1

“This is the power I obtained, all for the sake of defeating you.”

He had reached the point of no return. He wiped blood off his mouth in one swift motion and looked at his comrades. Dr. Kagami, Reiya Utara, and Touya Satoru. There was no mistaking the wonder and apprehension in their eyes. How could they not have such expression after seeing him become whatever this thing was?

He thought of moving towards Utara, to reassure her that it’s fine, but was it really?

He caught himself before shoving those thoughts aside and focusing his sharp eyes on the Absolute Order.

“Your foolishness knows no bounds. Did it not cross your mind that you can no longer return to your society at that state?”

Ignoring the Absolute Order, Izaya expanded his wings, stretching them out in one majestic motion. Power welled in his draconic hand just as it did throughout his body and his rapier that’s now dyed in red.

Just as he began taking flight, he finally answered his foe.

“If this was what it would take to save Kiyone, I’ll gladly make the sacrifice. All for the sake of her happiness and for the world’s order to be righted.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You definitely wouldn’t. You, a being born from and grew from the impure thoughts of humanity, could never understand the intricacies of the human heart. You can never comprehend human potential. Feast your eyes, Absolute Order. I will rip you apart and show you the power firsthand!”

With one flap of his wings, he burst forward, meeting the lord of Nullities in mid-air.

His draconic arm quickly broke through the barrier, shattering it like glass. It then muscled through the Absolute Order’s wings, ripping some of them apart. The enemy reacted in a hollow scream of pain but composed itself enough to meet Izaya’s rapier with its spear.

The deadly waltz in the air continued, and the two battlers traded passing blows with one another, neither landing a decisive hit. Even with the enhanced senses and physical prowess from the power of two Ascended Ones, Izaya still barely kept up with this new form of the Absolute Order.

That’s the lord of this world for you.

He continued flying and looking for an opening before parrying an incoming thrust by the Absolute Order.

The Nullity followed it with a wave of whip-like strikes from its wings, most of them hitting Izaya and slightly wobbling him. He braved through the turbulence and remained airborne, using his clawed hand and rapier to swat through the onslaught.

However, the Absolute Order was persistent. As soon he got through the huge wave of wings, he managed to set his rapier up right on time to deflect an incoming charge by the enemy.

This time, instead of letting the enemy pass him by, he used his draconic hand to claw through the enemy’s abdomen.

Izaya cringed.

The realization made him pause as he saw the falling Absolute Order. He had not held back, and now, a gash had opened up underneath the thin dress, spraying blood upward as his foe fell.

But he had gravely hurt Kiyone’s body. His eyes remained wide, stunned in horror for a moment.

“Izaya, watch out!”

Dr. Kagami’s voice snapped him out of his stupor, and he put his rapier up in defense.

His attack only served to anger the Absolute Order even more, and its wings now flailed, swinging at things indiscriminately. The sound of breaking floor and walls filled the room, and Izaya watched the throne room’s wall collapse.

The walls shattered, and beyond them stood various projections. Projections of days long past became visible while everything seemed to stop, even for Izaya. Kiyone’s words, her happy ones back before all hell broke loose, resonated.

While they played in repeat, the Absolute Order clutched its head with both arms, before letting out a roar.

Kiyone’s memories?

Izaya held his breath and looked at the rampaging Absolute Order. It held its head with both of its arms, struggling to shake something free. It screamed with a voice that had less echo and more static than before.

Swooping down with his rapier, Izaya swung at the wings, easily cutting some of them off.

“Kiyone, wake up!”

He continued slicing at the wings until only four were left. With those last pairs of wings downed and seemingly unable to regenerate, the Absolute Order started falling even quicker.

Izaya flew downwards, catching Kiyone’s body just as it fell unconscious. The last of the wings dissipated, and her head tilted to the side.

Grasping onto his love’s unconscious body, Izaya held his breath. He looked at Kiyone through the bloodshot stains in his vision, effects of his transformation that were barely stabilizing. However, as he felt no large-scale magical response from the body he held, he managed to start slowing down.

His heartbeat, one he could felt echoing with her weak ones, began winding down. Tears, ones of relief, dropped from his eyes while he beheld the woman he worked so hard to save.

“Kiyone, I did it.”

He whispered with a smile. He then looked down at his weary allies and the destruction that the battle had caused to the once-majestic throne room.

It had been a long run to get here.

The tired Utara rested, one of her hands seemingly limp from the battle. Dr. Kagami, despite not having participated in a direct capacity, looked worse for wear. Satoru had lost Setsura, and it would take a while for her to regenerate.

