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'That's kind of... absurd to go against. That said, he's holding up quite well.'
Still hidden in a thick canopy of trees that converged into a single point atop the hill near the Tussock River, Kiyotaka observed the fight between Klein and Mr. A. Well, in all honesty, it was less of a fight and more of a cat-and-mouse chase.
With the vicious and deranged cat being Mr. A and the scared mouse being Klein.
Since Kiyotaka had attended meetings in Mr. A's presence, he knew what kind of man he was. And while he always gives off this mad feeling, seeing him express it made Kiyotaka believe that Klein had done something exceedingly outrageous to attract — what seemed like — the full extent of Mr. A's vitriol.
So far, Kiyotaka was able to parse X abilities that Mr. A was able to use due to his Grazing abilities.
The first two were something he was able to parse due to him buying information from Mr. Hanged Man about Sailor Pathway and what he had already faced — even though he was not the one who fought him — was from Criminal Pathway.
Hence the first two, after further observations, were narrowed down to Sequence 5: Desire Apostle and Sequence 6: Wind Blessed. Other than this, he was able to deduce that Mr. A had a Sequence 6: Baron of Corruption, some unknown Sequence of Assassin Pathway and another unknown Sequence of Sleepless Pathway.
However, what perturbed Kiyotaka, more than anything, was that Mr. A was able to use more than 7 abilities with different natures. Which should not be possible since a Sequence 5 could only graze a fixed amount of souls.
The only explanation he could arrive to explain this was that Mr. A had probably grazed another Shepherd or a Beyonder who could have other pathway abilities. However, there was not enough time for him to ponder over it.
Beneath him, Klein had almost no way to fight back. He was constantly teleporting away using Flaming Jump and Paper Figurine Substitutes. It didn't take one to be a Seer Pathway Beyonder to understand that using something like this would put immense strain on one's Spirituality.
And throwing Klein to the wolves — or in this case, a Shepherd — was not something Kiyotaka was trying to risk. His Black Emperor Card of Blasphemy was in a place that only Klein had access to. Other than that, there were way too many benefits of having Klein around than just letting him die.
However, his sense of self-preservation was something that made him rethink his decisions quite a lot. But he was on a hit-list anyways. The Aurora Order probably has their sights set on him and while they cannot directly connect Zmanger Gang's mysterious leader to Williams Holmes, it's still quite a nuisance if Mr. A was left alone.
All in all, his only choice right now was to help Klein.
"Kiyoo..."
As he was having that thought, Kiyotaka suddenly turned around. The hair on his body had risen up and goosebumps lined all over his body. His mind almost went blank as he heard a name that no one had called him for the past — almost — three months.
He looked around frantically, trying to find someone, but there was no one.
It was, however, then when he realized that he was hallucinating.
This was the side-effect of using so many Mystical Items all the time. No matter how strong his natural and buffed up mental defenses were, it was bound to catch up to him. And that was exactly what was happening.
His mental state had deteriorated and the bad part about this happening was that Kiyotaka had not experienced the qualitative change in his abilities. Which meant that without sufficient Mystical Items, he had no way of standing up to Mr. A.
Kiyotaka lowered his gaze towards his hands. The problem was not merely that each of them possessed negative effects. If that had been the case, he could simply account for those effects individually and compensate accordingly.
What made the situation troublesome was that he had been using several of them continuously, allowing different forms of corruption, mental interference and physical abnormalities to accumulate without properly understanding how they interacted with one another.
His eyes first fell on the glove covering his right hand.
'Guilt is fine.'
As far as he had been able to determine, its negative effects were comparatively negligible. At the very least, none of them had begun interfering with his ability to think or control his body. There was no reason to remove something that could provide him with such a large increase in combat capability when the cost of using it remained manageable.
The same logic applied to Ember.
While its negative effect was considerably more obvious — anger surfacing faster than it normally should, and things which would otherwise fail to produce any emotional response occasionally began to feel unpleasant — that was still something he could control.
Emotions were not foreign influences entering his mind, after all, they originated from him, regardless of whether Ember was amplifying them, and as long as he remained conscious of that fact, he could suppress the impulse before it affected his decisions.
This made Ember considerably safer than the alternatives.
With that considered, his gaze then shifted towards his other hand and he sighed as he uncuffed his sleeve and rolled it up. Thin black veins that seemed to smell of rotten flesh spiderwebbed all over his thin but defined forearms.
Kiyotaka flexed his fingers and felt that despite being a little sluggish, they were behaving normally. After getting the feedback, he removed the glove — Cyst — from his left hand and stuffed it into his jacket.
The situation further reinforced the fact that Gloom should only be used if there was no way out of a situation.
Scourge was safe as well. If anything, it did help to dispel some of the negative effects of Cyst. It was a little strange though, how Scourge would selectively dominate and dispel the effects of Cyst, however, it was something worth pondering later.
Eventually, Kiyotaka decided to only equip — or rather, actively use — Guilt, Scourge and Ember. Rime was still wrapped around his neck, however, he had no intention of imbuing Spirituality into it, given how this item required quite a strange sealing method.
