The First Trumpet have sounded
While Ephraim is facing off against that Gardener Candidate upstairs, we three continued down the cave tunnels and arrived at a man-made structure. It has a thick metal door that is overflowing with Astra energy.
"Another Subspace Link!"
"Yeah! Let me handle this one.
Using his psychic ability, Furuta-sensei opened the door and all three of us hopped inside and found ourselves in a place that I immediately recognized.
"Heh! We hit the jackpot."
"The jackpot? How so?"
"During my raids across Old Tokyo, I found and destroyed a place like this and after wringing out info from the Psychics there, they said that there are two more places like it which they refer to as their "headquarters"."
"Headquarters… I see why you'd treat this as a jackpot."
"Yep. I'd sure have a lot of fun burning this place to the ground later on. For now…"
"Yeah. Help us out for now."
As Furuta-sensei said that, a whole lot of Seed Psychics appeared to surround us and even prepared their puny Psychic abilities.
"S-S-Stay back! Stay the hell back!"
"I am warning you! Don't get any closer!"
"You'll regret trespassing in this place!"
Their pitiful shouts and threats wasn't even worthy of attention. I looked at Kai and Furuta-sensei and as all three of us nodded, we knew that we agreed to do the same thing.
"If anyone of you wants to stay alive, bring us to the room where William Tetian is located… and if not…"
"You can all die a horrible death!"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Come on! Come on and show me your mettle!"
"Gh-! ARGH-!"
Damn it! How in the hell did he manage to hide this much power from being detected?!
"Don't bore me now! You said I'm your prey, aren't you!?"
"UWAGH-!"
"Then act your part, predator!"
At this point… I may end up needing to use that!
"
"Damn it!
I'll admit it now… you sure forced me to use this form. But I will not let you screw with me anymore than you have already done!
"Dwell in me, a servant of Tainted Spirit Curiosity! I am-"
"Haah… You really love your presentations, don't you?
*CRIK-! SHIYAK-!*
"-!!!"
Before I can fully assimilate with a portion of Tainted Spirit Curiosity's power, he formed a spike of crystalized blood, and hurled it towards me.
"Well then… how does it feel like to be driven out of your safe space and be hurt by something you can die for?"
"N-No-!"
I can feel it… the sensation of my entire body stiffening up as his blood mixed with mine and begun to solidify inside my body.
"For someone who blew so much prideful air around here, you sure made a fool of yourself for thinking that I would give you a chance to get a bit stronger… it's futile anyway, even if you did assimilate with a Tainted Spirit's power, you'll still be too weak against me."
"Khh! AAAAHHHH!!!"
"Well then, don't make a mess while you're suffering till death."
He walked past me with not even a hint of worry or care about finishing me for good. It was already an insult that he didn't even give me a chance to fight toe to toe against him… but for him to leave without facing me properly…!
"CHRONIA!"
"…"
"YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS…! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!!!"
I don't care anymore about where this power will come from. Even if it's not the portion given to me by Tainted Spirit Curiosity, I will use any power that I can get just to tear you apart!
["Gihihihi! Are you sure about that? Are you really willing to take any power just to-"]
Do it! Just do it!
["Alright, don't blame me for what will happen to you! Gihihihi!!!"]
The same voice that offered me Tainted Spirit Curiosity's power spoke inside my mind again and now, supplied me not a portion but the entire power of the Tainted Spirit.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
"…"
I will kill you, Chronia! I will make you regret your arrogance and belittling of me!
"
I am the one who deserves to have Yoshino-sama's love! I deserve everything that she keeps on pouring towards you! I am… I am the only one who should be on her eyes!
"Dwell in me, a servant of Tainted Spirit Curiosity! I implore your power to meld with my flesh! I will overthrow they who fight for order!"
Don't turn your back on me, Chronia! Or you will regret it dearly with your life!
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Contrary to how I began to appear to those around me, I absolutely abhor battle and bloodshed. I believe that the world would be better off without the need of spilling blood or having one's enmity towards the other be so great that gutting each other is the only viable way to end it.
However, I am not so naïve to make the mistake of believing that fighting is wholly unnecessary. To me, this imperfect world filled with imperfect humans that have imperfect ideals, logics and emotions is a world primed to create conflict and thus, the need for the rule of the strong.
One cannot simply say that they don't want to fight, and the world will follow suit. As ironic as it sounds, the only way for such a thing to be done is if one uses their might to bring down anyone who says otherwise and after that is done, they would have to constantly threaten those around them with that very same might to make them comply to the "peace" set by the victor.
