Cap 9 - The Limit

Amid the abandoned part of tokyo, Haruka and the strange woman faced each other deeply, amid that situation, the wise girl that that woman was strong, but Haruka had no intention of delivering the victory, especially now that she had just become stronger.

"It's a pleasure to meet you little girl, my name is Biyu."

"I can't say the same for you..."

"Tell me... Why are you still fighting? I mean, you're actually stronger now, but the result is the same, you're going to be defeat here, you're going to fail."

"This is not about failure... It's about taking one more step, even if you knock me down a thousand times I'm still going to get up, until the time I take you down."

"Great words..."

In the blink of an eye Biyu advanced in the direction of Haruka, but this time the girl was managing to keep up even a little the movements of the woman, amid the exchange of blows the woman was finally having to pay attention to haruka's blows.

"You have indeed changed! But is that enough?!"

With a circular kick the woman hit the girl aside, but Haruka successfully defended the woman's attack.

"Looks like we can start fighting for real now, right?"

"Are you a very boring wise aunt?"

Using his copy of Hyper's magic, Biyu created a stick of pure light and again advanced toward the girl, the fight had now changed, Haruka was forced to start using his magic as well.

That woman's attacks were swift and that baton was deadly, in a second she delivered a top-down attack, haruka quickly used her body enhancement technique and used her sword as a shield stopping the baton attack, with the impact of the blow the ground beneath Haruka cracked.

"You're doing well... This technique of yours is very useful too, who taught her to you?"

"..."

"Humm?"

"All right... Let's move on to the second half. " Haruka said he quickly moved behind the woman without him being able to figure it out."

Using a quick attack, Haruka kicked Biyu in the abdomen that threw the woman toward a building to push the wall on impact.

While Biyu stood up Haruka took the opportunity to deliver several attacks with his ability to cut his soul toward the woman.

After deferring those attacks the small building where Biyu had been thrown collapsed with the woman inside him.

While Haruka waited in alert mode, Vitor reached where the girl was.

"Haruka... What's the situation?"

"Terrible... It could get worse, get him out of here, find some place safe and try to get in touch with the ACP."

"What about you?"

After Vitor's question, Biyu lifted the rubble and walked out between them, it seemed that the woman had suffered no damage, neither from the collapse nor from the girl's attacks.

"It's a very simple rock boy, I have a date with that girl."

"Try not to die Haruka... I'm going back to help. " Vitor said while carrying Jean who was still passed out on his back away from that place."

Biyu then began to walk slowly towards the girl, while switching her magic and light to the electric copy she had made from the boy's magic.

"Does that boy think you're still going to be up when he gets back?"

" What? If he gets here and I haven't won yet, you're going to feel like crap."

"Something intrigued me..."

"..."

Quickly using Biyu's lightning magic approached Haruka, the woman positioned her hands on either side of the girl's head, at the same instant giving a shock to the girl who left her totally helpless, soon after Biyu threw an electricity-laden punch into the girl's chest that caused the girl's heart to slow her heart rate causing Haruka to fall to the ground soon after with immense pain in the chest.

Did you see that? I told you you wouldn't be standing when he got back, but what I'm most interested in is why I can't copy his magic...

In the midst of that difficult situation, Haruka found herself in a sac, but she does not plan for her end to go there.

"I don't like to see anyone go ahead so I'm going to end your suffering right here and now. " Biyu said as he lifted his leg to the top ready to bury the girl on the ground with a top-down kick."

Meanwhile, Vitor was looking for a safe place where he could contact the ACP, after taking a relative distance from the fight between Haruka and Biyu, Vitor found a small abandoned building, quickly he entered the building and left Jean leaning against a wall while trying to use his communicator to ask for help for the ACP.

At that moment Vitor realized that his communicator was not working, as if something was blocking the signal between them and the organization.

"That's cool, the only communicator they give me doesn't work, but what the hell is going on here? This mission got out of hand..."

A noise then caught Vitor's eye, a noise totally far from where they were, fearing that Haruka had been defeated the boy began to think about how to escape from that place.

"What happened? "Jean said he had just woken up."

"Let's see... Haruka may have been defeated by that woman, Hyper is missing, and we're out of communication with the ACP."

