[May 4th 2010]
[THE STARLESS EXPANSE]
"Master….you are back"
"Who is you master here?"
"You master"
"Me?"
"You were meant to be king…
But my hands—these cursed hands—dragged you away from that fate.
I didn't just fail you… I destroyed your destiny."
"None of this is mine…. Then who am I?"
[Cut]
[Zorian Sterling - POV]
The city wasn't calm. The rainwater was flooding the roads but,
City was broken lights flickering. water was flowing through cracked streets. Debris everywhere
And one of them was cursed as on it stood a tatari floating the rings behind him rotating, and his shadows constantly shifting
"Raika" The tatari shouted
The Rings behind him rotated and his body started becoming invisible
RINNE NO TSUKASA (Arbiter of the Wheel)
has already completed his first manifestation.
"Huh this is what you call shikigami?" I asked in a crude tone
"Across cultures, they are known by different names—shikigami in the east, pawns in the west—but their purpose remains unchanged: bound entities that carry out the will of their summoner." Rinne shouted
"For this to be "your" pawn you must be king but you look like buying bread would give you generational debt" I wasn't able to complete my own sentence.
"You think money is what makes a king" Rinne said in a calm tone.
"I think money is just another trait but kindness what makes a king which you clearly don't have as you ate humans and corrected and how can we forget you corrected your vocabulary in just few minutes of speaking" I took a pause…
"The moment this fight ends I will show you what really a king is" I said my rage from before settling.
"Fine by my side lets see who really wins and rewrite the definition of king" rinne said while his shikigami was fully manifested.
WHUMP - GRAB!
Rinne's shikigami moved like it teleported and tried to grab my face and crush it.
"Ah not so fast" I mocked the shikigami
CHOP!
I severed his hand from which he tried to grab me and tried to move away from him.
WHOOSH!
The shikigami moved far from me without letting me thinking about next move
"Raika what are you doing" Rinne's voice echoed as if he was merged with the air while being invisible.
"Raika so this is your name how did you got that lean physique and where is your mouth" I tried to distract Raika
But I think the moment I have stepped inside the academy my luck has turned 180 degree from good to worse
THUD! THUD! WHAM!
Raika appeared in front of me and he was so fast that his punches were impossible to track without focus and with his constant hitting who could even focus
CRACK-BOOM
I was thrown towards the building and was blasted into every building taking all the hits on his own body
[My thoughts]
What is happeni-
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Raika didn't even let Zorian think for a second and started hitting him again continuously
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
I hit myself on head for shocking and distracting the shikigami and it worked as I thought
"Focus,focus and focus just focus already Zorian" As I shouted my fresh wounds started bursting with blood.
BOOM! SMASH!
Raika exploded from where he was standing and aiming for my head from above
WHOOSH! CHOP!
Zorian slid from his last position but holding Raika's severed hand in his non-dominant hand as blood drops fell from the severed hand Raika's body screamed and recognised Zorian as a danger but—
"You know my best friend Arashi once said…. But when?" I was interrupted while thinking
Raika lunged forward without regenerating and tried to grab my neck but before him I moved
CHOP! CHOP! CLATTER - GRAB!
I chopped every limb of Raika and wrenched my manacles around Raika's neck in that movement the length of my manacles increased themselves and I placed both of my legs on Raika's chest and raised my other axe above Raika's head
"Do not interrupt" I said without a doubt not with a kind intent
BASH! BASH! BASH! BASH!
I ruthlessly inserted both of my axes inside Raika's head with the same speed Raika was attacking me and created a BLOOD POOL in the floor we were currently in.
KAPOW!
Raika failed to regenerate but Zorian was still hitting it in that very movement
Rinne showed himself and clapped
"Iwa" Rinne shouted again
BOOM! BOOM! WHAM!
Another Shikigami of Rinne was manifested breaking every wall between him and me
Iwa charged and without any wasted movement Iwa directly raised his hand to deliver me a killing punch.
THOOM-!!....STOP
The moment Iwa landed its punch on me, I stopped hitting Raika and put my dominant hand axe between Iwa's punch and me
CLINK - SHRRRKK!
I then without a single thought moved faster and coiled my non dominant hand axe which itself extended in length around Iwa's neck and then pulled it with the entire strength in my body.
CLINK - CLINK - SNAP! CHOP!
I pulled the manacles with so much force it actually snapped Iwa's neck and finding the right moment I detached Iwa's head from his body.
Even with their regeneration ability they failed to regenerate as being in the constant attacks of Zorian Sterling and in the way of his living moving manacles.
AT THIS POINT THE FIGHT BECAME ONE SIDED
THUD! THUD! SPLASH! SPLASH!
I moved fast and was constantly attacking both the shikigami even though it was taking a lot of effort to attack Iwa and a lot of blood was flooding the floor with there and my own blood but it was necessary as for them to not regenerate.
Suddenly the air started taking a form and began mumbling.
Rinne's technique of being invisible was failing by seeing what I am capable of.
"Yumi you are my last hope for defeating this filthy human" Rinne took a pause "No alone you will be weak. So, Yumi and Sai together you can you will" Rinne said slowly and becoming invisible again
TNNNN... TWANG! DOK!
Suddenly an arrow from cross bow got directly into my back and before I could even feel the impact the arrow vanished.
THUD! THUD!
I stood up and walked towards the window to actually see who is the one to hit me not from close but from a range.
