Graciously, We’ve reached the final day of training. I don't think that I’ll ever be able to forget just how ruthless it was, but I’m gd that we did it all the same.

  “Oi, Daisuke-kun. Let’s call it early today, alright?”

  “Eh? Is something wrong?”

  We’ve only been doing this for a little under an hour, so something has to be up.

  “Well, my girlfriend’s grandmother needs help with shifting some things around in her house.”, he expins. “So, I’m going to lend a hand.”

  “I understand.”, I nod. “But I didn’t know it was possible to have a girlfriend and be friends with Yonaguni.”

  “Ahahaha…Well, he and I have been friends for a long time. And besides, Nariki isn’t that bad of a guy, you know? I’m sure you’ll come to understand that once you get to know him better.”

  I’ll take his word on that for now.

  After bidding Miyamura-senpai good-bye, I decide to head to Hisakawa Temple. I’ll be honest, it still feels strange being in a romantic retionship with Shizu. I’ve been tutoring her for about two months now, so I was expecting us to get along better, but if you told me that she and I would be an item in the future, I would think that you were barmy.

  I haven’t told the others about our newly formed retionship, but I pn to do so tomorrow. Of course, I also pn to inaugurate her into the Dawn Wolves at the same time. However, I think that my other girlfriends are suspicious about things already. It certainly doesn’t help that Shizu is unabashedly clingy. She keeps getting hair from her tail on my clothes..

  !

  “No way…Where is it?!”

  This feeling..there’s one of those Blessed or Cursed Weapons nearby! It’s somewhere up north!

  I attentively follow the mana trail until I come across an antique auction house. Is it being sold off? I’d better go in and garner some info about it and its buyer so that the Enigmatic Society can retrieve it ter.

  I enter and take a seat all the way in the back, silently observing the stage.

  “We’re down to our five final pieces, potential buyers! And we’re starting off with this marvelous item!”

  A uchigatana with a bronze hilt and yellow sheath is brought to the stage, and a hushed cmour breaks out amongst the gathered audience.

  “This amazing item has been kept in immacute condition by the family who so graciously donated this to us! Supposedly it’s been in their family for generations, but you couldn’t tell that from how it looks! We’ll start the bidding at seven hundred thousand yen!”

  How gracious of them to donate one of the most dangerous relics on the pnet. I wonder if they even knew what it’s capable of? It’s possible, seeing that they cimed that it’s been in the family for so long.

  “Eight hundred thousand!”

  Woah, that bloke must really want that thing. I feel bad knowing that it’s going to be taken away from him.

  “Five million yen.”

  Shocked gasps emanate throughout the crowd as a well-dressed older gentleman elegantly raises his hand, nonchantly prociming his bid.

  “A bit of a miser, eh?”

  I whisper a sarcastic remark, honestly in a bit of disbelief myself. That’s half of my bloody monthly sary being treated like mere pocket change!

  “U-uh, well, it appears we have a winner! Please, come up to collect your item!”

  The gentleman glides up to the stage, followed by a wave of dumbfounded expressions, envious gazes and begrudging appuse. Upon stepping onstage, he reaches to shake the auctioneer’s outstretched hand.

  And before I know it, I’m blocking a strike meant for the auctioneer’s neck.

  “I felt that, sir.”

  I don’t know how, but I felt the enmity he released for just a second, allowing me to save the auctioneer. With a cold look, he bsts me away with a burst of mana that knocks the crowd ft and sends debris flying everywhere. I nd on my feet and watch as he makes off with the uchigatana.

  “Listen, get hold of the police right away!”, I say to the auctioneer, fshing him my E.I.D. . “As well as an ambunce!”

  “Y-yes, right away!”

  With that, I pursue the perpetrator. Is that old man affiliated with the World Tree Tempr?! Or is he with Midnight Fox?! Whatever the case, talk about being in the right pce at the right time, if I wasn’t there, who knows how many innocent people would have been killed!

  “Oi, hold it!”