Eventually, Kiyotaka decided that there was no longer any benefit in waiting.
The longer Klein continued to run, the less Spirituality he would have remaining when Kiyotaka entered the fight. More importantly, Mr. A had already displayed enough of his abilities for Kiyotaka to construct a rudimentary understanding of how he fought.
Waiting for perfect information against an opponent who possessed abilities belonging to half a dozen different Pathways was pointless.
Kiyotaka raised his right hand and incandescent flames gathered above his palm before stretching outward into the shape of a spear. Unlike the ones he had used earlier to clear a path through the smog, he continued compressing the flames until the color near its center became almost completely white.
The temperature surrounding his hand climbed sharply and the crimson moonlight around him became lighter, illuminating the entire area.
Beneath him, Klein disappeared in another burst of crimson flames just as Mr. A swept his hand forward and sent several compressed blades of wind tearing through the place where he had been standing.
Right at that moment, Kiyotaka twisted his waist and threw as the Flaming Spear disappeared from his hand with an explosive sound.
Branches surrounding him were violently thrown backwards as the projectile tore downward through the air, covering the distance between the canopy and Mr. A in little more than an instant.
Mr. A had no time to react as the spear entered through his back and passed through his torso, tearing it apart, slicing and burning him in a near instant before whistling through the air forward, scorching every piece of greenery ahead of it.
Kiyotaka's eyes narrowed as his scalp tingled.
'Something's wrong... There was no resistance. For a Beyonder who previously had immense boosts to his Flesh and Blood, how can he die so easily?'
The red-robed figure below distorted slightly before losing definition around its edges, almost as though Kiyotaka had thrown the spear through an image reflected on still waters.
A sudden realization caused Kiyotaka's pupils to contract as he looked up and then back down.
The crimson moon was beautiful tonight and its deep red light poured through the smog covering the outskirts of Backlund, illuminating the hill with a faint bloody glow.
'Moon... Moon!? And where am I?'
A while ago, he was underneath the canopy—a canopy so thick that even the surrounding smog had barely managed to penetrate through the overlapping branches above him, yet there was nothing between himself and the crimson moon anymore.
Kiyotaka immediately threw himself sideways before Ember could alert him. A sound considerably quieter than he expected passed behind him and several enormous trees were cut apart almost simultaneously.
The trunk underneath Kiyotaka's previous position separated cleanly before the upper half began sliding sideways while leaves, branches and entire sections of the canopy remained suspended in the air for an instant before collapsing toward the ground.
Kiyotaka caught another branch with one hand as his body swung underneath it while the invisible blade continued forward and sliced through another row of trees.
As he landed, he looked up and the image of the Crimson Moon broke, revealing the bright sun overhead. This sudden transition caused his eyes to prickle as Kiyotaka instinctively rolled to the side and dodged another whip of wind, causing debris and foliage to fly everywhere.
Nightmare! The ability displayed just now was Nightmare from Sleepless Pathway!
Kiyotaka was only able to tell in time because Soest had long ago used it on him, during the pseudo-interrogation. At that time, Kiyotaka was more cognizant of himself, however, that was only possible due to Soest not genuinely trying to harm him.
That was not the case right now.
A low laugh came from somewhere ahead of him and Kiyotaka immediately turned his head. Several yards away, standing atop the cleanly severed trunk of a tree, was Mr. A.
His long white hair was fluttering in the residual wind while the bright-red robes covering his body were stained with dirt and blood. Unlike the deranged expression Kiyotaka had seen from a distance, however, the man had regained some semblance of composure.
That did not make him look any less unsettling though as his lips contorted into a grin. "Found you. Holmes... I was beginning to wonder how long you intended to remain hidden in those trees."
Kiyotaka did not respond immediately.
'How long has he been aware of me? And how?'
However, the answer to his question formulated in his mind almost instantly. The most probable explanation was the Desire Apostle ability.
Patrick Jason had displayed an almost unreasonable ability to perceive danger before it properly manifested, then it was quite obvious that the moment Kiyotaka thought about harming Mr. A, he was already alerted and had pulled Kiyotaka into a dream.
Mr. A turned his head slightly. Farther away, Klein appeared from a burst of crimson flames and almost stumbled when his feet touched the ground. His face was unusually pale and his breathing had become considerably heavier.
For a second, the exhaustion on his face disappeared as he spotted Kiyotaka.
"About damn time!"
That relief on Klein's face quickly became complicated when he noticed how close Mr. A was standing to him.
Meanwhile, Mr. A followed Kiyotaka's gaze towards Klein and spotted him. The smile on Mr. A's face slowly disappeared while his eyes slowly returned to Kiyotaka.
"Interesting... You attended my gatherings." Mr. A said softly. "Several times. And you said you might have a lead on Fool's believers too."
The corners of Mr. A's mouth twitched. "Your disguise was quite redundant in front of me. Anyways... The Fool... You belong to that false god as well!"
His expression suddenly became distorted and deranged once more.
