Chapter 5 - A City Reborn
Kaze then leaves the hut of the mountain woman. Shokku is curious as to what happened.
“What happened in there?”
“I can’t even begin to explain.”
Kaze has a face of determination as he knows how to beat Rai.
“I know what must be done.”
Shokku is inspired by Kaze’s determination and looks back at him.
“Then let’s go and do it.”
Kaze and Shokku head back home. As they leave the airport, they realise that something is wrong with the city.
“Home sweet home.”
“Wait a minute.”
“What’s happened to this place?”
As Kaze begins to look around he notices that the city is partly destroyed and in a state of anarchy. A gang of people pass by Kaze and Shokku.
“Let’s go rebels.”
“Let’s kick these Eternity Dragons out.”
Kaze and Shokku head in the same direction as the rebels. The rebels are armed with wooden planks and other makeshift weapons. The rebels spot a large group of Eternity Dragons. The two groups engage in a massive street brawl. Kaze decides that he has seen enough.
“Let’s get out of here quickly.”
Kaze and Shokku leave the area and begin going through the chaotic city filled with fighting. Kaze and Shokku see a group of Eternity Dragons. Kaze recognises their leader as the same Eternity Dragon who put a bag over Chikaku’s head.
“Not this way.”
Kaze and Shokku begin heading in the opposite direction. Kaze is confused as to how things ended up this way.
“What happened?”
Kaze turns around and notices a familiar person standing behind him.
“Fukusei!”
Fukusei looks proud of himself and bears a wide smile.
“I caused a rebellion like you asked me too.”
“You did this?”
“I’d say I did a pretty good job.”
“Rai hasn’t gotten a moments rest.”
Kaze is unpleased with Fukusei. Kaze did not want innocent people to get involved. Fukusei’s rebellion has undoubtedly ruined many people’s lives.
“Good job?”
“The city is in ruins!”
Fukusei is shocked that Kaze is displeased. Fukusei was sure that Kaze would be happy about the rebellion.
“Woah.”
“You told me to do this.”
Kaze can’t contain his anger.
“Not like this.”
“How many people have died?”
“I don’t know.”
Kaze’s mind switches as he has other questions to ask Fukusei. Kaze knows that he does not have time to fight with Fukusei when Chikaku is potentially still in danger.
“Is Chikaku safe?”
“He’s still stuck in city hall.”
Kaze does not want to think about the pain that Rai has likely put him through. Kaze is certain that Rai has likely been tormenting him constantly.
“I can’t imagine what they’ve put him through.”
Fukusei also has questions for Kaze. Fukusei looks at Shokku and is curious as to who this man is and why he is travelling with Kaze.
“Who’s this?”
“I’m Shokku.”
“We met in Esseria.”
Fukusei pauses for a moment. Fukusei has read many travel journals that speak about how Esseria is the perfect country for a vacation. Fukusei is annoyed by this.
“You went all the way to Esseria?”
“You were taking a vacation while I worked my ass off!”
Kaze is annoyed by this and confronts Fukusei.
“Worked your ass off?”
“This city doesn’t scream hard work!”
Shokku steps into the conversation.
“Quiet!”
Kaze and Fukusei instantly stop arguing. Kaze and Fukusei turn to Shokku. Shokku begins to establish plans.
“You have let the enemy divide you.”
“Fukusei.”
“Yes?”
“Can you rally these rebels?”
“I can rally some.”
Fukusei then uses his ability to create a hologram copy of a rebel leader.
“Do you like him?”
“I made him up myself.”
Kaze bears a determined expression. He knows what has to be done.
“Let’s get Chikaku.”
They all walk into the main street. The rebel leader hologram then stands on a flipped vehicle. The rebel leader begins to speak as rebels start gathering around him.
“Fighters of freedom.”
“The time has come.”
The crowd quickly increases in size.
“We must win this fight.”
“It is now the time.”
“To march on city hall!”
The crowd begins to cheer. The rebels are in a frenzy and head to city hall along with Kaze’s group. When they arrive, they notice that city hall is well guarded by many Eternity Dragons. The rebel leader issues a statement to the crowd of rebels.