  Damn! I don’t I’m dealing with your average senior citizen! He must go for a lot of Sunday strolls!

  “?Void!?”

  Using a shortened Incantation, I’m able to open a dense, pitch bck portal that warps me directly in front of the culprit.

  Without an ounce of remorse, he levels a chop at my windpipe that I easily parry, followed by a kick clearly meant to take just a bit off the top that I attempt to counter with an Aikido move, but he breaks free from it.

  With a giant leap, he takes to the skies. Not wanting to attract too much attention or follow recklessly, I continue my heated pursuit on the ground. Finally, I end up in a dipidated building, where the crim stands alone.

  Good, we won’t be able to do any harm to the public if we squabble here.

  “Under Enigma Protocol 01, I ask that you give yourself up quietly.”

  “Hmph, of course it’s one of you heathens.”

  The old gentleman expresses his disgust in a voice far too youthful to suit his appearance. With a few undutions, the visage of an old man disappears, and in its stead a knight cd in armour stands, donning a raiment that depicts a giant, green tree with a multitude of deep, twisting roots. And like the ones we encountered previously, this bloke is speaking in English, and it sounds like he’s got a bit of a Geordie accent, I might add. I gather his education gives him that Posh sound.

  “A knight of the World Tree Tempr.”, I say, switching to English myself. “What I said earlier still applies, give yourself up quietly.”

  “Ah, a fellow Englishman, I see. I thought that you looked nothing like a native of these nds.”

  “So, which part are you from?”

  In response to my query, a small magic circle spawns in front of him, and from it he pulls a fauchard. Seems like he’s in a chatty mood.

  “Do not mistake my meagre curiosity for fraternising, heathen. All those who dare to impede our pns will be eliminated.”

  Having nothing more to say, I reach into my bag and retrieve Wooden Fang. I decided to leave the other sword at HQ, and now I’m regretting that choice. Getting in on him while he’s got that polearm will be an arduous task.

  And to the shock of no one, the tempr strikes first, thrusting his directly at my heart. I evade and attempt to counter but-

  “Woah!”

  He dexterously twirls it around, missing my face by mere centimetres. He persists with his merciful assault whilst I’m ft-footed, but this time I redirect his attack downward and jump backwards to make some space.

  “Magick Missile.”

  “(Ember Shell.)”

  Our spells csh, erupting into a plume of smoke and dust. I leap into the rafters where I have more of an advantage, but unfortunately, the tempr is too sharp to pursue me.

  “Mag-Storm.”

  A maelstrom of mana-infused bullets chase me down like a swarm of enraged bees as I swing and weave my way through the rafters and beams of the building. Mag-Storm has homing properties, but it doesn’t st for long. As the horde of bullets dwindle, I swing off of an exposed beam, making a collision course straight for the tempr himself.

  “What a fool. You’re completely exposed.”

  He greedily thrust his fauchard at my open torso, just like I wanted him to. His timing and intent are btantly clear. With all the force I can muster while being airborne, I hack at the bde of his polearm, sending his arm across his body.

  “Wha-!”

  Wide open.

  “Quill Point Thrust.”

  With my momentum carrying me forward, I thrust Wooden Fang squarely at his great helm. With a cng, it goes flying alongside its former wearer, who nds in a sprawl.

  His flow of mana hasn’t decreased like it should’ve if he was unconscious, so I know he’s fine. Although, he might be a trifle disorientated.

  “How disgraceful, to be knocked down by a damned heathen.”

  As I suspected, he’s retively unscathed. He gets to his feet and dusts off his garb, staring daggers at me all the while.

  Pale gold hair in a wavy bob cut, and strong, hawk-like fuchsia eyes. A forgettable face, no doubt.

  “I’ll have to pray to the Gods for forgiveness ter for such a pathetic dispy.”

  “Don’t fret, you’ll be able to do so from the holy sanctity of a prison cell once we’re done here.”

  He ceases dusting himself off, and holds his fauchard aloft.

  “A heathen such as yourself mocking the act of prayer should be met with the penalty of death.”, he says coldly. “And I will act as the executioner.”