Kiyotaka felt the temperature around his wrist rise and became somewhat... scared? He was unsure what the feeling was, but he did feel it take root in his heart. His fear was instantaneous enough that he noticed it as he came to a realization.
Desire Apostle's Desire Control!
The fear increased as Mr. A's grin widened.
Kiyotaka slowly raised his hand wearing Guilt as words left his lips in Ancient Hermes. "Altering the emotions of another is prohibited here."
For a brief instant, nothing visibly happened and then Kiyotaka felt the unnatural fear inside him encountering something a foreign force as the force amplifying it seemed to become sluggish, like hands attempting to push through viscous liquid.
Mr. A's smile faded slightly.
Mr. A's leg muscles bulged as he increased his muscle power and was about to shoot forward like a bullet when a gunshot suddenly sounded beside him and a bullet passed close enough to displace several strands of white hair whistling through the air past him.
Klein lowered his revolver in an irritated manner. "Are we fighting him or discussing theology?"
Mr. A's eyes moved towards him and wind began to gather around him.
Before he could release another devastating attack, both Klein and Kiyotaka jumped away — Klein amidst a spark of flames and Kiyotaka by jumping like a baboon between different trees — as three wind-blades tore through the place where they had been.
Ember flared around Kiyotaka's feet as he swung around and accelerated backwards while another Flaming Spear formed above his shoulder.
Mr. A swung his hand and another wind-blade flew towards Kiyotaka.
Stepping a little to the side, he caused the wind-blade to miss its mark. However, his Danger Intuition spiked and he looked over his shoulder, seeing the wind-blade home back like a boomerang.
Kiyotaka's eyes narrowed as he recognized the ability.
'Baron of Corruption's Distortion.'
Ducking underneath it, the wind-blade passed over his head and carved through a tree but somehow had its trajectory distorted once again.
Steeling his nerves, Kiyotaka took a deep breath.
"Homing projectiles are prohibited here!"
Mr. A's expression became slightly strange as he raised his one hand and then twisted it. At the same time, he flicked even more wind-blades, all of which had an erratic trajectory and flew here and there before converging towards Kiyotaka.
Mr. A had used Baron of Corruption's Distortion ability to change the limitation of homing projectiles being prohibited to non-homing projectiles being prohibited. This efficiently not only countered Guilt's Prohibition but also nullified Klein's revolver bullets and air canons.
Mr. A had used Baron of Corruption's Distortion ability to change the limitation of homing projectiles being prohibited to non-homing projectiles being prohibited. This efficiently not only countered Guilt's Prohibition but also nullified Klein's revolver bullets and Air Cannons.
Kiyotaka's eyes narrowed as he immediately revoked the Prohibition.
There was no reason to keep feeding Spirituality into something which had already been turned against them.
At the same time, he pushed his feet against the branch he had landed on and jumped downwards, letting two of the erratically moving wind-blades pass above him before Ember exploded around his feet and pushed him sideways.
One of the remaining blades twisted after him, however, before it could properly converge, a loud snap resounded from somewhere to his left and the trunk of a nearby tree suddenly exploded outward.
Klein did not fire at Mr. A and instead aimed his Air Cannon at the tree.
The sudden shower of broken wood and foliage briefly obscured Kiyotaka from Mr. A's sight while also forcing one of the Windblades to change its path around the debris.
That tiny obstruction was enough for Kiyotaka to land, roll over his shoulder and immediately run towards another tree instead of continuing to retreat.
'He can distort the rules of nature and intentions to a minor degree... No, that isn't quite right.'
If Mr. A could directly rewrite Guilt's Prohibitions however he pleased, then there would have been no reason for him to specifically twist the meaning of homing and non-homing projectiles.
This meant the wording still mattered and there were limits to how far Distortion could stretch something away from its original meaning. Which further meant making broader rules would simply give him broader things to distort.
Having a somewhat deeper understanding of Baron of Corruption's Distortion, Kiyotaka suddenly stopped and raised his hand that had Guilt over it. "External interference with an established Prohibition is prohibited here."
As the words uttered in Ancient Hermes rebounded through the surroundings, an invisible layer seemed to settle over the area once again and Mr. A's expression changed once more.
Almost immediately, a rather strange sensation assaulted Kiyotaka. The feeling was as if someone was attempting to twist the meaning behind the words without actually touching them. However, unlike before, the Prohibition resisted that influence.
Mr. A's lips curled upwards. "So that's how that item works..."
His tone was almost curious, but Kiyotaka was not given much time to dwell on it as the air around Mr. A suddenly gathered again and several Windblades tore through the trees in his direction.
Kiyotaka immediately moved, however, this time Mr. A did not distort any of their trajectories. Instead, one Windblade passed beside Kiyotaka and severed a thick tree behind him while another cut through several branches above, causing an entire section of the canopy to begin collapsing.
Kiyotaka's Danger Intuition spiked. Before the falling branches could block his path completely, Kiyotaka jumped forward and used Ember to propel himself through the narrowing opening and at almost the same moment, Mr. A stopped using the surrounding wind.
