Chapter 7 - The Sound of the Sun

The dragon’s wings beat against the concrete, shattering the subway's foundation. With a guttural roar, the beast slammed through the ceiling, surging upward into the open air of Shinjuku.

“Damn it! Watch out!” Kana’s voice cracked over the roar of falling stones.

Rika’s fingers danced in the air, firing a dozen high-tensile wires that snagged the crumbling debris. Her threads hummed with tension, holding the ceiling in a precarious web of silk just long enough for the teams to scramble out. They emerged into the heart of Shibuya Crossing, where the winged beast had touched down.

“That baby is raring to go… you made that yourself?!” Rika gasped, staring at the mechanical scythe in Akari's hands.

“With a little help!” Akari shouted, her eyes locked on the monster. “But we can talk about the specs later—after we become Dragon Slayers!”

Akari leaped high, closing the distance to the dragon’s face in a single bound. The beast lashed out, claws like obsidian sabers swiping at her mid-air. Akari swung her scythe, the metal clanging against the dragon's nails with a shower of orange sparks. The sheer force of the impact tossed her back, sending her sliding across the asphalt.

“Akari!” Rika screamed.

The girl pushed herself up, panting heavily, but her grin only widened. “Yeah… better than before! In fact, my blood’s finally heating up!”

“How the hell are you holding that thing?” Yuto shouted, his hands glowing as he prepared a barrage of high-pressure water.

“Good question! I guess Kibi just likes me!”

Mira let out a dramatic, weary sigh. “You named it already…?”

“Just focus!” Kana commanded. “And watch out!”

The teams split up, with Kana and Junpei circled to opposite flanks. The leader of Astra rained blows upon the beast’s hide with a quick flurry of blows. Beside her, Junpei’s gauntlets hissed with steam as he slammed his fists into the creature’s ribs, each hit vibrating through the street. Yuto provided a chaotic cover with his water keeping the Dragon's eyes wandering.

Rika vaulted over the dragon’s neck, her wires lashing out to bind its head toward the ground. The beast roared, shattering the glass from buildings nearby.

Ami squeezed her eyes shut, her hands trembling. “It’s… it’s not working!”

The dragon began to glow—a violent, toxic purple that pulsed from beneath its scales.

“Fall back!” Kana screamed.

Rika reacted instantly,w snagging Kana’s waist with a thread and yanking her clear just as the dragon’s scales vibrated and launched. Thousands of razor-sharp obsidian shards filled the air, annihilating everything in their wake. Buildings were shredded; the pavement was turned to dust.

Akari spun her scythe in a frantic circle, the metal clack-clacking as she deflected the shards aimed at her. Junpei threw his arms up, his bronze gauntlets taking the brunt of the assault, though blood began to seep from a dozen cuts on his shoulders. Rika managed to weave a protective dome of thread around Ami and Mira, but as the assault subsided, her hands were slick with red.

She collapsed to her knees, her threads snapping and vanishing into the mist. Blood pooled beneath her, staining the white of her uniform.

“Rika!” Akari’s head whipped back, her confidence wavering for a split second.

“I’m alright! Just focus!” 

Junpei lowered his arms, dripping blood but wearing a manic, determined smile. “She’s right, Akari! The foe in front of us is all that matters! Lucents may bleed, but that’s how you know you’re alive!”

Akari’s grip tightened on her weapon. The dragon inhaled, its chest cavity expanding as it sucked the surrounding Blight-mist into its lungs. A second later, it unleashed a massive gust of purple smoke. Akari dove to the side, rolling against the base of a storefront. Where the smoke touched, the world rotted, the metal of the lamp posts corroded into rust, and the concrete blackened like rotting fruit.

She dashed forward, trying to cleave into the beast’s side, but the scythe merely bounced off the scales with a dull thud. The dragon’s tail followed up, slamming into Akari’s chest and sending her tumbling back into a nearby post.

