End Game - Part 2

Touka Kisaragi. A student from the Tokyo Magic Hunter Academy… and the one who was my protégé until not long ago.

Seeing her made my heart feel heavy. We had shared good times; I helped her as much as I could, and she gradually opened up to me. However, all of that went to hell when I was accused of being the Beast King.

When I was cornered at my agency and all those hunters surrounded me, seeing her made me happy; I thought I could count on her. But when she looked at me with such a cold gaze while aiming her weapon… I knew that everything we had once built was over. Not even when we first met had she looked at me that way.

And on top of that, because of it, my mother was also caught and imprisoned, only to end up dying shortly after, without me even being able to say goodbye.

All those memories surfaced the instant I saw Touka, which made me frown almost immediately, even though seeing her used to feel comforting.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I questioned coldly.

"I came to help you!" she replied while preparing her signature rifle.

Help me?

Hearing her say such a thing irritated me. I needed help when they blamed me, but she was one of the people who pointed at me as the one responsible for everything. It was already too late to want to help me.

"Listen, you—"

"No! You listen to me!" she exclaimed, interrupting me. "I’m truly sorry! I know I’m partly to blame for what happened to Mrs. Takahashi, all because I didn't trust you…! But I want to make it right, and I won't just let you die!"

"You don’t understand, I—"

"I know you don't care about dying, but I don't care!" she shouted, approaching me with firm steps. "Now I have a duty to Mrs. Takahashi, and because of that, I won’t allow you to die! I understand your desire for revenge—I’ve been a prisoner of it myself… but letting yourself be carried away by that only destroys you. You taught me that yourself, and it’s not what your mother would have wanted…"

It was then that I remembered our first day together. I remembered how stubborn she was about wanting to kill magic beasts, and how, some time later, she revealed the story of her older sister. Yes, she had changed during the time she spent under my care; I even remembered how I spoke about her with my mother when she visited me.

Mom…

"She didn’t release them just to feel better about herself like the Beast King said. She released them because she felt compassion for you; she wanted you to have a good life despite everything… Are you going to waste the life she offered you like this?!"

Honestly, I don’t remember much of the time I was held captive as a clone in the laboratory. I only have vague memories, probably because my consciousness was barely forming, but there is something I do remember, something I almost forgot after this whole incident.

"Go. You deserve to live your own lives. Be free and find happiness…" the woman said, her voice on the verge of breaking. "And I’m sorry for everything."

Those were the last words I heard from my mother before she released us from the lab.

Touka was right. She would have wanted me to live the best life possible, and even despite the trouble I gave her by becoming a hunter, she looked at me and smiled, proud of the man I had become.

All the other clones… my brothers, were dead now. Only the Beast King and I remained. It was time to clean up my problematic older brother’s mess… and live for those who couldn’t.

"Please, let me help you," Touka pleaded, pulling me from my thoughts.

I only looked at her. Her determined eyes, wet with a few tears, conveyed with clarity how resolute she was, and after seeing her that way, I finally stood up.

"Stay here."

"What?! You mean you won't—?!"

"I’ll need you to shoot that guy when I give you the signal. If you miss, we won’t get another chance. Do you understand?"

Touka opened her eyes in surprise, but she quickly caught on and nodded vigorously. Working with her again left me with mixed feelings, but I had to set them aside for now. Besides, even now, I knew I could trust her skills as a marksman.

***

Back on the battlefield, Kenshi was trying to keep up with the Beast King, but after holding out for much longer than anyone else could have, he was finally defeated with a powerful kick that sent him flying, crashing against the wall of one of the ruined buildings.

Daisuke and Usagi quickly arrived to take his place, and catching the Beast King off guard, he was struck in the face with a punch of blue fire and slashed across the abdomen by a swift electric dagger.

The Beast King counterattacked almost immediately, forcing both hunters to keep their distance; fortunately, they were not injured.

"Please, you're going to need much more than that to kill me," the Beast King stated.

"How about something like this?"

Just at that moment, I reached the battlefield and took advantage of the distraction to transform my weapon into a sword and slash my enemy’s back. My attack was successful, and I managed to inflict a deep wound on the King, who immediately backed away from me, landing right in the center of the three of us.