A faint mist began leaving Mr. A's body while a residual gale he had created several seconds ago caught it immediately.
Kiyotaka's pupils contracted as the mist spread throughout the clearing at a considerably greater speed than it otherwise should have, carried by air currents which Mr. A no longer needed to actively control.
Several meters away, Klein coughed.
And again. He began coughing until clumps of congealed blood began to make their way out of his body.
Kiyotaka raised his forearm over his mouth while a thin layer of incandescent flame formed around his nose and lips. He had already used the same method while moving through the strange smog and, while he could not be completely certain it would work against whatever Mr. A had just released, the fact that the strange disease covering Backlund appeared susceptible to high temperatures made it worth trying.
Klein did not possess the same luxury. While he could control flames, Ember's flames were different from his, and were kind of a natural enemy against a Demoness' pathogens. He disappeared inside a spark of crimson flames, but wherever he reappeared, the mist seemed to constantly catch up to him.
Kiyotaka's eyes moved towards Mr. A. He realized that the potency of whatever had just been released was considerably greater than what he would expect from an ordinary Sequence 6.
'This looks similar to what Mr. Hanged Man had to say about Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy who took over after Qilangos was killed, long before my own transmigration. Which means that the soul he's using is that of a Sequence 5: Demoness of Affliction. However, this is not on the level of what's happening in Backlund.
Then... is a Demoness advancing to a Demigod?'
Kiyotaka did not have the luxury of thinking ahead as another fit of coughing escaped Klein and his face became visibly paler.
Kiyotaka raised Guilt once more. "Airborne transmission of microscopic organisms is prohibited here."
The Prohibition seemed to take effect immediately and while the mist did not disappear, however, the strange pressure Kiyotaka had begun feeling inside his lungs weakened considerably while Klein's coughing stopped worsening.
The cost, on the other hand, immediately became obvious.
Kiyotaka started to think of everything as an imperfection and an almost subconscious urge to strip Klein entered his brain, given how his clothes were "ungentlemanly," but he was quick to realize that it was not his own opinion and quickly suppressed it.
However, the other problem was that he was currently sustaining multiple Prohibitions such as the law which prevented interference with his Prohibitions and another which restricted the transmission of disease, both of which were being resisted by abilities originating from someone above the item's Sequence.
From his rudimentary understanding and trial-and-error, he could tell that the most amount of Prohibitions Guilt could impose were three against people of a higher-Sequence and utmost 5 against those who were at the same or lower Sequence than the Mystical Item itself.
Kiyotaka's Spirituality began dropping faster and faster the more he sustained those Prohibitions.
Mr. A noticed this and instead of trying to overpower the Prohibition directly, he raised one hand and his white hair began moving unnaturally before splitting into dozens of extremely thin strands.
Some of these strands disappeared completely against the background of the forest, causing Kiyotaka's eyes to flick around erratically.
The threads spread between the trees while black flames appeared along several of them.
Before Kiyotaka could do anything, he saw a... thumb flying towards him.
His eyes widened and without thinking, he rolled away and jumped as the thumb exploded into a deafening explosion.
'This is really troublesome. His own Pathway is quite hard to deal with— on top of all these other Pathway abilities... Rotten luck I suppose.'
One of the threads wrapped around a branch beside Kiyotaka and used it to abruptly change direction, shooting towards his throat. Kiyotaka leaned backwards and let it pass above him, but another had already approached from below and wrapped itself around his wrist.
A strange sensation entered his body as his forearm stiffened while an almost nauseating wave of pleasure travelled upwards. At the same time, black flames moved along the thread but Kiyotaka immediately ignited Ember.
The thread burned apart before the black flames could properly reach him, however, his hand still trembled for several moments after the strange sensation disappeared.
Mr. A, however, did not give him an opportunity to recover as more threads stretched through the forest, using branches and trunks as anchor points rather than simply moving directly towards him. Some came from above, others from behind and several deliberately remained near the ground where they would be harder to notice.
Kiyotaka was utterly cornered!
However, when escape suddenly felt far-fetched, patches of dry vegetation suddenly ignited.
Klein, who was still recovering, had spread his Flame Control through several of the fires already burning from Ember's previous attacks and deliberately caused them to travel through the foliage.
The flames did not destroy every thread, but they illuminated enough of them for Kiyotaka to identify the pattern Mr. A was creating.
"You're welcome!" Klein shouted from behind another tree. Kiyotaka ignored him and jumped over two threads before grabbing a low branch and swinging his body around it. "You can acknowledge it later!"
Kiyotaka formed a Flaming Spear while still moving and threw it from the side.
Mr. A's head snapped towards him before the spear reached halfway and the threads disappeared while wind gathered around him once more.
A rotating layer of compressed air — which appeared to take the shape of eight rotating blades and an eye of hurricane at its center — formed directly in front of Mr. A and met the Flaming Spear head-on.
The incandescent flames tore through the first few layers, however, the spiraling air continued deflecting the tip until the entire spear curved slightly towards the side.
