Hello Author here, I'm sorry for the long update dear reader because I was feeling under the weather lately and reading to catch up with many fanfic updates lol. Let's get to the comment section now to reply to your reviews and comments, dear reader.
Vergo58: They'll going to have a rocky relationship for sure because Ricane also have a hand in ruining the already tensed sense of trust between SCHOOL and Duchy clique, but the appearance of a new opponent might just be the reason for them to work together or be the straw that finally broke the camel's back.
Awron: I've planned to do so dear reader, but I also planned to unfold his story slowly as he has many ties to the members of The Fallen. Plus I glad you liked the character of Beowulf dear reader, thank you.
Visit this story's dedicated artpage 'bitbitbit11' at deviantart for illustrations and extra contents dear reader. I've uploaded the opening and ending video along with voiced short animations for the OCs in this story, search for 'A Certain After School Secret' on youtube dear reader, those videos were such treat to made, plus it will gave the original characters voice to flesh out their character even more.
Now, let's dive into the chapter and wrap this fight between two monsters!
PLAY MUSIC
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 OST – Ichizu by King Gnu.
One the burning landscape and on the pile of what supposed to be the artificial lake of Ground Geo energy facility, Yumiya Rakko and Ricane's assistant are debating on whether she would shoulder the responsibility of taking on the role of supporting Dark Matter on his fight against a mysterious opponent, The masked assistant held her hand as he delivers words of encouragement, "Take this gun and end this fight, you're the only one capable of doing so." before he took off his mask to reveal a familiar figure that she once saw.
"It only has one round left… and aren't you supposed to be the Duchess's aide?" Rakko asked as the boy responded by just gripping her tighter as if he was pleading.
"I have things to do before I can go to her. Young lady, end this and protect her."
Rakko looked at the long rifle with a unique design as the barrel of the gun which was two rails of reinforced golden plates that were held together by a futuristic yet industrial looking frame, Then the girl looked up again to look at the angel-like boy who had leaped up from the lush hillside and straight towards Dark Matter who already prepared his wings to deal with a pair of daggers that were aimed solely to his neck.
Kakine took the chance to respond and ask further questions to his opponent, "Your ability, what is it? taking the power of others and claiming them as your own? How many lives have you taken?"
"Taken? I am only able to claim the souls of the dead, and make no mistake Dark Matter, I'm not invested in getting stronger as much as you do." Beowulf answered before he kicked the wings to leap back as trails of flames started to appear around his eloquently shaped daggers.
"Bold assumption on your side."
"You're not that deep of a person. Layered, sure… But It won't take me long before I know you're just feeling inferior and it just gnawed into your whole being."
"I'll dance on your corpse after this."Kakine grimaced and twists in anger because of the boy's response, in a fit of rage he sends the wings from his right side which impaled the ground around Beowulf before he used them as means to sprint up towards the esper.
"See? Your reaction and even your response are predictable, let's stop prancing around and get to the next round shall we?" Beowulf continued to say while he spun his body and used the flames as means to give momentum to the following strike.
The blade propels itself in a blazing speed and increased pace, Beowulf uses this to assault the wings of the esper as slowly the boy started to peer through the esper's defensive layers and looks at the maroon suited boy who prepared to throw one of his fists at him.
"I've never seen someone so eager to take me on!" Kakine responded before he sent a strike towards Beowulf in which he managed to block by crossing his daggers in front of him, but Kakine also realized that his other arms were starting to disappear over time while the daggers flame's started to blazing more wanted to analyze the boy's ability further as he was convinced that Beowulf has to follow a certain rules related to his ability, the boy in question however just asked a question that pries Kakine out from his train of thoughts, "It's because your wings crossed me the wrong way! For someone who is able to create anything through your ability, choosing wings is a boring choice… did you expect people to bow down to you, just like those arrogant angels once did?"
His explanation about angels baffled him as he just dismissed it as a way for him to throw him out of balance because Kakine just claps back at the champagne blonde boy, "So what if I did?! There's nothing you can say about it!" Kakine said as he moved in closer and grabbed Beowulf's wrists before he continued, "And to return to the first question, you said you were only able to take the souls of the dead, does it mean you have unlimited access to power as long as you keep on slaughtering people."
"You seemed interested in my ability, Dark Matter."
"I just thought if I can harvest that ability from you, I want to do several experiments with that and my ability… it'll be interesting, don't you agree?" Kakine said as his face twists into a gee filled grin that reminds him of his own way of inflicting fright towards his opponents, so in a curious tone he asked back to the esper while trying to flip his body up in order to break free from Kakine's lock, "And you're planning to use the residents of the city to conduct those experiments?"
"Why yes, they should be honored to be something useful for me."
"You just remind me of someone, Dark Matter! An arrogant swine to say the least, but you really do reminded me of her!" Beowulf responded in rage.
"Screw you!" The esper responded as he used his wings to enclose the boy and locked him into a deadly embrace as the boy knew full well that Dark Matter had altered his wings to act similar to a buzzsaw because of the familiar buzzing sound.
"Right back at you!" The champagne blonde boy responded as he casted an engulfing flame that he used as means to slip past the ever closing wings.
Kakine didn't take the remark well because his expression darkens while his wings seem to grow in size once more marking that he wanted to inflict as much damage as he can towards his opponent, "You looked down on me while you're working with another lower ranked level 5 esper! I'll beat a lesson into your thick skull."
