* CLASH—SPARK *
" Sharp-Aura: Cloaked Slash!! "
A wave of golden Aura flew toward the crimson-skinned Demon.
" It's useless! Just give up already! "
The Demon slapped away the wave of Aura and countered, Vitality exploding forth and sending a wave of sharp pain over my body.
" I-I can't! You've gone too far! "
He was supposed to be the protective one.
" Too far?! I've yet to get started! The Humans have taken everything from me...And I want it all BACK!! "
The one I once called a friend continued to explode in his rage and Vitality, his energy pricking my skin with what seemed to be countless needles of hatred and anger.
" So now you're going to kill me and do whatever you please?! This isn't you—This isn't the Ryota I remember! "
I yelled his old name, hoping to reach something deep within him. Maybe we could stop this madness—this bloodshed. I stomped down onto the ground, my own Aura beginning to swell while Mana wrapped itself around me, coating me in the heavy armor of Arcane Magic.
" The time for remembering our past is over, Takumi. All that matters now is that you, 'The Hero', stand in my way. "
How could he...Blood began to seep through my magic's gaps. It was becoming increasingly apparent that the armor could no longer support my wounds, no matter how much I packed on.
Upon the barren battlefield, devoid of life, just the two of us stood.
Kurogane Ryota...Hikari Takumi...
In our past lives, we were best friends.
I thought the same could be true in this world as well...
" I'm sorry, Takumi. But I've long cast aside the name Ryota. "
His Vitality increased. Standing above me, elevated as he stood upon the cliff's edge, his stabbed and ran-through body continued to stand as a towering mass of intimidation and presence.
" I am Raksha. And when you die...I will reign as the 'Primordial'. I will usher in a new era of true peace along this Continent. "
Ryot—No...Raksha had gained a power beyond what anyone could have imagined. And because of that, the Humans, acting out of fear, destroyed many lives.
Raksha had been wronged.
And maybe I was wrong to side with the Humans so willingly.
Because of this mistake...Many of our friends had to die.
" This is all my fault..."
If only I had a second chance...I would've...
" It's over, Takumi! Rest in PEACE!! "
Raksha had kicked off from the cliff, his black blade raised above his head, clearly coming down to strike into my weakened body and cutting through me clean. Though I had been the Hero, my naive desire to be the Hero everyone had wanted resulted in complacency. I hadn't taken a thing truly seriously.
" Juri...Drasil...Please, forgive me when I come to see you. "
My wounds were heavy. I had already used most of my Mana to reconstruct my left arm after Raksha had cut it off before. And since my Aura was being used primarily for combat, I could not hope to divert any of it to defenses or support.
" Sorry, Raksha. I'm still their Hero! Even if I'm far too weak to stand against you...I have to try!! "
If only we had stopped you from giving up your heart...Maybe even if you were hurt...we could've been there too—
" RAAAGGHHH!!! "
" URRAAGGHHH!! "
I followed suit, jumping into the air using 'Grand Nature Magic' to manipulate the rubble and kick off from it with maximum efficiency. All my Mana had to go to support my fighting. The only weapons I had left were the gauntlets that came along with the Arcane Armor. The air itself shook as we approached.
Vitality, Aura, and Mana, all come into one swirling mass of energy. Rifts in space itself began to form just as they had done many years ago.
My fist shot forward, meeting Raksha's blade straight-on, the force of the collision causing some of the armor along my fist to break and splinter into my knuckles. Blood gushed from the open end of the armament.
However, I didn't stop. Opening my fist, I grabbed onto the blade, tightening my grip around it and using my free hand to throw a barrage of punches to Raksha's open and unguarded side.
Raksha's body began to be pelted in blows, each one leaving a deafening sound of bones crunching and muscles splitting apart. The strength at which I punched caused blood to continue pouring from my bones, spurting from the gauntlet.
" COME ON COME ON COME ON COME ON COME...ON!!! "
As I continued, I began to shout. For a long period of time, Raksha simply allowed me to attack him, not moving any more than my punches made him.
