Hello, everyone! This is a new story! I hope everyone will enjoy it and without further ado, let's start!
Normal POV
After meeting New AL4 in the resort, Aichi approached them and questioned whether they would like to train with them, which was met with rejection as he looked down dejected and thanked them. He then walked away after that.
" ... Hm? Kai~" Ren called
" ... What is it?" Kai ask
" Are you regretting that you left the team?" Ren ask
" What are you talking about?" Kai ask
" You've been staring at Aichi-kun the entire time when he talked." Ren said
" I wasn't." Kai said
" Come on, you don't have to lie." Ren said
" Shut up."
Kai got off his seat and left while Ren continued grinning. Kai walked up the stairs to go to his room when he heard Aichi's voice when passing by his room.
" I couldn't do something as amazing as what you did. I don't... I don't even know where I'm going wrong with this. I'm weak... You don't have to comfort me... It was because of me that Kai-kun left the team..."
Kai stopped just as he was about to knock to see what was going on before finally deciding to knock on it. He heard Aichi's footsteps as the door opened a little. When Aichi saw him, he was quick to shut the door immediately and lock it.
" Aichi?"
" W-What are you doing here?" Aichi ask
" I heard you talking to someone." Kai said
" I-I wasn't. A-Anyway, is that why you knocked on the door?" Aichi ask
" ... Yeah."
" I-I see. I'm going to rebuild my deck then." Aichi said
" ... Why did you lock the door?" Kai ask
" N-No reason. I was just surprised to see you, that's all." Aichi said
" I see. I won't disturb you any further then." Kai said
" Y-Yeah."
Kai then walked away and entered his room. Time passed and they were soon at the Japan VF Circuit. Once they managed to win, they were told of the story of Cray and what was going on as they were soon teleported to the space between Cray and Earth.
" Where are we?" Aichi ask
" Aichi Sendou... And your team, Q4... As a leader, if you would fight alongside us to try to save Cray, please proceed. Head for the true final stage that waits for you ahead. " Takuto said as he soon disappeared
" True final stage?"
" Let's go, Brother!" Kamui said and started walking
" You have to get your avatar back, right?" Misaki said as she put her hand on Aichi's shoulder and also started walking
Aichi picked up his pace and caught up with them.
" Kamui-kun... Misaki-san!"
" We're a team!" Kamui said
" What you want to do is also what we want to do." Misaki added
" Right!" Aichi said
The other teams soon started walking beside them as Aichi looked around before turning back to his front.
" Like Takuto-kun said, we have power. We're leaders. So... let's go! Let's save Cray!" Aichi said
" Not so fast..." A voice said
They stopped in our their tracks to see Leon standing in front of them.
" Here's where you turn back." Leon said
" What are you doing?" Takuto appeared and ask
" It's simple. You people aren't the leaders that Cray needs. That person is me alone, Leon Souryu!" Leon declared
" Leon-kun?"
" The wind doesn't blow on you. You're not taking one more step. The final stage ends here!" Leon said
" Weren't you listening? The final stage is a fight to free Cray!" Kamui exclaimed
" Unfortunately, my true reason for participating in the Vanguard Fight Circuit was to thwart your plan. The Souryu people are going to regain their power and reign over the world. For that grand purpose, Royal Paladin, Kagero, and Shadow Paladin must be sacrificed, sealed away for eternity." Leon said
" You made a deal with them?" Takuto ask
" That's right. By drawing on their power, Aqua Force will come back." Leon said
" What does that mean?" Misaki ask
" Leon Souryu offered them Royal Paladin, Kagero, and Shadow Paladin in exchange for bringing back Aqua Force." Takuto explained
" Leon-kun sold Royal Paladin and the others to the enemy?" Aichi exclaimed
" Whether you did it to save your own clan or not, by selling off other clans, you've betrayed all clans... all fighters!" Takuto exclaimed
" How dare you?! You're the one who used all of us when it was convenient to you, Takuto Tatsunagi! I refuse to be your pawn!" Leon said in anger as black mist surrounded him
" Not only the return of Aqua Force, but your own body...!" Takuto exclaimed
" My ancient clan... resurrect Aqua Force. In order for the Souryu people to once more become the supreme rulers of the world, I'm willing to make any sacrifice." Leon continued
" I won't let you!" Takuto said and his Psyqualia glowed in his eyes
" It's wind is blowing on me. Don't for one minute think Cray's warriors can stop me when they've been stripped of their power!" Leon said
Black mist surrounded Takuto and he collapsed on the floor as Aichi and the others ran to help him.
