[May 4, 2010]
Somewhere in the academy...
"Hina, has Vance gone somewhere?" A voice with brilliant authority came.
"I think you are right, master," a woman in a formal suit said while bowing to him.
"How can he forget that the aircraft is in the air because of his flux?" the man said again.
"But... But," she stammered.
"No if or but, the aircraft is on its final approach," he said with the slightest annoyance.
"I am sorry, master, but this aircraft is lifted in air by your flux, not his," she said, fear in her voice.
"HAHAHA, is that so, Hina!? This should be written in my letter that I am sending to Vance." The strict tone instantly lifted with his words.
"Yes, sir, but I fear that he can't get it now," she said.
"Why? Didn't you say your phone has newly introduced 4G network?" he said.
"Yes, sir, but see the time master it has started," she said.
"What? After so long, Bloody Hours have started again?" he asked.
"It has been one week since it started again, so we don't have any access to contact anyone," she said.
The man, who was currently sitting on the throne, stood up. His face still not visible, but the assistant dropped to one knee and lowered her head.
"In that case, I think I will deliver the message MYSELF," he said.
[CUT]
[Zorian Sterling - POV]
WHOOOOOOOOOSHHH—
The air in Dotonbori seemed to bend as Zorian was falling to the ground.
KRRRSHHH! - KSHHHHHH - CRRK!
The landing wasn't going to be smooth. His body broke through the glass of the building he was currently hitting.
THUD - CRUNCHHH!
The landing wasn't good, but survivable. Many bones cracked and new wounds opened, but the only thing that matters in his life is winning, so nothing matters.
BOOOOOOOOM—
"Ahh, damn it, it must be Arashi. His fall is even greater than me, but I must find him through this as there is no other way," I said to myself.
Tik-tik-tik-tik.
"Hh-hh, the speed I am running and the amount of damage I took from the fall is holding me back. If an enemy would come, it would make things very diff—"I was interrupted as i felt someone breath's on my shoulder and a very strong smell of blood
W-What is it? A ghost? An animal? A God? Who is the one standing behind me?
THUMP!
It was my heart on the brink of stopping.
W-Wh-What? Is... is this what we call a Tatari...?
It looks like the god of death is standing—I-I mean floating—in front of me. But what, what—
Chomp.
A sound came from his mouth. As Zorian saw what he was eating, his expression changed from terrified to rage.
"WHAT!! What are you doing?" I said.
"Doing me, no, no, I no doing, my dinner," the tatari stammered badly. "Did I say that right??"
"Damn you, bastard! Why does that even matter when you are eating those innocent humans?" I said in rage.
"Humans food, food I eat," tatari said.
"You don't have any right to take the lives of those peopleee!" I said in rage.
"AHHHHHH!"
I lunged forward with my axes falling from my forearm to my palm in a second.
Whoosh - Clank - WHOOSH -
My axes moved with a speed that cut the air and went straight towards his head, just an inch away from his neck.
Poof!
He vanished, and my axes moved in the empty air.
"No, no, you no friend, you bad, I fight, I win, you die, you my food," tatari said.
"Shut your damn mouth and fight already," I said while being impatient.
"No, no. No, it should be like," he cleared his throat. "I am not going to fight, but my shikigami will," he said while becoming somewhat invisible.
"Raika!!" he shouted.
[CUT]
[SOMEWHERE ELSE IN DOTONBORI]
THUD - THUD!!
The moment Arashi fell on the ground, he covered his whole body with flux to reduce casualties.
And as a result, he got almost no damage. 'Almost' due to not full control over his Flux and also flux in stage one.
But as he covered his whole body with flux, his sensing range increased, and he sensed something very, very wrong inside the cinema hall just 5 blocks away.
He didn't feel scared, he didn't want to return, but he just unbind the Tatari which is present inside.
The cinema hall was dead silent; nothing except the sound of chill air moving was there.
Suddenly, a very light voice came from screen no. 4.
"What a coincidence, the most unluckiest no. I could get is this only," Arashi said with annoyance to himself.
As he entered the area, his hand tightened on the hilt of his katana.
And as he turned to see the whole area, his expression didn't change, but his visible eye's eyeball became the size of a plate.
BOOOOM!!
A body fell from above, but it was only the upper part of the body the lower half of that body was missing. It fell on the pile of bodies which were already there and made the pool of blood, but all of them were dead.
Arashi lunged forward to see who is it.
And he saw his senior, the one who even before the academy always followed him like his disciple. His eyes darkened.
"Well, I guess your luck isn't even that bad, Fukō ," the body lying down said.
"Don't say anything, you will be alright," Arashi said without any emotion.
"Hey! Please, my genius, don't worry about me, and I think the joy of being close to death brings us close. I would die a million times in your hands than living a million—"
"—years without you," Fukō eyes were shining with life with every word.