As for him, it now dawned on him that he had said goodbye to his humanity. The draconic arm will never disappear, and so will his wings. He had really given up everything in his quest to save Kiyone, and now that he held the girl in his arms and had succeeded in that mission, what’s next?

But that’s what an ordinary person would think.

Izaya easily erased those thoughts from his mind because his other ambition stood even taller. Now that he had saved Kiyone, what’s left was to take over this realm, to put his hands on the Akashic Records, to rewrite the world and make things right.

It would ensure a better future for his comrades. For the victims of the world’s injustice… For Kiyone.

“G-guren…”

She started blinking before slowly opening her eyes. When she locked eyes with Izaya, the latter trembled, overcome with emotions.

 

2

“Ohhhh, what do we have here?”

The fairy hovering around Ishida’s shoulders continued with her upbeat, almost annoying voice. She hummed a tune upon seeing Uehara before flying in between her and Ishida.

“I assumed you’d be up there with Euphoria. So, what’s with the change of mind?”

Uehara did not respond to the fairy Fujiwara’s provocations. Instead, her sharp eyes remained locked onto Ishida, who continued to exude the dangerous-looking aura. The deranged Awakener, if it was even apt to call him that, panted in wait.

“Uehara, don’t-“

“Quiet.”

Her snappy voice stopped Kazuki in his tracks.

“Ohh,” the fairy smirked. “Still got that cold, distanced edge, huh? Let me ask that question again. What’s with the change of mind? Like I said, I swore you’d be up there with Euphoria, fighting through the tower and trying to make that man’s dreams come true. Have you given up on his so-called perfect world? Given up on meeting your brother again?”

Kazuki stopped in wait, silently hoping that Uehara would not give in to the fairy’s taunting.

“That’s a shame. I thought that you and Reijy would see eye-to-eye a bit more. You see, Reijy here doesn’t hate what Euphoria’s trying to do. He just hates Guren Izaya for turning him into… this,” she pointed a thumb at Ishida before resuming. “Who we’re after are the people who sent his life through a downward spiral. Those who failed him and caused him to suffer. We’re here to be the balancing forces of the world, the hands of justice.”

“You talk too much, whatever you are. The real Fujiwara won’t utter such trash,” said Uehara.

“Ohh!” fairy Fujiwara’s eyes widened in pretend shock as she put her hands over her mouth. “That hurts, you know? Not Fujiwara? Why don’t we let Reijy be the judge and tell you who I am to him? His thoughts are all that matters. Don’t you think so, Reijy?”

Before she can beckon Reijy to answer, she moved sideways, narrowly dodging a crescent-shaped energy wave headed straight towards her.

“That’s rude!”

“Ishida, you and I were the same,” said Uehara. “Trapped by the chains of the past. The chains of loss that are impossible to shake off. However, I have decided to move forward.”

Fairy Fujiwara rolled her eyes. “Here comes another delusional challenger. Stop minding Reijy’s business, would you all? Or is it about protecting your dear Kazuki Arata? After all, only a loser like you would go the lengths of using someone as a replacement for your dead brother. The same brother who you’ll never see again once Reijy is through with Izaya!”

Uehara charged her before her sword clashed with Ishida’s twin swords. Ishida grunted at her as their weapons got caught in a deadlock.

However, Uehara was the one who had more power behind her Armament, and she pushed Ishida off, forcefully breaking the deadlock in her favor.

“Uehara, you’re wounded,” worriedly noted Kazuki. Despite his attempts at getting up, his tired body painfully forced him to stay down.

Their previous battle had taken a toll on the both of them, and it cannot be more obvious with Uehara’s torn clothes and various gashes and wounds.

Still, Uehara ignored him and fixed her attention on Ishida and Fujiwara. Placing her free hand over her face, she put herself in a battle stance.

“Crimson Lust!”

Her own aura surrounded her while the runic markings emerged all over her body. It did not ease Kazuki’s worry. While activating Crimson Lust can give her an edge against Ishida, the fact remained that it was an ability that took major toll on her body.

“Fighting you is no fun, Sayaka Uehara. Reijy doesn’t have as much hatred for you as he does towards Kazuki Arata, his family, or Guren Izaya,” said the now-annoyed Fujiwara. “I won’t be able to feel as much pleasure from his rage.”

“But I guess if you’re gonna be stubborn and prevent him from exacting just revenge against Kazuki Arata… A-aah!”

She interrupted her own taunts with a whimper. Shivering and grasping her arms, the fairy curled herself up in a ball before letting out a loud moan.

It was the effect of her connection with Ishida. True to expectations, the moment the fairy started acting sensually, her link with her host exuded a more saturated color and a more turbulent-looking line.

