Highschool DxD: Adventure Of Black Flash

by DarkDracul1252

Nawin Makasha, a boy, changed after a dark event occurred in the past that left him scarred. He and his family moved to Japan to start a new life, but when Nawin joined Kuoh Academy, things began to change for him when he is thrust into the world of supernatural by force. Past will come back and haunt, Evil will rain down, Bonds will be severed. Will Nawin and his friends be ready?

154. The Black Flash Returns, The Cold Night

This will be the last chapter of this arc! Sorry for it being released so late.

I want to make this chapter as best as it can be! So please, enjoy the latest chapter, Readers! ^.^

Night has fallen in the City of Kuoh. It is an unusually cold night. Cold enough to send shivers down people that aren't suitably dressed. But the sudden cold weather is not the only thing that is odd on this night.

Looking out of the window of his room is Nawin. Don only in long black pants. He stares at the bright full moon with an unreadable expression. Behind him shows a slumbering Akeno, resting comfortably on the bed. But, the Makasha has found himself unable to sleep. The reason isn't apparent to that other than his mind just isn't able to rest. A feeling of uneasiness sets in his heart.

With a sigh, Nawin uncrosses his arms and shift gaze to his desk, looking at his phone. 'I haven't talked to Miraya today at all...' he notes. Nawin decided to focus his entire attention today on Akeno as the two of them haven't had that special bonding time together for a while. Ever since Miraya made her return. Nawin's attention has been solely on her. Which led him to neglect his lover. So, to make up for that, Nawin gave all his time today to Akeno, and the two went out on a date.

Taking the phone off the table and into his hand, Nawin enters his password and heads to the contact list to quickly call up Miraya. Bringing the phone to his ears, he patiently waits for the other line to pick up. Since he can't sleep right now, Nawin thought talking with Miraya will ease his mind. She usually always finds a way to succeed in that problem. As the rings continue, Nawin suddenly receives a message informing that the callee isn't picking up their phone.

Nawin blinks and pulls back to look at the phone with confusion. "Is she asleep?" he whispers, looking at the picture of Miraya and himself that was taken at that special night they were reunited. It is the photo he and Miraya used as their contact picture.

Seeing that she is possibly asleep, Nawin is ready to close his phone when a notification appears on the screen. He blinks in surprise seeing it is a text from Misako. 'She's still awake?' Knowing that the Ichiru was hard on training today, the Makasha expected her to have collapsed to bed by now.

Without hesitant, Nawin clicks on the notification to bring up the text to read. "Shinol Street, Pub: Iron Shine. Be there in ten minutes..." Nawin reads out the text. His eyes slowly widen as the uneasiness feeling that's been swirling about his heart just increases tenfold. Nawin was ready to respond until another message gets delivered. "Your friend is on a timer... Black Flash."

Nawin's entire body freeze for a moment when seeing his nickname given by the underworld is in the screen. For half a minute, Nawin simply stares at the text as his heartbeat quicken. After months of normalness. Months of nothing but peace and happiness. The Supernatural world finally comes knocking to his door. Trying to drag him back into its twisted and troubled world. No matter how much he likes to fool himself that, this ordinary life can continue on longer. The Supernatural world and its dangers just love to pull him back. Wanting him to kill to survive. Wanting him to feel pain and heart-stopping risks. Wanting him to put his loved one's lives in jeopardy. Like some twisted game.

The shock is quickly replaced with anger. Nawin grits his teeth and stares out at the window. Whoever dared to force him back into the Supernatural world will already suffer punishment. But they threaten to use Misako to do so will get no mercy from him. What they will get is his wrath. If they want the Black Flash, he will give it to them.

Holding the phone firmly in his right hand, Nawin slides the window open and jumps out of the room to land on the balcony. Sliding the window shut, he glances back at Akeno once more time before shifting forward and jumps over the rails.

Landing on the street, Nawin slowly stands up. His entire body suddenly glows and when the light dies down. Donning his body is his signature battle attire with the new jacket Azazel gifted him on his birthday worn over the gray t-shirt. "Misako... Hold on," Nawin utters and takes a step forward before disappearing in pure speed.

Iron Shine

Setting the phone down on the table, Ivory takes another puff of the lit cigarettes that's rest firmly on her lip. The bar is currently being lit in faint blue light. Creating an atmosphere of mystery but also peril. No sane individual would dare step foot in here without feeling the fear of losing an arm or leg before leaving. The music box in the bar is currently playing some smooth jazz music that perfectly matches the vibe of the place.

On the other side of the counter laid the unconscious bartender. Ivory swells the drink in her right hand around a few times before taking a small sip of it. Her eyes firmly set on the middle-aged man she knocked out to temporarily make use of his bar.

"Nawin Makasha," Ivory finds herself uttering her opponent's name as she looks at the orange colored liquid in the glass. She wasn't mad. Ivory knows full well she has just poked the dragon. Worse, she is dragging it out of his slumber by using his friends. She even acknowledges fully well tonight could be her last night in this godforsaken earth. But she doesn't give a damn. If this is what Ivory has to do to advance on in her dull life, then she will. Without hesitation. 'Two years wasted... To pretend to be normal.'

A smirk form on Ivory's lip as she pulls the cigarette away from her mouth. "You're here," she whispers and flicks the smoke into the glass of water set on the right, extinguishing it properly.

The front door slams open and in walk Nawin. He immediately surveys around and sees the place is quite crowded. Many shady looking men are spread around the bar. Some seated on the booths, drinking. Some are playing a round of pool. But the moment he entered. All eyes are set on him for half a second before they return to their activities.

Nawin's eyes shift to the bar and set firmly on Ivory. The look of shock can be seen in his stoic, sharp eyes. Wondering how a human can know his true identity. He looks around to scan at the other individuals in the bar, but none of them stand out. All of them look like degenerates that are either part of a gang or just petty thieves. The only one that truly stands out in this bar is Ivory Sayaka. It's like having a princess stood at the center of peasants. She stands out in here like a brilliant light.

Nawin starts making way to the bar, passing through the crowd without making contact to anyone. "Seven Minutes..." Ivory speaks as the Makasha stop beside her "Not bad, Prince." Her eyes are on the clock on the wall while taking another sip of her drink. "Take a seat," she states when seeing the Makasha remains standing. Nawin decides to do as asks since he doesn't truly know just what kind of danger Misako is in. One wrong move from him could mean the worst.

Nawin notices the unconscious bartender form. Fortunately, he doesn't see any severe wound other than the noticeable bruise on the forehead. Nawin shifts his gaze, and it stops at the phone. His eyes widen slightly, and his heart skips a beat when seeing that it is Misako's phone. That pink case with chibi animal stickers on it, without a doubt.

"Cute, isn't it?" Ivory tap her index finger at the phone as a small smirk appears on her face. "Where is she?" Nawin asks, his tone as sharp as a blade "Rushing things, are we?" Ivory raises an eyebrow in slight amusement, swelling her drink while watching the liquid splash around. "... What are you doing, Ivory?" Nawin question, his tone calmer "Why is a human like you getting involve in this?" "Oh? Forgetting about your dear friend entirely now?" "She's alive... You aren't stupid to not make that the case. And I will find her. Do you even realized what position you have put yourself in, Ivory Sayaka?" "Huh," Ivory snort and place the empty glass on the table before turning to look at the Makasha in the face "That I captured a friend of the famous Black Flash? That I am trying to shatter the peaceful life you are oh so enjoying currently?"

Ivory gives a charming smirk "I am fully aware of the position I placed myself in, Prince. And I am not second-guessing it" "Then you are an idiot" Nawin retorts. The stare between the two is so sharp it could penetrate steel. "Hand over Misako, and I'll forget about this, Ivory. Drop whatever you are trying to gain by doing this." "... You have gone soft, Nawin Makasha," Ivory state with a look of almost disappointment "You are human," Nawin retorts as his tone return to sharp "I could kill you in a blink of an eye. With even a Sacred gear, it doesn't matter. So, do yourself a favor and tell me where she is, Ivory Sayaka."

"Tell me," Ivory gives a curious look "I give her back and what would you do?" "... None of your business," Nawin retorts. "Then let me take a guess," Ivory speaks with a smirk "You will wish to go back to the normal life once more. Go back to the peaceful life you oh so dear enjoy. Forget that this day happened. Forget about me. Forget about the supernatural world. Forget that you are even a Devil."

"I wonder..." Ivory leans forward ever slightly to the Makasha's face, her eyes set firmly to his "Why is that? Why is that compared to the first time I saw you that you now genuinely want this normal life more than ever. Your eyes say it all. Is it because you enjoy not putting those you love in danger? Is it because you are tired of all the battles? Or... Is it because there's someone you care so deeply that you want to stay normal for her protection. To keep her safe and be with her more."

Nawin's eyes slightly widen while the smirk on Ivory's face grows. "Am I ri-" "Shut up," the Makasha cuts in with a glare "Keep pushing me, Ivory and that mercy I am giving you will slip through your fingers." Ivory leans back and snorts "Mercy? I am not looking for such things. Unlike you, Prince. I want to be in the supernatural world... This ordinary world you love so much has given me nothing. That's why I'm going to use you as a stepping stone to enter the supernatural world" "... You have no idea what you are asking for" "Anything is better than living in this dull world, Prince."

Ivory sees in the Makasha eyes that he still needs a push. A last big one. With a smirk, Ivory takes Misako's phone and views a two notification sent a few minutes ago. "Have at it," Ivory toss the phone over, and Nawin catches it "Two lovely gifts from me."

Shifting his eyes at the open screen, Nawin sees the notifications. With a tap, a photo appears. "Urgh!" his eyes widen when seeing the picture display Misako being tied on a wooden pillar. Light bruises and a deep cut on the forehead can be seen on her unconscious redden face. Red from the dried blood, no doubt.

"Y-you," Nawin's eyes snap at the Sayaka and rage can be seen boiling behind those brown orbs. "I wi-" "There's two, aren't there?" Ivory interrupts with a colder tone. The atmosphere around the two quickly takes a turn for the worse. The tension is so thick that it can be cut with a knife. Nawin's eyes widen, and it shifts back to the phone. He doesn't know why, but his entire hand starts shaking every slightly. The feeling of anxiety washes over him like a violent wave. His breath shortens.

Pressing the screen with his thump, Nawin swipes it over to show the other picture. "..." Nawin's mouth open but voices refuse to come. His heart freeze as shivers slithers through his spine. His wide eyes stare at the picture of bruise Miraya tied to the chair. Seeing the Makasha's expression cause a dark smirk to form on the Sayaka's face.

"Ho-" Ivory didn't get the chance to utter the first word when Nawin's snatch her throat and her off the air. He stands and kicks the chair away before dashing forward to slam the Sayaka's back into the wall in a vicious manner. Everyone at the bar halts and snaps their attention at the scene. The mood around the place turns cold in an instant.

"Ahhhh..." Ivory chuckles, not fazed by the sudden assault. "Welcome back," she looks down, and her eyes come face to face with those glowing red orbs "Black Flash." The amount of anger and rage is indescribable in the Makasha's glowing eyes. Ivory remains smirking and feels the grip around her neck tighten to the point the ability to breath will be sealed. "Kill me... And she's dead" Ivory says, and immediately feels the grip loosens.

Nawin's clench his other hand into a fist as his teeth bared. "Now," Ivory looks straight into those red orbs "Put me down or I'll command my girls to detonate the bombs in those rooms. Your precious Miraya and Misako will be blown into pieces. Their limps will be flying throughout the night sky." Nawin remains still and growls. "AHHH!" he yells and thrust the left fist forward to the Sayaka's head.

