Rain started to fall on the faces of the two children. They sighed as the grey clouds held above them. With their heads turned up to the skies and their bodies laying flat on the ground, it was almost refreshing of how the cold droplets splashed against their cheeks. It would have been better if their clothes hadn't been soaking in its trails, but there wasn't anything they could do about that.
Their bodies were so sore and their bruises weren't helping much, but they managed to do it. The child of golden eyes never thought he could see the day where the bullies would be the ones running off with their tails between their legs. Even with the results here, the child felt the need to laugh.
It hurt. Every part of his body broke off from the adrenaline and sunk in all the injuries he received in one collective slump. It hurt so much, more than what the bullies would give to him. Somehow, it felt so liberating at the same time.
He could only clench his fist slowly beside him, intimating the punches he threw for the first time in his life. All bloodied and wounded, it simply felt right that this would be how it ended up fighting for his own justice instead of desperately waiting for it. In a way, he did find that person that would help him out, but it wasn't in the way that he thought it would be.
His head leaned softly to the side, gazing at the black-haired child who was upside-down. That child was breathing heavy while keeping his eyes closed, letting the rain drip down his face without any concerns. Just like himself, his friend was in a similar condition, but he must have been staring too much since his friend slowly opened his eyes and returned the sights.
They stayed silent, letting the patter of the droplets echo throughout before his friend laughed.
"You look terrible, Itsuki."
"Funny. I could say the same, Ren."
"Does it feel the same way though?"
Itsuki's breaths were ragged as he turned back to the drenching weather. "It's like a burden got lifted up my shoulders and that weight was taken off my chest. Seeing them run off, shouting that they weren't going to mess with me again…"
The puddles were filling up, drowning their backs in its murkiness of water, dirt and blood.
"Can this really be considered justice? I thought it would be better than this. The heroes in those games would stand up. Those heroes would be holding their heads high, but we're here, unable to even sit upright. This kinda sucks."
"Didn't you say that it felt like a burden got lifted up?"
"But it's still isn't fair. They're just as beaten up as us, but that's all they get. They're not going to be punished by any of that real justice. In the end, they only got stopped and they didn't get what they really deserved. I still don't understand why the world would let that happen."
"Honestly, I wouldn't worry. As long as they stopped beating my friend up and bullying him, I couldn't care less if justice never really comes to them. If they don't, they know what's coming for them. Now that we've seen them run home to their mommies, they aren't anything scary. I'll keep beating them up if they keep coming."
"I don't understand this world," Itsuki repeated, "but I don't understand you the most."
"Huh?" Ren raised his eyebrow as best as he could, slightly turning over. "What the heck do you mean by that?"
"Why would you help me fight them? Did you think you would get something out of it?"
"You're my friend. My first real friend." Ren's voice quivered with a bitter smile. "That's all the reason I need to help you out. We've been like this for a year now and you still don't get it?"
"I think I was scared to admit it." Itsuki trembled with every word. "I… never had a friend either, so this feeling is a bit scary…"
The patter of the rain only grew louder, but Ren's sudden laughter was the only thing Itsuki could hear. Everything else seemed so unimportant outside of that little joy of happiness. He slowly turned back to his friend, seeing that their eyes met up with a sense of unity between them.
"Did you think it was for justice? It might be nice, but all I wanted to do was protect you. All I wanted to do was make sure that I can keep these precious moments in my life. Even with how much it hurts, it feels so free to act how I wanted to act and say what I wanted to say. I don't need to keep constantly living in a fake world."
Itsuki smiled a bit through his numbing pain.
"Thank you, Ren…"
"You don't need to mention it."
"No, seriously. If you weren't here, I would still be scared. Even now, I think I'm still scared of the thought of standing up to them if they come back, but I feel like if you're there, it won't feel so bad." Itsuki closed his palm gently, feeling the hardened skin. "Taking justice into my own hands, huh? I don't know if I can ever do that by myself."
"Take your time. Just start with what justice you can do by yourself. There's no need to keep waiting for the stupid adults to pay attention. It's your life, right?"
"No, I have to repay the favour."
Ren held silent, merely closing his eyes again before turning upwards. His friend managed to find strength in his arms, but only enough to hold them onto his stomach.
"You're facing injustice in your life too, right? I want to save you like how you did for me."
"My situation got more complicated than that," he sighed. "It's not as easy to fight back anymore like how we did just now."
"I… I can still hear you calling for help." Itsuki rolled over his own weak body, carefully lying on his arm for a better look at Ren. His friend had a somewhat puzzled expression, but somewhere, he knew that Ren had the idea of what he was talking about. "That's why I still want to keep our promise. Even if you don't want it anymore, I still want to get stronger. I still want to save you."
Ren held his breath, only to scoff.
"Do what you want. I won't stop you, but you really think I'm calling for help without saying it, then you should already know when to jump in."
"I'm… still trying to figure that one out."
