"Bachiko! Bachiko!" Astra yelled. "I'll kill you!"
Bachiko looked at Astra then looked surprised when Astra vanished. Astra appeared behind Bachiko then kicked her away. Bachiko groaned and crashed through multiple trees. Astra appeared in front of Bachiko and grabbed her face then slammed her to the ground. Bachiko groaned and her body turned into space particles. She reformed in front of Astra.
"Blyze..! Blyze!" Astra yelled and lightning crashed down powerfully.
"Himeko! Come in! Where is this power coming from?!" Ochiyo asked while flying in the sky with her battlesuit.
"It's coming from the forest! This energy feels like pure rage! It feels like it could be Astra!" Himeko said.
"We need to find her and stop this! We can't allow this to continue much longer!" Namiyo said.
Bachiko summoned her naginata and dashed to Astra. "Playtime is over! It's time for you to die!"
Astra roared and dashed to Bachiko. Bachiko thrusted her weapon through Astra's chest. Bachiko looked surprised. Astra punched Bachiko's face and thunder boomed loudly.
"Die! Die!! DIE!" Astra bellowed and her body shined. "Primordial Discharge!"
She bellowed and discharged destructive electricity from her body. The electricity destroyed the trees around her and began to destroy the forest.
Bachiko put up a spatial shield, but the shield instantly broke the moment the electricity came in contact with it. She groaned loudly as she was hit. The electricity disappeared and Bachiko panted and fell on one knee. "This...is getting annoying."
Astra walked to Bachiko and took the naginata from her chest.
Melody noticed the birds flying away. "Yan Mei! Yoshida! Something's wrong and it's nearby!"
Yan Mei and I looked at Melody then noticed her serious face. We looked at each other then nodded.
We all made our way away from the training area and followed Melody. We ran through the forest and I sensed an attack. I grabbed Yan Mei and Melody's arm then pulled them back and used my darkness to deflect the stray lightning bolt. They looked surprised and I looked around. My dark shield vanished then I saw a bright light in front of me.
"Yoshida, what is it?" Yan Mei asked.
"It's Astra...something is most definitely wrong!" I ran towards Astra's location.
"Yoshida wait! You'll get yourself killed!" Melody ran after me.
Yan Mei followed us.
I made it to the scene and noticed Bachiko on the ground. Astra was about to deal the finishing blow. "Astra!"
Astra stopped after hearing my voice. She looked at me and grunted. "You...Yoshida!"
"It's me you want right?! Not her!" I yelled.
Bachiko raised her head and looked at me. "Yoshida.."
I looked at Astra and felt so much pain in her heart. I held my head and grunted, stumbling back.
"Yoshida!" Melody held my shoulders. "What's the matter?"
I exhaled and looked at Astra. "Nothing. I'll handle Astra, you two get Bachiko and get to safety!"
"But.." Melody looked worried.
"She is after me. She wants to kill me. This is my fight." I said looked at Astra.
Melody saw how determined I looked then nodded. She ran to Bachiko and helped her up. Melody retreated from the area. Yan Mei followed her and looked back at me. She was worried about me. She shook her head and continued to follow Melody.
"It's just me and you now. Come Astra, let's settle this." I said then placed one hand behind my back.
Astra roared and dashed to me. She bellowed and went for an attack. I dodged her flawlessly. Astra looked surprised then stopped herself and went for a kick in which I dodged as well. Astra bellowed and appeared behind me, trying to grab me. I dodged her grab then kicked her away. She groaned and crashed into a tree. I opened my eyes and turned around to looked at Astra. Astra stood up and looked at me.
As Melody ran away from the forest, she noticed Blyze's body on the ground with a naginata through her back. She stopped and looked surprised. She let go of Bachiko to check and see if Blyze was even alive. She got on the ground and checked her pulse, confirming Blyze was dead. She turned around and noticed Bachiko's with a wide smirk behind her trying to kill Melody.
Yan Mei palmed Bachiko's back, blowing her away with concussive force. Bachiko groaned and rolled on the ground then got up to look at Yan Mei. "Hmph. You have something to do with Blyze's death. That's the reason Astra is angry."
"Heh...You can put two and two together pretty quickly. I expect nothing less from the Mystic Human." Bachiko smirked and summoned her naginata from Blyze's body. "I'm after one thing. If enough people die on Earth then Iris would be summoned to restore all that is lost. While she does that, I'll kill her and move on to the next Deity, Zeir."
