1

Kazuki gathered his breath, eyes and gauntlet locked onto the enemy.

Come on. That barely counted as a break!

The now-familiar noise resounded in his weapon, and the blast of magical energy pushed the Nullity back, giving him a moment's reprieve – or it should have.

The sinister blade came dangerously close to ending him, grazing him and sending the wind out of his lungs with its impact.

He blinked to see a force field around the Nullity. It must have acted as its shield to protect itself from the blast of his Armament.

Luckily, he was in no condition to fire the sound wave in the strength that he did two attempts prior. Likewise, his body felt less of the drawback and managed to continue moving.

Had it not been that way and his attack was blocked by the force field, he would have been a sitting duck for the swing back.

You're not making this easy on me, huh? Now, where's Kimura when we need her?

"Petty tricks will only work once. You blasted me with that before, didn't you? You should know all too well that I would have evolved to deal with it. Unfortunately, that's something that few of you human beings ever learn."

The ground crunched as the scythe barely missed Kazuki once more. Seeing Fujiwara in the distance, he went for the other pillars opposite her direction.

In the midst of his running, the Armament on his arm morphed. Abandoning its gauntlet form, it emerged from the light in its crossbow form. Spinning around, he wildly released energy bolts from it.

With the large size of the enemy quickly closing in, even the wild spray-and-pray shots struck it up front.

The unstoppable advance stopped momentarily.

While the barrier managed to prevent any push back from Kazuki's magical blast, the arrows of light managed to throttle the advancing enemy, a cracking sound echoing as each arrow pierced the Nullity's protection.

It was a guess made in the heat of battle, and Kazuki thanked the heavens that his theory was proven right.

The barrier that the Nullity employed acted more as a magnetic field. It had the properties of a shield, but it had less resistance to attacks that hit it head-on compared to magical waves that got repelled.

Another reckless shot from the crossbow and Kazuki finally fell back, exhausted from backpedaling the last ten seconds. Panting, he supported the crossbow on his arm but not before smiling as his final hit shattered the Nullity's protection.

He was unsure whether this being was able to feel human emotions, but that got confirmed when it stopped. Without a mouth and with its eyes stuck as perpetual hollow orbs, it was impossible to get a read on the Nullity. But Kazuki wondered if it felt surprised at its barrier breaking.

It stopping once its protection got crushed gave some weight to it.

"You seem to talk a lot of crap about humanity. That's rich coming from someone who's never been to our world," said the panting Kazuki.

"You have your folly to thank for that. This Temple of Recollection is my living fortress, growing as it feeds on information. Thanks to the number of fools that you brought along, more fell to its defense system."

"Defense system? You mean those traps and hands in the temple?"

"Indeed. Thanks to the people you brought, I got all I need to transcend into a higher form of existence."

"That reminds me of very similar-looking creatures in anime I love, and I'm not sure I like the sound of that."

"Anime, you say?"

"Forget it. It's something you won't understand."

"You referred to a medium of what your kind call entertainment. A stimulant."

"What?"

"Parsing all the information took quite some time, but more time passed, the more I got a glimpse of what your society is like. The more I learned how you humans talk and think. Your world truly is a blasphemous existence, Kazuki Arata."

"Just... what are you?" asked a bewildered Kazuki.

"The Absolute Order, the ruler of our realm, referred to me as the Magna Arbiter, the Ascended One created from the memories of your kind. Just as the Render of Bounds was born out of the essence of the thing your kind called 'desire,' I was born out of the outpour of 'memories' that helped shape the foundations of our world. However, you humans seem to not have knowledge of our world."

He kept a poker face, but that last statement blew away a key idea that had been bothering Kazuki. The Nullity itself confirmed that none of his Awakener allies were caught by the shadowy hands.

The Nullity pointed its scythe at Kazuki.

"Nice. Now that you learned human thought and reasoning, how about a chat for once? From whose memories did you learn all that from? And why don't you tell me more about your world?"

With a snarky voice, Kazuki carefully watched the Nullity for any sudden movements. He was glad that he did, as it allowed him to dodge a sudden flick of the scythe towards his direction.

It was a test blow, meant to catch him off-guard and without too much strength behind it.

Realizing that the time for talk was over for the meantime, he resumed his run towards another side of the floor. Seeing the shadow of a scythe tower over him, he changed his Armament into its bladed form.

Pressing the brakes, he turned around, causing a clash of magic and steel.

"Your kind disappoints me."

The clash of blades concluded with the Nullity pushing Kazuki back.

