THE FINAL SHOWDOWN: BATTLE FOR HUMANITY

The clock struck midnight and everyone gathered behind the school. The air is tense, charged with a mixture of determination and apprehension. Everyone is on the edge, prepared for what lay ahead.

Shinso explains the plan for the one last time. His confidence is like a beacon guiding our actions.

"Is everyone ready?" He says and we all shout together.

Everyone here knows that there is no coming back and this is the battle for our future.

There are five of us, my mother will be staying here since if there is a condition when I need to run away there should be someone whom I could rely upon.

"Arata, please use the locating spell quickly." Toda says.

Everyone back off a bit, I chant the spell in my mind and cut my finger and a drop of blood falls on the ground. A large red circle appears on the ground with someone written on it with ancient text.

"Now, think of your father." Shinso says but how can I even think of him when I don't even remember his face, whatever I need to try.

I shout my father's name in my mind.

What's this

Suddenly, something flashes before my eyes. A large barren land in between the forest and at the center is a building.

My vision moves inside the building, it's something like a laboratory. I see a man standing, he is directly seeing me.

He can't see me, right but it's like he is seeing me.

That overwhelming presence, when I'm not even there

This is enough to scare someone before the battle however I know, I have to move forward.

Wait, he is saying something.

"Nice to meet you, my son"

How? That's not possible. How can he see me?

I scream, "Ahhhhh"

I open my eyes, I am still in the park and everyone is still in the exact position.

"What happened?

Did you see him?" Kyoko asks but I can't speak, words won't come out of my mouth.

Rei comes near me, hold my hand and says

"Don't worry, we will not lose."

Those words worked magically, and I explained the situation to them.

"So, you mean he saw you there." Shinso says

"I don't know if he saw me or not but he called me as if he knew." I say.

"Maybe he didn't see you but knew that you were seeing him, he said that to scare us."

"Even if he saw we can't do anything, for now let's go there." Rei says, I can see her face is covered with strong will but underneath it lies the fear of losing.

"Now, quickly hold each other's hands and transfer your soul energy to Arata." Shinso says and then we hold each other's hand.

I close my eyes and think about that place and chant the teleportation spell.

Suddenly a huge outburst of energy takes place.

I hear shinso shouting,

"Close your eyes."

I open my eyes, it's dark. We are at the edge of the forest. Everyone else is opening their eyes.

"This presence, it's worse than expected." Toda says while looking around.

We move a little outside and reach the open area.

Everything is exactly the same as I saw. I look at Shinso, his face resembles that the situation is definitely worse than he had imagined.

"We will move according to our plan. If anything unexpected happens make sure to save Arata even if it costs you your life." He says that to everyone, filling them with determination.

"I hope nothing like that happens." I say.

"Now, everyone use the invisibility spell and remember that you can't see each other so move around Arata according to what we practiced." Saying this he casts the invisibility spell and everyone turns invisible.

As I move closer to the building, I can sense that overwhelming aura increasing.

I'm just outside the door,

Wait, I hear something

"Come in, my son"

What?

He knows that I am outside?

I slowly open the door and finally it is completely open.

In front of me is Kanade draped in a long, dark cloak that seems to blend with the shadows around him.

His features are the same as mine, with dark piercing eyes. I can feel an intensity in his gaze and an air of mystery around him.

He said, "Welcome Arata, I didn't think you would come alone."

It is a deep voice that reveals how strong he is.

"I don't need someone else to get hurt and apparently I am enough to finish you off." I replied, maybe he really can't see them at all.

"Why did you do this?" I ask, although this is just to make him lower his guard.

"I think you know it well….. I don't have any interest in this filthy world."

"You don't have any right to make decisions about anyone's life." I say.

"You don't understand, my son. Maybe you are too young to understand this world." He says with an evil smile on his face.

Maybe till now everyone must be ready to attack.

"Well then, it's time I finish you off" I say. This is the code that indicates that they can attack.

As I say that, I can see balls of fire surrounding him. Every one of them collides with him resulting in a huge explosion.