“Damn it… how are we supposed to beat this thing?” Akari coughed, clutching her ribs.

The dragon roared again, its purple glow reflecting off the shattered glass of the surrounding skyscrapers.

“I… I don’t know,” Kana trembled.

Junpei didn't stop. He threw himself at the dragon’s neck, his fists striking the scales until the skin on his knuckles tore. “You think this will deter us?! You’re mistaken! Fall!”

A single flap of the dragon's wings sent Junpei tumbling back, but he stayed on his feet. “As long as I have my feet on the ground, Astra will never falter! I’ll beat you until my blood runs dry!”

Rika grabbed Ami’s hand, her eyes desperate. “I need everyone to hear what I just found out. Can you link us?”

“Theoretically, but… I’m not that attuned yet…”

Mira placed a steadying hand on Ami’s shoulder. “Then let’s do it together.”

A bright blue light flared across the battlefield. Suddenly, Rika’s voice echoed directly into everyone’s mind.

“It’s non-Newtonian! The harder you hit the outside, the stronger it bounces back! If we keep attacking the hide, it won’t be beatable!”

Junpei’s face fell. “Does that mean… I’ve only made things worse? Damn it!”

Akari’s eyes lit up as she looked at the monster’s unhinged jaw. “The outside might be tough, but the inside isn't!”

“You must be missing a screw!” Yuto shouted. “That thing will kill you the second you get close!”

Kana chuckles to herself, shaking her head. “This is Akari we’re talking about here, we’ve seen her make miracles time and time again. Who’d be surprised if she did it again? If she has a crazy plan, I’d stake my life on it!”

“We have a lot to lose, but we have to try!” Ami added, her eyes burning with a sudden, fierce determination. “Yuto, please!”

The boy scowled. “Fine. What’s the plan, oh masterful leader?”

Toru returns from the shadows, Mira turning to him with a vein popping out of her head,

“Where have you been?!”

He pointed toward a skyscraper that towered over the crossing. “Its skin is non-Newtonian, so I’ve prepared. We have to lead it away from the civilians. From there, you might be able to get into its mouth.”

Akari started bouncing on the balls of her feet, her Aether humming around her. “Then everyone—get ready to run!”

They took off. The dragon roared, its haunting purple glow casting long, distorted shadows across the ruins of Shinjuku. It gave chase, snapping its jaws at their heels. Akari used a light post to boost herself upward, her boots finding purchase on the vertical side of a building. While the others stayed in the streets, she ran along the glass, the scythe spinning in her hand to deflect a fresh barrage of scales.

Is this… freedom? I didn’t know this was even possible! Faster, I have to go faster!

“How is she so fast?” Yuto whispered in shock.

“Her ability!” Rika shouted over her shoulder. “It transfers kinetic energy into raw Aether. The more she builds up, the more powerful she gets! Go, Akari!”

For a fraction of a second, Rika saw her best friend’s face—Akari was wearing the widest, most delusional grin she had ever seen before she disappeared into a blur scattering the incoming attack before anyone could perceive her.

Are you seeing this, Mom? Dad? I’m the hero you said I’d be! This is proof!

“Perfect. Akari,” Toru said, pointing upward. “Others, hang on.”

Shadows rose from the street like viscous liquid, swallowing the teams. Ami squeezed her eyes shut as she fell into the darkness, only to open them seconds later on the rooftop of the skyscraper. She wobbled, clutching the railing as the wind whipped her hair.

“My power allows me to transport through shadows,” Toru explained simply. “It’s useless in a fight, but it works for this.”

Rika stepped to the ledge. “Then let’s get to work! Kana, help Akari get up here! Yuto, with me! We’re going to give Akari every bit of kinetic energy we can manage!”

Junpei cracked his knuckles, looking down at the approaching dragon. “I’ll keep it distracted. A few good punches should force it to use its breath attack again!”

Ami placed her hand on Rika’s back. “I’ll trust you… please, end this nightmare.”

