12. Flashback.

" Who's this..?".

The black shadowy being spoke.

Zach's mind raced..

'Is this the man that caused all the damage..?, is this the person that Haruki fought and the reason for all this destruction?, is he the and the old man clash the phenomenon that cause the building to be this shaken up?. '

Haruki's glance shifted from the person in front of him and at Zach.

His eyes instantly widened.

"Oh... so you two know each other ", Zain's smile widened.

Haruki gritted his teeth.

The dark entity stretched his hand towards Zach, and a dark energy formed around his palm.

" Watch Haruki.." He smirked.

" This is what happens to those that offend the paladins.."

*****

A memory surfaced Haruki's mind.... back in the days of the battle of Spain..

A lot of years ago

Haruki still remembered..

****

He remembered how the air burned...

He remembered the way it singed his throat as he gasped behind that crumbling wall, trying to suck in what little breath the battlefield allowed.

The roar of the divine echoed through that broken valley.

But besides him a man stood tall...

Levi..

Not just standing but thriving, while the younger version of haruki choked and spat dirt, he stood calm, his face was smudged with soot but his dark grey eyes were calm.

"Still with me.." Levi cocked his head.

Haruki gave a grim smile "barely, i thought this mission wasn't sucide.."

He chuckled, even now he laughed.. "Did I lie?".

Then the sky broke like shards of an illusion.

A lance of holy energy pierced the clouds, and from it the heavenly paladin of the watchers descended with wings that seemed to be made from forged glass flaring from his back.

With each beat the earth trembled beneath them, and his blade was way longer than haruki was tall.

His breath got caught in his throat..

"Levi" he whispered, "that thing is way beyond our level..

His expression didn't change.." so was the last one".

"Yeah but that was an inexperienced heavenly knight, you know there's a wide gap right..?" Haruki gulped.

Levi had always been the optimistic one, telling them they could do it even if it felt impossible, but haruki was the complete opposite, paranoid to the core, he doubted everything, one would say their friendship was completely fate.

Levi unsheathed his twin swords, " doesn't matter, we brought down a heavenly knight when we were 18 remember?"

"But back then we were two reckless kids, haha.. can't believe they called us gods after that fight"

The ranks of knights were determined by how much strength and speed one had.

Mortal could lift a block with ease but couldn't lift a fully loaded freezer.

While a heavenly knight could move mountains.

But that didn't apply to skill, the reflexes, and the knowledge gathered over the years. And that where the stages of awakening come in, this is not only mental evolution but spiritual fortitude.

That how adnormalies like Haruki and Levi came into being, people that there level of awakening surpassed their rank giving them the ability to battle with beings above their level and come out on top.

Haruki stood tightenimg his grip on the Kamamowdo, "You lead.. I'll follow."

He nodded once.." like always".

The knight moved frist.

And what followed was the deafening boom of chaos.

Haruki couldn't remember the details anymore, he remember dodging a sword that distroyed the mountain behind him, movements and shadows flashing.

And then...

The opening...

The knight raised his blade a little too high and then the opening was made.

Levis presence zipped past him like lightning, the way his blade radiatied divine, and his ever clam presence filled haruki with a sense of security.

But that security didn't last long.

Levi drove the sword into the space between the heavenly paladins shoulder and neck, a burst of celestial energy exploded outwards.

The next thing he heard the knight screamed. And light tore though everything and anything.

Haruki was thrown back, blinded.

By the time he came back to his sense, the battle field was already done.

The knight body laid on the sandy ground of the broken mountain.

And Levi...

Levi laid on the dirt , his arm gone, his arm cracked and burned.

Haruki's eyes widened..

"L-levi..?" Haruki crawled towards him.

"Stay with me.. Hey look at me dammit".

His lips twitched.. " I told you I'd go frist..".

"Shut up". Haruki's voice cracked..

"You're not dying... not like this".

His breathe rattled in throat "Haruki...listen".

"I have a wife.. " he rasped, his teeth red with blood.

"Her name is Natalie.. promise me you'll take care of her.."

Haruki heart stopped at that moment.

"Y-your not gonna die...you can't die"

"Bullshit.." Levi chuckled making spit blood.

"Promise.." the light in his eyes began to fade..

"I—yeah I swear, I'll protect her"

His smile was faint..

"She'll need you.."

Then he was gone. Just like that.

And the medics appeared hours later..

Haruki was the only one breathing, the rest of the squad refused to go for fear of death, but the duo went.

And the heavenly knight fell.

And they saw haruki over the knights body....

He received all the praise, they glazed him as a hero, a legend, a god.

And he never corrected them.

Years later..

The war had ended, he kept his promise, like he said he would.

He tracked down every record, every archive.. untill he found the name...

Natalie keal...

Only..she was gone.

Died during childbirth.

Apparently the baby had stayed in the womb for seven years..

Haruki remember looking at the doctor like he'd just told him the sun had fallen into the ocean.

But of course.. she was a flow user, and their baby's spend a little too long in the womb. But seven years was still an absurd amount of time.

Haruki felt something that cracked in him that day..

He had failed him.

Haruki asked for the whereabouts of the child. There he discover the Chile was sent to an orphanage.

Haruki looked for the orphanage for days..

And there he saw him.

A quite house. Bare walls, Dust clinging onto forgotten shelves. At the door way.

A boy—no older than eight stared at him, eyes wide. Pale skin, Messi black hair, dark grey eyes... just like Levi.

"Who are you.." he asked.

Haruki's throat went dry..

"I'm Haruki..." he said slowly, kneeling to meet his eyes...

"Your father friend.."

Little Zach blinked his big dark grey eyes flashed..

"Uncle Haruki..?"

Something in his chest shattered.

"Y-yeah" he said, forcing a breath as his eyes welled up.

"That's me".

Haruki picked him up that night for adoption, without even blinking twice.

****

Back to the present the glowing beam of energy shot at Zach at blinding speeds.

Bang*

Haruki blade flew from nowhere, defending the blow.

Zain looked at Haruki.. brows furrowed.

Haruki glowed with a blue light, Bursting into a torrent of blue flames.

The towering inferno pushed the massive entity back.

"Aarghh..." Zain groaned..

His scaled skin sizzled..

"Zach, I might have failed your father... and your mother..."

The blade flew from it position floating towards the old man.

"But I will not fail you.."