Thank you all my readers, for your patience with me. If I can hug you all from the internet, I will do so. Unfortunately, I can't.
I have nothing to say anymore, but please, enjoy this new chapter.
Once again, I do not own Monster Hunter or Freezing, or anything that related to the Epoch of Bharatayudha or Indonesian Wayang Art.
Contra Mundi
Chapter 4
Ars Fatalis
Wisnu slumped into the bed after a change of attire and a quick meal of a cup noodle that he had bought from a convenient store in the airport before. True to her words, Principal Margaret did send someone to have Wisnu's luggage be sent into his dorm room. His belongings were already waiting for him in his dorm room. Thanks to the principal's help, the Indonesian could have his meager dinner in peace.
Wisnu was quite startled when he found that his dorm room was remarkably extravagant. A double size bed, two small cabinets, a cupboard, a study desk and a chair decorated a rather large, two-windowed room. There is also a bathroom with a working shower, a sink and a flush toilet conjoining his dorm room. The accommodation of this school was certainly hundred times better than the one that he had before during his 7-years long "re-education" in a secret facility deep in the jungle of Kalimantan. He remembered that instead of a private room with a clean bathroom, he had only a simple mat and a small pillow with an adequate blanket in an abandoned military barrack. Still, he had access to most basic necessities such as public bathroom where he could clean himself and dining hall where he had his daily three meals. He too, had access to other joys in life such as computer, internet, and music lesson.
Although his life in the facility was packed with trainings and tests as well as other activities, Wisnu still felt isolated. The reason for his loneliness was because he was considered as the object of experiment and observation to professor Kresna and his associates. Wisnu did not hate them; those people were decent and polite toward him. Still, in their eyes, Wisnu was simply a creature rather than a boy. He did not feel any companionship toward them, with exception of Kresna, who had been very patient in his moment of frustration and very attentive to his complaints. In here, the west genetics, Wisnu found a reconnection to his previous life, which were filled with laughter and learning. Even though he certainly outranked most of the pupils of the west genetics in terms of maturity, Wisnu couldn't help but felt regressed to the long lost feeling that he used to be in high-school: being carefree.
The soft mattress and the tender pillow were very cozy; they helped him to ease his tensed body and mind very well. They also helped him to momentarily forget the problem that he had caused on that day, even though no one knew about it. Wisnu was grateful that the problem that he had caused did not worsen. He still remembered what the blonde girl in red said on the porch that evening.
"You are strange." Satellizer said. Even under the dim light of the light pole, the tinge of red could be seen on her face. "I do not feel uneasy with you."
"Huh?" The two first-years and a third-year instantly jaw-dropped after hearing what the blonde had said.
The blonde second-year immediately left the dark premises after conveying her piece of mind to the Japanese, leaving him and his other companions flabbergasted.
"W-well, good night, boys. See you in school tomorrow." The student body president stuttered as she regained her poise. Her warm smile returned to her face, and it thawed the two fear-frozen boys. "If you have anything to ask, don't hesitate to come and see me, okay?"
"Thank you, Chiffon-sempai." Kazuya Aoi replied while bowing his head; his action was followed suit by Wisnu. The third-year smiled to the boys for one more time before leaving them to their dorm.
"For a foreigner, Chiffon-sempai indeed has an impeccable ability in Japanese language." Wisnu thought to himself. He began to realize that even "The Untouchable Queen" and her unfortunate red-haired victim also spoke in fluent Japanese speech. He wondered if everyone in the school grounds spoke in the same way. Yet, as his mind trailed off, drowsiness began to claim him into the realm of dreams. It was not long before the Indonesian dozed off.
Meanwhile, in one of the rooms in the third-year female dormitory.
A young woman in lingerie was relaxing on the comfortable couch, accompanied by several young men who stood ready around her. She had short blue hair, brown eyes, and a killer boy of a supermodel. The woman's violet colored underwear tightly hugged her hourglass figure, revealing her well-developed busts and butt cheeks for the young men to deeply appreciate them. Her slender legs were hugged tautly in a pair of violet stockings. Even under the veil of such tight clothing, the beautiful form of her slim but well-toned legs was clear for everyone in the room to relish. Surprisingly, the young men only stood immovable around her. She flicked her fingers, gesturing two men to come closer. One of them moved around to her back and massaged her shoulders, while the other moved to the cabinet to prepare a beverage for her. She was served a blood-colored red wine in a crystal-clear wine glass by one of the young men, which she took and savored classily while looking at the pictures of the two young men in her free hand.
"Fine job you have done in acquiring these pictures, Kenneth, Takeshi." The blue-haired beauty praised the two male students who kowtowed respectfully before her, while her gaze was still fixed to the pictures in her hand. Her stocking-covered leg was spread open, vulgarly revealing her panties-covered crotch.
"Anything for you, Miyabi-sama." The two boys replied with the tone that was reserved for the members the royalty.
"I'll make sure that you boys are well rewarded." She continued while sipping the wine from the glass, leaving a deep-red lipstick stain on the little part of the glass' mouth where her lips connected with. "I will have other assignments for you boys later. Until then, leave."
"Yes, Miyabi-sama." The boys complied with the harsh command from the beauty, and quickly they left from her room. Unknown to them, the "Miyabi-sama" scoffed at their presence.
"What a bunch of trashes." She sighed. She never considered those two as a comrade. Instead, she looked them only as peons; expendable and easily manipulated tools to further achieve her goal. Her goal was to outrank every Pandora of the West Genetics. Therefore, she needed as many limiters as she could possibly have. She did not care if she shamelessly seduced all males in the academy to accomplish her goal, as long as she had the number to hold dominance over other Pandoras. "At least, they are good at something." She spoke her mind to her 'attendants', who only nodded at her remark.
"Still, I only want this one." She continued while pulling the glass to her lips. As she took another sip from the glass, she dropped a picture from her hand while keeping the other one firm between her fingers.
"Kazuya Aoi, the brother of the famous Kazuha Aoi." The blue-haired beauty licked her upper lips seductively. "You will be the crowning jewel among my other prizes. Your initiation will only come from me, the limiter devourer."
Her lips then formed a wicked smile, as her mind traveled into a depraved train of thought.
Wisnu woke up in the next morning with a light mood, despite of the loud ringing produced by the alarm clock. Dreams of monsters and nightmares of desolation seldom haunted his dreams anymore like they used to be. He frequently dreamed of turning into a monster to fight even bigger monsters in a burning city when he was still in his "re-educational" center in Kalimantan. He then, would wake up in exasperation and sweats.
This time, he was dreaming a tranquil, utter darkness that enveloped his consciousness into nothingness- and when he woke up, he woke up with the soft caress from the sunlight on his face. He really enjoyed the calmness that he was permitted to momentarily relish, and wondered if this was one of the things that uncle Kresna had wanted him to have by sending him here.
"Better prepare myself for the class." Wisnu said to himself as he spotted the hands of the clock on the bed table fixed at the time of 06.30 in the morning. He rose from the bed, and did some stretch-up before going to the shower. He also did not forget to make up the bed as how his childhood habits dictated. It took roughly half an hour for Wisnu to finish his chores, wash himself and get dressed into the male uniform of the West Genetics. The pair of blue trousers, cream-colored blazer with dark-blue outlines over the white long-sleeve shirt and the blue tie that was hung from Indonesian's neck fitted perfectly on Wisnu's rather impressive physique. He was not a fashion sensitive person, but Wisnu had to admit that the uniform that he wore was very good. After locking his room and hanging his dirty laundries in the available bag provided by the dorm manager on the door knob, Wisnu set out to get some breakfast in the academy's lavish dining hall.
Breakfast passed rather peacefully with Wisnu having his meal his Japanese pal and a new friend from Amsterdam. Over the meal of hot oatmeal, toasts and boiled eggs, the boys introduced themselves to another. The new face of the party of newcomers was Arthur Crypton, a limiter that hailed from the land of windmills and tulips. He was about the same height and frame as the Japanese limiter. The difference was his natural Caucasian complexion, medium-length palish-golden hair and blue eyes. The conversation between the trios went on with congeniality around the topics that were familiar with the boys: video games, sports, movies, and most of all, the Pandoras. From the conversation, Kazuya Aoi confessed that he had met Arthur in the dorm yesterday. The dutch explained that his prior meeting with the Japanese was due to his curiosity to see for himself the brother of the great hero Kazuha Aoi.
"Kazuha Aoi? Who is she?" Wisnu questioned his new friend, Arthur Crypton. The trio had finished their morning meal for a long time, but refused to leave from the table that they occupied.
"Really? You don't know Kazuha Aoi?!" The blonde teen exclaimed in surprise. He was flabbergasted with the Indonesian's ignorance. "Where have you been these years?"
Fighting fabricated monsters as part of my hellish training routines, thank you very much. "Err, I seldom watch the news." Wisnu replied with his head a little bowed, showing his embarrassment for not being attentive to the happening of the world. However, after saying that, Wisnu swore that he could see the blonde's eyes were glazing with excitement.
"Kazuha Aoi was the strongest Pandora in the world!" Arthur blurted out without any invitation for him to explain. Wisnu sighed internally as what he had thought was proven true. The boy was a total enthusiast on Pandoras!
"She was the only one that could handle 20 Stigmatas in her body! Can you believe that?" Arthur kept on going with his overly-excited explanation, giving nearly no chance for the Indonesian and his Japanese friend to talk. The words coming out from his mouth were faster than the intake of oxygen into his lungs. Wisnu was worried that the blonde would choke to death in his own rambling. Yet, thanks to him, Wisnu now knew that Kazuha Aoi was some kind of a bigwig in West Genetics, and being her brother, Kazuya shared her sister's popularity. Wisnu was wondering where her sister might be at the moment. But when he noticed a familiar expression on the Japanese's face, the Indonesian withdrew his intention to ask on her whereabouts.
Despite of the heated informal lecture by the blonde teen, Wisnu discerned that his Japanese friend had a strange expression on his face. During the talk on Kazuha Aoi, the boy had a sad smile on his face; his bittersweet look was very clear as daylight. His eyes were squinting as if he was trying to hold back his emotion from pouring out. Wisnu knew this expression very well. That was the very expression that his sister would make if she failed one of her exams or being scolded by their parents for forgetting her chores. Wisnu quickly intervened Arthur's super-fast speech in order to prevent the Kazuya from pouring out his nearly-to-be overwhelming emotion.
"Woah, woah, dude. Slow down." Wisnu said while raising his hand in a gesture to calm the overly-excited boy. "Look, I like to hear more about her. But don't we have a class to attend to?"
Arthur, feeling a little bit annoyed for getting his lecture cut off, looked to his wristwatch and was stupefied. "Gosh, it's almost 8! We're gonna be late for class!" The blonde boy said while rising from his seat. His action was followed by the other boys. "Come, I'll show you to your classroom." Arthur gestured for the newcomers to follow.