Yet...After a while, my fist collided with his side and his body didn't move an inch. Noticing something changed, I stopped, peering up at his face.
" I wanted...to— "
* COUGH—SPURT *
He had hacked up blood, it flying onto my face.
" Experience the last punches of your life... "
* STAB—TWIST *
A sudden and sharp pain infiltrated my body. In a mere instant, Raksha had modified the sword he held to change its shape into something of a scythe. Due to me holding it at the blade, he must've shifted the blade into a handle and had the blade grow from beneath. It pierced deep into my gut, blowing past the organs that sat in its way and coming straight out the backend.
I knew of the shape-changing capability of his weapon, however, I had not known of the sheer speed at which it could change.
" They were magnificent blows, Takumi. You were the Strongest. "
Raksha let go of the handle, letting the scythe sit within my stomach.
" R-Raksha...Y-You... "
I struggled to prevent myself from choking on the blood welling up from my insides and escaping through my mouth.
" You...I...W-we...F-f-forgive...y— "
Raksha suddenly grabbed me. The scythe that had been in my chest meshed against his body, suddenly turning back into a small obsidian black dagger, falling to the ground.
" W-What...? "
Raksha held me. He held me in a tight embracing hug.
" I'm so sorry...Takumi...Juri...Drasil...I'm so...so sorry...I don't know when it all went wrong...Maybe it was when Juri—or even when Drasil had —No...It's when I became strong... "
"It's not your fault!", I wanted to tell him. But I no longer had the strength to even utter a single word.
" The Humans...I will control them...They won't hurt anyone over anything ever again...But... "
I could feel the tears from the Demon dripping onto my back as he held me tightly.
" If only I had a second chance...I would never have—! "
Everything had gotten cold.
And with all I could muster before my final last breath could be taken...I spoke.
" W-we had...gotten a second...life...And we...w-were too naive...Too forgiving...But...w-we could've never t-truly known...if what we're doing...i-is the right thing...until th-the dust...settles... "
My body went limp.
" T-This...is just...your answer...Raksha. A-And to f-fight against you...was mine...Juri and D-Drasil...If they had been here...Hahaha...T-They wo-would've...known what to d-do...I-I'm sorry...but...I'm going on...a-ahe... "
. . .
He had died. In my arms, my first true friend...had died.
Stabbed by my blade, the one I swore to save my people with. Had I done the right thing? Did I have to kill Takumi? Was this the only way our paths could've taken us? Him on the side of the loathsome Humans? Me on the opposing side? The 'evil' one fighting the 'Hero'?
" Hey...Kid. You...You got what you wanted... "
It's exactly as Takumi said. Now that the dust has settled, I can see it. The two of us fought till the very end and one of us remained. And only now I see.
" I did... "
I, Raksha, had won.
So why...Why did I lose everything and gain nothing...
Setting Takumi's body down onto the bloodied rubble, I held my hand over him.
Looking up, I could see the rifts that had formed all those years ago. The spatial rifts that started this long blood-covered road.
I have to continue forward.
But...if I had but one more chance...I'd give it to Takumi. He...was a Hero.
. . .
A bright piercing light had cut into my closed eyelids. Had that been the light of Heaven? Maybe when I open my eyes, I'll see my friends. After all, I had lost against Raksha.
" Come on...get up! "
Hm?
That voice—
" How long are you going to lay there?! "
My eyes shot open, remembering that annoying voice. It was—
" Theatera!! "
My body, almost as if it weren't completely ruined just a few moments ago, jumped up looking around for the girl.
" Thea— "
Upon seeing her, my heart sank.
" What? Cat got your tongue? "
Theatera, also known as the Surface Realm, the very realm that hosted the Continent I had just fought over, stood in front of me in her ever-ethereal manifestation. Her body itself was bountiful. She had been tall, almost as tall as Raksha had been. Her curves were defined and her body was nothing to scoff at.
