Reborn

A strong wind brushed through the field of tail grass with dozens of people spread out. They were all varying in age, but had one thing in common, confusion. All of their homes had disappeared suddenly without warning or explanation. Around them was only grass and some had begun to panic.

Momoko had been preparing to go to her class at the college when their house disappeared. She had wanted to panic, but felt something inside her that she could not explain. It felt familiar to her in a way. “…Yuki? What’s happening…”

Chapter 60 – Reborn

“Enough about worthy! You murdered my friend!” Yuki slowly measured out his distance. His muscles tightened up with the emotions that still ran through his body. When he had thought that he had ended it with Demosthenes much of it had been finally released. Some had been returned, but his mind was starting to see more clearly than it had.

There did remain an annoying sense that the old man wasn’t being cocky with his declaration, but Yuki had difficulty seeing that from his opponent. All that was painted on his face was the serious stare he had had before of someone that took a fight in a very rigid planned manner. “So you’re saying that you’re much stronger than that clone of yours?”

“Correct. Being further away from me, I didn’t give it my full strength.” Demosthenes put his spear down in the ground and materialized a new spear that looked lighter. The purpose was clearly different from the previous spear he wielded. It was a spear meant for throwing unlike the former which was meant for close combat.

Yuki narrowed his eyes seeing the new tactic. ‘If that’s true, how much stronger is he now? I shouldn't tempt things right now…’ The spear was launched into the air towards Yuki with surprising speed, wondering if there was some Law at work aiding it.

Taking his own advice he stepped out of the way of the spear, but it disappeared immediately upon hitting the ground. However, he had no time to think about it as another was already inbound against him. Several more were followed in similar fashion with Yuki evading the attacks skillfully. ‘He’s not a ranged fighter… This seems counter to his style, what’s he doing?’

There was little time for Yuki to try to understand Demosthenes’ tactics as the spears became almost constant as a stream that he was forced to continue to evade, that felt as though they were locked on him. He was able to keep ahead of them, but they narrowed in on him with each attempt. Yet it wasn’t the goal in mind as he reacted a moment too late.

Demosthenes charged in at Yuki wielding his original spear taking a swing at him. Yuki barely managed to see it in time, but it was still not enough. The tip of the spear cut through the cloth of his vest coat and down to his robe underneath. He tried to leap out of reach of the spear, but found that he was suddenly completely surrounded by all of the spears that had been thrown at him. They nearly numbered into the hundreds it seemed. ‘Trapped, this was his plan all along…’

Something that Ayumi had said to him once came flashing back as Yuki began to understand the man’s strength. ‘A Meso Prosecho user’s worth is judged heavily on how many objects that they can maintain in their field at one time and still be able to function.’ The thought made Yuki give pause for a moment before he had to evade another attempt at him, but tripped up by the spears.

‘If he can maintain all of those and still fight like this against… Just how strong is he?’ Yuki narrowly escaped another swing from Demosthenes, but became even more boxed in. ‘The only thing keeping me alive right now is my reflexes and luck, but I’m running out of both.’ The next thrust at Yuki was unavoidable with his position and he was forced to take the spear against his shoulder cutting down to his skin to draw blood. ‘He managed to get through my defenses! Is he stronger than the King’s power I supposedly have?’

Yuki evaded the next attempt, deciding to take to the offense. He tried to get in close past the spear, but Demosthenes rotated the metal shaft of the spear down as Yuki came underneath the attack. The end of the shaft slammed into Yuki’s already wounded shoulder. He ground his teeth through the pain. It turned him away into a wall of spears that his back fell against.

His moment lasted no more than a second as the spear was already coming in again, swinging. Yuki rolled across the grass to avoid it with the hopes of getting inside once more. His efforts weren’t completely wasted. It pushed back the stage enough for Yuki. ‘Hope this works…’

As Demosthenes recovered in the moments after Yuki’s counter, Yuki jumped back, getting to his feet. He spun around. His leg plowed through all of the shafts of the spears blocking him snapping off the wooden shafts. It gave him the room to escape his cage just as Demosthenes tried to restore the damage.

Freed, Yuki immediately went on the counterattack coming around Demosthenes. There was an almost pleasing sound of Yuki’s fist hitting inside his defenses and making his first connected punch. Demosthenes stumbled backwards.

The pause to enjoy the moment became a liability for Yuki. He made the attempt follow through with his momentum, but Demosthenes already recovered making use of his thrown spears. All of the spears began to pull themselves free from the ground and turn themselves towards Yuki, which he caught out of the corner of his eye. ‘Too many to dodge…’

His hands began to lightly glow a soft blue as he fully extended his arms towards the incoming projectiles. It was just in time as the spears were almost upon him. They all halted in mid-air shaking violently trying to pierce the invisible barrier. However, the barrier wasn’t enough to hold the spears. They began to push through with Yuki having to shift his position to avoid a couple that broke through. ‘Even at this range?! I can’t hold them back!’