The tired Ren gave out one big yawn. It was almost contagious, causing Itsuki to be tired too. They shouldn't be sleeping always in this cold rain or else they would end up with a fever by the time they come back, but for some reason, it felt so refreshing to lie still and have nature finally embrace them.
"You find out eventually, Itsuki. If it's you, I just know it."
-/IV/-
Volume 2 / Chapter 14 / Promise of Decision
True Chapter's Name / The Clash of the Sword and the Bow
"[Wind Arrow]!"
Itsuki fired his skill into Ren's path, but the rampaging friend easily crushed it into millions of pieces with a sheer swing of his ominous blade. He clicked his tongue in the feeble attempt, but he would be lying if he said he expected it to do much. He tried pulling back his string for another shot, but by the time it stretched out, Ren was already at point-blank.
A heavy overhead came slashing down, forcing Itsuki to throw his bow upwards to collide the frame with the metal edge. A shriek was grinded out from the clash as Itsuki struggled to keep the blade as far away from him as possible, but Ren's power was simply too great.
This part, he didn't expect either. In terms of muscle strength, he was sure that they were around the same level, if not then Ren was only higher by a few notches. Of course, it could be that his attack stat was higher and allowed it to be transferred over to a weight behind a strike, but the difference shouldn't have been too staggering. Itsuki was starting to think that the entire transformation wasn't for show, not that he thought it was in the first place.
However, he was using the frame of the bow to block the attack and with the middle of the weapon being blocked with the sword, Itsuki triggered another skill mid-stance. He came out with his fastest one, trying to catch Ren off guard.
"[Spread Strafing]!" Although it was meant to fire off multiple arrows, they couldn't manage to get past the connecting sword, but it did however force it off. It gave Itsuki time to jump away with its additional agility buff and he prepared another skill. "[Eagle-Piercing Shot]!"
Unfortunately, it was cleanly blocked by Ren as Itsuki landed a distance.
As with before, he knew that none of these firing projectiles would manage to land a critical hit onto his friend. Ren was strong in his reflexes, endowed in blind anger or not. It was always worth a try, but perhaps he should lessen up. Skills took up resources and he only could use so many before he had to refill with potions. If he had to be honest, he wasn't so sure he was going to be given an opportunity to do so. At least, not without sacrificing a hit.
Itsuki was absolutely acknowledging the fact that he was biting off more than he could chew. He didn't have the quick reflexes and the strength behind attacks like Ren did. Hell, he was half-expecting Ren to be able to pull out projectile-based skills which completely grounded whatever ranged advantage he did have. Having Naofumi, Motoyasu, and everyone else here would make things easier, that was certain.
However, he had to ask himself.
Would that really be the path he wanted to take?
Would that really save Ren?
"[Destruction Sword]!"
Jumping forwards, Ren's sword bursted into intense flames as it swung down on its target. There was no way that he was blocking that attack, so the only option was to dodge. Even knowing that and moving out as fast as possible, the sheer area-of-effect still caught him in its radius. It exploded onto the ground that he was standing out, sending him flying across the room.
After crashing into the wall, Itsuki couldn't have time to waste feeling that pain. Adrenaline was already pumping through his veins as he kicked himself off the crater and pulled back his bow. A skill had been charging up, but Ren's assault was utterly relentless.
In the time it took to power up, Ren had already recovered from the whiffed attack and closed the distance like a hungry monster hunting its prey. A strong side attack forced Itsuki to react, stopping the skill and blocking once again, but he could only mitigate some of the impact. The rest of it flung him into the next pillar, breaking right through it and landing on the other side.
Needless to say, he couldn't get a good landing.
He could already taste the blood in his mouth.
In other words, any direct confrontation with Ren was off the boat. Itsuki should have counted himself lucky that he was managing to hang on for dear life. Carefully getting back on his feet, he had to start considering an actual battle strategy. On the surface, it didn't look like he could do anything against his friend, but he was sure there was something he could use to land a good hit.
Even in Brave Star Online, Ren hadn't been the perfect player. He hadn't lost any fights that Itsuki was present for, but his friend wasn't invincible. He may have been one of the best players on the server, but people were still able to take hits off him.
He had copied some of Erhart's bows in the small opportunities that he gave himself, but there weren't any bonuses in using them other than their skills. Perhaps something that could create that chance was there, but he didn't exactly give himself enough time to invest materials into them like the other bows he had. If he were to change into them, he couldn't risk being hit by Ren in the process.
It kinda doesn't mean anything when his friend can close the gap in a blink of the eye.
Speaking of which—
—Ren circled around the rubbled pillar and dragged his sword along the ground. It left a track of blazing flames behind it as Ren came close for another combination of swings. Itsuki forced himself to dodge, duck and block whichever attacks he couldn't afford to allow hitting him, but the rest were able to scratch a considerable amount of health.