Yet, unlike what should've been a Goddess among women, what stood before me had been stained in blood and shame. The once pure pale green dress she dawned, untouched by filth and grime, had been corrupted. It was tattered and stained in crimson. All the while she had been missing pieces of herself. An arm gone, an eye gouged.
" W-What the... "
" This is the result of your failing to uphold your duty. "
" What do you mean?! "
" I, the Surface Realm, called upon your soul to be the savior of my Celestial body. What you see before you is nothing more than a spiritual manifestation of my will and spirit. And my state reflects that of my physical body. "
" Then tell me! Why are you like this?! "
" As Mana proliferates my body, nature grows unstable. Yet in its way, energetic life force begins to overflow, filling even the weakest of creatures with vigor. However, as Vitality flows through any place, it begins to crumble. And because you failed to stop Raksha from becoming the 'Primordial', Vitality now runs rampant along my body, the entire Realm. I am being corrupted. "
" Corrupted...? "
" My spirit shows itself to you as a crumbling decaying walking corpse because that is the same state my physical Celestial body is in. "
My heart could go no lower. From my understanding, because I failed to be the Humans' Hero, the entire realm would suffer.
No...This goes even deeper than that...
Because I could not be Raksha's friend in his time of need...all life will suffer and Theatera will perish...
" In the years since we last saw each other, it seems you've become quite conceited. I may have been the one to summon you—but you did not come alone, did you? Others managed to find their way to that very same world. "
!!
" I may have given you the job to save me. However, who said you had to do it alone? Why did you believe it was all your burden to shoulder? "
She's right...I tried to do everything my foolish way...And look where it got us...
" You're right. If I had a second chance, I'd do it all differently...But...What does it matter? I lost. Raksha won. "
* SLAP *
My face had a hand placed firmly against it in a ruthless assault. Theatera had slapped me.
" That's your problem! You get complacent, you think because there's no ready available path in front of you that there's no other way! That's why you lost! Not because Raksha was stronger than you! But because you're far too narrow-minded to see any other way to win!! "
Theatera's fading body began to fall. Down to her knees, she went as she yelled up at me, my nearly featureless body standing in front of her.
" But that's fine...Deep inside...you're still a child who needs guidance. I will still help you…Even if it is the last thing I can do for you… "
" ..What do you mean…? "
" I can...give you that second chance you're desiring. However, it will cost us greatly. By taking your soul and placing it in a section of time before you came upon the realm, I will kill the you of that time and put you in his place. Doing this will expend almost all of my Mana. This means, unlike before, I won't be able to grant you any help...And it will also make it so that if you are to die...you will be immediately erased from existence. "
Erased?
" It will be as though you never existed beyond your old world in any juncture of time and you won't even be granted an afterlife. Your existence will cease. And along with you...I too...will go. Meaning all life upon my Celestial body will too die. "
If I am to go back for a do-over, it will be my last shot. And if I fail...It'll cost both Theatera and I...everything.
" Let's do it then. "
There's no other choice for me to ever choose.
" You're resolved? Already? "
" I already lost everything once. I won't sit back and give up the one chance to do everything right. And...If I lose this time...That means we were all destined to die anyway. "
" So...you're showing a little more resolve, huh? "
" The time to be complacent with my place in life is over. It's time I make my path for once. "
" Well-spoken for once. This…is the last time we may ever speak, Takumi. I wish you good luck—again. "
Everything had been rushed. But that was to be expected. Theatera had practically been falling apart from the very beginning of our conversation. We had to speak quickly and make our decisions as fast as possible. And now all that was left was for me to try once more.
A light overtook my body and all that I saw last before my vision cut...was Theatera smiling.
She usually never smiled. It was a grand sight.
. . .
" Praise the Hero! For the Hero comes soon! Praise the Hero! For the Hero will save us from doom! "
So...I return back to that day.
Drasil...Juri...and...Raksha...
I'll save you, my friends.
CHAPTER 20 END