Explosive sound booms in the bar as all the spectators look on in speechless. With a blank expression, Ivory slowly glance to her right to see the hand punched through the solid and dense wooden wall. Just inches apart from her head. Nawin rips his arm and gives a growl then releases the Sayaka's neck to drop her to her feet.

Ivory smirk and rub her neck before sending a swift kick to the Makasha's stomach that sends him flying away and crash to the other wall. He bounces off it and collapses to his knees. "We aren't going to fight here," Ivory state "South of Kuoh... There's a nice, empty hill where we can have our battle. Away from any interruption and people." She walks forward and drops one knee in front of the Makasha then grabs his chin to look him face to face "Come alone... If I see or even sense those friends of yours, then say goodbyes to both those girls. Tonight... It is only you and me, Black Flash."

Letting go of the Makasha, Ivory stuff her hands in the leather jacket's pocket before striding pass him. "Be there quick, or I might just go entertain myself by causing some explosions" "What are you talking about?" Nawin retort, standing back up.

Stopping by the front door, Ivory glance back and gives a striking smirk. "All the men here will be welcoming you back, Prince. Since I am in such a good mood... I decided to pay all of them to play with you for a bit. To hopefully get rid of those rusts on you." With that comment made, Ivory pushes the door open and exits the bar.

With the Sayaka gone, every human in the building stands up and shift to the Makasha. Some pull a pocket knife out while others creak their knuckles to warm up. Nawin remains still in place. The smooth black bangs cover his eyes. "I am giving you all this one warning," he speaks with a sharp tone to show he means every single word "Exit here now unharmed or I will leave every last one of you here with broken bones."

"Ahahahaha!" a loud burst of laughter erupt from everyone at the bar by the Makasha's comment. "Looky here! The boy thinks he can beat all of us?!" "Acting tough isn't going to get you out of here, boy!" "That's a nice watch you got there! Looks expensive!" "Ahaha, we can take that as a bonus." All twenty men start advancing toward Nawin with full intent to fight.

Nawin glance at his watch and that image of Miraya plague his mind. Her bruised and tied up figure. "Hey!" One of the men takes the Makasha's shoulder "Look over so I can punch that pretty face of yo-" he gets interrupted when Nawin swiftly turn around and give a brutal right hook to his face. A sickening noise of bones breaking erupts around the bar as the man is blast away and crash into the wall.

The other halt their advancement from the shock of seeing the Makasha's pure strength. "I am mighty pissed off right now," Nawin snarl and shift his sight to the rest. Even though his eyes return to brown, there's no denying the absolute rage surging through them. "It is taking a lot of willpower for me not just to kill all of you" Nawin state.

"You talking crazy!" One man rushes forward with a knife. Nawin sidesteps the attack then snatch the person's head and turns around to bash it through the bar's thick wooden counter. Another one comes sneaking from behind, but before he has the chance even to lift an arm, Nawin snatches him by the collar of the jacket and throws him forward to the air. The man crash into the dozens of display alcohol drinks before smacking to the ground with numbers of bottles falling and hitting him in the head, knocking him out cold.

"Ahhh!" Three men quickly advance, but Nawin takes all of them out with a swift roundhouse kick that connects to all of their heads. Sending the men spinning in midair for a few times before slamming onto the floor with a loud thud. A man sneaks behind and grapples Nawin, locking his arms back "Stab him!" he shouts as the other gang looking person comes charging forward and stick the shiv knife into the abdomen of the Makasha.

"A shiv?" Everyone gasps in shock when Nawin merely look at the person that stabbed him "That's cute." Blasting his head back, Nawin breaks a noise from the person that's clutching him from behind. Now freed, he pulls the shiv out and stabs it to the person in the front right in his chest. Nawin brings his other hand forward to push on the knife's pummel, pressing the blade all the way in, causing the man to scream out in agony. "That's in your aorta... Take that blade out, and you die, bitch" Nawin spat then kicks the man in the stomach, sending him tumbling to the floor.

For temporary, everything went to a standstill. Some start backing off when realizing that the Makasha just effortlessly took out eight men in under a minute. Nawin abruptly rushes forward and stop in front of the unfortunate individual that was the closest to him. Clenching his right hand into a fist, Nawin fires it down on the man's head with so much force the man's entire body shoot down, and his head goes implanting into the wooden floor.

"Bastard!" The person from the right sends a kick which Nawin catch with a right hand. Without effort, Nawin slides his hand down to the man's ankle and twist it to snap the bones like butter. Causing a sickening sound to boom followed by a painful scream. Letting go of the defeated man, Nawin takes one step back to dodge a flying fist from the left. He catches the attacker by the back of the neck and with a whiplashing speed, slams the man face-first to the floor in a vicious manner.

"Gaaah!" a man clenching a pool stick comes from above and swings it down in full force. The moment the wooden stick connects the Makasha's head, it snaps in half. "W-what?!" the man screams in disbelief "... Big mistake," Nawin retort and looks up with a glare.

Rising to his feet, Nawin delivers a wicked right uppercut at the man's chin. He is sent flying in the air as a couple of teeth can be seen knocked out of his bloody mouth. Nawin watches the gang-looking individual crash onto the pool table before shifting sight to the remaining opponents. "Huh," he snorts when seeing the others already left through the backdoor. Clearly, after witnessing a knife and a pool stick rendered useless against him have sent them to scurry away in fear.

Nawin turns around and heads toward the table to take Misako's phone. He looks at it for a second then taps the screen to show the picture of Miraya once more. Anger rage through his glowing red eyes by the image. "Akame," he utters the name of his Knight through gritted teeth. The black ring on his index finger, its red gem beams to life.

In a black flash, Akame appears in front of Nawin. Her own ring is shimmering as she stares at her King in slight speechlessness from being suddenly summoned. "N-Nawin-kun?" she stutters when seeing her King don those clothes after so long. His eyes once again shine in those intimidating red. At that moment, Akame knew her King has returned to the Supernatural World. Which brings newfound anger to boil in her. Anger toward the individual that dared forced Nawin back into the Supernatural World. She knew better than anyone that coming back to the Supernatural world was the last thing Nawin wanted to do. Especially now.

"Miraya and Misako have been kidnapped," Nawin informs, getting straight to the point. "Misako?!" Akame's eyes widen "H-how? I-I was with her not long ago" "You let her go home alone?" Nawin asks in a sharper tone than he would like. A look of regret appears on the usually stoic Knight's face "I'm sorry..." Realizing what he just did, Nawin quickly forces himself to calm down. He knew it isn't Akame's fault. His emotions are getting the better of him.

"No," Nawin step forward and pulls Akame in for a hug. "N-Nawin-kun?" she whispers out in shock by the sudden action. then, the Knight quickly take notice that her King's entire body is shaking ever lightly. "I'm sorry. It isn't your fault... But, please... Akame go save Misako. Follow her ring's signature and rescue her. I need to defeat Ivory and save Miraya. I-I... I can't have anything happen to her."

Bringing her arms up to wrap it around her King, Akame's eyes soften when hearing his soft and concerned tone. She sees how much of distressed is brought down on her King by Miraya's capture. He is forced to return to this grueling world, and the first thing he has to deal with is to save the person he cares more than anything. A person he just got back in his life. Even for her King, this is too much.

Akame pulls back and brings her left hand up, placing it on the Makasha's cheek to have him look at her in the face. "Don't worry about Misako, I will save her. Nawin-kun, you focus on finding Miraya-san. I will bring Misako back to you safe... I promise." A faint smile is able to form on the Makasha's face, finding great comfort by his Knight's words. He knew she won't fail him. She would do anything not to make that be. "Thank you, Akame. For always being the person, I can count on."

With his emotion now in check, Nawin can calm his mind and go over everything that has happened since he left his home with Akame. Informing her that this entire thing is Ivory's doing and what transpired in the bar.

"They seem to be safe for now," Nawin state, watching Akame look at the picture on Misako's phone. Rage can be seen bubbling behind those stoic red orbs. Nawn shifts his gaze to his watch to see six minutes has passed. He needs to move soon, or Ivory might just do what she proclaimed.

Akame exhales to calm herself and hand the phone over to Nawin "No," he shakes his head and gives a small smile "You personally return it to her when you save her, Akame." The Knight's eyes widen for a moment before a soft smile forms on her lip. She nods "Of course."

"What is our exact plan, Nawin-kun?" Akame asks, after teleporting the phone to the pocket dimension. "Well... I am presuming things won't be easy for you. Doesn't she have some allies?" "Yes. Those twins. Farah and Silver" "You know them?" "Misako and I had an encounter with them not long ago. They were an odd couple" "I see. Then it's most likely they will be there waiting for you. Ivory wants this battle to only be between myself and her."

"Why is she doing this?" Akame asks "Don't know, don't care" Nawin swiftly retorts. Staring at the clock on the wall, Nawin's eyes gleam in uneasiness as he shifts back to his Knight. "Akame, I want you to rescue Misako without alarming the twins" "Because of the bombs?" "Yes. Ivory gave a hint that the twins hold the detonator. If you were to be spotted... There's a high chance they can detonate the bombs that are near Miraya as well. If there's even a low percentage of that being a possibility... I don't want to risk it."

Akame gives the nod. "I understand. I will head there in stealth" "Good," Nawin smile "This has set my mind at ease." "Now," the Makasha's eyes sharpen "Go, Akame. Inform me at once when you rescued Misako." "Of course." The sudden open of the front door cause both the King and Knight to halt and turn around. They are surprised to see Akeno entering the bar.

The Himejima looks around and gasps at all the bodies littered around the wooden floor. "...Nawin-kun!" She shouts with great concern when sighting her lover then rushes towards him. "Akeno..." Nawin whispers, watching her stop in front and takes his hands. "What are you doing here?" the Makasha question, "I noticed your absence when I woke up to fetch some water. I followed your mana signature here. What's going on?" she asks, looking to his eyes with anxious, then finally take notice of his attire "Why are you wearing that gear?!"

Nawin release a sigh and glances down at his watch. "I am running on time here," he asserts and looks at the Himejima in the eyes "Misako and Miraya have been captured by Ivory Sayaka and her friends. Akame and I are heading out to resolve this." Akeno loses her grip and stares at her love in shock. "W-what? Truly?!" "Unfortunately so." Akeno takes a deep breath and recomposes "If that is the case, then isn't it best we head to Rias and regroup with everyone? We can come up with a pl-" "I can't," Nawin sharply insert "Ivory said if she senses anyone else coming then both Miraya and Misako will be killed. I am not risking that." "Then why is Akame going?!" "Because I can't do two things at once. She will be able to sneak around and save Misako. One person is harder to pinpoint than a squad. I need to face Ivory and stop her. She wants a fight with me. So, I'll defeat her and extract information on Miraya's whereabouts as it seems she is placed in a different area from Misako."

"Nawin-kun," Akeno step forward "You are racing into this. You just got back into this life. Isn't it best we call backup?" "Are you really against my plan?" Nawin asks in almost stunned "Yes! You are rushing things again. You aren't being logical right now." Anger flashes in the eyes of the Makasha. "Explain to me why I am being illogical?!" "Look, I want to save Misako, she's my friend. But you must take Miraya as a factor to consider here. She's human! You recklessly bursting in there trying to save her could reveal the secret of the supernatural world! Moreover, we don't know just what Ivory has up her sleeve?! She's clearly powerful enough to hold confidence to take this action!"

"Y-you..." Nawin stutters in disbelief from not receiving support from his lover. She is utterly against his plan. Shows little faith in him. In the background, Akame's hands slowly tighten into fists. "I..." Nawin's expression shifts to one of stoic as he stares at the Himejima with eyes displaying hidden sadness. "I am disappointed in you... Akeno."

