The clash between Raquel and Kirihai echoed throughout the battlefield. Shards of crystal shot through the air like a relentless storm, each one forged into the shape of a razor-sharp shuriken. Raquel stood at a distance, firing her barrage with deadly precision.
Kirihai, unfazed, weaved between the sparkling projectiles with fluid grace. With each dodge, her kunai moved like extensions of her body, slicing away those that came too close.
"You're fast. And your durability… it's honestly impressive," Kirihai said, her voice calm amidst the chaos.
Raquel didn't respond. Instead, she lunged forward, her hand now coated in sharp, glimmering crystal. She threw a punch with brutal force.
Kirihai narrowed her eyes. She parried and dodged the strikes with elegance, deflecting each blow with her kunai. Then, with a sudden motion, she drove a swift kick into Raquel's stomach, launching her through a row of buildings.
As debris rained from the collapsing structures, Kirihai's fingers formed a sign.
"Death Gale."
A tremendous surge of energy exploded from her body, forming a massive, swirling wave of force that blasted forward and ignited the area where Raquel had fallen in a violent burst of light and smoke.
Kirihai stretched and yawned.
"All this fighting... it's wearing me out."
She turned to leave, but the ground beneath her rumbled. Spikes of crystal burst upward like jagged teeth from hell, nearly impaling her.
"Tch—!"
Kirihai leapt away just in time. More spikes followed, popping up faster and faster, forcing her to dodge frantically.
Then, from beneath the shattered earth, Raquel erupted like a bullet and landed a punch squarely on Kirihai's jaw. The impact sent her flying through the air.
As she flew, Kirihai noticed a new barrage of crystals screaming toward her. Twisting her body midair, she flipped and flipped again, narrowly avoiding them. Once she regained balance, she landed on her feet and wiped a streak of blood from her mouth.
A smile formed on her lips.
"You've got some serious physical strength. And these crystals... they don't seem like they can break at all."
Raquel's third eye—the crystal embedded in her forehead—glowed with a fierce light.
"Your flattery won't work on me," she said coldly.
The crystals around her hands hardened further, sharpening into deadly blades. More white energy started to flow all over her body.
Kirihai's smirk widened.
"Then stop holding back and go all out. Let's have some real fun."
Elsewhere in the skies, two blurs streaked through the clouds like comets.
Sorata was flying at breakneck speed, his body glowing with immense destructive energy. Behind him, Son chased, flames swirling violently around his body.
Son hurled blast after blast of fire toward Sorata, each attack powerful enough to melt steel. But Sorata, grinning from ear to ear, dodged them with ease. He was moving like lightning while dodging Sōn's powerful bursts of flames all over the sky.
"You're not too shabby, little brother," Sorata called out.
Son gritted his teeth and thrust his arm forward. "Flaming Burst!", Sōn called out his attack.
A surge of fire, hotter than a star, condensed into his arm and exploded toward Sorata.
Excited by the attack, Sorata charged his own arm with chaotic, purple energy.
"Try this!" he shouted.
He launched a wave of destructive power that swallowed Son's flames whole and blasted him to the ground. The impact shattered part of the landscape below them.
Before Son could recover, Sorata appeared beside him, grabbing him into a tight hug.
With a smirk, Sorata said, "It's good to see you again. I thought I'd never get to see my little brother ever again."
Sōn struggled, flames flickering around him. "Let go—! You're burning me!"
"You're still so warm," Sorata muttered with a twisted smile, his destructive energy surging.
Son's eyes burned with fury. "Before you call me 'little brother,' you'd better explain why you went rogue! Why did you leave for all these years only to come back as a villian?"
Sorata's grin faded slightly. "Because that worthless excuse for a father treated me like trash."
"…What?" Sōn exclaimed with disbelief and shock.
Sorata's voice deepened with resentment. "When I was a kid, I couldn't control my destructive energy. It either hurt me or barely made a dent on a wall. My output was pathetic. And Dad—Kojin—he started to look down on me. Called me a failure. Never even bothered to even encourage me!."
Son's eyes widened, his breath catching in his throat.
"He hated the weak," Sorata continued. "He couldn't stand having a kid who didn't meet his standards. So he threw me out. Just like that."
"You're lying!" Son shouted, flames bursting around him in all directions. "Dad is the lord of the city! He protects everyone! He's a kind man—he could never do something like that!"
"…So you really don't remember anything." Sorata laughed, the sound cold and hollow. "You were just a kid when he kicked me out. After he divorced Mom and threw her somewhere. You never saw the truth."
"Shut up!" Sōn yelled, tears mixing with flames as he launched a fireblast out of his body while being hugged by Sorata.
But Sorata flew away from him and dodged the huge bursts of flames with ease. Then he blitzed forward to Sōn like lightning.
Blow after blow, Sorata blitzed Son around the sky, each hit releasing a burst of destructive energy that painted the clouds with purple flashes. As he pummeled Sōn, his laughter turned into furious screams of anger
"If you won't believe me, then shut the hell up and fight me!!" he roared.
Each strike carried years of pain.
"He called me a disgrace… A mistake! So now, he'll reap what he sowed!"
Sorata's aura flared violently as he summoned a glowing orb of destructive energy.
"Pure Blaze of Hell."
He hurled the orb toward Sōn.
A massive explosion tore through the skyline, the shockwave was something that would have ripped a chunk of the city apart.
As the dust from the sky settled, Sorata floated to the ground, his energy still flaring while his body was burning from the inside out.
"Would've loved to play a little longer…" he muttered, looking at the injured Sōn who had steam brewing from his body. "But I'm busy."
A voice echoed in his head—Kenji's.
"Sorata. It's time."
"I'm coming," he responded.
A swirling portal opened behind him.
Just as Sorata was about to step through, Son weakly called out, "Saito…!"
Sorata paused.
"I don't want things to end like this…"
Sorata glanced back with an unreadable look.
"…Don't worry," he said. "One day, we'll have that chat. Just you and me—brothers."
With that, he disappeared into the portal.
END OF CHAPTER.