There is silence all around, everyone waiting for the outcome.

Suddenly I hear a large laugh and Kanade emerging from the clouds of smoke.

"Don't tell me you thought that was enough to stop me."

I can't believe my eyes. He is completely unscratched.

I quickly use the teleportation spell and escape outside the building hoping that everyone does the same.

As I move outside I can see everyone,

Is the effect of the spell over?

He is coming outside from the open door. I can even hear the sound of his feet in this silence.

"Now what do we do?" Kyoko asks Shinso. Everyone else is behind me, waiting for the next command.

"It's not over. We have to make him stand still for a minute to seal him off.

But make sure all four of you work in coordination." He says that using the telepathic spell so that Kanade can't listen.

Now, that is our only way to stop him. Everyone again uses the invisibility spell and teleportation spell to surround him.

"Did your friend run away?" He says, again laughing at me.

I shout,

"Now"

Everyone chants the nex claustrum spell.

"What???" He says.

A large white circle appears all over the field.

I also chant the spell, trying to seal him.

The casting was about to finish when suddenly a huge explosion took place.

"What happened?" I ask

"Something occurred during chanting." Shinso says using the telepathic spell.

"Hahahah.. You really thought you could seal me." He says and starts laughing.

"We definitely will….with the five of us we can definitely win" I say showing him our resolve to save everyone.

"Five?.... Maybe you mistook the situation, my son, you are only four."

"What is he saying?"

I don't understand why he would say something like that. Suddenly, I see a person coming from behind Kanade.

I narrow my eyes to see clearly, I can't believe my eyes.

It's Toda.

"But why? Wh..why did you do this?" words slipped from my mouth.

"Everyone else is invisible." He says to Kanade, making him aware of everyone.

He moves his hand forward and casts the reality spell. Everything is clear, I can see everyone. The invisibility is gone.

I turn behind, Kyoko is standing behind me with tears in her eyes.

"Why? Why?" She says while looking at Toda.

"I can't tell you the reason but this is the right choice." He says.

"You traitor, what do you think you will get by doing this? You did all this to be alive?" Rei shouts in anger. She is standing next to me.

Shinso is next to me, he is surprised and afraid at the same time. That was the only way we could stop him but now it's gone.

"Do you know the outcome of all this?" He says. His voice doesn't show anger but a sense of fear.

"There is no way we can defeat him. So why can't I join him." He says that with a plain face.

"I knew everything from the start, I had him offer to join me and in return I would not kill him.

Isn't that amazing to get betrayed by someone you trust. I know everything about your strengths and weaknesses. It will be easy for me to steal that immortality from you." He says.

"Hey Arata, you have to do it now." I hear Shinso shouting and I know what to do.

"The great demonic sword, grant me your power….." I chant the spell and a large black sword appears in my hand.

"What's this?" Rei asks surprisingly and even I can see this uneasiness in Toda and Kanade's face.

Maybe telling me about this weapon in private was really helpful, since it is a surprise for him.

"Looks like you won't easily lose." He says.

"I will never lose to someone like you." I say and run towards him. At the same moment he also chants something summoning a sword.

Blocking my attack from his sword he backed off a bit.

"I see, you are not that weak." He says and launches a rapid attack on me.

The sound of sword clinking is filling the atmosphere.

Since I practiced sword from an early age I can somehow manage to save myself from his attacks but I can't find a moment to attack.

It's not like I use holy swords every day.

Toda also rushes toward me with his Spirit sword but Kyoko manages to stop him with her sword.

"You two, please help Arata, I will stop him." She says, maybe she wanted to talk to her brother.

Rei and Shinso rushes to help me but they can't last long, but they certainly give me time to recover from my injuries.

"Why did you do this brother?" Kyoko asks.

"You won't understand this is the only way for me."

"Please understand, we can defeat him, you don't need to suffer." Kyoko says, with tears in her eyes.

"You all are weak." Kanade says.

I'm lying on the ground badly hurt, I'm not dying but I can still feel all that pain inside me.