"For such an advanced species, humans are surprisingly fragile. They no longer seek the ultimate essence of existence: evolution. With their backs against the wall, they revert to their primal instincts instead of overcoming it. How pathetic."

"I mean, if they just stood around screaming before being eaten by those hands of yours, I would assume that they're just the kind of people you described."

"You're different from Reijy Ishida. I wonder why he had the power of the Render of Bounds within him when someone as weak as him could not have defeated an Ascended One."

While Kazuki kept the Nullity busy, he saw that some of the flames in the cauldrons and torches started dissipating into thin air.

Just a little bit more...

Ironically, it was the evolution of the Magna Arbiter that kept him alive. Had it been relentless with its attacks, he would have been dead.

However, learning human behavior and adapting to it made the Nullity much more calculating and open to dialogue, which in turn allowed him to recuperate in intervals.

Ironic as it was, it was the Nullity's progression into a higher being that held itself back from a swift victory.

"Hmm, you seem oddly fixated on something," said the Nullity before it turned around just as more of the flames burned out.

"Don't look away!"

Kazuki heard the sound from his Armament, raised his left arm, and ran forward. With his bladed shield on his hand and his eyes locked onto the wheels that protected the Magna Arbiter, he prepared to deliver the strongest blow his weakened body can muster.

Without even giving a glimpse at the attacker, the Magna Arbiter released a wave of energy that pushed Kazuki away.

Wiping the blood on his lips, Kazuki can only grunt in frustration.

The act was an indirect insult to him. The Nullity looked down on him so much that he was treated as a complete afterthought.

However, he had no time to dwell on those feelings and hurried to try to find his partner. With almost all of the flames vanished, he knew that Fujiwara had done her job very efficiently.

Unfortunately, he did not buy her enough time. If he managed to hold out for a few more seconds...

"Get away from her!"

Kazuki, on one knee, changed his Armament into its crossbow form and took aim at the gigantic figure looking at the girl in the distance.

His quivering arm managed to hold the crossbow up just in time for him to line up a shot when something came up in the corner of his eye.

2

Reijy Ishida ran as far as his legs can take him. In his haste, he seemed to forget the debilitating air nor the emotional turmoil he was in not too long ago.

Never mind the magical runes on the floor. Never mind the flames or the presence of a gigantic demon in the vicinity.

Nothing really mattered besides the one person he kept his pinpoint focus on.

He was on crossroads minutes ago. What Akane told him was something that he had trouble accepting. It did pain him to have all his efforts for the girl go underappreciated, and he had no reason to make amends with that Kazuki Arata person.

But he had chosen to lie about reconciliation, and now, it's eating him from within. How could he afford to hurt his childhood friend by telling her his true feelings about the matter after such an impassioned speech?

None of that mattered now.

All of it would be for naught if Akane died at the hands of that thing.

Chasing after it was no use. It's not slowing down anytime soon, and as the girl came into his line of sight, he knew that the monster would get to her first.

With a whistling sound, a white projectile flew past monstrosity, causing it to stop momentarily.

"Arata?" he wondered.

All that mattered to Reijy was the fact that it allowed him to catch up a bit.

"Oi, monster! It's me you want, right?" he yelled with all of his might. "I'm the Render of something and all."

"Ishida, what are you doing?!" yelled Kazuki from across the field.

"You mind your own business!" he shouted back, now waving his arms.

"How unprecedented. I thought that you humans value self-preservation over all. Looks like my information wasn't enough," scoffed the monster.

The sudden burst of speed in which the monster approached him was just enough time for him to avoid the downward slash of the scythe. Finding himself on all fours, Reijy rolled forward just as the subsequent upward swing of the blade missed him.

"I won't let you harm Akane, you monster!"

He continued awkwardly, desperately picking up as much speed as his legs would allow him. It was not an easy task on the uneven terrain with all the minor tremors, but he successfully created some distance.

For a few seconds.

It could be the adrenaline finally wearing off, but his legs slipped, and his face met a pillar head-on.

When he turned back and leaned against it, he found himself looking straight at his executioner. Seeing him down, it moved slowly, as if savoring the moment.

Don't tell me this is how it's going to end. I won't accept this!

He pierced the monster with a glare only for the view to be blocked by another person. Wielding his shield on his hand, Kazuki Arata had stepped in between them.

"Stop being an idiot, Ishida!"

"And who are you to tell me that? Don't even think about putting me in your debt."

"Who said I'm doing you a favor? I don't want Fujiwara to be sad. That's all there is to it."