Wisnu and Kazuya followed him to begin their first day of the school for the Nova-fighters. Unknown to Wisnu, the Japanese muttered a silent gratitude to the Indonesian for what he had done.
"Today, we have two additional freshmen to join our ranks, class." The homeroom teacher addressed the students of the classroom 1-B from the stand in front of the class. The homeroom teacher was quite young, looking from her appearance. She was a slender and tall woman who had black waist-length hair, fair Asian complexion and a kind smile on her face. The coffee-colored coat over her black blouse and the knee-length skirt that she wore reflected a higher sense of dignity and discipline. "Please introduce yourselves to the class, boys." She
"Yes, sensei!" Kazuya eagerly replied, nodding slightly to the teacher. "I am Kazuya Aoi. Under some circumstances, I've been enrolled here. It's my pleasure to meet you all!"
"And, I am Wisnu Putra Ardha from Indonesia. You can just call me Wisnu for short. I was enrolled here by my parents, so I can further develop my gifts. Pleased to meet y'all!" Wisnu said while bowing lightly before the students.
Chatters and whispers started to rise and spread among the students. Few of them were clear and loud enough to be heard by both Kazuya and Wisnu.
"Are they the rumored transfer students?"
"The one without the glasses is cute!"
"The other guy is not bad as well!"
Tinges of red were formed on the newcomers' cheeks. Kazuya could only scratch his head while smiling gullibly in embarrassment. Wisnu response to such embarrassing situation was only a faint cough while readjusting his black rectangular-framed spectacles to the bridge of his nose.
"Well, well. Enough with the chattering, class." The homeroom teacher clapped her hands to silence the commotion. "You can get to know more about these two later in recess time. In the meantime, please sit at the designated seat for you, Kazuya-kun, Wisnu-kun."
"Yes, sensei." The boys replied and ambled to their respective seats, which were located in the same aisle. On his way to his seat, Wisnu spotted Arthur Crypton waving at them from his seat in the middle of the third row from the front. He smiled back at him, a silent appreciation of his warm welcome.
The morning class ended with the sound ringing of the bell. Students began to flee the class after the homeroom teacher departed from the said room. For the Indonesian, instead of joining the flock of pupils, he stayed behind – still sitting on his seat with a frowned look on his face. The teaching materials that the teacher explained to the students could pass as teaching materials for other schools…..if there was no Pandora, Limiter, Nova and other mumbo-jumbo words in them. Wisnu had already taken off his glasses and rubbed his temple to sooth his aching head. Although greatly confused, Wisnu still managed to grab the essential things from the teacher's lecture.
So basically, he knew that to effectively fight and defeat a Nova, it was necessary to have a Limiter and a Pandora. Pandora, who was mostly and always female, was responsible in the 'bringing-the-pain' department against the Nova. Meanwhile, it was the Limiter's duty, which is the male's duty in canceling Nova's freezing field and generating his own freezing field to bind the enemy.
Freezing itself was a unique ability possessed by both Nova and Limiter that enabled them to generate a beehive-like field. Such field was capable in completely restricting every movement from anything that was caught into such field. Nova of certain rank, size and power possessed the natural ability to generate the freezing field at whim. As for humans, the use of the freezing ability was limited only to males. However, such ability did not just popped out naturally like the one in Novas; the use of such ability had to be earned.
For a human male to possess the ability to generate freezing field, one must first be given a part of stigmata possessed by a Pandora. Stigmata itself was a miraculous matter in the form of a small crystalline shard that enabled the infused Pandora to do extraordinary feats, such as materializing special weapons called 'volt textures', moving in impossible speed, and gaining ridiculous strength that could lift monster trucks at ease. The imparting or as what the teacher like to say, the 'sharing' of the stigmata required a certain symbolic ritual between the Pandora and her chosen Limiter, which was called the 'Baptism'. Baptism required a healthy relationship between the Pandora and Limiter; a lot of trust was needed to build such relationship. After the baptism, a special link was made between the Pandora and the Limiter, which enabled them to enter into a state where their five senses were linked together. Such state was called the 'Ereinbar Set', and when activated, the limiter would be able to use the ability to generate his own freezing field. The stronger the link between the Pandora and her chosen Limiter, the stronger freezing field that the Limiter produced; that's why trust was essential in the relationship between the Pandora and the Limiter.
Also, because of the higher success rate in creating Ereinbar Set lie in the people of tender age, most second and third-years Pandoras of West Genetics looked for their limiters from the lower class men. In order words, both Wisnu and Kazuya were now part of the "choice meats" that the Pandoras of the West Genetics could choose at their own leisure.
While digesting the information into his brain by banging his head lightly on the desk, Wisnu heard his name being called. Wisnu recognized the voice of his Japanese pal and turned his head to the said person. Already standing beside the Indonesian was Kazuya Aoi and Arthur Crypton.
"So, what do you think of the lecture?" Arthur started the conversation. His face was already set with glad anticipation.
"Confusing and boring." Wisnu dully remarked, causing Arthur's happy face to crumble.
"What? You must be out of your mind, man!" Arthur argued. "That lecture is AWESOME! How can you find it not interesting?!" He continued with burning zeal in his eyes. Wisnu could only respond with a weak laugh.
"Now, now, Arthur-san." Kazuya calmed the Dutch teen. "I believe Wisnu-san is just joking with you."
The friendly banter between the three boys continued as Arthur and Wisnu exchanging witty remarks against one another. Kazuya could only laugh at the duo's silly arguments. The conversation between the three was however, cut short by the greetings from a female student.
"Hi~!" The girl called with energetic but sweet voice, taking the attention of the three boys. She was a very attractive, if not cute teenager. Standing roughly at the same height with Wisnu, the class representative had a slender but well-developed figure. "I'm Kaho Hiiragi, the representative of Class 1-B!" the girl proudly introduced herself with her hands around her waist.
As indicated in her name, Kaho Hiiragi had a natural beauty of the Japanese. Still, her short reddish-brown hair was contrasting with her fair complexion. A green hair-clip decorated the left side of her auburn tresses. Salmon-colored lipstick improved her beautiful lips rather nicely. Like any other female student, she wore the standard purplish-red female uniform of the West Genetics.
"Nice to meet you, Hiiragi-san." Kazuya replied warmly, which mad the fellow Japanese grinned even wider.
"Nice to meet you too, Class rep-san." Wisnu added jovially.
"You can speak Japanese too?" Kaho Hiiragi's emotion of amazement was mixed with her joy. "I am very glad!"
Wisnu smiled back to the grinning girl. "Thank you, uncle Kresna, for always pushing me to learn Japanese until It becomes like my mother tongue." Wisnu silently thanked the old man that he considered to be one of the people that he could trust and ask for a counsel.
The newcomers then proceeded to exchange hospitality with the class rep, started with the girl's questions about the boys' impression on the academy and their difficulties to settle in. Luckily for the newcomers, there were no troubles in settling in with the life in the academy, since it was a very prestigious school for nova-fighters after all. And because of the new semester had just begun, the boys did not have too many things or lessons to catch up with the other students.
"Thank goodness that you guys do not have much problem in adapting to this school." Kaho exclaimed in sincere happiness. "West Genetics is one of the top-notch educational facilities in the world that is very successful in producing world-class Pandoras and Limiters after all. You guys won't be disappointed!"
"It's amazing, Hiiragi-san." Kazuya responded with amazement. "I hope I can be a useful limiter to my Pandora one day."
"Well, you need to be first chosen by a Pandora to be a Limiter, Aoi-san." The class-rep explained, with Arthur and Wisnu nodded in agreement. "Still, you guys are still new here, so the upper-class men will probably not notice you two yet. However, if we work together, we could make a name for ourselves. Then, the upper-clansmen will certainly be aware of you and choose you to be their Limiters."
"Wow." Wisnu commented on the class-rep's willingness to help the newcomers. "That's very kind of you, class-rep."
"It's no problem." Kaho said with a wide smile on her face. "Us freshmen should look for one another's back, right?" She expressed her thought while smiling widely and flashing the boys a thumb from her hand.
"I guess you're right." Wisnu's mood was boosted even further by the girl's kindness. This was certainly what Kresna wanted him to have: a normal life surrounded by friends.
The first years continued to converse between themselves amicably, and it kept on going as they decided to go to cafeteria for a lunch.
"Oh, yeah. Before I forgot." The Class-rep spun herself to face her fellow Japanese. "I heard that you are involved with Satellizer-sempai in the last carnival. I tell you, you should stay away from her for your own good. She is the loose cannon in this school!"
"…." Kazuya stayed silent with his eyes faced downward.
"President Chiffon said that she had killed more than twenty people in. Is that true, class rep-san?" Wisnu inquired, seeking to find more about the fearsome "Untouchable Queen". Despite of the circling rumors about her being some kind of bloodthirsty monster, something about her piqued the Indonesian's curiosity.
"I never see it for myself." Kaho Hiiragi confessed embarrassedly, while scratching the back of her head. "I admit I only hear it from gossips as well. But anyway, just stay away from her, for your own safety!"
"I…don't really think it is right to speak ill of someone despite not knowing her very well." After being silence for a while, the meek Japanese boy finally spoke up. His words grabbed the attention of his friends. "Besides, I've caused trouble to Satellizer-sempai….and so,…I've got to apologize to her!" determination could be seen flashing in his eyes.
The group of freshmen was dazed by the boy's bravery for a moment. Wisnu chuckled at his friend's resolve. It seemed Wisnu had underestimated him as just a meek boy.
"Well, a man gotta do what a man-"His words were cut off with the dashing of the other Japanese and Dutch teenagers. Both of them rushed to the Kazuya's side and grabbed him by his shoulder.
"Hey, are you out of your mind!" Arthur shook the Japanese boy hard. "What are you thinking?!"
"Don't you think about it!" Kaho shook him even harder, jiggling the unfortunate boy's head to and fro violently. "Just don't!"
Wisnu was petrified before the comical situation he was witnessing. But he was greatly amused, if not worry for his friends. Something was really messed up with their mind.
Wisnu must admit that in West Genetics, there was nothing ordinary like every other school. Take lunchtime in the cafeteria for example; where the "Untouchable Queen" showed up.
The students cringed and were frozen stiff when she set foot on the dining hall. Walking in a poise befitting to a queen, the buxom blonde in red uniform proudly strode to the most crowded spot in the academy dining hall, the Burger Queen. Like how Moses with the power of God divided the red sea, female and male students alike parted away from the line in front of the burger stall to give the untouchable queen free, unhindered access to purchase the food. It was quite a strange experience in witnessing the reaction of the students in handling the untouchable queen's visit; it was like seeing people running away in terror from natural disaster or from a fierce beast. Things were seemingly going back to normal with the queen's paying for her take-away meal, and went somewhere to have her meal alone.
