Encore 23 — False Existence (II)

"—Or should I say, goodbye?"

The girl, raised her hand at me as her eyelids hardened and faded with colour. They became black scales.

Ouroboros; the humanoid Imperi who destroyed Tokyo and caused the Black Array Incident. She wants to kill me for some reason...

I can't even fight back.

From her sleeves emerged black serpents, they rushed from the sleeve toward me. I had no way to block it.

"Sacred Lightning."

From the sky, a lightning bolt struck the space in front of me, burning the snakes.

"What?"

Ylna was surprised.

From the mask of the lightning appeared Yuichi, he tensed his hands. From the ring on his hand, a long black sword materialised.

He obtained it from a dungeon last week—Tainted Wisdom. Ms Kin said that it has an advantage over those who are 'evil.'

Someone like Ouroboros should be evil.

Yuichi dashed toward her. As she attempted to move, sakura petals appeared from around her.

"Sakura Hysteria: Faint Immobilisation."

Isla appeared beside me.

The body of Ylna seemed to stiffen as the blade of Yuichi's sword ignited with flames. He pierced at her.

The flames expanded, shooting the humanoid Imperi into the construction site, opposite the cafe.

"We should call for help! She's—"

"I'll get her, don't worry!"

Yuichi said, rushing off toward the construction site.

"That idiot!"

"Kazuya! Let's follow him before he hurts himself!"

Isla followed him.

"Ah, wait!"

These two... They don't listen to a word I say!

"I swear after this, I'll fucking scold those two!"

I shouted, also following Isla.

·———·

The Imperi landed on a building which had not been completed yet. No one was in the building due to today being a break for the workers.

An utter convenience.

"That boy... I met him in that dungeon. I never expected him to be so strong. Though, he can't defeat me. I'll play with him before I get to Kazuya."

Ylna said.

Black smoke shrouded her, changing her clothes. She donned a black kimono with a golden dragon pattern on it. She had fur, coiling around her neck to her chest and a metal shoulder pad.

Ylna turned. Snakes came out from her sleeve as a bolt of lightning dashed by her. Yuichi skidded beside the snakes and kicked the girl.

He primed Tainted Wisdom; Ylna punched Yuichi.

"Gah!"

Despite her small stature, her strength was beyond normal Streia parameters.

As she dove in for more hits, Yuichi twisted Tainted Wisdom and cut her wrist.

"What a sharp sword."

Her hand morphed into black snakes and curled around Yuichi's leg. She pulled him toward her and punched him once more.

"...!"

However, it didn't affect him as much since he braced for the attack.

"Sacred Lightning, half-voltage."

White lightning cloaked Tainted Wisdom, turning the blade's colour to white.

Sacred Lightning was Yuichi's Singularity. It was fairly powerful but the more voltage he used, the longer he would be immobile.

The limit for Sacred Lightning's use, at half-voltage, was 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, he would not be able to move on his own.

Yuichi swung Tainted Wisdom, slicing through Ylna's neck like butter. Her head flew and toppled on the floor.

The boy was surprised and stumbled backwards.

"She's... dead?"

"No."

The head spoke.

"What the...?!"

Yuichi exclaimed, surprised.

From the wound of Ylna's body, snakes emerged and connected with the head. To check if her body connected properly, Ylna bent her neck.

She touched her neck as the wound closed.

"Say,"

Yuichi pointed Tainted Wisdom at the humanoid Imperi.

"Should I tell you what Kazuya Shiba truly is?"

Yuichi furrowed his brow and Ylna smirked wryly.

·———·

Isla and I ran toward the construction site. Since we didn't have the same abilities as Yuichi, we were slower than him. His Singularity, Sacred Lightning, helped with movement as well.

I'm worried he's doing badly against that humanoid Imperi.

No matter how powerful Yuichi is, he can't destroy Tokyo while that girl can.

"We're here!"

We swiftly climbed over the barrier and landed safely, transferring back into a quick sprint.

Though when we got there, there were no signs of them. I looked around, looking for either black snakes or lightning but I couldn't see any.

"I can't sense any mana reverberations..."

Isla said.

But they definitely went in this direction. Did they already move on?

"Incoming!"

Something flew past us and crashed into the ground. I was expecting it to be Yuichi but it was Ylna. She had sparks of lightning around her, as well as wounds garbing her body.

She had a shivering smile on her face as she greeted us.

"Hey, you two."

The humanoid Imperi attempted to rise but landed on her elbow. Isla stayed on guard.

"That kid, he's a scary guy. A force not to be reckoned with."

As she spoke, Yuichi landed—chills travelled throughout my body. Yuichi had unleashed his Sacred Lightning at full force. It was clear that he was mad. The blade of his black sword, Tainted Wisdom, was pure white due to the white lightning.

"You bastard... Lying about my friend... That is unforgivable!"

He dashed toward Ylna and pierced her, however, she seemed fine. She even smiled.

"What? You don't believe me?"

"Shut up!"

"Like how that Lich used to be human, someone in your group is not human."

What is she saying? Why is Yuichi so mad?

"Kazuya Shiba, that's you."

She pointed at me, while Yuichi relentlessly stabbed her body with his sword. It was strange because it was like she never felt any of it.

"Wait, what?"

I had just comprehended her words.

"What do you mean, I'm not human? Besides, why were you looking for me?"

As Yuichi pulled his sword out, breathing heavily, his face and arms exploded with multiple lines of blood. The wounds all over Ylna healed and she spat blood, getting up.

"You seemed to recognise me as soon as we met. That means you saw my video. You should know why I'm searching for you."

That video? Why is she—

At that moment, I covered my gaping mouth. The mixed emotions rushed into my head, causing me to feel ill.

My stomach churned and my knees gave out.

All I could think of was 'why,' 'how.' The biggest question that surfaced was...

'Who am I?'

"Kazuya!"

Isla kneeled to check on me.

"Are you okay?!"

It was me. All of it. 8 years ago.

I'm not Kazuya Shiba. I'm a devil. I'm...

"Seems like he's figured it out."

The humanoid Imperi said in a smug tone.

"Kazuya Shiba, you are—"

Abruptly, everything faded away, replaced with an eternal abyss. It reminded me of the Hollow Void dream I would always have.

However, there was someone in front of me. His face was masked by his long, shabby and messy platinum hair.

It was as if he had been in this abyss for eternity. He wore no clothes on his upper half and had rags covering his lower half.

His eyelashes were long and his left eye was black, meanwhile, his right eye was white.

The white devil...

"Who are you?"

I felt foolish to ask. I already knew the answer.

The boy pointed at me and spoke.

[You are me.]