Chapter 25

The world slowed to a halt. I heard the thumping of my heart echo in my ears as nothing but rage consumed my thoughts. In that instant, I had remembered the sight of my family being killed in front of me. Not so much as a body left of them due to the recklessness of the magi officers; due to the Secular’s lesser evil approach to the world. My body seared with burning rage; my blood boiling as I heard Yukino’s last words echo in my mind. I was running from the person I swore to kill. The person I failed to kill when I had the chance. My hands gripped the handles of the motorcycle tightly; my fingers numb and tingling with heat. I let out a roar of anger as I slammed on the brakes, drifted into a slide, and pulled a 180 turn. Tsuki got launched off the bike as she wasn’t holding on to me and tumbled onto the ground with loud screams. I was breathing heavily as I glared daggers into the two Bishops, revved the engine of my bike, and drove toward them.

“Ryuki, what the hell are you doing?!” Tsuki screamed at me.

I heard none of it, however, as all I could hear was blood pumping in my ears. My body was hot, everything burned inside me. It was like I was set on fire from the inside. Kyosuke and Yukino were smiling wicked at me as they saw me heading toward them. I finally got a good look at them as I increased my speed toward them. Just from looking at them I understood what Ichiro meant by Bishops without their sanity. Kyosuke was wearing a tunic that was open in the middle, exposing his chest that had purple crests and runes carved into it, swirling with magic. His arms had similar runes spiraling up them that moved unnaturally as if they were under his skin. His face was wreathed in a chaotic smile, and his eyes were like flaming daggers; burning red with pure hatred. I didn’t remember much of him from when I first fought him, but I think his hair wasn’t quite as long before. It was reaching down to his back and was unkempt and dirty and had streaks of purple within the black of it.

“Come to face your death directly? I’ll gladly cut your head off for you!” Kyosuke said, holding his hand in the air. In it, he conjured his manifestation. I didn’t remember his original manifestation, but it certainly wasn’t what I was seeing now; he wielded a large great sword that looked straight out of a video game. It was much too large for anyone to practically use, but he swung it around like it was no heavier than a bamboo stick. It glowed with a menacing ethereal red hue that crackled with crimson sparks. He launched at me, taking long strides as we raced toward one another. I held my hand up, called forth my own manifestation, a glowing ethereal hand cannon, and started to fire at him. He cackled maniacally as he swatted each of the bullets away with his sword.

“Is that all your pathetic manifestation can do?! I thought ranged ones were supposed to be strong!”

Kyosuke slid across the ground, pulling himself into a readied stance as if he were about to swing a baseball bat. He was right in front of me at this point, and I had no room to turn my bike into a dodge. Kyosuke swung his massive sword in a horizontal arc, aiming for my head. I could hear the magic emanating off his weapon crackle as it sliced through the air. I let go of the handles and laid flat against my bike, watching as the sword sliced over top of me. As I zoomed passed Kyosuke, I took several shots at his sides with my manifestation, the bullets penetrating his shield and piercing through his side. He let out another cackle, but it sounded more one of enjoyment rather than pain.

“Why put up a fight? You can’t win, dragon boy!”

I pulled myself back up and kept driving toward the other Bishop; toward Yukino. She was much different than I remembered, clear that the augmentation that Ichiro mentioned altered more than just their magical talent. Instead of the prim and proper Magi Officer suit she wore normally, she was now wearing a tattered, loose grey robe that was open at the front, revealing much of her skin. She had belt-like straps across her chest and waist holding the robe to her body. She had similar straps on her arms and legs, and she wore no shoes, running barefoot toward me. Her hair was a wild mess as it frayed everywhere and billowed behind her like purple demonic wings.

“Oh, you’re going to let me remove you from this life? Are you accepting my offer to reunite you?! Oh, Ryuki Yagami, let me guide you to the afterlife!” Yukino shouted, her orange eyes burning with a wanton desire to kill.

She stopped running toward me as I continued charging toward her. She held her hands up and in a ring behind her several crests of magic formed, each with similar runes to the ones on Kyosuke’s body. The circles then shimmered and shooting out from them were orbs of pure light. I ducked my head down low onto my bike and accelerated, feeding magic into my bike, causing the engine to roar loudly. I swerved and dodged each projectile of light, the ground around me erupting in a splash of dirt and fire.

“Oh, silly boy, why are you resisting? I promise it’ll feel good!” Yukino yelled, launching another wave of light orbs.

At that moment, I reinforced the enhancement on my body and put as much power as I could into my mana shield. I lifted my leg up onto my seat and kicked off the bike, jumping backward into the air. As I did, Kyosuke’s manifestation cleaved the air beneath me, over the bike and a hail of light orbs crashed into the ground. I fired my manifestation as I soared through the air, hitting Kyosuke a few more times.

“Yukino! Watch where you’re launching those!” Kyosuke screamed out, slamming the ground with his foot, causing a cloud of dirt to erupt out of it.

“My dear Akito! I didn’t see you were right behind him!” Yukino cried out. “But I’m sure you would survive that, no?”

I landed on the ground and glared at the two mages as the bickered. Again, I felt the intense heat inside my body radiated out, consuming me from within. My manifestation started to glow brighter as I brought it up to eye level, taking aim at Yukino.

“You will know a worse hell than anything the Secular has done to any person in this world.” I muttered out.

“Eh? Speak up, dragon boy Ryuki, we can’t hear you mumbling to yourself!” Yukino said, putting her hand behind her ear.

Kyosuke instead just charged at me, again taking long strides as he rushed in at an inhuman speed. I fired my manifestation at him repeatedly, but he dodged each shot with ease like he had even when he wasn’t augmented. He appeared next to me in a flash, his sword ready to cleave me in two. I only saw a glimpse of his wicked smile on his face before feeling the impact of his colossal sword hitting my side. My vision went red as I felt the pain rush through me, and blood spurting out of my mouth.