The assault of Dark Matter's wings started once more, but the enlarged wings made it possible for the blood knight to dive and weave through them, he even used some of the attacks as a way for him to gain some leverage as he stepped from one wing to another to keep his proximity close to the esper while his hands are all busy with deflecting and blocking his attacks before he opened his lips to say, "Petty swine, I'm not working for anyone!"
"What about Kami?" Kakine asked in a rage filled tone.
"That guy…" Beowulf paused before he gave off an answer that will surely stab the esper's ego, "Well, let's just say he piqued an interest in me and much more than you do."
The taunt caused Kakine to intensify his flurry of attacks even more, but unknown to the two boys who were locked in the heat of their battle, Toudou are guiding Rakko to the process of using and firing his railgun which has suffered some amount of damage because of his decision of using it as a shield to prevent the champagne blonde boy from slicing off his head.
"Yumiya-san, place your hand on the grip and keep it steady…" He said in his weakened state while placing his hand on top of hers before he slumped down in and out from his own consciousness.
"I got it."
"I'll signal Dark Matter to reel the target closer." The boy assured Rakko "It's me, pull him to the small artificial lake and let me finish it." The boy glanced up and told Kakine to somehow direct his opponent down so the artificial railgun can hit him in point blank range, preferably on the lake so it would limit his movements and add extra damage through the electricity that travels through the water.
Toyudou called Kakine and relayed his plans to destroy or at least incapacitate the monster that still managed to put up a decent fight, in which the esper also agrees as his interest and irritation have reached their limit.
So with a quick jab performed by the wings on his right side, Kakine sends the angelic boy down straight into the body of water amidst the burning landscape.
"Go down you bastard!" Kakine said while a grin painted itself on his face.
"Heh! Pissed aren't you?" Beowulf clapped back at the esper while charging up the licking flames on his daggers, "I'm going back up there in no time…"
The boy planned to dive back in the fight, but his focus was solely aimed at Kakine and made him unaware of the girl who hid herself on the ruined foliage near the water. Yumiya Rakko slowly takes aim and tightens her grip on the long railgun rifle while the previous owner slumped back further back as he realized his body was not fit to keep on fighting in this ridiculous battle.
Kakine waited for the surprise and Rakko was going to deliver it as she squeezed her fingers on the trigger.
A chain of mechanical sound can be heard from the gun as it fired the round, but moments later it exploded after the shell left the barrel and travelled halfway towards the unsuspecting boy and the Rakko who was holding the gun. The explosion was powerful enough as the material of the shell and the railgun itself imploded on themselves that it sent Rakko and Beowulf flying in opposite directions.
Rakko was thrown into the charred hillside of the Ground Geo facility while Beowulf got thrown towards the downward slope of the hills.
Toudou has prepared for this as he laid his body flat on the ground with assortment of debris in front of him so he doesn't get caught in the violent explosion, as the smoke subsides he could feel an immediate force coming from a grip that held him up by his collar and held his body in midair.
It was Kakine's hand and he was furious at the other boy's plan to use his fellow SCHOOL member as bait to trigger the explosion.
"What the hell was that?! Where did Yumiya go?!" Kakine shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice was filled with malice and by the looks of it Toudou's answer will determine his fate of whether he could walk out from this alive or be hacked into pieces by the esper's sharp wings.
"I used Ricane's special shell. Damn it! I guess the barrell couldn't handle that much stress." Toudou yelled back in an attempt to save his life from Kakine who's visage resembled more of an angel of death.
"You! She was useful to SCHOOL Damn it!"
"Ricane will give his support to SCHOOL and she could be replaced easily, Dark Matter." Toudou said in between his choked breath and cough, "This is only scratching the surface if you're determined to take down both the Kami gang and Beowulf, victory comes at a steep price."
"Call that senile bastard to send a search party for her or I'll call the Duchess herself." Kakine tried to instill fear and show the young man who was truly in control, but the shamed marksman expression turned into a hair of a smirk as he said, "Do it! I can bear the shame."
"You're one of those kids who've been raised by their old and noble bullshit ways… Ugh, this is going to be a handful." The esper said in frustration as he knew this type of people are needlessly clung to their pride and code just like the structure of Duchy clique that uses nobility ranking system, "Call Ricane, I'm going to do some personal digging at how Kami and that prick are related to each other."
Moments later the enraged esper just dropped the other boy down while walking away and floated ever so slowly.
"Where are you going…" The marksman said weakly.
"This fight is not over… I'm going to pulverize the bastard with my own hands." Dark Matter said before he took off at full speed at the rough direction where Beowulf was sent flying.
PLAY MUSIC
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S OST 1 – Search.
On the other side of the combat, Chisa, Victoria and the light haired duo are sharing a space inside a car that is in the middle of running away from the heated combat situation, with the other boys serving as the protection and decoys to cover for the escaping idols.
Chisa still holds her older sister figure to calm her down, but the assured expression on her face caused the other girl to wonder why she felt safe even when their safety is still not guaranteed, there's still no guarantee that the ones who ambushed them from earlier won't do the same when they're still racing down the maze that is Academy City's tunnel system.
For Victoria, Chisa's next sentence is about to shed light on why she felt that way.
"Blue? You're here."
