...
- (?) Do you see what they are doing?
- They are… protecting Alice from you!
- (?) No. They are protecting Alice from you!
- She let Alice go with that guy because they don't want you to get in the way of their romance.
- This is a lie! They are keeping me from hurting her. You made me this...
- (?) No. Alice did it. If she had been real to you all along, you wouldn't be in that situation, Noah.
- It's a lie!
- (?) It can say anything to you, it doesn't change anything. Alice will never want you around again, especially now that she knows what you turned out to be.
- NO! NO! NO! She will forgive me!
- (?) Will not! And if you want, I'll show you why you won't be forgiven… Hehehehe~~
After a few seconds, Noah starts to let out a distorted scream, as if he's trying to get out of that substance, leaving Mallory and the woman aware of any abrupt movements on his part. But after a few seconds of squirming…
- Help me… AAAAAAAH!
With another distorted yell, Noah lunges at the two of them, making the woman and Mallory brace themselves. When he gets close to the woman, Noah tries to land a blow with his left hand, but with ease, the woman just holds his hand with hers and lands a punch with her left hand in his face and letting go of his hand, making him retreat , but to her surprise, Noah ends up getting a boost and tries to land more blows with his hands at random trying to hit her somehow, but the woman defends them all almost without moving from the place, and taking advantage of a loophole, the woman ends up holding Noah's left arm, pulls him and lands a blow on Noah's chin, causing him to be thrown against the floor's ceiling and receives a kick from her, causing him to be thrown back once more, but this time, the woman seems to be aware of something else.
- (?) Mallory, there's something wrong.
- What was it?
Before she can say anything, Noah advances once more at the woman, and the woman prepares to punch with her left hand, and when Noah approaches, she attacks, but to his surprise, Noah dodges to the left quickly and manages to land a punch with his right hand and hits the woman in the face. Before reacting to hit him on the chin again, he ended up holding his right hand that would be used for this, getting surprised and trying to hit him with his left hand, but surprisingly, he ended up holding his left hand. Looking directly into each other's faces, the woman notices a slight smile on Noah's face, and after that, Noah manages to bend the woman's arms with extraordinary strength, making her stunned by the strength, and in the end, she receives a step on her abdomen hard enough for her to end up being pushed back.
- (?) WHAT!?
Noah steps forward once more to try to land more blows on the woman who was backed up, but…
- ESTE!
When trying to hit the woman, Noah ends up hitting a kind of light barrier, and when he notices this barrier, he starts punching her with all his strength, cracking her little by little. Realizing the magic, the woman looks back and catches Mallory's outstretched hands glowing brightly as each punch increases the peak of light from Mallory's arms.
- (?) Thanks, Mallory!
- What was thatt!? How did he manage to hit you!?
- (?) I don't know, but there's something really weird about him. The Corruption energy should have dissipated in the first blows and he's still standing.
- (Mallory mentally) But how!? Corrupteds can be tough depending on the body, but for a foreign body like this, the Corruption wouldn't even last long!
While she was thinking, Noah's punches were managing to break small parts of the light barrier, and upon realizing this, the woman ended up taking a deep breath and seeing the moments of Noah's blows against the barrier...
- (?) NOW!
Quickly, Mallory lowers his hands, making the barrier fall apart just as Noah tried to hit the barrier, making him miss the blow, and taking advantage of this moment, the woman ends up picking up a momentum and starts throwing some blows with her hands against Noah, who tries to balance himself again while trying to defend himself from the blows. Each of the woman's blows was strong enough to start pushing Noah back with the impacts, and during one of those punches, Noah tries to grab the woman's right arm, however…
- TEHOSTA!
The woman's entire right arm ends up being enveloped in the barrier-like light, and when Noah touches the woman's arm to hold...
- PÍIKKEJÄ!
The light ends up turning into large spikes, injuring and trapping a part of Noah's arm in the process and causing the woman to land a footfall on Noah's abdomen, and with his arm caught in the spikes in her arm, he ends up being thrown back but having the purple substance from his arm ripped away, revealing Noah's human arm. Upon seeing that, Mallory realized that even though he had the Corruption around his body, Noah was still in there and possibly all the blows that were landed on his face and exposed abdomen were affecting Noah's human body and not the Corruption that manifested in him.
- AHHHHHHHH! YOU FUC**** B****!
