1

"The Class B is further ahead. We're almost there, Arata."

Kazuki kept up with his much-faster partner. Sayaka Uehara ran at full speed on the wide road that surrounded by ruins on both sides.

She seemed completely focused on the job of taking down the Class B Nullity.

On the other hand, Kazuki still found himself with a mild sense of discomfort. Seeing the ancient city in ruins admittedly brought back some memories of events that he would rather not experience again.

Granted, he now had the power to make sure that an event like his near-death would never happen again. Still, the sensation of being tossed around after having a mantis' scythe driven through him sent momentary shivers down his spine.

All of a sudden, a flicking sensation ran through his mind, and it caused him to stop abruptly.

"Wait, Uehara."

Having stopped his run, Kazuki turned to look at the place where the two of them just came from.

"What is it, Arata?"

Uehara gave him a curious expression while she walked to him.

"We have no time to waste."

In response, Kazuki closed his eyes. Then, it all became clear. There were presences of people inside the Fragment.

There were two... no, three. Two of them in close proximity, with one closing in from a distance.

"Can you sense it? Some people found their way here."

Uehara paused and looked at the same direction as Kazuki. "Indeed. There's three of them."

Now, a problem revealed itself. The three people and the Class B were in completely opposite directions. They need to choose which one to prioritize.

For Kazuki, the choice was obvious. He would go after the three people and save them. However, the problem lied in whether his partner would agree with his decision. He knew very well that the black-haired girl standing beside him would prefer going after the Nullity first.

He began thinking of the better course of action when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't give me such a troubled look like that, Arata. Go."

Sayaka Uehara gave him a look that clearly said "I know what you're thinking."

"Huh? But what about you?"

To that, Uehara scoffed and flipped her long hair. "Who do you think I am? Just so you know, I had handily defeated multiple Class Bs before you even got your powers."

Arata was not sure what to make of that, but if there was one thing that he can bet his life on, it is the fact that his partner and ally is more than capable of taking care of herself.

In his weeks of knowing her and fighting alongside her, the only time he ever saw her on the ropes was in the battle against the mad doctor, but due to circumstances, that does not count.

Against by-the-mill Nullities, even Class Bs, she was the monster for them to fear.

He would trust her, like the many times he had done so the past few weeks.

"Thanks, Uehara," answered Kazuki after a nod.

"Whoever finishes their job first goes to help the other one."

Kazuki smirked, "You can count on me!"

Sayaka Uehara placed her clenched fist out and nodded. "Promise me you won't get yourself into too much trouble. You've grown stronger, but don't get too ahead of yourself, okay?"

"Promise!" answered Kazuki as he met Uehara's knuckles with his own for a fist bump.

With that, he turned around and he started with a sprint. He heard his ally's footsteps grow softer and softer as they raced farther away from each other.

Kazuki then turned his attention to his other and more pressing concern.

He had a bad feeling about the three people. Having sensed that the two had stopped while the third one continued closing in from a distance, he ran as fast as his legs can take him.

When he descended and caught his childhood friend in his arms, Kazuki knew that he had made the right decision. Had he not been there, the worst could have happened to Miki Amagi.

"Glad I made it in time, Amagi," he said, hoping to bring the girl some comfort after what she had just gone through.

He looked straight at her eyes that seemed to want to speak. However, her lips did not even budge.

Kazuki gently set the quiet girl down against the nearest pew, making sure that she was set in a way that will not further worsen her injuries.

"Stay back, Amagi."

As he said those words, his eyes caught glimpse of the third person that he sensed. It was the swimming club's star athlete. He was not used to seeing the always bubbly and energetic freshman in such a state.

How did she end up in here? In the first place, how did Amagi end up inside Mu again?

"Find cover, and take Fujiwara with you."

Amagi finally gave her first response in the form of a nod. At the sight of her acknowledgement, Kazuki finally let out a breath of relief. She did not seem severly traumatized by what she had experienced, at least.

"Oh, the worms have all gathered in place. Tell me. If I beat you to within an inch of your life, will the black-haired girl will show up, too?"

It was due to those statements that Kazuki remembered the existence of a hostile being in the area. He had been so pre-occupied with concern for the two girls that he temporarily forgot that he had an enemy.

An arrogant one at that.

That pissed him off. It was not just his arrogance, but the way that he just casually beat down his friend. He would never forget that sight of his poor childhood friend getting roughed up and nearly killed.

There's no room for explanation. No one does that to Amagi and gets away with it.

With his Armament at the ready, he's going to make this masked person pay.

"I have been waiting for this, Kazuki Arata."

Keeping his eyes fixed on the writhing tentacles that made up this strange person's right arm, Kazuki voiced his two concerns.

"I guess it's only fair that you tell me who you are after knowing my identity. Also, what do you want with Amagi?"

