1

She had taken a deep breath, and all that pent up tension in her body cooled off when the Nullity finally disappeared. Uehara felt the waves of tingling eagerness in her hands dissipate along with the Nullity.

Her sword disappeared, and along with it the shock of seeing a Class B Nullity materialize here. This was not according to her expectations. Luckily, it was the type with an easily exploitable weakness.

She picked up Sana, put the petite girl on her arms, and stared at the people in front of her.

Four of them. Four who were dear to her in varying degrees. She admittedly didn’t care much about the idol, but for now, she cannot find it in herself to look the other three in the eyes.

“Don’t you all worry. Sana’s safe.”

She did not say another word. Looking at the ground while the world watched in silence, she gently put Sana down, several meters away from the group.

The lack of response from the four other people loosened her up a bit, and as soon as she appeared in front of them, she turned to leave them behind.

“Uehara!”

A raspy, weary male voice.

She expected the guy she saved to be the first to speak out. He had always been the first in line. In spite of his detached personality, a fire existed within him, one that could set his impulse ablaze at the crucial moments.

As her heart tightened, Uehara questioned herself.

Why does it hurt hearing his voice again? Calling out to me, too.

“Leave!” she commanded them right as she stopped her walk momentarily, not even turning her head. “This complex will be the first to be affected when Izaya reaches the top of the tower. Hurry while there’s still time. Take your friends and family with you and leave Shiroki City.”

“I-is that really you, Uehara?”

This time, it was Amagi who called out to her. Of course she would voice out. She had always been the type of look out for others. No doubt that she wanted her to do some explaining.

Uehara hesitated, taking time to pick her words. How can she just say everything out like that? In front of everyone?

How could she tell Amagi, who had always been there for her ever since their rough start, that their views would never coincide? That their ultimate goals will never cross?

“I told you all to leave. If you managed to get all the way in here, you should be able to get out fine.”

She continued her walk, approaching a set of security doors.

“There’s a control room for these, right?” she pointed at the security doors. “I’ll look for it and clear out the Nullities infecting the room. That way, you won’t have to deal with these doors and traps while you go back. I don’t have a clue what’s going on up there, but Izaya and Euphoria probably have an hour or so. That’s your clock.”

“That’s it?!” shouted Kazuki. “That’s all you have to say? After everything?!”

“Didn’t I just tell you to leave? For your own sakes? So that you can take everyone and keep yourselves safe. Didn’t I tell you that I’ll eliminate all the Nullities here to give you a safe passage?”

“That’s not the point, you idiot!”

“Have you not learned to not be so stubborn for once, Arata?!”

Uehara’s clenched fists snapped out as her entire body stiffened. She can imagine the look everyone had on their faces throughout the whole ordeal, yet she refused to look past her own shoulders.

“Takes one to know one, jerk.”

Hearing Kimura’s voice forced Uehara to turn around, and she responded with a dim glare that would have shot through anybody. However, the idol’s expression remained firm. With her own fists clenched and her eyes resolute, Kimura had a look that displeased Uehara greatly.

“I could take the others, but no one gave you permission to talk down to me like that,” she said coldly.

“I’ve had it already with your ice queen attitude. It irks me, you know?” Kimura slammed her balled up fists down the air before puffing her chest out. “And now you go ahead and betray us?! And even attack Darling while you’re at it?”

“Your approval means nothing to me,” Uehara replied coldly. “I also don’t expect a superficial person like you to understand what I want.”

“But I do understand.”

Everyone went silent when Ms. Sadohara said those words. A short sentence, but one that carried power with each word.

“I’m sorry, Sayaka,” said Ms. Sadohara amid a chorus of short gasps from the two girls beside her. “I should have done something.”

When Uehara shook her head, she did so with the feeling of sorrow. “It’s too late now. Please, for the sake of everyone, hurry up and get out of here. After all, Izaya…”

She once again turned away from everyone. This time, for the second and last time.

“Izaya has become too strong for you lot.”

 

2

Four individuals ran past the pearly white hallways, practically becoming shadows blitzing through the Victorian-era statues.

The great hall of Babel’s base. One of the many places that filled Izaya’s mind with many memories. Comforting memories that now felt unpleasant and disappointing.

From the marble floors, shadows emerged and formed into shapes of serpents. The two of them hissed at the four individuals approaching them.

“Raaaggghh!”

Leading the charge, Izaya ran through the two Nullities, bisecting them both with one swing from his rapier. He still knew what the layout of this passage was by heart, and after this sector, what awaited them was…

“Lord Izaya!” warned Utara, who was trying her best to keep up with their leader. She pointed at the armored being in front of them.

The knight, proudly with its sword pointed at the heavens, stood in guard. Starting out as an inanimate object, eyes lit up from behind its helmet before it swung its sword down, striking the incoming Izaya with impact that shook the ground and covered the whole path in smoke.

Izaya did not waver one bit. His rapier met the sword at its tip, and with a mighty shout, he channeled his energy into the Armament.