Then, Kazuya Aoi stepped in, and like always, he just had to do the unimaginable.
Usually, when someone had the title called the "Untouchable Queen", that had certainly given the indication that the said person would definitely be very upset when laid a finger on, and would positively return the inconvenience with a terrible reprisal. However, such thought was not in Kazuya's mind, as he quickly rushed to the queen's side.
"Wait!" In accidental turn of event, the naïve Japanese boy grabbed Satellizer's hand, making the students who were in the vicinity to stand agape. The fate of the boy was certain as a frown of annoyance was formed on the blonde beauty's face. Yet, the predicted never came to pass.
Instead of seeing the Japanese teen getting shredded into pieces, the students saw the most unexpected thing in the academy: The irritated Satellizer pulled her hand from the boy's grasp in rather awkward way. A hint of red colored her face as she stormed off from the cafeteria with the Burger Queen's paper bag in her hands.
"P-please wait!" Kazuya dashed to catch-up with the running queen. "I just want to talk to you!"
Silence reigned for a while in the cafeteria even after the queen's rather strange departure; the witnessing students were still processing in their mind the event that just occurred few minutes ago.
"It's a miracle." Kaho Hiiragi said with her face showing the mixed emotion of relieved and confusion. The same face was also dawned in the other students' expressions.
"W-well, I am off to see my girl then." Arthur said to both Wisnu and Kaho Hiiragi as he took some foods on the plates from the buffet table to the plastic tray. He, Kaho Hiiragi and Wisnu was standing near the food buffet, not far from the burger stall. The Dutch boy and the Japanese girl were still recovering from the shock caused by the strange event that they had witnessed previously.
"Hey, I never know you already have a girl in this academy." The amazed Wisnu said as he took several onigiris (Japanese rice balls) onto his dining tray as well. "Well, she must be an upperclassman Pandora, right?" Wisnu asked for his friend's affirmation, which was replied by the blonde boy's happy nod.
"She is." Arthur spoke happily. His tone became rather jovially musical, slightly creeping the hell out of the Japanese and Indonesian. "She is the greatest in the world! She is a very strong Pandora, and the best part, she's a sweetheart!"
"Wow….she sounds very nice." Wisnu forced himself to be friendly, while the representative of class 1-B was already pale in her face with disgust. "Who is she?"
"Oh my, I can't believe that you ask me that." Arthur's overly jovial voice crunched Wisnu's inner core of manliness. He felt a raging urge to punch the boy in the face, but he managed to restrain such impulse. "Still, even if I say no, you will still find her out anyway. So as my friend, I will just tell you her name anyway." The boy's disgustingly sweet voice continued.
"T-thanks, please do." Wisnu said while internally struggling to stop himself from wrecking the blonde's face.
"She's a second-year Pandora by the name of Ganessa Roland." Arthur blurted out the name of his so-called "best Pandora in the world". "Isn't her name just adorable? Isn't it? Isn't it?"
"Err..hehe, yeah, adorable indeed." Wisnu said as his eyes twitched in annoyance. As for Kaho Hiiragi, her face was sickly pale, as if her entire blood was drained out from her body. She pretended to barf when the Dutch was not looking.
"Hey, tell you what. Since you are very curious about her, I will allow you to meet her." Arthur said which greatly alarmed the Indonesian.
"She is currently in the academy hospital, recuperating from the wound that she got from the last carnival." The Dutch's overly happy tone was weakened into sad one. He also shed a single tear from his eye. "She was very lonely in there, and she did not like the food served in the hospital as well." The Dutch's sad story continued, leaving the two other freshmen standing speechless on the background.
"That's why I want you to meet her." Arthur returned to his happy state. "It will be fun, trust me! She will be very glad to meet you, too!"
"Err, that's-"
"I think it's a very good idea, Arthur!" Kaho Hiiragi cut the Wisnu's answer, which made Wisnu to look her with surprise and anger in his gaze. The Indonesian was greatly astonished at the red-head betrayal. Unfortunately, the Indonesian's glare was purposely ignored by the girl.
"It will certainly help Wisnu in making acquaintances with the upperclassmen. It will also help him in getting chosen as a Limiter for the second-year or third-year Pandoras! I bet Wisnu would love to meet her, too!"
"Hey, don't push words into my mouth." Wisnu interjected. "Besides, why can't I be the limiter for the freshmen Pandoras?"
"Because only the field Pandoras are assigned with the limiters, silly." Kaho Hiiragi answered. "And field Pandoras are the second and third-years only."
"I see."
"So, you will come with me, right?" Arthur asked the Indonesian, only to be answered quickly by the Japanese.
"Of course, he will." Wisnu was growling softly to the representative of his class, who ignored the Indonesian's almost delicate disagreement again. "Besides, you need help with those plates and cups, right?"
Arthur then turned to Wisnu and looked into his face with a pleading expression, which made the Indonesian cringed in uneasiness.
"Fine." Wisnu sighed in defeat, earning the Dutch's happy squeal. He just couldn't stand the Dutch's puppy eyes; it was just too creepy for him to handle. "I'll help you bringing the foods and drinks. Besides, I am curious about your Pandora as well."
"Hey, watch out there, bro." Arthur jokingly warned Wisnu in a fake anger. "If you try to take my girl away, I'll beat the shit out of you."
"Oh, shut up and help me with these cutlery and utensils." Wisnu rushed the Dutch boy to finish picking the cuisine that he intended to bring to his Pandora. He stuffed his pockets with the rice balls that he had picked earlier.
Ending their choosing of foods and eating utensils, the boys paid for their meals with their student cards. Arthur was humming joyously while taking the foods on the tray; Wisnu was just grumbling beside him. Watching at the Indonesian's annoyance, Kaho Hiiragi could only snicker softly while trying to stifle her chortle. She never knew her prank to the Indonesian would succeed. Right now, she was enjoying every moment of the Indonesian's suffering as the seed of her practical joke kept on blooming.
"Right, now follow me, jeeves!" Arthur led the grunting Indonesian excitedly. "I'll see you later in the afternoon class then, Hiiragi-san!"
"Have fun, boys!" The class representative waved at them while keeping on giggling at Wisnu. Before the boys left from the dining hall, Wisnu took time to send another angry gaze to the mischievous girl whose prank succeeded in sending him away with an annoyingly romantic boy. He shouted a silent yell of 'traitor' toward reddish-brown haired girl, who responded with sticking out her tongue as a mocking toward him.
Both Wisnu and Kaho could only smile after that.
The journey to the academy hospital was supposed to be the short one; but due to Arthur's ceaseless narration of his precious Ganessa, the walk to the hospital felt like to be lasted for days.
"She's very powerful, you know! She was considered to be the first rank Pandora among the second years."Arthur kept on sputtering out the greatness of Ganessa Roland.
"Mhm."Wisnu responded disinterestedly.
"Unfortunately, she was lost in this year carnival. Still, we are going to cheer her up, aren't we bro?"
"Mhm." The image of Arthur being strangled to the death was dawned in Wisnu's mind.
Arthur's jabbering kept on going even as they walked through the white corridor of the hospital. The nurses let the boys passed without any reservation since Arthur was a frequent visitor. The two boys, bringing the foods and drinks for the recovering Pandora, finally reached their destination; which was the ward number 301, located on the third floor. After knocking on the door thrice, a feminine voice that called them to enter was given. As Arthur opened the door and ushered his friend to enter, Wisnu saw who Ganessa Roland was.
As he entered into the room, Wisnu saw an attractive young woman sitting on the bed with her legs tucked beneath the white comfortable blanket. Though she wore a standard white garment for a patient, her slender yet athletic figure could be seen by naked eyes. Ganessa Roland had wine-red hair, tied in twin pigtails with curly tips and blue ribbons on the top of each tress. On the contrary of the picture of a kindly girl in his mind, Wisnu saw a face of an unsmiling, arrogant beauty.
"You're late." She scolded Arthur, who apologized to her profusely. "and who is that with you?"
Wisnu heard her voice closely, and quickly recognized who Ganessa Roland was. His body began to tremble and his face grimaced with anxiety. He should have noticed the Pandora's hairstyle and face; they were exactly the same with the girl that fought the "Untouchable Queen" yesterday. She too, was the same girl who Wisnu had thrown a rock to, causing her loss and her current condition of being bed-ridden.
"This is one of the newest students of my class, Ganessa-sempai." The blonde Limiter introduced his friend while putting down the tray on the nearby table. "His name is Wisnu something-something. We just call him Wisnu for short. He is my friend."
"Humph, so you are the new guy, huh." Ganessa maintained her smug tone as she addressed the Indonesian. She scanned him for a while, from down to the top. After scanning the Indonesian for a while, the Pandora then resumed in commenting the newcomer. "You don't look like much. Still, I hope you can be a good friend with Arthur here."
"Y-yeah, o-of course." Wisnu stammered. He felt like a fool; he was the one that caused Ganessa to be in her present state and now he was conversing with her! Wisnu made sure in his mind that it was imperative to not bringing up anything that related to the Ganessa's defeat and his intervention in the Pandora's fight. "S-so, how's the ribs?"
"Huh?" She tilted her head in puzzlement. Ganessa was taken aback; why did this newcomer suddenly asked about her ribs? "What do you say?"
Jancuk (fuck)! Why do you this, brain?
"E-eh, nothing, nothing. Haha." The Indonesian panicky responded. The trembling of his voice could hardly be contained, and he was hardly masking it away false laughter. He was now fidgeting uneasily.
"No, you said something about my ribs." Ganessa Roland sternly said. "What is it?" She demanded. Arthur was also now looked at his friend with bafflement and curiosity.
"Oh, I-I said that? Haha." Wisnu was now in a fix. His agitated heart throbbed like a war drum beneath his diaphragm. He needed to get out of the room fast! He quickly implemented the only thing that he could think about.
"Wow, look at the time now!" He exclaimed as he quickly brought up his wristwatch and looked upon it. "I need to get back to the class now."
"But, we still got an hour and half before the afternoon class." Arthur said.
"Oh, i-it's that so? I-I need to find Kazuya then." Wisnu quickly handed the cutlery and utensils in his hand to Arthur, and rushed for the door. "Get well soon, sempai."
"Hey, wait-"
"Bye!" The Indonesian stormed off from the ward, leaving the two still being confused and curious.
"Strange friend you got there, Arthur." Ganessa spoke to her chosen Limiter.
"Quirky fellow, isn't he?" Arthur confirmed the Pandora's claim. "Still, he is a good guy. He even helped me with bringing the foods and drinks to you."
