Chapter 10.5 - Snow And Flame

(1st Saga - Greater Magius, The Balance | Synoria Outlook Defense Arc)

Kaito’s POV

I draped my arm over Yukiko’s as she helped me stay up on my feet. It was painful, but I could still somewhat stand.

My mind was in shambles, but my senses were definitely returning. At the least, the blurred red borders of my vision had disappeared.

The two of us hobbled over to a rather comfy looking pile of shattered stone blocks and took a seat, watching the fight that now seemed so easy to them when it had nearly killed us.

“So those two defeated the Third Calamity Event of Greater Magius?”

“Uh- not exactly. The woman with the red hair is Seika. She’s a martial-arts based fighter, kind of like you, and relies primarily on augmentation techniques. Her pure physical strength is no joke alone though. Of the two, she was the only one actually present on the frontlines of the Third Calamity Event”

“And I’m assuming the guy in white is your brother?”

“Yep, that’s my brother, Setsuya. At the time of the Third Calamity Event, he ‘wasn’t yet strong enough to be on the battlefield’, so our father forced him to stay behind. The ‘harmony of snow and flame’ I was referring to was actually the duo of Seika and my father. My brother’s fighting style even grew to represent the combination between our father’s snow attribute abilities and Seika’s melee fighting”

“I see…”

I’d seen his techniques somewhere before, I was sure of it. But where did I-

“Hey, wait, how did you figure out that was my brother? I mean- It’s kinda obvious with the outfit, I guess, but-”

I flipped through the memories in my head. That was it, that exact moment when I was fighting the titan. That shadow of a figure from which I had mimicked that unknown technique was where I was getting that sense of familiarity from, and right now, the real deal was displaying the capabilities of true mastery and understanding.

“Hey, hey! It’s rude to ignore someone when they’re talking to you- What’re you looking at anyways? My brother?”

“Yeah, yeah, your brother’s cool and all, but it’s his technique that’s the most interesting”

“Technique? Why would you-”

She seemed to remember what had happened when I first gained access to the snow attribute.

“Oh”

Without another word between the two of us, she too focused her attention on the still ongoing battle. It appeared that she too had something she wished to learn. 

- Meanwhile

“This damned thing and those cursed heads of its-! I can’t get close enough to it!”

“Finally letting off some steam now that you’re out of the office, pretty boy?”

“Hah, save the teasing for after we’re done”

The two blitzed about the battlefield, their brightly burning auras of white and orange hues creating trails amidst the darkness of the night. 

The chimera beast sprang at its targets at equal speeds, both halves of its head now frequently firing the same blasts of corrupted energy that initially leveled this portion of town.

Flame Attribute: Stage 2, Defensive Formation

Seika leapt in front of the projectile’s trajectory while taking a midair defensive stance with both arms.

“Ough!”

“I’m telling you, stop taking those hits!”

“It’s either I take them or this place gets completely leveled! If I’m going to stop needing to do this, then you need to lure that thing out of here!”

“And I’ve told you already that it’s not falling for anything like that!”

Just as Setsuya finally narrowed the gap between himself and the beast while narrowly avoiding each firing round, the beast leapt into the air above him, raining down rigid tendrils of corrupted energy from its core, and forcing him to pull back.

“Dammit! I was hoping it wouldn’t do that-”

“You knew about that?!”

“I’ve seen it with three out of the four others I’ve encountered. It’s some kinda self defense instinct when a hostile opponent gets too close to its core”

“And how do we break through that hellish bramble nest?”

“Brute force, of course”

She gave him a mischievous smile, feigning innocent obliviousness to his more refined preferences.

“...Let’s just get this over with- What’s the plan of action?”

“Notice how there’s a brief flash right before it launches one of those bursts?”

“Got it”

Off on the sidelines, Kaito and Yukiko remarked on how quickly the two could understand the other’s intent with just one sentence exchanged. Their astonishment at how casually they could banter mid-battle had already faded by now.

The beast widened its jaws, preparing a single, massive sphere of rippling energy, aiming to eliminate both targets at once. 

Vwoom!

“Now!”

Crimson Streak

Gathering her aura around her right arm in an instant, Seika threw a perfectly linear jab towards the blast, leaving behind a comet-like trail of blinding light. On contact, the concentrated energy released in a massive explosion, which too had its course diverted by the force of Seika’s punch. 