BRUNK!
Being heavily injured, open wounds, blood flowing and now a new wound in my back a firm push from behind made my body imbalance and I fell from the building.
FWOOOOO-DOOM!
I fell from the building piercing the air directly to the ground just like holding my last breathes before i actually die.
KREEEAK...
I used my last left energy to turn and lay on my back.
Only to see a levitating Tatari with only his half body visible followed by his four shikigami.
Raika for speed
Iwa for defense
Yumi for ranged offense
Sai for making their regeneration fast and also to work as a healer and the one who pushed me from above.
"Finish him Yumi" Rinne took a pause "Or wait" Rinne became fully visible and swiftly stood on his legs
Rinne turned as his shikigamis followed him leaving me there for dying.
They returned in a second. Iwa grabbed my red hair and lifted me I wanted to shout but failed to do so.
Rinne lifted a headless dead body of a boy not more than 4 years old.
"This was only I could find my" Rinne laughed as the blood from the dead body fell to the ground
The settled rage returned again with more force but it instantly stopped due to
The guilt
The intentions
His actions and
His helpless ness
[Flashback]
[Inside Zorian's mind]
[Graveyard in the aircraft]
"Zorian here for talking with me alone?" Vance sensei asked in a soft tone
"No… actually yes there is always a thought in my mind" I said awkwardly
"What is it?" Vance sensei asked
"Does winning means loosing who you are? Sometime I feel the weight of manacles is too heavy" I said while looking down
"I think you are asking the wrong person you should ask Arashi about this" Vance sensei said while looking to the grave
"But why him not you? And also he is unconscious from our last and first lesson" I said in disappointed tone
"Ahhh yes then in my terms winning means knowing yourself better if you fight for yourself. But i said you to ask to Arashi as he fights for everyone except himself just as you" Vance sensei took a pause
"You know why he is different cause he once said that in every possibility in every dream you have you share a same trait" Vance sensei said finally with a smile
"Never thought he would say something for someone like me who just met him 3 days ago in which he is already unconscious one day" I said
"Its not just 3 days Zorian you two are old soul's maybe old friends in some other universe or in previous life but that not the question" Vance sensei said with a giggle
"Ohh yes he might have said determination or no.. dedication i guess" I said in confusion
"Kindness. He said because of this you will always be the King and he will be your happy pawn" Vance sensei said with his warmest smile
[Everything turning to dust]
"Arashi but why do you trust me so much" I asked myself in the dark
"Even if I won't do it for myself now I will become the King not for myself but for him" I said to myself
BOOOM!
A sudden shockwave hit all of us opening new wounds on the body of tatari and shikigami but healing my wounds
"Thank you Arashi, now you may rest" I said with a smirk
GRAB! GRAB!
I drove his left axe into Rinne's shoulder and grabbed Iwa's hand which had me hanging and raised my dominant hand
ZZK-SNRRK…CRK
The attack that had slaughtered countless lives over decades, as arcanists failed time and time again to meet its criteria, was a technique said to be usable by anyone—yet its users were so rare they lingered only as whispers, as if deliberately erased from history. Zorian, unwilling and unaware, fulfilled those impossible conditions, and the technique was unleashed—driven straight into the jaws of the SPECIAL GRADE TATARI, carving a wound that will never heal.
My new attack distorted the reality a thin black fracture line flashed inside rinne's whole skull and then instantly another red and blue coloured light flicked inside Rinne's body and it sounded like glass cracking underwater.
THEN-
All five including Rinne and his shikigami's flew and spread across the battlefield due to the shockwave but
Everything stopped
Even sound...faded
Suddenly Zorian's body blurred like it never existed
But something remained inside his body not outside
A faint glow. His flux core.
It pulsed once.
Then moved
From his Core... to his chest.
"So this is what flux stage 2" I said very very slowly
KTHUMPH!
Suddenly all 4 shikigami fist connected to Zorian's skull and broke every single bone, tore every single muscles and crushed Zorian's brain.
[Cut]
[The Starless Expanse]
"So this is how I reached this place" I asked the remnant
"How forgetful of a boy are you master" The remnant shouted
"Oh come on now we are here together for 5 years now you told me every thing about the technique and everything then why am I still here" I asked in annoyance
"That is why you are different master for others it would have taken more than 15 year for an example take an average person here spends more than 200 years learning all this you have learned in just 5 years" the remnant said.
"Really??" I asked
"Master you won't understand everything now but when you are in the real world so just understand this" Remnant took a pause
"What?" I asked
"Master this is not your first time here. You might, you should ,you must become the strongest of them all but that is on your hand. But there is something i need to tell you there is a old soul that himself will be in the dark to keep you in light" the remnant said and gone
"But who just tell me who" I asked in a desperate tone
"So fighting with unanswered questions is really tough.. but no he said I will remember and understand everything ones I am out hahahaha I guess I will know" I giggled alone in the starless expanse
[Cut]
[Back to the battle field]
"Still nothing" I said while looking to the ground
The moment I entered the battlefield all the shikigamis had took there position as if they know I was alive and they are about to DIE.
"I shouldn't have let you guys wait for so long so lets begin" I said with a smile looking up in the sky
The moment words escaped my mouth all of them jumped on me.
"SHŪKYOKU KENGEN - TENSADAN-KAI
(Ultimate Manifestation - Heaven Chained World Severance)" A King has risen—one the world was never meant to witness.