Without giving him even a moment to breathe, Daisuke, Usagi, and I attacked at the same time. The sheer volume and speed of our strikes finally began to take their toll on the King, who could barely keep up and took several wounds along the way—not to mention he couldn't summon his magic beasts, as they were already fighting the army of hunters that had come to support us.

However, just when we thought we had a chance, even managing to make him drop his weapon, the Beast King enhanced his body with mana. His attributes increased drastically; he sent Usagi flying when she was caught by surprise and blocked another attack from Daisuke, who backed away before being countered.

To try and level the playing field, I also enhanced my body and weapon, but the difference in mana management efficiency between us was striking—his was far superior.

Even so, we didn't back down, and Daisuke and I continued to attack together. He used his fire elemental magic to boost his strikes, managing to land a few thanks to my occasional assists. I also attacked with everything I had, whether by using my weapon as it shifted forms over and over, using mana techniques like the explosion or the slash from that irritating tutor, and combining everything with Daisuke's attacks to deal as much damage as possible.

Having Daisuke supporting me this way was nostalgic; it reminded me of when we worked together at his agency, but not even then did we push ourselves as hard as we were now.

However, it wasn't enough. The Beast King managed to catch my companion's leg, slamming him into the ground repeatedly before throwing him far away, right to the same spot as Usagi. Then, he looked at me with fury and lunged, making me drop my weapon—but that didn't stop me.

Now, with both of us unarmed, the fight continued with mana-enhanced fistfights. Every blow he landed was devastating; I felt my very bones trembling, as if they were about to shatter with every impact he connected. But I knew the damage we had all managed to do was starting to weigh on him too.

Neither of us backed down. We both stood our ground and traded punches over and over without giving the other time to rest. It was grueling—without a doubt the hardest fight I had ever had in my life, but also the most important.

To my misfortune, my strength was not enough, and eventually, I succumbed to the Beast King’s attacks. He knocked me down with a powerful blow to the face.

But just as he tried to move in for the finishing blow, a great tornado formed at his feet and lifted him up. Wounds appeared on his body at high speed, the product of the sharp wind Kenshi loved to use, who had managed to get back up to keep fighting.

"I’m going to kill you all!"

Thanks to his mana-enhanced body, he managed to withstand the attack despite his wounds. Having escaped the vortex, he immediately attacked Kenshi, severing one of his arms.

"KENSHI!!!"

I tried to get up, but my body felt too heavy. Even so, I refused to watch anyone else die. I used a mana explosion to propel myself toward the Beast King, ramming into him with force and making him recoil, successfully saving Kenshi.

However, I had finally reached my limit. Knowing this, the King approached with fury and grabbed me by the neck, lifting me up and aiming his arm at my body. He was about to murder me.

"There’s no point in resisting anymore. Once I devour you, I’ll finish off the rest of the hunters, gather an even greater army of monsters, and end everything. But it’s fine—I’ll make sure you reunite with that Takahashi witch."

The Beast King, just like before, opened his maw, revealing his sharp, jagged teeth once again, ready to devour me. I could no longer defend myself. I had exhausted almost all my strength, and only a little mana remained… but I had already foreseen this.

Before he could bite, I gathered what was left of my mana in the palm of my hand and launched it—not toward the Beast King, but toward the sky, triggering an explosion similar to fireworks.

They weren't powerful. They weren't some hidden ability. They were just beautiful fireworks.

"What? It seems you're already delirious. Fine, I’ll end your suffering now—"

BANG!

Suddenly, I felt a piercing pain in my stomach. Blood began to seep out, dripping to the ground little by little, but I wasn't worried. The one who caused the wound wasn't the Beast King, but a bullet that passed through my body and hit him directly in the head.

Feeling the impact, he quickly let go of me and looked forward. There stood Touka, smoke rising from the barrel of her rifle.

"You…" he uttered before falling.

Even after taking a shot to the head, he managed to stay on his feet for a few seconds. His endurance was truly monstrous, but it didn't last long, and he finally collapsed to the ground.

The Beast King was dead.