With a wide swing incoming, Itsuki instinctively jumped over and landed on the other side, only to be met with Ren firing off a violent kick into his gut. Spit leapt out as Itsuki staggered backwards, trying to ignore the attack he was feeling. Any proactive thinking being hundred would have resulted in a sudden urge to vomit and a big opening, but he kept it to himself.
As he thought, Ren tried to preemptively cut down on him, but Itsuki managed to break it away using the bow's frame once again. With another [Spread Strafing] to gain distance, he tried to threaten another skill once he got it, but Ren was still on the neverending chase.
At this rate, he was going to tire himself out and get himself killed.
Itsuki figured out that an open area like the throne room wasn't the best place for an archer to face a swordsman. It was made especially evident when the archer has been using his bow like a blunt tool more than an actual bow in the first moments of the fight. If he wanted a chance, he needed to move this somewhere else, but if he had to be honest, he had no idea what environments would give him the edge.
Even if he could get himself on a towering platform, he was confident that Ren would figure out a way to reach him. There was no way Itsuki could ever underestimate his friend's ability to do so, especially being someone who has seen it up close before their summoning.
The only option left was to wing it, bringing him an idea by glancing at the rubble.
As Ren's blind attack crashed down, Itsuki leapt out of the way and started retreating. With speeds like that, Ren was bound to catch up. Moving over to another pillar, he baited another attack to that ceiling support and it was taken down like the other one.
Itsuki tried getting two more down, but he could only get one more for a total of three pillars. If he couldn't hit Ren with arrows, he knew he simply had to just use something else.
Keeping Ren's attention, he backed up to the middle of the throne room to get Ren to follow him. Turning around, he aimed an arrow up into the air at a low angle.
"[Arrow Squall]!"
The single arrow flew and exploded into multiple arrows, flying into where Ren was. However, it was like the projectiles were being burned off by the dark flames around his friend. He still followed the rain of arrows with an attempt to sneak a skill within it. He swapped into one of the bows he picked up at Erhart's and aimed not necessarily at Ren, but his shadow.
"[Shadow Bind]!"
As the arrow landed there, Ren's body started to have trouble moving. The skill's effect allowed him to paralyze an opponent if he hits their shadow and although he didn't know how long this would last for, he wasn't going to think much of it. He had to ensure it.
"[Wind Arrow]!"
However, he didn't aim it at Ren. His hands, thus his sword, were still active, so Itsuki decided to aim for the ceiling. Without the pillars to support it upwards, it was weakened so any decent strike would cause it to collapse. The skill did exactly that, causing the rubble to fall from the top and leave a gaping hole there.
Ren covered himself as it all fell on him.
With shortened breath, Itsuki would have wished for that to be that, but knowing his opponent, he took the chance to reposition over to the door while replenishing his health and resources. The moment he threw the empty vials away, the rubble exploded outwards with a blood-curling roar.
"Well, there goes that idea too…"
Having Ren turn his sights back onto Itsuki, it wasn't long until his friend broke out of the binding status effect and gave chase, forcing the Bow Hero to escape into the hallways. Itsuki could hear the chaos of the castle kicking up for some other reason he couldn't quite figure out, but he thought that would let them be alone.
He was wrong, coming across a few knights that stood in their way - they were likely either heading over to the sound inside the throne room or assisting with that other objective. Nevertheless, they were still in the way.
"Huh? Who's that?"
"They don't look like prisoners."
"Wait, but those weapons? Are they…?"
Itsuki pushed through the knights with his body, but Ren did so with his sword. He heard the screams of agony as those knights fell to the ground in a single hit, but he didn't dare look back. It was already bad luck that they crossed paths to begin with.
With all the display cases and statues on the side, Itsuki kept pushing them down as he passed in order to slow down Ren, but it didn't look like it did much. His friend was still plowing through everything in his way, ripping up those blockages like it was paper. Hopefully, none of those were expensive, but something told him they definitely were.
Closing the distance, Itsuki was forced to retaliate with an attack.
Firing off any skill he could grab, it was all for naught when Ren was able to break down all of his projectiles. He ducked when Ren lashed out a wide slash, scratching the walls with hallowed marks, and jumped back when another [Destruction Sword] was unleashed. The force sent him backwards, but he was able to land on his feet this time.
However, he was already out of breath, but Ren's breath were just as heavy. It was as if in exchange for this unbelievable strength, Ren's body was taking its toll.
"Why…?" he growled. "Why aren't you on my side!?"
Ren grabbed his head, as if thinking hurt him more than anything else. "It's this damn world for making this happening. This stupid! Damn! World! After I kill the king and the pope, I'll make sure that the rest of them can burn in hell! Where they deserve to be!"
Hearing Ren be corrupted by this much hatred was painful for Itsuki to hear.
"This world is the reason why my friends betrayed me! It'll make sure all of it disappears into ashes!"