The two blades clashed. Izaya held firm even with his feet being pressed to the ground.

More. More.

His grip on the rapier strengthened along with an increase in the temperature of his surroundings. He pushed forth, eyes straining and body stiffening, before the first crack appeared on the guardian’s large sword.

The tide having shifted to his favor, Izaya lunged ahead, driving his rapier right through the sword and shattering it into pieces. He leaped forward, having grasped the advantage in this battle.

His body weaved through the shattered remains of the sword as he plunged his rapier into the neck of the knight.

It let out a creaking sound just as he detached himself from it.

Izaya deftly landed on his feet as the guardian collapsed. Clanging and crashing sounds filled the hallway as the parts of its armor all fell apart before the dust cloud, no doubt the Nullity behind the humongous suit of armor, disappeared.

That thing did not attack us before. Izaya thought to himself while also wondering what other surprises awaited them.

Still, the whole confrontation with the knight lasted a little less than five seconds, and he had come out unscathed.

He knew he was not the same person he was three years ago. No longer was he a weakling needing Miyuko’s help. This time, instead of being a lost man pulled into a world of nightmares, he had resolve to take the fight to the nightmares.

All because he now had several reasons to fight.

“You don’t have to worry, Ms. Utara,” he said as he looked back at the other members of Euphoria having caught up to him. He looked at his palm before clenching the same hand. “I don’t think I can lose. No, I don’t think we can lose. Not with the power of two Ascended Ones and the ironclad will that pushes us on.”

He smirked and turned to the route ahead. Not too far from here was the veiled door to the area with many floating islands and structures, and at the end of it was where the Absolute Order awaited.

Guren. Guren.

As if he was struck from behind, Izaya lost his balance. He awkwardly stumbled upon hearing the familiar voice, yet when he managed to regain his senses, a single tear had each fallen from his eyes.

A natural reaction to a voice that sounded like the sweetest thing in the world. It was a voice with a wistful tone and power behind it.

She was asking for his help.

“Kiyone…” he unconsciously muttered. It was a voice that he had, for so long, longed to hear once again. The years of waiting had finally paid off, and all he had to do now was to finish the job.

“I’m here, wait for me, Kiyone!” he declared firmly.

He gave another look at his allies. When he got their collective nods, he raced up the stairs to his destination.

 

3

Kazuki did not know what got into him. All he knew was that the moment Uehara had passed the first set of mechanized doors, his feet had caused him to sprint forward. All the pleas and shouts from his companions were drowned out with ease, and so were the alarm sirens that had started blaring. Instead, he closed the gap between him and Uehara in a matter of seconds.

“Assimilator’s Core!”

He shouted mid-lunge, and his shield Armament formed around his left hand. Power welled up from the Armament as it began its transformation.

Before it could materialize, however, Uehara swung her sword in retaliation, and his shield met her blade, clashing and stopping both of them in place.

“I said, leave!”

Uehara barely turned around to acknowledge him, yet the force she exerted on the blade was not lacking in weight. The blade and the shield, caught in a deadlock, trembled and shook as the clanging sounds of metal filled the air.

“What do you mean by all that, Uehara?!” Kazuki’s voice was hoarse, and he continued to look at both Uehara and his shield.

Then, something caught his eye.

His shield, in spite of him activating Assimilator’s Core, refused to transform. He had wanted to use the sword form of the Armament in order to match Uehara, but all that was left was the magical shine on the shield. Yet, the blade tip never formed.

Was it because it was clashing with Uehara’s Armament, or…

“Tch!”

Kazuki hopped back, breaking the deadlock momentarily. His feet shuffled awkwardly, but he managed to maintain the base by pressing his soles down the smooth floor.

“Are you done with your outburst, Arata? Turn. Back.”

“No. I promised everyone. I promised everyone that I will bring you back. I will break that delusion of yours, even if I had to beat you and drag you back home crying.”

Uehara shook her head before turning around, now with her sword pointed at Kazuki.

“I don’t need saving from you. You don’t understand me, and you never will. And if you insist on stopping Izaya, you’ll have to go through me first.”

Kazuki was certain that the silence from the people behind him was of disbelief. Frankly, he was also at a loss for words. What could he do at this point to make Uehara come to her senses, for her to understand that Izaya’s whole premise was a lie, a delusion of a fake utopia?

He once again found himself raising his Armament, pointing the shield at Uehara.

“Assimilator’s Core,” he said more calmly this time.

Light gathered on the shield, and it transformed into its crossbow form.

Before anything else could happen, a crashing sound came from a distance, and it was followed by a series of rumbling thuds.

“Arata!”

Hearing Amagi’s voice, he temporarily took his eyes off Uehara. Turning around, he saw that he was right in front of a mechanized door, and it was slamming down. Using the distraction, Uehara turned to run away, and Kazuki fired a few shots from his Armament.

They were deftly avoided, and he just decided to run past the door.