"Still, something about him seems to be off."
"Maybe it's just the medicine that you take." The Dutch teen dismissed the girl's claim. "So what do you want to have first, Ganessa-sempai?"
"I told you a thousand times already, Roland." The red-haired beauty scolded. "You can call me Ganessa when no one is watching, and I want to have the soup first."
"Okay, coming right up!" Arthur said in his usual overly-jovial voice, as he brought the soup to spoon-feed his beloved Pandora.
As Ganessa ate the food that was fed to her by Arthur, the recuperating Pandora's mind was still fixed on the Indonesian. He was certainly hiding something from her that made him to be all stammering and shivering before her. Yet, seeing the truth in Arthur's words, She pressed the matter no further and enjoyed her meal with her beloved Limiter.
"Fuh, that was a close shave." Wisnu puffed a relieved sigh as he exited the hospital. He had almost stupidly blown the secret that he supposed to keep; if he wanted to keep his butt from being torn to shreds by Ganessa's spear-pointed chains. Wisnu still remembered how angry was Ganessa when her fight with Satellizer was interrupted, and he assumed that the recuperating Pandora would not forgive the Indonesian if the truth came out. Luckily, he managed to escape from the fix that was caused by the malfunctioning of his brain; although, it was an awkward escape. He didn't know whether Ganessa Roland would press the matter further or not, but right now he still kept his butt safe at the very least.
As he passed across the field, he noticed that his stomach began to grumble. The hunger that he had forgotten due to his moment of trepidation was now resurfaced. The Indonesian's carving for sustenance was now gnawing the walls of his stomach; growls could be heard originating from it.
"Thank goodness, I still have my rice balls in my pockets." Wisnu thought as he patted the bulging pockets on his blazer. Knowing that the period of the recess time was still long enough for him to finish his meal, Wisnu decided to go to the secluded place in the school where he can enjoy peace and tranquility even for a moment. Remembering the direction told by student body president Chiffon Fairchild and the mischievous Kaho Hiiragi, Wisnu embarked to the roof of the academy.
Meanwhile, in an unknown location and inside an unknown facility, a group of people were conversing around the oval table, in front of the giant television screen. The screen was displaying a view of a certain school ground with students in it.
"Are the test subjects ready, Mister Bishop?" An unknown person in black formal suit spoke while puffing smoke from a cigarette. "My clients are getting…disturbingly edgy."
"Patience, Mr. Rook." The other person in the gloomy room answered back. The illumination from the large screen could only reveal that the one that called "Mr. Bishop" was wearing a lab coat. His face was completely lingered in the dark. "I have promised you a show, and I will make sure that you get a SHOW. Just…relax, it will begin shortly."
"This is pointless." Another man in the dark said with a dull tone. "The place that you chose as a testing ground is already filled with extraordinary men and women. This test will prove nothing worthwhile."
"But, Mr. Mare, I never said that they would be the test subject, didn't I?" Mr. Bishop replied with a false courtesy, hiding his seething anger. "There's only one person that will be the test subject for our impending show. You will be surprised, I promise you. This demonstration will certainly DESTROY every theory that you have been working so hard to create. It will even make you look like a complete INEPT!"
"Why YOU BA-"
"ENOUGH!" Another mysterious man intervened with a loud voice, stopping the two from breaking into the fight. "Mr. Mare, for your sake in the organization, I hope you control that temper of yours. And as for you, Mr. Bishop, the reason we are gathering here is to see that your 'demonstration' is as what you claimed to be. For your sake, I hope that it is not…disappointing."
"Certainly, Mr. Queen. Certainly." Mr. Bishop replied with his tone of false nicety. The intervention had stopped the two men from getting each other's throat….for now. Intending to improve his position, Mr. Bishop began with his prepared speech.
"Gentlemen, I know some of you are less than pleased with me when called to this meeting, and I am absolutely very sorry about that. So, that make that up for you, I'll give you a demonstration of power that you have never seen in your lives! Thisshowwill rock you to the core, and make you question about your existence! About HUMAN's existence!"
"You are mad!" Mr. Mare interjected, only to be retaliated by a chortle from the unknown man in the lab coat.
"Perhaps. Perhaps I am mad! But tell me, Mr. Mare, is it madness to seek for power that could rival the gods? Is it madness to be a God? If it is so, then tell me, aren't we all MAD then, considering those are the things that we have done in all our lives?
"Kh…."
"I guess so, too. Well, without further ado, gentlemen, I present to you…the end of all things." Mr. Bishop dramatically bowed and swung his hand toward the screen.
Wisnu was humming a song from an old movie as he climbed the stairways to the roof. It was not too hard to find the route to the roof since Wisnu was already informed of such place. Although the roof was officially off-limit to the students, the access to said area was never locked – thus giving the students a free rein to crash the roof for their own leisure. The teachers and student body turned a blind eye to this matter since there was no incident regarding the roof.
As Wisnu was nearing to his destination, he saw the door leading to the top section of the academy building was wide open. He also saw that there were people outside, yelling and cursing, while the loud sound of metal clashing against metal echoed the surroundings. Curious, Wisnu tip-toed to the door to take a peek on what was happening outside. What the Indonesian saw as he stuck out his head slightly to peek startled him.
What Wisnu saw on the roof was a fierce duel being fought between two Pandoras, with one being no other than Satellizer L. Bridget. Wielding her signature weapon, the long-haired blonde battled the other Pandora that Wisnu did not recognize. The blonde's opponent was a blue-haired Pandora, whose hairstyle closely resembled Wisnu's class representative. Her slender yet buxom shapes lie beneath the uniform that she wore. She was indeed an Asian beauty as indicated by her appearance. However, the expression on her beautiful face showed the features of cunningness, fury and cruelty. On her right cheek was a nasty bloodied cut. Wisnu also notice the presence of the male students nearby, and one of them was Kazuya Aoi!
"You would not stand a chance against me!" The blue-haired Pandora yelled as she sent two blades from the formation four short blades that floated behind her, to Satellizer. The blades that resembled the guardless and hiltless short Roman gladiuses flew speedily to the blonde, only to be deflected deftly by the golden-haired beauty. Flickers and flashes of light that originated from the clashing of metals filled the sky while accompanied with the banging and smashing sound of metals.
"...…." Satellizer kept on being silent while she swung her massive blade to fight off the returning flying daggers. She was struggling to find an opening to launch her offensive as the unrelenting daggers flew like angry hornets toward her. She too, couldn't disregard the fact that a certain Japanese boy was standing behind her. She did not know the boy's well, but she couldn't bring herself to let the boy in harm's way. Because of that, she was forced to fight in a more defensive nature.
The battle kept its ferocity as the Pandoras utilized their crazy speed to the battle. The Pandoras only showed themselves momentarily before disappearing into the wind. The indication of their presence was only known by the flashes of light and the sound of clashing blades in the air.
The speed that the Pandoras moved made them to be invisible in ordinary human eyes. But, Wisnu was not an ordinary human…..well, not entirely human to be exact. Due to his 'special' nature, Wisnu could see clearly the shape of the fighting Pandoras clearly. In his eyes, their entire movement was as slow as the leaves swaying on the air; he could clearly see how they leaped and floated in the air while battling against one another. Even though he could catch their entire movement their movement, Wisnu was still impressed by their fighting skills.
"I'll plunge you into the world of shame and humiliation!" The blue-haired Pandora yelled in anger as her last daggers was cut down. She ducked the swinging blade to her head on the midair and kicked the attacking blonde on her mid-section in retaliation. The blonde winced in pain as she was thrown to the ground. Kazuya quickly rushed to her side to help her back on her feet. The kick helped the blue-haired girl to gain distance from the golden-haired Pandora.
"Ereibar…SET!" The evil-looking Pandora exclaimed. Her eyes glowed dangerously blue, and it spread to other male students in the vicinity, with the exception for Kazuya. The boys suddenly tensed up and entered the battle-ready stance.
"Get her!" The Pandora commanded; and soon the boys rushed to the different direction. Using the opportunity where the untouchable queen was still lying on the ground, the lackeys of the blue-haired raised their arms, generating the freezing field simultaneously toward the downed Pandora and her partner. Field of blue bee-hive pattern fell upon the two and ensnared them into its overwhelming constraining power.
"ARRGGHH!" Both Kazuya and Satellizer screamed in pain as crushing gravity pulled them to the ground. They were quickly subdued with all their four limbs trembling while supporting their torsos. Their breath was laborious as they tried arduously to pull themselves from the ground.
"Not so tough are you now, eh untouchable queen?" The black-hearted Pandora mocked venomously. Her boy servants surrounded the subdued blonde with stretched arms, maintaining the freezing field that subdued the fierce untouchable queen. "Freeze her!"
One of her lackeys obliged and walked to Satellizer's side. He planted his hand on her shoulder and unleashed the might of freezing directly on her skin.
"EIIARRRGH!" Satellizer's scream of pain continued, as the invisible constraining hand tightened around her body; the consciousness of the golden-haired fighter began to slip away. She was then pulled up by one of the blue-haired lackeys, who held her hands from behind.
"SEMPAI!" The restrained Kazuya yelled on the top of his lungs as he helplessly watched the golden-haired Pandora suffered greatly. Unfortunately, he was still weakened by the freezing field and gave no resistance as the lackey of the blue-haired evil held him tightly.
"Silence!" The victorious Pandora slapped the Japanese teen. "This is the price for defying me, rookie. I'll teach you what happened to those who defy the third-years!" She pulled the Japanese's chin so the boy could see her face, which now sported an evil smile.
"Don't worry." The Pandora spoke with false sweetness in her voice while licking her lips seductively. "It will be your turn after I break her. I'll make sure that you suffer for each moment."
"HOLD IT!" An angry shout interrupted the evil woman's monologue. As she turned to the direction where the shout originated, the blue-haired Pandora saw another freshman butted-in to her business insolently.
Wisnu walked out from the door to the open area where the bullying and torturing was about to happen. He had earlier shouted at the harassing upperclassman and her lackeys with an upset tone, and it got her attention. Not only the
"Who the hell are you to order me around, rookie?" The annoyed, evil Pandora admonished the bespectacled freshman. "This is not even your concern, so you better run along now. I'll let you go this time." She arrogantly ordered the Indonesian to scram.
"My NAME is Wisnu Putra Ardha!" Wisnu responded harshly in his rigid tone. "And this is MY concern, since those two are my friends." Wisnu admitted that he barely knew anything about Kazuya or Satellizer. He too, was a little bit puzzled on Kazuya's behavior toward the golden-haired Pandora, since she had an infamous reputation as a bloodthirsty brute. But if Kazuya was willing to stand in her defense, then it was clear that the untouchable queen was not the kind of person that people thought to be. If the Japanese teen would stand by her, then it was no doubt that the Indonesian would stand by them.