None of the theatrics fazed Uehara, who spent as little as a few seconds to flank Ishida. She swung her sword sideways, slashing away part of Ishida’s parka. When the enraged youth tried to fight back, she was nimbly away from the heat of the action, having hopped back to reset.

That would not be a long reset, however. As quickly as she attacked first, Uehara closed the gap once more, dodging two alternating swings from Ishida’s aura-filled swords in quick succession. After managing to find an opening again, she expertly slashed at Ishida, knocking him back and drawing blood.

“H-hey, that’s not nice!” whined the flustered fairy. “Did she hurt you, Reijy?”

“Gahh… Haaahh…!”

Ishida angrily panted. The intensity of his link with the fairy never wavered despite having sustained a reasonable wound at the hands of Uehara.

“Reijy, you should give it your all. If you’re not winning, it just means you’re not being violent enough. Stop thinking of the girl as a former schoolmate. Think of her as nothing but an obstacle. A pest set out to stop us from getting our revenge.”

“It’s not a matter of rage or power, you scum,” interrupted Uehara. “A battle is decided by the one with a more presence of mind. The stronger, unfettered will.”

She gracefully brandished her sword and pointed it at the duo.

“For so long, I always thought that Crimson Lust represented the emotions I had when my brother gave me the second chance to live. It tapped to my restless desire to avenge what I thought was an unneeded. Had he not sacrificed his power to save me, he would not have died that day. Why should a bright man like him lose his life in exchange for… me?”

Uehara charged again, and this time, she stopped a few inches short of Ishida, anticipating the counter attack. She easily read the downward slash before jumping over her opponent. One somersault later, she landed behind Ishida with her eyes shut.

As if on cue, a gash opened up on Ishida’s shoulder, causing him to let out a roar of anguish.

“But more than that, I learned that Crimson Lust was not meant to represent a power that ties me to the past. It’s not meant to keep me reminded of the me of three years ago. Its ability to push my body beyond its limits is to show me the power of a firm will and conviction that wouldn’t be shaken.”

She turned around, facing her downed foe.

“When you declared your intention to harm Arata… No, when you declared your intention to harm my savior, you have made an enemy out of me.”

“Hehe. How touching. Still, how long will that body of yours hold up? As for Reijy… A-ahh…” the fairy Fujiwara shuddered once again. This time, her already skimpy clothing began showing holes, like they’re melting as she continued to gasp. With a blush, she looked at Ishida with a smile. “For as long as my body can handle it… Reijy can keep coming back, stronger than ever!”

“What the—“ Kazuki commented. The longer this dragged on, the less it will favor Uehara. More than ever, he cursed his body for giving up on him, as much as he wanted to join the battle.

“Surely, you have your limits, too,” calmly retorted Uehara. “In that case, I will just keep defeating you until you run out of second chances.”

She prepared to continue the battle, but all of a sudden, her body froze. A powerful thump hit her, and a particularly strong wave rushed throughout her limbs.

“N-no… not now!”

Her colored vision granted to her by Crimson Lust turned completely blood red as a surprisingly strong headache attacked her. She stayed in place, completely immobile besides the rampant shaking.

“Oho~ Looks like you’ve reached your limit. So much for all the big talk. Let’s finish this, Reijy.”

At the fairy’s command, Ishida rushed forward with his two swords. An overhead swing with both of them was all that was needed to clutch out the sudden win.

“Oh no, you don’t!”

Uehara mustered all of her strength to hold her sword up, but it was not enough to completely block the two swords that bore down on it with violent force. Uehara’s sword cracked before completely shattering against Ishida’s dual blades.

“Aaaaaaahhh!”

The parry was enough to stop the worst from happening. She did not get bisected, but her top was torn apart, revealing two large gashes where the swords slashed.

With a swift follow-up kick, Ishida effortlessly kicked her into a distant pillar.

“Uehara!”

The adrenaline allowed Kazuki to get back up, albeit with much effort and his entire body burning. A powerful shout allowed him to resummon the shield.

“A...” he panted. “Assimilator’s Core!”

The shield glowed, its energy overpowering Kazuki’s own body. However, he held on, finishing the Armament’s transformation into its whip scythe form.

He put his hand forward, shooting the blade toward Ishida’s direction.

It managed to drive itself into one of Ishida’s shoulders, stopping the deranged youth in place. As the blade bore down and tore off flesh from the shoulder, Ishida merely recoiled.

Fujiwara, now a fairy whose clothes were in tatters, looked at Kazuki in bemusement. Ishida now turned his sight on Kazuki, all while the ominous energy link between Ishida and Fujiwara started healing his shoulder wound.

“That tickles, you know? Healing up Reijy with my body’s always like that.”