That was all he managed to say before the force of a second strike sent him bouncing on the ground with the sound of a vicious crack. The shield that he held shattered like glass the moment his body finished tumbling on the ground.

Reijy was left staring at his schoolmate, the rest of his body stunned.

"A simple execution wouldn't suffice for you, Reijy Ishida. I should obliterate you down to nothing!"

All the while, the monster levitated, and the shadowy arms on the wheels circling it started charging energy that gathered above it. Reijy was left staring at it, time stopping for him.

Suddenly, the energy from the tips of the hands flickered. Like a shorted bulb, strange sparks appeared in short bursts, and the hands started becoming a distorted mess of purple hues.

"What?" wondered the monster.

"That's Akane for you."

He smirked just as some runes lit up underneath the enemy. Before it can talk again, flames burst out of the ground, covering the enemy in a wall of orange.

Such bright light from the pillar of energy made Reijy squint.

"Reijy, run! There's more of those flames coming!"

Hearing his childhood friend's voice, he tried to open his eyes only to be met with the still blinding light from the explosion of energy.

He desperately shook his head and blinked, trying to shake off the white that engulfed his line of sight. Trusting his instincts, he randomly rolled somewhere away from the first flame pillar. As he felt the searing heat touch his feet, he felt lucky that he did not get caught in the blast itself.

Nonetheless, just being this close from the blast had done its fair share of damage as he looked at the seared soles of his shoes.

He awkwardly got to his feet right as the blindness in his eyes began wearing off.

Then, his arms and legs stopped responding. Those trustworthy parts of his suddenly decided to fail him at this crucial moment, and the worst part of it all was the fact that he knew why.

All that they needed to freeze up was the sight of a large blade headed his way.

With the premonition of his incoming death, time slowed to a crawl. Reijy's heart began to weep in agony as he waited for the scythe's blade to pierce him.

Such a frustrating turn of events.

Before the blade can go through him, something hit him square on the chest. Like a bullet or a runaway train that crashed onto him, the object tossed him several meters away, creating distance from the blade.

"Thank goodness..." whispered a relieved girl.

The subsequent crunching sound, however, caused him to wince. Whatever words he had got stuck in his throat the moment he saw the red-haired girl in front of him. With her ponytail undone and parts of her uniform torn to shreds, her slightly contorted form never looked as delicate before.

Reijy's mouth fell ajar while looking at the girl slide down the scythe.

As she fell into his arms, more explosions followed, engulfing the scythe-wielding monster once more.

Reijy's whole world dissolved into a blur, blotting out everything save for the one person that he loved more than any other.

Blood flowing down her mouth, Akane Fujiwara looked at her and gave a weak smile.

"Thank goodness you're safe, Reijy."

This was not what Reijy wanted. Far from it.

How could fate have been so cruel? She had saved him, but at what cost?

3

"Akane... Akane!"

With tears in his eyes, Reijy Ishida turned to the heavens as he held the girl's body on his arms.

"Reijy... Thank you for coming around and protecting me."

Tears likewise rolled down the corner of her eyes. When he looked down, contrary to expectations, Reijy saw a calm expression on her face.

The streams from her eyes were not tears of sorrow. They were not even representations of a desperate struggle.

It looked to him that her childhood friend had transcended pain and found peace despite being lethally wounded.

Perhaps she was just really happy that he had come to her aid.

Neither soothed the pain in Reijy's heart.

"What are you talking about?! You didn't have to do that, Akane! I ran in to save you, and... and... what point was there if it would end up like this in the end?!"

The girl coughed blood before looking at her clothing that had been dyed red. With what little strength she had, she lifted her hand and caressed Reijy on the cheek.

"I finally succeeded in protecting the ones I hold dear. So don't be sad, Reijy."

Reijy shook his head repeatedly, the watery beads now completely blurring his vision and dropping onto the girl's face.

"Promise me one thing, Reijy. Once you get out of here, do not ever show anyone that sad face of yours again," she sighed, catching her breath.

"Akane, don't talk as if you're going to die!" he begged. "Stay with me, Akane! Please!"

"There's more to life than status, money, and me. Always remember that, Reijy."

She weakly tilted her head to the side, glancing at Kazuki who also looked on with a forlorn expression.

"It's all up to you now, Arata. Take good care of Senpai, Reijy, and everyone else."

Kazuki silently nodded.

Reijy, however, wrapped his arms around the girl, shaking in his powerful emotions.

"It's the first time you got this close to me... Your body... your embrace, they feel so warm."