"Only way you'll do that is if you can defeat me." Yan Mei said and got in a stance.
"Oh...this should be fun." Bachiko smirked.
Astra yelled, trying to land a single hit on me. I kept dodging her attacks then palmed her stomach lightly. She looked at me.
"I can feel your pain. You're being controlled by your anger and I can understand that...you lost something dear to you." I said.
Astra clenched her teeth and roared then punched my face. She noticed I didn't feel a thing and just stared at me.
"I am not the enemy. Yes, my goal is to kill Apeiron, but I have my reasons why I must. I have my reasons on why I must rewrite the Tree of Life and Death. I have my reasons why I must destroy the Hierarchy to rebuild it." I said. "I have my reasons on why I want to save you and your sisters."
Astra began to breath heavily then yelled and tried to kick me. She grunted as I caught her foot.
"We aren't so different after all. We both have people we care about and are willing to sacrifice our lives to protect." I let go of her foot. "You lost someone close to you...that's why you're angry. Who was it?"
Astra balled her fist and yelled. "Why...do you want to know?!" She yelled and punched, but looked surprised when I caught her fist.
"Because you were attacking Bachiko. Who did she kill?" I asked then opened my eyes.
Astra looked surprised and her eyes began to turn back to normal. Her heart thumped hard and she groaned, coughing blood. She fell forward and I caught her. "Blyze...She...she killed Blyze.." Astra silently cried in my arms.
I remembered Melody's words that morning, "you go out of your way to save the monsters and maintain balance while Bachiko goes out of her way to kill them and destroy the balance." Bachiko is back to her old ways once more, but I didn't understand why. She was so kind to everyone I knew. Did she hear about how the sisters were after me and wanted to protect me?
"She said...that after everything was over...she was going to kill you too. You've got to stop her from finding her Original...please." Astra begged and gripped my clothes. "Please...save my sisters."
I looked at Astra and placed my hand on her back then my light aura began to heal her completely. "I'll do better than save them. I'll stop this alternate as well from ever killing again."
Astra looked up at me. She slowly reached up and held my cheeks then kissed my lips, giving me the ability to use Fulgar Aura. She pulled back and noticed her abilities were sealed. "Please...I betrayed Apeiron for you. So please, don't die or lose."
I nodded then she let go of me. I walked off and Astra sat against a tree. She looked up when she saw a hand being held out to her. It was Rimuri. She looked surprised and took her hand.
"You should come with me. Your other sisters are safe with us." Rimuri said, showing her Monster Protection Force badge.
Astra looked at her then nodded.
Yan Mei grunted as she slid back. She panted and fell on one knee. "Dammit. She's way stronger than I expected."
"Yan Mei get back. You are fighting one of the strongest Monsters to exist while you're purely human. It was only a matter of time before she broke through your Mystic Form." Melody said, while holding Blyze's body.
Bachiko smirked then sensed my aura. She looked at me and rose an eyebrow and smirked. "Senpai~ You're her-" she dodged a lightning bullet and looked a bit surprised.
"Me and you Bachiko." I said and exhaled, clearing my mind completely.
My light aura shined and healed everyone within the light. Blyze's body shined and she gasped for air then opened her eyes. She looked around then noticed Melody holding her and looked at me.
"Oh...I see. You know of my intentions huh? You want to fight me? Let's see how long you last." Bachiko stomped her foot down then got in a stance. "Deja Vu huh? This time, I'll make sure I kill you."
I closed my eyes and placed a hand behind my back, getting into a stance. I opened my eyes and glared at Bachiko.
Bachiko dashed to me and thrusted her naginata at me. I palmed the weapon out of the way then dodged her clone's attack that came from behind. I palmed Bachiko's stomach and she looked shocked then groaned. She was quickly sent flying and crashed into the outside of a building, leaving a hole on the wall. A spatial portal opened above me and I dodged her attack then dodged more of her clones. I backflipped on one hand then sprang into the air, dodging a slash towards my arm.
"Whoa..the pure focus on his face." Blyze said in awe. "He moves just like you."
Yan Mei watched then noticed more clones of Bachiko rushing at me.
I dodged multiple attacks from Bachiko's clones. I inhaled then thrusted my arms to the side, releasing an omnidirectional electric wave, destroying all of Bachiko's clones. I exhaled then my eyes flashed silver.