Eri, who heard the hopeful reply coming from Chisa, couldn't help but glance back for a few short moments to reply, "No luck girl, the boy is driving that white car right behind us."
"Blue… I have heard that name before…" Victoria stopped for a moment to remind herself where she had heard that name before and suddenly her eyes went wide in realization as she asked, "Is he the boy on yesterday's photoshoot?!"
This caused Eri to jovially reply with, "Bingo, You got it… I am terribly sorry that I had to lie to you Tori-san, but the cat is out of the bag now." She ended her sentence with a slight somber tone that implied she felt sorry about lying to the idol when they first met each other.
"Then the white haired boy! Is he the Accelerator?!"
"Nope, but I heard that a lot." Eri replied while glancing at the very same boy in question.
"Master?"
"M-Master?!" Chisa erupted in surprise at the response coming from the boy.
"What is going on between you two." Victoria also gaped ever so slightly at the reply as the word could imply that the two have a 'unique' relationship dynamic with each other.
"Nora-kun… We've talked about this." The ruby eyed girl responded in a defeated tone before she tweaked with the communication device in her car and tried to change the conversation topic, "Chisa, I'll radio the other car in, I bet you wanted to speak to him right?"
"Please do!" Chisa answered with a starry hopeful look in her eyes.
Few moments later a static noise can be heard through the device before it cuts into a messy situation that currently takes place inside the white car that was driven by Pierce, "Eriri?! What is it?! Unabara put that gun down, there are spare magazines in the back… those are the flashbangs!"
The clanging and various noises coming from the other end made it obvious that the ones seated in the other car were in the middle of rearming themself in preparation for another fight, which made the girls inside the yellow car to pause a bit to picture the mess in the other car.
"Did they send someone else to chase us?!" Mitsuki suddenly cuts in right after the mess has subsided.
"No, not yet anyway… but someone is eager to talk with blue hair, so I'll patch her in." Eri replied before she handed the communication device's handheld speaker to the idol, in which Chisa immediately spoke.
"Blue, is it them? The ones who cornered you the last time?"
"I don't know, the details are murky, but there are definitely some connections alright, Unabara any thoughts?"
"They're the duchy alright… and Blue, there's something important that I need to share with… STOP THE VEHICLE!" Mitsuki alerted by the many flashlights that moved around inside the tunnels that turned to the two approaching cars in the exact same moment, the ones who held them are wearing a grayish thick coat with some of them having white and purple markings mixed in, the ones with marked coats looked rather imbalance because the bulky coats contrasted their slender figure, a detail that implies that these are the members of the group that ambushed them earlier.
These are the girls that belonged to the clique mixed in with armed students who also unknowingly allied themselves with the clique.
"There are people down here! The footsoldiers, Duchy's forces are here!" Pierce shouted out before he saw a blur move past his view and marched forward in dizzying speed. It was the spare hybrid stealth motorcycle that Atsumu made and it was being used by Yuu and Shujin who kept silent during the whole ride as they were scanning the area and the airwaves for any possible sign of ambush.
PLAY MUSIC
Psycho Pass OST – Dominator.
The two already adorned their prized helmets that had various features that helped them to identify the ones wearing those thick gray coats, and with some of them can be seen holding an object that looked like weapons. The two 'brothers' decided to take action quickly and get ahead from the group to act as their shield in order to give them time to escape.
Shujin and Yuu already devise a short term plan to surprise the ones who follow them as the leather jacket loving boy yelled out, "Your turn to join the action matchstick! Blind those bastards!" Before he switched the electric motor into a conventional engine and went even faster while putting his hands on the brakes in anticipation of the slender framed esper's countdown.
"Counting down… 3… 2… 1… NOW!" Yuu calmly said in preparation while small sparks of flames started to form around his hands, right after he finished counting Shujin squeezed on the bike's brakes and sent the bike into a stoppie pose that sends the flame esper flying as if the bike was used as a catapult to propel him forward and give initial momentum. Shujin grinned while the other boy took off in an impressive show of Newton's first law of physics as he shouted, "FLY DAMN IT!"
In the middle of his flight Yuu released all of the charged up energy into a blinding wall of sparks that traveled through the tunnels and disrupted the search party's vision, the initial acceleration from the catapult maneuver also caused the sparks to travel faster just like a fireworks festival just erupted inside the tunnels which lasted for a whole minute.
It was a generous amount of time for the group to make their escape as they looked at the other tunnels that they could use as their means of escape.
"Turn to that corner! it's one of the older service tunnels that connects to the city's flood prevention tunnels, there isn't any rain tonight so it's safe to blast through the underground rain reservoir." Mitsuki said to Pierce who's still trying to find a route that doesn't lead them to another searching party, and as the blue haired boy obliged to the other boy's suggestion he sent out a message to the ones who stayed behind to cover their escape, "I leave you two to it! I'm sorry I can't join you."
Somehow there was a slight tinge of discomfort inside the blue haired boy's voice.
"It's fine, matchstick and I are made for this!" Shujin replied as he pulled out his customized .45 pistol while still being seated on the bike.
"We'll meet you guys when we're done." Eri also voiced her concern as she left the two espers before she glanced to the side and saw Nora has stepped out of the car with the new gear that Motoharu gave to him, an oversized scabbard that can be used to store and enhance blades to be more efficient than his high frequency blades that he could made at any time through his ability. She also saw that Nora adorned a similar helmet as the rest of the group.