The same cannot be said of her, whose body temperature was steadily dropping. As her arms crept all the way around his shoulders, he relished the weak embrace from his dear childhood friend.

"Yeah. So please stay with me, Akane. Don't go!"

"It's the first time I've seen you so affectionate. Thank you, Reijy."

Her head leaned against Reijy's neck, and she released a cold breath of satisfaction.

She did not move again.

She released her embrace, and her limp body dropped down to Reijy's waiting arms.

"Akane! Akane!" he called out in desperation, but her smiling face showed no response.

Setting her body down, Reijy let out a nightmarish wail. His eyes automatically focused on the first thing he saw in front of him.

Reijy felt nothing at seeing those six wheels and the dreadful scythe.

Most importantly, that being had precious blood in its hands.

All of a sudden, his heart pounded.

It continued to beat quickly as Reijy clutched his chest. It pounded quicker and quicker as sweat mixed with his tears flowed down his face.

His entire body shook, undergoing spasms like never before. He opened his mouth and let out another wail of pain and anger.

Then, his world turned black.

4

"Ishida!"

Kazuki barely had time to get up and defend himself before a powerful force rattled his chest. The world spun around with each flail of his body. He finally stopped as his back hit one of the pillars with impact.

Then, he froze.

The screaming schoolmate of his had become terror incarnate. The sight of Reijy's impassioned scream to the heavens was scary enough, but several wings, big enough to be clearly seen a few meters away, sprouted out of his back en masse.

Squinting, Kazuki managed to see more of the silhouette behind him in detail.

"Where's Fujiwara?"

The redhead's body was nowhere to be found. What remained was his senior and an ominous storm of darkness taking form behind Reijy Ishida.

There was no mistaking it. The moment Reijy's shouts turned into a distorted mix of his and another voice, he felt the blood leaving his body. It was a sound that he had buried under the depths of his memory.

It was the Render of Bounds – at least what remained of it.

He had no clue how his senior obtained that power, yet his body cannot stop trembling. The last thing that he wanted was to once again see the form of the Class S Nullity, or Ascended One as the Magna Arbiter called it, that brought him and Kimura so much misery.

His thoughts stopped when he saw his upperclassman, now embedded to the silhouette that had grown to the size of the real thing, make his charge towards the now-approaching Magna Arbiter.

"Don't, Ishida!"

He knew those words were futile, and he could only watch in horror as the two titans closed in on each other.

In spite of his pleas, his body would not let him have the chance to intervene.

Reijy's wings, acting like arms, pummeled the Magna Arbiter like no tomorrow. It was virtually impossible to keep up with the pace at which the wings struck, but even more amazing was how Reijy, in that form, successfully pushed the Nullity back.

Crashing through a pillar, the Magna Arbiter fell, and before it can take a swing with its scythe, Reijy, or specifically, the Render of Bounds' wings, continued pummeling it.

The shadowy arms and the interlocked wheels around the Magna Arbiter were no match, and when it managed to get up, it only got pushed back even more and soon found itself near the barricade at the edge of the floor. The wheels surrounding it emitted a cracking voice as each wing of the Render danced in the air. All attempts of the shadow hands on the wheels for resistance were snuffed out in the ensuing one-sided beatdown.

Holy shit, Ishida's overwhelming it.

This was what a battle between two Ascended Ones looked like. Two of the most powerful entities in Mu colliding with one another like gods was a sight to behold.

It was not the real thing, but a tingling feeling in him felt that in some categories, this incarnation of the Render of Bounds was even more powerful than the original one. It looked doubly more ruthless and aggressive than the real one.

Granted, the real one was still freshly released when he and the rest of the team fought it. Plus, they had access to a very convenient weakness then.

He watched the ensuing beatdown, not wanting to blink as he recovered his strength.

He had spoken too soon.

He missed the full sequence of events due to the frantic pace in which the battle took place, but in the snap of a finger, the wings and the silhouette of the Render of Bounds vanished into thin air with an explosion of light.

Shaking off the effects of the flashbang, Kazuki stammered in horror to see Reijy hanging in the air.

The tip of the scythe which had penetrated his chest suspended his lifeless body.

"Ishida!" cried Kazuki.

Fear and anger clouded his mind when he saw the Magna Arbiter shake the body off like dirt that got caught in its scythe. In a nonchalant manner, the body was tossed off the edge of the floor.

So overcome with adrenaline was Kazuki that he did not perceive the Nullity until it was a mere few meters away from him.