The Himejima's eyes widen in shock by those words. She stands frozen in place, speechless, as Nawin strides pass her. Akame wordlessly follows her King. "I am not going to waste another minute standing around. Miraya's life is in danger, and I am going to save her. End of story. I could give a fuck of anything else. If you are against my plan, then return home." Nawin destroys the front door with a kick and steps into the dark alleyway. Akeno turns around and shouts "N-Nawin-kun, I-" Without looking back or listening, the Makasha blasts off to the air and heads south in thunderous speed.

Akeno grasps her chest then turn to notice that Akame still stood by the doorway, wearing a dark glare that directed straight to her. No words need to be uttered. The look alone is enough to display the amount of anger the Knight holds toward the Himejima at this very moment. Akeno is about to speak, except Akame turns her head forward and dashes out of the building, disappearing into the night.

South Hill

Ivory stood right at the center of the large hill. The cold night breeze blows through. Lifting her glistering platinum blonde hair upward. With a swift motion, the Sayaka discard the leather jacket from her body and toss it to the side. What's left on is a tight and simple silver sleeveless t-shirt. Ivory gazes up at the beautiful and brilliant full moon before taking a soft exhale. Calming her body and mind for the upcoming battle.

A booming sound suddenly emits from above. A faint smile appears on the Sayaka's face. "Don't you just find it ironic?" she questions as Nawin crashes down onto the earth in a vicious manner that left the ground beneath him to implode. Clearly, his mood is fouler than before. Ivory elegantly turns around to face him and smirk. "You... A Devil that wish to live a normal life now. Going so far as fighting for it. While I, A human who want to enter the Supernatural World. Daring to take the risk to make it so."

"Am I supposed to give you an applaud for your bravery?" Nawin retorts "Ah," Ivory raises an eyebrow in intrigue "Look at you... So different from what you used to be. I wonder if Miraya has ever seen this serious side of you?" "Don't you dare bring her up in this, Ivory Sayaka!"

Ivory hums and stares up in the sky. "I guess it is too far for me to speak of her with what I have done" she admits, which slightly takes the Makasha by surprise with how sincere those words were. A smile of bittersweet forms on the Sayaka's beautiful face. "I ignored my personal goal for far too long because of my love for those two. They stuck by my side when I was at my worst and continue to stay with me to this day." Ivory looks forward to Nawin. "But even God can't stay selfless forever. No one can. I now have the chance to do something better with my life. A door of opportunity has appeared in front of me, and I will do whatever it is necessary to enter that door. Two years I tried living normal but what I got is nothing but disappointment."

"Then what is it that you want in life?" Nawin questions, calming himself for momentarily "To fight... And become as strong as I can be. After all," Ivory gives an indescribable smile "That's what my father had taught me before I killed him." Nawin's eyes slightly widen by the new information on the Sayaka. "So, you are nothing more than an individual that's a battle-hungry maniac who murdered her father. And you dare call yourself selfless," Nawin comment with a sharp tone.

"And you see yourself as a hero?" Ivory retort with an amusing smirk "Your hands are covered with more blood than mines, Prince." Black aura slowly calms to life around Nawin before exploding into a violent swirl. "I have never once claimed myself to be a hero" Nawin state, his expression hardens as his glare sharpens "To protect those I care. I am willing to continue to stain my hands with more blood. If saving Miraya means killing you, Ivory Sayaka... Then I will do so without hesitation."

Ivory slowly spread her legs apart by a decent margin and brings both arms up. Taking a stance similar to a boxer. "You are going to have to get her whereabouts from me first, Prince. I'm not one to talk so easily." Before she can even blink an eye, Ivory sees Nawin disappears in a black flash. "Ugh!" She swiftly turns around to receive a vicious downwards hock to the head that sends her entire body blasting to the earth.

Staring at the woman, Nawin then wordlessly turns around and takes a few steps before turning back. Ivory's arms twitch before she pushes herself up to her feet. A drop of blood can be seen leaking down on the right side of her head, but that exciting smirk remains on her face.

"You aren't holding back," Ivory state then returns to her stance "I actually felt that." Nawin takes a step forward and is ready to advance, but he is caught with a surprise when Ivory appears in front and fires a right hook. Just barely, Nawin is able to evade the assault by cocking his head to the opposite direction. He immediately counters with a punch of his own aimed for the head, but Ivory parries it with her left arm while sneaking in a right uppercut that perfectly connects to the stomach of the Makasha.

"Urgh!" Nawin's eyes widen before wincing in pain at the unexpected wicked offense. He did not think the Sayaka could pack such a hit. Ignoring the pain, Nawin quickly swings another punch from his other arm but Ivory down parry it by forcefully slapping the Makasha's hand down. She pulls her right arm back to get the full angle and blasts it forward to deliver a brutal and perfectly landed right hook to the side of Nawin's face which sends him tumbling to the earth.

Spitting out blood from his mouth, Nawin rubs his cheek and looks up at the smirking Sayaka. "I am starting to like you more and more, Price" she states and returns to a stance "I definitely like you a whole lot better than all the people in this dreary city." Returning to his feet, Nawin shifts his stance to one he would use for a serious battle. Now, he sees Ivory being an individual that can cause him damage. Even though she holds a human body, she is unique in a way he can't explain.

Ivory unexpectedly drops her stance and walk forward. Nawin follows her every move and watches her stop right in front of him. He drops his stance and stands straight. The opponents now stand tall and simply stare at one another. Ivory is taller than most girls, and she is able to look at the Makasha right in the eyes. A breeze picks up and blows past the two.

With a smirk, Ivory blast forwards a right hand. Nawin brings both arms up to block the punch. The attack holds enough power to send him sliding away for a few feet. Ivory did rest and kick herself off the ground then perform a high right knee in the air aimed for the face. Nawin shoots his right arm forward and catches the leg to prevent the attack. He clenches his left hand into a fist and fires it ahead to nail it straight at the Sayaka's stomach that sends her flying back.

Nawin sprint off and catch Ivory's ankle in midair then slams her straight back down to the earth in a vicious manner that causes the ground beneath to implode. As Nawin is about to let go of the ankle, Ivory push herself up and brings the other feet forward to land it at the center of the Makasha's face which sends him staggering back.

"Grghh!" Nawin growls and looks forward, seeing Ivory is already back on her feet. Blood starts leaking down his nose. It wasn't broken, but it is damaged. 'His mind isn't fully in this,' Ivory notes, "If you continue to mess around then I will kill her," "What?!" Nawin shouts "You scared that if you kill me, then either Silver or Farah will activate the bombs to kill the girls. Well, let me ease your mind. If you kill me, then Miraya will be safe. But," Ivory wears a vexing smirk "While Miraya is safe... Misako, on the other hand, will be blown to a bloody smithereens. A life for a life."

Nawin grits his teeth and glares at the Sayaka. "You want me to pick who I want to have most?!" "I believe that when a person is pushed to the corner, they reveal their true power," Ivory reply "That is all I am doing."

'... Akame,' Nawin thinks of his Knight as he returns to a stance. He is putting all his trust in his Knight to succeed in her task. When he receives confirmation that Misako is safe. He intends to give Ivory what she wants. His absolute all. When the time comes, he will end all of this in a flash.

East of Kuoh

With no movement slowed or being wasted, Akame jumps and spin through the dense forest. Her agile frame swiftly dodges all the trees and branches that are in the way. Gone is the sleeping attire and now replaced with her signature battle gear.

Akame's thin line lip slowly twists to a frown as the image of Nawin's face appear in her mind. That expression of distress and almost hopelessness. He is afraid of even a one percent chance of losing Miraya. But it gets worse when Misako is dragged into this. The enemy wants to force him to choose between the two. Which person is the main priority?

Seeing that look on her King's face brings a seething rage inside Akame's heart. Hatred for the people that dared to pull this stunt. To forcibly dragged Nawin back to this cruel world with such a disgusting method that strikes straight into his heart. To threatened Miraya Culdos's life, a girl who has just returned to Nawin's life. Then force him to pick between her or Misako. It sickens Akame to the core that Ivory Sayaka and her friends went such a route.

With a tight grip on Black Thunder's sheath, Akame's eyes sharpen as her expression shift to one that has struck many hearts with fear in her past. A look that has made all the criminals that Akame has assassinated forfeit their life. Knowing they can't escape the Red-Eyed Demon that all of them has dubbed her by before they are all killed. "There won't be any mercy from me tonight."

Bursting out of the tall bushes, Akame finds herself staring a deserted one-story house that's made entirely out of wood. She remains in the shadows under a tree, surveying the open field. Puzzlingly, Akame can't spot any trap around the house. No invisible strings, no spell traps, not even a simple illusion to fool an intruder. 'Did they truly bet on that Nawin-kun was going to abandon Misako for Miraya?' Akame thinks, just considering that alone disgust her. It is utterly inconceivable to her to believe that Nawin would even do such. Although Miraya holds a special place in the Makasha's hearts. It doesn't mean he wouldn't do anything to save Misako.

Directing her attention to the house, Akame senses two magic signatures in there. One no doubt belongs to Misako. Holding the Black Thunder tightly, Akame takes one step out of the shadows. 'Hold on, Misako.'

"Urghhh," Misako looks on with terrified eyes at Silver who's set right in front. The quiet woman seats on a chair with arms rests behind her head and eyes closed. Misako is unable to speak as a white cloth is forced down her mouth with a tight duct tape over to keep it in place. Her arms are tied around the large wooden pillar with a special magical rope that cuts her chance of ever escaping it. Misako is remained standing up to add in the torture element. Her legs were already in pain from today's training, and the stress of standing still in such an uncomfortable posture is starting to become unbearable.

Silver opens her right eye and looks at the Ichiru. "It isn't pleasant, is it?" she speaks in a soft-spoken voice, "The feeling of helplessness. I know what it's like. It's frightening. Makes you beg for help, wishing there is someone out there that will hear your cry. Perhaps... Like me, someone will listen to your scream and come."

The moment those words are out of Silver's mouth. Akame burst into the room from the kitchen with the Black Thunder in hand. Bringing it to the side, Akame swings the blade for the opponent's neck. Intending it to be a clean and swift kill. But, to the shock of Akame and Misako. With a raised of her right hand, Silver stops the blade just inches away from the palm without even so much as glanced at the Knight's direction. Her eyes firmly set at the shocked Ichiru.

"So, that's how he's going to play things," Silver state and slowly moves her pale violet eyes to Akame. "Sent you to do his secondary work. A bold move on his part." Akame quickly senses a movement of raw mana coming from the right. She glances and lets out a short gasp when noticing now Misako has five massive explosives strapped around the black vast worn on her. An unknown magic seal glows, appearing on the bomb stuck at the front of the vest.

"You thought this whole place was lit with explosive?" Silver question with a faint smirk "How naive. That would make things too easy." Misako screams out in panic, never realizing the illusion this whole time. She too, thought the explosives are hidden around the house. Akame's steel expression waver when seeing her dear friend's scared face. Misako has never been in this kind of dire situation, so it only makes sense for her to be this terrified. Without Nawin present to be her pillar for support and composure, it only makes matters worse.

Akame's eyes snap forward, and her heart momentarily stops, when seeing Silver brings her other hand up. The middle finger press against the thumb in motion to give snap. "STOP!" Akame screams out in begging tone. Silver halt, slightly taken aback by the stoic Knight sudden shift of attitude. Those pleading red eyes say it all. Those eyes that Silver used to wore.

With a flick of her right wrist, Silver sends Akame blasting away to crash into the wall. Her left-hand drops to the side. "I see that you are aware with a mere snap of my fingers I can activate those seals to detonate the bombs strapped on Misako" Silver state, carefully watching the Knight returning to her feet. "She will be blown to pieces. Don't even think that there's a chance that because she's a devil, she'll survive. Those seals aren't just simple activation act. It also enhances the explosive. When those bombs detonate... She will be rendered to oblivion."