In addition, one thing that Wisnu could never condone was bullying, especially when it happened to his friends right before his eyes. Although he couldn't say for sure that Kazuya and (especially) Satellizer were his good friends, he was not the type of a guy that would let one his classmates to suffer from harassment.
"Friends? FRIENDS?! HA! You are a poor liar, rookie." The evil woman chuckled with a faint mockery. "She got the nickname of the "untouchable queen" for a reason, moron! She doesn't have any friends!"
"I don't care." Wisnu maintained his poise and his commanding tone. "You better leave them alone."
"Or what, rookie?" The young woman mocked. "What can you possibly do to me? You are just a moron who has not even been initiated yet. So tell me, what can you do to me?"
"Then I have no choice but to bring you and your thugs down." Wisnu finished his words with a dangerously calm tone while he took off his special glasses and put it in his pocket. His unnatural, red-irises reptilian eyes were revealed to everyone on the roof; gasps could be heard coming out from their mouths.
"H-huh, big words for a moron!" The arrogant blue-haired girl rebuked. "Get him!"
One of the lackeys stepped forward and raised his hand toward the Indonesian, creating the bee hive-patterned field upon the freshman. The net of energy appeared on the ground where the challenger stood, but the expected result of the freshman being on his hands and knees did not happen. Instead of being on all fours, the young man with unnatural eyes stood tall and proud; his hands crossed and his face calm.
Face of puzzlement was dawned on everyone; even both Kazuya and Satellizer were not immune from it.
"Have you done playing?" Wisnu questioned with disinterested look on his face. "I'd like to get to the business as soon as possible."
"It can't be! No ordinary human can withstand the power of freezing!" The lackey who generated the field cried in confusion. He grimaced as he exerted more power to the field that he generated, yet to no avail; the dark-haired freshman did not even budge.
"Then, I guess it's my turn then." Wisnu said as he dispersed his hands from the fold. His unnatural eyes flashed red momentarily. The salmon-colored tribal birthmark of the coiling serpent with spiky spine on the back of his right hand glowed bright red; as if the burning ember was hidden beneath the small patch of the skin.
He brought one fist with his fore finger and middle finger stuck out straight, up to his face. As the hand hung before his face was only a breath away from the edge of his nose, Wisnu spoke in clear and calm voice.
"Feel the might of the earth-warder, whom everything that walked upon the ground must kneel."
He then brought the hand high above his head and slammed his palm to the floor.
"KALI YUGA ARTS: ANANTABOGA!"
Wisnu was not a man of violence, but he was not a man of peace either. After his arduous 7-years long "re-education", he had become a mighty warrior specialized in killing and hunting the Novas. Although he only pitted his strength and abilities against the human-engineered monsters rather than the real extra-dimensional invaders, It was no doubt that the Indonesian boy possessed the power like no equal; all thanks to the unknown factor that resided in his body and melded with his genetic code. He actually preferred if he did not have to utilize his gifts against the fellow Nova-fighters. But due to the nature of the problem that he was facing was filled with hostilities, Wisnu had no choice but to show his power openly to them.
He recollected what his old mentor had said to him on the night before he left the Kalimantan facility to return to family in Jakarta –in order to prepare his departure to Tokyo on the day after tomorrow.
"I know you are not very fond of fighting, Wisnu. That's good; it means you are not a bully." Professor Kresna said to the boy who sat crossleggedly on the mat. "However, the place that you are going to go will force you into the world of violence."
"Do you have any advice for me then, uncle?" Wisnu asked for his counsel. "Should I limit myself from using of my gifts then?"
"I only want you to be prudent about it; make use of your protective nature, protect those who can't protect themselves like how you protect your sister." The winkled-faced scientist gazed sagely from beneath his circular golden-framed spectacles to the boy's eyes. "But above all: Go nuts!"
"What?"
"Trust me, go nuts!"
Wisnu was puzzled at the last part of the advice given by the grey-haired scientist. But now, he understood its meaning completely.
As Wisnu's palm hit the ground, the floor trembled a little, and suddenly reddish-gold field of crack-like pattern appeared on the ground. The jagged cracks spread quickly upon the concrete floor and tendrils like lightning bolts stretched and forked themselves away from their epicenter. The bluish freezing field created by the male bullies was quickly eroded by the reddish-gold cracks which replaced them all in the dominance of the floor. The tendrils sped on the floor and jumped to the lackeys of the blue-haired Pandora. In matter of seconds, the lightning tendrils coiled around the entire bodies of those minions of the evil girl and unleashed their wracking energies upon the fleshes of their victims. The boys screamed in pain as they slumped onto the ground and fell into seizure. The pain that they suffered was great as if hundreds lightning bolts coursed through their bodies! They could only lie in spasm with no hope in moving any muscle, as the coiling lightning-bolt pattern on their bodies restrained their every movement. Strangely enough, the tendrils of lightning-bolt did not hit Kazuya or Satellizer. The forked curls of lightning bolts seemed to avoid the Japanese and the golden-haired second year, as if they were aware the difference between friend and foe.
Freed from the grasp of his captor, Kazuya rushed to the also freed Satellizer, who was slumping on the floor. Helping the second-year beauty to upright sitting position, both Kazuya and Satellizer watched in terror how the subordinates of the blue-haired Pandora writhed in agony as more and more crack-like webs of reddish-gold energy latched themselves to the boys' bodies and faces. They too, watched the Indonesian rose to his feet, with his right hand extended and his fingers wide open. The Indonesian's face was the visage of wrath.
"W-what kind of person are you, Wisnu-san?" was the only thing that came out from Kazuya's mouth.
"Curses!" Miyabi Kannazuki hissed as she leaped to the air to avoid the zooming energy tendrils from reaching her. She regretted that she was not aware enough in sensing danger; she could have launched her homing daggers first to the other rookie which would certainly have stopped him from creating the strange…crack-like energy fields. She could only blame her obliviousness that had caused her boys to be wriggling helplessly on the floor.
"What do you do to them?!" She yelled while utilizing her inhumane speed to evade the sharp zap from the lightning tendrils.
"I merely stop them from hurting my friends." The boy with the Asian feature said. "I will stop you as well if you don't surrender."
"Damn you, rookie!" Miyabi bellowed. She was forced to take more evasive action from the unrelenting and insanely fast energy tendrils that came for her. Seeing the reaction of her boys who got caught into the reddish-gold energy web, Miyabi was very certain that getting caught into the energy snares was the last thing that she want to be.
Still, even though avoiding the seemingly alive lightning-bolts that zigzagged on the ground was the first priority in her mind, Miyabi could still maintain a focused mind. Being no stranger in battle, the blue-haired Pandora analyzed that her opponent; and concluded that the boy was a Limiter with strange freezing field. Miyabi grinned as she found the exploitable weak point of her enemy, and she intended to use it to the maximum. Leaping to the air once more, the blue-haired Pandora commenced her plan of the attack.
"Eat this!" Miyabi yelled as she launched two of her daggers away in great speed to meet her opponent.
The blue-haired third year planned to stop her opponent from generating the strange energy tendrils. Since he was some kind of a Limiter, it was clear that speed was not his forte. By sending the daggers toward him, Miyabi was sure that the boy would surely evade the daggers from hurting him; temporarily creating the window of opportunity for her to launch her other salvo of daggers toward him. With her speed as a Pandora, Miyabi truly had the advantage to overcome the rookie. The expected result would be the boy being severely if not fatally wounded by the homing daggers. Nonetheless, Miyabi Kannazuki cared nothing about the freshman's safety; the boy was insolent fool who needed to be disciplined after all. She would feel no remorse in killing him, either purposely or accidentally.
The blue-haired Pandora grinned evilly as the flying blades zoomed to their target. However, her smile crumbled as her plan fell apart before her eyes.
Instead of evading the daggers, the boy stood still. Before the blades could ever meet the rookie's flesh, thin pillars of reddish-gold lightning burst out from the ground and surrounded the boy the in a circular wall of defense. Caught up between the pillars and webs of lightning, the daggers jolted as the energy clashed the metals to stop its driving force. And soon they fell motionless to the ground, which made Miyabi flinched in pain as her connection to her volt weapons was severed.
Still caught up with shock after seeing her plan utterly failed, Miyabi did not realize that the speeding energy tendrils on the ground suddenly surge out from the ground and leaped to the floating Pandora. When she became aware of her surroundings, it was already too late; the coiling crack-like pattern of the lightning tendrils was already appeared around her body. Soon, it was Miyabi's turn to shriek as the painful sensation of electrocution by hundred thunders surged into her body.
"EEIIIIAARRRGGGHHH!" the blue-haired Pandora fell into the ground with a loud thud. She was struggling to resist the pain but to no avail; for not only she felt the pain but also being completely immobilized by the energy web on her body. Like a rag doll, her body jerked uncontrollably along with her minions. Even though powerless, Miyabi still resisted the pain and struggled to move.
"What…are….you?" She asked with a laborious breath; those words were the only things that Miyabi could produce with all the strength that she had mustered.
"I am your reckoning." The reptile-eyed boy darkly stated.
Attia Simmons was relaxing on her desk inside the classroom 3-A. The petite third-year with silvery-white hair that tied into twin curl-tails on both sides of her head had just finished he lunch brought by her Limiter, and now she was leisurely waiting in the classroom with her friends. Together with the petite silver-haired Pandora in the quite empty classroom were the long fair-haired Elizabeth Mably, the red pony-tailed Arnett Mcmillan, and the tan-skinned white-haired Creo Brand. The girls were chatting amicably with the exception of the beautiful blonde, who only stayed silent and listened to what her friends talked about. She seldom spoke, only expressing a little opinion from her thought from time to time.
As the conversation continued to pass the recess time, the bored Attia looked to the happening outside from the glass window that was beside her desk. Behind the glass panels, the silver-haired third year could see the entire field and the adjacent building that was the academy for the first years and second years. Since the third years were the spear-heads for every operation against Nova invasion and that their abilities were in higher tier than the first and second years, they were given a separate building from the rest. Standing tall alongside the 5-story building that was reserved for the first and second years was the 8-story tall schoolhouse for the third years.
As her eyes scanned the area outside the window, Attia's gaze unconsciously passed the skirmish happening on the roof of the neighboring schoolhouse. She became aware of the happening as her mind suddenly processed the information that she received from her eyes. As result, the silver-haired Pandora quickly returned her sight on the spectacle on the roof. In matter of seconds, her eyes turned wide and her jaw slackened.
"And then, swoosh! The giant's head fell- Hey, Attia! Why are you dawdling like a doofus there?" The pony-tailed beauty called the little silver-haired Pandora. She did not respond the call.