  He thrust his polearm forward, releasing a wave of mana that sends me reeling to a wall. Damn, this is even stronger than that Wind spell Shizu used against me before!

  “Agh!”

  I let out a cry of pain as my back collides with the wall in a bone-rattling crash. I don’t get much of a chance to recover as the tip of his fauchard hurtles towards my face. I evade it in the nick of time as the bde lodges itself deeply into the wall, but the tempr twirls on the handle and nds a hefty kick to my neck, spinning me around like a top.

  “Perish.”

  Again, he aims his weapon for my heart, but I recover in time to parry it as we stare into each other's eyes with unwavering focus. Thanks to the thumping I’ve been taking tely, a blow like that isn’t enough to faze me.

  “Fauchard Rush.”

  “Guardian Attack.”

  The tempr unloads a rapid-fire volley of thrusts and me that I counter with Guardian Attack, a move consisting of fully defensive swings.

  “Magick Missile: Multiple.”

  Eh?! Multiple?!

  Five orbs of mana manifest behind him, forming a circle. One of them barrels towards me and connects with my left knee, compromising my stance.

  “Guh!”

  The next two strike me squarely in the chest, sending me crashing into an exposed I-beam. The wind got knocked out of me so badly that I couldn’t even make a voice as I nded onto the floor with a thud. What excellent mana control! Seems like this nutter's got a exceptional understanding of the Concentration principle.

  Relentlessly, the tempr bastard fires the final two missiles at me. Luckily, I just barely manage to roll out of the way.

  Strangely, he doesn’t choose to pursue me while I’m clearly on the back foot. What’s up with the sudden dispy of mercy?

  “Heathen, during our dead-lock, I happened to notice those eyes of yours. Tell me, how long have your eyes looked like that?”

  I stare at him silently, unsure of why he gained such a sudden interest in a wholly unreted detail.

  “Since the day I was born.”, I say finally.

  The stale, stagnant air of the abandoned building grows heavy as it’s filled with the intention to kill. Unperturbed, I continue to affix my gaze with his, which went from a look of apathy to one of utter disdain and malice.

  “So, you’re a filthy Blighted One…”, he scowls. “Of all people, you definitely cannot be allowed to live in the future we desire.”

  Blighted One? What’s he on about?

  “What do you mean by-”

  Before I can finish, his fauchard is piercing my left shoulder, pining me up against the wall.

  Gah!! He’s gotten faster! And he’s amplifying the mana in his newly formed Magick Missiles!

  “Return to the void you came from, Blight.”

  “?Void.?”

  I manifest a portal on the wall that I fall back into, causing the tempr to lose his footing and concentration as he stumbles forward. I swiftly dislodge the bde from my shoulder and fully enter the gate, appearing behind him. Obviously irritated by my escape, he recklessly fires off his two shots simultaneously, I effortlessly evade them and return fire.

  “?Fanged Bolt!?”

  “Barrier.”

  A magic circle appears and blocks my attack. How nice, he knows the Barrier Chant. That means that I’ll have to get up close if I want to bst him with Magic.

  “Lighting speed is child’s py, Blight. If you want to strike me down, you’ll have to be faster.”

  Unfortunately, I don’t think that he’s bluffing that much. That show of speed earlier was proof that he’s moving just beyond the speed of lighting. So that means he’s got the speed advantage of me, but I don’t think it’s by too much.

  You see, when you awaken to a naturally fast element like light or lighting, your body immediately acclimatizes its reaction time to suit it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to use it properly.

  If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have been able to shift my body to avoid a lethal blow.

  “Oh, I knew that of course.”, I say sardonically. “I was just testing you to make sure you hadn’t gotten rusty.”

  Again, I have to block a vicious attack aimed at my vitals. Seems like he doesn’t appreciate my facetiousness.

  “Don’t you dare mock me, Blight. You are a stain on the world, an affront to the Gods. You being alive is a sin in itself.”

