VII - Aqua: Genesis Knight

Akiha: “Brother–!”

Akiha rushes towards Akira, who was tied, taped, and beaten up.

Akiha untapped his mouth and started untying the restraints on her brother.

Akiha: “Who did this to you...? And the mana energy around this storage room… Why does it feel like there’s none when there should be…?”

Akira opened his mouth, trying to say something, but started panting heavily and coughing violently.

Akira: “...They… They beat me up… Tied me… Used Umbrea to change the mana readings and disguise as me…”

Akiha: “Umbrea..!? But that's…”

The “Sage”, or someone who is trying to impersonate the Sage, is most likely involved.

This mission might be more serious than it seems.

Akira: “...There are two people involved… One who looks exactly like the Sage in the legends… And also…”

Akira told Akiha the identity of the second person, which led her to widen her eyes in disbelief.

Akiha: “That guy...!? But I don’t see a reason for him to do this… But wait for me here, okay? I’ll need to let the others know about this…”

Akira nodded in response, which led Akiha to stand up and rush back to the school building.

***

Aqua Mare: “C…Curse you...!”

The Mare yelled at the top of their lungs, as they were engulfed by the wild flames.

The Mare raises his left arm, trying to generate a huge ball of water to extinguish the flames.

Kaito: “Not so fast. Sora, jump.”

Sora did what he was told. Kaito smirks and presses both of his palms onto the wet ground.

Huge, wild blue sparks started spreading around his arms. Kaito presses the ground further, causing those sparks to flow through the ground.

Kaito: “Shockwave.”

The electric shocks start zapping through the Aqua Mare’s body. The mare shrieked in pain, and a pool of water started flowing out of its body, like how dirty water gushes out of a sewer. The shape of a human body slowly emerges within that pool of water.

Kaito: “Now show us your identity, Mare.”

The pool of water writhed, pulling itself together like a creature gasping for air. The liquid clung to the forming shape, sliding off piece by piece until flesh and fabric finally emerged beneath it.

A boy collapsed to his knees, soaked, trembling, coughing out the last traces of the transformation.

Sora’s eyes widened.

Kaito stood up, his expression hardening slightly.

The boy slowly lifted his head.

A smirk, tired, bitter, and twisted at the edges, crept across his face.

???: “...Tch. I thought this was a perfect plan. I never thought a coreless loser like you would ruin all this…”

Sora: “R-Ryu!? You are a Mare!?”

Ryu let out a dry laugh, one with more pain than amusement.

Ryu: “Surprised? Someone like you… Someone who doesn’t even have a core… beating me?”

His fist clenched, knuckles white.

Ryu: “You don’t understand. Everyone expects everything from me just because I have magic. They look at you and expect nothing. And I’m the one who’s supposed to smile and accept it.”

His glare burned through his dripping hair as he clenched his jaw.

Ryu: “Why shouldn’t I tear down a system that treats people like tools?”

The air thickened with tension. Sora took a shaky step forward.

Sora: “Ryu… what happened to you?”

Ryu’s eyes darkened.

Ryu: “What happened? I finally met someone who understood. Someone who gave me the power to change things.”

A faint pulse of blue light rippled across his skin — the remnants of the transformation.

Ryu: “The Sage showed me the truth… and I’ll finish what I started.”

Suddenly, the door slammed open so hard it rattled the windows.

Akiha: “Sora! Kaito! I've finally found you two! I heard—”

Her voice stopped.

Her eyes landed on the dripping, kneeling figure in the center of the room.

Her brother was right.

Akiha: “…Ryu?”

Akiha caught her breath. She stumbled forward slightly, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.

Sora turned toward her, worry tightening his face.

Ryu looked up.

The bitter smile faded.

Ryu: “…Tch. So, you’re here too, Akiha.”

Akiha: “Why… why are you… Why would you do something like this!?”

Ryu scoffed.

Ryu: “Why? Because this school… this world… already decided what I am. A tool. A weapon. A ‘future hope’ just because I have magic.”

He pushed himself to his feet, water dripping onto the wet ground.

Ryu: “So I’ll reshape it. Break it if I have to.”

Akiha: “Ryu, stop—!”

But it was already too late.

Ryu stood up to his feet.

Blue mana flared around him like a rising tide.

His eyes glowed.

Sora’s eyes sharpened, in sync, the trio jumped towards Ryu, planning to strike him down before it's too late.

Ryu raised his hand, and water swirled around his wrist like a tightening whirlpool.

Ryu: “You think you can stop me!?”

A massive surge of mana erupted from his body.

Water roared outward in spiraling currents. Papers flew. Chairs toppled. The entire office shook as if a giant heartbeat pulsed through it.

Sora: “Akiha, Kaito, get back!”

Kaito pulled Akiha away as Ryu’s figure melted into liquid, reshaping into the massive, terrifying form of the Aqua Mare.

The Mare’s roar rattled the walls.

A surge of water exploded outward, flooding the room and spilling into the hallways, seeping under doors, cracking tiles, and shattering windows.

The school was submerged in seconds.

The force of the water slammed Sora against a wall, causing him to untransform. Everything became blurry, dark, and cold as he sank into the flood.

Sora: “No… Not like this…”

But before darkness could take him, hundreds of tiny flashes of light zipped through the water.

Kaito's voice rang out from one of them. 

Kaito: “Sora! My mana spiders, they’ll keep the oxygen flowing! Just stay alive!”

The small, drone-like spiders created bubbles of breathable air around students and teachers. They attached themselves to walls and ceilings while frantic figures floated helplessly below.

Akiha, coughing, grabbed for the device mounted on the wall and shouted orders to the trapped students.

Akiha: “Everyone...! We are under a Mare attack. But don’t worry and stay calm, we are trying our best to end this!”

Ryu, now fully Mare again, floated in the watery domain he created. He towered over everyone and stared directly at Sora as he drifted in the current.

Ryu: “Look at you. You’re just a helpless coreless pretending to be a hero.”

Ryu spoke in a distorted voice.

Sora’s vision steadied. He gripped the Genesis Engine and jabbed it onto the ground.

Sora: “No… I’m not done…”

Sora started pulling himself up, slowly and weakly. Seeing this, Ryu was enraged.

Ryu: “You are NOTHING!”

Ryu’s voice cracked like thunder. The words echoed through the flooded corridors.

Sora’s legs shook as he pushed himself up. The Genesis Engine clattered against the cracked floor, but he held it tightly, as if it were the only thing keeping him alive.

His breath came in ragged gasps. Fear flickered in his eyes, but something else began to burn alongside it.

Determination.

Sora: “I’m… Genesis Knight.”

Akiha turned to him, her eyes wide. Kaito smirked slightly.

Sora lifted the Ignis core.

Set! Ignis!

Sora: “…And my duty is to protect everyone in this school.”

He pulled the Engine’s trigger.

Fire exploded around him, sparking to life. Tiny bits of fire come together to form armor pieces one by one. Each piece connected with a metallic hiss. His visor lit up last, glowing with bright red light.

Sora: “Let’s end this, right here, right now!”