"Nora-kun?! Wait where are you going? Wait, where did you get that helmet… SHUJIN WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A LONG TALK AFTER THIS! SHINOBU INCLUDED!" Eri erupted in a fit of shouts as she realized who had been influencing the white haired boy to act in such a manner and sent a dangerous remark towards the ruffly haired esper.
"So you showed up." Shujin turned to speak with the approaching esper as Yuu also flew back and landed on his side. He recognized the threat that Eri said earlier was a real one, but he decided to not speak on it for obvious reasons.
The search party has locked the boys in their sights and they need to stand their ground to cover their friend's escape, one search party is composed of a dozen of combatants with espers and clique members mixed in, so the three boys couldn't just see it as an easy fight.
The fact that the fight is not going to be a breeze in a park was something that Nora decided to elaborate upon as he said, "You said I need to prove myself worthy of standing by my master's side, I think this is a chance for me to do so."
The constant teasing coming from the ruffly haired esper seemed to agitate the white haired boy act in an unusual manner, maybe it was coming from his behavioral program that told him to regard the safety of his master in high regard, so the need to prove himself to his master's comrades seemed to took a high priority as their action now can be seen as an act to protect her as well.
"Nice, Snow White can turn the table to our favor." Shujin said while grinning at the other esper who just stretched his arms in preparation of the incoming fight while replying with, "Not so sure, we don't know how many members they have or if there are any inner circle members mixed in, Handler has compiled a report from all the info he got from Mikagami."
"Which means there's no need for us to hold back right, they're wearing bulletproof vests."
"Neutralize them, we don't know whether the Duchy can use their fallen comrades as a story to spin the public perception about us." Yuu shared his plan where they shouldn't cause any casualty on the Duchy's side while also giving his reason why they should do so.
"The hell?!" Was the only response that Shujin could give as he already saw what the clique's combat team was capable of.
"We're getting recognized by many urban legend communities and gossip boards. The duchy presumably used that as a platform to turn the entire city against us, well that's what I get from the way the story is being told."
"I'll make a blind guess. They painted us as a group of philandering bastards?"
"How do you know…"
"Kami the Harem King? That name was a dead giveaway." Shujin replied as he cracked his necks in anticipation, he huffed a short breath out before he continued to say, "So neutralize them? I'll try to hold back as much as possible."
"Nora?" Yuu turned to ask the other esper who was also present, which immediately replied by Nora in a flat tone, "Non lethal methods and limited force will be applied in the following combat operation."
Yuu breathes out a sigh of relief after he heard Nora's answer and the three of them proceeds to stood side by side in anticipation of the following fight, Yuu charged his hands with flames to do his afterburner move, Shujin loads a fresh non-lethal magazine into his gun and Nora readies himself to use his powers to only create concrete shields to mask his approach. The search party also huddled into small groups of fours to approach the boys as they already heard the horrors that happened during the whole Skillout raid where one of these boys presumably massacred their members who originated from the Deadlock and executed the senior figures using their own prized stake driver.
"Are those three going to be alright?" Chisa asked shortly after they reached the large underground reservoir, in which Eri replied with, "Knowing them, I worried more about what would happen to their opponents."
"Chisa!" Victoria turned to her as she showed signs of worry to the ones who got left behind and in a kind gesture the younger girl clasped her hands over her own and replied with, "They're going to be alright… it's not like they sacrificed themselves." She paused for a short while to look at the trembling girl before her and continued with, "But… Forget it, I'm sorry."
"No, tell me… What do you want to say."
"They'll put their lives on the line if they need to… I hope you can believe that Tori."
"Is he…" Victoria said to break through her own walls of worry and look at the ever hopeful look on her younger 'sister' face before she said "I see."
The girl subtly acknowledged Chisa's belief that this group will ensure their safety even in this perilous situation. Victoria also tried to listen to the radio chatter that can be heard through the communication device inside Eri's car, she listened attentively to this so called 'Blue' and the brunette boy conversation to reaffirm Chisa's belief.
"Should we turn back and help them?" Mitsuki asked.
"No, we got to tend to Chisa and Victoria first." Pierce replied with a serious tone.
"You can be surprisingly serious in these kinds of situations."
"Isn't that a given by this point? pick up that rifle, that nya-nya bastard left it here just in case things like this happened."
The conversation between the two caused the bob haired idol to slump down ever so slightly as she once regarded them as 'lowest of the low, scum of the earth' type of criminal, so much so that a girl that they currently took under their protection had to step in and gave her a stinging reminder of how wrong she was, and after she experienced it first hand Victoria knew why the girl from earlier was so protective in her own way towards one of the members of said group.
One who adorned a pair of shades and blonde hair, a look that she usually associated with delinquents or someone who tried to stand out albeit too much.
But before she could ponder her own thoughts even further, a voice that called out to her snapped her out from her own thoughts.
"Hear that Tori… I'm not lying to you right."
"Chisa."
"I'm not going to keep my involvement with them as a secret from you anymore, but in exchange please give them a chance to prove themselves…"
"Like right at this moment?" The girl replied in a weak tone while still hanging her head.