I've had far too many experiences in life that proved this… maybe more than I would ever wish for. Although I would constantly either keep my mouth shut about it or say that I don't really care, I cannot forever hide the fact that I believe that whatever "peace" someone proposes is genuinely flawed, and in the right time, would be superseded by either a slightly better yet still flawed "peace" or worse… it will be overthrown by those who desire no peace at all.
"
Being Law's Vessel, I thought that he can somehow show me the best possible peace that this flawed world can offer. After all, I know that even these extraordinary beings are themselves, flawed due to the principles that they represent. And lo and behold, I was right… Law is indeed, flawed due to his past and the fact that instead of the better and fruitful past of this world that he used to be with, it has chosen to depart from his principles and embrace the principle of uncertain freedom and anarchic chaos.
From how he proved to me again and again, he now believes that this world either has to abandon the cause of Freedom and come under his principle to avoid the dark and dreary future awaiting humanity in its current path… or it should be destroyed, planet, life and all traces.
"Dwell in me, a servant of Tainted Spirit Curiosity! I implore your power to meld with my flesh! I will overthrow they who fight for order!"
I saw all of it already from that time when I used his Truth Formula that arranged the world's constitution of reality after one of its vital laws, the law of total and irreversible death, were broken by Miyazono Ryuichi's revival. There, I saw things that even Spirit Knowledge, who is supposed to be in-the-know about everything, was made privy about by my ancestor, Cecilia Chronia.
Something that concerns me… something that I really wish I wasn't told about lest I become unable to make any kind of decision regarding it in the future.
"Don't you dare turn your back against me! CHRONIA!!!"
"Haah… Why should things be like this in the first place?"
It was supposed to be a merciful and quick end for him but being affected by the fact that our enemies have done something that they really shouldn't have done, he called upon a kind of power that would desire nothing from him in exchange of power other than his very life.
"Your unrequited and unilateral love for that woman doesn't make me hate you… if anything, I pity you greatly."
"HYAAAAA!!!"
"Haah… Just because they brought her back, there are those like you popping out in the world now."
As he charged towards me with all the Psychic power and brute force that he can muster, I raised my left arm and hand towards him and with a single ability, ended what could've been a painful and regretful moment as he pays the repercussion of taking on such a power onto himself.
"Wha-?"
"
In a single moment, I "touched" his heart and made it to cease working. Basically killing him bloodlessly.
Even though his heart was filled with nothing but envy and hatred against me, I knew that normally, this wouldn't have been the form which his hatred would've taken.
"Yoshino…sama…"
"I don't know enough about her to guarantee anything…"
"Wh…What…?"
"But, if she learns about why you did all of this for the sake of getting her attention, I have no doubt that she'd want to study it and ask you all about it."
"R…Really…?"
"I don't know. I did say that I don't know enough about her to be sure of it. But from the fervor of your attacks and the fact that you faced me fearlessly like this while knowing fully of what I am capable of, I know that you deserve to at least be remembered by her."
I don't know if he managed to hear what I said in the end, but as I walked away to head deeper into the tunnel, I sensed that he departed this world with a sense of fulfillment that he deserves to have.
"…"
That reminds me… the one that the enemy created and caused all these love-crazed Psychics to appear across the world was someone who caused me to change how I viewed this entire Psychic war.
Back then, it was a mix of reasons ranging from protecting my loved ones, fighting beside my comrades, finding out the true reason why Hiro died, learning what Law's past and reason for reappearing was and most importantly, staying alive.
But now, perhaps because it was something that I let to happen, my reason for fighting is to find a way to cure the final form that everyone who has involved themselves with the Spirits will become, either when they are defeated or when they are brought to a situation where death is certain.
Coma.
Neither dead, nor alive. Neither awake, nor asleep. Neither in the physical world, nor in the Psychic realm.
For simplicity's sake, I decided to call it as a Coma state, since those afflicted mostly resembles those that are in comatose state. However, the key difference is that those in Coma seems to experience regular spikes of Astra energy whilst there are no brain waves to show up at all in the medical instruments attached to them.
Such was the fate of the person I promised to protect… the girl named Akamine Kaori. Caught in our battle against the Miyazonos, Kaori was affected by the Astra energy contamination of the area and was subsequently possessed by the Pseudo-Spirit made by the Miyazono corporation. A Pseudo-spirit of Spirit Love.
"Haah… stop thinking of stuff like this right now, Ephraim. Get your head on the task in front of you."
Before I got caught up more in that thought though, I decided to cut it out for now and focus on the task I have here.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Come on, brats. Let's get a move on."