"... Why did you stop?" Akame question with a stoic expression, her sharp red eyes pierce into Silver's light-violet orbs. "We aren't savages," "The actions you and your friend took to dragged my King back into this world... Savages remain too much of a compliment for your group" Akame retorts with an icing tone.

"If you care for someone enough... You would do anything for them," Silver simply replies, then brings the right hand to her face and bite the index finger to draw blood. "I'll make this simple since Ivory left Misako's fate to me," Silver's eyes sharpen "I don't like you, Akame. So, I am going to take pleasure in beating you. You win Misako is free, you lose sh-" Silver is cut off when Akame swings the Black Thunder to the side and sever the ropes holding Misako in place.

Being set free Misako is about to rip the vest off, but it merely drops by itself to reveal the right is cut clean. She quickly acts and rushes over to hide behind Akame. The Knight all the while remains gazing at Silver, who watch the scene played out without so much as budge.

Bringing the Black Thunder forward to point at her opponent, Akame's red eyes glows. "You never planned to kill Misako. You aren't a stupid individual. If you wanted to end her, then you would have done it the moment I arrived." Red aura begins pouring out of the Knight. "If you want to defeat me or kill me, then I am right here. On behalf of my King. I will eliminate you tonight, Silver."

Silver remains ever emotionless and simply stare at the Knight. But, her eyes show it all. She wants a battle. A gruesome battle. Dislike lingers in those light-violet eyes, and it is directed all toward Akame.

"A-Akame?" Misako whispers to her friend, not knowing what to do. She is still shaken from what had happened. "Misako," Akame utters in a soft tone to calm the Ichiru "Please go to Nawin-kun's side" "H-huh?" "You have to be there for him. Knowing that you are safe will give him strength." Misako takes a moment to digest the Knight's word, and her expression hardens in determination. She gives the nod. "Ok! I will go to him." Akame glances back and offers one of her rare, beautiful smile "Good. Make haste, Misako."

Without time wasted, Misako bolts toward the back of the house to exit from there, heading south, following her King's magic signature. Silver didn't interfere and let the Ichiru leaves. Akame throws a quick glance at Misako, noticing her disappearing into the dense forest. 'Recently a barrier has just been placed around the area... I can't get through to Nawin-kun,' Akame eyes shift to Silver 'Her twin is missing... Perhaps it is her doing, to stop any potential outside interference. We are on our own.'

The two opponents stand still in their place. Staring holes into one another's head. There are no words needed to be said to show the amount of anger and hate radiating in the air. This battle intends to be one that will leave one victorious while the other dead.

Sliding her right feet forward ever slowly, Akame breaks into haste that leaves the ground behind to shatter. Silver simply raise her right arm up, and the front of the house combust into splinters and glasses. Two trees rip from the earth and fly toward the incoming Knight. 'Telekinesis?' With two quick slashes, Akame lance through the half-cut trees then swings the sword down to the shorter girl.

With a right-hand point toward the sword, Silver halt its motion completely. Akame's eyes widen, feeling herself come to a halt as the Black Thunder simply freezes in midair. Silver takes a deep breath and delivers a brutal right hook to the side of the Knight, her fist piercing into the flash that leaves Akame gasping out in pain before being blast away. She bounces on the floors a couple of time before slamming into the wooden pillar.

Silver stares at the Knight on the ground for a few seconds before taking a few large hops away to exit the house entirely. Akame opens her eyes and grunts at the aching pain on her side and back. She takes the Black Thunder's handle and glances forward only to see the vest. Her eyes widen, and she looks up to see Silver snaps her finger. The seals instantly glow, and the bomb detonates to a massive scale that it envelopes the entire house. A violent tremor erupts around the area as Silver simply stares at the blinding and explosive display in front of her.

South Hill

Fists connect with Fists. Each blow delivered, causes the ground stood between the fighters to crack and split. The once clean and even hill now holds many rubbles and craters. Showing the amount of destruction that can be made by just mere hand-to-hand combat between two strong individuals.

Stood a few meters away from each other, Nawin and Ivory remains in their fighting stance. Staring at one another with sharpening eyes to watch for any moves being made. Both are covered with some light bruises and cuts but nothing fetal. The two show no signs of out of breath or tiredness.

"What's wrong?" Ivory asks with a raised eyebrow, "You haven't used your powers yet." "Neither have you," Nawin retorts "I only use it when I need to, Prince." With that reply, Ivory quickly kicks a large rock on the ground to the air and blast it forward with a punch. Nawin catches the rock with his right hand and simply crush it. But his attention is taken away for a second, and Ivory comes tackling him to the ground.

Planing her legs around the Makasha's waist, Ivory firmly pins him to the ground. With a smirk, she snatches his neck with the left hand then clenches the right hand into a fist. "Let's bloody up that pretty face of yours," Ivory state and rains down a barrage of right hooks to the Makasha's face.

Nawin cuss and lift his arms up to block some of the blow but a few are able to go over him and connects him in the face. "Urgh!" "Ahaha!" Ivory begins laughing out when seeing the look of frustration coming from her opponent's face. "Gonna do anything!" she taunts then start squeezing the neck to cause Nawin to momentarily freeze, choking at the sudden inability to breathe. Another right hook comes down and nails him square in the face. The attack was strong enough to daze him for a moment. Blood already starts dripping down his busted lip and a cut underneath his right eye.

'...Nawin...' Miraya's soft voice rises in the Makasha's mind, her beautiful face appears, wearing that warm smile he loves so much. Even through his foggy vision, he can see her face perfectly. 'She needs me... I need to fight... FIGHT FOR HER!' "GAARRHHH!" Nawin's red eyes glow, and he snatches the Sayaka's neck with both hands. Ivory gags and suddenly finds herself being lied to the ground with Nawin above her. His red eyes glaring down at her with fury in them.

Ivory didn't give him the chance to attack by bringing her arms forward and takes his face into her palms. Forcing him to back away by going at his eyes. Blue eyes clash with Red eyes. Nawin growls and pulls his head back while sneaking a left hook that connects at the center of the Sayaka's face. The ground beneath them implodes by the amount of force behind that single punch.

With the dust clearing, it shows Ivory arms are laid on the ground. Her eyes hold a faraway look as they stare at the sky. Her breathing pattern is rapid. Her expression shift to one of tranquil. Blood already start leaking down from her busted lip. With her mind momentarily empty of thoughts, a memory of the past begins to pour in. A memory Ivory tries hard to suppress in her every waking day.

Memory

"Come now, child!" a deep voice calls out for the Nine-Year-Old Ivory that's laid on the grass. Her mouth is wide open to take in as much air as possible. Her body is covered in sweat. A 38-year-old man with short blond hair stop in front of the girl. He wears a goofy but fatherly grin when looking at Ivory. "You giving up?" "Urghhh," Ivory groans and opens her eyes to look up at her Father. She gives a smirk "No way!" With that proclaims, the young girl kips up to her feet then swiftly turn around to face the man.

"Ah-ha!" the Father smirk with pride "You are my daughter after all! That gutsiness comes right from I! Sir Mason!" "You really got to stop calling yourself Sir, Papa" Ivory points out with a blank stare. "Ahahahah!" Mason simply laughs then gesture his daughter to bring it "Anyway! Let's continue. Try to land a hit on me, child."

Ivory simply smirks and gets to her stance that resembles that of a boxer. Her Father has made a living being one of the best boxers in the United Kingdom before retiring to become a coach. Ever since seeing her Father fought his last match and won. Going out as 25 Win and 2 Losses. Seeing that amazing fight previous year brought a new fire in Ivory's heart. That fire created a dream for Ivory on wanting to become a strong fighter, just like her Father. So, ever since she turned Nine. Ivory has begun training with her Dad on the weekends when he is free.

Mason stare at his daughter, and his smile grows. Even though they have only been training for roughly over five months. She has already shown significant improvement. Her stance is spot on, and now she never once wavers from it. Concealing all the opening. Her eyes are sharp and focus on catching or countering any sneaky or dirty attack. Now they are focusing on her strikes. Even though Ivory is more fit than girls her age, she does lack power behind her punches and kicks.

Right now, Mason is focused on having his daughter try to land as many strikes possible on him. With all her strength put behind them. 'Isla should be back soon,' Mason glance back at his watch 'Better wrap things up soon. She always gets a heart-attack when I give even the faintest tap on Ivory.' Mason is unable to contain the chuckle when imagining the look on his wife's face when he would counter their girl's attack. Even when he barely puts any strength behind his strikes to Ivory, it still scared Isla to death.

"Here I come!" Ivory announces and bolts forward to her Father. Mason sees his daughter going for her favorite three-combo hit off the bat. Bringing his right hand forward, Mason blocks the right hook strike aimed for his face. Then, he takes a sidestep to avoid a left punch to his ribcage. For the final attack, which is a high right kick to the side, Mason simply snatches the ankle then sneak his right feet under Ivory to trip her to the ground.

"Hah!" Mason grins "You have to do better than that, child." "Stop, countering!" Ivory jumps up to her feet and cutely pouts "Bahahahahah! I am merely showing you your errors, child! You can't keep using that same combo again and again in battle!" Mason tap his forehead as his grin widens "If you are dealing with a smart opponent. They will eventually counter it and could end you in an instant!"

Mason decides this time he will strike forest. Taking a deep breath and exhale, he fires a right kick forward. Ivory leans to the side and dodge the attack then counters with a downward right punch aim for the stomach. Mason smirk and brings his right arm forward to swipe away his daughter's attack. He quickly fires a quick left jab that at the last moment, he pulls back to give the faintest impact possible.

"Eek!" Ivory lets out an adorable reaction when the fist gently connects to her cheek. Mason pulls his hand back and laughs. "Ahahahah, if I used my full strength, then you would be on the ground, child! Knocked out no less" he exclaims in jest. Ivory looks at her cheerful Father and can't help but smile. This is why she always enjoy training or spending time with him. He is an optimistic person. Even though with his tall and broad appearance that no doubt gives an intimidating look to bystanders. He possesses the kindest heart Ivory has ever seen in a person.

"Alright!" Mason hops back to create a generous space between the two. "Let's finish today's training with one more time! So, land a hit, Ivory! You've only managed to land four measly punches!" "Bah!" Ivory glares "Don't remind me!" "Bahaha! Come now, child! Make it a five!" Mason exclaims with an encouraging smile.

Ivory stare at her Father then takes a deep breath. Easing her mind to concentrate. Snapping her eyes open, Ivory rushes forward and sends a quick right jab. Mason examines carefully then snickers when seeing what his daughter is planning. He catches the right fist then leans to the side to dodge a sneaky uppercut coming from the other fist. Ivory's eyes widen at her attack missing while Mason simply chuckles and push her away.

Ivory stumbles back before leaning forward to stop herself. A growl escapes her mouth as frustration starts building in her. She wants to land at least one hit to see that proud smile on her Father's face. With newfound determination, Ivory takes a step forward and breaks into a sprint. Both her hands tighten into a fist.

Mason grins when seeing that fire look in his daughter's eyes. She's going all out. Then, as if it was magic, Mason's notice a spark of blue electric appears around Ivory. Her blue eyes start to glow brightly. "Ivory!" Mason shouts and brings his arms up to gesture the young girl to stop. Ivory takes one more step forward and finds herself in front of her Father. Her right arm penetrates through his broad chest.

