… Father.
The only people who called Father Laurence "Father" have been quite limited. Gabriel, Mizuki, Sona, and Toshiro. All of Laurence's "Children" referred to the elderly man with familiarity, mostly due to Rosaline's desire to teach them respect as well as acknowledge their savior.
But, a grown man with strikingly familiar physical traits referring to him as "Father," left Laurence on edge.
Laurence's hair stood up on its ends, his eyes widened in slight fear and recognition. With a trembling expression, Laurence analyzed the man before him.
Hair black as night, brown eyes, red sideburns… ability to control fire. With a quick sudden intake of breath, a sudden memory struck the elderly man like a heart attack. Laurence could recall this moment as if it was yesterday.
It was of a kid, huddled with a group of four other kids. However, one of them stood out the most. A kid with zest-filled eyes of brown, red sideburns detailing the sides of his face, and a bright smile on his lips.
"... Imawashiki."
Standing meters away from Laurence, Imawashiki frowned slightly at the elderly man's words. But moments later, he immediately brushed it off, replacing it with his previous smirk.
"I'm a little heartbroken that my father can't say my real name… But I suppose that it has always been that way." Imawashiki remarked, his tone bitter-sweet.
In Laurence's mind, Imawashiki is a much greater threat compared to Yuso—all for fair reason.
Imawashiki... That name was not his first. It was a label, a moniker, to represent him. All those years ago in Tokuni village, he was the biggest obstacle in Laurence's tests.
By merely glancing at Imawashiki now, flashbacks flooded Laurence's mind. Perhaps even harder than before.
—Flashback—
"Run!"
"We need to get out of here!"
The sound of several villagers screaming in fear could be heard as several footsteps rang throughout the area.
"It's gaining on us!"
Suddenly, a despicable roar was unleashed, seemingly coming from the depths of Hell.
"KRAAAGGH!"
Amongst the deafening noise of screaming villagers and the inhuman screech, a middle-aged man with brown hair had a shocked expression, the rest of the world darkened. It felt as if he and the thing he was staring at were all that were around.
"God have mercy…"
Off in the distance, a beast of flames spewed fire to all of its surroundings. In the vicinity, several burning bodies and buildings could be seen.
The beast itself was quite small, but gradually growing larger by the second.
The middle-aged man gazed into the fiery red and orange eyes of the beast. Its body was four-legged, with spiky scales beseeching to be pierced from its back. Large, serrated teeth flashed as its jaws were wide open.
The middle-aged man was no ordinary man, as he is well known as Laurence Hisahito, and the beast he was staring down was none other than one of his test subjects.
"If I don't stop him, he'll destroy the entire village!" Laurence hollered to no one but himself, rushing forward, hoping to reach the beast that was seemingly made of fire.
Laurence may have acknowledged the fire surrounding the body of the beast, but on the inside, Laurence was aware of something vulnerable. A child.
A bright blue shine encompassed Laurence's body in thin streaks. The Torikesa Reta Tokken.
Laurence angled his arms, preparing to launch a precise assault on the beast using the Torikesa Reta Tokken. But, the beast managed to spot the man getting closer—"KRAAGHH*"—releasing one of its ferocious screeches.
"Just have to get close enough!"
Laurence's eyes locked onto the center of the beast, his eyes narrowing in determination. He didn't have much time—sooner or later, he'd end up dying if he failed, and the village of Tokuni would suffer dearly.
Pointing his palm at the beast of fire—*VROOM!*—a wave of magic was expelled from Laurence, hitting his beastly opponent instantly. In a matter of seconds, the fire that formed the beast began to diminish, its size decreasing ever so slightly.
"Now I see you!"
Returning his sights back onto the center of the beast, a small child could be seen huddling inside, clutching his skin tightly in agony.
Storing his Aura Sense in his legs, Laurence dashed forward, his other hand pushing outward. As his original hand continued to absorb the fire of the beast, Laurence used his other hand and directed it at the small child.
"If I can get him while he's unstable, I'll be able to prevent any more damage from happening!" Laurence declared, "I just have to get close enough!"
*FWOOSH!*
Suddenly, a giant claw swiped at Laurence, prompting the man to barely dodge by maneuvering his movement as fast as he could.