"Weaklings that ought to grovel beneath me do not have the right to know such things," the masked man answered after a brief pause.

Kazuki sighed. "What's with all these shady people knowing who I am? Damn, it makes me feel like I've become some sort of celebrity for the bizarre people in this town. Don't tell me you're an associate of Ms. Sadohara's."

"Sadohara?"

"Pardon me. That's a stupid question to ask."

Kazuki then pointed the blade part of his shield towards his opponent.

"I know that she would never associate with someone as disgusting as you!"

With a shout, the Awakener ran head-on towards the masked man. Seeing the tentacle arm rise up, he prepared for a dodging motion mid-run.

He's not the most athletic person around, but after becoming an Awakener, he felt as if his physical conditioning has gone up a notch.

It was a good thing that the masked man had already wrecked some of the pews and the benches. This gave him more room to dodge and cut down the tentacles that would be heading his way in a few moments.

The moment he heard the flicking sound of the tentacle, he tilted his body and took a swing at it. Cutting the single tentacle was only the beginning, as he now found himself facing an incoming barrage of five of them.

As the tentacles headed his way like a bunch of spikes, he raised his Armament up.

Light flowed from it, and in an instant, the blade retracted. As Kazuki's Armament reverted back into a shield, it was able to produce its magical extensions, providing a wider area to block the incoming spears with.

Kazuki made this decision so that he can keep going forward while being on the defensive. He continued accelerating while using his shield to power his way through the tentacle arm.

"I got you!"

He pushed on until he was a jump away from his opponent. Holding off the incoming attack with his shield, he made the leap towards the masked man.

The masked man, probably seeing that the Awakener would go for a shield bash, rotated his body slightly. This would allow him to avoid the incoming strike by the shield.

Kazuki was in the air already when he saw this motion, but he was prepared for it.

While holding the tentacles that have become spears on his shield, he likewise did a mid-air rotation. This caused the tentacles pressing hard against the shield to go flying straight towards the ceiling. Now, with his right side ahead of his left side, Kazuki used the continued momentum from the jump to power up a punch he just threw with his right hand.

Despite weeks of fighting, he still felt uncomfortable fighting with his bare hands.

Nonetheless, he felt a wave of satisfaction in the sensation of his closed fist hitting the mask of the enemy. If anyone deserved those punches that he only reserved for the most personal enemies, it was this mysterious person who dared hurt someone as innocent as Amagi.

He cannot help but contain his smile when he saw his opponent recoil to several steps back. Part of the mask cracked, and as it fell down, the opponent's eye got revealed to Kazuki.

"How's that, asshole?"

"Don't get cocky!" shouted the masked man as he sent his tentacles straight ahead once more. This time, the tentacles were sent in a more clustered formation, forming one large lance.

Kazuki raised his shield again.

His entire body rattled as the lance collided against his shield. He felt his body getting thrown off the ground by the force that struck his shield.

The lance continued to push onward, driving him through multiple layers of brittle wood.

Undeterred, Kazuki recovered and hacked the tentacles away with his Armament that has once again transformed into its bladed variant. He observed the difference in damage he did, and once he saw a stump that used to be the masked man's tentacle arm, he smiled.

"Not bad. But it seems that I have found your weakness."

Keeping his eyes locked on the reforming arm that he just cut off, he made a mad dash forward.

"Once you go all in, your regeneration slows down if those things get cut down."

Seeing the tentacle arms barely regenerating completely, he closed in the gap as fast as he can. Whilst retaining the bladed form of his Armament, he made a downward swing.

Only he did not slice the enemy in half.

The stump that was regenerating blocked the slash by pure strength it seems, shocking Kazuki. Now, both his blade and the slowly regenerating right arm of the masked man were in a deadlock.

"Arata, watch out! Something's coming!"

Hearing the voice, Kazuki turned his attention to the girl running behind him.

No!

He struggled to keep his focus on the battle after seeing Amagi run towards him.

"Amagi, I told you to find cover!"

That very moment, the corner of his vision noticed something emerging from the masked man's left side. Something white and pointed just sprouted out from the masked man's back.

He's sprouting wings?

To his surprise, the pointed tip expanded, and out of it came the form of a beautiful woman with long hair and a completely pale complexion. Her hollow eyes locked onto him, and Kazuki felt as if he looked straight onto the abyss.

The white woman opened her arms wide, but just like the masked man's right arm, she had something else for arms. In her case, it was a pair of sharp blades in place of arms.

Shit! What is this?

Kazuki's eyes widened as he saw one of the blades headed towards him.

With his shield arm locked in combat with the tentacle spear, he had only one option.

Excruciating pain shocked him the moment the blade stabbed through his forearm, stopping mere inches away from his chest. As he screamed, he felt his deadlock with the shield break, and the tentacles overwhelmed him and push him backwards.