"None of us betrayed you, Ren." Itsuki knew he was speaking onto deaf ears, but he couldn't let that statement go through unattended. He felt frustrated upon simply hearing it. "Naofumi and Motoyasu haven't turned their backs on you. I haven't turned my back on you. We all still want to help you, but this isn't how it should be!"
"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!"
With another deafening scream, Ren rushed forwards with another horizontal swing, powered by the flames, but Itsuki narrowly stepped out of the way, throwing him against the wall. A thrust to his chest followed through, but deft movements allowed Itsuki to dodge that one too. He thought the sword might have gotten stuck, giving him time to disable Ren, but through his disbelief, the entire wall shattered into rubble and dust.
His vision of Ren disappeared through the dust cloud, but the moment he heard a footstep, he instinctively prepared to block and through the obscuring barrier, Ren leapt out and swung down a heavy strike. It was unbelievable how much more power he was getting over time. Usually, it would have been the other way around when one's power would tire out, but it was exactly the inverse here.
Ren leapt off from the clash before Itsuki could try another [Spread Strafing] to escape and started sending out a flurry of attacks. Each one that was blocked had enough power to shatter Itsuki's arms, but he persisted in standing firm. After all, he was starting to get used to Ren's attack pattern.
He timed a block during a sweep and stepped forwards during the transition to the overhead attack. Without pondering much, he threw his shoulders into his friend as hard he could. It managed to push him back a bit, giving Itsuki a chance to continue his retreat.
He could hear Ren's recovery in the distance, judged by the howling of his name.
"ITSUKI!"
If this was any other situation, Itsuki would have loved to fight alongside Ren in order to topple the king and the pope. It was always much better to stay by his side than to face him and challenge his motivations. Even now, Itsuki was still shaking despite being affirmed that this was what he had to do, but it wasn't because he truly ran the risk of dying.
Death wasn't his losing condition here. It was if Ren didn't snap out of it. Even though he spoke largely with Naofumi and Motoyasu, he himself wasn't sure if he had what it took to pull Ren down back to the ground, but he certainly was going to try everything he could.
"[Hundred Sword — Annihilation Sword]!"
Itsuki looked over his sword to see a rapid projectile of flames in the shape of a sword flying down the hallway. He sidestepped out of the way, but there were plenty more where that came from. He curved the corner to the next hallway to avoid the starting assault of that, but once Ren turned the corner as well, Itsuki was forced to deal with it.
The problem was that the projectiles exploded on impact, making all the dodging ever so important. The castle hallway ahead of him was suffering the effects, looking more to be in a state of war than peaceful times. The bigger problem would arise when the knights figure out what the hell was all the commotion around these areas.
However, he couldn't dodge it all. It was a matter of time before he got hit with one.
Digging into his back, he was propelled forwards, falling onto his face. It was no time to recover properly seeing another one aimed for him in its wake. He tried moving away, but he caught in the explosion, pushing him through a wall.
His body slid to a stop as he opened up his eyes, seeing that the evening skies were slowly disappearing into nightfall. He was outside, but where exactly was this? A glance around him answered that question.
"The garden…?"
Ignoring the contrasting peace that the flowers and scenery gave off, Itsuki felt pain all over his body. His health bar wasn't looking too clean either, trickling into a dangerous level to keep. He struggled to stand back up, but he could get onto a knee and a foot before a blade held itself right next to his neck.
"I'm starting to understand," Ren said behind him. "My friends didn't betray me. My friends would never betray me like this. All of you are fakes, created by this world to push me off. That's the only thing that makes sense here. Of course. Why couldn't I see that sooner?"
Ren's sword ignited in flames.
"So just like the world that created you, I'll kill each other of you fakers for trying to pretend and take the faces of my real friends. They all must be waiting back in my world, wondering where I was and after this world plummets into nothing, I'll finally go back."
"What type of lies are you telling yourself, Ren?"
"Excuse me?"
Itsuki clenched his hand and pounded the paved ground with his fist. "The Ren that I know would never come up with ridiculous ideas to satisfy his own motivations. Lies are one thing, but he wouldn't warp his own mind in order to do things forcefully his way! He wanted to face reality and build up the strength to climb his way out of it, to be able take control of it for himself!"
"This world took everything! I hate it all!"
"Not! Everything! I'm still here! We're still here!"
Itsuki rolled away before Ren could strike down, using his bow to block the incoming attack. Through his own willpower alone, Itsuki used the opportunity to get back on his feet as their weapons kept pushing against one another in a desperate struggle. Their eyes met properly up close for the first time and Itsuki was left to see Ren's expression be filled with raging wrath.
However, Itsuki saw something different.
"I don't know what's happening with you, but I know you don't want this! You're calling for help! I know that you are, even if you aren't saying it! Only this time, I can do something about it! I'll keep jumping in for you no matter what until I get the right moment!"
Both of their weapons broke off, sending them a distance away. Ren bounced back, but unlike what he was supposed to do as an archer, Itsuki bounced back as well. He didn't know if it was out of emotion, but he couldn't stand being at a distance to fight Ren. He wanted to get up close and personal.
