Tales of a Lost Sword 54

Episode 54 Illusion
The wave of white-hot mana washes over Arai like a tidal wave. As it finally passes, Arai is revealed to still be standing, though he is visibly shaken up from the attack. Grasping a wound by his side, Arai nonetheless maintains his stance, leaning against his staff for support.

Kunai gazes open-mouthed at his opponent. “Impossible…I took as long as possible charging that attack!”

Arai merely smiles back. “Kunai…you still have a ways to go before you can challenge me directly.”

“Probably so,” Ryuu booms, stepping in between Kunai and Arai. He takes a brief moment to glance at Kunai before returning his gaze to Arai. “But if the two of us combine our forces, we are greater than you!”

“Hmph,” Arai sneers. He looks away, staring into the depths of the water below. When he finally speaks, he speaks softly. “In the time I spent journeying with the two of you…I never once saw anything that would give me cause to suspect that either of you could surpass me.”

“What did you say?!” growls Ryuu, taking a step forward.

“Arai,” Kunai begins, capturing the Fatalist’s attention. “Whose side are you really on? After all that time we spent together, laughing together, fighting together, how could you betray us like that? Was it all just an illusion? Are you really our enemy?”

“Of course he is,” Ryuu interrupts bitterly, “don’t mistake his kindness in the past for friendship. That Arai no longer exists; or rather, that Arai never existed. The man standing before us now is definitely our enemy.”

“Ahh, Ryuu,” replies Arai, “there you go wielding that word so carelessly. ‘Enemy.’ I am your friend, aren’t I?”

“Don’t screw around with me!” howls Ryuu, jumping at Arai with his sword singing through the air.

Arai sidesteps the reckless attack by Ryuu. He waves his staff, shooting several bolts of lightning at Ryuu. However, a burst of blue light flashes as Ryuu teleports towards Arai’s other side.

In one swift motion, Ryuu raises his sword vertically and lands a deep cut into Arai’s flesh. With a push, Ryuu buries his sword deeper into Arai’s right shoulder. Meanwhile, Arai remains standing in a half-kneeling position, nearly forced to his knees under the weight of Ryuu’s sword.

“Excellent speed, Ryuu,” Arai compliments, quivering slightly as he struggles against Ryuu’s weight.

“Thanks.”

“However…” Arai’s shoulder suddenly solidifies into a massive block of ice. Ryuu, momentarily stunned, is forced back as Arai shrugs him off his shoulder. The block of ice shattering into pieces, Arai’s shoulder reappears, healed.

“Hah! Take this!” Kunai shouts from Arai’s other side. Arai quickly turns to react, as Kunai comes dashing straight towards him. Kunai swings his sword ferociously, battering Arai with the attack. The Fatalist raises his arm as a shield in front of him, forming a huge plank of ice across his forearm.

The ice swallows the attack. Kunai withdraws his sword as tiny pieces of ice fall to the ground, clinking softly. Arai lunges forward to strike back, but Kunai retreats by jumping backwards, casting a quick spell as well as he does so.

Arai looks down, spotting the meso coins on the ground along with the fragments of ice. He quickly conjures another cocoon of ice, sealing himself within its confines as the ice absorbs the blasts from the Meso Explosion.

As the ice melts, Ryuu immediately strikes, not giving Arai any time to react at all. He swings his sword right in Arai’s face, the flames jumping madly through the air. At the last moment, Arai blocks the attack by conjuring another ice shield, absorbing the flames. Ryuu jumps back as well, dodging a retaliatory blast of lightning.

Ryuu joins Kunai at his side, the two of them staring down their opponent together. “Kunai…” Ryuu gasps, “can you do that attack you used to start the fight again?”

“What? Soul Combustion?” Kunai blinks. “I can, but….I’ve already used it once today.”

“I see. So you’re not supposed to use it more than once a day. Then I will not ask you to risk hurting yourself for this.”

“Wait,” Kunai interjects, his eyes aglow with determination, “I’ll do it. I’ll use Soul Combustion. Just tell me what your plan is.”

“You sure?” Ryuu returns, looking Kunai in the eye. After a pause, he resumes. “All right…”

Arai watches Ryuu and Kunai converse intently, his face screwed up in concentration. He lurches slightly, the pain from his wounds finally starting to catch up to him. Fresh blood spills onto the ground.

Ryuu and Kunai finally break apart. The two of them stand confidently shoulder to shoulder, facing their common enemy with resolution gleaming in their eyes. Ryuu again is the first to move. He sprints forward, roaring at the top of his lungs as he swings his sword wildly. Flashes of fire flare into the sky from his sword.

Calmly, Arai blocks the first strike with another shield of ice. Ryuu’s sword makes a loud thud as it strikes against the heavy ice shield. He retreats, but not before Arai counters by lowering his own shield and firing a jolt of lightning at Ryuu.

