Icarus Is Flying Too Close To The Sun

Eiji kept punching and kicking at the specter, knowing it did little to damage it and reveal the flame flickering deep within the confines of its flesh. That did not really matter to him at the moment, however. He had succeeded in distracting his opponent from noticing Naomi and her group’s escape down towards the exit. There was also the chance that the specter wouldn’t pay any mind to them to begin with, now that it found a greater threat. A worthy dance partner.

Eiji didn’t know if that thought satisfied him or caused him dread. He had learned that his opponent was nothing to scoff at, after all.

And as if to emphasize this point, the specter absorbed yet another of Eiji's blows. However, instead of retreating and allowing another barrage to come its way, it seized the initiative with a powerful stomp that sent shockwaves rippling through the surroundings, shaking the entire building to its core. Eiji was briefly propelled back across the room.

“Tch.” The exorcist clicked his tongue. It really could get the upper hand whenever it wanted. At least, he had succeeded on securing the escape route for Naomi and the others.

Eiji didn’t seem to have much time at his disposal. With another wail, an ear-piercing scream, the specter's body convulsed. Like a tree sprouting new branches, a pair of arms gnawed out from the sides of its torso, growing like vines. Another set of arms emerged, presenting Eiji with a handful more problems than he would have preferred.

The creature wasted no time launching an attack, sending another blast the exorcist's way. Eiji managed to evade just in the nick of time, but the onslaught persisted. The creature swung and swung, its arms moving with the precision of a seasoned martial artist.

“You damn bastard…!” Eiji hissed, forced to retreat away towards the hallway. Realizing he couldn’t let the specter go on the offensive, Eiji spun around and attacked, his leg giving him the platform to kick up towards his opponent. He couldn’t let it get the upper hand on the fight.

For once, with the element of surprise on his side, Eiji felt solid impact against his leg.

“You fast motherfuck—“

But it was the specter's new set of arms that caused the resounding solid impact. Unfortunately, it had managed to block all too easily. Eiji in turn, was pushed back, landing deftly on his feet.

“RWWAAAHHH!”

“WHA—“

A moment of hesitation. A moment the specter capitalized on. While Eiji landed, the enemy sprung forward and thrust its arm out. Its humongous heavy arm made a beeline for the exorcist. Eiji crossed his arms across his chest, taking the hit solidly, hoping his spirit aura would repel it. A hope that withered all too quickly. Eiji had exhausted a large amount of his powers during the fight, something that was sure to come back and bite him. And it did.

The impact against his forearm sent tremors all the way up to Eiji's shoulder. His entire arm quivered under the sheer force of the blow. Unable to endure it, Eiji was propelled backward across the hallway at great speed, crashing against the railing of the first-floor balcony and toppling it altogether. In an instant, the exorcist found himself gazing at the building's ceiling, his head resting on the wooden floorboards of the ground floor. Behind him, of course, was the trapped group led by Naomi.

“It’s open!”

Or not?

“Senpai?!”

<*><><><*><><><*>

While beads of sweat formed in her brow, Naomi took a deep breath.

“Naomi. Nee-san?”

“Is that paper somehow going to help?”

“Haaah…”

Naomi concentrated, despite the group behind her growing increasingly agitated.

Remember.

Naomi forced herself. Her upperclassman had told her to think about being protected when she wanted the talisman to work as a shield. Its other properties were likely to operate in a similar manner.

“What’s going on up there?!” The bespectacled boy cried, seeing the flashes of red and the roars of lighting upstairs from the balcony. "Is he really taking on that thing?!"

Indeed, Eiji was fighting. Naomi knew what it meant for a fight to drag on for that long. She needed to get everyone out of here. But…

Naomi smacked her cheeks, and took another deep breath. She brought the talisman before her face.

Think.

She compelled her mind to cooperate once again. There was undoubtedly a barrier around the school, as Meh used to say about haunted locations. This barrier kept the door fixed in place. All Naomi needed to do was puncture a hole through that dome—a small window large enough for everyone to squeeze through. Preferably, the size of a door.

“Haaah.” Naomi exhaled, feeling the paper she clutched burn against her fingertips as she held it up. Upon opening her eyes, she realized the talisman had vanished in a flash of yellow embers. The remnants spiraled out towards the door, creating a field of yellow light around it in the same shape. Accompanied by a clinking sound reminiscent of a bell's song, the embers disappeared.

While everyone stood frozen at the sight of such a peculiar spectacle Aika lunged at the door.

“It’s open!” She cried in relief, moonlight and fresh air filtering into the dusty interiors of the haunted school.