He grabs me with my collar and chants a spell that I never heard before and throws me away.

"What did you do?" I ask, I feel a bit weird.

"Vitae suppression" He says.

"What's that?" I ask

"So you don't know. That man didn't teach you anything. Maybe I will tell you since it's my duty to answer my son's questions. I suppressed your regeneration and now you are nothing else but a human who can't die. You won't die but you won't heal, you will be experiencing the pain that won't kill you." He says.

"Arata are you okay?" Rei asks, lying on the ground badly hurt.

"I can free you from your suffering, just give me immortality." He says.

"Like I would agree to that, you won't get my ability until I agree to you or you kill me and both the cases are impossible." I say.

"Maybe you missed something." He says.

He is moving towards Rei, with a smile on his face.

Rei is lying on the ground, she can't move. I want to stand but my muscles won't work.

"Nooo….. Please, don't" I scream.

"Maybe I need to set an example so that you understand your level." He says, swinging his sword at Rei.

What happened?

Wait, Toda is blocking his sword.

"Sorry, Arata, I'm really an idiot who thought that he would leave Kyoko alive if I helped him….."

"What do you think you are doing?" Kanade screams, pushing Toda away.

"Maybe I will need to tell you your place." He says and runs towards Toda. Each strike, each word uttered, reverberated with the weight of our shattered unity and the grim uncertainty of our fate.

Kyoko is also trying to help him stop Kanade however, they both are not enough to defeat him.

"What do you think you can do, you filthy insects?" His scream echoed through the silence of the battle ground.

The battle is nothing but Toda and Kyoko trying to survive from Kanade's lethal blows.

They are lying on the ground, badly injured and defeated.

"Sorry…Ar..ata…I was an idiot." Toda cries. I can see his face is filled with tears and regret. It's only been two minutes and they are defeated, Kanade walks towards me.

"Maybe I should just cut off your head so that you can leave your dream of defeating me, and give me want I want"

"Like I would do that, you monster."

I look around, Toda and Kyoko are lying in front of me, Rei is unconscious just a few meters from me and Shinso is just in front of the building door trying to get up.

"It's over"

Maybe, that's it for me, but I will never give him immortality even if I have to bear that pain but at least I can save the rest by using teleportation.

Kanade is coming towards me, saying something

"Do you know you won't die even if I cut you into pieces, now I just have to put you in the prison until your regenerative skill comes back and you agree to my contract and I'm sure it won't take long. I will just kill everyone here after taking care of you."

I move my hand a little bit in order to cast the teleportation spell,

"Ahhhhh"

"What do you think? I won't let anyone here escape." He says that while he cut off my right hand.

"Sorry everyone, I failed" Saying this I close my eyes ready to face my terrible future.

I can hear the voice of him raising his sword,

Is it my end? I never got the chance to say what I wanted to?

What happened? I can't sense any pain, are my senses dead?

I open my eyes,

"Rei" I shouts, she jumped in front of the sword to save me and got stabbed but it was a more lethal blow than before.

"But why?" I ask, my eyes filled with tears.

"Yo.u..r ..an idiot Ar…ata, looks li..ke I'm the one to save…you" Saying those words she closes her eyes.

"Noooo" My scream echoed in the silence of despair around the field.

I lift her up and put her a few meters behind me, while Kanade sees me as if wondering how I have the strength to stand up.

Surprisingly, I also don't know the reason but my body is filled with anger and frustration.

I turn back, looking into his eyes.

"So, you really liked her that you decided to fight again after her death, you also know it's worthless." He says that with a merciless smile but I do not answer.

My face down, my hands on my chest.

"Do you know what will be the consequences of this?" I hear Shinso speaking, but I do not reply.

I chant the reality spell, everything seems dark, I'm powerful. I can even rule over the world with this power, I laugh.

"I'M IMMORTAL" I say.

"Don't Arata ... .Remember who you are, look behind" I hear someone say that, I look around. An old man is saying that while lying injured on the ground. Two other people are also unconscious and a man is standing in front of me.