An ungodly amount of blood splatter down and plaited the green grass in red. Ivory's eyes widen when seeing the crimson liquid. She starts to register what just happened. "I-Ivory," Mason coughs out before collapsing back onto the pool of his own blood, taking Ivory down with him. "P-Papa!" the Sayaka cries out. "I-I don't know what happened!" she shouts as tears start falling down her eyes. The glow in them is gone along with the mysterious blue electric. As if it never was there to begin with.

Mason tries to speak but instead coughs out more blood. Some lands on Ivory's cheek but she ignores it and tries to use her left arm to pull her Father up. "Urggh!" Mason groans in pain by the movement which forces Ivory to lay him back down. "Papa!" she cries out, "Please t-tell me what t-to do! P-please don't die! I-I didn't know what happened!" she tries to wipe the tears with her free hand, but it proves fruitless as more keeps pouring out.

Mason use all his strength to bring his right hand up and cup Ivory's cheek. He gives a small smile. "I-It's not yo-your fault. I-I-It seems y-you are m-much stronger th-than I th-thought," Mason jest with a faint before coughing out more. "H-how can you joke about this!" Ivory shouts in anger and tries to look around for her mother, "S-she's not back yet!"

"Ivory..." Mason whispers out to gain her attention, "Papa?" "Y-You are a good g-girl." The Father of one gives his brightest smile possible to his only daughter. He can feel it, his heartbeat slowing. His vision is slipping to darkness. Gently stroking his daughter's cheek, Mason pulls her down to plant a kiss on her forehead. "I-I love you, my ch-child. B-Become a s-strong w-woman that I k-know you will b-be. L-look after y-your mother for m-me."

Ivory watch with wide-eyed as her Father's hand leaves her cheek and drops to the ground. His blue eyes turn fade. His breather stops. But his smile remains. "P-Papa?" Ivory whisper, grabbing his shoulder and shaking it. Refusing to believe this is real. "Papa?! WAKE UP!" she shouts, shaking violently. Newfound tears pour down her eyes. "PLEASE WAKE UP! PAPAAA!"

"Ivory, Mason?!" a voice shouts from behind that cause the young girl to look back to see her mother quickly exiting the car. Isla quickly rushes forward to her crying daughter only to stop when seeing her husband bloody corpse. In a state of confusion, Isla looks closer to see if this scene is even real to only gasps in sheer horror when seeing Ivory's red-stained arm planted in Mason's bloody chest. "I-Ivory?" Isla whisper and shift to her daughter with a look of disbelief and fear. "Ivory... W-what have you done?"

Present

Ivory's pale eyes begin to glow brightly to life as blue sparks appear around her. Nawin gasp at this and is ready to throw another assault until Ivory lifts her head up to glare at him then throws a vicious right punch that connects to the center of his face. The force behind the punch sends the Makasha blasting off Ivory and slams to the ground from a few meters away. He cradles to a ball and holds his face with both hands in pain.

Ivory pushes herself off the ground and looks at her own hands. Watching the blue lightning aura spark in existence around her entire body. With a frown form on her face, Ivory shift sight to Nawin. "So, you forced me to use this bloody power." With that said, Ivory begins marching toward the bent Makasha. "Come on!" the Sayaka shouts in anger as she grabs the back of Nawin's neck, pulling him to her face. "You made me use this power! Give me a real bloody battle, Prince!" Ivory shouts and holds Nawin away to give him another full brutal punch to the face that sends him barreling away.

Nawin coughs and slowly raise up to his feet. Still stunned by the power behind the Sayaka's punch. Whatever that electric aura is. It has boosted up Ivory's strength and even speed in her attacks. "FIGHT!" Ivory shouts out, "IF YOU DON'T FIGHT FOR REAL THEN I WILL BLOODY BLOW MIRAYA CULDOS TO OBLIVION!"

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Nawin turns around to come face to face with the Sayaka. 'Miraya... Misako,' the two girls runs through his mind. He can't. He refuses to go all out. He won't put Misako's life in danger by defeating Ivory. For all he knew, there can be eyes watching this battle that with simple action, they can set the bombs surrounding Misako. But, Nawin knows he can't keep getting punished like this. If he receives any severe damage, then it could be the end of him. No matter how stronger he is compared to the Sayaka. One fetal injury can leave lasting damage.

Nawin is caught off-guard when Ivory appears in front and gives him a hard right hand to his face. A left hand comes from the bottom and connects to his ribcage. Nawin gasps out by the wind being knocked out of his body. Ivory finishes the three-combo hit with a vicious high right kick that connects to the side of the Makasha's head, blasting him in the air.

"COME ON!" Ivory shouts and kicks herself off the ground, flying forward to the Makasha. She is ready to go on offense once more until Nawin fires a downwards right kick that smashes on the top of her head. Ivory is sent crashing into the ground by the surprise attack. Nawin smoothly maneuvers his body in midair to land on his feet. Ivory kips up to her feet and glare forward.

A smirk form on the Sayaka's face when seeing the serious expression on the Makasha's face. Fire can be seen gleaming in those piercing and stern red eyes. "Finally getting serious?!" she yells out. Nawin takes a step forward to appear right in front of the Sayaka. Before Ivory can even register what happened, Nawin blast forwards an uppercut to the stomach with such force the area around them implode in destruction. "Gaargh!" Ivory vomits out air and hunch forward to the Makasha's arm.

"I-Impossible... Argh!" Ivory grunts in pain as she stumbles back, holding her stomach with the right hand before shakily looks up to see those stern red orbs gazing down at her. Nawin lifts his right index finger forward, pointing at the Sayaka. "Push," he whispers and fires a telekinetic blast.

Ivory quickly dashes out of the way and bolts to the right side of the Makasha. Nawin steps back to avoid a punch and counters with firing a right palm, but the Sayaka stops it by catching his wrist. With a smirk, Ivory kicks the back of Nawin's leg to force him to one knee where she fires another kick aim for his face. Nawin brings his left arm up to block the strike, then takes hold of the leg and violently swing Ivory away to create space.

Ivory backflip and stick the landing. She looks forward and a significant grin form on her face. "Now this is turning into a battle! Show me more of it, Prince!" Nawin gets to his stance and is taken off-guard when Ivory disappears in a spark of lightning. 'What?!' the Makasha calmly views around but can't find his opponent. As a matter of fact, he can't even sense her mana. 'Did... Did she just teleport away? Similar to my Speeding Shadow God?!'

Nawin suddenly stumbles forward when a knee connects to the back of his neck in a vicious manner. The strength behind it is enough to knock a normal man's head off his body. Ivory lands in front of the staggering Makasha and turns around to nail him in the face with a roundhouse kick. Nawin growls and refuses to drop to his knees. He ducks to miss a swing and fires an uppercut that connects to the Sayaka's chin. She stumbles back, dazed by the out of nowhere strike. Every hit the two hit each other the wincing sound of flesh connecting to flesh can be heard. There's no holding back.

Nawin takes one step forward and launches his right leg up to nail the knee right to Ivory's chest and face. Another hard-hitting sound erupts. Ivory stumbles back further as her eyes go cloudy for a moment. Nawin fires a right arm but Ivory, in the last second, snap back to reality and parry through the strike to take hold of the arm with her right arm linking around it. Ivory jumps over Nawin and pulls his arm along to push him off the ground with her and slams harshly to the ground in a whiplashing speed.

Still holding the arm upwards, Ivory brings her right leg to the air then smash it down to the Makasha's shoulder. A sickening crack erupts, follow by Nawin's scream of pain, feeling his shoulder just been stomp out of its socket. Ivory tries to smirk, but it wavers when seeing the agonizing look on the Makasha's face.

The Sayaka's expression cracks a bit before she looks up in the air. "IS THIS ENOUGH?!" she shouts to whoever is watching this. She knows they are out there. That be Noel or someone that's associated with his group. "Kuh, wankers" Ivory cuss when receiving nothing but silence. The Sayaka looks down and notices a red-flaming orb forming on the palm of the arm she is holding. She quickly releases her grip and jumps away, but Nawin cocks his hand and discharges the orb to her direction.

Ivory drops to the ground and lean her body to the side, avoiding the speeding orb without much difficulty. The magic attack lands a dozen meters away and ignites in a massive explosion that sends a violent tremor around the hill.

Nawin slowly returns to his feet and wipe some blood from his face with his left arm. He grunts and takes hold of the separated right arm. With his breath held in, he forcibly pushes the bone back into its socket. "Gurgh!" a painful grunt escape through Nawin's gritted teeth before a sigh of relief exudes.

"You are one tough son of a bitch, Prince" Ivory praise with respect. Nawin doesn't reply and simply stares piercingly at the Sayaka. 'She's getting stronger... Her speed and strength are increasing. It's as if when I go to the next level, she follows and even surpass that... What kind of sacred gear does she possess?' Nawin grit his teeth and shift to his stance. 'Akame... What's taking you so long?'

East of Kuoh

"Hah, hah, hah… Gargh!" Misako trips over a rock on the ground and falls forward to her knees. She grunts in pain before slowly rising back to her feet. Her body is covered in small cuts and such from all the bushes and branches she rushes past. "Urgh!" a discomfort grunt escape the Ichiru's mouth as she hunches forward. Her legs are shaking in complete agony. Ever since she's done with today's training, Misako has not had even an hour of rest. Her body is still covered in soreness and aching pain.

"N-Nawin-kun," Misako whispers and look forward through the endless view of trees and bushes. "Please, b-be ok... I-I'm coming!" Wanting nothing more to see her King safe and well, Misako ignores all the pain screaming in her body and advances further through the forest. With a stumbling start, she is able to break into a sprint once more. "I-I'll be your side, Nawin-kun! Always!"

Silver stare onwards at the pile of fire with a tranquil gaze. The once abandoned house is now rendered into nothing but a collection of dust and burnt planks. The crackling sound of the fire echoes around the quiet forest. The black smoke pours out of the woods and shatters into the night sky.

Next, Akame emerges out of the firetrap then immediately drops to her knees. She violently coughs out all the toxic air she inhaled in the flame. Her right arm, which took the full brunt of the explosion, suffers a gruesome second-degree burn. Steam can be seen pouring from the burnt flesh. The Black Thunder rest on the left.

"Are you done?" Silver question, examining her opponent's injured state, "Can you even wield that sword anymore?" Not receiving a reply and instead gets a glare from the Knight. A faint smirk form on the younger girl's face. "So, you can still fight." Glad that there's more left in the Knight, Silver cocks her right hand up to pulls a large boulder of the earth. With a twist of her hand, Silver expertly cut the boulder's edges until it becomes a shape of a sharp cone.

Pointing her index finger forth, Silver sends the cone ahead. Akame brings her left hand up, and the gauntlet that Nawin bestowed upon her starts to glow. The magical white crystal produces a transparent barrier that efficiently blocks the attack.

Akame grits her teeth and quickly raise up to her feet, ignoring the agonizing pain in her right arm. She slams her feet on the Black Thunder's pummel to send it flying up. She catches it with her left hand. Silver's eyes gleam in impress and summon three more boulders from the earth then sends them to the Knight.

Her red eyes gleam with power, Akame kicks herself off the ground to speed toward the boulders. With one slash, she cuts through the projectiles and heads for the opponent. Even with one arm working, Akame shows she can still be a significant threat. Her eyes once again regain that sharpness and stoic. Matching one of a cold assassin.

Silver hastily jumps back to keep a distance while thrusting both arms forward to produce a booming telekinetic blast that sends Akame shooting away while obliterating the earth into smithereens. Landing on the ground, Silver looks forward, seeing Akame already back on her feet. That blast was only meant to push her away.