  “I’ve been aware of that st one for eleven years, Fanatic. The former, however, is news to me.”

  I quickly retract one hand from Wooden Fang and palm strike Fanatic squarely in the jaw.

  “Uff!”

  I follow up with a forward kick that sends him reeling. Now, let’s see if Old Man Hisakawa’s advice holds any water.

  “Flying Bde!”

  “Gaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!”

  I swing my sword, unleashing a crescent-shaped wave of dark blue mana that soundly connects with Fanatic, snapping his fauchard in two and carrying him all the way across the building and straight in a wall that crumbles on top of him.

  “It worked…I’ll have to thank him.”

  I still haven’t let my guard down. The way I constructed 'Flying Bde' is that it gets weaker every half a metre or so further it travels.

  Why? Because I don’t want to kill anyone, of course.

  Much to my dismay, the rubble shakes as the fanatical git rises from out of the rubble. His armour scuffed and dented, blood trickling down his chin and his hair utterly disheveled.

  “Once again, I’m humiliated by heathen, and a Blighted One at that. Killing you and praying for forgiveness won’t be enough to appease the Gods, Blight.”

  “Maybe you ought to try paying tithes?”, I suggest. “You want me to spare you a few quid?”

  Stretching out both palms, Fanatic starts raising his mana to max.

  “?I don this raiment, in hopes that it grants me protection against all ill will. Mage’s Cloak.?”

  I cast the Incantation Mage’s Cloak to raise my defences against Magic, but the plonker merely ughs.

  “So you think that’ll spare you from this? What a fool you are.”

  I brace myself for what’s coming. If I can’t evade it-

  “Soul Beam.”

  Then I’ll just have to tank it!

  A massive beam of pure-white magical energy explodes from his palms, barreling towards me at blinding speed!

  Son of a bitch! Good thing I didn’t try to dodge, or else I would’ve bearing the full brunt of this with no buffs or mental preparation! Even with all of that, I’m steadily being pushed back!

  “Ngh…!”

  I can’t let this blow me away! With the amount of power condensed into this beam, if it does get by, it’ll level about half of the city! Maybe even more!

  “Hmm. Let’s how you like being taken for a flight, Blight. Your final destination will be the foul void that your kind crawled out of.”

  The beam begins to curve upwards, carting me off my feet the way a parent would do to their child. In a head-spinning rush, I’m amongst the clouds, and while this thing isn’t a threat to the public anymore, I’m still absolutely in harm’s way!

  With every fibre of my being, I roll in an opposing direction from the beam, sending me tumbling away. And then-

  DHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

  “UWOOOOAAHHHHHHH!!!”

  A massive explosion violently tears through the atmosphere, nearly making me lose consciousness as I go spiraling back to terra firma causing me to drop Wooden Fang. Don’t lose focus! It’s not over yet!

  “Now’s my opportunity! ?Void!?”

  A familiar abyss-like portal opens up beside me, but this time I’m not going through it. Instead, I plunge my arm into it and pull out the bloody fanatical tempr!

  “What?! Impossible!”

  “I’ve got you now, you damned tosser!”

  This is it! I can’t afford to mess up or it’s over!

  “?I call these fmes to my palm, so that what impedes me will be burned away!?”

  “Mag-Storm!”

  Bullets of compressed mana strike all about my body, but with the remaining essence of Mage’s Cloak, I can take it! Let’s see if I take this!

  “LET’S HAVE IT THEN, YOU ACCURSED BLIGHT!”, Fanatic roars furiously. “BARRIER!”

  “?CONFLAGRATION GRENADE!?”

  DHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

  A gigantic, roaring bze of fme greedily engulfs the both of us in all of its blinding, unyielding glory. However, it’s the tempr who hurtles down to earth in a tremendous crash, blowing dust and soil high into the atmosphere.

  “ALRIGHT! GAHHHH!”

  My celebrating is kindly interrupted by every bone in my pissing body being shattered upon my gracious return to nd. Owwwww..

  Gingerly, I get to my feet and follow the trial of mana. There it is, the uchigatana.