The Flaming Spear continued forward on the trajectory, burning away several trees. Suddenly, a shadow rose from underneath Mr. A's feet and wrapped around the shaft of condensed fire.
The shadow did not stop the spear physically and instead, it pulled at the flames themselves, deforming the attack enough for the spear to pass beside Mr. A and explode against the ground behind him.
This was becoming an issue. Even if Kiyotaka correctly determined which Grazed soul Mr. A was currently using, the abilities belonging to the Secrets Supplicant Pathway itself were not removed as Mr. A could still manipulate flesh and blood and he could still use shadows.
And he was experienced enough with the souls he had Grazed that he was not treating their abilities like seven separate toolkits but was rather using one to establish a condition, switching to another and then allowing the previous condition to continue existing without further input.
Such as using wind to spread disease, threads positioned beforehand, residual air currents followed by Distortion etc. etc.
That made it appear as if he was simultaneously using several abilities when, in reality, each action had already been completed before the next began.
'I understand now... I misunderstood Shepherd and in extension, Grazing.'
Mr. A suddenly disappeared and appeared less than two meters behind him. There had been no flame or wind and or movement across the intervening distance.
Mr. A's fist, which had swollen to the size of a football while comprising bludgeoning muscles, struck him across the face. However, Kiyotaka threw a stray leaf towards him and activated Bribe-Weaken.
The Bribe reduced the force of the blow, however, it was enough to blur his vision and his body was thrown sideways, however, Mr. A appeared beside him before he could land, his leg muscles swelling unnaturally as another punch came towards his ribs.
Kiyotaka crossed both arms and invoked Bribe-Weaken once more and this time, the force did not send him reeling back. Before Mr. A could follow, a gunshot resounded and Mr. A casually moved his head and turned his eyes towards the direction from where the gunshot had resounded.
Another sound came from behind him and Mr. A turned to look there as well, but there was no one there.
"Illusions... I will add you to my collection once I am done with this useless man." Mr. A's features darkened as he realized that Klein was from the Seer Pathway.
Meanwhile, this brief distraction was enough for Kiyotaka to push himself away from the tree and bolted towards Mr. A. He crossed the distance rapidly and struck Mr. A in the side with his Guilt-covered fist and imparted Bribe-Weaken once more,
The impact of his punch was devastating, given how weak Mr. A had gotten, however, instead of feeling his skull break, Kiyotaka felt Mr. A's flesh soften unnaturally which suddenly behaved closer to dense rubber than muscle.
Mr. A grabbed his wrist but Kiyotaka activated Ember, causing Mr. A's flawless, feminine hand to burn while he pulled away.
However, it was too late.
Mr. A's right hand exploded into blood and fragments of flesh that sprayed over the surrounding vegetation. His entire right hand was gone!
Flame Infusion and Delayed Explosion!
Kiyotaka — after fighting Giant - the Sequence 6 Rose Bishop — was aware that Secret Supplicants Pathway Beyonders, beyond Sequence 6, are quite hard to land hits on. Hence his entire plan was to let Mr. A grab his wrist or anything and then he could infuse him with flames and cause those flames to explode.
Since he had already prepared this attack, there was no need for prolonged physical contact.
Mr. A hissed through clenched teeth and moved away while the lower portion of his sleeve disappeared completely, however, disgusting flesh had already begun twisting around the wound.
Mr. A did something with his hand and the bleeding suddenly stopped while the regeneration began to increase in speed.
Mr. A had switched again and this time to the soul of a Sequence 8: Doctor!
However, the two were not going to just sit there and watch him heal. A compressed Air Cannon from Klein immediately shot towards Mr. A's injured arm.
Mr. A stopped healing and wind gathered and redirected the projectile.
But right at that time, Kiyotaka moved as well.
Mr. A raised his other hand towards Kiyotaka, but another Air Cannon came from a different angle and forced him to turn while Klein disappeared inside crimson flames and reappeared somewhere behind him.
Black flames appeared around Mr. A and he began to fire them at Klein, but he kept teleporting using his Flaming Jump.
Meanwhile, Kiyotaka finally had time to ponder over his understanding of Grazing.
The number of abilities had confused him because he had interpreted Grazing incorrectly.
Little Sun had said that Shepherds could Graze souls, and Kiyotaka had unconsciously treated that as meaning they extracted abilities from those souls and could retain only a limited quantity. But what if the limit applied to the souls themselves?
One Beyonder could possess several abilities belonging to the same Pathway. If Mr. A had Grazed seven people rather than seven powers, the number of abilities he possessed could be considerably higher.
And if he could only draw upon one Grazed soul at any given moment, then every switch Klein forced was also temporarily removing every ability belonging to the previous one.
Kiyotaka's attention returned towards Mr. A.
The frequency of Klein and Kiyotaka's attack increased. They were not powerful attacks, however, that was not his purpose.
Every time Mr. A answered one of them, he was giving away which portion of his arsenal he had temporarily selected.
He seemed to realize it and the madness in his expression receded slightly and his eyes became considerably colder.