The elation didn't last long, as the railing to the first floor shattered with a loud crack, and a figure landed squarely on their back before the group.

It was of none other than Eiji.

“Senpai!” Naomi held her breath, as the young man rose to his feet, pained but steady.

“Is that Eiji nii-chan?!”

"AGH..." Eiji grimaced, clutching his right arm, which hung limp by his side. It felt as if gravity itself was dragging it down. Wincing, he gingerly touched it, barely holding back another growl.

“Broken.” He muttered. No doubt, it was exactly so.

“Senpai, I—“

"Get everyone out!" Eiji raised his functioning arm and stopped Naomi from advancing. Despite the pain tugging at her heart from seeing her upperclassman in such a tattered state, she knew he had a valid point.

The specter, as if on cue, jumped down from the first floor, landing with an enormously loud thud against the shattering wooden boards.

Naomi ushered everyone out, not one really objecting to the idea of escaping. As the oldest girl kept the door wide enough for everyone, Kazusa, the last to step out turned in concern.

“Nee-chan, what are you waiting for?!”

A just question. Her sister hadn't moved an inch while her friends eagerly escaped what could have been their final destination.

“You know I can’t leave senpai behind.” Naomi exhaled and smiled a little bitterly, realizing for once how dangerous and real it all was.

“But you can escape with us, surely you and Nii-chan ca—“

Even so.... Her mind was made up.

“Don’t worry, Kazusa, I’ll be back soon.” Naomi gave her sister’s hand a squeeze, before turning around. “And don’t tell mom, ‘kay?”

She finished with a smile. A smile that left nothing up to discussion, Kazusa felt.

Naomi knew how dangerous it was. And her body was about to reach its limit by the repeated use of the talismans. But most of all, the young girl felt like she had to be by Eiji's side no matter what.

Back inside the school, Eiji stared down at his opponent once more. With an arm completely out of commission, the young man had to rely on his depleted energy and his single, dominant left arm.

“Heh.” Not if he could help it. Eiji thought back to the peculiar dream he had this morning. The dream of his master, telling him, pleading to not use it.

The Crimson Covenant. 

Eiji's smirk intensified. He had always reserved it for a grand battle, a decisive moment between life and death. And now, that moment had arrived. It might not have been against his arch-nemesis, but it was a battle so significant, so perilous, that it demanded nothing less than risking one's life.

And such was the technique Eiji would use. Grinning still, he raised an item from his pocket, a single little piece of a "puzzle" that always stayed with him no matter what.

Amidst the light coming from the door, the red of the heart symbol swoon cheaply. The figurehead seemed to smile back at him. The king of hearts, the single clue Eiji held was about to be sacrificed. Such was the price he’d have to pay.

"I guess there's no point in asking if you're familiar with this card, right?"

Eiji's glare was a stark contrast to his smiling visage.

Of course, he had double checked the card to see if it held any evidence, and much to his chagrin it did not. He kept it solely to remember. But then again how could he forget?

It was valuable no doubt. But was it more valuable than his life? He thought not. You can’t seek vengeance beyond the grave, after all.

"Eiji-dono... has Eiji-dono made up his mind?"

Inside his head, a single voice called out. It was none other than Meh.

"I am."

With a sole resolute thought weighing and taking shape into his mind, Eiji exhaled. The card resting between his fingers went up in flames, and hisbody crackled with a red light. A light more intense, a glow more alive.

“To thee I offer, this. Mine own soul, and mine own plea. Taketh off these chains, alloweth me beest free. Then taketh me if 't be true thee can... To the depths of Yomi and beyond.”

He felt the energy he had lost come back, and more. So much more than that. His body, his veins filled up to the brim with untapped potential. He felt an aura so thick the exorcist thought it might burst out of every pore and take over his mind.

One last word, and the contract would be complete.

With a voice raspy, and a tone almost too eager and impatient, the young man roared.

“RAIJIIIIN!”

When Eiji’s eyes opened again, his body was covered in a golden, mesmerizing aura. His arm felt lighter, and his legs like they walked on air.

After calling the kami to whom his soul was bound to, the power was unleashed, and perhaps their fate, sealed.

“Senpai?!” When Naomi returned, the sight before her caught her off guard. And of course that was natural. 

Like a knight in shimmering armor, Eiji stomped forward. His adversary recognized the gesture, and prepared too. Yet, now that Eiji had tapped into the full potential of Raijin’s gift, all the unchained power of a kami, there was no stopping him.

