Time slowed. From Blueblade's feet, cornflowers spread rapidly across the field as the maniac's blade hung just centimeters from Sato.
A moment of silence passed before Sato opened his eyes. Only a sea of blue stretched around him: the school, the trees, the roads—all gone. Only the sunny sky remained, with everyone locked in place and blue petals scattered everywhere.
"Oh? So someone here can use a Axiom… interesting."
The maniac's voice carried, strangely cheerful despite being frozen.
"I didn't want to resort to this, but you left me no choice." Blueblade said, his tone solemn.
In that endless field of cornflowers, Blueblade alone could move. His long hair flowed with the breeze as he closed the distance.
"Is that so? In that case I should be quite honored that I pushed you so much."
"Arrogance will get you nowhere. You already tainted this world with the blood of the innocent, now it's your turn to paint these flowers with yours."
Blueblade readied his sword and leapt, the blade flashing toward the maniac's neck. One clean cut, his head hit the ground, splattering the flowers with pitch-black blood.
Sato's eyes widened. Someone had just been killed right in front of him. From the headless body, blood gushed out, droplets landing on his skin.
This is disgusting… I want to puke, but even my stomach feels frozen, regardless, it serves him right.
Taking a step back, Blueblade waited in silence, his gaze fixed on the lunatic's body.
What…what is happening? Why are you backing down?
As Sato struggled to understand, the body began to melt, slowly at first, then collapsing all at once into a pool of blood, spilling across the flowers.
"Beautiful… who was it… Bl–Blue–Blueblade, right? I happened to overhear those kids over there, you see."
The clone of Butterfly spoke before twitching violently. From its body, the mad hero stepped out, walking forward without the slightest trouble, leaving everyone in shock.
How is this possible? No one should be able to move except Blueblade. Not even Irina or Butterfly are able… just how strong is this madman?
"Ohh, cat got your tongue? What's with the silence? Not that it matters. I've already harvested the blood of enough kids from that school. Right now nobody can defeat me!"
As he said this, he raised his hands to his sides, provoking everyone and showing just how untouchable he was.
"I don't get to see a Axiom very often… ahhh, I'm jealous. I want one too!"
His nails dug into his skin as he dragged them across his face. Blood began to drip, yet his grin only widened.
"Well… maybe it's better this way. Slaughtering you will bring me even more joy."
Blueblade held his guard as the lunatic manifested a jagged knife. The puddle of blood at his feet began to stir, rising and carrying him forward like a crimson wave. In an instant, he was upon Blueblade, who tightened his stance, ready to parry the strike.
The force behind his enemy's strikes was overwhelming. Each parry demanded everything Blueblade had.
This kind of strength… It isn't normal.
Driven back step by step by the mad hero's relentless assault, Blueblade fought to parry efficiently, his mind racing through every possible way to defeat him.
His attacks are strong… The only edge I hold is my technique, but even that may fall short against such power… yet it was the only way to protect that boy.
As Blueblade focused only on defense, the lunatic spotted an opening and lunged. The blade pierced straight through his shoulder, forcing him to leap back, retreating in pain while burgundy blood began to drip from his wound.
"What happened samurai, are you already done from such a small scratch?"
The lunatic licked the knife's tip and taunted him, but Blueblade only glared back.
"Blueblade! Undo your Axiom, we will be able to fight him better together!" Butterfly yelled at him.
"Unfortunately, I can't do this, lady Kunoichi. This Axiom is the only reason we have an advantage."
My Axiom freezes anyone who touches the cornflowers, but if they're not in direct contact, the most it can do is slow them down. I feel ashamed that I had to resort to this… for someone like him.
"C'mon samurai, do as that lovely girl is saying!"
Blueblade did not listen to him; instead, he strengthened his grip on his katana ready to attack. With a swift move he closed the distance, the maniac was now on the defense, dodging every slash with ease.
"Disappointing samurai, I thought you would be better than this."
Blueblade swung his katana with precision, the blade cutting through the air toward the lunatic's body. Yet the mad hero made no effort to dodge anymore. Instead, he welcomed the strike, and when steel met flesh, it didn't slice him apart; instead, his skin rippled and melted into blood.
That's not good!
He quickly released the Axiom, allowing everyone to move again. Confusion spread as they tried to understand why he had undone it.
"Kunoichi, watch out!"
When time froze, Butterfly found herself face to face with Blueblade's clone, its blade poised to strike. The clone twisted unnaturally, tearing apart, and from within it the mad hero burst forth, slamming into her and hurling her straight into the wall.
"Wrong move!"
In an instant, freed from the Axiom's slowness, the lunatic vanished and reappeared behind Blueblade, driving a brutal kick into his back that sent him crashing into the opposite wall.
"Well, that felt refreshing," he said while stretching.
That maniac, how can he even be that strong…
Sato was still between him and Irina when the psycho came to finish what he began.
"Now where were we?"
He advanced toward Sato step by step, then suddenly halted. Something had put him on guard.
"It can't be…!"
The sky darkened without warning as a jagged rift tore open, spilling bright light. From its depths, three figures descended, their silhouettes sharply cutting through the gloom.
"I told you, something was bound to go wrong sooner or later, it always does."
"Well, maybe my mistake was trusting someone who didn't say a word," the bulkier figure muttered, glancing at the woman beside him.
"Pointing fingers won't solve anything, boys. How about we clean this mess up first, then we talk?"
From the back, Irina was the first to notice and recognize who she was.
"Future, you took your sweet time you hag!"
"Oh my, Irina, almost didn't see you there."
"You don't have any right to say you didn't see me, or that you didn't know what was happening all this time!"
Irina seems to know her, and the lunatic…seems on edge. Who are they?
Walking closer to Sato, Future stops in front of him.
"Quite the brave soul, stepping into a clash between heroes. You're Sato, aren't you? Irina's exis."
"Yes…but, how do you know my name?"
"I know a lot, more than anyone here knows..."
More than anyone… Did she mean she knew what was happening here from the very beginning?
Without giving him the chance to ask, she stepped forward, taking her place beside him, now facing the psycho and the bulky figure who were ready to fight.
"And I also know that this battle will end in two moves," Future whispered into Sato's ear.
Sweat began to drip down the maniac's face as he stared at the man before him. Though a good distance separated them, he still didn't feel safe.
The lunatic made the first move: he turned and ran as fast as he could.
"One…" Future began to count.
Then the bulky hero followed with the second: he planted his foot, leapt toward him, caught his neck and slammed him hard to the ground.
"Two."
"That…was incredible. I couldn't even see it." Sato said in awe.
"Right!"
From a distance, the sound of police sirens grew closer, making it clear to everyone that what had happened had not gone unnoticed.
"It seems like it's time for you to go," Future lightly tapped Sato's back
"But, I have questions!"
From behind, Irina grabbed him by the collar and dragged him along.
"No time, we need to go!"
Asahi, Megumi, and their heroes retreated as well, while Future stood behind, waving them off with a smile on her face.
"You'd better have a good explanation for this, Future, a lot of innocent children died because of you," said the bulky hero, the unconscious maniac slung over his back.
"There will never be an explanation good enough to justify the deaths of so many…" Future looked saddened at the destroyed school.