"The fragility of humanity," said the Magna Arbiter. "In a span of a few minutes, I have seen two sides of humanity. Unfortunately, I would have to eliminate you, even if I just started to find you interesting."

Kazuki did not respond. Everything went by in a blur, and he was still coming to terms with what just happened.

There was no love lost between him and Reijy Ishida, but seeing two people perish in front of him was not an experience he was prepared for. Deep inside, he also had hoped that the power of the Render of Bounds could finish the Magna Arbiter off.

It was not even the worst part of it.

Fujiwara, the girl he had sworn to protect, was gone. Her last few words to him echoed in his mind. This was not the ending that he had expected.

He would never see her smiling face again. All this just when he was just starting to get to know her.

If only I was stronger!

As he looked at the floor, he cannot stop emotions from crushing him from within. The realization of such turn of events would be something to haunt him for years to come should he even survive this ordeal.

"Had enough of penitence?" said the Nullity in a mocking manner. Now, the arms on its wheels started moving with more agency, extending themselves towards him.

He closed his eyes in defeat, waiting for the end.

However, a recognizable citrus smell wafted in the air, invigorating his spirit. Between him and the Nullity stood his savior with long, flowing hair.

"Snap out of it, Arata!"

"Uehara?"

"Who else?" said the girl with much confidence in her tone.

"Thank goodness you're here! But..." he continued in a bewildered voice. "Fujiwara and Ishida were..."

"We can talk later!"

The markings on the girl's body lit up before she charged forward, aiming at the Nullity with an upward slash.

As he watched her deftly dodge the scythe, he had more questions in tow for this sudden reunion.

How did she get here? Could there be some things she learned about the nature of the Fragment?

Those thoughts were cut off by more footsteps and voices coming from the side.

"Arata!"

Hearing Amagi's voice, Kazuki turned around only to be met with even greater surprise.

Not only was Amagi there, but so was Kimura. Both girls stopped and took aim at the Nullity with their Armaments.

"No one hurts Darling and gets away with it!"

"Haaah!"

Beams and arrows of light pelted the Nullity. All the while, one of the wheels surrounding the Nullity fell off with a loud crash, having been bisected by Uehara's sword.

In a rage, the Nullity let out a powerful roar, creating a force field that pushed Uehara off.

Kazuki watched as the three girls regrouped in a formation around him.

"Kimura? Where's everyone?"

"Well... I was preparing to help you when these two came around. It's a long and embarrassing story where I accidentally fired at them, thinking that they're the two bad guys, but it's all water under the bridge now. They, along with your sister and her friend, found somewhere safe to take cover, so the rest of the guys headed there while the three of us headed here. Now aren't you glad we did?"

"Hikari, too?!"

A wave of relief washed over him upon hearing that Hikari and Sana were safe. But now, he had even more questions.

Those would have to wait.

"Oh, and those two brought with them some great news. There might still be a way to save the petrified people, but then..." Kimura gulped before turning to the Nullity. "We probably have to take that thing down."

Uehara, however, remained unfazed as ever. "It's Class S, but it seems to have been weakened. You did well, Arata."

She had her small eyes in pinpoint focus even as she complimented Kazuki.

"Let's not keep everyone waiting down there," urged Amagi. "The faster we finish this, the faster we can try to find a way to save those people, Arata."

Did well? What kind of did well is that? Fujiwara and Ishida are...

Kazuki opened his mouth to refute Uehara's previous complement, wanting to credit the state the Nullity was due to the sacrifices of multiple people, but he relented. Now would be the worst possible time to tell them about the events that happened not long ago. It would be a complete morale killer that would doom them all.

Tucking away the questions in his mind and forgetting the loss of two schoolmates for the meantime, Kazuki slowly got up and stared at the Nullity.

The process hurt, and his head spun in a way that could be close to killing him. Fighting the strain on his convulsing muscles and tightening veins, he yelled for his Armament.

And materialize it did. The shield, once broken, reappeared on his arm, looking good as new.

It was the first time that he had to resummon his Armament in a fight, and what Uehara had said was definitely no joke.

Repairing a shattered Armament took only the strongest of wills. The weapon acted as an extension of its wielder's soul, so fixing it after it was so forcibly broken quite literally took part of his existence.

"Assimilator's Core!"

Pointing the bladed shield at the enemy, he focused his mind only on what was more important.

Defeating the villain in front of him.

That's the only way he could atone for his shortcomings, and he would rather die than let regret consume him.

"Alright, let's finish this, everyone!"

"Yeah!" replied the girls in chorus.