Then the wind surrounding him exploded outward in every direction.
Klein immediately disappeared and Kiyotaka planted his feet against the ground and crossed his arms as the violent pressure pushed him several meters backwards while leaves, dirt, broken wood and smoke spread throughout the entire area until seeing more than a few meters ahead became difficult.
Kiyotaka's Danger Intuition suddenly weakened and the tension covering his body began draining away while an unnatural calmness entered his thoughts.
At the same time, the distance between them disappeared and Mr. A manifested directly beside Kiyotaka without crossing the space in between. And before Kiyotaka could fully recover from the Soul Assurer's Requiem's influence, Mr. A's muscles expanded while heat gathered inside one of his hands.
Three different souls had been used in such quick succession that Kiyotaka barely had time to identify them individually while Mr. A's hand transformed into a molten blade and thrust towards his chest.
Kiyotaka's sluggish body moved late and the sword penetrated him, burning his heart alive. Kiyotaka kicked Mr. A across the jaw and tore himself away from the weapon before rolling several times across the ground.
At the same time, when Mr. A looked back at Kiyotaka, the outline surrounding his body briefly shimmered.
An illusion!
Klein had displaced Kiyotaka's apparent position by several inches.
The trick was not enough to endanger Mr. A's Danger Premonition.
"You..." Mr. A slowly looked towards Klein and he gave him a tired smile. "You've been annoying me for quite a while."
Mr. A's expression twisted and Kiyotaka took advantage of the distraction, raising Guilt once again.
He did not create another prohibition immediately and instead, he looked at the battlefield. The disease had already dispersed throughout the area, but its transmission had been restricted long enough that continuing to maintain the law was unnecessary.
And the rule preventing interference with Prohibitions was also consuming Spirituality without currently serving any purpose.
Hence he removed both of them and Guilt immediately became lighter.
Mr. A seemed to notice it immediately and Kiyotaka could tell from the minute movement of his eyes that he thought Kiyotaka was running out of Spirituality and abandoning his restrictions.
Kiyotaka focused on the past confrontation. Trying to create a law against every ability individually would simply exhaust him long before Mr. A exhausted his souls.
So there was no reason to target abilities as Kiyotaka raised his palm and imposed something that made the most sense.
"Supernatural attacks separated from their user's body are prohibited here."
This made the most sense. While Mr. A could soften his body, he could no longer use Flesh Bombs. And most of his abilities were separated from the body.
Besides, the person with the most durable body and proficient in hand-to-hand combat here was Kiyotaka himself. He could tell this much after spending so much time with Klein and during their brief fight with Mr. A which had been going on for... two minutes now.
Two minutes which felt like two hours.
Klein winced as he felt his connection to a lot of his abilities restricted and raised his revolver before firing.
The bullet caught Mr. A in the shoulder and he slumped against a tree.
Klein slowly looked towards Kiyotaka.
"You know you're also stopping me, right?"
"Yes."
"Great." Klein rolled his eyes but winced immediately, "Was just making sure this wasn't accidental."
Just as Mr. A began to stand up, Kiyotaka arrived in front of him and jabbed his face with his left hand. The impact was so strong that it broke his nose. However, he was not done as Kiyotaka followed up with a right hook, another left jab and a right upper-cut.
Spinning over his heel, he kicked him in the abdomen, feeling several bones break, however, the flesh over his body mutated and caught Kiyotaka's leg in place.
"That was a mistake." Kiyotaka responded as a grimace appeared on Mr. A's face and flames began to burn him from the inside.
The Prohibition said abilities which separated from one's body. There was an implicit indication that this referred to abilities that stemmed from one's self. Grazed abilities also counted under this umbrella, however, Mystical Items were excluded.
The Prohibition was neither too strict, nor too loose, just enough that he got enough benefits out of it.
As Mr. A's flesh began to melt, Kiyotaka closed in and poked his eyes as hard as he could, causing them to bleed and one of them to pop out before following up with an elbow to his throat.
However, even without his sight, Mr. A seemed to dodge it.
The Prohibition had just vanished! Kiyotaka's spirituality had come to an end!
Ghastly voices and ravings began to rack his mind as he suddenly bristled. He saw figures of a single person, standing everywhere. The figure had a genial look on his face and seemed a little perturbed while looking at Kiyotaka.
Then, the person disappeared into the dark after shaking his head.
As if on instinct, Kiyotaka ducked low and avoided a scythe made out of Mr. A's flesh and bone. Gritting his teeth, Kiyotaka held his leg and elbowed his knee while also imparting Bribe-Weaken.
The moment he did, Mr. A's knee broke and he stumbled forward while the lower half of his leg — below the knee — stayed rooted to its place.
Klein appeared behind Mr. A and held him in a chokehold before twisting his neck hard enough to snap it.
But it did not snap. Instead his neck rotated back and looked at Klein before lunging forward to bite Klein's face off.
Klein almost jumped back in fright but punched his face and then took a piece of paper out from his coat before giving it a flick as it became taut and strong as steel. Then he took it and stabbed Mr. A's face, breaking multiple teeth before slashing at his throat.
