Chapter 19: Stars

I have to do something quick! If not, Sakayanagi could-

SPLURT!!!

I spat out an even greater amount of blood and as I looked down, I was stabbed with a black blade.

Charlatan smiled, "Let's see how you guys would be escaping gravity."

Approximately, 600 seconds after the blast.

"Did you hear that?", Guillotine said as he dodged a shot from Iguro.

Iguro who was floating with the use of a second Ballista he had. It was a pair of boots called Isou which could harden or eject air. He was shooting at Guillotine and had heard the spinetingling scream from the school building.

"Am sure you know the possessor... and what this means?"

Iguro's expression darkened as he realized the situation.

Honami is dead and they killed her.

Iguro assumed as he glared at Guillotine who put out his hand causing black mass to accumulate at the middle. He fired it at Iguro who shot at it, triggering a burst of energy that blasted both parties back.

"Why are you guys doing this?!"

"Why Honami?!", Iguro screamed in frustration.

Guillotine's emotionless expression didn't change, even at Iguro's ferocity, he simply said, "That she was to die here was predestined in her genes."

Iguro was bewildered. He had no words. He who had killed a person who was presumed to be evil and strongly regretted it could not understand the mindset of someone who had killed a seemingly kind person in cold-blood.

He was furious and Guillotine could feel it. Iguro's emotion of anger had turned into intense hatred. He wanted to make Guillotine eat his words. His Occlusion energy took a dark red color as he flew towards Guillotine.

With the use of Isou, Iguro closed the gap between he and Guillotine before sending a kick to his face. Guillotine foresaw this and calmly evaded it but Iguro didn't stop, he used Isou to harden the air around his boots to improve kicking power before throwing a flurry of kicks at him.

Guillotine dodged it all and prepared for a counter attack but lost sight of Iguro. He turned around to defend against an incoming attack but made a grave error.

Iguro had feigned an attack to trigger Guillotine's reflexes before taking a step back and releasing all his pent-up rage in a single shot.

BANG!

Guillotine realized his mistake as he looked down. Just like Xenon, Guillotine had gained a gaping hole in his torso. He stared at Iguro in disbelief, as Iguro stared at him with lifeless eyes.

"So, it was you..."

From behind the muzzle of Odin, the parallel and difference of this scene could be seen.

Over three months ago, Iguro had unintentionally killed Xenon and was paralyzed by fear.

Three months later, Iguro had pulled the trigger with conviction, fulling accepting the consequences of his actions.

"Any last words?", the cold voice of Iguro could be heard as he took aim at Guillotine.

Guillotine gazed at Iguro before saying, "Do you know that the universe is ever expanding...?"

"Yes."

"When I was a child, I was inspired by that fact, after pondering on how to reach the end of the universe for years. I realized something."

"...What?"

"That the stars do not wait for you."

He said that line with such elegance that I felt like he had practiced it for years.

"You love space, don't you?"

"Yes, I find it fascinating."

Fascinating, huh? I want to know something...why did he choose this path?

"Why did you choose this path?"

"I wanted to reach the end of the universe and that was DarkMatter's goal."

DarkMatter's goal?

"I don't understand."

"Doesn't matter kid."

"Tell me.", I said urging him as I pointed Odin at him.

"Threatening a dead man with death. How ironic", he said as blood pooled out of his mouth, the platform he was standing on broke causing him to fall.

I tried to catch him but he was too far, I dashed after him extending my hand towards him but just before I could reach him, he said to me, "You are a strong child, but I am beyond strength. I am the end."

I watched as he fell into a dark portal and vanished from sight. I struck the floor as a result.

"God damn! He got away!", Iguro said as he punched the floor.

"I could have had him-"

Right before he could finish, he heard another scream coming from the school.

"Huh?!"

Wait! That's...Amanai!

He got up to run but halted and turned to the ongoing match. He saw Yu and Dex duking it out on the field.

"No! I don't need his help."

I'll put another hole in the next guy.

Iguro made his way to Class Y.

Meanwhile, in Class Y.

Honami Sakurako was dead.

Sakayangi Inko had passed out.

Ceil Winston had fainted.

And... Amanai Rith was apparently dead.

