Chapter 21: Flag Game (II)

I give my Animal Box one more time before sending them into the forest. I look at my guardians and say.

"Alright, you can tell your animal companion to follow one of Kuro's clones."

Luca, Felicia, and Martha nod their heads and summon their animal companions—Luca with his wolf, Felicia with her elephant, and Martha with her giant turtle. The turtle is one and a half meters tall, with its tail releasing Sun Flame alongside the spike on its shell.

The battlefield is ready. My guardians already made many traps in the forest. Most are rather basic traps, but some are subtle and complex.

"Right. The next thing we need to do–"

Before I am done with my words, something slams my back, and as I turn around, I see a small girl, around five, hugging me. The first thing I notice is her flame. She is a sky.

"I am sorry, but who are you, Little Sky?"

"Uni! I am Uni!"

She gives me a grin and I can feel a blast of Sky Attraction coming from her. Man, her sky flame is so strong and pure.

I pick her up and carry her around my arms.

"Where are your parents, Little Sky?"

"There!"

I look to the side and see a woman with grayish-black hair and sharp blue eyes. I immediately noticed her flame, and it was another sky flame. Ah! Now I remember. She is the current Sky Arcobaleno, huh? I thought that she was dead before she gave birth to Uni. Huh. Byakuran's world is an alternate universe, huh?

I widen my eyes when I feel a monstrous sun flame get closer to me, and as I look down, I can see a toddler wearing a fedora and a black suit.

The Chaotic Hitman, the Strongest Sun, and the Best Mentor in the KHR universe, Reborn.

"Mama! Uncle!"

I put Uni down and see her run toward the woman who picks her up. I look at Bakura and say.

"Is this your seventh teammate?"

The marshmallow monster grins at me and says.

"Yup~ Vale, this is Aria. Aria, this is Valerian, my brother!"

I nod at Aria and say.

"Nice to meet you, Aria."

"Me too, Vale. It is nice to finally see the brother Byakuran keeps telling me about each time he visits me."

I smile at her and say.

"Really? Byakuran talking about me?"

"Yup~ He keeps telling me about how you are someone he did not know and cannot see with his ability. He is also happy that you agree to be his big brother."

I look at Byakuran and look at him, blushing slightly at Aria's words. He is just a lonely boy, huh?

"And I am glad to be his older brother. Anyway, does Byakuran tell you about the game?"

"Capture the Flag game, right? Don't worry. He already told me about it."

I nod and look at Byakuran.

"But you are bringing another sky in this game… It is a bit of cheating, right?"

"Fufufufu~ You did not forbid me to invite another sky in this battle, right? So I bring her, or do you want Reborn to join instead of her?"

I look at the toddler, who is already holding a pistol and sigh.

"No. It is no longer cheating but a straight murder if he joins. Aria can join this game. Please go to your area and prepare to defend the flag."

I look at Reborn and say.

"Please don't get involved in the game. That includes not going and giving them ideas. I want this to be a fight between youngsters without a professional like you getting involved."

The toddler gives me a smug smile and says,

"Don't worry. I will not get involved."

"Thank you. However, I don't mind if you put some traps around the forest as long as you give me the location of the traps so I can put them away after the game."

And I can see his smile get bigger. I can only shake my head and watch him enter the forest to make traps for the kiddies. I start to pity them. Oh well.

I walk toward my guardians and prepare to start the game.

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|3rd POV|

Apollon, the God of Music and Art, Archery, Healing, Sun, and Prophecy, looks at his child in Romania using his divinity. As the God of Prophecy, he can see the future and the future where the children under his wing will win the tournament if he sends them to Romania.

He is glad to send them there as he watches them playing in a game that will test their fighting, sneaking, and planning abilities.

He watches as his team decides to leave Markos and Adrianna watching over the flag while the rest of them attack the enemy and hunt for the additional weapon guarded by the Animal Box. Apollon swipes the mirror in front of him, and the view changes to David running around the forest. Apollon sees David among the people who hunt the beast in the forest, and after a few minutes of running around the forest, David notices the smell of the beast.

However, when he arrives in front of a giant elephant, David sees someone else also arrive at the beast's location. It is a young man in his early twenties. He has mint-colored hair and teal eyes. He has a more feminine face, but there is a hint of masculinity in there. This man is Kikyo, Byakuran's Cloud Guardian.

"Oh my! I thought that I was fast enough, but it looks like I am not the only one finding the Rain Elephant."

David grins and says.

"The name is David! What's yours?"

"Ah, where is my manner? My name is Kikyo, Cloud Guardian of the Gesso Famiglia."

"That title again. What is Cloud Guardian?"

"Beat me, and I shall tell you."

"Very well!"

David releases his aura and dashes forward. Kikyo smiles and receives his blow without a problem. David widens his eyes and is about to attack once again, but before he can do that, Kikyo grabs his hand and slams his body into the ground, creating a crater.

David can see Kikyo's hand covered by a purple flame, and he knows that if he gets hit by that thing, it is the end for him. He takes a deep breath, summons his Sacred Gear, and swings it to create a massive gust of wind to throw Kikyo away.

Kikyo blinks for a second and says.

"Is that your weapon?"

David grins, throws his weapon into the air, and catches it.

"Yup!"

"A fan. Feather fan."

"Don't underestimate it. This thing will blow you away."

After saying that, David's Sacred Gear enlarges, and he swings it with both of his hands. Kikyo widens his eyes when he sees a massive cyclone appear in front of him. He can feel his body thrown into the air, so he releases a massive amount of Cloud Flame and claps his hand.

A second later, his Cloud Flame starts to consume the entire cyclone, and in a matter of a few seconds, the cyclone is gone and lets him land on the ground.

"Oho. Interesting weapon. It looks like I need to go all out."

He takes out a silver box with the Gesso Family symbol on it. He raises his hand and puts the Marre Ring into the box. A second later, a flower appeared in his hand.

"A flower? And you dare to mock my Sacred Gear."

"I never mock your weapon. I was just surprised. Anyway, please be careful."

David looks at him in confusion before he widens his eyes a second later. After Kikyo throws the flower at him, it multiplies into a hundred flowers that fly at him. David quickly swings his fan to throw the flower away, but he does not see Kikyo arrive in front of him.

He raises his hand to block the coming attack, but to his surprise, Kikyo does not punch him but instead stabs him using the flower he summoned earlier. At first, he did not see any problem and continued to fight Kikyo at close range. His body gets many small stab wounds from the flower, but it does not hurt him too much, so he continues to fight.

However, after a minute of fighting, he finally notices something. He notices that his energy and stamina are slowly gone. David tries to get some distance by jumping away.

Sadly, it is too late for him as Kikyo dashes again and pins him to the ground. After a few seconds of not moving, one of the people who follows them lands next to them and says.

"Fight over. David of Red Team is now a prisoner!"