*SMASH!*
Upon the claw slamming into the ground, it left a sizeable crater, shocking Laurence at the strength the beast possessed despite its size.
'I could feel the heat radiating off of it. If I had been too slow, I'd have been dead before I could've been crushed!' Laurence proclaimed in his thoughts, finding his balance once more.
Once again, Laurence sprinted toward the beast. The fire was still weaker from Laurence's Torikesa Reta Tokken attack, leaving the child from before visible.
"Now's my chance…"
Laurence kept his eyes on the child but stayed vaguely aware of his surroundings. The closer Laurence got to the beast, the more the fire began to dissipate. All he needed to do was get close enough to create a hole in the flames for him to grab his test subject, which would ultimately destroy the flame beast completely.
True to Laurence's words, a hole swirled in the fire, leaving a slight opening as the brown-haired man got into close enough range. On the child, there was a specific weak spot, the neck. On the neck, a seal was present, being the perfect key to purging all of the fire.
The beast's eyes dilated in anger, eliciting another horrid roar that could be heard across Tokuni village. But it did not stop Laurence from pursuing the child from within the fire.
The beast suddenly dived down headfirst at Laurence, planning to strike the man before he could reach the beast's core. However, Laurence couldn't stop, not now. So, as he braced for any sort of impact, especially one that might kill him…
… He leaped.
*KRAAGH!*
After another thunderous roar, Laurence waited to be burned, or perhaps, crushed. After waiting for a few moments, Laurence didn't feel any sort of pain. Hell, even the burning fire didn't seem to be as intense.
Wait!
Opening his clamped eyes, Laurence looked straight ahead, noticing that his hand had successfully made contact with the child's seal on his neck.
Shortly after, the fire that once burned brightly started to dissipate, each flame growing smaller, eventually disappearing permanently. He did it!
The small child's eyes cracked open into slits in an attempt to view what has happened. But, before he could open his eyes fully, he passed out, his upper body falling back to the ground below.
Looking at the child, Laurence sighed.
"This boy… I can only imagine what type of power he could have if he managed to fully control the Fire Dragon completely."
Laurence then picked the boy up gently, walking away from the scene.
XXX
Days after that incident, the village folk were far too scared to roam the streets carefree, as in a rare case, a peculiar child would meet their gaze. The Imawashiki.
Imawashiki was the label the child had ever since the assault on the village of Tokuni. The name explicitly stated what the child was—an abomination. Having caused the destruction of multiple buildings and the multiple deaths of various villagers, Imawashiki has been a name that has stuck with the child throughout the entirety of his time in Tokuni. It was, seemingly, a name that would stick with him forever.
Until the day he died.
—Flashback End—
"What? Stuck in a daze, Father?"
Returning to the present, Laurence was snapped out of the memories that had invaded his brain, glancing back at the current Imawashiki—the grown adult of the abomination.
Laurence gulped, his expression hardening. "After thirty-six years, you finally decided to make your presence known to me?"
"Has it really been that long?" Imawashiki questioned in faux wonder.
Imawashiki then turned around, acknowledging the redhead standing behind him. Yuso hadn't moved a muscle, but his glare was still strong.
"Oh, I remember you," Imawashiki claimed, his eyes locking in on Yuso. "I've actually had my eyes on you for a while now"
Yuso tensed at those words. "Quite the bold thing to say. I have half a mind to kill you right where you stand."
Imawashiki chuckled at the redhead's words as he then said, "There are only two people in this entire nation who could kill me. You, Yuso, are not one of them."
*SWOOSH!*
Pentagrams were then sent flying as Yuso adorned a deep scowl, each soaring red circle targeted at Imawashiki.
Imawashiki clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Didn't you just hear me?"
Without any attempts to stop the pentagrams, Imawashiki watched as the flying red circles glid toward him.
*POOF!*
To Laurence and Yuso's surprise, each pentagram seemingly cut through Imawashiki, cutting him to pieces. However, Imawashiki's body began to reappear, and his body proceeded to build itself back together with various flames.
"... I said, you can't kill me, Yuso."
XXX
Hey! The fight with Yuso and the holy trio may be over—but what's next!? Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_