They collided in the middle once again briefly before both sides started to wildly take turns throwing out attacks up close. Blunt attacks wouldn't do much, but Itsuki didn't care.
Besides, he remembered he had to fight like this in the short time he played Brave Star Online. Ren told him that archers in the game needed to know how to deal with people being in their close proximity to be able to fight at the highest level. It should be fitting that it was that tip that was being used against him.
When the sword was pointed away from him, Itsuki took the shot, swinging at Ren's head to stagger him before activating a skill for a point-blank attack.
"[Eagle-Piercing Shot]!"
Ren was still able to avoid it and countered back with a skill of his own.
"[Annihilation Sword]!"
Falling downwards, Itsuki blocked the attack and it exploded on impact. His health took a massive chunk off, lowering down to less than forty percent of its original maximum. With its smoke cloud kicking up, Ren followed with a finishing blow in the middle of it. He couldn't take any more needless attacks, so he skirted right by the blade and moved forwards.
If he pulled back the string for an arrow, Ren would be able to telegraph its trajectory and dodge.
If he swung the bow, Ren would still be able to block it in the time it would take to bring it up.
However, Itsuki never considered any of those options. With a tightened fist, the smoke quickly cleared up and gave him a moment to lunge forwards right into his friend.
"Clench it, Ren! Clench your teeth!"
With his empty fist, he threw it into Ren's face with all his strength, sending the Sword Hero off his feet as Itsuki continued to drive it further in. He wasn't keen on pulling any punches and simply allowed it to rip. Ren fell backwards, but still managed to catch himself on his feet.
Itsuki wasn't done yet.
With another heavy step, Itsuki closed in for another punch, but Ren suddenly dodged out of the way and returned the favour. A fist clocked him from underneath, uppercutting his chin. Fortunately, the muscle in his body seemed to ignore any screams that his nerves were sending out and he grabbed his friend's wrist and used the contact to pull him closer.
"You think that's it!? Not a chance!"
With one motion, Itsuki slammed his head onto Ren's and staggered the both of them backwards. His skull didn't exactly appreciate being rammed into another skull, throbbing as he held onto his forehead in agony. A blood vessel was popped and blood started to stain into his hand.
He glared at Ren once again who had been recovering the same way and he was reminded of who he was fighting as. He wasn't fighting as a hero anymore here, so there was no need to use his bow. All he needed were his own hands to end this fight, regardless if he would lose the stats from using the bow.
Even if Ren kept his sword and even if his close-quarters hand combat were very limited, he would let his emotions run wild in order to reach his friend. Whether it was to extend the hand to pick him up or to slam him down for being an idiot, Itsuki decided to put his bow to rest and brought up a second fist to replace it.
Without another word, Itsuki rushed down his friend. Without needing to focus on his bow in his hand, he was able to move more quickly and freely, dodging Ren's bladed thrust with a strike to the gut. He flinched, so it must have been doing some levels of damage.
Ren was starting to pick up what was happening and fought back by swinging his arm into Itsuki's face. He bounced back and swung another fist, but it was blocked by the flat side of Ren's sword. Punching metal was never a pleasant feeling, but seeing how close the sword hand was, he transitioned to grab that in control over the weapon.
With it locked in, Itsuki elbowed Ren twice before he lost grip over the blade and was kicked away, but not before Ren grabbed Itsuki's strapped bow and pulled him back for a stronger punch to the face. It wasn't enough to keep him down, but he saw a skill charging up in his blurred vision.
"[Annihilation Sword]!"
There was no way to dodge it.
He took on the full extent of the skill and it launched it across the garden, crashing into the fountain. Water escaped through the hole, soaking Itsuki's clothes and his coughs started pulling up blood. His health definitely wasn't looking good, but at some point, Itsuki stopped paying attention to it.
Bloodied and bruised, Itsuki slowly stood back up with the drenched clothing making it more difficult to stand firm on his feet. Not to mention that the whole world felt like it was spinning and that in tandem caused him to fall on a knee. He wiped whatever blood was on his mouth and watched as Ren slowly approached him. No matter how many skills Ren fired off, it felt like more was on the way as the next one was preparing to be the last one he'll see.
It was like a shadow was controlling Ren, engulfing him in more ominous energy. Perhaps it was more correct to say that that ominous energy was coming from Ren and it was being used to fuel the blood-seeking sword in his hand. In the end, it didn't matter, but his friend had a dark expression that covered his eyes.
It was all there before, but it was like it started intensifying as time moved on.
Despite his weakening voice, Itsuki still spoke out.
"I'm not scared. I don't care what happens to me." Itsuki grabbed his own arm, trying to ease the pain there. "I'm more scared about what will happen to you. Do you really think this is what we want from you, Ren? For you to throw away everything to get back at the world that trapped us here?"
Ren walked onwards, ignoring the words that Itsuki muttered, and lifted his sword.