" What just happened, Brother?!" Kamui exclaimed
" I don't know..." Aichi said
" He must... be stopped..." Takuto said
" Takuto Tatsunagi. This space that you've constructed is connected to Cray. Thanks to that, I can feel the power from them directly." Leon said as black aura started forming on his palm
" That's giving Leon-kun power?!" Aichi exclaimed as he gripped something beneath his vest, " ... but that's not possible..."
" Brother?"
" If that power is the one that's giving you power, then... the portal that we came from..." Aichi said
" It's starting to get corrupted and the nothingness is going to start to seep into Earth..." Takuto said
" No way, then the barrier over Earth isn't working...?" Aichi ask
" Barrier...? You..." Takuto exclaimed
" ... I see. So you were the one who put up that barrier?" Leon said
" N-No! I-I'm-" Aichi exclaimed
Black mist formed into a sword as it headed straight for Aichi when a green shield suddenly blocked it.
" Aichi!"
" T-The shield..." Aichi exclaimed
" Hey. Who gave you the permission to hurt my comrade?" A voice ask
A black haired man holding a shield appeared from a green light in front of Aichi as he smiled.
" Naofumi-san!"
" Hurry up and run. This space is rejecting me and I'll be thrown out soon." The man, Naofumi, said
" Y-Yes!"
Aichi and Kamui helped Takuto up as they started running away.
" You're not getting away." Leon said as more black swords went after them
" E Float Shield! Second Shield!"
Two holographic shields appeared again and floated around Aichi and the others as they deflected the swords. Naofumi deflected the other incoming ones with his physical shield until Aichi and the others were far away.
" Who are you?" Leon ask
" Funny you should ask. But I'm not telling. Don't think this is over yet. You see, I made a promise to myself to protect Aichi and you're not getting your way with whatever you want to do. I'll definitely be back again." Naofumi warned just as the space rejected him and threw him out
Aichi and the others had quickly ran just as black mist started spreading around the space. They then stopped to rest as lightning started striking the sky.
" It seems that Leon's newfound power has destabilized this space and merged the two worlds of Cray and Earth." Takuto said weakly
" Hey..." Kamui said when he saw him starting to collapse
" You aren't the one who sealed away Royal Paladin, are you?" Aichi ask
" The thing that captured Royal Paladin and the others, that gave Leon power... Its name is Void. It's a nihilistic power." He said weakly again
" Void... A nihilistic power..."
"It's Cray's greatest enemy. It's said to have no physical form, existing only as a will. And its power is immeasurable. Void is what sealed Aqua Force long, long ago. But none of the clans have ever been able to help Aqua Force. And now Void has sealed away Royal Paladin and two other clans." Takuto explained
" Is Void more powerful than before?" Ren ask
" Yes. But so are the clans. The clans have any years of training, so if they join forces, they should be able to save Royal Paladin and the other clans. That's why... I manipulated all of your memories and switched Gold Paladin and Narukami with the clans that were sealed away. You see, a fighter's ability to lead a clan will be necessary for battling Void." Takuto continued
" Manipulated memories..."
" Fighter's ability...?"