"Where is Haruka?"

"Even if you know where she is, there's nothing you can do to help her, that woman is very strong."

"It doesn't matter, we're hunters, our mission is the priority here."

"I know that, but think about it... There may be others like her, we need to be careful now, let's go back to the meeting point, there's someone who can tell us exactly what's going on here."

"... Sure. "Jean said as he stood up and searched for his spear."

"If you're looking for your gun was bad, I couldn't get it."

"It's all right..."

Without wasting time Vitor and Jean began to move towards the mission's original meeting point.

Meanwhile in the fight between Haruka and Biyu, the girl had been defeated, Biyu's last blow made the girl totally out of combat, by the time Haruka was totally erased.

"Humm... You're interesting, even after that you're not dead, but whatever, it'll be nice to keep you alive for later. "Biyu said crouched next to the girl while analyzing her current state."

Suddenly from the shadows appeared two men who appeared to be soldiers to help Biyu.

"Hey you guys, take her to where the other one is, she'll serve me very well afterwards."

"All right."

As the men approached to carry Haruka, a murderous instinct caught Biyu's attention, something she felt from the bottom of her soul.

"Watch out! "Biyu was shouting in the direction of men."

In a quick attack Haruka broke the two men as if they were made of paper, rising slowly and standing ready to fight again.

"... You have a lot of motivation, right? even awake you're still standing."

Biyu had realized that Haruka was not conscious, her body moved alone and her eyes were empty, the girl was totally erased, however, her body moved alone, Biyu then entered her combat position to face the girl again, she had in mind that she would not stop Haruka in any way, so if she could not take the girl alive then she would kill the girl.

"I didn't mean to kill you, but it's not like I have choices here, is it?"

"..."

In quick movements Haruka advanced toward the woman, in biyu's opposite pageer lightning strikes toward the girl, Haruka swerved away from the blows quickly as he approached the woman.

"It's over for you girl..."

Using the two magical abilities she had copied from Jean and Hyper the woman created a blade of light and rays, with a quick blow she aimed at the girl's heart, Haruka was then struck.

"... Apparently you've arrived at the end of your journey girl."

This was what Biyu found, however, even erasing Haruka's body that made her invulnerable, without having knowledge of the girl's ability, Biyu lowered her guard, which made room for Haruka to attack her right arm and separate him from the woman's body.

In the midst of that situation Biyu stood silent as he looked at Haruka's empty face and no expressions.

"What are you?"

"..."

"Tsc!"

In quick moves Biyu took a kick toward the girl, Haruka immediately used his sword as a shield and contained the impact of the kick.

"I'm sick of it. "Biyu said with a face that fully showed the anger she felt for the girl at that moment."

"..."

It was then that the confrontation between the two resumed again, Biyu was now serious by kicking hundreds towards the girl, Haruka on the other hand hit the kicks with the blows of his Katana, each impact of the kicks with the girl's sword echoed through the nearby streets, Haruka even receiving the blows continued to strike Biyu as if not feeling the kicks of the woman, Biyu on the other hand continued to be wounded by Haruka's sword constantly.

"But what the hell are you, why don't you die?!"

"..."

It was in that short breach of dialogue that Haruka prepared a blow laden with his soul magic, with a quick and powerful attack the girl shred his sword toward the woman, Biyu then carried his kick with pure electricity and delivered his attack toward Haruka's sword.

With the impact of the blows Haruka was thrown away and hit the wall of a building falling to the ground soon after, Biyu could not even pay attention to the girl, she realized that she had totally lost her leg in that last blow.

This caused Biyu to not be able to move, when the woman's eyes turned forward she saw Haruka again rising, fully injured the girl seemed to be at her limit, the woman then realized that that girl did not appear to be the same with whom she had fought, her physical presence was not following the girl's wishes, that killer instinct that the woman had felt, was totally the entity that was controlling the girl's body, the girl began to walk slowly towards the woman.

"I can see that you're not the girl, no... You're her, but it's like there are two of her... What the more you are? "Biyu said as he faced haruka's utterly dark figure in front of him."

"..."

"So... This is where it ends, right?"