Around the spears, the air turned violet as red hues began to surface. It engulfed the spearheads first and transitioned on covering the shaft as behind the spears were disintegrating. Once it was over Yuki dropped his hand down at his sides before looking over at Demosthenes.

“Your mastery is certainly impressive for only just awakening…and you’ve seem to have found a strange power to suit yourself,” the old man commented as he straightened himself out. “I can still feel it on the inside, it’s no mere punch and your defenses as well. I must admit my own curiosity.”

Yuki watched the eye-patched man carefully, waiting for the next assault. “It’s just manipulating physical energies,” he said, willing to give into the break in the fight. “Call it spiritual, magical or psychic. It makes no difference.”

“I see. You seem to understand the basics, however you’re wasting so much of that power.” Demosthenes turned his head about to look at the environment. “It’s clear that your power is indeed on par with that of the King and yet I’m still able to break your defenses. It’s a question you’re asking yourself now isn’t it? You still barely understand the power.”

The words weren’t something new to Yuki, but he had thought that the supposedly immense power of the King would be enough to make up the difference. It had been what saved him before. Yet there was a very clear difference between them. “Are you even stronger than the King?”

“No, but you’re wasting your strength on allowing your Field to be fully projected.” The short grass of Demosthenes’ field suddenly expanded outward rapidly going far out of sight and was partially cut off by the natural strength of Yuki’s Field. It had been a near perfect circle before that remained at a radius of twenty meters. However, Yuki was stunned by the sudden revelation that he could expand his Field. “I can have a Field nearly as impressive as yours, but it’s a waste. All you’re doing is flaunting your power, it’s unrefined. That’s why I’m stronger than you. And why you’ll lose here.”

The short grass Field swiftly fell back to its previous size as the tension in the air suddenly jumped. Yuki dropped into a defense stance recognizing the killing intent in the man’s eye. The break was over as the next wave of spears being thrown forced Yuki to move. He wasn't going to be caught in the same trap as before. Yuki kept moving forward, and always against the direction that Demosthenes was trying to lead him, to close in the distance while evading the spears.

Once he reached the range of the spear in Demosthenes’ hand, he was forced to keep dodging the thrusts and swipes. He had doubled the thickness of his protection. It dampened the blows that he was forced to parry with his arm. The spear’s blade was still getting through, but it was left as only bruises rather than cutting him. ‘I can’t keep up with him anymore…I’m being overwhelmed… This isn’t about power anymore, but experience…’

Yuki was knocked back by Demosthenes, but he quickly returned to his feet using some awkward footwork to get around behind the old man. He tried to make a strike as the spear came around behind him. ‘I don’t think even at my peak I could have stood against him. He’s a trained soldier… He’s so far out of my reach…’

A mistake by Yuki’s legs left him in a vulnerable position. The spear wasted no time in taking the opportunity and pierced through the defensive layers of energy to dig into Yuki’s side just below his ribs. Yuki's eyes grew wide in the shock with his teeth grinding through the pain. He stumbled backwards after the weapon had been removed. Yuki’s chest took a long slash from a follow up swing by the spear. He collapsed to the ground panting heavily through the fatigue and sore muscles. ‘Come on! Damn it! Move I refuse to let this be it! Not now!’

“This is over now!” Demosthenes brought up his spear, lunging it down at Yuki’s heart for the final blow, but he met resistance. “What?!” Yuki’s less injured hand held back his spear. He tried to push in through the invisible force holding him back, but there was more than half a meter between it and Yuki’s hand. “I see, you’re focusing all of your armor into a single area, but that won’t be enough!” The spear began to make progress in penetrating the energy slowly digging.

Across the field, Saki stared from inside Ayumi’s barrier. ‘…Yuki…’ It had left her palms raw from the stress. The fight went badly for Yuki recently, making her muscles burn. She turned back towards Ayumi. “Ayumi! Let me go now!”

“I can’t, none of us are able to take him on. We have to believe in Yuki!”

“Don’t you care that Yuki is going to die!?” She charged for Ayumi with her fists raised up, but was brought to a stop by a wall of ice blocking her path. “Let me go or I’ll hit you so hard you’ll be feeling it next week!”

“Anger isn’t the answer. You’ll just die!”