A great black flame devoured his sword and within the same second, it came crashing down.
Before it connected, Itsuki lunged forwards and grabbed his friend's hands as it came down, stopping the sword's descent a few centimeters off his nose. It was hard to push it back, but he wasn't intending to falter.
His hands felt hotter as he kept holding on.
"When are you going to wake up already!? Are you really going to let this thing, whatever it is, to control your actions like this!? I know you're not the one in charge here! I know that you hate that!"
The darkness coming from Ren started creeping up Itsuki's arms, but he didn't hesitate. It covered his arms, almost compressing them tightly and clawing its way into his body, but he still didn't back off.
"Listen up! Ren! I know you're in there! The Ren that's calling for help! The Ren's that's been my friend for so long!"
His interface of his status magic started flashing dangerous icons as the shadows consumed his own body like it was some type of disease. His body was starting to get hotter, like Ren's anger was spreading to him, but he persisted and hung on.
"Even if the world is against you, I couldn't care any less! Even if you feel like everything will betray you, I'll never even consider such a thing! Even if you keep moving onwards, I'll keep being there by your side! That's what it means to be a friend!"
Burn marks were carving themselves onto his arms. It was all blackened, eating up the skin that once was there. Even in that pain, Itsuki never stopped holding on, especially not until Ren returned back to normal. Sometimes, saving someone meant putting one's self into danger and at the level of naivety Itsuki knew he was at, it was inevitable if he wanted to do it.
If it meant taking on part of Ren's burden—
[Attention]
[Self-Curse has been inflicted.]
—he didn't care, as long as he could faithfully keep that promise he made to him.
"Wake up already! Stop making me wait, you idiot!"
-/IV/-
Ren didn't know where he was.
His memory was blurred, but he could hear a dark voice call to him in the depths of this darkness. It was beckoning to him and reminding him of the hatred and contempt he held for the situation he was placed in and more importantly, the situation that his friends were thrown in as well.
With everything crashing down on him, it felt entirely hopeless to fight back.
He felt like the days when he was younger, overshadowed by society and controlled to be their little puppet for the sake of themselves. Talented prodigies always had that influxed lifestyle, but the pressure only weighted down further onto people trying to make a talented prodigy out of someone who wasn't one to begin with.
He had to smile when he wanted to cry. He had to stay silent whenever he wanted to argue. He had to become a model child for the parents that didn't understand who their kid was and being a kid, he didn't know what else to do except to follow their words.
That's why when there was an older girl who told him that he could be himself around her, he thought she was a blessing in his life. Although on the quiet side, he thought that the neighbouring girl was someone he could unwind with after the mundane time of his normal lifestyle.
She would listen to his gripes and in return, he liked to listen to her talk about her own problems. They were slowly becoming more about love, something he himself didn't understand as a kid, but she seemed so happy talking about it. Apparently, she didn't have anyone else to speak to, given her sheltered lifestyle. The only reason he came to know her was because their families were rather close, considering the wealth that each party shared.
He always looked forward to seeing her.
The last time he saw her, she was going to bring her beloved to meet him and being someone who she kept in her heart, Ren wondered how great this guy could be. He never did meet him though because the next time he met the older girl, it was at her funeral.
And everyone moved on as per usual, sweeping those troubles underneath the rug. His parents even stopped meeting with her family, confusing him the most.
Everything just collapsed and everyone expected him to continue as normal. To them, it might have been a surprise, but Ren didn't think his run from his home was unwarranted. He wanted to be where no one could find him, going through thickets and the nearby forest to be able to be free to grieve.
However, it was as if fate guided him to a single boy who was lying down in the clearings. He didn't know who he was, but it seemed wrong to approach. His legs didn't listen and his mouth acted by itself, calling out to the young boy.
"Hey, uhm… Why are you lying down like that?"
He didn't regret it.
In the place of the older girl that passed on, he found someone that didn't just listen to him, but understood him. That boy was someone that he could truly identify himself with as someone that wanted freedom from their lives and wishing for the world to change for the better.
Ren never thought that such a simple encounter would result in him with a friend he could call genuine and a friend he knew would last forever.
They made a promise that day. It was one that Ren didn't really think too much about since he was swept in the moment to try and cheer his friend up. As they did, the shooting stars started falling. It was the same ones that his friend wanted to see ever since they met. He took the time to take it all in, watching the beauty of the skies' natural phenomenon. It was much different than reading about it, seeing an image, or even watching a video of it.
However, it suddenly felt like the world was wrapping around him.
His chest felt hot, as if it wanted to burst out. He didn't want to lose simple moments like these and he was willing to do everything he can to protect them. Even if he had to claw his way up to a point where he could start controlling his own destiny, he'll go through hell and back to do it.
Do you want power?
He heard a voice coming from his darkened surroundings.
Do you hate everything?