Instantly Haruka beheaded the woman, the girl had finally beaten the woman, however, the blows she had taken had left the girl totally damaged, within seconds the girl fell to the ground unable to move.

"This won't last forever Haruka... I'm going to take control of this body, and I'm going to erase you from existence, that woman created you... She is the reason for my suffering... "The entity said as I looked at the girl in the midst of that white immensity that was Haruka's mind."

After the girl's victory, it was not wise what awaited the girl, not far from where she was, Jean and Vitor had just arrived at the meeting point.

"I left him trapped in the background. "Victor said as he looked at the hole in which he had found Haruka."

"How did that happen?"

"Apparently Haruka was fighting him and it turned out that something knocked them both down there, that's when I found them."

"What were you doing there?"

"After I found Hyper, we were ambushed by some soldiers, at first we had no problem fighting them, but when that woman arrived, Hyper realized at the same time that she was dangerous, so she said she was going to hold that woman and told for me to run away and stay hidden while I wait for you, that's when I found an underground passage that leads to this hole, after a while looking at the place I heard a bang and found Haruka."

"Why didn't you stay and help Hyper?"

"You saw how strong that woman was, you and Haruka didn't realize her, when she showed up here Hyper realized we couldn't win, she preferred to stay as bait and give me a chance to escape."

"... Let's see what he has to say to us then. "Jean said as he jumped into the hole."

"Right after you then."

After arriving at the end of the hole, Vitor began walking towards a tunnel, Jean then soon began to accompany the boy on that path.

"What do you know about this place? "He asked Jean as he accompanied Vitor through the tunnels."

"Apparently they use these tunnels to transport the seals from here to other places in the country... We're almost there."

"..."

After walking a little further, they finally got to where Vitor had arrested the man, it was something like prison cells hidden beneath the city.

"Pretty crazy right? Apparently this was already here a long time ago, they only adapted the place after they found it, when I arrived there was no one but it was worth discovering this place."

"And where is he?"

"In the last cell, let's have a chat with him."

After opening the last cell Jean came across the man hanging from ancient chains.

"So you came back with a friend, right? That's not going to change anything. Biyu will still kill all of you."

"Tell me where you're keeping Hyper and I won't leave you here. "Vitor said as he stared at the man."

"... Sure, why not? After all, you can give yourself to them on a plate."

"They?"

"Neither of you will get out of here alive, if Biyu doesn't kill all of you the other two will take care of it."

"Where are you keeping Hyper?"

"In a radio building, it's the only one in the area, that's all I'm going to say."

After hearing that Jean and Vitor left the room so they could debate what that man said.

"What do you think? Is he telling the truth?"

"He didn't lie... But it sure as hell won't be easy, if there's two more like that woman we won't stand a chance. "I was speculating on Jean as he tried to come up with some idea."

"And what do you think we should do?"

"We're going after Haruka, I'm going to get my spear back, and after we've got all this done, we're going to let him go."

"What? Have you forgotten that that woman is with her?"

"It doesn't matter, we have to help her one way or another."

"... Let's go then."

After leaving the hole, Jean and Vitor were trying to immediately go to where Haruka and Biyu were, they already had the idea that the fight should have ended by the time the two were fighting, however, they wanted to be sure of what happened.

After arriving at the site where Haruka and Biyu were battling, they found the site completely destroyed, after looking closely at the place they found Biyu's body and marking it as if someone had been dragged.

"Apparently Haruka beat her... " said Vitor as he looked astonished at Biyu's body on the ground"

"She's our leader after all, but in fact it's a surprise she was able to beat her."

"Where did she have gone?"

"From the marks on the floor someone took her, there's nothing here to indicate that she got up alone and left here."

"Apparently you're going to do this tracking stuff, right?"

"... Come on, we're too exposed here. "Jean said as he pulled his spear out of the rubble."

"We're going after our leader then apparently right?"

"... Yes, after all we need her, if she defeated this woman then more than we need her."

Following the blood trails, Jean began to trace where haruka had been taken, it was not long before he noticed who had removed the girl from that place should not have experience in hiding her tracks, after traveling a long way behind the girl's tracks, they arrived in a dead end, the tracks ended up in that place.

"So... Did we take the wrong path?"

