A Battle of Mindsets

Yahiko was able to use his ability on Agatha, which easily told them where she was with her brother. They had no time to waste, using a Yellow Egress Chaplet to teleport to her.

However, it seemed as if she was prepared.

The Dougen sliced at Wally’s core, as he used a Healing Chaplet quickly along with a Manipulator Chaplet that shot out his mana lines not at Agatha, but at Akari. Natsuki followed suit with his swordsmanship, trying to slice the woman, but she was just as incredible as the rumors of her were. It was like she was reading his movements, so he threw a Smoke Chaplet in the air and went after the boy.

Yahiko used Switcher’s Code for 3 seconds and gained every ability that Agatha had. He was shocked at how effective the Dougen sword was. There was much to use that all were incredible and it wasn’t even considered a top sword. He noticed though that many of the abilities were locked when he pulled up the guide for the sword. He knew immediately what it was from reading up on the Flaen family in the past. ‘It’s a two person sword. I can’t unlock all the abilities using Switcher’s Code unless I can get in the boy’s mind when they are synced. However, they are never going to be synced, which means she is at a disadvantage too. Can I use pain as a way to synchronize it?’ he questioned in his mind.

Yahiko: “Wally! Use Blood’s Burn.”

Wally unleashed this ability, which shot out blood from his body in ropes that connected to everyone's wrists including his own. Everyone screamed in pain equally as it affected everyone. Agatha mustered up some words.

Agatha: “You stupid coward…What a useless ability.”

Agatha surprisingly broke through this and kicked Wally across the ground. He stuck his sword hard in the ground, stopping all of his weight and jolted back at her, using Red Thread Execution. The thick blood tried to swallow and tie her up when it touched it, but it disintegrated right away.

She threw a continuous amount of punches at Wally again before Natsuki came up from behind her as the shard on his sword lit up and exploded the area, which sent her flying while she used a Levitation Chaplet midair.

Yahiko walked over and held the boy in front of her while proposing a deal to tell them where the people went that took Iki. She claimed that she did not know, but that when they asked, her brother was eager to be a part of the group, so she followed in his footsteps. She threatened them to let her brother go before she decided to get serious.

Yahiko assured his group that he knew what her powers were. When she cast them, he would do what he could to counter them. She looked down to the ground and then to her hands with visions of blood that stained her mind. She felt something…something unfamiliar, yet similar. Like, something like this had happened before, but her memory was blurry. She looked up as her eye started to burn red behind her eyepatch. Red flames shot out from it. Akari stopped laughing and looked more serious than he had ever been in this moment, or even his whole life. He looked at his sister and spoke.

Akari: “Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll lock in.”

It was like a light switch that suddenly turned off from light to darkness.

This fool wearing women’s makeup and clothes looked back up at them and his right eye burned the same flames that Agatha’s was. He slid underneath Yahiko with an amazing speed and agility back to where his sister stood. She reached the sword out as Akari took his hand and held it. They both began to burn with these flames across their whole body.

Yahiko: “No! I’ll use the power of the Dougen…Eternal Embers!”

Similar colored flames sparked at them endlessly, but ultimately did nothing.

Yahiko: “Wally! Natsuki! Do something!”

Wally: “Threads Basket of Fate!”

The red sky began to lower, but by the time it reached them, the brother and sister had been separated, one now glowing white and one glowing black, like ying and yang. The Dougen had not split in half like the rumors, but instead, it duplicated in both of their hands. A nasty look grimaced on both of them, who now looked like monsters in human flesh. Their eyes gleamed with solemnity, as if they had just watched someone they loved die and had made a promise to defeat these men that stood before them.

Natsuki stepped forward, wanting to talk before engaging in what looked to be life threatening. He looked them both in the eyes, but was taken back.

Natsuki: “I apologize. I wanted to talk things out, but it seems that I can’t do that. Neither of you pronounce a shred of love in you at this moment. Is it perhaps that sword that caused that? I sensed love before, but no longer do I see beauty. I rarely do this, but as someone who based their beliefs on love and gratitude, I cannot look past this. Yahiko. Wally. Get ready.”

Wally: “Wh-What?”

Yahiko: “Why’s that?”

Natsuki: “Neither of these two possess any love in this state. If they are willing to go that far against a group of people that simply asked a question, then I will not hesitate. Get ready, it’s going to be a bloodbath.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Iki could no longer scream anymore. He was trapped in layers of different colored cubes along with chaplets that lingered on the outside of them. He had no choice but to sit back and wait. Just as he did, the men from before walked in, shining with cockiness and confidence mixed.

Hachiro ran forward and punched him across the face continuously, getting his anger out on Iki. Iki panted hard as blood poured from his mouth, but he still couldn’t let this man get the last laugh.

Iki: “That's all you got? Hit me like you mean it.”

Hachiro: “Tch! You bast–”

Reiken: “Stop. Hachiro, go wait outside, will you? I have something important to discuss with this boy.”

Iki: “Boy? I may look like a boy, but trust me…I got a hell lot more of a life than you do.”

Reiken: “I see. Well, let me take this blindfold off of you. There is someone here with me that would like to see you face to face. “

Iki looked at the man, but had no idea who he was. He just smiled at Iki, but then his thoughts came back to his head and thought about what he said before they captured him. ‘Did you see the…trick?’

Iki: “Y-You. No. Impossible. Wh-Who are you?”

???: “Yours truly. Think it true and it will come to pass. Nice to meet you, Iki. My name is…Lorenzo Cain.”

Iki became frustrated and tried to bolt out of his chair, but nothing budged. There were individual barriers all around the chair as well, which it made it impossible to even get up. Lorenzo stared him in the eyes again and explained in a confident voice that could lead a nation.