“Let’s go!”
“Charge!!!”
The rebels begin to charge at city hall. A massive brawl breaks out between the rebels and the Eternity Dragons. Kaze and the others fight their way into city hall with ease. The rebels are stuck fighting the Eternity Dragons outside of city hall. Once the four of them enter city hall, Fukusei makes the rebel leader hologram disappear.
Kaze, Shokku and Fukusei head into the main chamber of city hall. Before they could analyse their surroundings, Rai enters from the other side. Rai is holding a severely beaten and tortured Chikaku who still has a bag stuck over his head. Rai throws Chikaku to the floor.
“I don’t need him anymore.”
“He’s all yours Kaze.”
Kaze is deeply saddened and angered by the sight of Chikaku in his current state.
“Rai.”
“You’ll pay for this.”
Rai then analyses his surroundings and notices that Kaze is with two people who are unknown to him.
“I see you bought new friends.”
“I’d love to know your names and what your powers are.”
“But you made the mistake of siding with my enemy.”
“Now you will all die here.”
Rai then kicks Chikaku.
“Come and get him.”
Kaze stands his ground as he knows that this is likely a trap that Rai has set.
Rai begins kicking Chikaku constantly while he lays on the ground. Rai knows that this will cause Kaze to act recklessly.
“What’s wrong Kaze?”
Rai is thoroughly enjoying his torment of Chikaku. Rai’s expression shows that he loves hurting others more than anything else.
“Aren’t you going to save your friend?”
Kaze is filled with rage. Kaze can no longer contain his rage and starts to walk towards Rai, however he is stopped by Fukusei who grabs his arm.
“It’s a trap.”
Some Eternity Dragons then come down the staircase behind Rai. The Eternity Dragons are armed with swords. Shokku then steps forward.
“I will handle them.”
Shokku pulls out his baton and electrifies it. The Eternity Dragons then begin to charge at Shokku. Kaze uses this opportunity and begins to walk towards Rai. Rai steps on Chikaku’s skull and begins laughing. Rai steps on Chikaku’s head a final time and spits on him before beginning to walk towards Kaze.
“Now it’s your turn. Die you pathetic insect!”
Rai and Kaze begin to fight. They trade blows and Rai notices that Kaze is now able to strike him more then he can strike Kaze. However, Kaze gradually gets worn down. Rai knows that his wounds heal instantly and so he has the upper hand. Rai begins dealing heavy blows to Kaze. Rai has had his fun and sees no point in prolonging the fight further.
“You’re as weak as always Kaze.”
Rai then kicks Kaze in his stomach. Kaze is knocked backwards by this as he holds his stomach. Rai uses this opportunity to transform into a leopard.
“LEOPARD SPOTS!!!”
Rai then jumps at Kaze and proceeds to bite his flesh. Due to Kaze’s quick reaction time he was only damaged a bit as he used his ability to transform the affected area into insects and then reassemble his body.
Rai then transforms back into his human state. Kaze is very weak and can barely stand. Rai looks over at Kaze.
“Pathetic.”
“You will never come close to my power Kaze.”
Rai then kicks Kaze to the floor. Kaze struggles to move. As Kaze is lying on his back, Rai proceeds to put his foot on Kaze’s throat.
“Your place is beneath my shoe.”
“Now die.”
Rai begins stepping on Kaze’s throat harder. Kaze begins losing air and is starting to black out. As Kaze holds him arm up, he notices a gilded scarab on the back of his hand. Kaze has almost lost consciousness and uses his last breath to make a statement.
“From the lands of ancient Esseria.”
“An insect long extinct.”
“Gilded scarab!!!”
A ray of scarabs come out of Kaze’s palm and swarm Rai who proceeds to fall backwards in fear. Rai begins screaming in agony.
“For the first time in my life I feel it.”
“I feel pain!!!”
Rai keeps screaming as if the pain is unbearable to him.
“This power is hatred incarnate!!!”
“Why can’t I heal!!!”
Rai looks at his skin and notices that it is completely missing as the gilded scarabs tear at his flesh. While this is happening, Shokku finally knocks out the Eternity Dragons that were attacking him. Rai has blacked out and Kaze thinks he is dead. Kaze releases the gilded scarabs.