"What are you looking at? Do you see a hot rookie there" Arnett walked to Attia's side, curious on knowing what had captured her little friend's attention. She was quickly silenced and was soon infected with Attia's expression as she turned her gaze to the direction where the silver-haired Pandora was looking at.
"Girls, what's going on?" Elizabeth questioned her two stunned friends; their behavior was puzzling the golden-haired third year.
"Elizabeth! Creo! Come quick!" Arnett, who was not totally be dazed by the sight that she witnessed. "You got to see this!"
"If this is one of your perverted jokes again, then I am not interested, Arnett." The tan-skinned Pandora scoffed, yet she walked to their side although lazily. Elizabeth followed her as well.
"Oh, shut up! This is not like that!" The red-haired girl reproached her friend. "It's a fight!"
"There is nothing special about the ordinary fight betwe-" Elizabeth's sentence was cut short by her shock when she saw what her friends had seen. The four third-year Pandoras was frozen to their footing and with their eyes cemented to the alien incident that was happening on the roof of the neighboring building. The expression on their faces was the countenance of amazement and alarm.
"W-what are those…..things coming from the floor?" Attia finally spoke again.
"They look like….electric snares?" Creo replied with uncertainty. "A-are those things…...freezing?"
"No." Elizabeth said with her eyes unblinkingly stared to the sight. "No, they are not. Is… that boy the one that created those…snares?" She pointed to the direction of one of the freshman.
"It seems so." Arnett weakly replied. Her breath seemed to be taken away by the spectacle. "Is that Miyabi? Did he just stop Miyabi? Who is he? What is he?!"
Before her questions could be answered, a blood-curdling shriek originating from the field broke the relative Tranquility of the West Genetics.
Wisnu still held his hand high even though the bullies were wiggling uncontrollably on the floor. He maintained the intensity of the energy field that he generated in order to prevent the harasser of his friends from retaliating. Although he was free to unleash the hidden power that lie within him, Wisnu opted not to do so. The reason behind such decision was despite of the fact that the blue-haired Pandora was undoubtedly a seasoned warrior, to unleash Wisnu's 'other' form was certainly an overkill. Besides, Wisnu believed that it was not the right time for him to show 'it' to these people yet. Already calculating the strong points and the weak points that the upperclassman and her subordinates possessed, Wisnu chose one of the technique that he had developed during his stay in the Kalimantan facility.
Named after the Serpent Lord that ruled the under-realm of the earth, Anantaboga was a binding technique that channeled Wisnu's unnatural energy into the form of thunderous web-like field of energy. By tapping into his unworldly power of his gift, Wisnu could create an energy field that was unlike the freezing field. Even though it shared the same function in restraining every enemy that was caught within the field, the said Kali Yuga arts of binding had even more sinister might. Not only was it omni-directional, the field of Anantaboga destroyed freezing fields and generated lightning tendrils that was totally controllable by the psyche of its user. These lightning tendrils also had a deadly touch; once they grazed or simply touched the part of their victim's body, no matter how small it is, the residual energy of the tendril would remained and multiplied over their victim's body in a terrifying speed. The crack-like pattern would soon appear and after they covered the majority portion of the body, the energy outlines would deliver the pain. The residual energy would enter into the body and invade the victim's nervous system; shutting down every nerve that controlled the limb and then unleashing burst of electrical energies from inside out. The form of such binding technique that Wisnu employed was at its lowest power. It could only be used to immobilize, and not to kill its victim. But if employed in its fullest extent, especially in Wisnu's "other" form, Anantaboga could kill any lower rank Novas that was caught within it almost instantly.
However, such binding technique was not without weakness. Unlike the freezing field that could appear almost instantly on any targeted area by a capable Limiter, the field of Anantaboga took time to spread and reach to the enemies. It could only appear on the area around its caster and not at any place that the caster wished. Thanks to its speed of its spread and the powerful generated electrical impulses and tendrils that accompanied the field of Anantaboga, such weakness was compensated.
The Indonesian let the suffering of the bullies lasted for few minutes longer. He wanted to make sure that these people learned the most valuable lesson on bullying; that payback is always a bitch.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
The shriek of fear startled Wisnu from his train of thought. Another scream followed the previous one, indicating something terrible was happening. The screaming originated from down below; where the field was located.
"I'll reduce the strength of my binding field." Wisnu solemnly spoke to the slumped bullies. "Don't even think to do anything funny, or I'll double the intensity. Is that clear?!"
"Urrrggh." The bullies replied unintelligibly. Even the pompous third year could only bow her head in compliance.
Reducing the power of his binding field into an even milder one, Wisnu ran to the side of the roof where he could get clear look on what happening below. Leaning to the railing, Wisnu saw what caused the screaming to happen.
What he saw was a monstrous pack of fiends coming out from the bushes beside the wide field. Even from the roof, the figure of the beast was clear in Wisnu's eyes. The fiendish creature was a massive and bulky bipedal creature, standing high on 5 meter-tall. Its outer appearance resembled a gorilla. Its muscular hands were covered in bone-white gauntlets and its uncovered fingers sported sharp, pointed edges. Instead of the head of a primate, it had the head of an eyeless skeletal dragon with white bony-crust skin. Its bulky torso and legs were covered in smooth, dark-blue hide.
The pack of approximately 20 fiendish creatures lumbered to the field, roaring ugly bellows that made the students who were in the vicinity to be running and screaming in terror. The roaring of the beasts showed that they possessed fangs and sharp teeth in their mouths, ready to spill bloods and tear fleshes of the men and women of West Genetics.
"Novas!" Wisnu growled while crushing the fence in his grasps. He had long forgotten about the binding field; unconsciously releasing the suffering upperclassman and her lackeys from its torturous grasp. Fortunately, they were all too weak and too fearful to do anything that would certainly earned the Indonesian's ire.
"W-what are you saying, Wisnu-san." Kazuya said unbelievingly as he helped Satellizer standing up. "There's no way-"
"It's already happening down there, Kazuya! You can turn blind eye on this matter." Wisnu cut the boy's sentences while point to the direction where the monsters started appearing. "We must do something about them!"
"What can we do?" It was Satellizer's turn to speak. She was still apprehensive about the Indonesian, especially about his unknown power that could brought a third year and her gang on their knees. But since he was willing to stand up for both her and Kazuya's sake, the golden-haired Pandora put a little trust on Wisnu. "I am still recovering from the effects of the freezing."
Wisnu turned to see the blue-haired Pandora. She was sitting on the floor with her attendants attentively rubbing her shoulders and arms.
"What?" The girl whose name was Miyabi Kannazuki coldly said. "Don't look at me like that! My whole body is still sore, all thanks to you. You can't expect me to fight those monsters in this condition."
"We should flee, Wisnu-san." The Japanese boy told the sighing Indonesian. "Let the third years handle this. We can't possibly drive them all in our current state!"
Wisnu was about to speak when he heard another scream. Looking back to the field, the Indonesian saw two teenage girls, standing side by side with each brandishing a sword, were surrounded by monsters, who circled them like hungry wolves. The girls were screaming for help while trying hard to fend off the monsters' attack. It was clear for everyone to see that even armed with deadly weapons; those female students were untrained to face the present danger.
"No, you can't, and she can't too." Wisnu said to his friends. He turned his eyes to meet the Japanese's dark-brown eyes; concern was shown clear in his eyes. Wisnu felt lucky to have such friend, who hardly knew about him; yet was very sincere and concerned about his well-being. Still, his concern and kindness did not stop the Indonesian from doing what had been already made up in his mind. Wisnu then spoke what he had decided in his mind to the kind Japanese.
"But I can."
"What?! Are you out of your mind?" Satellizer exclaimed.
"You guys have seen my power right? There-"
"You may have stopped a third-year Pandora and her Limiters, but this is Nova we are talking about! You will only get yourselves killed!"
"I said!" Wisnu interjected in higher tone while he grabbed the Japanese's shoulders tightly in both of his hands. Such action calmed the boy down. "There is more side of me that you never know, Kazuya! Besides, I can't let those people die."
"What do you intend to do, then?"
"I'll save them." Wisnu released his hands from his friend's shoulders and went to the railings. "Go to the safety, Kazuya. I'll be back soon enough." Wisnu ended his words and jumped the fence to the ground below.
"WISNU-SAANN!" Kazuya rushed to the fence to catch his falling friend; it was too late. But instead of seeing the Indonesian splattered to his death, Kazuya saw a matter engulfed in unworldly reddish-black flame plunged into the ground below.
"Mina-chan, I can't do this anymore." The dark short-haired asian girl said despairingly as she fended the monster's fist with her long curved sword, which was a katana.
"We cannot give up, Rina-chan." The long-haired brunette responded in encouraging words while she pushed back the monster with her bastard sword. In truth, behind her strong visage was an already faltering spirit.
"It's no hope! No one is going to save us." Her grip on her Katana was slackened, and her stance weakened. The blade felt heavy in her hand, and soon it fell from her grip as she lowered her arms. Tears already drenched her cheeks. "We are going to die here."
"NO WE ARE NOT! Grabbed your weapon, Mina-chan! We can still do this!" The one that called Rina-chan scolded her despondent friend. She was in guarding stance, with her blade ready to cut down the enemies even though her strength was faltering fast. "We can't die here! You can't die here!" She said with teary eyed.
"It's too late. We are not-"
"GROOOAR!" The monstrous bellow came from their behind. As the girls turned their sight to look, they stared at the pouncing monster that was reaching to the short-haired Pandora. Its mouth was open wide, ready to seize and break the neck of its intended target.
The brunette, although close to her friend, felt her entire body paralyzed with terror and fatigue. She could not bring herself to move, while her friend already had an empty look on her face; ready to face her imminent doom.
"Father, mother. Please forgive this useless daughter of yours." The dark short-haired Pandora spoke in her mind for the last time as she closed her eyes, awaiting her painful and horrible demise.
"KRRAGGGGHHHH!" the bone crunching sound was heard, and the dark-haired girl fell.
Death finally came, but not to the despairing Pandora.
Instead of being horribly mauled to death, Rina Takatsu, or just 'Rina' for short, felt shadow enveloped her. She also felt that she was embraced in a tight hold that prevented her from completely collapsing to the ground. The hold was uncomfortable; the dark-haired Pandora felt something that was hard and coarse, was pressing against her body. She also felt rhythmical puffs of air stroke her head steadily, along with a faint snarl.
Rina opened her eyes to see what was going on, and was gasped loudly. She was in held in one of the arms of an armored creature. It had the most terrifying features; its broad chest was covered in thick scaly objects that seemed to be created from black metals and blazing , and so were its arms and pointed fingers. A set of spikes stretched from its wrists to it elbows. Its head was a head of a horned demon, with its two curved magma-tipped horns that ran from both sides of its head and ended just above its chest. A set of long, magma-tipped spikes extended from the top of its head and to its column of spines.