"Tori?" Chisa reached out to her in worry once more. Chisa moved her hands to comfort Victoria, but the girl glanced up to look her in the eyes and said. "I know, after all of this is over…" Her expression has changed slightly into one that was filled with comfort before she said, "I will be listening to you."
Upon hearing her reply, Chisa just smiled as she felt a warm sensation wash over her because she finally got through her fellow idol group member's walls, and she gave another sigh of relief when they broke out to the other side of the reservoir and found there were no ambushes that were waiting for them.
It seems the three members who stayed back managed to hold them off or push back the search party as they dared to walk into their domain. It was given as those three followed the path of their blue haired colleague who excelled at fighting in enclosed space after all.
But things are going to take a turn as the silky haired esper's guess just became true.
"Matchstick! They're not armed! those guns are duds!" Shujin shouted out as he fired shots aimed solely at their opponent's weapons which immediately broke away upon contact with his non-lethal bullets.
"Nora! Stick to the plan! just disarm and neutralize them." Yuu once again spoke to remind the lethal esper about the update.
"Understood."
These three who were trained under the guidance of Pierce and Motoharu showed the searching party what the word 'onslaught' truly means, they witnessed their ranks falters at a rapid pace upon faced with the three espers who seemed to blends and become one with their surroundings and in-sync with each other, the one with the guns and flames are constantly supporting and cover for each other while the lone swordsmen in their group was able to create leverage and cover walls for them through his ability.
PLAY MUSIC
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S OST 1 – Life Interrupt.
The Duchy's foot soldiers have walked inside the Cerberus's den and they are currently paying the price of trespassing into the hellhound's territory.
They cried in despair.
They screamed in terror.
Their voices became a grim reminder to the ones who waited outside, which reminded them once again of the demon who decimated them in their previous fight and it became worse when one of them recognized the design of the helmet looked similar to the one that was worn by the newly ranked level 5 esper.
"Who the fuck are these guys?!"
"Those masks! Kami the Harem King?!"
"We're going against that new level 5?! Hey! I didn't sign up for this!" One voice filled the airwaves before a turbulent sound approaching flames engulfed him and immediately cut his feed.
"Those hardcore guys with red coats are gone! Weren't they supposed to be the ones who'll take care of this kind of problem?!"
"They're gone, damn it!"
"Stay away! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Another panicked yell filled the airwaves before abruptly being cut by a sudden gun blast and exploding earth.
"My lady, please abort this mission… we can't… we can't hold on…" Finally one of the Duchy clique members who was mixed within also called in and reported about their grim situation.
The whole conversation between the search parties are being relayed back to the ones on the surface as a large group of armed students and Duchy clique members are waiting just outside at one of many entrances to the underground service tunnel system that Motoharu's group liked to use in their escape. She had predicted that the group would use the tunnels as means to escape from Rakko and her rampage, but she didn't predict that the group that had bothered her so much would be able to put up a decent resistance as they were the ones who were being ambushed.
Miyagawa Chifuyu believed that if she threw wave after wave of combatants at them after the initial ambush, she would be able to shave off their ability to resist her force and bring them down to their knees.
Yet it seems the ones within said group are still able to put up a formidable defense even when she sent some of her own clique members at them which has been mixed with the foot soldiers that she had formed by making them believe that they are doing this to make a better city for the students.
Her illusions are about to be shattered as her head of surveillance division came to her and said, "My lady, the entirety of the scouting group are…"
"Taken out? It is well within my prediction, let's go and call some of the outer circle members, the ones assigned in the Marquess class should be able to give a proper fight." The silver haired girl mentally cursed her opponent as she thought the shock of being exposed would make one member of Kami's gang to falter and ruin their formation, she even sent Rakko as a live bait to ensure the effect.
She didn't know that her live bait had encountered something even worse than Kami's gang as a figure was flying into the entrance of the service tunnel.
CRASH!
"What is that?!" Many of the ones who stood on the Duchess's side were surprised at the crashing figure as they saw a faint outline of a person rise from the thick smoke and dust.
PLAY MUSIC
Punishing Gray Raven OST – Wraith.
"My lady, please stand behind me!" The clique's Surveillance division leader said as she puts her body in front of Chifuyu in order to protect her from the figure as he walked out from the rubble to reveal himself, many of the ones stood on the clique's side were surprised as they were expecting another masked member from Kami's gang and not a slender boy who had angel-like delicate figure and champagne blonde hair.
"That was rough… I can't believe things ended like this for the second time." left his lips as he tried to collect himself, in which the entirety of the people there just collectively asked themselves about what in the world that the boy just said.
Things are taking a sudden turn as the angelic boy d=suddenly turned towards Chifuyu and said, "And who are you supposed to be?... I can sense a faint trace of unique energy from you." Beowulf asked while the dust finally cleared and revealed that he was still holding a pair of flaming daggers that gave off sparks of fire every once in a while.
"He's armed, everyone! Move into a defensive position! Our lady's safety is the top priority."
"Wait!" Chifuyu let out her voice that managed to catch everyone's attention, the girl crossed her arms and continued to say, "Let him speak first, I want to hear what this gentleman has to say."
"What do I have to say? I'm pretty sure you were the one behind all of this fair lady…" Beowulf's face twisted in disgust as he could see her face as the one who watched over the procedure that the two girl's from earlier took and judge whether they were fit for service or not, he took a step forward and grimaced before he said, "Now, explain yourself!"