Screaming in the same distorted tone, Noah charges the woman once more. Since she already knew he could dodge, the woman simply stiffened and maintained a fighting stance, but when Noah approached her, that strange look of his gave way to a look of fear and despair, making the woman hesitate to attack because she realized that it was Noah's real expression, but to her misfortune, Noah ended up giving a weird smile, managing to get a momentum strong enough to throw himself at her. The woman tries to hold Noah down, but quickly, Noah manages to get past her right side and lands a kick so hard on her back that it ends up sending her flying forward. Wasting no time, Noah turns back to the front and moves towards Mallory, who holds out her hands and with a cutting motion…
- VALOAALTO!
Two waves of light end up hurtling towards Noah, but he quickly dodged underneath and prepared to hit Mallory. However, before Noah hits her with his right hand, Mallory manages to dodge the side of the wall with the broken glass in time, but noticing this, Noah spins and tries to land a kick on Mallory's face but before that happens…
BAAAAM!
Noah ends up being hit by a giant sword in his abdomen that was thrown by the woman as she tried to get up quickly after being hit, causing him to be thrown against the wall at the end of the corridor where Alice and her friends used to run and leave the floor.
- NO!
- (?) Madam!?
- WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?
Looking at Noah's motionless body hanging on the wall with the sword in her body, Mallory starts to get desperate and gets up quickly to see if Noah was still alive from that surprise blow. Uncomprehending, the woman just ran toward Mallory, afraid that Noah would let go of it, even though there didn't seem to be any sign of movement. But after a few seconds…
- THAT HURTS TOO MUCH!
His voice distorted, Noah ends up pulling himself to the left, slicing through a body part covered with the Corruption energy, revealing that Noah's human body was nearly hit squarely by the woman's sword.
- How? This is not like what I faced before.
- (?) Madam, get away from there!
Even surprised that Noah speaks, Mallory realizes that the region where Noah's corrupted energy had been cut off the wall ended up regenerating quickly, but looking closely, she realized that Noah's corrupted body was getting smaller, realizing the that should be done.
- (Corrupted Noah pointing to woman) You're brave, but too dumb. Did you consider that the boy could have died from it, you idiot?
- (? approaching Mallory) Madam, what is he talking about?
- (Mallory) This Corrupted is using the boy's body as a host to keep himself in this form.
- (?) So, it means that…
- (Corrupted Noah) That's right you got it, you crazy! If it hits me anyway, it could end up injuring the human body of this annoying brat. I didn't even imagine you guys would do that, but it seems you understand what a mess you've gotten yourself into. And by the way you fight… You must be an amateur Summoner not to understand this right away, right?
- (Mallory) Shut up, you prague! You shouldn't exist in this world, you abomination!
- (Corrupted Noah) How is it!?Prague? Abomination? HAHAHAHAHA!
- (?) What's the fun!?
- (Corrupted Noah) Do you really think we exist just because we are an anomaly of this world!? Don't make me laugh! It is you who make our existence still prevail in this hell of a world that you still insist on defending! And I'm the abomination for simply giving this brat a real chance to have that s*** at his feet!
- (Mallory mentally) So he came up because of Alice!? But how is that even possible?
- (?) I won't let you go after her, demon!
- (Corrupted Noah) Ah… I don't think so…
Before saying anything, corrupted Noah ends up getting his index finger cut while trying to point to the stairs beside him, and when looking at Mallory, he notices some almost invisible lines coming out of Mallory's right hand, realizing he's surrounded by these lines standing there.
- (Mallory) Still think I'm an amateur Summoner, prague?
- (Corrupted Noah) Tsk. I thought you were dumber than you looked, Mallory.
- (?) Why, you…
- (Mallory) Don't get carried away. You almost killed the host for defending me. Thank you for saving my life, but now is not the time to defend my pride.
- (Corrupted Noah) Interesting… I've never heard of a Gacha so loyal to her Summoner. Can I know your name?
- (?) Madam?
- (Mallory) You have my permission.
With an erect posture and showing her majesty passing through the lines of light that only pass through her body as if they were mere spots of light, the woman begins to approach Noah.
- (?) I must say you were quite bold to hit me. It is a pity that such effort did not lead to many favorable results for you.
- (Corrupted Noah mentally) What a weird way to put it...
- (?) But I think it's fair that you know who I am as a reward for doing something reckless when you think you could easily defeat me.
- (Corrupted Noah) I hate it when they're screwing me up so much… Speak up and keep me from bored out of my mind.
- (?) Great so…
Extending his hand, the sword that was stuck in the wall and begins to dematerialize and turn into a kind of golden powder being directed to the woman's hands, materializing again in that giant sword, making the woman stick the sword in the ground. Compared to its size, the embedded sword measures from the ground to just above the woman's navel, the scabbard being silver with slightly sharpened detailing and the golden blade with the lateral edges visibly wide. And looking directly at Noah…
- I am a Gacha of the Light element! Knight of the Royal Guard of Elementia and user of the holy sword Star Blazer! My name is Nanoko Shiki! Satisfied to know who will take the host from you, demon?