"Master Melody.." Yan Mei said impressed.
"He's doing it." Melody said in excitement.
I dodged Bachiko's attack then grabbed her arm and flipped her over my shoulder, slamming her on her back. She groaned then smirked.
"Spatial Burst!" She yelled and released an spatial beam at my face and an explosion happened. She smirked then looked surprised.
"Spatial Burst." I said then sent an energy beam at her stomach.
She groaned loudly then was sent crashing through multiple trees.
I looked at my hand and noticed slight Mystic Aura forming around my hand. I looked forward and heard a voice.
"Yoshida. Can you hear me?" A voice said.
"Loud and clear." I said.
"Great, it's me! Theora! I can see you're so close to entering Mystic Mode and obtaining Mysticism, however...It would be too risky since you haven't completed your training! It'll be safer-"
"No. Bachiko needs to be defeated. I have to stop her by any means necessary." I said then balled my fist. "My friends...my family are in danger. Earth is in danger. Bachiko is out of control. I'm the only one who can beat her. Allow me to tap into a new form power, just once and from there I will train diligently to master it."
"Mmm...Alright." Theora gave in and blessed me with Mystic Aura.
"You now have access to a new form, but promise me one thing. If you do plan to destroy the Hierarchy, leave me and Cosmia out of it. Unlike Apeiron, we care for you." Theora said.
"You have my word." I said and my eyes slowly turned silver.
"I'm glad. Now go get 'er! For the Mystics!" Theora said happily.
"For..the Mystics." I said then my aura surged powerfully as I tapped into a new form.
"He did it.." Melody said in shock.
"It feels like Mystic Mode..but his is different from Mystic Martial Arts. He had Mysticism but...I don't sense Mana in him." Yan Mei said.
"He's...unique. He's the first monster to obtain a Mystic Mode and not have Mystic Arts. What is this..?" Melody asked.
"It's what Apeiron feared. This is...Supernatural Arts. Because of his unique Esoteric Aura, he doesn't follow the rules of Mysticism. We are seeing the first ever Escoteric Mode." Blyze said.
I looked at my fist and noticed multiple clones of Bachiko surrounding me. I looked up and my hair slowly turned black with white highlights.
"Kill him..! Kill that bastard!" Bachiko yelled.
The clones attacked but all of their weapons broke upon contact with my body. They looked shocked. I snapped my fingers then a spatial rift opened.
"You're finished." I said then a gravitational pull sucked in all the clones into the rift and closed. The clones turned into pure energy and I held my hand out, opening a void. "How's this."
The void turned red and released a powerful energy beam at Bachiko. She grunted and caught the energy beam in her hands, sliding back. An explosion happened and I lowered my hand. Bachiko bellowed and flew to me and slashed down. I caught her naginata. The darkness began to spread as I began to create a Dark World. Everyone looked around then looked at me.
"It seems in this Form he has full control over the different monster auras he's obtained." Yan Mei said impressed.
"Bachiko...This is it." I said then I held my hand up. "This is reality, we both my have the same goal, but I actually wish to keep those who are dear to me alive! I don't know where your original is, but if it comes down to it, I will destroy you both.."
A dark ball of energy formed above my hand. I let go of Bachiko. She grunted and looked up then jumped back.
"You only have ten second before my attack finishes charging. Make them count." I said. "Ten."
Bachiko grunted and dashed to me. She slashed, but a dark spike protected me. She dodged a dark spike.
"Nine." I said.
"I won't let you defeat me!" Bachiko yelled and opened multiple rifts and fired multiple spatial beams at me. An explosion happened.
The smoke cleared and my dark barrier shattered. The energy ball above my hand grew bigger. "Eight...Seven....Six..."
"Die!" Bachiko yelled and dashed to me.
"Five....Four...Three...Two..." I said.
"Take this!" She slashed at me.
My hair covered my eyes. A spatial barrier was put around me and Bachiko. "One. Doomsday."
I blocked the slash and sent the energy ball crashing down at the ground. A massive explosion happened and Bachiko yelled in pain.
The Dark World shattered and the smoke cleared. Bachiko was on the ground and her aura vanished. The spatial barrier disappeared and I turned normal and passed out.
"Yoshida!" Melody called out.
I laid on the ground all out of energy and just rested on the ground.