"What are you talking about?!" The girl is still unable to pinpoint what the boy meant.
"Yes, explain yourself Miyagawa… You people need to have some catching up to do." Another presence made itself known as Kakine descended from the sky and hovered above all the people present there. They collectively pieced together as to why the boy suddenly appeared and crashed violently on the scene, he was fighting the level 5 esper known as the 'Dark Matter'.
Even some of them remembered that the general figure of the boy resembled the mysterious that suddenly got locked in a fight with the esper several days earlier, back on his surprise visit on Kami's special interview.
It was a fact that was about to be highlighted by Chifuyu's response towards the esper's sudden appearance.
"Dark Matter?!" Chifuyu gasped as she called out to the esper who glanced down to look at her and asked, "You surely can shed some light on this matter, give me an explanation on why he was able to extract the ability of others and use them as his own?!"
Kakine's question just confirms Beowulf's recollection that Chifuyu was the girl who should be held accountable behind the inhumane practice of mixing and transmuting human souls, so the boy readied his daggers in response before he lunged his body towards the noble looking girl while yelling, "So you really are the one who was responsible!"
"Don't forget about our unfinished business!" Kakine said just before the other boy reached Chifuyu as he used his wings to slam to the ground and embed some of the feathers to create a makeshift wall to protect the Duchess before the two of them continued to fight.
Beowulf tried to once again stab the blade into the wings so he could use it as a leverage for him to go up and face Kakine, but the esper who already calculated this move used his wings to quickly lift the boy up and slams him back into the ground before sending a flurry of assault from his wings, which sends a heavy amount of debris across the battlefield and towards others who already froze in fright because of the view that they just witnessed.
Someone who could take on a level 5 esper is not something that can be seen everyday, even in Academy City.
But even in those perilous moments some of the Duchy clique members managed to collect themselves and regroup, this became apparent as the leader of the surveillance division managed to rally some of the members to act as shield for their leading figure, "Protect the Duchess, everyone take position… Kyaaaah!"
A forceful blast coming from Kakine's wings managed to knock some of the members back as the esper didn't pay any attention to his surroundings.
"Everyone!" Chifuyu shouted out in horror as the battle between Dark Matter and the other boy who moments earlier was aiming for her neck just wreaked havoc on the scene and scattered her forces who's only starting to collect themselves and retreated back as soon as they knew that a level 5 esper is locked in a heated battle.
The angelic boy who witnessed Kakine's complete disregard of others safety took a moment to call him out on his action as the voices within him were seething in displeasure at the tasteless act, "You showed your true colors, damn tyrant!" Beowulf's voice was laced in disgust.
Before long the esper who wore a sadistic smile immediately replied by proudly saying, "They're nothing but fodder and steps for me, you for one shouldn't be surprised."
On the other side, Chifuyu braved the clashing violent winds as shouts out to ask, "Dark Matter! Who is he?!"
"He's siding with Kami! If you want to hurt that damn prick of a gang…" Kakine said in between his flurry of assaults while also dodging the quick jabs of daggers, he flew back to get some distance before he continued with his sentence, "You can start by hurting that one handful bastard."
"Do you think I can handle such an opponent!"
"Call the members of your little tea club, I'm sure they could give me a helping hand at best or a show at worst."
"So keen on sacrificing others don't you, I'll be damned if I'm going to let you call in for help!" Beowulf once again took no moment to catch up with his breath at all, because he immediately threw his body again to fight against the winged esper as a large gunship once again came into view and looming over the two of them.
Chifuyu saw this and held a hand on her chest to think about her next course of actions as she already spent her scouting party ruined in the tunnels and their reserves ruined on the entrance. By the looks of things she may command the ones left to support Dark Matter to comply with his request, but she tightened her grip with a clear resolve in her eyes.
Her surveillance leader saw this as a sign that she will stay her ground and fight, so she took a few steps forward as she tried to advise her to retreat even if it would spoil the Duchy's relationship with SCHOOL.
"My lady…" She spoke in a whispered voice before she heard the Duchess's voice that cut through her own as the leader of the Duchy clique made her voice heard, "Fall back, we're not going to comply with his request…"
"But!" The girl tried to remind her about the following consequences, but the girl just looked at her and continued.
"Call in for a long ranged support instead. The Marquess archers can help lessen the casualty on our side."
"Hasekura clique?"
"Yes, call them to deal with this matter. Are they on standby?" The icy silver girl asked while she looked at her subordinate.
"They're already stationed in a safe position my lady."
"We should quickly fall back then." The girl quickly wraps up as she reaches out her hand to help the other girl walk out the ruined landscape with her.
"Yes my lady."
Amidst the battle the two boys who came from different worlds looked at Chifuyu's fleeting figure, in which one of them took the opportunity to say a snide remark, "Seems like you're and the wounded beast are the only ones who are going to fight me."
"Miyagawa… that bitch dared to leave me." Kakine replied back to Beowulf's comment about how his ally decided to leave him behind and fight on his own.
The champagne blonde boy just smirked when he heard that spiteful reply and decided to comment on that as well, "No wonder, you're not the type who attracts loyalty."
"Coming from someone who always fights his battles alone."
"I have my own allies, do you?" He replied before he leaped up once again.
