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For all the big talk he made, Kazuki actually felt a bit of unease, especially now that he was looking at the enemy in front of him. The ominous Nullity in the form of a spider looked on, and it looked like it could charge forward at any possible moment.

At the very least, he had made it in time and saved his classmate. It really helped that there were far less enemies than he expected on his way here.

"Are you out of commission for good?" he softly asked his classmate.

In between heavy breaths, she gave her reply. "I'm beaten up pretty bad now, but I should be able to recover given enough time."

"Is that so? Then that's easy!"

"W-wait, you can't—"

"I ain't taking orders from someone looking that pitiful!"

The rest of what she said did not register anymore as Kazuki broke off into a run. He swore he heard his surname being shouted out again, but he paid no heed.

Still feeling relatively fresh, he felt that he could hold out for a while.

I should just hold out a while longer.

Taking the initiative, Kazuki intended to meet the spider halfway. That way, he can engage the enemy while keeping it away from Uehara. Without an offensive ability, all he could do now is to keep the enemy busy while waiting for his ally to recover.

Seeing the incoming strike from the spider's long front legs, Kazuki successfully readied his stance. The clash of his Armament and the fortified leg sent light shockwaves, but the Awakener held his ground.

He followed it up with another defensive stance meant to catch the other incoming leg.

"Raaaghh!"

Timing the parry right, he managed to deflect some of the impact from the strike back to the spider, temporarily staggering it.

"I may not have the speed or the fighting ability that she had, but..."

Kazuki braced himself for another strike. This time, it was by the spider's fangs that attempted to pierce forward.

As the two fangs pushed onward, the Awakener used his shield to fortify his backhand counter-attack. He timed it right again, and the attack proved to be effective as confirmed by the screeches and the spider pulling back.

"That just means that I should play to another win-con!"

A smile slowly crept into his face as he saw the effect of his counter. With the spider reeling back, it reared up impulsively and exposed its underside. Fluid oozed out, and it seemed that the impact of the blow re-opened some of its prior wounds.

He probably would not be able to kill this enemy outright, but his counter-attacks seem to prove relatively effective in stalling it out.

Pulling all his weight into an attack, Kazuki dove straight at it and bashed it straight on the face with his shield, similar to the move that he has been using to deal with the lesser Nullities.

The spider, noticeably slower than before, failed to brace for the blunt impact and was pushed back, flipping backwards and landing on its back a couple of meters away.

He knew that wasn't a lethal move, but his attack opened up a new window of opportunity.

It allowed him to turn his attention to the doctor, who stood just a short distance away from him.

Possibly stunned by what just happened, he failed to move out of the way when Kazuki smacked him on the visor once again. Kazuki felt a sense of joy and excitement as he heard the crunch of two objects collide.

His shield was obviously stronger than the visor, and the crunching noise that followed the clash was like music to his ears.

Visible cracks now showed on the doctor's visor, and static began leaking out from around it.

"H-how dare you!"

"You know," Kazuki pointed his shield arm at the angry doctor, "I thought that you were just some weirdo doctor. You were at the top of your game, and you always seemed so unnaturally nice if not quirky beyond relief. But with what you just tried to do with Uehara, say goodbye to what little respect I had for you."

The doctor chuckled as he got back up to his feet, a lot shakily this time.

"To think that Hikari and Amagi also looked up to you. How disappointing, Dr. Kagami."

"Do you even know what I am trying to do? You're young, you're naïve, and you haven't seen as much death as I have. Have you not considered a world where humanity breaks free from the shackles of death?"

Dr. Kagami then spread his arms out and began talking in a way that Kazuki found very egotistical. Those words brought back their conversation at the cafeteria.

Kazuki was not sure what that doctor was trying to do, but his gut already told him that it cannot be good.

"Fate brought me to Mu, and fate showed me the path to humanity's next evolution. With my quest, I have found the answer to let humanity overcome its weakness. People would no longer wear down due to age. People would no longer be weakened by disease. People would overcome death!"

"And at what cost?" asked Kazuki. 

"You're hiding something. Only fools would take such things at face value."

Dr. Kagami stared at him, and the colored runes manifested on his damaged visor. It let out a few creaks and sounds of electric outage.

Kazuki braced himself for an energy beam, but none of those expected attacks came. Instead, the runes flashed before Dr. Kagami let out a frustrated scream.

"You really believe in that crap, just like the girl there? You young ones are beginning to piss me off! I am on the cusp of taking humanity to the next step, and you pesky ones keep standing in my way?!"

He placed his hand over the damaged visor, and Kazuki saw magical energy channeling from his hand onto it.

"I won't let you!"

Kazuki began his run to stop Dr. Kagami, but he did not have to.

Mere moments after the doctor did that motion, electricity oozed out of the visor that resulted in a feedback.

With a short boom, the visor exploded on the doctor.

"Oh shi-!" his word was cut off as he was thrown back by the impact, and his visor came apart, exposing his eyes that have begun to bleed.

Kazuki knew little about the full consequences of the visor breaking. However, just as it finally broke, a shadow loomed over him, and the next moment, he felt himself launched straight into the center of the room.

He stumbled down several steps until he finally stopped near a shrine with a stone tablet. Recovering after the nasty fall, he looked at the apparatus the emitted smoke.

Without further deliberation, he struck the tablet with his shield.

With a crunch, the tablet broke upon impact, and Kazuki raised his hands to shield himself from the blast.

He had little time to wonder what the structure was meant for before he heard a loud scream of agony. It was not female, so...