  Before I go to collect it, I put my Detection abilities to work and try to sniff out Fanatic’s mana. I can still feel, which is good, but what’s even better is that it’s low. Which can only mean that he’s out like a light.

  “Good…There’s no way I can fight anymore..”

  It’s taking everything just to move, and my mana is all but gone, so I can’t even use Bandage to patch myself up. Reaching out weakly, I pick up the uchigatana and head towards-

  !!

  “Damn it, he’s back up!”

  Then, it hit me.

  I say it because whatever it was, I couldn’t see it. I could detect the mana that came from it, I could feel it as it went through my stomach.

  But I couldn’t see it. All I can do is fall over face first, as every ounce of strength leaves my body.

  “Ack! So..he had an ace up his sleeve, eh? Of course, there’s no way I could’ve actually won such a fight.”

  I lift my head, coughing up copious amounts of blood, and watch as he unsteadily approaches me. He’s charred, slightly bloodied and clearly injured, but still standing.

  "You utter madman. You modified ?Confgration Grenade? so that it's meant to explode in your hand instead of exploding on contact with a target. And by doing so, the explosion becomes an all encompassing attack, which means that spells like 'Barrier' and 'Reflect' are rendered useless as means of defence. How cunning."

  He looms over me, breathing heavily, the bded end of his fauchard in hand. So, this is it. I can finally face retribution for that day eleven years ago. If only it could undone the mistake that was made.

  …Actually, it appears it’s not quite my time yet.

  "Accursed Blight, what is your name?”

  “Daisuke Colen. Bme my uncle for the Japanese given name.”

  “I’ll remember it. The name of the Blighted One who so thoroughly humiliated me.”

  His attempt on my life is thwarted by a man in a long, bck cloak wearing a pgue doctors’ mask. In his hands he wields a scythe.

  “Sorry, but that’s not happening.”

  “/Surgery./”, Koji chants, as he tends to my wounds.

  “Talk about brilliant timing, you lot.”

  The Twilight Ravens have arrived on scene. Which clearly is the st thing Fanatic wants to see.

  “Are you alright, Daisuke?”, Shion asks.

  “I’m alive, if that counts for anything.”

  “?Glorious Sunrise.?”

  With a shortened Incantation, Fanatic enshrouds himself in a blinding, dazzling light, prohibiting our sight.

  “Listen, Blight. My name is Roald Ashencroft, and I will be the one to cast you back into the void that you crawled out of.”

  As the light recedes, our vision returns. And Fanatic is nowhere to be found.

  “Shit.”, Yuutaro snarls. “That was-”

  “Light magic.”, I finish, climbing to my feet. “The rarest and most powerful of them all.”

  Not only did it blind us, but it also made it nearly impossible to sense his mana. I could barely sense where he was.

  “How did you manage to hold out so long against that?”, Osamu asks incredulously.

  “He didn’t use it until the st moment, for some reason.”, I expin. “Thanks for the save, everyone. Sorry, that I couldn’t win.”

  Yuutaro dismisses my apology with a wave of his hand, tapping his scythe on his shoulder.

  “Don’t worry about that, dude. Remember, we ravens have to look out for our wolf friends.”

  “We should’ve been here earlier, but the info we got was terrible.”, Osamu sighs. “The only reason we came here was because those explosions got our attention.”

  “And you even retrieved one of the scary weapons!”, Hanabi cheers, holding the uchigatana aloft.

  “That’s a huge win for us.”, Koji nods. “We don’t need those maniacs holding anymore of them in their possession.”

  Hear, hear.

  “Oi, I kind of made a mess this time. Do you want me to help?”

  “Don’t worry, some other Reseters will take care of it. I would like it if you came back with us to HQ so we can file the report and turn that thing in.”

  “And quickly.”, Shion adds, drawing a magic circle. “That thing is giving me the creeps.”

  The circle activates and I follow the Twilight Ravens into it. I have a feeling that I’ll be hanging with them for a while.