like. Crevices on the wall would sometimes form. Holes that seem to blink close and open like eyes, but with the darkness of the place, one can barely notice it.
But the worst is what is under our feet.
"UWOOOOOGHHHH!!!"
"Tch! This is disgusting!"
The floor is made of warm tar. An oily and sticky liquid that begins to climb up your feet until you can't escape it anymore.
"Despair, warrior of the Sumeragi!"
"…"
"These ashen walls of basalt shall draw out all of your hope… the tar-filled chasm on your feet shall devour your petty morals… and the dome of darkness upon your head will be the last thing you will see as I bring your soul to the pit of nothingness!"
Subspace Subjugation and Ars Goetia… I faced a failed form of it once back in Old Osaka. Although the one who casted it failed to fully conjure it and it costed him his life, it was still troublesome enough that I became wary about having to face it again one day.
"Come, William… Let us put this woman to her place after she slandered our goal and belittled us."
"Right! And with her gone, the Sumeragi group would lose one of its greatest warriors. Her death will advance our ambition further than-"
"Haah… I expected more from someone who had a more level-head than that moron who switches bodies."
"You… How did you-?!!"
"What? You really think that what you did earlier is enough to kill me? You've got another thing coming."
To all of our surprise, the young man who is my student walked towards my side and spoke out about the beating he received earlier from these two.
"Calm down, Will. What difference does his reappearance here do? If anything, he will just be a deadweight to her since he is exhausted and still lightly wounded."
"Right… He's nothing but a deadweight now."
"Ohoho! Calm down on the insults now. You might end up regretting it."
"…You…"
Ephraim stood beside me and whispered something that surprised me to say the least. After saying all of it, he returned his attention to the two and said something to them that made them stagger in shock.
"While recovering back there, I sensed something from outside of the Subspace. It seems like the other gods of death of the Mori cult is coming towards here. Apparently, the revival of your father and master was the only thing they need to finally agree on meeting somewhere instead of going their own ways."
"Heh. You're bluffing."
"Right. How did you manage to sense something from the real world when we are inside a Subspace."
As the two continued to scoff towards him, Ephraim raised his right arm and there, showed something that became a definitive proof about his words.
"A pretty insignificant ability of mine from my blood-type psychic aspect in many instances, but a very important one when I want to minimize the risk of me dying in a Subspace fight."
"That-?!"
"How on earth…?"
"
"Rai… when did you get this inventive with your power?"
"I have to adapt. I've never got a good outcome in any of the fights I got into today. I even failed to conjure my own Subjugation."
"I see… wait-"
What did he just say? Fail to conjure his Subjugation…?
"Rai… Are you also-"
"Sensei… remember that headache we both got after my mind clearing test?"
"What are you…?"
"You don't remember anything about that moment, but I saw and heard everything that happened while we are out of consciousness. And because of that, I know that this would work."
Just as he told me earlier, he held my hand firmly which didn't startle me as much than if he did it out of the blue. That was the last of the small surprises though as he began speaking in a language that I do not understand.
"Aila honyure, crol aila otoracha entu frau. Dar volga tot kasrana ala loe emil tot tarnal dar Law eu pirum entu dar Divia Prensipia."
"That language!"
"How did you manage to-"
"Checkmate, you two."
Before I knew it, my vision was awash in light and my body felt a surge of power like I never felt in my life before… No, I have sensed this kind of power before…
["To think that he would undo my seal on your power now… He must've sensed that the War is coming soon."]
"Who…?"
["Who I am isn't significant right now, my Vessel."]
Right… I remember this light and this surge of power. I know what this is and how familiar it feels to my body.
"My sword…"
["You cannot win your battles by yourself no more, my Vessel. You shall use my Divine Weapon and fight to the fullest of your power. I will be giving you the express permission to use it now."]
Right… This power and this comforting feeling of lightness. I felt this once before.
"Are you ready, Kirin-sensei?"
I remember it now… the voice that comforted me when I almost lost everything and the power given to me to protect what was left of me.
"I am. Let us go, Rai-kun."
"Divine Weapons… and Divine Raiment!"
"So, you two… You are Celestial Spirit Vessels?!!"