Grabbing his head, the voice pulsated and echoed, almost deafening him. His heart pounding, leaving nothing else to hear as the darkness around him started to grow closer to him. It all started to crawl up his legs, as if it wanted to pull him in and drown him alive.
However, his mistake was to accept it.
His mistake was to let go and allow his own hatred to control his actions. Deep down, those raw emotions wanted him to burn this world down for trying to screw over him and his friends. It wanted no survivors to pass his judgement, condemning them to suffering for their sins against him.
His eyes twitched as the Status Magic slowly returned to his field of vision, only for the colours to be inverted with red and black. A menu notification appeared before him, but whether it was decided by him to use it or involuntary, it didn't matter to him at the time.
Ren knew it gave him that power to destroy everything.
[Curse Series : Sword of Rage]
(Equip Bonus Skill) : [Annihilation Sword], [Annihilation Sword] (Change)
(Special Effect) : Self-Curse, Burning Strength Up
It was perfect.
He only had to reach out and get closer to hold what he wanted in his hands.
"Listen up! Ren! I know you're in there!"
A sudden echo emerged from the darkness and he froze. He didn't know where it came from and who was speaking to him, but it kept calling out for him. His hand still wanted to creep closer, but he kept turning around to see who had been calling him. It felt familiar, but he just couldn't remember.
"Even if the world is against you, I couldn't care any less! Even if you feel like everything will betray you, I'll never even consider such a thing!"
His hands were warm, but it was different to the flames bestowing to his chest. Instead of the violent hatred that rampaged, this warmth felt much firmer and desperate, kinder and passionate. It started feeling like someone was holding onto them.
He knew he was forgetting something.
"Even if you keep moving onwards, I'll keep being there by your side!"
It wasn't him. It wasn't like him to succumb to such hatred. Maybe if he wasn't guided by that voice, he would be seeping in this anger, but he was starting to remember what was going on. His arm slowly pulled away and he closed his eyes to ignore the message that he yearned for.
Your anger weakens.
"Yeah, I know. The fact that I hate this world hasn't changed, but I'm not going to blind myself with that hatred. That's when I stop becoming myself and lose the right to hate in the first place. That's why I can't ever forget, even if I always try to take on my problems alone."
Would you refuse me?
"I hate being controlled. I despise not being able to choose my own path. If I won't let this world pick my own future to uphold, what gives you the same right to do so? I'll walk my own way with my own two feet, but I know I won't be there alone."
I'll always be watching. In that one moment of weakness, I'll return and give you the power that you wanted. I'll give you the power that you should have used to destroy everything you hate.
"And when you do, I might fall for it again. Who knows? However, I know that there are people that will come get me out of my darkness if I ever go too far. Because that's..."
"That's what it means to be a friend!"
With the darkness expunging itself from his surroundings and being replaced by light, he could feel his body softening up. It was like drifting by into a dream, being cloaked in that same comfortable warmth that held his hands.
He really didn't know where he was, but a single step echoed behind him and he instinctively turned around to see who it was. Bitterly laughing, it was all he could do to hide his embarrassment. To forget the precious friend that stayed by his side, it was rather ridiculous in retrospective, but also really scary that something like that could ever happen.
With the light starting to grow, beginning to blind him, he smirked to the person who walked up. A hand extended outwards to him and instead of embracing that wrath, Ren reached out for that familiar warmth.
"Wake up already," the voice echoed in his head. "Stop making me wait, you idiot."
Ren grabbed the figure's hand and this time, he was going to keep a stronger grip.
"Yeah. Sorry to keep you waiting, Itsuki."
-/IV/-
Ren could hear heavy breathing the moment he opened his eyes. He looked around to see where he wandered off to, recognizing the environment to be a garden of some sort. To be more precise, it was the one that the castle had inside, but there were some significant changes. All the flowers were burned away and withered while the main attraction of the fountain was leaking out with its wide hole.
However, there was no sight of what could be causing that breathing until he looked down to see Itsuki panting. His body was completely gutted with injuries and burn marks, but Ren wasn't surprised. He knew that he was the reason that Itsuki got hurt like this, suddenly feeling that rush of guilt welling up in his stomach. He was quick to realize that despite the pain his friend was in, he was still holding on to him.
Itsuki even used that grip to stand up and without even thinking, Ren pulled him onto his feet. He didn't have the words to express how terrible he felt, but when he looked back to Itsuki's expression, he was first met with a fist to face. Disbelief stammered in his head, trying to follow with what happened.
"O-Ow! What the hell!? That hurts!"
"You deserve that for…" Hoarse coughs caused him to pause. "You deserve that for making me worry so much." More coughing followed, expressing the dryness in his throat or perhaps it was something else. To Itsuki, it looked like it didn't matter. "But... at least you're back."
The pain he received didn't seem so bad anymore, shrugging it off with a slow laughter. Itsuki started smiling too, knowing that his friend was back to normal.
"I kept my promise, Ren."
"And so you did. I appreciate it, Itsuki."