“I don’t care! Yuki’s out there alone being killed!” Saki became distracted when ice tendrils came up to restrain her. It only made Saki even angrier. She broke the ice with her arms and turned back towards the barrier. Saki ran to the barrier her fists raised up. “Let me out, Ayumi!” Her fists slammed the clear barrier echoing through the enclosed space. She kept pounding against the barrier.

“It’s useless. It’s far too strong for you to break.”

She wasn’t thinking anymore continuously pounding her fist against the barrier until it suddenly developed a crack. Her fist rammed into it again, increasing the crack.

Ayumi was quickly alerted to the damage and sealed it up quickly. ‘Impossible! No human could have the strength to break this!’ However, it wasn't enough as Saki’s fist rammed into the barrier once more creating an even larger crack than before. Ayumi wasn't fast enough as Saki’s next punch completely shattered the barrier to her utter shock.

“Yuki!” It was then in that instance that Saki disappeared.

The spear broke through the last of the layers and Yuki could no longer hold up his arm. It was the last of his strength that he had used to keep Demosthenes at bay. ‘No!’

A brief shadow sharply cast over him followed by a loud crunch and thud. The spear was no longer coming at him. In fact, Demosthenes was nowhere to be seen. Yuki fought to focus his eyes on scanning the area until he saw that Saki was standing in front of him. “Saki?” Saki turned and helped him up to his feet. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know. I searched, but I couldn’t find him.”

“It would seem… neither of us… is in a position to keep fighting.” Demosthenes’ voice echoed from all around them. The sound of his voice carried a disguised pain. “I shall retreat for today. Come and face me in our homeland… and prove to me that you’re worthy to be our King.” Silence fell over the grounds leaving Yuki and Saki to guess that he had departed.

“He retreated? But why, I didn’t defeat him!?”

“What did you do, Saki?” asked Hiroshi coming up behind them. Everyone with them looked out of breath from running the distance to reach them, while Saki looked as she always had. Ayumi was even breathing heavily from the run, but still tried to conceal it.

Yuki looked at Hiroshi and then at Saki becoming even more confused. “What’s he talking about, Saki?”

“…I don’t know… I just remember trying to stop that man from killing you and…”

“Saki covered the distance from us to you in less than a second and literally sent the man flying with a single punch,” Ayumi said, filling in the details for everyone. However, there was a hint of disbelief in her voice as it seemed impossible. ‘How did she break my barrier and then run that fast that I couldn’t see her? It’s not possible!’

Saki looked over at Ayumi and the others. “I don’t remember any of that. I’m just relieved that Yuki is safe.” Her heart had finally stopped pounding and her muscles could begin to relax. “But he needs you to heal him, Ayumi.”

“This isn’t over yet…” In the distance, their ruined school stood lined with cracks and shattered windows. “Next time… I will defeat him… Demosthenes…” Along the first floor and foundation sat a small pile of debris from the created earthquake. The ground itself was whole as though it had never happened, but the building still stood as the reminder.

“Need me to punch you in the head, Yuki?”

“No, it’s already off.” His school uniform was back on him, though with blood and rips left in them from his battle.

“What’re you talking about? No, it’s not. There’s still grass and trees everywhere, even in the streets. See?”

“I’m certain it’s off.” Yuki stood up feeling better, but weak. He could see the school and the neighborhood of houses and small shops all around. However, wherever he looked there was wilderness. The sidewalk, the roads and the gardens all of it was covered like his Field. ‘Maybe I’m mistaken. I guess there’s only one way to find out.’ He turned towards Saki with uncertainty. “Whack me…”

“I’ll do it.” Ayumi stepped forward stopping Saki mid wind up. She tightened up a fist and knocked him hard. It stunned him enough that it should have worked.

Saki looked at her a little confused. “Ayumi?”

“I don’t know yet, but your strength isn’t human anymore. You might’ve killed him.” While that shock ran through the crowd, she examined the environment again. “His power is not active. This is permanent...”

“I thought it was just an illusion!”

“It is, but he’s made it actually real.”

“What?!”

“Hey everyone…there’s a strange broadcast coming in on the radio,” a male student said, pulling down his headphones that were connected to something in his uniform pocket. “They’re saying something’s happened across Japan. That everything’s been changed!” His words spread panic throughout the crowd as everyone began to whisper and talk between each other making wild speculation and guesses.

A wave came out from Yuki’s feet followed by him snapping his fingers. A TV summoned on the ground that was immediately broadcasting a news station.

“…in Ibaraki Prefecture. We only have reports for the Kanto region still, but early signs indicate that the entire country of Japan is no longer as we know it. Strange animals and plants have appeared in numerous areas. It has been described as though every work of fiction, myth and dream has suddenly become reality in Japan!”