Bewildered by the sudden release of energy and smoke, the beast tentatively scanned its surroundings that were now being quickly obscured by the ashy gray smokescreen. Directly ahead, it sensed the presence of mana. 

Kachhk! The jagged tendrils flew forth once more, scattering in every direction like a spider’s web designed to catch all prey around it. 

Verse 1 (x3): Steps in powdered snow

One after another, Setsuya flashed between the hardened rays, now stepping within an arm’s reach of the beast.

Hidden White Iai Slash

He revealed a sword from seemingly thin air, its blade gently flowing through the air with the tenderness of a landing snowflake.

Swish. Driving the blade through the already formed crevice in the beast’s head, he bisected its entire body before making footfall behind it.

“Your turn”

Despite still being within only a few yards of the beast’s body, he completely deactivated his aura.

Now in a state of pure panic, the beast set its sights on the most prominent target: a radiating source of warm mana that casually strode towards it from the front. The beast didn’t even bother to try repairing its body as its core unleashed a tsunami of crystallized corruption towards Seika.

Even so, she didn’t once flinch nor back down.

Stage 3: Alter Zone

Her left eye began emitting a throbbing pattern of dense mana, her pupil changing to the shape of a cross. To more advanced civilizations, its shape could be compared to the scope of a firearm.

In her eyes, the beast, alongside everything around her, was moving in slow motion. 

“The power of perfected perception, it’s really quite useful, isn’t it?”

To everyone else, Seika seemed to instantly break through the wave, shattered shards of corrupted energy sprinkling around her like rain.

Reaching out one hand, she crushed the unguarded core in her palm, putting down the beast for good, its body disintegrating to ashes in the wind.

She looked up at Setsuya, holding her left hand over her left eye.

“Not even half a second’s worth of use… really quite a waste, isn’t it?”

“Alright, I get it. You know we’ve got more responsibilities beyond just fighting” 

“Ugh, but fighting’s the best part”

“Now…”

The two of them turned to face Kaito and Yukiko.

“You’ve noticed it too, correct?”

“Mhm”

“Well then, let’s continue this tomorrow morning”

Kaito’s POV

So this was the power of the duo dubbed ‘Synoria’s strongest’. Their level was something I aspired to reach, and after witnessing that battle, I felt more certain than ever that I needed to learn at least something directly from Seika specifically.

“Wow… they’re really something else”

“Yup! I feel more energized just watching them- They’re kinda like my role models, y’know?”

“Yeah, I get what you mean”

“Oh! I need to go tell that family that it’s all taken care of now”

“Hm?”

I watched Yukiko get up and turn around, her expression immediately shifting. In the adrenaline of it all, it seemed she had forgotten the actual circumstances of our fighting, for all that greeted her eyes were the fallen pieces of the house she expected to see.

“No, no, no, they were just here-”

She fell to her knees and began digging through the rubble, tossing wood and stone in every direction as she sank deeper into despair.

I suddenly heard a half scream, half sob, as she stumbled backwards. I could barely make out the outline of a bloodied arm sticking out amidst the wreckage.

My eyelids were growing heavy. That was the last thing I could vividly remember. That, alongside a phrase.

Stage 1: Aura Release

Yukiko? No, she was right there in front of me. It couldn’t have been her. The mana felt subtly different, too.

The area seemed to grow colder, the chill accentuating my drowsiness. There was only one other person it could’ve been: Setsuya.

I watched Yukiko pass out first. Even his own sister? Just what was his plan here?

Then, lethargy overcame me.

***

I awoke in an unfamiliar room lying in an unfamiliar bed. There was a window to my left on the wall behind me, from which the soft glow of moonlight filtered into the room.

Directly next to my bed was a wooden chair on which Yukiko currently sat, her face partially lit up by the midnight light.

“How long has she been awake?” I wondered to myself as I looked into her eyes, lost and hazy, as if her mind was occupied somewhere else.

I didn’t want to bother her, so I closed my eyes and prepared to go back to sleep. I’d sort out this situation in the morning. That is, until she suddenly mumbled my name.

Her eyes still seemed dull and glossy, yet were more ‘present’ than before, as if she’d somewhat returned after noticing my waking.

“How do you do it..?”

“Huh..?”

“How do you keep going- keep fighting- keep trying to save people- when you have to face the gazes of those you couldn’t do anything for..?”

Her voice was breaking down, tears dripping onto her hands clutched tightly together over her lap.

I couldn't answer a question I didn't know the answer to myself.