Charlatan smiled as he looked at the four girls who were all on the floor of the classroom. He arranged their bodies to form a square shape. He glanced over at the door as he heard approaching footsteps.

The door opened to reveal a blood-stained, bruised and battered Iguro who was holding Odin in his hand and wearing Isou on his feet. He's eyes were downcast as he stared at Charlatan.

"Wowza...you beat Guillotine?"

"..."

"He was at 20% but still...", Charlatan said honestly surprised.

Iguro stepped in and closed the door behind him before asking calmly, "Are they dead?"

"Most likely."

"I see...I guess you know what comes next."

"Yeah of course.", Charlatan said as he pulled out a knife.

"What's your name?"

"Charlatan~, you?"

"Iguro.", he said before continuing, "Charlatan...hard feelings involved."

"I understand."

Instantaneously, Iguro was smashed back into the hallway while Charlatan was blasted through the wall behind him.

"Woah...that was really dangerous...", Charlatan said as he recovered from the attack, he was bleeding from his head and had lost his left hand.

Had I not reduced the force of that shot...I might have actually died. Is that what killed Guillotine?

"Anyway...", Charlatan trailed off as he began to regenerate his arm, by attracting all the scattered blood and cells that make it up.

He used the blood on his head to pull his hair backwards and smiled, "Even with that deadly attack I don't think I will lose."

Charlatan walked into the wrecked classroom; he stared through the dust that arose from the previous exchange.

"Is he dead?", he said jokingly, "Or maybe..."

A shadow appeared over him, Charlatan immediately took notice and dodged as a bullet of air struck his previous spot.

"Sneaky, aren't we?", Charlatan said as he smiled at Iguro who had a lifeless expression.

They engaged in a heated fight, exchanging blows with each other while cleverly using their abilities. They fought across the classroom, creating craters in their wake. The match seemed to be at a stalemate but then Iguro dodged two slashes from Charlatan, bounced off air and kicked Charlatan through a barricade of ice that Amanai created.

Huh? Ice...? If Amanai is dead then her Ballista is to have stopped working! The Occlusion energy is supposed to have stopped and the ice have melted but... it's not showing any signs of melting!! Which means she's still alive!!!

"I know what you're thinking.", Charlatan said as he stood up and wiped blood off his nose.

"!"

"Remember I said 'Most likely.' Which means they may not be dead now but they will certainly."

"What did you do?"

"You can save them but only if you beat me!", Charlatan exclaimed as he appeared in front of Iguro who dodged the incoming attack.

Iguro and Charlatan fought. Iguro tried to land strikes with his kicks but Charlatan dodged them while trying to land strikes with his knife. Iguro dodged a knife thrust from Charlatan and took aim at his torso, he fired the shot at point-blank range but the bullet was pulled to a corner of the room and put a hole in the wall. The blast disoriented them, causing them to lose their footing and fall.

"Yikes...", Charlatan remarked as he glared at Iguro.

Iguro shrugged, "I told you, hard feelings included."

Charlatan stood up and looked around; Class Y was in shambles.

"Wanna head to the hallway?"

"Fine."

Both jumped into the hallway and took their stance before battling again. So far, their battle had taken approximately 1800 seconds. As they clashed, the hallway was collapsing in their rouse due to the shockwaves they created as they brawled.

Iguro was reaching the peak of Occlusion. His abilities as an Observer allowed him to predict the attacks of his assailant and his abilities as an Occlude gave him the power to power his Ballistae, Odin and Isou. Odin is a rifle that shoots sound and can switch between machinegun mode and burst mode. Isou is a pair of boots that can harden and eject waves of air at will. As he fought, his existence as a Hybrid became apparent to him as he reached peak performance.

While on the other hand, Charlatan was also reaching his topmost. His abilities as an Occlude allowed him to control his Ballista, Cronus. Cronus is a pair of gauntlets that allow him to create and manipulate dark energy at will. His superior physical capabilities also gave him an edge in the fight. As he fought, his existence as the 7th cadre of the DarkMatter Group became more apparent to him as he reached peak condition.

The flow of the fight was flux; both of them countered the other's attacks and slowly closed in on their ideal form.

As they stared at each other, one with a smile the other with cold eyes, they had the same thought.

The winner of this fight is the one who reaches perfection.