Mira did the same but for Junpei. “Don’t you dare die, okay? I know you want to be strong but… You aren’t alone. Come back to us.”

Junpei paused, then let out his signature boisterous laugh. “That goes without saying! I’m the hope of Team Astra!”

He leaped. Junpei fell toward the dragon like a meteor just as Akari reached the upper floors. He pulled back a fist, his gauntlets glowing with a blinding white light. “Whatever wall is in my way can ALWAYS be shattered! For the ones I love, you WILL fall!”

His fist collided with the beast’s snout, the shockwave tearing a chunk of flesh from the dragon’s face. He looked back at Akari with a confident smirk, his arm soaked in blood. “Looks like we win this time!”.

He plummeted past the beast, disappearing into the mist below. Akari’s eyes caught fire. She sprinted the final few meters.

“Yuto, now!”

A massive ramp of water sprouted from the roof's edge. Rika’s wires lashed out, wrapping around Akari’s waist to provide a tether. Akari hit the ramp and launched into the sky, the dragon following her with a predatory lunge.

Yuto wobbled, his face pale as he clutched his head. “I’ve… reached my limit!”

Rika’s wires snapped under the tension. She fell back, her arms covered in rope burn. “Kana, stop it!”

The metal framework of the building’s antenna snapped, bending under Kana’s will to form massive iron hands that gripped the dragon’s neck. Kana starts bleeding from her mouth, then her ears. The blood trickled down being a sickly straw yellow. “You have to finish this, Akari…! You can do it!”

Ami stood at the ledge, uncharacteristically screaming at the top of her lungs. “YOU CAN DO IT, AKARI!”

Akari was at the apex of her jump, her fingertips grazing the heavens. She looked down at the world, and for a moment, the fear vanished, replaced by an absolute, comforting certainty.

In the darkened skies of this dreary world… I am the only sun that rises.

The beast glows once more, a brighter purple than before, so blindingly bright the heat from it could be felt miles away.

“AKARI!” The rooftop crew shouted together. 

Akari’s scythe shifted, the metal screaming as it transformed into the heavy, blocky frame of a railgun. She stared directly into the beast's maw, and for a split second, she saw him—the man in the tattered suit, his hollow eyes reaching out from the dragon’s gullet. She winced, then took a breath.

The railgun whirred, a high-pitched whine that drowned out the wind. Then, she pulled the trigger.

“Rest… and go back to a sweet dream!”

The golden beam swallowed the dragon’s breath and punched through its core. As Kana let go, passing out in a pool of yellow blood, the beast exploded. A brilliant fireball eclipsed the sunset, dispersing the clouds as far as the eye could and sending lightning bolts arching through the heavens she just pierced. Akari watched the aftermath with a faint smile, giving the fading embers a final thumbs up before her eyes fluttered shut. She descended gracefully, her scythe reverting to a simple staff.

She didn't hit the ground. She opened her eyes to find herself in Yuto’s arms.

“Hehe… this makes it the second time, doesn’t it?” Akari chuckled weakly.

“Can it,” Yuto muttered, looking away. “It’s a courtesy.”

“Still… I can’t move, so… thanks.”

Yuto looks away embarrassed, laying Akari down with the others. The sunset bled across the horizon as the Blight faded into a soft green glow. Peace lasted only a moment. The rhythmic thwip-thwip-thwip of helicopter blades wakes Akari right up. A woman in a sharp professional suit rappelled down from a news chopper, a microphone in one hand and a camera drone hovering beside her.

““What an impressive battle!” the reporter chirped, her eyes shining with the prospect of a future headline. “Any comments for the world after such a hard-fought war?”

Akari looked at the camera. She looked at her bruised, bleeding friends. Then, she flashed a bright, blindingly white smile.

“I’m Akari Hoshizawa!” she shouted, with gusto. “And I’m a hero!”

Chapter 7 - The End.