"No, they brought her here with all certainty."

"Is our Stalker in the mood to say anything? "Vitor said as he focused his eyes on a strange silhouette that was staring at them."

After realizing that it had been discovered, the figure slowly approached the hunters, after getting close to the figure turned out to be a child, a small girl with short black hair and with a sweatshirt along with a shorts.

"Hello little girl, all right? "He asked Vitor as he tried to greet the girl."

"..."

"We're looking for a friend of ours, have you seen her around here? She's a teenager with a messy hair and a t-shirt with a drawing."

"How can I know if you're friends with her?"

"We work together in an organization that hunts monsters, I'm a hunter, just like this guy here behind me."

"Cristy! "A female voice screamed from afar."

After the scream a woman came running towards the hunters, she wore a black beanie, a red jacket and jeans, she soon entered in front of the girl coming face to face with Vitor.

"Who are you? What do you want with my sister?"

"We're hunters, we're after our friend, her name is Haruka, we just want to know where she is..."

"Lie... You're lying, get out of here right now."

"Calm down, what we're saying is true, Haruka is our leader, my name is Jean, I'm an ACP-affiliated hunter, I just came to see how my friend is doing."

"I'm sorry, I don't know who you're talking about... Get out of here, please."

Knowing that the woman would not help like that, Jean then took his spear off her back, the woman soon got scared thinking she would be attacked by the hunter, however, Jean only handed the spear to the woman.

"If you think we are a danger, then you can keep it, all we want is to help our companion, nothing more."

"..."

Even reluctant in that situation the woman agreed to take the hunters to Haruka, passing through them the woman removed a block from the wall that showed a system of codes, after putting a password she put the block back on the wall again, this made the wall open a kind of passage that led into an underground system.

"What kind of place is this? "He asked Vitor as he looked into the darkness of the passage."

"This is the first installation of spiritual mercenaries."

"Mercenaries? Since when are they acting here? "Jean speculated."

" About a month, we will enter, being exposed for a long time is not good, they can see us at any time."

After entering the place and going down the stairs, they arrived in a kind of abandoned military facility.

"Follow me, she's in that room further."

"What's your name? "He asked Vitor as he looked at the place."

"My name is Evy."

When they arrived at the room where Haruka was, the hunters came across the girl lying on a stretcher covered in dressing talismans.

"How is she? "He asked Jean as he stared at his companion."

"She's going to live, I'm more surprised that you're still alive, I was able to keep up with Biyu, this girl got beat up too much, it's a miracle she's still alive."

"Where did you get these talismans?"

"I stole from the mercenaries, they are doing something with the people of this place, the few of us who remain hide where they can, because this place is more abandoned than usual, when your organization will send more reinforcements?"

"... This was a low-level mission, only we were sent here."

"What?! You've got to be kidding me, right? I don't believe that. In the end you hunters only do you enough to kill creatures."

"..."

"Shit... Can you contact your organization and ask for help at least?"

"No, there's something blocking our signal."

"It's that piece of radio that building... that's where they're taking people, they're not working alone."

What do you mean? The mercenaries take the people they find to that place and after that they never came back, I tried to infiltrate that place plus the woman your friend killed and the other two she killed were taking care of the place.

"Do you have any idea what they're doing?"

"I don't know, but it's something dangerous..."

"How long is it going to take for Haruka to wake up and heal from her injuries?"

"I don't know... Maybe a couple of days."

The time the girl needed was too long, Jean and Vitor knew they couldn't wait so long, after all Hyper was in that place, after Evy's accounts his time began to get even shorter.

"... Shut up old man! "Haruka said as he slowly rose from the stretcher."

"What are you doing, crazy?! You're going to die. "Evy said as she ran toward the girl trying to put her back on the gurney."

"Let me go, damn it, I'm better than ever..."

"You don't understand how serious your situation is, do you?"

"Wrong... I know exactly what a rag I'm in, but if I stay here... The chances of these stooges will get even smaller, I've been cast to lead this team, I'm not going to let my subordinates fight while I sleep here."

The girl then rose even feeling pain with a determined look and took her sword on a table.

"... Now yes things will get interesting, very well battery, where do we start?"