- Nanoko Shiki? Ah, you must be one of those unknown Gachas because I've never heard of you.
- (Nanoko raising her sword) To your misfortune, the beings who dared to ask my name in battle had their existence erased. So, enjoy your last few minutes of dominance over this guy because I'm going to rip him off even by force!
And with a mocking smile...
- Try if you can~~
Noah ends up giving a deafening distorted scream for more than 10 seconds, and when he started screaming, he stomped the floor so hard that with the sound vibrations of his scream along with Nanoko's sword thrust into the ground, the floor ended up creating a crack and ended up breaking, making Noah manage to get out of there and fall into the hallway on the 2nd floor where Cyro and Hyodo were.
Surprised by what has just happened, Mallory and Nanoko go to the edge of the crack and realize that Noah has ended up jumping over the stairwell that leads to the 1st floor.
- Madam!
- Let's go after him fast, Nanoko! We can't let him get to Alice or everyone else down there!
Without many choices, Mallory and Nanoko jump through the crack and accelerate their speed to reach the stairs. Mallory doesn't even consider the chance of getting hurt and does the same thing Noah had just done, and when she hits the ground, she sees something at least unusual.
The first floor was empty, without the presence of any of those countless students and young people who were in the Arcade when she arrived, and when she turned her face to the left…
BAAAAAAM!
Mallory ends up seeing Noah getting a flying kick in the face by someone wearing a black overcoat, causing Noah to be hurled into Arcade's machines. With the turn of the mysterious person's gaze, Mallory realizes that these people were wearing a black overcoat with a white shirt inside, normal black pants, white sports shoes with blue accents, but what caught his attention the most was the hockey mask that person was wearing, only noticing the blue eyes through the hole in the mask.
- (?) You! What are you doing here!?
- (Mallory) Well, I…
- (Corrupted Noah getting up) Damn you! Who are you?
- (? looking at Noah) I thought the conscious Corrupted knew how to recognize someone from the Blue Guard.
- (Mallory and Noah mentally) Blue Guard!?
- (?) But since you didn't know, I think you know what awaits you if you try to go against me.
Saying nothing, Corrupted Noah rushes at the Blue Guards member, who just stands and watches him running towards him.
- He has a host… a human inside him!
- I already know! Thanks for reporting, but get out of here before…
Before saying anything, an Arcade machine ends up being thrown and ends up hitting Noah, causing him to be knocked aside.
- (Blue Guard member) But what!?
- (Nanoko) Why do you have this habit of talking in the middle of a battle?
- (Mallory) Nanoko, you… It's going to hurt the boy like that!
- (Blue Guard member) Are you a Summoner?
- (Mallory slightly startled) Oh yes. I am an Summon...
- (Blue Guard member) Excellent. Help me purify the Corrupted!
- (Mallory) Purify? What is it?
- (Blue Guard member) Don't you get it!?
- (Mallory) Eh… I have difficulty understanding basic things?
- (Blue Guard member) Come on! Eh…
This member of the Blue Guard's voice is slightly thick, but as he said those last words, his voice had thinned out, and for a second Mallory was surprised that that voice was familiar to her, but before she asked a question…
- Bastards!
Corrupted Noah jumps over the machines and advances towards the Blue Guard member, but quickly, the Blue Guard member eventually notices and manages to make his body have blue lines, similar to the energy lines in Mallory's body when she used her spells earlier.
The Blue Guard member throws the iron bar close to him at Noah, but he ends up dodging, but when he turns to see the Blue Guard member, he advances against Noah and begins a series of quick and acrobatic blows in little space. Punches, kicks and using Arcade machines as cover to avoid some blows from Noah, the Blue Guard member manages to keep up a fight using the location to his advantage, but Noah, even being in difficulty due to the member's speed and strategy of Blue Guard member, managed to destroy the machines and managed to land some blows on him, even though many of them ended up being defended or dodged.
- Madam, shall we help?
- Nanoko… GO!
With the order, Nanoko advances along the path destroyed by the Blue Guard member's combat against Noah, and as she approaches, she places her sword vertically and begins to power the sword, leaving the blade glowing, and in a sword swing...
- RADIANT WAVE!
