[Yuki, we’re entering the building. I’m on the west side and Damian is entering the east. If you hear large explosions you now know who it came from,] Akira informed Yuki as he creeped out of the isolation room he was just freed from. In his hand, he held Yuna’s, leading her out with him. 

‘Did he come with a new toy?’ he asked.

[I think he brought a robotic cannon of some sort.]

‘Of course he did.’

An explosion rang out and the walls of the building shook. Yuki heard maniacal laughter coming from somewhere behind. He let out a sigh and sped up, pulling Yuna along. With a thought, he tapped into his mana and connected himself to the air and ground and began to monitor the whereabouts of everyone within the LIA compound. Then he quickly made his way into the storage room where he grabbed a few bags from a wall which he handed to Yuna.

“These are a few bags of explosives, tear gas, smoke grenades, and flashbangs. Each bag has exactly two of each,” Yuki told her, his words fast but clear. “If you find yourself in trouble, don’t be afraid to use them.”

“Where are you going?” she asked, her eyes worried.

“Don’t worry about me,” he replied. He patted her shoulder. “You’ve done your job, so now I have to do mine. I want you to get out of here as quickly as possible. Preferably through the west exit.”

“But the east is closer.”

“There’s also a crazy dwarf over there using a robotic cannon,” Yuki said. Yuna blinked at him but he decided not to elaborate any more. “I’ll be out of here soon enough, Yuna. That’s a promise.”

“How soon?”

“Ten minutes tops. Unless something goes horribly wrong, of course.”

“Then I’ll be coming back in ten minutes,” Yuna announced. She turned and jogged off, heading to the west side.

‘Guess I’ll need to try and finish this before ten minutes then.’

Yuki grabbed another item from the rack and went to a cabinet inside the storage room. He touched the metal lock and forced it open, his fingers clenching as he bent the metal to his will. Then he opened up the drawer and took out a ring. 

‘Good to have this back.’

He slipped it on and with a snap of his fingers materialized his watch and blades. After putting on the watch, he started strapping on his daggers as he walked to another room. When he reached his location, he found the door locked and promptly smashed it down with a kick. Inside the room were a number of devices: displays, laptops, computer engines. All of the screens were turned off due to the temporary power outage that Yuki’s guild caused.

“Uriel, can you hear and understand me?” Yuki asked as he placed an earpiece in his ear. 

“Loud and clear, boss. Out from your trip to incarceration?” Uriel asked cheerfully. 

“Yes I am,” Yuki said. He took a battery from his ring and took a laptop that was left on a table in the room. “By the way, I’m in the IT room right now for the LIA base in Junction. Do you want a little meal?”

“I could always use some more data,” Uriel replied.

“You might need to do a little work for it.”

“Fine by me.”

Yuki connected the battery to the laptop and it promptly turned on, opening a login screen. Then he plugged in a small drive into a port in the computer and watched as Uriel take it over.

“Oh, this whole thing is connected to the LIA servers, I see~,” Uriel giggled. “This is going to be fun.”

“Are you in the servers right now?”

“Yes I am, boss.”

“Then I’m shutting down the laptop.”

“That’s fine. I’ll be analyzing the data so I might not reply to you if you ask me anything for the next, oh, let’s say ten minutes.”

“I’ll take that.”

He shut the laptop and unplugged it from the battery before taking out his drive. Glancing around, he looked for anything that looked to be of importance or caught his eye. Upon finding nothing, he walked to where the wooden door of the IT room used to be. With a snap, he summoned a fireball that hovered over his palm, flickering merrily like a fireplace during the winter. Then he lobbed it into the room and walked away.

As he made his way through the building, he searched for any stragglers that were left behind by their panicking coworkers. He located a few as they ran along, their footsteps vibrating the ground. But one pair he found drew his attention away from the others. They weren’t leaving the building. They were approaching him.

“Ah, captain. I see you’ve stayed behind,” Yuki said, turning his head to face the approaching man. “How are you this morning?”

“I have to hand it to you,” the man replied. “You threw me off guard. It’s not everyday that happens to me.”

“I try. So what are you doing here, Firestorm?” Yuki asked, his voice as pleasant as it was during the interrogation. “I take it that it’s not to congratulate me.”

“No. But I just wanted to take the time to do that,” he said. “The Shikaku has never met someone quite as successful as you at hindering us. I’m not even sure how you heard Shindol’s conversation with me.”

“I have my ways. But what else are you here for?”

“My superiors have notified me of a mission objective change,” Firestorm said, spreading his hands. “I’m sure you know what that change is, I take it?”

“Elimination of a threat, I’m sure.”

“Precisely,” he smiled. Then he snapped his fingers.

Yuki’s eyes glanced down and he spread his hands as a circle flared beneath him. In a blink of an eye, fire erupted from it as scorched the concrete encasing the Yuki created to stop it. The fire paused, long enough for Yuki to move away from the area, before blasting through the concrete, pieces of debris flung everywhere.

“Great reaction speed,” the captain complimented. “Let’s see you keep that up.”

He clapped his hands, magic circles forming and encompassing them, before he slammed them against the ground. Yuki’s eyes narrowed as he counted the scarlet red markings that glowed on the floor. While his eyes flickered around, he gathered air around his feet, a dense pocket forming beneath them. Then as the first of the fire pillars erupted directly beneath him, he propelled himself forward towards the captain.

Firestorm’s eyes met his and in a flash, a sword materialized out of the air to meet Yuki’s dual blades. The clang of metal meeting metal blended with the roaring of the flames around them. Yuki pushed off, using the opposing sword and flipped in the air. As he landed, his eyes caught another glow and he blasted himself to the side with a pulse of air, his body spinning as a pillar singed his clothes.

Landing lightly on all fours, he rushed forward again to meet Firestorm. Firestorm smiled, and swung his sword above his head before smashing downward upon Yuki. Yuki deflected it off the side of his daggers and spun away from it, ducking to dodge the upswing.

‘A broadsword, I see. I didn’t think that he would be using that. With him being a fire elementalist and all.’

“Daggers,” Firestorm commented as he slashed sideways, Yuki jumping backwards out of reach. “I’ve never known an earth elementalist that used those. Especially dual wielding.”

“I’m not one for tradition,” Yuki replied.

They charged each other, two daggers clashing against a gigantic sword. Yuki knew that he would lose in a battle of strength and resorted to deflected and opportune strikes. But though his opponent wielded such a cumbersome weapon, he swung with such speed that you would think he was using a katana.

The two traded blow after blow with nothing coming through. While Firestorm created pillars of fires that erupted from the ground, Yuki through concrete spikes in retaliation. If Firestorm swung, Yuki would deflect. If Yuki striked, Firestorm would block it. They were locked in a stalemate.

‘I can’t break through.’

Yuki slid backwards, breaking the fight, and watched the man before him. Both of them were sweating, their deeps breaths audible and constant. They considered each other for a time, none of them making a move.

“You’re more resilient than I expected,” Firestorm said. “I haven’t had battle quite like this in some time.”

“I could say the same for you,” Yuki replied, his eyes narrowed.

“It seems like I need to put more into it.”

He held up his broadsword and grasp the handle tightly. Then with a yank, the sword separated into two. Now he held two single edged blades in his hands, their size comparable to that of a katana. He swung them lightly and gave Yuki a grim smile.

“It’s been a while since I had to use these,” he said.

Yuki didn’t reply and only tightened his grip around his own blades. The two stared at each other for a moment. Then the captain roared surging forward as Yuki rushed to meet him, four blades clashing and the world around them burning.