"Yes, sensei!"
"Wait a bit for me, boss. One of 'em threw something that I can't get off my clothes."
"It's slime that was thrown to you. Deal with it later when we get a hydrokinetic Seed psychic to wash it out for you."
"An alive hydrokinetic psychic, you should say! Someone could've washed this for me if you left even just one of them alive!"
"Shuddup, dumbo! It's your fault you got hit with a slimeball in the first place!"
"Whaddya say, she-punk?!"
"Exactly what ya deserve to hear, meathead!"
After just one fight which brought back our times fighting together, even the squabbling between the two of them came back and now, they're trying to outdo each other with insults.
Normally, I would've wanted to make them shut up since their shouting is a pain in the ears, but I soon realized that it wasn't as annoying as it was before… it just brings back memories of the better past.
"Let's go now, you two. if we delay further, they might take that guy out of here and miss our chance entirely."
"Hngngng!"
"Rrrrrrrrr!"
"Have I made myself clear?!"
"""EEEEPPP!!!"""
Haha… this is pretty amusing. Even the way they shut up after I asserted myself reminds me a lot of them when we first made this group.
"Hey guys! I finally caught up."
"R-Rai? You're already done with that guy?!"
"Yeah. I didn't want to be too far from you guys in this dangerous place. I did enough to get rid of him and be able to catch up to you guys quickly."
With that guy's strength, we expected Ephraim to be locked in a fight against him for a bit, but it seems like he made quick work of his opponent and regroup with us.
"That's good. The more of us in here, the better our odds. Shall we continue forward now?"
"""Yes, sensei!"""
We rushed through the hallways where we got ambushed by the Miyazonos. They must've depended on that kind of tactic after we showed them that fighting us head-on is futile, but even in those surprise attacks, Kai and Ephraim who have sharp senses guessed their strategy and dealt with them properly.
"Whew! That was quite the jog!"
"Hyahaha! I even got my clothes washed!"
"I feel a bit bad about that hydrokinetic psychic guy. You really made him wash your clothes in exchange for staying alive, only for him to run towards the corridor where a Malignance is hanging out to catch and eat someone."
"Hey, that's his fault already, buddy. That's not on me."
"You could've at least warned him."
"Warn him, my ass! The guy bolted away as soon as he handed me my stuff, and no one was looking at him. Even if I said anything there, he'd certainly just ignore it and do himself in anyway at that hallway."
To be honest, Kai was right. Fearing for his life, he would've definitely run away as quickly as he can when the opportunity came for him. Too bad, he was either unlucky or unable to sense danger quick enough to make it out alive.
"Well, what's done is already done. Let's leave it at that. In any case, can someone help me with this door?"
"I'll do this side, Sensei."
The door was made of thick steel, and I can make quick work of it with my power, but it would take a lot of my focus and strength, something that I can't afford to waste anymore than I already did by supporting these three in our previous fights.
Because of this, I decided to just do it normally and with the help of Mana, both of us swiped the ID cards we stole from the Seed Psychics here and finally, we are at the heart of the headquarters facility.
"…"
"…Did you sense that too, you brats?"
"Yep. It's definitely him."
This familiar aura… this sensation of Astra energy that's emanating out of him relentlessly…
"Formation A, Variation 2."
"That's wrong, sir. In our situation, you shouldn't be in the front."
"Just because I'm sickly and weak ever since we got here and relegated myself to a supporting position doesn't mean that it's wholly what I can do. If anything, I've kept my strength and energy for this moment."
"Are you sure about this, boss?"
"I am, kid. So, shut it and let's get this guy to be fed to the fishes."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
We entered the room and immediately, I sensed that that guy really is here.
From what I heard, Kirin-sensei gave it her all just to get this guy to a point where death is almost certain for him after a while. That was just how strong he is… we can't even be certain that he did die.
From what had happened to the Miyazono group since then, we thought that they'd downscale their activities after they spent so much of their resources and numbers just to bring Amano Hogosha guardian Naganohara Teruhiko. Although covertly referred to as the weakest among the Amano Hogosha guardians due to his old age and lack of Psychic strength, that old guy was still a behemoth that brought thousands of True Psychics and Seed Psychics with him to the grave before he tired out and was killed.
That's the kind of monster that the Amano Hogosha are… and no matter how much the Miyazonos would bluster this achievement of theirs to be a big deal, all of us know that it is nothing but hot air. Old man Naganohara made them pay dearly with every wound and drop of his blood that they took from him.