" I gave you new clans, made you compete in the Vanguard Fight Circuit, even encouraged you to level up, all to free Cray." Takuto continued
" You used us... You used us as pawns..." Misaki said
" That's correct... But using all of you has led to this. Now the only thing I can do is put my trust in you. My power has been weakened because of Void. While I still have power, I'll restore all of your memories." Takuto said as his Psyqualia glowed in his eyes and everyone restored all of their memories
" I remember. I remember clearly... I remember all my time with Blaster Blade and Royal Paladin!" Aichi exclaimed
" That's right... You originally used Royal Paladin... Brother Aichi." Kamui said
" I can't believe I'd forgotten all this time..." Misaki said
They hold onto Takuto when they realized that he was falling.
" You must hate me for manipulating your memories and using you as pawns." Takuto said
" No. Just the opposite: I'm grateful to you." Aichi smiled and said
" Grateful?" Takuto repeated
" You gave me a way to help Blaster Blade. And more than anything, you introduced to me Gold Paladin. With them, I'll free Cray and help Blaster Blade!" Aichi said
" Yeah!"
" By the way, Aichi-kun, who was that person?" Ren ask
" Oh... He told me to keep it a secret but... I guess I don't have a choice. He is Naofumi Iwatani, the Shield Hero." Aichi said
" Shield Hero?" Ali ask
" It may sound weird but you all saw it too. He controls many shields and protects people." Aichi said
" Sounds like you knew him for quite awhile. When did you two meet?" Ren ask
" Uh... In elementary school, I guess. A few months before I first met Kai-kun. He saved me from some bullies. His face looked so scary that the bullies immediately ran after he glared at them. Much like Kai-kun now." Aichi said
" ... What's that supposed to mean?" Kai ask
" U-Uh... I mean, in a good way..." Aichi replied
" ... Just continue." Kai said
" Y-Yes... Anyway, Naofumi-san saved me and healed me. He then gave me a small amulet to keep me safe." Aichi said
" Amulet?"
" Yes." Aichi replied as he took out a shield shaped necklace from his vest, " This amulet is apparently directly linked to his shield. So I use it to heal myself after I arrive home from school whenever I got bullied again."
" Couldn't you have used it to protect yourself instead?" Misaki ask
" ... I didn't want to scare anyone, so..." Aichi said as they sweat dropped
" You're too kind, Brother..." Kamui said
" The Shield protects and heals his friends, that's what I believe it to be." Aichi said
" But it could become the weakest link." Asaka said
" No. At the same time, the more the Shield trusts his friends, the more power he gets and the more he gains the power to fight alongside them. I don't find anything this amazing to become a burden. That's who Naofumi-san is. He told me a lot of stories of his adventures. He had shown that the Shield is not useless." Aichi said
" ... Wait a minute. Back at the resort, I heard you talking to someone in your room. Were you talking to him?" Kai ask
" Y-You heard everything after all... Yes, I was talking to him through this amulet..." Aichi said
" I don't like it." A voice said
The gem on the amulet glowed as Naofumi appeared in front of Aichi as a projection.
" N-Naofumi-san!"
" I don't like the fact that you're so casually talking to him." Naofumi said
" What?"
" Now that you finally got your memories back, I think Aichi deserves a whole ton of apology from you. From the tournaments last year, you always speak out of hand and treat your teammates like trash." Naofumi said
" I didn't!" Kai exclaimed
" It's the truth! During the incident with Aichi's Psyqualia corruption, you were the one who instigated it. If you had handled the situation more properly, he wouldn't have even touched the Shadow Paladins and learned to properly control that power. You knew about that power and avoided it." Naofumi continued
" That power was corrupting him and it wasn't true strength. I was merely trying to stop him by not fighting him." Kai said
" But that made it worse, didn't it? It took you a long time to settle it too. Normally, if I wasn't so busy, I would've done something straight away but my hands were already full as it is. And this time, you even left the team without telling him. When I made it back, this situation had to happen too. I can't get inside here thanks to the needed conditions set to the portal, or I would've already punched you with my shield." Naofumi said
" I dare you to try that." Kai said
" Please stop it, both of you! This is no time to argue!" Aichi exclaimed
" Aichi. Once this is done, I'm bringing you back home." Naofumi said
" H-Huh?"