"I have always ignored you, never even treated you as a human, what is the thing that makes you so attached to me?" Arashi said, his eyes almost giving up and a tear forming inside.
"I guess we will never know it, as I don't have enough time left," Fukō said.
"Please, Fukō, don't say that, please, you will be fine—" Arashi was interrupted.
"I don't need to be fine, as I am feeling like I am the god right now, as the genius of the dark is holding me," Fukō said with tears coming out of his eyes.
Fukō used every ounce of energy left in his upper body to hug Arashi, but...
Arashi instinctively put his arm on Fukō's chest and pinned him down, finally breaking.
"I am sorry I crossed my limit to—" Fukō apologized.
"Why did you do that? You can't even fight a Grade-4 Tatari, this must be a Special Grade, why??" Arashi cried.
"For the only one I call my friend could rest, and that is YOU and—"
Fukō, a B-rank Arcanist and 2nd-year student of the academy, and the stalker of Arashi Ushimoto, considering him his only friend, died in Arashi's arms without completing his last sentence.
While Fukō didn't belong to a special clan or special rank but his hand to hand combat skill surpassed every one in his batch yet in the real world he became weak due to bullying of Arashi as his hits damaged his body parts still he gave the best to defeat this special grade tatari so Arashi could rest.
Arashi's visible eye became darker and darker, resonating his past with Fukō, until the environment became hot like the area had turned into a volcano.
And a very deep voice broke the silence.
"What happened to him?" the voice sent a shiver down Arashi's spine.
"He died," Arashi said, but his eyes locked on the half-dead body of Fukō.
"No fun in fighting a dead body now, nor it will taste good," the voice of the same Tatari that spoke before.
"Would you speak that again for me when I will cut all your four limbs and my katana will be piercing your heart?" Arashi said while turning back.
And as he turned, his mind was shocked by his appearance.
"What are you? A Tatari? Should I unbind you? Or are you a spirit? Should I exorcise you??" Arashi asked.
"I am a Tatari, at least this is what was told to me. when I was born a few hours ago," the Tatari said.
"Few hours??" Arashi asked.
"Yes, and told to kill everyone and then don't return to the Godwound," Tatari said.
"Damn you, you aren't going anywhere, you are dying here only," Arashi said in his deep voice and dark tone.
[Inside the Nipponbashi Station]
Woooo...
Out of the four, Zeverin has the smoothest landing with no visible injury.
He lept—
Fwoooosh...
"I am moving really slow, why am I moving so slow??" Zeverin asked himself.
"Is it because I want to fight that boy before actually ending this situation?" Zeverin said to himself.
"Those fools thinking they could compete with me but still failed to come to this station and—" Zeverin was interrupted.
"Fo-Foo-Fool, everyone is fool, r-right??"
A voice so tense it was cutting the air.
"I don't give answers to vague questions to someone hiding in the bathroom," Zeverin said while pulling his hand to the hilt of his katana.
KRRRSHHH!!
A hand the size of a normal human hand came from inside, and as it grabbed the door, it got crushed.
THOOM... KRK
The ground fractured under his step.
DOOM... KRRAAK
Another step—deeper cracks spidered outward.
"Huh, this body just has so much weight to break the ground by just walking," Zeverin said with a smirk.
"You are not scared?" the voice became shocked.
"Zeverin is scared of only those who are stronger than him, rather than the fact that he is the strongest," Zeverin said, his smile even brighter.
"Confidence is good, overconfidence kills," the voice became darker.
"Killing me, come on, try," Zeverin was interrupted again.
"Kill," the Tatari repeated.
"Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, hahahaha, kill, haha," he kept his face down but kept repeating the same word and laughing.
"You are really pissing me off, my hands are itching to kill someone, come fight me, let me get some funnn!" Zeverin shouted.
KRRRAAAK!! BOOOOM!!
The ground on which Zeverin was standing ruptured.
The leg of the Tatari hit the chin of Zeverin directly.
RAAASH
Zeverin flew out of the station, taking the whole damage from his body.
THOOOM
Breaking out from the whole metro station, his legs hit the road of Dotonbori, but...
KRK
He didn't fall on the road; he landed on his legs standing.
plok...
His forehead wide open from the wound, and blood dropping from his face.
BOOOOM!
The Tatari emerged from the station and started levitating.
"Hahahaha," Zeverin laughed.
"You're laughing?" the Tatari asked.
"This is damn fun, finally, after three years." Zeverin took a pause.
ZZZZN - ZAAP!
A lightning struck behind him.
"THE STORM CHOOSED VIOLENCE," Zeverin shouted.
[Somewhere inside the academy]
"Saki, has he gone somewhere??" A voice with old authority came.
"Principle Genji, if you are talking about master, then yes, but there is one more thing," Saki said to Genji.
"What is it?" Genji asked.
"Principle Katsuro is coming to talk about Apex Convergence," Saki completed.