However, the guy right here is a match even for the strongest among the guardians, Kirin-sensei. If I remember right, Kai once told me that if he didn't betray the Sumeragi syndicate, he would've immediately landed the position second to Kirin-sensei amongst the Amano Hogosha, even if he's of foreign blood.
"I know you kids are sharp enough already to know when to disengage from a fight when you don't have a chance anymore, but I want to remind you once more that your life is your priority here. I don't want to bury this guy and you guys as well. If we're gonna win, we're gonna win with all of us celebrating it."
"Understood, sensei."
"Don't worry about me, boss."
Furuta-sensei is right… We can't afford to have any of us here die just for this. Sensei may really need to be an Amano Hogosha guardian to save his life, but we know that we'd give him nothing but grief if we die too for this.
"I'll be careful, sensei."
And because of that, I promised to myself that I'd make sure they'll be safe as we fight in here.
However, our expectations were suddenly curbed when we got inside the room and realized something.
"This place…"
"Tch!"
This is a place where he was being studied by the Miyazonos… not the one where he was being treated from his injuries.
"Astra energy emitters and replicator cells… They cloned some of his cells, just enough to study his powers and experiment on them."
"DAMMIT ALL!!!"
"Boss!"
He was never here. This entire place is a research facility that just had his Astra energy as the subject of a research. And because of that, the man who was so hopeful about finally getting rid of that enemy, both to fulfill his promise to his departed teacher and comrades, and to save himself from his impending doom, had all of his hope sink as soon as he learned that.
"No… there is something wrong here."
"Rai?"
"This is illogical. I don't believe that she would do only something like this in such an important facility."
If what that guy said is true, this place is run and owned by Aokigahara Yoshino, and this is a place so important to them that it cannot possibly be just a place where they are conducting experiments of William's powers and cells.
"Wait… can you guys sense that?"
"What was that, Kai?"
"There's a faint… I know that this is very risky, but can you guys wear Diminisher bracelets right now?"
"What? Why?!"
"Our Astra energy emissions are interfering with my detection!"
As Kai insisted, we wore Diminisher bracelets, and I immediately picked up on a faint kind of energy that kept on coming from somewhere in the room. Even Mana and Furuta-sensei caught a whiff of it.
"It's a Subspace link! Find the door now!"
"Roger!"
We scoured the entire room, finding any trace of a door where the Subspace Link is located. We don't know until when it will be open, so we did all that we can to find it. We even overturned some of the equipment here, hoping to know where it might be, until we heard Mana shout the words we were waiting for.
"I found it!"
For some reason, it was under a steel file cabinet and is shaped like a trapdoor. Although a bit wary, we didn't have time to waste, and all hopped into it… but not before Mana left a little something that will turn this entire place unusable to the Miyazonos.
"Haha! It's either too early or too late, but happy new year, suckers!"
It was a firestorm that she compressed into a beachball size and would spread all throughout the building after a while. Knowing how she's been doing this since the death of her parents, I felt both intimidated and worried about her.
In any case, we went through the Subspace Link and once we were out, we found out where it was linked and even I was caught off-guard with just how complex the Miyazonos have made their transportation routes after Miyazono Ryuichi was revived.
"Well, well… This is stupidly far."
"Indeed, it is."
Located so far away from Japan, or even just a well-known country, the place where our feet landed was no other than the island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean.
"Hey, is this place inhabited?"
"It's not if I remember right. It's officially held by Japan, but it's mostly been known simply as a historical site and a war memorial area."
"Is that so? Huh… that's quite a relief then. We don't have to worry about innocent people being caught in the fight."
"Wait… You're right, Mana. We're not in a Subspace!"
Even I snapped back from my thoughts when Kai mentioned that we are not in a Subspace unlike before. The surroundings have their colors instead of monotone black and white, and probably most important of all, we can now recover our spent Astra energy.
"I don't know what to feel about this… on one hand, I'm relieved that we are in an uninhabited place so innocent people wouldn't be harmed, but on the other hand, why is the Subspace Link connected to a remote place and one where there is no Subspace?"
"Beats me… I just wish this place really has that guy so we can finally do him in and go home with an achievement to tell the others about."
"Yeah…"
He was the most exhausted and in pain of us four, so I made Furuta-sensei lie down on the warm beach and gave him my folded coat as a pillow.
"Rai. Scout out the area for us."
"Yes, sensei. I'll leave you three here for now."
Since the three are exhausted and I can still move, the job of scouting out our area fell to my lap. Although such is the case, I thought there's nothing unfair about it and went around the area to see just why we were brought here.