But no matter what they did, Mr. A seemed to control his blood-flow and regenerate mortal wounds.
Kiyotaka, who was still seeing things, suddenly looked at the sky.
High above the clouds, a figure seemed to be descending. The person was a woman with white hair and two pairs of white angelic wings. She had a solemn look on her face and when she looked down, both Klein and Kiyotaka felt as if their souls were being ripped away from their bodies.
However, the feeling did not last long as another figure emerged and the entire sky was plunged into utmost darkness. In the midst of this darkness was another woman dressed in all black and had a veil over her face.
The woman with white wings turned to look at her. Before she could do anything, she seemed to realize something and turned around quickly before disappearing in utmost fear.
The woman dressed in all black looked down and pointed her palm downwards.
At the same time, something splattered beside them and Kiyotaka's mind, which was raging out of control, seemed to achieve a brief state of respite and calm.
Klein dared to look up only for a moment and saw the woman look at Kiyotaka and then Klein before giving them both a small smile and then disappeared, as if removed with an eraser from the drawing of reality.
"What the..." Klein exclaimed and fell back on his bum while Kiyotaka, who had just recovered, turned to look at the sky as well.
The area where she was seemed odd and different from the rest of reality.
As if suddenly realizing something, Kiyotaka lowered his head.
'Church of Evernight Goddess... This feels like Concealment. I could be wrong too.'
The two of them sat there for a long time and then Klein lowered his head before tapping his chest four times in a counterclockwise manner.
Only when did Klein do that did Kiyotaka notice the state of Mr. A corpse that had been flattened and dismembered into such a horrific state that he realized why the Honorific Name of Evernight Goddess had "Empress of Misfortune and Horror"
*****
After performing several anti-Divinations through the Card of Blasphemy, Kiyotaka and Klein parted ways for the time being. By the time Kiyotaka reached the edge of the forest, his limp had become noticeably worse.
There were several places where the trees were still burning from the fight that had taken place nearby and, sitting on a fallen log a short distance away from one of them, was Astrid.
Her auburn hair was disheveled enough that several strands had stuck to the blood along her cheek. The brown dress she had worn earlier was in an even worse condition, with one of the sleeves partially torn apart and several sections around her thigh ripped open.
Blood had soaked into the fabric in enough places that the darker portions almost looked black. Astrid raised her head when she heard him approaching.
Kiyotaka looked at her for several seconds before sitting down beside her.
"I am assuming she escaped."
"She did."
Astrid's eyes moved across his face, lingering on the blood beneath his eye and the state of his clothes before a smile slowly appeared on her lips. "You look... dashing."
"Thanks" Kiyotaka sighed quietly.
Then, he leaned forward and rested his forehead against his palms. The voices in his head had returned and while they were quieter than before, it still somehow made it even worse.
'Weak.' His fingers tightened slightly against his hair. 'I am still so weak.'
He had survived Mr. A and that was an achievement in itself.
A Sequence 5 Shepherd with enough abilities to make most Beyonders at his level look almost simplistic had failed to kill him — albeit he had received help from the Church — and yet Kiyotaka could not bring himself to view what happened as anything resembling a victory.
Mr. A was not even a Demigod and King George was preparing to become the Black Emperor. And somewhere above all of that was the person who had been manipulating his life without Kiyotaka even knowing when it had begun.
For the first time since arriving in this world, the difference between understanding something and being capable of doing anything about it felt enormous.
'So this is what it feels like.'
Back in Advanced Nurturing High School, he had once wondered whether nurturing someone capable of surpassing him would finally make his life more interesting. He almost wanted to laugh at himself now as he realized his true self.
His true self who viewed being beneath someone as nothing more than suffocating.
As he was thinking, a warm finger suddenly hooked underneath his chin. Kiyotaka's thoughts stopped as Astrid pulled his face away from his hands and towards herself.
She had moved considerably closer while he was distracted and her red eyes looked strangely bright despite the bruising around one of them. There was still dried blood along the corner of her mouth.
"You know..." she murmured and leaned closer until there was barely any distance remaining between their faces. "I nearly died for you."
"I didn't ask you to die."
"That just makes it even worse." Her smile widened as Kiyotaka kept staring at her.
Astrid's finger from his chin and her voice dropped as she spoke in a tired manner. "So I need a reward."
*****
Back in their holiday home, Freya and Daisy were playing tag across the lawn. Both of them wore oversized buttoned shirts tucked messily into their pants and their sleeves were rolled up enough that they would not get in the way while they ran.
Daisy chased after Freya with everything she had but every time she stretched out her hand, Freya somehow remained just a few steps beyond her reach.
"Stop running!"
"Isn't that the point?"
Daisy's face scrunched up in irritation and she ran even faster. Eventually, perhaps feeling a little bad for her, Freya deliberately caught the front of her shoe against the grass and fell forward with a small yelp.