" Staying around this guy won't do you any good." Naofumi said
" H-Home? Which home are you talking about?" Aichi ask
" Mine. Jeez, I just can't take my eyes off you anymore. You've been getting into danger left and right when I'm not around." Naofumi said
" No! I'm not a child anymore!" Aichi exclaimed
" Right, right. I heard that plenty of times from a ton of children." Naofumi said
" ... I guess you would've... How old are you anyway?" Aichi ask
" ... I kind of forgot. My business went on for years that I forgot about my own age." Naofumi said
" That's even possible...?" Misaki muttered
" Anyway, solve this situation somehow while I settle it from outside. If those things appear again, the amulet will protect you guys." Naofumi said
" But for us to know how to solve it... Takuto-kun, you can continue explaining about the situation." Aichi said
Takuto nodded... " Void... A fearsome power of emptiness... Right now, emptiness has invaded half of Cray's land... No sound can be heard there, no light reaches through... Nothing moves, and everything is enveloped in silence." he said
" That's Void..." Aichi said
" The power of emptiness has begun to move from Cray to this space. And when the emptiness has filled this space, It'll be destroyed and the emptiness will move on to Earth!" Takuto said
" Earth?!" Kamui exclaimed
" The tragedy that once befell the Souryu people will happen to the entire Earth. The land will rot. The seas will dry up. All of Earth's blessings will be lost. All life will be robbed the will to live. Earth will become a planet of death." Takuto continued
" That'll happen to Earth...? We can't let it!" Aichi said
" What should we do?" Misaki-san ask
" The only thing you can do to stop Void is to beat Leon Souryu... No one but the Vanguard Fight winners can exist in this space."
" You mean if we win, it'll be possible to send Leon back to Earth?" Aichi ask
" However, it works the opposite way, too. If you lose in a Vanguard Fight, you won't be able to stay in this space either."
" In other words, if we lose, Earth will..." Kamui said
" Leon Souryu may think he's using Void, but its power is vast. He can't control it completely. And Leon's ambition has made him lose his cool-headed judgement. At this rate, everything will be controlled by Void..."
They carried him to a nearby rock for him to rest...
" If he isn't stopped, both Cray and Earth will come to an end. Quickly, go to him..."
" But how can we find him?" Misaki ask
" Psyqualia... You should be able to sense Leon's Psyqualia..."
" Psyqualia..." Aichi stood up, his eyes glowed and Aichi turned towards Leon's direction... " That way!" Aichi said
" Go. Cray is in your hands."
" Right! Let's go, everyone!" Aichi said
" Right!"
The others made sure Takuto was fine before standing up to leave in the direction that Psyqualia led them to. After a few minutes of walking, the black mist around them started getting thicker.
" Visibility here just keeps getting worse..." Kamui said
" That means the emptiness aura thing is increasing in strength." Misaki said
" We have to hurry." Aichi thought
" Where's Leon Souryuu?" Kamui ask
Aichi concentrated.
" It's no good. I'm not sensing Leon's Psyqualia anymore." Aichi said and turned to them
" Huh?! What'll we do?!" Kamui ask
" We have to beat Leon and don't have a minute to spare! Earth is in danger..." Misaki said
Aichi looked at the sky.
" I won't give up... I swear I'll save them... Blaster Blade and Royal Paladin!" Aichi thought, "... Blaster Blade saved me... He made me stronger... He gave me the courage to stand tall... So, this time... I'm going to save him!"
A lightning came out and a ball of light appeared in the sky and flew towards him...
" This feeling... I've had it somewhere before..." Aichi said as he tried to touch it and it flew into his hand
" B-Brother...?!" Kamui said
" Aichi? What are you?" Misaki ask
" It's okay... I understand... This is Blaster Blade's soul." There was a sudden flash of light and the ball of light was transformed into a card, then the card shot out a light pointing towards a direction...
