Chereads / Fantasy Keychain / Chapter 21 - Final Home

Chapter 21 - Final Home

The team lined up and covers Shiro. Shiro on the other hand, bleeds to the ground.

It appears that Shiro was shot at the abdomen, but then again, he loses a lot of blood at the same time.

"Stay close with me" Ryu whispers.

"Any plan? Ryu?" Toki asks.

"I do, so just remain calm.."

As they whispered with each other, a new guest has arrived.

It was a blood hoarder with a gun as a weapon. He is holding a .357 Magnum caliber revolver known as 'Colt Python'.

The blood hoarder with a revolver then smirked.

"Well, well, well.. I guess I'm late.. In action..'

"You are always late in action." The hooded hoarder says.

"Well.. It took me time to gather up a squad.. So yah.."

"Nope, you are always that slow."

"Don't be like that.. At least.. I'm here now.."

"The way you talk. It irritates me. Finish them already.."

"Ok.."

Little did they know, Ryu was planning while they're having their conversation.

The blood hoarder then points his gun at Ryu.

"Well then, any last word..?"

The hoarders then pointed their gun at them.

"Yes, I do.."

Ryu smirks and then shouts,

"NOW!"

Eiji ducked and summons his shield, covering Shiro and himself. Meanwhile, Toki ducked as well, but was actually preparing herself to jump.

Everyone was shocked including the blood hoarders.

Ryu then chants,

"Shadow Flare!"

His sword then inflames in a shadowy fire. Then, he performed a 360° spin.

As he spin, the shadowy fire around the sword then released flames from it, hitting everyone around him.

The blood hoarder with a gun had a slow reaction. Meanwhile, the hooded and the brushed hair blood hoarder quickly realized what its capable of, so they quickly back away.

Almost the entire hoarders around Ryu except the two blood hoarders, quickly burned to the ground. However, they did not burn into ashes. They just kept burning and burning without their skin being burned.

Toki then jumped as soon as Ryu stopped spinning, she then quickly killed the terrified surviving hoarders except the remaining blood hoarders.

The hooded and the brushed hair blood hoarder already left as soon as they saw Ryu spun.

However, the fight remains. It seems that not everyone was killed during Ryu's spin attack, so Toki and Ryu finished killing the remaining hoarders. Some hoarders even tried to shoot back and almost hit Eiji, but Eiji had his shield to protect himself and Shiro.

After killing the remaining hoarders, Toki then asked Ryu.

"Well.. I didn't know you have a powerful skill there as back up."

She then saw Ryu, holding his hand tightly. It was as if Ryu couldn't stop the sword from enflaming.

"Ryu? Ryu!?"

Eiji was in confusion as to why Toki was shouting at Ryu, so he quickly tried to take a peek to see if it was over when suddenly, he saw Ryu as if he was having trouble.

Ryu tightly grips his right arm.

It was the sword..

His sword was inflamed in 'Shadow Flare', but at the same time it consumes his mana. If the sword is still inflamed, then it's the same with the bodies that was hit by it. Basically, if you got hit by the shadow flare, it will burn not your physical body like 'Incinerate', not like 'Immolate' that burns your insides, but rather your soul.

Ryu was having trouble from his sword, he was having trouble on how to stop the shadow flare from consuming his mana, he just wanted it to stop.

Toki then shouts,

"Ryu! Try to remain calm and don't force it to stop!"

Ryu then breathes in and out, heavily. He tried to calm himself.

As soon as Ryu calmed himself, the sword then stopped from enflaming.

The bodies that were hit by the skill, stopped burning as well.

Ryu, then fell on his knee and coughed a blood.

Toki and Eiji hurried to help Ryu. They quickly put him beside Shiro.

"Thank you.. I'm ok now, Shiro needs to be treated first, not me". Ryu says.

Eiji then looked at Shiro.

"Shiro!? Shiro!? Hang in there. Ok?"

However, Shiro was losing conscious...

Shiro is lost in conscience.. He was having a glimpse of his fiancé, the person that he loved so much.

(She touched his face, she touched Shiro's face. She was smiling at him, then he smiled back.)

Shiro was imagining things as Toki, Ryu and Eiji takes him to the hospital.

(They were at the temple, the shinto priest gives them blessing as they both exchange their vows. He was at his 'Hakama skirt', while she is with her 'Shiromuku'. Her family and his family cheered for them as well as his friends and hers.)

Shiro was loosing a lot of blood, the nurses rushed him to the emergency room..

(Shiro was happy, but crying at the same time. He was having mix emotions. He don't know if he's crying because he is happy, or crying because he is sad.)

The doctor is doing all his best..

(Shiro then heared a whisper,

"You have done enough.. It's time to rest.."

It was his girl that whispered it to him.. He then brake into tears..)

The ECG monitor then began producing a straight noise, it showed a flatline..

The doctor then tried to use the 'AutoPulse' to perform a CPR.

However, Shiro can't be saved..

He was completely lost in conscious. His ECG monitor shows a flatline..

His heart stopped..

Though he had tears coming from his closed eyes.. He seems happy..

Shiro never had his proper farewell, but at least.. He'll see everyone again in the afterlife.

("Shoto, my bestfriend, my friends, my family and my love.. I'm home..")

Toki cried and cried once more, Ryu and Rin was in complete silence, while Eiji tries to comfort Toki.

Another one is down, the team mourns once again..