Lorenzo: “You see, all these stories created throughout the years of my past, my present, and my future, I just didn’t like them, but I had no choice. That’s what a leader does, Iki. He struggles in vain to protect what he loves. He creates a false representation of who he is in order to play his trump card. While some of the stories are true, most of them are not. Although, it was my idea to fund you all and your land so we could have some peace. Do not take that as a set up. It is not.”

Iki: “Wh-What is this? Who are you actually?”

Lorenzo: “You are very short tempered for a supposed leader. Yet another flaw. Tell me Iki, why is your land so divided? I run about 50% of the surrounding areas, and honestly, I expected you to do the same. Well, maybe besides for the Land of the Witches. However, you do not protect those that need help. You have rogue citizens going around who are much stronger than you are and your subordinates that save lives, yet you focus on a few areas. Tell me, why haven’t you invaded the Land of the Stiff? A land that many tourists go to and kids accidentally, thinking they will survive, but do not. You do nothing but protect maybe a handful of places a few miles within your reach. Tell me, what is the reason for this?”

Iki: “Screw off.”

Iki spit in his face, so Reiken pulled a handkerchief out of his suit and handed him it. Iki looked at Reiken as well, but had no idea who he was either.

Reiken: “Oh don’t worry about me. I’m just here to enjoy the fun before I get my questions.”

Lorenzo: “You may be wondering why? Why go through all this trouble to capture…You? You see, it’s called leverage. Many people in this world want to collect all 70 chaplets, wondering what that will do. I truly do not know, so I cannot have an opinion on something that I don’t know, but that is not the case for me. I met this man next to me a long time ago and our interests aligned. I don’t know if you know this, but my wife is very ill. Her name is Fuyuko. She resides in my castle and I visit her every night as even on her death bed. She understands that I have basically an entire country to run as I am in charge of thousands and thousands of people, so she hid my secret. Anyways, a couple years ago, my wife and I were visiting Saint Crosses Cathedral in the Lands of Toff. A little girl had snuck out of the area and went west. Me and my wife were the only two that saw it, so we decided to go after her. She ran and ran and ran. We kept going until nightfall trying to find this little girl, having run probably over 40 miles. It was funny though because we got to a point where the trees and forest all looked the same over and over and over again. Nothing ever changed and the same animals appeared like it was a loop. Eventually, something appeared at the end as we trusted that we would find the little girl. It was a dark purple and black wall about 100 feet wide, however the sides that didn’t have this couldn’t be touched. It was a wavy barrier that was hypnotizing. We tried not to stare at it for too long, but my wife accidentally peered into it for longer than I noticed. She pointed at the veil and walked forward. I pulled her away, but she kept trying to go back. At one point, she even hit me and knocked me to the ground to go to it. She kneeled down and out of the veil came a stuffed animal. She grabbed it and in that moment, her body began to fill with disease. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but her skin became dark and her veins showed their dark blue color. I pulled her away and she realized what had happened. She apologized to me over and over, but I easily forgave her. When I asked her what happened, she didn’t know how to explain it. She said, “It was like…The happiest place ever. Like, being filled with joy constantly.”

Iki: “Listen. I don’t need to hear your sap story. Let me go. I got things to do.”

Reiken: “Oh, I think you’re gonna wanna hear this, Iki.”

Lorenzo: “Let me get straight to the point. I know you don’t want to hear about some sad story about my wife, however I think it’s pretty relevant in this case, don’t you? Do you not think someone from the Dark Mold would think this is pretty concerning?”

Iki: “What are you implying?”

Lorenzo got close to his face, looking him straight in the eyes with seriousness glaring at his pupils. He spoke with a deep voice that extended his cockiness.

Lorenzo: “It was a guess at first, but Reiken confirmed it for me on the battlefield. I didn’t think you’d actually do it against someone that was weaker than you, but you did. You used a power that none of us here have ever seen before, and from the looks of it, and with the experiments we have done with other people, that looked pretty damn close to what we’ve discovered. Isn’t that right? You’re from the Dark Mold, aren’t you? Tell me. Tell me how to fix my wife’s disease.”

Iki spit in the man’s face again without answering him. His appearance as a kid did not deceive them, as he was strong in his own selfish willpower. Lorenzo Cain did not move this time as the spit dripped down his face, staring in his eyes with what looked like the flames of hell. This man was prepared to do whatever it took to get this answer out of him.

Reiken: “If I may make a proposal, Lorenzo. It seems like he has not been tortured enough. I certainly do not want to ask my questions until yours are answered, so I believe we should come back in a little bit.”

Lorenzo agreed and called for Sayaka. Both the girls came in preparation to beat Iki to a pulp.

Reiken: “We have a few Recovery Chaplets to use for him. Go ahead and cut off some body parts and reheal them with it. Don’t use the Healing Chaplets though. We need those. Oh, but you can use some Blood Chaplets too and constantly stab him if you wish.”

Lorenzo and Reiken started to walk away before they heard Iki begin to speak directly to Lorenzo.

Iki: “Y-You sacrificed thousands of people just to capture me. Don’t ever look down on me as a leader. You’re never fit to be a leader, not in a million years.”

Lorenzo: “Oh, those people? Don’t worry about them. They were thieves and prisoners scattered across multiple lands thinking that I gathered over the years as soldiers. After all, who cares if a bunch of rebels in society die? Oh, I forgot to mention the fake Lorenzo Cain. I will say this. He was very loyal up until the very end, dying for my sake. My very own blood brother played his role beautifully, but I think it’s time for me to finally step into the light. Have fun down here.

Iki: “Tch!”