“Wait up!” he shouted at Uehara, just as the door slammed shut behind him.

Past the tremors and the noise that were distorting his aim, he continued firing shots at the girl, hoping that those will allow him to catch up. Yet, she continued running and ignoring him.

Dammit. I’ll never catch up to her like this.

It was then when he saw something. The way they’re going was still full of hatches where the sliding doors can drop down. The doors wouldn’t be dropping down from physical damage, but what about the walls?

Instead of aiming at Uehara, why not try to obstruct her way? Create chaos. Create obstacles for her to break through.

With that in mind, Kazuki this time took aim. No longer at a hard-to-hit target, but in one of the immobile ones. Letting loose arrows of light from his crossbow, he landed several shots on the walls in the distance.

Part of the sturdy structure wobbled. However, those were walls meant to withstand the harsh physical conditions of disasters, and it would take more than a few shots to cause them to collapse.

Kazuki screeched to a halt and he began focusing more energy on his crossbow. While the light particles gathered, he took aim further, towards where he expected Uehara to run to.

The amount of energy gathered at the core of his crossbow formed a large blade of white.

Kazuki licked his lips before letting the projectile loose. It traveled in a straight trajectory, slamming straight into a distant wall which subsequently erupted into cloud of dust. Kazuki, knocked back by the impact of the release, quickly got back to his feet.

Nothing else but smoke and dust clouds can be seen ahead, but he pushed forward, hoping that his gamble worked. That way, there would be nothing preventing his confrontation with Uehara.

As he approached the location of the wreckage, he made out a female silhouette standing with her back turned.

His gamble worked, and now, Uehara won’t be able to escape.

“You finally stopped, asshole. I hated leaving everyone behind, you know?”

“I should say the same to you. Don’t make me repeat myself for the nth time, Arata. Leave, and leave me alone.”

When the dust settled, standing in front of him was his former ally with her sword pointed at him.

“You haven’t changed at all, Arata. Still sticking your nose in danger where you don’t need to be.”

“And you’ve changed for the worse. Running away instead of taking responsibility? That’s a weak move, and coming from me, that’s saying something.”

Silence.

Kazuki waited for Uehara to respond with bated breath, and he still had his Armament at the ready.

“I’m not running away. I am getting rid of the unnecessary distractions.”

“Distractions, huh?”

“I have found a path to my goal. Do you remember what I said back then? Why I took on this oath of vengeance against the Nullities?”

“It was your brother.”

Uehara nodded. Instead of the expected sorrowful expression, however, her face remained stoic and unemotional. It was something that Kazuki had forgotten over the past few months, but seeing this side of her once again brought back memories.

In some ways, the atmosphere and the tension here reminded him of their first meetings. The only difference was that they have both grown and found themselves in opposing sides.

“You’re a smart person, Arata. You don’t need me to connect the dots. For the record, I have not joined Euphoria, but it just happened that Izaya and my goals align.”

There was a long pause after those words, as if she had difficulty saying them.

“But as a friend and a classmate, as someone who feels responsible for bringing you into this world of Awakeners, I have an obligation to watch out for your safety. So, for the last time, I’ll tell you to leave for your own good.”

“For the last time, I refuse. You have a lot of explaining to do. Do you have any idea what your disappearance did? Amagi looked up to you and pushed herself to the limit trying to make up for your absence. Ms. Sadohara had some choice words and lingering regrets. And while Kimura isn’t your best friend by any means, I can tell she felt hurt, too. Even if I hadn’t been there for a while, I’ve also been hearing some things from our schoolmates.”

“So you want me to abandon my goals and apologize to everyone? That you’re being this persistent for their sakes?”

Uehara closed her eyes before shaking her head twice.

“My goals come first.”

“Then, I’ll beat you back to your senses, drag you back, and make you do it!”

Kazuki raised his left hand and prepared to aim the crossbow at the girl, but that was not possible.

In a matter of seconds, Uehara was upon him, and her sword glistened in the air. Kazuki, out of sheer instinct, reverted the crossbow into a shield to make the block. And even so, he barely made it.

His soles ached in his effort to maintain his balance while the girl’s sword was pressed down on his shield. Had it not been for his quick reflexes to switch Armament form, it would have gone a lot worse.

Just as they were caught in a deadlock, Uehara sneered at him, with eyes as cold and unemotional as he had ever seen them.

“Beat me back to my senses? Just how do you plan on doing that?” she said coldly, pressing down further on the shield with her sword.

Using the pent up force from his bent knees, Kazuki pushed Uehara away, breaking the deadlock and creating some distance between the two of them.

“Panting already? We’ve clashed before. We’ve sparred before. We’ve had our confrontations. Arata, you’ve never beaten me. Not once. What makes you think today’s any different?”

Kazuki raised his shield over his body before using his left hand to tap his chest twice.

“This time, I have someone to fight for. I made a promise to myself, and I made a promise to Amagi and the others. This time, I won't lose!”