"
Using some blood left on my flask, I shaped it into a flat board and used it to hover around the area quickly. With this place being mostly sandy and loamy, I knew that I'd have a hard time travelling if I just walked or run around.
"-!"
As I was following the shore, I sensed a faint trace of Astra energy and went to the direction where it came from.
"So, there really was a reason why it as linked to here."
I sped up and after getting through jagged rocks of the natural sulfur spring, I reached the place where I knew beyond doubt that a fight happened.
"Kh… Darn…"
"That guy-!"
I wasn't close enough, but I was sure that this guy was there when we fought in Old Tokyo academy against the Miyazonos.
"Old man!"
"W-Who on earth…?"
"It's really you…"
Inside one of the many craters in the area was the old man… from the state of his body, it was pretty clear that he fought and was beaten to a pulp by his opponents.
However, what made me concerned was the appearance of his beaten body itself… it was… strange.
"Ah… puzzled, aren't you? This is just how we Seers of Death look when we get injured. We're nothing but souls hanging on to what little life we have inside these bodies made of fired earth, after all."
Fired earth… it does correlate to what his injuries look like. It was like a dented or broken porcelain.
"Conserve your strength. I'm a Hemokinetic psychic and a doctor by trade. I'll try to patch you up so-"
"There's no patching me up no more, boy… This is it for me."
"What…?"
"My blood… or should I say, the tar of the underworld. Can you see how much of it is gone from me now?"
After he said that, I looked at the dark substance that is coming out of his wounds and sure enough, it was almost drained from his shattered body.
"This is… what I amounted to in the end. I wanted to make things easy for the others and ended up biting more than what I can chew. This is my penance for being too cocky in picking my fights."
"…"
I don't know why, but somehow, seeing him weakened like this reminds me of memories that I shouldn't feel for a total stranger. It was a strange feeling, but one that seems involuntarily genuine.
"Can you tell me how all of this happened in the first place?"
"Well… I managed to track down where they are hiding their strongest Psychic and I decided to sneak into and kill him while he's in statis. I would've succeeded if he didn't get awakened by a power outage in the facility which disrupted his resting cycle."
"And?"
"I knew I had no chance against him in a straight fight, so I hopped into that trap door, wishing for a quick escape. However, he followed me and soon enough we fought over here where he easily beat me to a pulp before flying off."
"…"
I don't understand… if that is the truth, why was the facility not in high alert with the disappearance of William Tetian? There is also the issue of William leaving before he can even ensure that his opponent is dead.
"Wait… I remember him saying something before he left."
"What is it?"
"I have to dispose of her before she uncovers the truth" he said."
"-!!!"
Once I heard that, cold sweat beaded my face. I know of only one person who that could be directed to… and how it will affect the future if he follows through on it.
"So, I was right… You did see "that which shouldn't happen yet" when you realigned this world's fate… haven't you?"
"How did you…?"
"I was there, you see… In the glorious days of the ancient civilization watched by the Celestial spirits. I was also there when it fell to the wiles of the Tainted and the Chaotic…"
This old man… is he talking about-
"Vessel of Celestial Spirit Law… I implore you. Speak these words to my fellows who shall continue the Principle we were born with and achieve that which we have gave our countless lives and forms to reach."
I lowered my head and let myself hear what he wants to speak.
"Our Principle is broken. Humanity have stepped into the realm which they should not have stepped into."
Is he… talking about Miyazono Ryuichi?
"They who fancy themselves as gods… will rise and proclaim their names with the voice of the masses."
"-!"
"I leave you to destroy what shall exalt them towards their final and most dreadful form…"
I didn't know what these words meant to those who it is addressed to. But what I can be sure of is that he entrusted me to say this, fully knowing that I can use it to my own ends.
"Entu grua, vria Apokalypta."
It was the least that I can do for him, but I thought it proper to take his broken remains with me by temporarily placing him inside the storage subspace of Primordial Bloodoath.
I went back to the three and told them that I met the person who snuck into the facility and fought against William. I told them that I buried him, and the guy gave me an idea about where our enemy is headed.
Although disappointed that it wouldn't be today, Furuta-sensei said that we at least know where he is headed and we can fight him next time. With that, we called for the S.S.S to pick us up and hours later, a seaplane landed near the shore and flew us back to Japan after a series of pitstops in several inhabited islands. We learned that the pilot and the seaplane was actually just a hired guy who thought we were stranded tourist.
Once we were back in Japan, it has been three days since we first left and we went our separate ways. And for me, it was time to fulfill the promise I gave to the old man.