That's right… the sealed power and memory of mine from years ago. Locked away until the right time comes for me to be able to use it again.
"Come forth! Primordial Blood Oath!"
"Come forth! Sin-searing Righteousness!"
Thus began, our fight to bring down the great enemy that we Vessels are ordained to face.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Don't count me out, Sensei…"
"Mana… You're wounded and tired, you should leave now."
"Sorry, Sensei. Can't do."
"…"
"Kaede-sensei, Sir Lucas and even you… none of you taught me to run away from those who can harm the ones I am meant to protect."
Even though she is wounded and almost running out of Astra energy, Mana stood beside me and took a fighting stance.
"You're really a handful to be a student, Mana."
"Ouch… Kaede-sensei and Sir Lucas never said those words to me, y'know?"
You hard-headed brat… how am I supposed to handle such a headstrong girl like you who doesn't know how to back away from harm that is already right in front of her?
"…but I am proud of you. I am glad to have been a part of the you who has such strong character and courage in her heart."
"Sensei…"
"…I'll take the frontline. Harass him with your fire until we get an opportunity to push him to close combat."
"Hehe! Roger that!"
As she pooled fire on her hands and sent them forward to our enemy, I charged forward with my sword, aiming to close the gap between us and him in moments to catch him off-guard.
"You think teaming up with that brat will make you win against me?!"
"Don't underestimate her! You never know how good that kid is!"
Each time I closed the gap and are about to send an explosive wave of Astra energy towards him, he would block it with ice to curb its power and redirect where the shockwaves would go.
"Just because your other student killed Satoshi and stopped Young master Keiji from escaping doesn't mean us Gardeners have become powerless! You seem to not remember how we dominated the world of Psychics since the Great Awakening."
"Right! You are still formidable…"
"Heh! No surprises there!
"But so are we! Mana! Now!"
"
"Wha-?!"
He managed to catch my sword stuck inside a boulder of ice and was about to pierce me with an ice spike from it. But on my signal, someone emerged from the thick frosty mist that was formed from the explosions against his ice and the evaporation of it by some fireballs.
"
The white-hot flames she condensed up to a critical mass and are about to rip open towards him will send a beam of superheated plasma that will pierced through the ice boulders and hopefully to him.
"
"I won't let you!"
"Urk!"
I pinned him down using the steel rebars around us before he can conjure his power and set up a defense when Mana is yet to reach the needed peak of energy in the beam of plasma.
"AAAAHHHH!!!"
"To amplify the damage and direct all of it towards him… Right!"
Though it took more Astra energy than simply manipulating already existing metals, the particular one I have in mind isn't present here anywhere. Thus, I restructured the atomic composition of the metals around me to the element that I needed the most right now.
"From low-carbon steel to tungsten… a metal that can localize the damage to him."
While he is squirming to remove the bindings around his body, I constructed a half-dome around him made of that metal that drained almost all of my Astra energy just to atomically convert from simple steel.
"TAKE THIS!!!"
*BYUUUUIIII-!!!*
The pillar of plasma devoured the place where he stood and what I saw as it hit him was nothing but the half-dome that limited the deviation of the beam and reflected all of it back towards him.
"Haah… haah… Did we win-"
"Of course not, we just hit the tip of the iceberg."
"What?"
In response to the question of Mana, I responded as how I expected him to be even after that successful hit.
"Tip of the iceberg… you really don't forget about the enemies you once faced, don't you?"
"No… I just remember you specially because you are such a troublesome opponent."
"Sensei… his body-!"
"I am aware… that's what happened back then in Old Osaka too."
By "that", I meant that instead of bleeding out and having wounds on his flesh, Taka's body is leaking water and forming small cracks at where he was severely hit.
"Corporeal-Spiritual binding… A high-level Psychic ability where you can turn your body into your element at will. It can serve a myriad of purposes… just like saving you from a life-threatening hit."
"Are you seriously still lecturing your student in a life-or-death fight?"
"What can I say? I am her teacher."
"…You're beginning to annoy me, 25. I'll take you and that brat down now."
"What a coincidence…"
As I drew out my sword, Mana stood up as well with a ready fighting stance.
"We're about to say the same to you."