The girl in the creature's embrace also noticed that one of its hands was extended with its fingers clutched tightly in a fist. Turning to the direction where the fist pointed, the Pandora looked a slumped gorilla-like monster with a massive crack on its skeletal head. Such nasty wound had surely killed the beast since it was no longer moving. Seeing such sight, Rina was certain that the creature that held right now was the one that killed the monster, and in the process, rescued her.
The creature turned its terrifying visage to the girl's face; its crimson slanting slits gazed directly to her eyes. Its lipless, toothy and snarling mouth opened and a voice that sounded like a combination of animalistic growl and human speech came out from it.
"Hey, are you alright?"
Rina swore that her heart was beating twice faster than normal that day.
"Get back to the school! NOW!" The creature growled.
"What about you?" The ponytailed brunette whose name was Mina Takigawa, said while helping dark-haired friend to her feet. She was very cautious and fearful to the unknown creature that resembled a demon. But seeing that it rescued her friend, she knew that the creature was on their side in the very least.
"I'll hold them off. Prepare to run when I create an opening." The creature commanded, while barring its teeth and roaring threateningly to the circling monsters. "Be quick! There's no much time."
"All right." The Pandora obliged. She and her dark-haired friend were ready to escape.
The creature sped to the direction of the monsters behind him in lightning speed; and unleashed its fists of fury. Catching two monsters of guard, the 'demon' punched one of the monsters with great force; fracturing its skeletal head. In quick succession, the demon spun to the other and elbowed the other monster's jaw, completely relieving the monster from its mouth.
"NOW!" The demonic creature yelled as the opening for the girls to escape to the academy was created. The girls complied and ran out. Several monsters leaped to the girls in order to stop them from running away, only to fail as they met the armored soles and fists of the flying demon. One of them suddenly got smart and slammed its massive fists on the ground, generating the freezing field to ensnare the escaping Pandoras. The demon speedily countered it with his binding field; the web-like reddish-gold binding field that the demon generated quickly destroyed the enemy's freezing field. The infamous tendrils of lightning that accompanied the binding field appeared and they swiftly coiled the bodies of several monsters. The monster quickly fell as powerful electricity jolted their bodies, and soon the nauseating smell of roasted monsters rose.
The rest of the monsters quickly stopped their advance after seeing that their comrades' horrible demise. Rapidly, they moved back to avoid the ever spreading field of binding. The demon's field stopped expending as the distance between the monsters and the demon was far enough. Such thing was done to avoid the monsters from running away from the premises to the civilian areas; the demonic creature intended to obliterate them all.
As the demon was ready to drop its binding field to draw the monsters in and confront them in deadly battle, it heard a call from its back. As it turned its horned head to where the call originated, he saw the dark-haired Pandora that it had rescued before, standing not in the distance between the academy and the demon.
"What are you doing there?" The demon snarled angrily; the creature cancelled the dropping of the field. "I told you to run!"
"You haven't told me you name!" The said Pandora shouted in reply. Fairness and brightness had returned to her once gloomed face.
"I don't have time for this!" The creature bellowed. The monsters around the binding field were roaring impatiently while slamming their fists upon the ground, creating a small tremor. "I am going to drop this field, so you better RUN!"
"NO! Not until you tell me your name!" The girl persistently stood on her ground.
"What purpose do you want with my name?!"
"I...I...I need it so I can find you and thank you for what you have done to me." The girls said embarrassedly; tinge of pink adorned her cheeks.
The creature chuckled. The demonic creature did not expect to find people who did not fear its frightening appearance.
"I do not need any thanks. I will do it anyway." The demonic savior said in a milder tone, revealing the masculine nature of the demonic creature. "And as for your request, in this form, you may call me….Fatalis."
With the end of his word, the creature dropped the web-like reddish-gold field, letting the already impatient monsters to approach the demon and forcing the dark-haired Pandora to flee into the building.
Yes, Fatalis, The very word that echoed in my dreams.
"GROOOOAARRR!" The monsters bellowed angrily and darted toward the demonic creature as soon as the accursed field that killed their kin vanished. Although their dull skeletal faces were devoid of any expressions, their body language and their feral roars displayed their great animosity toward the unknown opponent. There was something about the enemy that made their blood boiled and their throats roared in rage; they all suddenly felt an infuriating sensation like a buzzing of a hornet in their head. Seeing such unrecognized enemy, all the monsters felt an uncontrolled desire to spill its blood and tear its flesh to the pieces.
Fatalis was relieved as he saw the girl safely escaped to the building. He turned his face to the monsters and saw them approaching to his position.
"Guess this is the time to 'go nuts', eh" Fatalis thought out loud as he ambled toward the impending monsters in his own pleasure pace. "All right, let's see what you guys can do."
Fatalis hunched a bit, his arms bent a little in battle-ready position; he accrued the concentration in his mind and began channeling his power. As the remnants of the monstrous pack were closer and closer in every passing second, Fatalis suddenly straightened his body as the surge of power coursed through his veins.
"Feel the flames of the inferno that heralded the end times."
"KALI YUGA ARTS: AGNEYASTRA GANDA!" (KALI YUGA ARTS: DOUBLE AGNEYASTRA)
Fatalis's back bend forward as two spine-like protrusion appeared behind his back, near both shoulders. He deftly grabbed the protrusions with hands and pulled them out. The protrusions revealed crimson long curved blades that attached to them. Fatalis swung the blades adroitly as scales and hand-guards formed on the weapons. Soon the blades completed their formation, revealing two blood-red dai-katanas with four Sanskrit words on each blade's ridges.
Fatalis remembered clearly the first time he used such weapons. It was roughly 7 years ago when he pulled one of the swords from his palm. He remembered how he used it to behead the gigantic limbless monster that threatened the life of his dear sister.
"Looks like big bro is going to be a hero, Sasha." The armored demon said to himself as he entered into fighting stance. "Now, COME AND GET SOME!"
Fatalis dashed toward the pack of monsters with weapons ready in his hands. The monsters had advantage in numbers, but Fatalis was not powerless. In fact, he was more than a match to the monsters; and with the two crimson dai-katanas named after the weapon of the Hindu God of Fire, Fatalis became even deadlier.
Fatalis leaped with great might into the air and landed right in the midst of the pack. An unfortunate monster had its head cushioned the demon's descent, only to have it crushed under the demon's clawed heels. Catching the enemies off guard, two more monsters fell victim to the demon's might, as the fearsome blades cut down the nearby monsters; launching gore and blood into the air. The monsters retaliated; their massive arms rose high to smash the demon. Fists zoomed and claws swung from every direction; relentless as they reached for the enemy's flesh. Unfortunately they all fell short before Fatalis' fatal dance. The demonic warrior spun, sidestepped and leaped away from the enemies' blows and slams; he was completely unharmed from the enemies' raging assaults due to his dexterity and his unworldly speed. With combined grace and power tempered in viciousness, the demon's blades singed and danced though the air; deflecting and directing every attack while sending sharp slashes and thrusts as ripostes.
"RRRAGGH!" Fatalis roared as he unleashed multiple streams of black flame in cross-shaped wave, which ripped through several monsters and shredded them to pieces. The residual energies from such attack remained on the remains of the monsters in the form of black flames. The monsters' advantage in number proved to be worthless as their number started to dwindle with every fall and every swung of the curved blades. Arms, legs and other body parts littered the once pristine ground of the sports field; bluish-black bloods and entrails stained its soil. The gore-stained sports field became the silent testimony that shouted the demon's ruthlessness and ferocity.
Seeing their kin got cut down on by one, two of the remaining monsters decided to implement a more stealthy approach, and anticipated patiently for an opening. The gorilla-like monsters finally found the awaited chance when the armored demon just finished severing the head of one of their folks. Quickly, they jumped to his back with their arms extended and their fangs bare; only to meet their demise, for the demon already knew their intention and presence.
After beheading a monster in scissors cut, Fatalis, who already knew of the impending attack behind him, speedily and deftly spun his grip on the dai-katanas' hilts into a reverse grip. Grasping tightly on the hilts, the demonic warrior drove the blades forcefully to the back. The dai-katanas' pointed end stabbed through the jaws of the two ambushing monsters from behind. The crimson edges of the warrior's blades buried deep into their lower maws and broke through their brains. Their bloodied tips emerged from the skeletal heads of the dead monsters which bodies dangled helplessly like meats impaled on the stakes.
After releasing the limp corpses from his swords, Fatalis noticed that there was only one remaining enemy, and it seemed extremely hesitant to attack him. After witnessing its comrades been brutally murdered, the monster admitted that the same fate awaited him if it rushed to attack the armored demon. Yet the monster could not get rid of its burning need to kill the demon. Letting go its reason and embracing its naturalistic instinct, the last gorilla-like monster bellowed at the top of its voice for the last time. In blood-lust and rage, the monster charged forward.
"Foolish one." Fatalis growled. In a fluid movement, the demonic warrior sidestepped the charging beast and sent the dai-katana in his right hand falling down to the beast's side. The monster's intestines gushed out as its body slumped and trailed on the earth.
While reversing his grip on the hilts of the blades once more, Fatalis walked to the still panting monster. Even though with the massive gash on its stomach, the wounded beast was still alive; its chest was rhythmically expanding and declining, desperately gasping for air. The monster whimpered in agony as life was fleeting away excruciatingly from its body. Stopped beside the dying beast, Fatalis raised the reversed blades with their pointed edges facing directly to the monster's head- making them like fangs of a wild beast, ready to be sunk into the flesh of its wounded prey.
"Good bye!" The armored demon snarled as he jammed the blades into the beast thick skull, ending its life instantly. The monster's whimpering stopped and its faint movement ended; its suffering was finished as was its momentary life.
Pulling the blades away from the corpse, the demonic warrior looked at the blood stain that wet his blades. His instinct kicked in, and Fatalis stuck out his double-edged tongue to lick the sweet life-liquid of the monster. Yet, as his tongue reached the metal and savored the stain, Fatalis spat and growled. Something was wrong about these monsters, for their blood tasted unnatural; as if they were actually made-up beings rather than the actual Novas.
"What the hell is going on here?" Fatalis wondered as he looked upon his grotesque handicrafts, which spilled upon the school ground. "These are not novas! Who have sent these monsters here?"
As the demon's train of thought continued, Fatalis heard the loud rustling and chattering from the direction of the schoolhouse. Turning his head around, the demon saw students and faculties standing in front of the building. Many of them, especially the females were already armed with melee weapons, such as swords, daggers, axes, pole arms, etc. He also saw several female students and faculties stood bravely in the front of the massive group, as if they were leading the men and women of the academy to battle.