But unknown to the two, there was another player who was about to enter the fight because a sniper team was preparing to lay down long range attacks from about two kilometers away. Hasekura Reiri and her team of spotters and counter snipers perched on top of a skyscraper and were following the battle through their scopes.
The girl leads the Marquess Archers which was a team formed by the Duchess as her way of dealing with risky situations such as this while minimizing risk to her own clique members. Hasekura Reiri's ability of controlling fluid and it's pressure, which she has demonstrated to be capable enough to be used as long range support that equals in power with military grade artillery bombardment with more frightening accuracy, that was also why she required a team of spotters and counter snipers who can protect her and feed her data at the same time.
Reiri looks at her target and fires the special made rifle that utilizes her ability as a way to propel tungsten spikes instead of using more traditional bullets. The spike cuts through the air cleanly and much more silently than traditional bullets, which increases its lethality because there was no way for the target to trace back the source to her by using sound triangulation or by noticing a muzzle flash on a traditional firearm.
The round cut cleanly through Beowulf's body as her spotter quickly reported back the result, "The round hit its mark. Hasekura-san, lower the elevation around 1 degree and adjust for the crosswind."
"Understood, waiting for the input."
"Adjust about one point to the right and fire on your discretion."
Reiri fired again and this time it also hit the boy right on his upper torso which sent his body falling down towards the darkened patch of the city, which implies that it was a park filled located right on the edges of District 21.
"GUH!" The boy grunted out as he started coughing out blood before he lost all sensation and strength in his body.
"Ha! You're going down Beowulf, don't worry I'll let that old man pick you up afterwards!" Kakine said in triumph while he stepped on top of the ruined gunship again, his eyes remained fixed to look at the falling figure with eyes that looked weak yet still implies that he wanted to continue the fight.
"Damn it!" Beowulf cried out right before his body hit the ground and marked the end of their fight where Kakine walked out as the victor in their deadly bout.
PLAY MUSIC
Psycho Pass OST – Nobody Knows Your Mask.
Down near the very same park, two girls who are wearing their school uniforms are walking around in search of something or someone. One of the girls has a pronounced forehead and long dark hair that is fashioned in a classic Japanese princess style and the other has a similar looking long hair but with bangs and a slim body figure usually seen on a swimming athlete.
Kongou Mitsuko and Awatsuki Maaya are on a night stroll because the former is on a hunt to find the ruffian who broke into their dormitory and left his student ID behind and Maaya is accompanying her because she has her concern about her friend walking alone at night especially when there are many reports of unsavory thugs who likes to hit on girls from School Garden.
"Kongou-san, we should head back… It's already past our curfew." Maaya said with a hint of worry.
"I still need to find that ruffian who dared to trespass into our dormitory Awatsuki-san." Kongou answered while she's still holding Kamijou Touma's student ID.
"But the curfew…"
"We're allowed to go out a little more late during the break time, why are you so worried?" The Ojou-sama asked.
"Remember what Hokaze-san said, the city is not safe right now…" She replied, but before she managed to finish her sentence Mitsuko assured her that she got the handle on things by saying, "We're more than capable of handling any problems coming our way."
But a sudden loud noise stopped the two in their tracks and even caused the two to jump in pure shock.
CRASH!
"What was that?!"
Mitsuko turned her head to look at the general direction of where the violent noise came from.
"It's coming from back there." Maaya explained right before her friend walked towards the source of the loud noise and lit up her mini flashlight.
"Wait! Kongou-san!" Maaya said in a tone that sounds like a plea for her friend to stop, but it won't take long for the girl to follow her friend into the edges of the park that was located near the mountainous District 21. Mitsuko noticed some rusting sounds coming from the treelines above her and decided to shine her flashlight on it right before a resounding scream could be heard coming from her.
"Kyaaaah!"
"What is it?... Kyaaah!" Maaya also screamed when she saw a familiar figure got his body stuck on the trees above her. Maaya could only gasp and cover her mouth after she looked at his condition, his body was covered in wounds and not just scratches and bruises that one would might get after falling into a tree, but ones that large enough to drench ones body with its own blood, large cuts and bullet wounds with various degree can be seen throughout his body.
It surprised the two even more when the figure who dangled up before them decided to speak in between his bloodied coughs.
"Stop with the screaming… I'm not a blood sucking monster or anything like that…" Beowulf said as he opened his eyes ever so slightly while slipping in and out from his own consciousness, he tried to move his body in small motions which caused the tree branch where his body got stuck to break and dropped his body in a violent thud as he said, "Ugh… Using that silver armed creep really dried me up."
"Wait, aren't you…" Maaya said as she remembered that she once saw this boy several days back when she got cornered by a group of students who won't give up on her and Yuna.
"Huh… You're… the polite lady… from… a few days ago…" He said before he drifted away from his consciousness again.
"Are you okay? you look hurt." Maaya asked before Mitsuko chimed in to say, "Awatsuki-san… I think he's badly hurt."
"Who do we suppose to call in this situation… Hokaze-san, no, we can't bother her and her clique…"
"How about that girl from Judgement? The one who helped us during the Academic Assembly."
"Konori-san? Yes, we should call her." Maaya replied as she quickly browsed through her phone to find her number. Before long the two girls could see two paramedics walking through the bushes carrying a stretcher where they carried the badly hurt boy on it and delivered him to the hospital, the two girls were also told to come with the paramedics due to security concerns.