I turn back, a girl is lying dead?

Who is she?

She is someone important to me, I can feel that.

"Ahhhhhh" My head hurts.

Never lose your humanity

What are the words covering my mind?

"...Once this is over I will say something else."

What's this?

Why are there words coming again and again?

"...if something like that happens, I will be the one to protect you…"

"Reiii" I scream.

"What was that Arata?" Kanade asks, but I don't know what that even means.

I look around, everything is the same. My sword is somehow different as if it had an upgrade.

"Whatever, I will just cut you off and then torture you till you accept your fate."

My head is still down, my sword in my hand.

"I'll kill you for your sins" I say, and for some reason my voice is a little deep.

"You are really confident, aren't you?" He says, running to me with a sword in his hand.

"What?" He says.

I easily dodged his attack, every bit of his attack that I can't even see before, I can somehow manage to save myself from them.

"Now, is my chance to take my revenge" I say and rushes towards him.

The sound of the sword colliding is echoing in the area.

"The time has come for the end of the battle"

I hold my sword tight,

"Azure Phoenix Strike."

That was a special technique that Shinso told me, however it requires an immense amount of soul energy, almost half of mine.

The same technique was used thousand years ago by the spirit clan to win the great demonic war.

"How do you know that?" He asks in panic.

In fierce motion, I channel my soul energy into a cyclone of flames converging into a phoenix shaped projectile.

The flamed phoenix soared towards Kanade. His eyes widened in terror of losing. He can't escape, it collides with him.

The battlefield is covered with silence. I'm still standing, watching for the flames to dissipate.

As the flames go down, there is nothing left except the burned body of a formidable enemy.

"We won?"

I look around, Shinso has a smile on his face. He is trying to stand up, Toda and Kyoko are in tears walking towards me.

The battle is over, but I lost the meaning of my life.

I turn back and move towards Rei. My whole body hurts, I can't even walk but I manage to reach her somehow.

They also followed me.

"It's my fault that she died, I'm ready to except my fate." Toda says, but I don't have the courage to say anything.

"She isn't dead." I say.

"What do you mean?" Toda says, although I'm not turning back but I can sense confusion in his voice.

"Resurrection spell"

"How do you know about that?" Shinso says.

"That day when you brought this book, remember it fell down open that was when I saw this."

Toda and Kyoko are all confused, they don't know what's going on but I don't have the time to explain them.

I put my hand on her chest that is covered with blood.

"You know what will happen next, right?" Shinso says.

"Yeah…and I'm ready for it."

"What do you mean?" Kyoko asks, she didn't know anything about all this.

"Resurrection spells can revive the dead but it comes with a sacrifice.

You have to sacrifice your most valuable thing." Shinso explained. .

"What do you have to sacrifice?" She asks.

"My soul energy, all of it."

"What?

Do you know what will happen if you do so, you will lose your immortality."

"I know," I replied.

"With all those injuries you will die the instant you will lose your soul energy… you need to heal yourself first, let's use the teleportation spell to go to your mother and do this after she heals you."

"We don't have time… you can only use the spell till ten minutes after someone's death.

It's more than five minutes.

"I have to do it." I say while chanting the spell.

"Then let me do it, please" Toda says, he was ready to do anything for his deeds.

"You can't, l want to do it, so please" I say that while turning back to see his face.

"Fine, then"

I continue chanting the spells, I can feel my energy draining from my body.

I'm dying? But I can feel asure that I'm the one to save her.

The process is complete, my eyes are closing but she is not yet awake.

I open my eyes,

Hospital?

Where am I?

I look around, I am in a hospital room all alone.

Someone is coming in, the door opens.

I can't believe my eyes,

Rei??

Why does she look so grown up?

"You awake Arata." I can see tears in her eyes, she is holding a plate full of curry.

At this moment I understand everything.

"How much time has it been?" I ask with a gentle smile.

"Seven years," She says.

She comes towards me, holds my hand. We both are quiet, but it really feels good.

"There is something I need to say."

"There is something I need to talk about"

We say together.