"You know why I hate you, Akame?!" Silver shouts as raw emotions start building in her when staring at those stoic red eyes. She spread her arms to the side before slamming both hands together. Two trees from the right and left tears off the ground and comes flying toward Akame, crashing to her sides in perfect sync. "Guh!" the Knight cough out blood but remains strong. Triggering her mana to explode, Akame tears the trees into pieces with her aura alone.

"Those eyes," Silver sneer, losing that calm composure "Those damn eyes. I have seen them... I wore them once! Eyes of an older sister! The difference is that I protected my sister safely while you failed yours, RIGHT?!" Akame's eyes grow wide by those words, her body freezes for a moment in stunned. "Older siblings are supposed to protect their younger siblings! No matter what!" Silver shouts and retracts her left arm, pulling the Knight off the ground and towards her.

"People like you make me sick!" Silver roars and swings a vicious right hook that smashes perfectly at the side of Akame's face. The ground beneath them cracks as soft tremors can be felt. Akame goes flying away then crash face-first onto the ground. Giving a venomous glare to the battered Knight, Silver lift four large boulders off the ground and with a twist of her hands, curve them all into sharp, huge lances.

"You failed your sibling and now... You will fail your dear Black Flash!" Silver shouts and brings both arms down to drop the lances. Akame's stoic eyes stare at the ground, her body unmoved. 'Akame...' An image of Nawin's smiling face appears. 'Thank you. For always being the person, I can count on.' 'I trust you with my whole heart, Akame.' 'Akame... You are strong. You may not know it, but you are very strong.'

'Nawin-kun...' Akame's eyes snap open to reveal those demonic eyes. Gone are the white sclera and replace with the abyss black. The pupils turn slit to resembles that of a demon. With a swift swing of her right arm, Akame blast all of the lances away with sheer force alone.

"W-what?!" Silver shouts out, noticing the dense red aura emitting around the Knight's body. The forest starts shaking from the amount of mana being release. Silver looks closely and is stun to see once burnt right arm is now completely healed. Like it has always been injured from the beginning.

Throwing the Black Thunder to the right hand, Akame catches it by the handle then begins striding forward. Silver quickly reacts and lift both her arms up to bring an overwhelming amount of trees and boulders to the air, enough to bury an entire house. Before Silver can even move her arms, she feels a breeze goes pass her that sends chills down the spine. Her eyes widen as cold sweat drips down her forehead. Silver can feel it, Akame is standing right behind her. And she didn't even see her move.

'I-If I don't do something... I will die here.' An image of Farah and Ivory appears in Silver's mind. She grits her teeth and clenches her hands to a fist. 'I can't die here! Not now! After everything Farah and I have been through with our damn parents! I won't die here!'

With the fire of determination coursing through her body, Silver cocks her hands to the Knight's direction and produce a powerful telekinetic blast. She immediately glances forward and is ready to retreat only to see Akame now standing right in front. Without hesitation, the Knight swings the Black Thunder forward to cleaves the young girl's head right off the body. A clean and swift kill.

Siler stands frozen while staring at Akame with stun eyes. The light in those violet orbs start fading as a horrifying amount of blood begins leaking out of the cut around the neck. "F-F-Fara-" Silver failed to utter her beloved younger sister's name and crumbles forward, pass the Knight. The severed head rolls a few feet away when the body hits the earth.

All the trees and boulders floating in the air comes immediately down to the earth. Scattering all over the place like a pile of trash in a scrapyard.

The black in Akame's sclera slowly slithers off to the corners, allowing the normal white to return. The slit pupils expand back to a shape of orbs. The red aura vanishes. Even when reverting back to her natural self, Akame's stoic and cold expression remain, the black bangs hover over her eyes. Without sparing a glance at the corpse behind, she swipes her sword to the side to get rid of the blood clung on the black blade.

With the sheath appearing, on the other hand, Akame puts the Black Thunder away before striding toward the South. Making way to her King.

North Hill

"Gahh!" Nawin comes crashing to the earth in a vicious manner that forms a massive crater on impact. Ivory appears in front of the kneeled man in a spark of lightning and sends a kick that connects to the face that knocks the Makasha onto his back. Ivory brings her left leg high up to show her flexibility and brings the feet down. Nawin quickly rolls away as the leg goes bury into the ground to show the strength behind it. He jumps up and swings an elbow that connects fully on the side of the Sayaka's head.

Ivory grunts and stumble back a few steps. Momentarily daze. Nawin takes this moment and gives a quick two-hit combo. A right punch to the gut then finishes it with a backhand to the face with the left fist. Ivory goes sliding back by the combo then drops to one knee. Both opponents are panting heavily. Their bodies littered with bruises and small cuts. Their clothes hold many holes and slashes.

Ivory takes one deep exhale before giving a smirk, looking at her opponent. "You are just going to keep sticking to hand-to-hand? Plan on simply knocking both of us out, Prince?" "Could be part of my plan," Nawin simply comment, not giving any hint. Truthfully, he is just buying time to hear from Akame. He quickly realized that someone has placed a large barrier around the area to cut off any communication. All Nawin can do right now is wait for Akame to return here with Misako. That is his only option.

Nawin and Ivory both return to their feet at the same time. Ready for another round. Ivory starts to get a bit annoyed at how they have been at the same pace ever since the beginning. Nawin isn't coming at her with intent to kill. "Get serious, Prince... Or you will really start pissing me off" Ivory warns. "You haven't given me a reason to," Nawin retorts with sets the Sayaka off.

With blue electricity coursing around her right arm, Ivory sends a punch forward. Nawin blinks at this, Ivory is nowhere near him. She is essentially punching the air. A smirk cracks on the Sayaka's face and not a moment later, a sizable hole explodes on the center of the Makasha's chest. Nawin's arms hang to the sides as he stumbles back, looking down at the baseball size hole on his chest with utter shock. "H-How?" he coughs out, collapsing to his knees and gazes up at the Sayaka.

Kneeling in front of the Makasha, Ivory grabs his chin to look him right in the eyes. "Simple. I can gather enough force and speed behind my punches that I can produce a shockwave which can cut through flesh like it is butter." Ivory let go of the chin and sends a hard right hook to the face that sends Nawin crashing onto the ground. Straddling over her opponent's stomach, Ivory begins raining down right hooks to his face once more. "Come now! You want to start kicking it up a gear, Prince?!" she shouts.

Ivory inwardly frowns as she sees Nawin barely being able to block most of her punches. 'Damn it! He's too conflicted...' Nawin grits his teeth and continue to have his arms up. Suddenly, he notices his ring gleaming ever slightly. Nawin blocks a right hook with his arm then glances to the right '... Misako?!' his eyes widen when seeing the Ichiru carefully popping her head out of the tree, staring back at him with those sapphire-blue eyes that shows with great concern.

'Y-you...' Nawin's red eyes reveal immense relief as a faint smile appears on his bloody lip. Misako watches him with slight stun by his expression. But she understands why. Mustering the brightest smile she could on her bruised face, Misako gives the nod to tell that she is ok.

"Would you fight back already?!" Ivory shouts in anger and draws both arms to the air, clenching both fists into one then brings it down. Nawin looks at the Sayaka and his red eyes shift to gold. "Gladly." As her fists are inches away from the Makasha's face, Ivory's entire body freezes like a stone. 'W-what?!' she stares at Nawin and finally takes notice of his eyes.

The Sayaka is unable to even speak with her current position. She can only look down at those gold eyes. Feeling the raw and terrifying power emitting from it. That gaze alone begins giving a thought in Ivory's mind that Nawin isn't someone she can genuinely beat in her current level.

Nawin brings his right hand up and rests the index finger in the Sayaka's forehead. His gold eyes bore into her blue eyes. A spark of gold erupt at the tip of the finger and Ivory is send blasting off Nawin and into the sky like a rocket. Nawin slowly sits up and groans at the soreness of his back and face. "Gonna look like crap tomorrow." Nawin shift to the right to see Misako is about to head toward him, but he quickly brings his right arm up to stop her.

'Don't, Misako' Nawin speaks, communicating through the rings 'B-but why?! Nawin-kun, you are hurt!' Misako replies with worry, 'It's fine. Honestly, seeing you safe and sound has made me beyond relief. I can fight seriously now.' 'Y-you let her beat you up?' 'I held back... I was a force to choose between you or Miraya. That why I sent Akame to save you in secret while I distracted Ivory... Where is she?' 'Akame-chan is dealing with Silver,' 'I see. What about the other twin?' 'She's not there.'

Nawin's eyes narrow a bit at this fact. He too hasn't spotted the other member of Ivory's group. Not knowing where the other twin whereabout is put an unnerving feeling in the Makasha.

Ivory comes dropping from the sky and crashes to the ground not far from the Nawin. "... Huh," she stares blankly at the sky while laying around the rubble. "Wonder why Prince suddenly got serious." Releasing a soft groan at the aching pain, Ivory slowly sits up and looks toward her opponent, seeing him already up on his feet.

'Misako...' Nawin watch Ivory standing back up 'Stay hidden, please. I don't know what Ivory will do if she spots you.' 'O-ok... Please be careful, Nawin-kun' 'I will. Don't worry. I'm not planning on holding back anymore now that I know you are safe.' Misako hides behind the large tree to watch the battle continue. She can't help but let out a small smile when knowing how much Nawin took her safety to consider. Misako promises herself, after tonight, she will treat her King to a lovely dessert.

Ivory notice that those gold eyes on Nawin are gone. Now they are back to blood-red. "Not going to use that power?" she asks, frowning "Trust me," Nawin spit out blood and shift to his stance, the red eyes gleaming "I won't need to use that to win this." A significant smirk form on the Sayaka's face when she sees those fire burning in those red eyes. She didn't care what the reason behind what has made the Makasha suddenly turn serious. She simply wants a real battle with him. For her own gain and hopefully to impress those that are watching. To show them that she can keep up with the famous Black Flash.

The two fighters march forward and stop right in front of one another. Nawin and Ivory stand tall and have their arms to the side, staring at one another in the eyes. Black aura emitting around the Makasha while Blue Electricity occasionally sparks around the Sayaka.

"Hah!" Ivory makes the first move and goes for a right punch that Nawin block by bringing both arms forward. He starts sliding back as Ivory press on the attack. Nawin pushes Ivory's arm away, and the two begin battling in a barrage of punches and kicks. All are connecting, but none is hitting the body. Shockwaves emit as the two gets faster and faster with their strikes. Craters begin forming around the area while light tremors can be felt on the ground.

Nawin swipes away another attack and returns with a right hook that connects to Ivory's face and sends her flying away. Nawin disappears in a black flash and appears underneath her. He snatches the right leg and slams Ivory to the ground in a vicious manner then throws her up. He disappears again and reappears above her with both hands held as one and slams them to the Sayaka's stomach. Ivory coughs out air by the hard blow then goes blasting to the earth like a missile.

Ivory recovers in midair and promptly lands with her hands. She leans her lower body back to stand on feet. "Eheheheh," a chuckle escape her mouth "That's more like it!" Ivory snaps up to look at the Makasha floating in the air, wearing a big grin. Nawin simply stares down at her with a stoic but stern expression. Not sharing her excitement.

Nawin appears in front of Ivory. "Wrong move," she states as her eyes glow. Nawin suddenly screams out in pain when feeling a flurry of blows impacting around his entire body before being send barreling away. He recovers and touches the ground with the right hand to maneuver back to his feet. "W-what was that?" Nawin asks, holding his chest and wince in pain. "Simple," Ivory wears a smirk "With my powers, I can enhance by offensive speed to a level that it looks like I am not even moving. So, Black Flash... Were you able to see those?" she mocks.

Instead of answering, Nawin disappears in a black flash and reappears behind to give a stiff uppercut to the back of Ivory. She gasps in pain and shock then glances back to see a smirk on the Makasha's face. "Were you able to see that?" he retorts and pulls his arm back before shooting a right kick to send the woman away.