Eiji kicked off the floorboards that cracked in his wake, and flew forward. With an arm raised, he looked at his opponent and aimed carefully. Time seemed to slow, as the young man was suspended in mid-air.

From his earlier fight, he knew the patterns. The strength. The intent. What he now knew too, was where to hit. Where at the end of the day, he felt the most solid impact.

And that part was its head.

With a golden and red stream of lighting running up his left arm, Eiji roared as he drew forward. The aura burnt at his flesh a little, and the fabric of his sleeve had long been burnt away.

With a solid, complete impact, Eiji’s blow was too fierce to be evaded, even by the specter’s slippery flesh. The thud resonated with the landing of thunder, and the specter’s head burst in a red glowing light, like a ripe fruit.

Eiji landed on his feet, and as the specter staggered, his left arm thrust back. A ball of red combusted and spiraled in his palm, as he drew it forward once again. The energy sphere seemed to roar as it left his palm and struck the specter’s abdomen despite the close proximity. Taking advantage of the momentum, Eiji moved with the blast too, and his arm passed through the hole pierced into his opponent’s body.

His palm wrapped around something. A solid flame was encased in it, and like pulling out an organ, the exorcist thrust it out without any further hesitation. The beating flame snapped off the chords around it, and beat its last inside Eiji’s hand.

“RAAAAARGH!”

The specter cried and roared and wailed, before disappearing into sparkly glowing dust in the air.

“Haah…”

Eiji stood still, and exhaled, letting the firefly particles fly out of his palm. It took a while for him to catch his breath, the powers he had gained and the beautiful glow around him dissipating.

“You did it senpai!” Naomi rushed to his side, hopping on her feet like an excited bunny.

“The fight was over before I even got what was going on! You were glowing and then boom and—“

Eiji staggered a little, his vision felt inexplicably hazy. Naomi helped support him for a second, and the young man unconsciously leaned on her too.

“Woah, what’s the matter? Are you feeling under the weather? Maybe you should sit down?”

“I… will manage.” Eiji spelled out, but continued to stagger.

“Senpai..?” Naomi was having a hard time holding him straight, and that’s when Eiji fell to his knees, and then to the ground altogether.

“Senpai! What’s wrong?!”

While Eiji’s mind registered Naomi’s voice, his eyelids were so heavy he had a hard time even thinking of keeping them open for more than a second. His heart on the other hand felt like it would burst out of his chest, with how wildly it pounded. It was such a stark contrast yet it didn’t do anything in the way of him staying conscious. Slowly, Eiji seemed to drift.

“I’m okay…”

“What?! But you don’t look okay!” Naomi shook his shoulder, but Eiji closed his eyes despite it. There was nothing anyone could do to keep him awake.

“Nee-san… Not yet.”

“I’M not your sister, senpai! Wake up! This is no time to—“ As Naomi’s frantic voice echoed across the abandoned school and the moonlight fell right atop them like a spotlight on a dramatic play, the girl’s hand hovered over his chest.

“Eh…?” She froze momentarily, before pressing an ear over his heart.

“Eh?” 

Unable to comprehend the meaning of it, Naomi cupped her hands around it and pressed.

Why? Why wasn’t it beating?

“This is… a joke, right?”

Naomi pressed with her palms once, then twice.

“It has to be, right?”

She continued to compress and feel for a heartbeat.

“Tell me it is!”

She didn’t even realize when her eyes filled with tears. There was only silence that responded to her cries. Not Eiji, nor Meh, his shikigami.

“Please! Please! Eiji-senpai!” She cried and cried, ultimately getting wary of the CPR procedure. She didn’t even know if she was doing it right.

With her body hanging over his, and her head on his chest, she screamed with all her might.

“Somebody! Somebody, please! Save—“

“I swear… What’s with all the shouting?”

Amidst her screams and cries, a voice echoed from the door. It wasn’t Eiji’s, but a female one. Naomi turned to the sight of a woman with white hair, blue eye, and a single black eyepatch.

The woman, seemingly aloof and uncaring, looked at the young man sprawled on the floor before her, and gestured quickly.

“Move.”

“A-ah, y-yes…”

Naomi scampered to the side, while the woman knelt before him. Her face suddenly grew intense.

“That idiot...”

With one hand across her face, like when Eiji activated his powers, and with the other over Eiji’s heart, her blue eye glowed white in an instant. With a brilliant light, the young man’s chest lit up too through the woman’s touch.

After she seemed satisfied, and wiping the sweat off her brow, the woman gestured to Naomi.

“It seems I made it in time. Help me move him to my car.”

<*><><*> VOLUME 1 END <*><><*>