"Ugh, crap…"
Itsuki collapsed, but not without Ren catching him with his body. He was showing signs of being burned badly and had been using the last remains of his strength to make sure that Ren had snapped out of his narrow-minded trance.
Though, now wasn't the time to feel sorry.
Ren immediately went into his item box and pulled out potions for Itsuki to digest. Popping up the cap, he held it up to Itsuki's mouth and fed him some things to ease the loss of his health bar, but that probably wasn't enough. He kept prepared with his stock of items and quickly swapped to some ointment, applying it onto the burns on his arms.
It seemed like he was more affected by status ailments than he could expect. Itsuki truly did go through hell to bring him back to his senses and there was nothing more he could be gracious for. Some antidotes helped out and although it wasn't enough to get his strength back, Itsuki's breathing started to regulate.
The black scars, however, remained. With what medicine he had on hand, there was nothing he could do to fix it - not to mention that he had no idea what could fix it in the first place.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better, especially now that you're acting like yourself again."
"I meant your own condition, idiot."
Itsuki coughed a few more times. "Well, I'm not dying from this, so I guess that's something. Though, I wonder who's the bigger idiot here. I may be the one to decide and fight this by myself, but you're the one who caused this in the first place."
"Y-Yeah… I'm really sorry."
"I'm not the one you have to apologize to. I only fulfilled my promise, but Naofumi and Motoyasu were pulling out their hairs, trying to figure out how to bring you back. I think they're the ones you owe your valuable apologies to."
Ren didn't know what would happen if he went on even further beyond. His body shivered, just thinking that Itsuki could have died at his own hands and if that happened, he would never be able to live peacefully with himself. Just having this moment was something to be thankful for, but there were probably so many more things that still haven't been tackled yet.
Even if his hatred ceased, the problem still stemmed with the king, the pope and those who looked down on him and his friends. Though, the image of Zellus irritated him the most, but he had to shake all those thoughts away.
Right now, he had to get Itsuki to safety. Being in the castle wasn't the best place to catch up.
His own body was already feeling a heavy weight of fatigue, but he pushed through it and lifted Itsuki's arm around his neck. Dragging a guy around his age was a bit tougher than he expected. He was hoping that through his current condition, he was able to at least figure out a route that would bring them to freedom or at the very least, they could come across Naofumi and Motoyasu for them to be able to help out.
Itsuki sighed. "Remind me again… never to step in when you're having a tantrum…"
Ren scoffed. "Even if I remind you, you wouldn't listen to me."
His response was a soft chuckle. "Damn straight, I won't."
"Do you know where the other two guys went?"
"They said something… about trying to find Aldrecht…"
"So we're still heading towards the king anyways. Less than ideal, but it's whatever at this point."
"Do you still want to kill him?"
"Obviously. I still hate the hell out of those guys for putting all of this onto us, but I need to get you to safety first."
"Good. Then I still can get that stupid pope while we're at it…"
Ren clearly didn't have the context for Itsuki's desire, but he figured it was something along his own reasons. Despite that, he still shook his head. "Careful. We don't need two angry heroes today. We just need to find Aldrecht, get to the others and we'll be good to go on ditching this place for now."
As Ren took a single step to one of the exits, the sound of a cane tapped against the ground behind him.
"Well… if you wish to find me, I am right here."
He widened his eyes as he slowly turned around to see who it was, only to be met with a frosting wave of ice. His body stiffened and without thinking, he thrusted Itsuki to the side and tried drawing his sword quickly.
Itsuki caught himself on his feet, but stumbled back and fell onto his arms. He was about to utter some profanity and suggest life choices about how Ren suddenly pushed the injured person aside, but when he looked back, he was stunned.
Half of Ren's body, including his sword, was caught in a glacier of ice and with the strength his friend had left in his body, there was no way that he could break free. Not knowing where such magic came from, the sound of a cane clicking crept up closer and came around to reveal himself.
The old man stroked his beard as if he was waiting in the shadows and watching for when they were both weakened from each other. It was like how one would speak of the devil and he shall appear.
"To think that it must end like this, I have no words to express my sorrow apologies. This is a matter of being victims to circumstances, not necessarily the beliefs of your guilt. This is something I must do in order to prevent Melromarc from meeting its untimely demise from the hands of the other countries."
Aldrecht raised his cane and magic started to form against the defenseless Bow Hero. Ren struggled his best to try and break out from the ice, almost like he could rip off his own arm to move. Despite any attempts, he found nothing to grasp at except for prayers.
Why was Aldrecht here? What was going on with Naofumi and Motoyasu if they weren't with him? Questions were flying, but his heart was skipping beats. With his untrapped arm, he wanted to reach out to Itsuki, but with no avail. He was completely stuck, helpless to only watch.
"Itsuki…! Damn it…! Itsuki!"
"I ask no forgiveness." The air around them became colder. "I merely hope for your understanding."