Unlike Mallory who threw her waves of light through her hands, Nanoko releases a big wave of light that ends up cutting through almost everything in front of her. The Blue Guard member can spot it in time and dodge the path, and Noah does the same thing, but as the light wave ended up pulling some pieces of broken machinery, the Blue Guard member takes advantage, leans on a pillar in the building and launches himself at Noah, hitting another flying kick in Noah's face, causing him to flinch backwards, and soon after, the Blue Guard member picks up a piece of a broken machine and launches it at Noah. Realizing the piece, Noah simply slugged it away, but when he got it right, Noah saw some blue lines in the piece, resulting in a small explosion in his right arm and almost close to his face.
- (Mallory mentally) What is he doing!? Wait… THIS!
Emerging from the smoke caused by the small explosion, Noah's corrupted energy ended up shifting once more, trying to cover the arm and part of his face that had been hit by the explosion. More deafening screams are eventually heard, but there was no time to get up because Nanoko ended up hitting him with a hard punch in the face followed by a kick in the face from the member of the Blue Guard. And right after...
- NEULOJA!
Mallory manages to get close and throws what looks like needles at Noah, hitting parts of Noah's arms and legs, and raises his hands…
- VETOVOIMA!
Mallory ends up dropping his hands and slamming his energy into the ground, causing the machines to start overloading. The needles that were in Noah start to glow brightly and in a strange way, a large flow of electricity passes through the machines that end up hitting Noah full on, causing him considerable damage and being thrown backwards. After this improbability in the laws of physics over electricity, the Blue Guards member and Nanoko appear standing up from the path where the flow had passed through the machines.
- (Blue Guard member) Let me know when you're going to do something like this! You could have killed me!
- (Mallory) It was bad, I couldn't let you know without him knowing!
- (Nanoko) Your reasoning was excellent, madam!
- (Mallory) Thanks, Nanoko~~
As Mallory approached the Blue Guard member and Nanoko, Corrupted Noah looked pretty battered and the Corruption energy in his body seemed to dwindle away, as if the dissipation effect was taking place. Trying to get up slowly, his mind seemed to go into a kind of collapse...
… (Flashback)
- Noah, have you ever dated someone who approached you out of nowhere?
- What do you mean, Alice?
- Just curiosity really~~
- I know… Well, yes, but it didn't last long.
- Why not?
- It's just that dating someone you don't know well can go very wrong. I think just doing it for the heat of the moment is what makes a lot of people not serious.
- Seriously?
- So it is. I, for example, prefer to date someone I've known for a while and I know what the person is like than fooling myself with someone who doesn't even know a lot of things.
- I understand. It makes sense.
…
- Alice, I like you! Want to go out with me?
- Noah? I… I didn't know you felt that way about me… It's too sudden.
- Alice?
- Well, I must admit I like you too, but... Oh...
- Alice?
- You know, I know we've known each other for a long time, but I don't think we should rush something like that out of the blue.
- What do you mean out of nowhere?
- It's just… I didn't know you felt that way about me, I'm flattered, but I think it's better not to have anything like that.
- Why not?
- Well, you know... I'd rather lose a boyfriend than an important friend like you. You are very important to me and I would not want to lose you.
Alice... I...
- But calm down~~ It's not because I don't want anything to do with you. I do, but I think you better make sure you really want it with me. I would hate to delude myself with something like that.
- Alice… I promise I will make you happy.
- But you already do it for me. And I want to do something for you, so would you mind waiting? I need to get my head on straight.
- (Noah almost crying) Okay, Alice~~
…
- (?) Did you know Trevor and Alice are dating seriously now?
- (?) I knew. Who knew that guy who hangs out with a lot of girls managed to get an innocent girlfriend like Alice.
…
- (?) So is it true that you and Trevor ended up doing that?
- (Alice) Hey, it's not something to ask yourself here!
- (?) But speak fast… Yes or no?
- (Alice) Hmm... Yeah...
…
- Noah… I was wondering if you would like to go out with me.
- There is? Like this?
- It made me want to go for a walk with a friend.
- Friend?
- Yeah. You are my most important friend and I need to have you by my side...
- Alice?
… (Currently)
- (?) Isn't that irony, Noah? She told you she'd give it a go and in the time she thought, she hooked up with a despicable guy like that Trevor guy?
- GET OUT OF MY MIND!
- (?) Thanks to that bastard Trevor, she stopped being that gentle and humble girl who one day fell in love and became just another girl just like every other wing.
- LEAVE! LEAVE ME IN PEACE!
- (Corrupted Noah) And who would be better than yourself to understand your hatred? Your resentment?