He turned in time to see the doctor's body being thrown against the wall. Intermittent screeches filled the air, as the spider has seemingly gone berserk. It reared back and began indiscriminately shooting silk all over the place.

Kazuki ran back up in a hurry, barely avoiding some jets of silk headed his way.

So that thing is what was controlling the Nullity all along? Now that it's broken, the monster has gone completely out of control!

He struggled as his attention was constantly being divided between Uehara and the rampaging Nullity. He saw that his classmate has not yet gotten to her feet, and she was at her most vulnerable.

Come on, hurry up would you, Uehara?

He thought as he looked at the classmate who's on one knee. Following the clicking of his tongue, he turned and headed straight to the spider as fast as his legs can take him.

A rampaging monster like that is definitely intimidating, but with all sense of control gone, it can only attack indiscriminately. So long as I avoid the reckless attacks and find an opening...

He pulled his left hand back and readied his shield bash. With the monster having its back turned, he would be able to launch a strong attack on the backside. The abdomen where the silk glands are would explode in the impact of the blow, disabling the Nullity's powerful weapon.

Letting out his battle cry, Kazuki closed in and tried to smash the spider in. Alas, it turned around at the last second.

A powerful blow from the right knocked all the wind out of Kazuki, and he found himself soaring backwards at incredible speed.

Kazuki coughed and spat with each hit his back took as it hit the ground multiple times. He gritted his teeth as he kept his eyes on the black widow that had begun wrecking the room's structure in its rampage.

"I was telling you that your shield won't be enough," said Uehara in a concerned voice. She walked towards him with one hand grasping the one that held her katana. "Why won't you listen?"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry's not gonna cut it! What if you ended up dead just now?" blurted out the long-haired girl, with tears falling from her eyes.

As Kazuki got back to his feet, he looked at the continuously rampaging Nullity. He knew that his shield would not be able to put an end to it, yet he already tried all possible options.

Fleeing right now is not an option. Who knows what this thing can do if left to run amok?

Placing his hand on his shield, he suddenly remembered what had transpired in his duel just this noon. He got up and looked at his classmate.

"It just might work."

"What might?"

"Uehara, do you trust me?"

He placed his hands on both shoulders of the girl, an act that clearly shocked her. He saw a sudden blush on the battle-weary face of hers the moment he laid his hands on her, and their eyes locked together.

"W-w-what are you doing?" her wet eyes wavered, and she tried her hardest to look away in embarrassment.

"Answer me," Kazuki replied calmly.

He felt his heartbeat quicken.

Just what the hell did he think he was doing?

Even he himself failed to internally answer that.

The mere thought of his actions and how they looked sent a wave of self-consciousness all over his body. He quivered yet maintained his hold on his classmate's shoulders.

"Y-you..."

Even her classmate's voice was tense. Hesitation was in her voice. However, Kazuki ignored this and tried his best to put on a brave and resolute face.

"Well, you better do. You're in no condition to continue fighting, and I still have a bit more in the tank. I happened to learn this nifty trick. You know, this whole situation is making me feel super uneasy and all, but it is worth a shot."

"Just what did you do?"

"I'll tell everything once this is over with."

Sayaka Uehara slowly nodded her head, finally conceding.

"You see this shield? A while ago, when I fought someone, I felt her power surge through me. When her sword reached my shield, I certainly knew the power of her Armament entered this shield of mine. Perhaps that is the true ability of my Armament."

"That someone, could it be?"

"Does it matter now?" Kazuki chuckled. "Let's just take this risk and get out of here together. I can't let all those protagonist speeches go to waste, right?"

Uehara shook her head. A small smile and strong eyes had replaced her weary expression.

"You really are a carbon copy of him, you idiot."

"Who?"

"Does it matter now?" asked the girl, shooting his prior response back at him.

"Man, you're a handful," said Kazuki. He then placed his shield in between him and his classmate.

Charging magical energy onto the sword, Uehara replied, "You're one to talk."

She leaned back, and with a cry, she swung her sword at the shield.

The two Armaments collided, and light appeared at the impact point, steadily growing stronger and stronger.

Kazuki's eyes opened wide as he felt the same surge of power he did when he fought that hooded person with annoying abilities.

The flow of power moved from his shield into his arm, and soon, he felt his entire body coursing with power.

He yelled as his body had difficulty containing the power, and light eventually engulfed the both of them.

He heard the sound of someone collapsing.

Having spent her energy in that sequence, Uehara collapsed, her sword disappearing from her hand. Her eyes still open, looked intently at Kazuki.

"Arata..."

Meanwhile, Kazuki's shield glowed intensely. Power continued overflowing from the shield which caused the shield's wielder to shake. Kazuki had great difficulty controlling his hand, yet he remained calm.

He knew what he was getting into, and instead of panic, it was excitement that consumed him. The excitement lit a fire in his soul, and for a brief moment, he felt the sensation of invincibility.

So this is what a hero feels like, huh?

As he kept those thoughts to himself, he raised his left arm and let out a mighty shout. The energy from the action seemed to have caught the attention of the Nullity.

It now turned towards him and began scampering in Kazuki's direction.

The form of the giant monster closing in did not deter him one bit.

"Behold my Armament's true ability! Assimilator's Core!"

He finished his triumphant declaration right as the light from his shield faded, revealing his shield's new form.

The shield had grown, and it now transformed into a giant triangle with blazing red color. The most notable feature, however, was the blade that extended forward from its center – a blade strongly resembling the one that the girl's Armament had.

"It's time we finish this!" With his blade shield, Kazuki pointed at the spider Nullity headed his way.