Fatalis' brooding thought on the fake novas dispersed when he focused his sight to the forefront warrioresses. He recognized one of them; the strict instructor Yumi-Kim, who wielded a pole arm, standing ready in combat stance. Beside her was an unknown woman with peculiar green hair; she wore a lab coat and brandished a pair of daggers. He also saw the student body president Fairchild looking anxiously from behind a long dark haired girl, who brandished a massive curved sword. The rest was unknown to him. The scythe-wielding red head, the gauntleted dark skin, the tonfa-brandishing red head, the morning star-slinging silver hair, and the blonde with some kind of trident-like prisms floating beside her, were standing ready in battle posture. All of them were tensing on their footing as Fatalis turned his entire body toward them.
Leisurely, the demonic warrior ambled toward the group of students and the teaching staffs. With a single thought in Fatalis' mind, the dai-katanas in his hand were suddenly engulfed in black flames and quickly disappeared as the flame died away. It was in his best intention to not seeking fight with students, since they were not his enemies. Therefore, it was imperative to the demonic warrior to show to those people that he was not a hostile factor, and that he was on their side. The demon's actions by walking toward the group slowly rather than just dashing, and by making his horrifying curved-blades disappear were essential in relaying such idea.
Thankfully, Fatalis' mute message was received and understood by the crowd of Pandoras and Limiters. The forefront warrioresses eased their body-postures. Yet, the grip on their respective weapons did not falter. Even though most of them had seen how the demonic creature heroically rescued their comrades from imminent demise, the savior's hellish appearance made the students to reconsider whether the demonic warrior was really on their side or not.
As fatalis walked to the crowd, he began to wonder on the students' emergence. How in the world was he not aware of their presence? Was it because of him being too engrossed in the fight, which made him to forget his surroundings? Was it because of his feral instinct to prey on the Novas? Or was it because of his starting-to-dull senses? The demon did not find any answer even until he stood before the large group of Anti-Nova fighters.
"Errr." Fatalis stumbled with words. He was standing slightly taller than the people before him, which made him to be an awkward and alien sight to behold by the crowd. He looked to the right and looked to the left, only to find threatening stares from the armed females.
"Excuse me, may I pass through?" The demon tried mask his animalistic growl in his speech by speaking politely. It did not work.
"Why? Why do you need to pass through?" The red head questioned the demon austerely while blocking his advance with her giant scythe. She was a little bit shorter and less bulky than the demon. Thankfully, her fearsome scythe compensated her lack in threatening influence. Her tone was commanding and her stalwart gaze was piercing. It was clear that the red-haired Pandora was not intimidated by Fatalis' monstrous look; the sign of a true warrior and a veteran. "What is your intention? Speak!"
"I need to go back to my room." Fatalis replied in neutral tone. Even though his almost human speech was always accompanied by a faint growl, there was no hostility in it.
"What? You are student here?" The scythe-wielding girl spontaneously asked, which the demon replied with a nod. The gasps and chattering of the students behind the stalwart vanguards became louder. It seemed the small revelation on the demon's identity shocked them.
"It can't be!" The dark-skinned with a pair of gauntlets exclaimed; she was standing beside the red head. "You are a boy, right?" She added after a quick scan of the demon's muscular body. Fatalis nodded again. "There's no way a boy can transform into…..that!"
"And here I am." Fatalis responded with his hand slightly spread.
"Who are you? What are you, exactly?!" The little silver-haired girl interrogated with a demanding tone. Her inquiries were soon followed with more questions from other students.
"What is your name, your real name?"
"Where are your weapons?"
"Are you a freshman or upperclassman?"
The students' speaking and asking at the same time created a chorus of dissonance, which made Fatalis to be totally perplexed.
"Please, FRIENDS!" Fatalis roared aloud with his hands raised above his head, silencing the chaotic choir from making unintelligible noises any longer. "I will answer every question that you want to ask me. But first, I need to go to my room." His statement earned questioning looks from the Pandoras in front of him.
"It is nearer if I passed through the academy rather than taking a detour around it."Fatalis explained.
"Why do you need to go back to your room?" The red head asked further. The creature's honest responses puzzled her and her friends, as shown by the expression on their faces. There's no way in the world that this hellish creature could speak with such honesty!
"I am in need of new clothes when I returned to my 'normal' form." The demon answered, which again, befuddled the armed girls. He began to twiddle his sharp fingers. "Well, you see, friends, I am kind of….butt-naked right now."
….
..
.
The students immediately sweatdropped and facefaulted after listening to what the armored demon had impact of the demon's confession had created different reaction on each student, especially the female. There were students that expressed disgust in their look after knowing that the demon was going 'commando' underneath his black armor. Yet, there were also some students with red hints all over their faces when they learned that the demon was completely bare under his tight armor of onyx and magma scales. Others just had the look of lust in their eyes. Fatalis' muscular physique and well-toned abs had made some female students with wilder imaginations drooled when they learned about the nudity of the male inside the hellish shell of a demon.
"So may I pass?" the demonic warrior asked the blocking red head for permission, while shivering a little. "I am going to get a cold if I linger in this form."
"Arnett, let him pass." The curly flaxen Pandora with floating prisms beside her ordered the red head. The girl complied as she moved away from the presence of the demon. The crowd also parted away, creating a small pathway for him to go through.
"Matur Nuwun, Mbakyu." The demon bowed respectfully to the blonde and then to the red head before making his way to the building.
"What was that?" The blonde Pandora was unfamiliar with the alien speech that demon spoke. "What did you say to us?"
"It was "thank you, dear misses" in Javanese." The demon said as he walked through the pathway, leaving the blonde and red head with faster heartbeat and blushing cheeks.
Fatalis walked through the open pathway with straight eyes and on the straight path. He sometimes turned his gaze to the bunch of students in his right and his left, only to find them avoiding glances from him. He also found the students to be spreading away from the demon when he got closer to them.
As he passed through the corridor of men, Fatalis couldn't help but overhear the murmurs and chats between the students.
"Look at him. He looks like a dinosaur."
"No, no, no, He looks like a spiky teddy bear!"
"What is he really? Is he a man? Or a monster?"
"He's a freak, I tell you!"
The last comment struck deep into his core. He recognized the voice which asserted such comment. It belonged to the blue-haired girl that he had confronted earlier on the roof of the academy. Looking back to his right side, the demon saw her looking balefully at him. It seemed that she did not get over from her ignominious defeat at his hand, and tried to undermine his accomplishment. Still, she was no concern to the demonic warrior as Fatalis kept on pacing on his path. It was her comment that concerned him since it started to spread like wildfire.
"Yeah, he's strange. Only Pandora can turn into armored form, right?"
"He's not a Pandora! Look at that his armored form! He just looks like a devil in that!"
"Yes, he's a freak!"
Freak. It was the last word that Fatalis wanted to hear from anyone. It was the word that he feared the most. The demon feared that one day he would be addressed by such derogatory label and be treated as a thing rather than a living being. It was the last thing that he wanted to hear from the people he might have saved.
He hated such word and hated even more to the person that used it. He did not ask for this power, no matter how powerful it was or it could be. He only desires to live his life like any normal person would: happily. Yet, such hope was seized away from him by fate's precarious whim. He was forever forced to walk on another path, where blood ran like a river and lives ended as easily as breathing.
He wanted to end the hooters of such word. Yet, he chose to stay on his path. Even though his blood was boiling with anger, his mind reminded of the promise that he had made with his mentor.
"Your power is strong, boy. It will become stronger than any of those 'champions of humanity'." The old man with grayish hair spoke somberly to him. Without his glasses, black bags under his eyes were clear to be seen by the boy. "But your power will make you an alien, an unknown factor. You will be hated, ostracized, and chased away because of it. Now tell me, will you keep on protecting humanity when they despise you for what you are?"
Inhaling deeply and exhaling loudly, the boy speak with the voice that of determination and courage.
"I will."
He kept on striding upon the ground while burying the anger in his heart. He was about to reach the academy when a familiar voice called the demon from behind.
"WISNU-SAN!"
Stopped in his track, Fatalis quickly turned around to look for the one that called him with such name. in the midst of the mass on his right, the demon found a familiar face. Short dark hair, brown eyes, and a naïve-looking face that wore the expression of worry and fear; those were some of the physical characteristics of Kazuya Aoi.
Beside him was the bespectacled buxom blonde in her signature red uniform. She too, wore the face of great wariness and apprehension. Fatalis could only chuckle faintly at how ironic the situation he was presently in. This time, it was not the untouchable queen that was avoided by many, but him!
The people turned around to see the Japanese teen with questioning look. They were all thinking the same thing: "How could this guy know such monster?"
The Japanese boy knew that he was being watched by many, but he chose to ignore them all. He was going to let out a piece of his mind, but something seemed to clog his throat. His fears and doubts clenched his neck and debilitated his tongue. Kazuya Aoi's mind was filled with anxiety and horror. Was the demon his Indonesian friend? What if the demon was not his friend but something entirely different? What would happen to him if he was a monster? With such questions buzzing in his mind, the Japanese boy abandoned his intention to call the demon with the name of his Indonesian friend, and lowered his head.
"KAZUYA–SAN!"
The Japanese boy speedily raised his head and looked at the demonic warrior in disbelief. The creature roared his name out loud!
Fatalis smiled when he saw the surprised look on his Japanese friend. He was indeed a sincere guy; worrying his ass off for a guy that he barely knew. Intending to tell his friend that he was okay, Fatalis raised his right hand and flashed a thumb to the Japanese boy. His action made Kazuya Aoi beamed like a Christmas tree. Indulging his friend in a momentary calm of mind, the armored demon turned back to walk to the building before him.
The spectators were silent with shock. They did not understand the meaning of what had happened before their eyes, even though it was obvious and transparent like water.
"What did that monster do?" One of the students said to the other.
"Who cares? He's a freak after all."
"Shut your mouth!" Kazuya Aoi yelled to the said person who was nearby to him. His courageous tone startled not only the said student, but also the blonde second-year who was standing beside him. Bridget L. Satellizer couldn't believe to see the boy that used to be meek, was now becoming bolder; and it somehow attracted her. Maybe this boy was destined to be her Limiter. Still, she remained silent about such matter.
"What do you know about that guy? He's not even a human!" the student retorted. He was unsatisfied for being talked down by a rookie.
"No, he's not." Kazuya said with determination in his voice. "He's more than a human." He continued furiously, making his opponent to be at a loss for words. The Japanese teen then paused momentarily to turn his sight to where the demon previously stood, and turned back to reprimand his ignorant foe in the argument.
"He's a HERO!"
This chapter is a tribute to the song that Ed Sheeran sang on the credits of The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. It is the only redeeming factor to the said movie.