Unknown to the two, several teenagers with thick coats are looking at the whole scene while contacting their fellow colleagues to inform them about the current development of things and the concerning presence of this new hostile element who was able to fight Dark Matter for a ridiculous period.
The Duchy clique has been thrown into a spiral because of Beowulf while within Ricane is also preparing for his own move with Kakine on his side, and all of them are adamant on getting their hands on the unknown outsider with ability that seems alien to them, so much so that the two sides are ready to put their main force to get the boy on their hands.
Awatsuki Maaya and Kongou Mitsuko unknowingly just put themselves in dangerous and deadly matters.
The next morning, Beowulf felt dizzy as he opened his eyes ever so slowly and found that someone was standing by his side inside a room that was entirely colored in white.
"Check… Check… Can you see my hand, young man?" The man spoke in a dismissive tone as if he had done this on a daily basis and over a long period of time..
"Ugh… A frog in a white coat? I must be dreaming."
"Well he's up, I can't believe he's able to gain his consciousness this quickly especially with all those wounds." The doctor known as Heaven Canceller is tending to his patient turned to Konori Mii, Awatsuki Maaya and Kongou Mitsuko who stayed in the hospital because they were eager to know about what the boy had gone through. The doctor continued to massage his temple before he delivered the list of injuries, "A bullet wound through his arms and torso, multiple graze wounds, shocked and torn muscle fibres, blunt force traumas, third degree burns, broken arm, cracked ribs… Where did you find him? An active battlefield?"
The three girls face instantly twist in fright as they heard inhuman amount of damage his body had sustained, especially Mii who worked as a Judgement officer who just baffled at how he managed to get shot in his body a couple of times and still managed to talk to Maaya and Mitsuko.
She was also the one who took and logged the report of the boy's involvement in a series of brutal beatdowns that happened in the city, where many rowdy students got sent into the intensive care section of many hospitals because of the gruesome injuries that they got from fighting a mysterious feminine looking foreigner boy.
She had confirmed it with Maaya that the boy was indeed the one who helped her by delivering a swift and needlessly violent beatdown, but she couldn't believe the feminine description to be true because Mii believed it would take a burly thug with an excessive amount of muscle to do that much damage on those students.
"And he still managed to talk with the two of you before he collapsed… I only knew one other person who has a similar physique like him and I honestly believed his body was made of rubber and glued together with magic…" The doctor continued to explain while glancing at the boy who reminded him of another boy who often stayed in the very same hospital, a certain spiky haired boy to be exact.
"From what I see he's in something deep and above our jurisdiction, do we have to call the Antiskill on this one, doctor?"
"I don't have any advice on that officer, but all I can say is this… the boy has no identification whatsoever and calling Antiskill means only one thing, they'll report this as an altercation where an esper element is involved before they send him out from the city." The doctor pats himself on the neck as his eyes glanced out to the vast expanse of the city for a moment before he continued, "But if you wanted to know more information related to him, I suggest you ask him some questions now… not too much though because the sedatives are still affecting him and put the boy in a haze."
"Is this related to the Joint Task Force case?" Mii asked.
"I can't say for sure, after they dissolved there weren't any updates… Miss, I'm only a doctor, not a cold case investigator." The doctor said in order to avoid further questions.
"Konori-san?" Maaya said as she was slightly puzzled because of Mii's change in expression.
"I'm going to make some calls to the Judgement central office first."
"You're taking this case?!" The two tokiwadai girls asked in shock, and Maaya continued to say something out of worry towards the Judgement officer, "Konori-san, it could be dangerous."
"This is bigger than us, the least we can do to help is asking him for any lead, there's a lot at stake."
"Do you plan on asking him some questions?" Her tone of worry is still apparent.
"Awatsuki-san…" Mii turned to her and gave a softer look as she saw that Maaya's worry was genuine.
The boy who was the source of their concern woke up from his haze and looked at the two girls who he briefly met the other night. The boy looked around to check for his surroundings before he realized that both of his arms are being cuffed to the sides of the bed frame, so in turn he decided to open up his lips while glancing towards the three girls and say, "I can hear you, fair lady, if you have some questions, I'll be willing to answer them…"
The sudden remark caused Maaya to take off and take refuge behind Mii who just reacted by saying, "A-Awatsuki…" before she continued to pat her head in a rather soft way.
"I see that I did something that frightened you, but I fully understood why you reacted that way…" Beowulf says with a somewhat weak tone while looking at Maaya who still hides behind Mii, thus he glanced to the side to look at Mii and said, "Miss, please do whatever you need to do to put her at ease, I won't resist in any way."
The boy implies that he won't say anything against further measures that the officer would take as long as it puts the frightened girl at ease even when he already has both of his hands cuffed.
So what else could she do to ease the tension, Mii pondered in her own thoughts before she turned to her friend who was well versed in relationship matters, Yanagisako Aomi.
Pierce: WHOA WAIT A DAMN MOMENT! Handcuffs you say…
Touma: This leads down to a downward spiral
Pierce: Nah man, if she puts on the handcuffs and feels some kind of relief, it'll trigger her journey into a…
Kuroko: Into what? Please continue…
Pierce: Put those spikes down first… please…
Kazari: Awatsuki-san is not into those kinds of things, isn't she?
Ruiko: Don't take his words seriously Uiharu…