Daisy's expression immediately brightened and she threw herself on top of Freya before she could supposedly recover, sitting on her stomach and pressing one hand against her forehead. "Got you! Got you!"
"You cheated."
"I didn't!"
Freya laughed and immediately reached for Daisy's sides, causing her to shriek. Her triumphant expression disappeared as she doubled over laughing and desperately tried to grab Freya's hands, kicking her legs against the grass while Freya continued to mercilessly tickle her.
For a few moments, the lawn was filled entirely with their laughter.
Then, all of a sudden, Freya's hands stopped. Meanwhile, Daisy continued giggling for another second before noticing. "What?"
Freya did not answer as her eyes had moved past Daisy's shoulder. Something black was approaching from the road.
It was a horse and it was moving far too quickly. The black destrier galloped towards the house with enough force that pieces of dirt scattered behind its hooves, and for a moment Daisy simply stared before recognition appeared on her face.
Her eyes widened. "...mom? She's back!"
The horse began slowing as it approached the lawn and Daisy immediately climbed off Freya. "Mom!"
She started running towards it while Freya remained where she had fallen. Something about the sight in front of her had made her body refuse to move.
There was someone lying over the horse. The old woman's arms hung loosely on either side of the animal while her grey hair had come undone and covered portions of her face. Her clothes were dirty, one shoe was missing and her body moved only when the horse itself did.
"Mom! Mom!"
Daisy ran faster and faster. The destrier finally stopped near the edge of the lawn and lowered itself slightly, as though it had been trained to allow whoever was riding it to descend.
However, no one did.
Daisy reached the horse and grabbed the woman's sleeve. "Mom?"
Liv's arm moved, but not by itself. It simply slipped farther down because Daisy had pulled on it and at that moment, her smile gradually disappeared. "Mom..."
Freya finally stood from the grassy ground. Her knees felt strangely weak as she began walking towards them, although every part of her wanted to remain exactly where she was. She wished to bury her head somewhere and never look up.
Daisy shook the woman's hand. "Mom, wake up."
She shook it harder. "Mom, we're here."
Freya looked up and her heart sank once more. She took a few wobbly steps forward and then stopped several steps away.
Liv's face had turned enough for her to see it properly now.
Her skin had lost almost all of its color, her lips were slightly parted and bloodied, her eyes were half open and there was no movement in her chest.
Freya's fingers began trembling as Daisy looked back towards her. For the first time, there was fear on her face.
"Freya...?" Freya opened her mouth but nothing but ragged breaths came out. Daisy turned back towards the woman and tugged desperately at her sleeve. "Mom, wake up."
The juvenile destrier shifted slightly beneath the weight and the woman's head rolled limply to the side, causing Daisy to freeze. For several seconds, she simply stared at her. Then her hands slowly tightened around the sleeve as she whispered. "Mom...?"
Freya felt something inside her chest drop. She moved forward and grabbed Daisy before she could pull at the body again, wrapping both arms around her from behind.
Daisy resisted immediately. "No! Wait—Mom!"
Freya tightened her hold on Daisy as thin streams of tears began to fall from her eyes.
"Mom!" Daisy kicked against the grass and tried to reach for her. "Mom, wake up!"
Her voice cracked and Freya buried her face against the back of Daisy's head, but she could no longer keep her own breathing steady either.
The horse remained completely still and then let out a mourning neigh before lowering down on all fours and the lawn where they had been laughing only moments ago, Daisy continued calling for her mother.
END OF VOLUME 1 - SUBJUGATION
*****
Author's Note: Well, well, well. Here we are, 81 chapters later and 298K words later, the first volume has finally ended.
It was a bit rushed, and not exactly how I wanted it to feel. It could've been stretched to 85 Chapters for a good ending, but, oh well—to be fully transparent, I did not have an ending for this volume in my mind.
I had planned how the entire fanfic would end, but not this specific volume.
That said, the same cannot be said for Volume 2. I have a very fun mechanic to introduce in the next volume, which will be done in the very first chapter, and its hint has already been dropped in the previous chapters.
One other thing I wanted to address before wrapping this volume up was that I know Tarot Club meetings were an integral part of what made LOTM so enjoyable, and I have robbed y'all of that quite a bit. So starting volume 2, I will try to do it more often.
There's also the fact that now Kiyotaka has to do a lot of mind-games and go all out.
It's safe to say, bro did NOT take his loss well + he's kind of losing it. If there are any recommendations or suggestions you would like to give or what you'd like to see, I'd appreciate them, drop them in the comments.
As for the name of the Volume: Subjugation, I think it's self-explanatory. If it's not, it will be in the future. With that said, the plot will become much more interesting since Kiyotaka will undergo some qualitative changes.
With that out of the way, I have been reading physical books lately and bought Bloodsworn Saga and Red Rising. So far I don't think it's going to help me in writing this fanfic any better, but I'm hoping for the best.
With that said, I hope — despite not being up to the par — you enjoyed Volume 1.
Buhbye.
P.S: The artist got wayyyy too generous with Astrid's "proportions" but I don't think any of y'all will complain lmao.