CH 8
Lavi, Allen, Kanda, and Bookman all made the decision to stay another night at the Sage's residence in order to obtain more information on 'Silverton', something that is rumored to have been slaying akuma in the town. When they woke up the next morning, they familiarized themselves with Jethese, a boy who claims to be the Sage's apprentice, who is supposed to entertain the exorcists until Tsamo returns from running errands in the town. Bookman stayed in wait for the Sage's arrival back to his home while Jethese offered to give the remaining three a tour of the town that included making a trip to a local bar. At the bar, they met a girl with messy brown hair calling herself 'Nova' who was trying to seduce them, including Kanda, who violently rejected her and promptly left the bar. However, it wasn't long after they left that another akuma showed up. This time, however, Jethese was taken captive by the akuma and was slowly being squeezed to death within the beast's claw.
"Anybody, please! HELP!" Jethese's voice called out desperately through the morning air. He winced with pain as the akuma's grip got tighter and tighter, trying to crush his bones to paste.
Lavi twirled his hammer with his fingers and chanted, "Size-shifting hammer, grow, grow, GROW!" He took a firm grip on his weapon with both hands and took a daring swing at the level two akuma.
The akuma was large in size and clearly not designed for agility, and was therefore directly struck by the massive hammer, causing it to topple over on its side. This akuma, however, was designed for it's strength and tolerance for attacks. It stood up and laughed in a deep voice, still clutching Jethese in it's grip. "It'll take more than that to stop me!" The akuma taunted.
Allen then noticed that not only did Lavi's attack do damage to the akuma, but also the blond boy, who was nearly unconscious at that point.
"Innocence, activate!" Kanda swung Mugen over his head, preparing to attack. "Netherworld creatures, ICHIG-!" Allen had put his left arm, which now took the form of a white claw, in front of Kanda, blocking him from attacking. "What the hell are you doing, BEANSPROUT?"
"We can't attack that thing while he's got Jethese! He's already hurt! We have to get that thing to let him go first!" Allen demanded.
Lavi realized the damage he'd already done to Jethese with his first attack. "Hate to say it, Yu, but Allen's right. I don't think it would go down well with the Sage if we let his apprentice get hurt in battle with an akuma."
Kanda leaped over Allen's arm and darted at the akuma, holding Mugen with both hands, ready to attack.
"Hold on, Yu!"
The akuma began trying to swat at Kanda, who was approaching too quickly for it's eyes to keep up with. Without even the slightest struggle, the dark haired exorcist sliced off the arm that the akuma had been using to crush Jethese. The arm fell to the ground and released it's grip from the Sage's apprentice, who was unable to move, for his body had gone completely numb.
The akuma screamed in agony as blood gushed from where it's arm was separated from it's body. "DAMN YOU, EXORCIST!"
Kanda hauled Jethese on his back farther away from the akuma, who kept trying to whack him with the fist that Kanda hadn't severed off without success, thanks to the strength in Allen's large and powerful anti-akuma weapon that was blocking every akuma attack from reaching Kanda and his faintly breathing cargo.
Since the akuma had it's focus on Kanda and Allen, Lavi took this opportunity to strike a sneak attack. "Innocence, level two, RELEASE!" he chanted, whirling his hammer in a circle above his head, causing a plethora of round symbols to appear along the hammer's path. "Stamp, FIRE CIRCLE! Devouring flame!" A large snake of fire emerged from where Lavi had slammed his hammer against the ground and homed in on the akuma. The akuma was completely engulfed in flames, so much so that the only one who could see the akuma clearly was Allen Walker and his cursed eye. Anyone else would've only seen a tower of pure fire.
Kanda set the immobile Jethese onto the ground and looked back to see the akuma completely masked by Lavi's fire attack. Allen stared intensely with his left eye active, looking to see if the akuma's soul had been set free. Lavi shrunk his hammer to a more manageable size and calmly walked up to Kanda and Allen without taking his eyes off the mountain of flames.
After about half a minute of silence coming from where the akuma was, Lavi proudly stated, "Well, I guess that solves our pest problem, eh?"
Kanda and Lavi kneeled down beside Jethese and made sure he was okay. Thankfully, he was still breathing and able to respond to them.
Allen didn't do the same thing. He was still staring at the burning akuma, searching for a released soul. He was unable to see anything, due to the blinding light that emanated from Lavi's attack. Without Allen's command, his left arm deactivated on it's own. "What the..?" He kept trying to activate over and over without success. "It must be because I haven't eaten yet…I don't have enough energy to use my anti-akuma weapon anymore…"
Out of nowhere, a sort of tacky glue-like substance shot out from the mountain of fire repeatedly, followed by a menacing laugh. In an instant, before any one of the exorcists had time to react, one of the bullets of glue lapped against Allen's inactive arm and pinned it against the ground. Another hit Kanda's sword, knocking it far away from him, while another hit Kanda's feet, securing him on the ground where he stood. Lavi realized what was happening and hastily tried to dodge the bullet, causing himself to trip and drop his hammer and get shot in the legs by the gluey bullets while on his knees.
The akuma emerged from the glowing flames laughing hysterically, admiring the sight that was before it: three exorcists stuck to the ground without their innocence to attack or defend with. "Which exorcist should I kill first, hm? Any volunteers?" It glanced over at Lavi, the one pinned to his knees by the glue. "Well, don't you look pathetic?" It spoke with a hint of laughter. "I think I'll start with YOU!"
Lavi watched as the akuma fired bullets containing the virus straight at him. Things seemed to move in slow motion to him as his life began flashing before his eyes. His mind flooded with memories and questions. "This is it…I'm going to die…but…am I dying as the successor to the Bookman…or as an exorcist of the Black Order..? What has my life been worth up until this point...?" His thoughts were muffling out all sound around him. He could barely hear Allen's voice desperately yelling out to him. "Why is he acting so upset..? I'm not his friend…am I..? Bookmen have no need of a heart…" Lavi closed his eyes as the bullet got closer and closer to him. He could see the purple light coming from the bullet through his eye lids. "Maybe…this is the day…I was meant to die all along…"
Lavi heard the impact of the bullet, yet he didn't feel an ounce of pain. He wondered if you weren't supposed to feel death. Maybe it was supposed to be painless. He opened his eyes and saw someone had defended him from the bullet. Someone other than Allen or Kanda had jumped in front of the bullet to save his life. That person lay to Lavi's left side, with black pentacles appearing on their skin. All three of the exorcists recognized this person. It was a girl with messy brown hair and a bullet lodged in her kidney. All three of them said her name simultaneously…
"NOVA!"