Nawin appears above and sends his right feet down, but Ivory twist her body in midair to face the attack. With her left hand on the ground, she catches the feet with the other hand. "Uh!" Ivory watches the flaming red orb forms on Nawin's right palm. It's aimed right at her face. Ivory quickly maneuver her right feet over and with her agile body, is able to kick the Makasha's fist, which interrupts the process of the spell and the orbs vanish due to loss of concentration. Nawin cuss while Ivory smirk and rolls over to bring him to the ground with her.

Both on the ground now, Nawin quickly sends a right hand, but Ivory catches it and counters by pulling him in and gives a headbutt right to the side of the head. Nawin goes daze momentarily and is unable to counter or block the right kick to his side that sends him barreling away. Ivory kips up to her feet and smirk.

"Showing a bit of rust there, Prince?" Ivory questions, watching him raise up to his feet once again. "You..." Nawin takes a deep breath, wincing slightly at all the pain around his body. He has received more damage than he would have liked during the distraction. "You are a great fighter, I'll admit. Probably the best person I have fought against when it comes to close quarter combat" "My, I was not expecting those words. Thank you though, Prince. But, compliments like that won't get you anywhere with me" Ivory retort with a vexing smirk.

"But," Nawin continues and looks at the Sayaka in the eyes, grinning "You aren't as good as me." Before Ivory can retort, Nawin appears in front and deliver a quick three-hit combo. Right hook to the face, left hook to the ribcage, and finish it off with an uppercut to the gut that sends Ivory up the air. "Damn you!" the Sayaka coughs out blood but quickly wipes it away and brings both arms up. A large electricity sphere charges into existence. With a roar, Ivory throws it down to the Makasha.

Nawin causally brings his right arm up and stops the sphere. Clenching his hand into a fist, the sphere disperses into harmless sparks. Ivory is left speechless that one of her signature attacks has just been rid of like it was a small nuisance. She drops to the ground and doesn't once leave sight of those red eyes staring a hole through her head.

"This dance ends here," Nawin state "I am done fooling around. I am taking Miraya home!" Ivory gets to a stance when the Makasha kicks off the ground, blasting toward her. Ivory charges up her right arm and throws another shockwave strike, but Nawin simply teleports out of the range and appears right in front. "Demonic Lightning!" Black Lightning charges up in the Makasha's right hand, and he brings it forward to the Sayaka's, who is frozen in place and can only watch as the frightening attack inches forward her. But, instead of sharpening his hand, Nawin grabs Ivory's face and slams her to the ground. "... Discharge." "GAAAAAAHHHH!" Ivory's loud and painful screams erupt around the hill. The Demonic lightning shocks her entire body to such a high and unearthly voltage that a normal human would be killed instantly.

Nawin notices the Sayaka's eyes start losing color and promptly release her face to stop the assault. Dispelling his signature attack, Nawin stands up. "I won't kill you... Now," he grabs the jacket and pulls Ivory up to look at her face to face "Where is Miraya?!" "E-ehehe-eh," the Sayaka gives a weak chuckle and stare at Nawin with one eye open "I guess... I w-was really over my bloody head, huh?" "You have no idea," Nawin retorts with stoic tone "Now, tell me. Where is Miraya?!"

"She's not here... My dear." Nawin's completely freeze when hearing that phrase uttered by that specific voice. That deep, smooth, and alluring tone which sends shivers down his spine. Releasing Ivory, Nawin looks ahead to see Sayomi striding toward him, carrying what seems to be a person conceal in a white cloth.

"S-Sayomi?" Nawin whispers in shock, reunited with the Pureblood after months since the event in Transmere. "W-what are you doing here?" he asks with his guards up, staring at her with caution. "To stop my recruitments on continuing their foolish acts," Sayomi reply then drops the person under her arm to the ground while pulling the cloth back.

Nawin and Misako are left utterly speechless when the person underneath the cloth reveal to be Miraya. "W-what?" Nawin stumbles, watching his childhood friend kneeled on the ground and looking at him with fear in those teary eyes. "H-help me, Nawin!" she begs. "Impressive acting there," Sayomi comment, looking at the trembling girl with the most unamused expression.

The Pureblood turn forward and receives a full right hook to the face by an enrage Nawin. "Uh?!" Nawin's eyes widen when seeing Sayomi doesn't even budge by his strike. She simply stares back at him with an unreadable expression. "Are you truly that blind?" she asks with a hint of disappointing, then pushes the Makasha away with her telekinesis.

Sayomi points her right hand to Miraya. "SAYOMI, STOP!" Nawin shouts in plea when seeing mana start being generated around the woman's palm. A transparent blast discharge from Sayomi's hand and hits Miraya. Then, to the shock of Nawin. Miraya's entire form begins glowing until it dies down to reveal Farah kneeling in that spot.

"See?" Sayomi shift to the speechless Makasha "This was what awaits you. Nothing but a fake." She stares at the trembling girl, "Quite a dirty trick. I wonder if I should even bother bringing you along. Perhaps I should send you following your sister to the afterlife" "W-what?!" Farah's fear is quickly replaced by anxious. She stands up and grabs the Dracul's jacket, soaking it "What are you talking about?! Where's my sister?! What have you done to her?!" "... Instead of asking me. You should ask her," Sayomi looks forward, and Farah follows. She gasps when seeing Akame emerging out of the forest with Misako. "N-No... S-silver lost?"

Ivory is listening to all of this in disbelief. Farah releases the Pureblood and faces the Knight. Glaring at her. "She's lying! Where's my sister?!" "Dead," Akame gives a quick and blunt response. Farah's eyes widen as she froze in place. Tears begin rolling down her eyes. "Y-you... Y-you killed her? W-why?! WHY!" Farah screams, "We never intended to murder your friends! S-so why did you have to kill her?! Y-you monster!"

"ALL OF YOU!" Farah screams as loud as her lungs could allow "ALL OF YOU ARE MONSTERS!" Akame remains emotionless. Misako couldn't hide the expression of guilt on her face. Nawin's eyes are unable to maintain on the crying girl and quietly stare at the ground. "Why blame them?" Sayomi speaks up, stunning Farah, who looks back at her. "You and your friends decided on taking this action. Instead of just going for something on your level... You went against him," Sayomi indicates to Nawin. "You captured his friends. Threatened to kill a person he most cherished in this world... And you expect that all of you would make it out fine? You and your friends are nothing but a bunch of stupid children that don't know their place. Playing way above their glass ceiling. And look where it got you... This result. A dead sister." Sayomi's tone is sharp and without mercy.

More tears flow down Farah's face as she drops to her knees and crunch into a fetal position, crying her heart out. "SILVEEERRRR!" "... I-" Nawin stops when noticing Ivory returns to her feet. Blue Lightning violently sparks around her. The blonde bangs overshadow her eyes. The leather jacket suddenly dissolves into nothingness by the pure and dense aura emitting from the Sayaka.

Nawin grits his teeth in frustration and shift to a fighting stance. He can feel the raw anger pouring from the Sayaka's aura alone. And, glancing toward the Pureblood, it seems she's not intending to step in, instead, merely watch how this will play out. "Ivory..." Nawin speaks in a calm and soft tone "We don't have to do this. Stop before more people get h-" Nawin stops when a strong breeze blows pass him. At the corner of his right eyes, he saw a spark of blue light.

"Akame!" Misako's voice snaps Nawin out of his shock and turns around to see Ivory in front of his Knight with her right arm stretched. Akame was able to block the attack at the last second with the Black Thunder. Grabbing both the handle and the blade, Akame grits her teeth and try to push back but the Sayaka did not budge. Leaning her head up, Ivory glares down at the Knight with that venomous and scornful blue gaze.

"You'll pay for that," Ivory utters and puts in more power to smash right through the blade, snapping it in half. Akame's eyes widen in speechless, watching the sword that Nawin has gifted her snap into two like a wooden stick. Ivory's fist collides square on the Knight's face with such strength it sends her blasting to the earth in a whiplashing manner.

As Akame lays on the crater, barely conscious, indicated by those murky red orbs staring up in an unnatural height. "Stop!" Misako scream and Ivory retort with a backhand, but before it could connect. Nawin appears in front of the Ichiru and catches the hand. "Ivory," Nawin speak through gritted teeth, wanting to reason with the Sayaka. "Stop th-" Again, he is silence when Ivory brings her other arm forward in blinding speed and snatch his neck.

"I-Ivory," Nawin speaks as tone grows dark. His expression sharpens, staring back at the Sayaka. "Don't push me." The Draconic mark begins to glow, which cause Misako to gasp in horror while Sayomi's eyes narrow. Nawin's grabs the wrist and glares at Ivory. "Because I will kill you if need be" "... I lost a part of my family tonight... And You'll lose a part of yours too, Nawin Makasha."

Ivory throws Nawin back and appears in front in a blink of an eye to deliver a dropkick to the stomach from midair, sending him flying toward the ground. Nawin maneuver around to land on the ground but he didn't get time to recollect as Ivory appears in front and swing an uppercut to the stomach that knocks the wind out of him. She casually pulls her fist back, and Nawin cries in pain, feeling the hand painfully and slowly gets removed from his abdomen. Ivory then grabs Nawin's head to keep him in place and brings her right knee up to deliver a vicious knee to the stomach. "Gaaaah!" Nawin vomits out blood and screams in agony at his already damaged abdomen being torture to an extreme extent. Ivory finishes it off by releasing the Makasha and gives a quick right jab to the mouth that knocks him to the ground.

'... You are refusing the mark to awaken,' Sayomi stare at the scene with an unreadable expression. 'My dear... Your words hold no strength in them. You have no fire left, do you?' Ivory strides toward Nawin and aims her right arm at him. An electric sphere form to existence. "Enough," Sayomi command "What?!" Ivory snaps at her with a glare "I am killing him."

Sayomi's eyes immediately show annoyance, but Ivory didn't back then and shift back to the Makasha. "I don't like repeating myself, Ivory Sayaka." Instead of answering, Ivory appears in front of the Dracul with the sphere aim right at her face. "Sod off!" Having enough of the teenager's nuisance, Sayomi's eyes glow. "Kneel," she commands, and Ivory's entire body stiffens before quickly crumbling to its knees. The sphere dissipates and the electric aura vanishes the moment those words were uttered.

For once in Ivory's life, the feeling of fear and helplessness has never been this great. Her entire body is shaking as cold sweat drips down her forehead. Even though she is unable to look up at the Pureblood's face, she can feel those terrifying eyes glaring at her. "No! Please, don't hurt her!" Farah comes to her friend side, holding Ivory close while sending a pleading look at the Pureblood.

Sayomi ignores the younger girl and stares at the Sayaka. "You've already proven that you are worth my time. So, don't start pissing me off," she states with an icing tone. With that said, Sayomi walks pass the pair and makes way to Nawin. "No!" Misako quickly stops in front of her King to halt the Pureblood. Even though knowing she stands absolutely no chance, even though her body is openly shaking in fear, the Ichiru refuse to move.

"Hmm," Sayomi cracks a faint smile "I admire your courage, Misako Ichiru" she states before cutting the girl's consciousness with her telepathy ability. Misako's eyes turn heavy and close before she collapses to the right. Sayomi kneels beside Nawin and rests her right hand on his cheek, leaning his face to face her. Nawin shakily opens his eyes. Seeing him in such a rough state, seeing his eyes barely holds any strength. The emotion of sadness and guilt display clearly in the Pureblood's red eyes.