- (Normal Noah) YOU ARE WRONG! SHE HAD HER CHOICE!
- (Corrupted Noah) Yeah. And you, what did you do? Did you just look and delude yourself that you would still have a chance with her?
- (Normal Noah) NO, I NEVER WOULD HAVE. I ALWAYS ACCEPT...
- (Corrupted Noah) Don't lie to me that. We are just here in your mind! Don't try to deceive me! You always had hope… And yet… You lost your courage, your sense of accepting and fighting against. You could have made her your partner… And you couldn't…
- (Normal Noah) Yeah… You're right…
- (Corrupted Noah) So why do you want to…
- (Normal Noah) BUT I ACCEPT IT! SHE ALWAYS DECIDED WHAT SHE WANTED! I NEVER PREVENT HER FROM ANYTHING! WHEN SHE NEEDED THE MOST, I WAS THERE TO HELP HER! WHEN SHE WAS ALONE, I WAS THERE TO HELP HER UP AND MOVE ON! YOU CAN SAY EVERYTHING I DIDN'T DO, BUT DON'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT…
- (Corrupted Noah) Stupid boy…
- (Normal Noah) I DECIDED TO BE HER FRIEND WHO WILL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR HER!
…
While Noah had this mental delusion, Mallory, Nanoko and the Blue Guard member kept watching Noah squirm, as if they realized he was struggling to reject the Corruption energy within him.
- (Mallory) What's going on?
- (Blue Guard member) He's taking back control of his mind.
- (Nanoko) How so?
(Blue Guard Member) I'm surprised you don't know about these things… In short, normal people can be corrupted and become what you saw, and can gain or amplify the physical and mental abilities of the host.
- (Mallory) So that's why he knew how to face you, Nanoko. Just as he spoke more normally.
- (Blue Guard member) Exactly. Corruption energy tries to merge with the person when this happens. It dominates the body, but to merge completely, it is necessary to dominate the mind. Of course the person can resist, but that will depend on the person's will.
- (Nanoko) And how does he get back to normal?
- (Blue Guard member) It has 3 forms. The first is for the person himself to expel the Corruption energy from him the way he is doing now. The second is weakening the Corruption energy at the base of the beating and doing the purification process, which would be trying to isolate the host from the energy and then destroy it using a Gacha or a Summoner. The third…
- (Mallory) Would it be to eliminate the host along with the Corruption energy?
- (Blue Guard Member) Yes, but doing so would be tantamount to killing the host. And since the Blue Guard always tries to save hosts with as little damage as possible, this option is only used as a last way.
- (Nanoko) So, can we just wait now?
- (Blue Guard member) Yes.
As hebexplained about this, Noah's human body began to appear, causing the Corruption energy to dissipate like a liquid. And after a few seconds, Noah in human form starts looking at the Blue Guard member.
- (Noah) … What… was…
- (Member of the Blue Guard) Calm down, boy. Look at my hand.
- (Noah) Hmm… What's with the… hockey mask?
- (Blue Guard member) Ah… Long story. If you're in a position to get up, hold on to me.
- (Mallory) Don't you think it's pushing too hard?
- (Nanoko) Mallory, let him do what must be done.
- (Mallory) Nanoko, it's on the side…
Upon seeing Mallory, Noah recalls a specific time at school when he sneaked in and overheard a conversation...
… (Flashback)
- (Alice) Can you help me with something, Mallory?
- (Mallory) You can say I'll think of some way~~
- (Alice) Thank you~~ It's just… there's a person…
- (Mallory) Crush or something like that?
- (Alice) No. It's nothing like that and I'm already dating, so…
- (Mallory) Oh, sorry. Continue~
- (Alice) So… There's a person I wanted to reject for good. Every time we get close, it feels like he's going to confess and I don't want him to be disappointed that I'm dating someone else.
- (Mallory) And why don't you tell him that directly?
- (Alice) So I don't know how to do this. He was an important person, but now… I don't want him to kid himself or think I'm "cheating" on him, if you know what I say.
- (Mallory) Got it.
- (Alice) So what could I do?
- (Mallory) ... How about letting him see with his own eyes?
- (Alice) What do you mean?
- (Mallory) People don't accept certain things because they want things to have to be their way. And that is something wrong to think about. Look, if he's deluding himself or still wants to have something with you, he'd better get it right away since you're not going to show him the reality. I know it may sound cruel, but reality had better fall on him badly. So when you get the chance, say it right away or make him realize it by his own conclusions.
- (Alice) Are you sure about this?
- (Mallory) Sure~~
… (Currently)
- (Noah) You… You…. You!