“Is it over?”
Fukusei walks over to Rai’s body.
“Look.”
“He’s not regenerating.”
“It’s over.”
In the land of ancient Esseria, the gilded scarab was a known species. It is now an extinct species. It is known for causing bites that are so painful it can kill its victims. They were commonly used as a symbol of royalty in the Esserian dynasty however the Esserian’s used it for a darker purpose, torture. Their ability to eat flesh quickly was sought after by torturers in the royal family. It’s few living victims described the pain as five minutes in hell with a lifetime of suffering.
Back in the present day, Kaze look over at Chikaku.
“Chikaku!”
Kaze runs over to Chikaku and picks him up. Kaze then picks up Chikaku and begins to carry him as they prepare to leave city hall.
“You can do this Chikaku.”
Chikaku is completely out of energy and only has a few words to say.
“Pain.
“Everything is pain.”
Upon hearing this, Kaze begins to shed tears. Kaze is incredibly upset at this whole situation. Kaze is just glad that Chikaku is back. Kaze is desperate to fix this situation.
“We’ll make you better.”
“I promise.”
However, something terrible was about to happen. Rai just opened his eyes. Rai bears an expression of hatred.
“Leopard Spots…”
Rai then transforms into a leopard and jumps at Chikaku tearing him in half. Rai then transforms back into his incredibly weakened human state which drops to the floor.
“Behold my last gift to you Kaze!!!”
Kaze lets out a loud scream of pure rage and anger. Kaze covers Rai with his gilded scarabs which attack Rai again.
“I’ll finish you!”
“Die!!!”
The gilded scarabs tear at Rai’s flesh until only his bones remain. Only then does Kaze decide to stop.
“Chikaku no.”
“I can’t bear to look.”
Chikaku’s corpse is torn into two halves. It is truly a horrifying sight. Fukusei and Shokku are standing speechless and horrified, unable to process the events which just took place.
“I’ll fix this.”
Kaze is shaking a lot.
“I’ll bring you back.”
Fukusei puts his hand on Kaze’s shoulder and begins to speak.
“Kaze.”
“There’s nothing we can do.”
Kaze is not about to accept this answer. Kaze has thought of a way to save Chikaku.
“Yes there is.”
“There’s a man who can bring Chikaku back.”
“A man who can do anything.”
“Even bring the dead back to life.”
“Genten…”
Genten’s eyes open in a dark room in a faraway place as he notices that someone is speaking about him.
“Someone is trying to find me again…”
Back at city hall, the group have calmed down slightly. Kaze has a suggestion.
“Let’s check Rai’s office.”
“Maybe we’ll find something useful.”
Kaze walks past the scene and looks down to see Chikaku’s final expression. It was an expression of fear, now paralysed on his face. Kaze is angry about this.
Kaze, Fukusei and Shokku then go through the filing cabinets in Rai’s office. At first, they don’t find anything of interest but Fukusei’s eyes then open wide.
“You won’t believe this Kaze.”
“What is it?”
“Chikaku told Rai about Genten.”
Kaze seems to be uninterested in this fact.
“So what?”
“Rai was trying to find him.”
Kaze’s expression then turns to one of interest.
“What?”
Kaze then goes over and takes a look at the documents.
“We should take these with us.”
Kaze hears a voice coming from a nearby room
“What’s going on?”
The group are confused as to who said this.
“Who was that?”
“Let’s check it out.”
Shokku then readies himself for combat and leads the group to the next room. Shokku opens the door next to Rai’s office. The three of them are surprised as they see a very sleepy girl chained to a bed in the room. The girl then yawns.
“Hey.”
The three of them are confused as to who this girl is but she quickly announces herself.
“I’m Yuma!”
Kaze remember that before he encountered the Eternity Dragons, he was looking for a girl called Yuma. Kaze decides to clarify if this is the same person.
“You’re the dream girl?”
“Yup.”
Yuma looks ready for the three of them to give her a command.
“What do you want me to dream this time?”
“Nothing.”
“We’re here to rescue you.”