" ... Huh? What is this?" Misaki ask as she see the light
" I see... Leon-kun is over there... Blaster Blade, you'll lead me there... Blaster Blade, you... All of you will still lend me your strength, right? I promise I'll save you!" Aichi said and kept the card in his pocket
" So we're close?" Kai ask
" I wouldn't say that we're close, but he's definitely in that direction." Aichi said
" Then let's keep going." Misaki said
They nodded and continued walking as Aichi checked his necklace from time to time.
" Hey, hey, Aichi-kun. You said that he was the Shield Hero. Are there any others?" Ren ask
" Oh. Uh... It was a story that he told me when I was young, so it's going to take awhile for me to remember. There are strange characters in his stories too." Aichi said
" Weird characters?" Misaki ask
" Uh... What were they again...? He said something about... a 'Bitch Princess' and 'Trash King'. Also, the 'Bitch Princess' had an adventurer name called 'Slut'." Aichi said
Those who knew the meanings immediately sweat dropped and kept their mouths shut while Aichi blinked in confusion.
" Did I say something wrong?" Aichi ask
" You really don't know their meanings, right...?" Kai ask
" Yeah."
" ... It's better if you don't know. Along with the other children." Misaki said
" Huh?"
" Anyway... you can continue!" Ren said
" Okay... Well, when he first stepped into that other world, he was a normal human like us. At that point of time, there were only four heroes, including him. The Spear Hero, the Sword Hero and the Bow Hero. They were tasked to protect the country they were summoned to from something called the 'Waves', where monsters will suddenly pop out and start destroying everything they see. Naofumi-san had a rough start because the people in that country looked down on the Shield Hero." Aichi explained
" Even though he's a newly summoned one?" Asaka ask
" Yes... No matter which Shield Hero it was, the country just looked down on them. It was then that Naofumi-san got betrayed by the Princess. He said that he was wrongly accused of something that he didn't do and was stripped of everything he had. It took him a long time to get back up to his feet. First, because the Shield's stats are only good for defense, his attack is really low and he couldn't deal high damage. So, he had gotten a demi human slave to help him to fight and grind for items and EXP." Aichi continued
" It sounds a lot like a game." Ali said
" Yeah. After that, that same Princess started to frame him for different things. The worst one was framing him for 'kidnapping' her younger sister, the Second Princess. But when the Queen finally returned, everything went back to normal and everything that he had been framed for was immediately cleared up. The Queen really sounded fierce in his story. Oh, and... it was at that time he met those people..." Aichi said
" 'Those people'?" Kamui ask
" Heroes from another world." Aichi replied
" There were more?!" Lee exclaimed
" What were they again...? ... The Fan and Scythe Hero! Alongside them was a woman who could command the power of jewels. He didn't get into details about them and a lot of things happened. He then cut himself off and never told me more stories afterwards." Aichi said
" Seriously?"
" Yeah... Sorry. Naofumi-san is extremely secretive when he wants to." Aichi said
" So you met him when you were young and then he started to protect you, huh? That's weird. Seeing that guy's character, you'd think he's the type to leave you alone after helping you. I mean, he barely knew you to begin with. You were just an elementary school student who was getting bullied. It's not like he could relate to you with all those framings he got from the other world. This and that are totally different dynamics." Ren said
" ... I never thought about that. But I did think that it was weird at first. I just brushed it off since I was too young to understand." Aichi said
" To be honest, maybe he's a nice guy or something. Maybe he just honestly wanted to protect Brother Aichi after seeing him in that state." Kamui said
" Hm... It still seems weird, no matter how much I see this situation. Oh well, who am I to judge? He's not listening in from that, is he?" Ren ask
" I'm not sure... It really depends." Aichi replied as he kept the necklace
They continued walking through the black mist after that.
And that's the end of this chapter! Thank you for reading! I hope everyone will enjoy this new story and I'll see everyone in the next chapter.