Breathing heavily, he was at least thankful that his right arm just did not tear off at the force of the mysterious woman's blade. If it wasn't for Amagi's warning, the blade could have found itself driven deep in his chest. He cringed as the thought of getting stabbed like that again brought back memories of his first entry to Mu.

"Now you see the difference between us? Don't get cocky just because you got a hit in. If I wanted to, I can crush you like the pathetic worm that you are!"

What is this guy?

As Kazuki struggled to get himself up, he stared at the woman. Normally, he would have been enthralled by the woman who had an eerie, almost bewitching beauty. But seeing as he nearly died at the hands of her, teenage boy feelings had no place in his mind.

More importantly, he noticed something strange about the woman.

She had no lower body.

Beyond the slits that shape her elaborate gown were no feet.

It was as if her lower half was glued to the back of the masked man, giving Kazuki the interpretation of a spirit bound in some twisted ritual or contract.

"Say, what is that woman? Sprouting out of your back and all. That's not an ordinary puppet or an Armament, is it?"

Instead of a reply, he got the tight grip of the tentacle arms around his neck. He felt his breathing cut almost entirely as the tentacles hoisted him up by the neck before wrapping around his shield arm and pulling it away.

"What if I just crush that windpipe of yours right now?" The masked man pondered while tilting his head. "No. That won't be fun. I want to wait until that black-haired one comes. Then, I'll destroy you in front of her. Her despair would be so sweet."

2

The sight in front of her shook Miki Amagi to her very core.

She trembled in place and dropped to her knees. She wanted to tear her eyes away from the sight unfolding in front of her, but she cannot.

She had sensed the presence of that white woman and quickly came out to warn her friend about her. However, it was all a futile attempt at extending the inevitable. Her friend still found himself overwhelmed by the enemy and was now in a position that she was in just moments ago.

"Stop it!" she shouted.

"A...magi..."

Kazuki had his right arm on the tentacle wrapped around his neck as he continued to struggle for his life. However, instead of looking at his enemy, he had his eyes on Amagi. Eyes that did not show a trace of anger or frustration.

Instead, Amagi saw pleading eyes.

He was pleading for her to run away.

Even in his state, his primary concern was her.

Instead of relief, such a realization made Amagi even more frustrated.

"Go!"

She could hear Kazuki's difficulties in breathing through his voice, and hearing his voice sound like that pained her even more.

It was not supposed to be like this. The sight of the hero from her dreams being tormented like this was something that her heart cannot stand.

She yelled and let the tears burst out of her eyes.

"I'm not running anymore, Arata!"

Despite hearing the pained shout of "Idiot!" from her childhood friend, Amagi shouted and ran towards the masked man.

The masked man did not even give her a glance as the white woman swatted her back.

He did remark in a nonchalant way as Amagi got swatted away. "Oh, welcome back. Burn this sight into your very eyes, Miki Amagi, and fall into the abyss of despair!"

Amagi experienced getting thrown through wood once again and falling flat on her back. She repeatedly coughed as her body twitched and shook.

Why am I so weak?

She looked at her right hand with exasperation.

Why am I so powerless? Can't I at least be Arata's hero for once? After all these years... I cannot even protect him... After all that he did for me, please let me do protect him for once!

She felt all the hope in her being extinguished upon hearing her childhood friend's gasps. The words of the masked man came ringing back.

Fall into despair?

She slowly got up, and feelings of turmoil completely consumed the brunette. She took a deep breath and focused.

"Fall into despair? No!" she shouted resolutely.

At that moment, she felt all the feelings welling inside her focus. They all joined together, and she felt a surge of adrenaline overcome her, and the combined mass of energy gathered at her right hand.

The wave washed over her, and for the first time in this sequence of events, she felt light.

When she came to, she saw something that she had never seen before. On her right hand was a large bow, white with metallic edges at the edge, and decorated with elaborate patterns. On the tips of the bow were feathers from angel wings.

A bow? W-what is this?

Amagi was never someone proficient with the weapon on her hand. Nonetheless, she had seen the basic mechanics of how a bow works.

She placed her left hand over the center of the bow, and as she pulled back, she noticed that magical energy of pure light had gathered on her left hand, creating the form of a white arrow of pure energy the farther she pulled her hand back.

Seeing this as her chance, she took aim at the masked man's tentacles holding onto Kazuki.

"Please, let my feelings reach!" she begged.

The magical arrow flew through the air with a whirling sound, and it struck the tentacle arm, boring a hole right through it and freeing Kazuki from its grasp.

Amagi inhaled and focused, producing another energy arrow which she fired at the masked man.

The pale woman attached to the masked man used the blade arms to diffuse the second arrow into magical particles, but the man finally turned and focused his attention on her.

She posed with the bow pointed at the masked man. The doubts in her heart were gone, and she was able to put her resolve in resolute words.

"Get your filthy hands off Arata! Your opponent is right here!"