It took them almost 3 hours, staying at the hospital. Toki was hurt emotionally so bad. Almost everyone that she first met, died right before her eyes.

Rin then asked Toki,

"Your sister, what can you tell me about her?"

"Why?"

"I think she has a strong mana with her, she's gonna be a threat.."

"She's always good at kendo. My father even mentioned that she sees the attack you're attempting to do even before you do it."

"Hmm.. That's odd, I think we're just match.."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, she's literally having difficult fighting me.."

"You're unpredicted in my opinion. I mean, you change from one weapon to another.."

Rin smirked.

Rin then looked at Ryu.

"Ryu? What is that skill you did? That saved you all from those hoarders?"

"It's my blade's special feature. A black flame that consumes on souls."

"And Toki mentioned you even had difficulty turning it off? It consumes mana as well?"

"It does, actually any skill you use consumes mana. These weapons really are dangerous for us if we use it too much.."

"Not for me.." Rin smirked.

"We all have enough mana, but I'm sure you sometimes gets tired or like losing an energy to move whenever you use too much skill. Right?"

"I see what you mean. So example if I have your sword instead, and used that special skill, I'll be in the same state as you?"

"That's right, though you may last a little longer, we will all still meet the same fate.."

"Tell me about the resummoning of keychain. Her sister, Akame, dropped her sword, but she tried to magically reappear it back to her hand once more. Could you at least explain that?"

"I believe she used her imagination. It's simple as imagining your keychain into a real weapon."

"Hmm.. Ok let me try it since no one's around here."

Rin pulled her katana keychain and summoned it. She then dropped it to the ground.

"Here goes nothing.."

Rin began imagining her katana back to her hand. The dropped sword then began to vanish and returns back to Rin's hand once more.

Eiji and Toki was surprised, as well as Rin. It's their first time knowing it.

"So this is what she did.." Rin says.

"What happened between you and my sister? You two fought, but how did it end?" Toki asks.

"Well.. As soon as I heard that Shiro was hurt, I quickly used my bow to use a barrage of attack against her. Then she made a stepback and left me.."

"Hmm.. I think it's all planned."

"It is. I believe that she should be hunting you instead of me, yet she's the one who showed."

"Same, the brushed hair hoarder was there with us.."

"That's because they have specific target.. They have limit of failing. However, blood hoarders don't." Ryu interrupts.

"No way.. Are you telling me that my sister bargained with that blood hoarder?" Toki asked Ryu.

"It's possible. Who knows?" Ryu shrugged.

Toki was surprised.

"I'll be leaving, for now.." Rin suddenly announced.

Eiji was shocked.

"Why?" Eiji asks.

"I just want to be alone for a while.. Don't find me. Ok?"

"You guys can stay at the apartment. I'll give it as a gift.." Rin added.

Toki and Eiji was in complete confusion as Rin left the hospital.

"Just let her be.. She'll find us if there's any news or update." Ryu says.

"What does she do for living anyways?" Eiji asks.

"She steals money.."

"What!? That's terrible!"

"Not from normal people, hoarders have businesses. Remember?"

"Ohh.. So she bribes money from them?"

"Not just bribe, she sometimes kill them and steals all the shop's cash."

"So she's basically a criminal.. To them.."

Ryu shrugged.

"Anyways, Ryu, could you also explain about these gun keychains?"

"I don't know, but its bullets seems to had the same materials as our keychains."

Ryu then summoned a gun and examines it.

"It doesn't have any bullets..."

Ryu then tried to imagine the gun to have a bullet.

The bullet then began to appear as soon as he starts imagining it to have a bullet.

"It seems that these guns need mana to produce bullets." Ryu says.

Toki and Eiji were amazed.

Eiji was then lost in thought,

'Just how do they craft these things?'

Meanwhile,

As Rin left, she then quickly ran.

An anger within her builds up..

'I swear! I'll find every hoarder and kill them..'

Rin's mind is clouded in rage.. She must've been very angry after Shiro's death.

"You took everyone from me again.. Hoarders!"

It appears that Rin is under the state of wrath. She wants a revenge so bad.

As she ran alley to alley, jumping from roof to roof. She finally found a hoarder.

'If I kill this guy now, then it would be just it..'

'But.. If I follow this guy, maybe he'll take me to their lair. Then I'll kill them all there...' Rin smirked.

Rin then followed the hoarder guy from the roof.

She jumps from roof to roof as she follows this one guy.

He kept walking and walking, until he stopped from a nearby dumpster.

As soon as he opened it, what's inside the dumpster is not made up of trashes, but rather an empty door way

The hoarder then looked to the side and smirked.

Rin wants to take a closer look, so she jumped from the roof all the way to the fire exit.

After a while, she then jumped to the ground and took a closer look at hoarder's face.

The hoarder then turns around and says,

"I guess you are in the right place.. Lone wolf.."

Rin's eyes suddenly grew as she saw the hoarder's face.

It was her beloved Hiro. The last person that Rin loved and the one that gave her the bow keychain.

"Hiro??" Rin asks.

"Hiro? Who's that?"

Rin was surprised once again..

He has the exact face of Hiro, but he seems to have a different personality.

Rin then asked herself,

'What's going on.. He looked like Shiro, but he doesn't seem to remember his name..'

'Could it be.. That he is alive, but was brainwashed?'

'Just what is going on..?'