Fujiwara spoke with amusement while rubbing her nails all over her body and her continually-dissolving outfit.

“Why don’t you finish the job, Reijy? Show him what we learned.”

“With pleasure.”

Obeying Fujiwara’s command, Ishida put his two swords together. Pointing them at Kazuki, he shouted as magical energy engulfed the two swords.

“What is that?” wondered Kazuki.

“Scorched Apocalypse!”

On his hand was a large cannon, undoubtedly what the two swords have fused into. Kazuki recoiled at the sight of that weapon, and his Armament reverted into its shield form, almost without him thinking about it.

It can do that, too?

“Hahaha! Betcha didn’t know about Reijy and my super secret technique, huh? Now, let’s see what that pathetic shield can do to a shot fueled by our resentment!”

“We’ll see about that!”

Kazuki rose to the challenge, activating his shield’s magical extensions. From the object on his hand, he generated a magical barrier, the largest barrier he can muster, to serve as his last line of defense.

If this was really their all, he only had to survive one shot.

But could he?

He had no choice and planted his feet as the particle beam shot out from Ishida’s cannon. The entire beam hit the barrier straight up, and Kazuki’s entire world turned white due to the blinding light.

Every bit of his body burned, and searing pain like nothing he had experienced before assailed his already-weary body. His world continued to shake at the impact while he focused all his strength on maintaining the shield and firmly holding his ground.

Unfortunately for him, it was not enough.

With a pained shout, he was finally blasted back as he heard the sound of his barrier shattering. He tumbled repeatedly, and on his fifth drop, a weight was lifted from his hand as the shield completely dissolved into magical particles.

As luck would have it, his all was just enough to negate the worst of Ishida’s Armament ability. His body and Armament had been broken, but at least he still lived… for now.

Likewise, Ishida leaned down, his body being supported by the twin swords planted on the ground.

From what he could see in the distance, the fairy Fujiwara also leaned on his neck, panting heavily with her eyes closed.

Still, the impact of the clash had affected him more than Ishida. In what seemed like too little time, Ishida got back to his feet. After having pulled out the two swords, he slowly walked towards Kazuki, his victory all but guaranteed.

“I-it’s over for you…”

Ishida grunted as he slowly trudged toward Kazuki. With his vision fading in and out, Kazuki could barely see the form of his opponent. All he knew was that it was only a few seconds from the end.

His eyes closed against his will.

However, instead of the sound of a sword slicing through the air, the sound of magical bombardment broke him out of his stupor. More magical noises followed, and he immediately knew it was the result of Ishida having blocked the incoming projectiles with his swords.

“Arata!”

“Darling!”

Even without seeing them, Kazuki recognized the two voices echoing from behind him. He felt the gentle and warm hand of salvation on his body. It may only be psychological, but at that point, he can prove that the concept of a healing touch existed, if only judging from the relief that washed his anxiety away.

Even if it was just a moment.

“Hang in there!”

His eyes finally flipped open, allowing his eyes to look straight at Amagi’s teary ones.

“Don’t think you’ll get away with harming Darling like that!”

In front of him and Amagi was Kimura with her staff at the ready.

“Ehh, more pests arrived?” There was no mistaking the strain in Fujiwara’s voice, no matter how smug she may be. “You know the drill, Reij—.”

*Bang*

*Clang*

A powerful shot rang out from another direction. From what little Kazuki can see, Ishida had used one his swords to block a sneak attack from behind. He then saw Ms. Sadohara tending to Uehara’s unconscious body.

More importantly, he looked past Amagi, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

“B-big Bro… Let us take care of this.”

Sana stepped past him with her scythe in hand. She clutched onto it with all her might, but her next voice was more than firm.

“S-sana?!” Kazuki choked on his words. He forced himself to sit, and despite the effort, it was all worth it just to see Sana from a closer view.

His hands shook when he reached out towards her. Yet, he continued until he was able to touch a bit of her hands, those tiny hands that somehow had enough strength to hold a gigantic scythe for her size.

Sana beamed at him, as if giving him a comforting look.

“Let me protect you this time, Big Bro.”

She closed her eyes and tightened the grip on her scythe.

“Inner Paradigm!”

“Prismatic Reverb!”

Both Sana and Kimura began to activate their respective Armament’s abilities, but before anything else can happen, a loud rumbling sound interrupted them. Various bangs, akin to rolling thunder, resounded above them, all before more creaking sounds joined the mix.

The barrier that surrounded the whole complex in a dome began showing signs of breaking. It was as if the barrier, and to an extension, the sky beyond, was being torn off, revealing eerie holes beyond them.

“A-are we too late?”

Kazuki choked on the realization before looking skyward and at the portal to Babel.