The lightning zips through the air, blasting Ryuu at top speed. Ryuu blocks the attack by drawing another Guardian Seal. As the shield cracks under the pressure of Arai’s attack, Ryuu allows it to collapse as he fires another attack at Arai, charged with fire, lightning, and ice.

“Oh?” Arai simpers, using his staff to deflect the attack with a wall of ice. “Three elements, huh?” The attack slides along and follows the path of the pillar of ice until it dissipates into the air safely out of Arai’s way.

“Now!” Ryuu shouts, turning to Kunai. Arai turns as well; however, instead of Kunai striking, a clone the color of blackness appears at Arai’s side, wielding a sword exactly identical to the one in Kunai’s hands.

The clone strikes Arai with devastating speed, slashing through him with an uppercut of its sword. It reappears on Arai’s other side, blood dripping from its blade. Arai turns and follows it as well, a stream of blood running down from under his jaw, where his ear and jawbone meet. It rushes down his neck and disappears under his robes.

Arai glares wrathfully at the clone as it disappears into thin air. In the next second, however, Arai is forced to spin yet again as the real Kunai now approaches him at top speed. Arai swipes at Kunai with a destructive burst of ice, but Kunai agilely leaps out of range of his attack.

“You’re looking the wrong way!” Ryuu howls from behind Arai. All of a sudden, Arai feels a blade run straight through his stomach, as Ryuu stabs Arai from behind with his sword. The blade pierces straight through Arai’s stomach, appearing on the other side. Blood gushes out of the wound.

Arai attempts to wrest himself out of Ryuu’s hold, but Ryuu remains firm, forcing Arai in place with his sword. From behind Arai, Ryuu shouts at Kunai in Arai’s ear: “Kunai! Now!”

Away from the scrum, Kunai takes a deep breath, focusing all his energy on Arai. He holds his black sword out in front of him with both hands. “All right…I can’t hold back now, when we’re so close to beating Arai… Here goes nothing…SOUL COMBUSTION!”

Kunai sprints directly up to Arai, his sword oozing a dangerous fire. The black fire flares into the air and grows larger as Kunai approaches Arai, his sword singing a cry of vengeance.

The attack slams into Arai with destructive force. A hole opens up underneath the ground as a ball of black fire surrounds and then collapses the vicinity. Ryuu pulls his sword out of Arai, evacuating the scene with Kunai as the explosion occurs.

The two of them land safely several feet away, the hearts pounding and their breathing heavy. Arai falls backwards onto the ground on his back, the crater created by the impact revealing the flowing river beneath at his feet.

Arai’s chest is exposed as his Fatalist robes are shredded to tatters, revealing his pale white skin beneath. Almost peacefully, Arai lies on the ground quietly, his blue hair partially covering his eyes. Neither a frown nor a smile is on his face now, just an expression of silent defeat.

“We…did it…!” Kunai breathes, a tentative note of cheer in his voice. “We did it!”

“Yeah…” Ryuu replies breathlessly as well, almost as if he cannot believe it. He cautiously steps up to Arai from behind, staring down at Arai’s face from above.

Arai opens his bright yellow eyes, gazing unsmilingly at Ryuu. Somehow, he manages to burst into a grin again. “Congratulations, Ryuu, Kunai. You’ve defeated me.”

“Yeah,” answers Ryuu curtly, suddenly business-like. “We’ve cut off the snake’s head now. The King of the Fatalists is dead.”

“I’m afraid you are quite mistaken, Ryuu,” retorts Arai cheerfully. Without warning, his body starts disintegrating, starting at the feet.

Ryuu takes a step back in surprise, as Arai’s feet decompose into shiny mana particles. They float into the air, disappearing into the sunlight. “Wh-what the—?”

Kunai joins Ryuu at his side, observing the exchange between Arai and Ryuu and Arai’s disintegration silently. Arai continues on. “You have merely defeated a clone this time, Ryuu and Kunai. The real me awaits you within the confines of my castle. I trust that I will soon see the two of you with my real eyes soon enough. Until then.”

“A clone?!” Ryuu howls wrathfully, kicking the air. “You mean you didn’t think we were worthy enough to even fight you in person?! You had to use a clone?! You coward! Show your real self and fight me like a man! I’ll kill you first before you even get a chance to kill me!”

Arai smiles pleasantly. The disintegration of his body has now reached his waist. Arai holds up his hands to his face, examining them with his eyes while they still remain. Arai then looks directly into Ryuu’s eyes.

“Ryuu…despite everything we’ve been through, you’re my friend. I would never use these hands to kill you.”

Kunai watches on quietly, a hint of sadness in his dark black eyes. He suppresses a whimper, attempting to keep his face straight.

Arai finally disappears completely, leaving no trace behind except a tiny blue marble on the ground. It shines slightly, though it does not seem to reflect the light of the sun.

Kunai turns as Ryuu appears to mumble softly to himself. “Yeah. Unfortunately, the feeling is not mutual.”
—END FIFTY-FOUR—