Without a word said, Sayomi leans down and press a kiss on the Makasha's forehead. Fading pink aura begins emitting around his body as the injuries start to heal slowly. "Hang in there, my dear" Sayomi whispers in a soothing tone that brings a sense of ease in Nawin's heart while he simply stares at her. Sayomi wears a beautiful and caring smile, caressing his cheek "Please... Stay strong for me."

Nawin slowly opens his mouth and mutters "M-Miraya?" "... She is safe and sound. Trust me, my dear" "W-why?" "Because... I would never lie to you." Nawin eyes slightly widen at those words and feel Sayomi release his cheek. She gives him one last smile before standing up.

The soft and kind expression on the Dracul's face instantly reverts to one of cold and serious when she turns to look at her new recruitments. Noel has made himself known and helped Ivory to her feet. "Didn't I told you to not act recklessly in her presence?" he reminds, wearing a look of disappointment. Ivory doesn't spare him a glance and simply gaze at the Pureblood, watching her stop in front of them.

"Noel," Sayomi glance at her subordinate, "Yes?" "Summon the teleportation" "At once." Tapping the air with his index finger, Noel watch the black doors open into existence. A swarm of bats floods out of the pitch-black world and surrounds the party. "I could have killed him," Ivory spat out at the Pureblood. Sayomi's gaze shifts to the blonde girl. "Only because he isn't trying. Are you that low to take the glory on defeating a person who doesn't currently hold the heart in him to fight?" she retorts with a sharp tone, her eyes alone make the Sayaka flinch and looks away.

'... Noel was right,' Ivory utters in her mind. Standing even near to the Pureblood sends goosebumps all over her body. Looking at her is even more frightening. It is like being in the same presence as a deity. A person that's just above you in every way possible. Better and stronger than you. A hand suddenly takes the Sayaka's right hand to snap her out of her thought. She looks down to see Farah looking at her with those dried-teared eyes. 'Right... The important thing is,' Ivory wears a faint smile and firmly hold the younger girl's hand 'I still have you...' "I promise I will stay by your side, Farah." Farah gives a half-hearted smile and nods. Content with those words. After all, Ivory is now the only family she has left.

Noel escorts the pair through the portal then waits for his Mistress. Sayomi stops in front of the doors before sparing a glance toward the blonde man. "You retrieved Silver's corpse?" "Yes. As you requested... We can at least give her a proper burial." A hint of annoyance gleams in Sayomi's eyes "This turned into a mess, Noel" she states. "I realized..." Noel presses his right arm to the chest and gives a respectable bow "I sincerely apologize, Mistress. I won't make any excuses and take full responsibility for this... It won't ever happen again in the future."

Sayomi didn't give any more words and simply enters the portal with Noel soon following behind. The flock of black bats floods back into the doors before it shuts and disappears from existence.

With Sayomi's party gone. The hill once again succumbs to the night's silence. In the crater, Nawin merely gazes up at the dark skies with an unreadable expression. All his injuries are gone, but he just can't be bothered to get up. His mind holds nothing after tonight. In truth, he doesn't even know what to do anymore. All of the raw and wild emotions he showed tonight are gone and replaced with emptiness.

But, he knew he can't just lay down here any longer. Forcing himself to his feet, Nawin notice Akame too is slowly rising up. "H-hey!" Nawin quickly catches his Knight when she suddenly stumbles forward. "You ok?" he asks and feels her nod on his chest. Akame slowly stands straight and looks at her King. "I-I'm fine. Just tired."

Nawin gives a weak smile and nod. He then shifts his attention to the Ichiru laid on the grass. Nawin kneels on the right and rests his hand on her soft cheek. He can hear and see the calm breathing leaving from Misako's lip. 'Only unconscious. Thank goodness.' Nawin wears a warm smile when gazing at the pink-haired girl, glad that she isn't seriously harmed. "... Can you do me one last favor for the night, Akame?" "Of course." "Please take Misako home. I have something I need to do." Akame grabs her head and winces at the pain. She gives a confusing look to her King, "What would that be?" "I need to check if Miraya is truly fine. I'm heading to her motel," "I see... That would be wise."

"... N-Nawin-kun," Akame speaks when seeing the Makasha was ready to leave. He turns back to look at her, "Yes?" "... Should... Should I have not killed that girl?" The question comes of a shock for Nawin. But as he stares deep into those red orbs. There is guilt in there but is it for killing Silver. He wasn't positive. Nawin brings his right arm forward and rests it on the Knight's shoulder. Both stare at each other. "It's my fault things have turned out like this, Akame. None of this is your fault. I... I should have been the better person in this. I should have talked to Ivory and seen through her games. To notice that she and her friends never intending to truly harm Misako. But... We came here with the intention to kill to save Misako. We... No, I was the bad guy here. Because of my incompetence... An innocent girl lost her life tonight."

Akame wanted to say something, but she knew nothing she says will get through to her King. Those brown orbs show it all. With one last hallow smile, Nawin releases her shoulder and turns around. He shoots up to the sky and travels back to the city.

Time Skip: Gray Lotus

As it is essentially the next day, sneaking past the half-asleep guards was an easy task. Exiting the stairs on the second floor, Nawin wanders through the hallway until he stops in front of the door to Miraya's room. He blinks in surprise when detecting a faint light peeking through the curtains. 'She's awake?!'

Bringing his right hand up, Nawin takes a deep breath before giving a few light knocks. Less than a minute, the sound of the knob gets twisted before the door opens to reveal none other than Miraya in her white nightgown. "N-Nawin?" she whispers in shock, not foreseeing her friend to visit at this kind of time. "Uh?!" Miraya releases the knob and looks concern when seeing tears start dripping down the Makasha's eyes.

"Darling," Miraya speaks in a soothing tone, bringing her arms up to gently cups Nawin's cheeks while wearing a concern expression. "What's wrong?" "I-I'm just glad you are alright," Nawin whispers in a shaky voice. Miraya stroke his cheeks before pulling him into a hug. "Oh, you dummy... You came all this way because of this?" Nawin doesn't reply and instead wraps his arms around the girl. Holding her firmly as if afraid that she will disappear in thin air.

Miraya gently stroke the Makasha's back with her right hand. She can feel his body slowly eases, but she knows there's something on his mind. Those brown eyes are like an open book to her. There's confliction in them. "Come inside, darling. I'm not going to let you leave without talking first."

Being led inside the room, Nawin notices immediately that the bathroom door is open. The light in there is still left on. Which explain why Miraya was awake at this hour. "Here," Miraya keeps a firm hold on the Makasha's hand and pulls him to sit on the bed. Miraya release's Nawin's hand for the moment to bring hers in front of Nawin's face. He gives a confused expression. "Jacket, please. I mean, you must be burning in them." Nawin simply cracks a faint smile and does as told, removing his signature battle jacket and hands it to the Culdos.

As Miraya neatly folds the jacket and sets it on the counter, Nawin wipes tears off his eyes then quietly stare at her. In truth, sometimes he still can't believe this is real. After years of mourning and suffering over her death, he is reunited with Miraya. Even after seeing the things he saw in the supernatural world, Nawin has never once given hope to an idea that Miraya could return to life. Never has he presented himself false hope that there will be a day they would reunite.

"Now," Miraya plops down next to the Makasha and shift to him, wearing a warm smile "What is wrong, Nawin?" "I..." Nawin doesn't know how to start this honestly. But, he knows that Miraya is someone that would give him the best advice. She always finds a way to help him with words. "I... Don't know what I am doing anymore, Miraya" "What do you mean?" "... I feel like I am leaving two different life. The life I had before I was reunited with you and now, the life I have living with you. The life without you is a hard and exhausting one. One that I am starting to grow to dislike because..." Nawin looks at Miraya in the eyes "The life I have with you is one that fills me with more joy. A more healthy and carefree life... Just like back then, when it was just you and I".

"... Did something happen, Nawin?" "Yes... Because of my mistake. It reminds me just how hard that life is. I-I..." Nawin sighs before giving an apologetic smile, "I am sorry for being so vague." "Darling," Miraya takes his hand and gives a soft squeeze "You don't have to force yourself. If it's something that you feel like keeping quiet from me. Then I know you have a good reason for it."

"Now," Miraya gives a brighter smile "For this confliction that's going on in your mind. Let me ask you this, Nawin. Even with me back in your life. I can see that you can't stop living the life that you have before our reunion, correct?" "Yes..." "So, the idea of you giving up that life to live like what we once did as kids is unrealistic. Trust me... I would do anything to make that real if possible. But, the reality is that you have lived without me for years. Which means you have lived a different life to the one compared to our childhood. You can't just turn your back on that life simply because I am back. That's not how the world works."

"Turning your back on that life is almost like you are turning your back on Tomo, Akeno, Akame, Rias, Misako, and the rest of the friends you made while I was without you." Those words from Miraya cuts straight through the Makasha's heart. His eyes slowly widen in realization. "And," Miraya place her other hand on Nawin's chest, where his heart is "That isn't something the Nawin I know and love would do. I can see you care dearly for all your friends here. I know me coming back is something that's still a shock to you, and seems, to make your life a bit... Difficult" "Don't say that!" Nawin shouts, grabbing Miraya's hand that's on his chest while looking at her in the eyes "Having you back is like a dream come true to me! Don't even say that there's a downside! There's none!"

Miraya can only give a warm smile in response to her friend's outburst. "Sorry... I shouldn't have said that." Miraya leans forward and rests her forehead with the Makasha. Nawin's eyes slightly widen before it closes as the familiar warmth enters his body. This special gesture shared between the two of them has always been able to calm him down. Helps get rid of his worries and anxious and replace with nothing but calm and joy. For the first time in this cold night, Nawin has found warmth.

With their eyes closed and their forehead pressed, Miraya opens her mouth to speak. "Nawin... All I ever want for you is happiness. Instead of trying to reject one side completely and focus on the other... Try to find the middle. Because I can recognize that before I returned to you. You still experienced many happy moments, correct?" "Yes," "When I wasn't with you... When you thought I was dead. You still were able to smile and laugh with the friends you made, yes?" "... Yes." "So, there would be no sense for you to reject that life. Because if you do that... In the end, it would be something you come to regret greatly... Whatever hardship that you are dealing with and will deal with, darling. I know whole-heartedly you can overcome them. Facing your mistakes instead of running away from it and never to repeat them."

As the pair pull back from one another. Both open their eyes to look at each other. Miraya's smile widens when seeing those brown eyes gleaming once again. The look of tenseness and confliction before fades away and replace with gentle and warmth. "You are right, Miraya... Thank you," a fond smile forms on Nawin's face, "You never fail to help me. That's one of the many things I love about you" "Oh?" Miraya raises an eyebrow "One of many? Is there some part of you don't like?" "..." "Ehehehe, just jesting with you," she giggles when seeing the panic look on those brown orbs.

Nawin shakes his head and lets out a soft chuckle. "I am so happy to have you back, Miraya. It mea-" "Darling!" Miraya quickly catches Nawin when he collapses forward. Holding his arms firmly, she gently sets him on the bed. A soft smile form on Miraya's lip when she sees the slumbering expression on Nawin's face. He truly looks peaceful at this moment. "You must be exhausted," she whispers while gently stroking his cheek.

Leaving the bed for a moment, Miraya heads to the bathroom to shut the lights before returning to bed. After carefully setting the pillow under Nawin's head, Miraya pulls the blanket over the both of them. She scooches next to her friend but keeps a respectable distance before setting her head on the pillow.

Staring at Nawin's face, Miraya wears a gentle smile that holds nothing but love. She brings her right arm forward to hold his hand firmly. "Goodnight, darling."

First, I want to notify everyone that the next arc may suffer from a bit of delay as I will be moving to a new place soon. Just want to inform everyone of this! Thank you again for always being patient!

Next Arc: Past Unearth, Path of Light and Dark