"Gentlemen! So good to see you in my very own office!"
At the top of a fifty-story tower, a brown-haired male in a black linen uniform stood before a projector. His green eyes glistened joyously as he stared at a roundtable full of men and women. In short, they were all attending a business meeting held by the one and only CEO of their company.
Regashi Ketsueki.
"We've had a great month, fellas—year, too!" Regashi started, clasping his hands together. "However, Phoenix Industries is beginning to snag our sponsors!"
The CEO sauntered back and forth in front of the projector, his eyes flitting between the multitude of individuals sitting at the roundtable. Other than his voice, Regashi could only hear his own breath and the air conditioning. Inhaling deeply, the brown-haired male stepped toward the projector and pressed his index finger against the power button, causing the device to emit a clicking noise and whirr to life.
"This company was founded on the belief that poverty should only be a thing of the past—a rudimentary fix. We started formulating new foods and—!"
Before Regashi could finish his speech, an individual in his late fifties jumped from his seat, his eyes broad and bearded mouth agape as he peered out one of the giant glass windows of the tower.
Sweat dripped from the man's face, his body trembling. It was as if he was overtaken by a poltergeist or deadly plague.
"What is it, Roy?" The CEO queried in a concerned tone, craning his head to the side as he eyed the employee.
"Look! Buildings are toppling over!"
Regashi, along with the rest of the men and women, quickly shifted their gaze to the windows. At first, only smoke filled the distance, which alone was enough to induce stress and anxiety in everyone. Eventually, a skyscraper as tall as the one Regashi and his employees resided in rattled in the distance, suddenly tipping over as the corners of the building snapped under the pressure of gravity and some unknown force.
"Everyone, evacuate immediately!" Regashi hollered, his face contorting into a visage of sheer terror and worry.
Whether the employees heard the CEO or not would remain unknown because they were already scrambling to exit the room, running toward the nearest flight of stairs or elevator. Regashi, on the other hand, did not orient himself towards any probable emergency exits. Instead, he ran toward a speaker mounted on the wall behind him, pushing his index finger into it and pressing his lips on the microphone.
"This is Regashi Ketsueki and I am currently ordering everyone in the building to immediately evacuate and run south of here! Buildings within the city are collapsing! I repeat, I am currently—!"
*CRASH!*
Without warning, a body crashed through the roof of the tower, causing debris to litter the office and knock Regashi to the floor. The building quaked as Regashi instinctively clung to a chair that happened to be thrown a few inches from him. Blood seeped from his right sleeve, indicating a possible abrasion.
As Regashi pushed himself off the floor, he could feel that the stability of his tower was severely lopsided. Shards of glass covered the floor, crunching under the CEO's feet every time he took a cautious step.
"Hah… seems like I managed to break some of the fall that time…" A young voice rang through Regashi's ears, his green eyes widening.
"Hello!?" The CEO screamed outward, pointing himself in every direction.
Emerging from the middle of what used to be the office's roundtable was a jet-black-haired boy in a ripped gray cloak with a blue headband wrapped snugly around his head. He appeared to be a teenager, his bright blue eyes shining through the chaos.
He also appeared to be someone Regashi knew.
"Brother!?"
Tanjo, the boy who fell through the roof of the tower, looked over at the brown-haired CEO and huffed.
"Oh, that really proves my thinking!" Tanjo said mysteriously, brushing his shoulders off.
*BOOM!*
The sky turned red as a beam of light struck the tower, prompting Tanjo to breathe in through his teeth and create a barrier of blue and red magic.
Regashi could feel the heat of the light that Tanjo produced and the beam that nearly blew up the top floor of his building. He was at a loss—completely vulnerable. Was it a foreign military attack on the country?
"Brother! What's happening!?" Regashi cried out to Tanjo, trying to find his balance.
The unadulterated fear and vulnerability yielding behind the CEO's eyes made Tanjo's heart twist agonizingly. He was extremely vulnerable, thrown into the heat of Yuso's wrath.
Tanjo grit his teeth and said, "I'll get you out of here—!"
*BOOM!*
A second streak of light slammed into Tanjo's blue and red barrier, causing the solid combination of Aura Senses to shatter and obliterate the office. In a moment of panic, Tanjo lunged toward Regashi and scooped him up as they fell through a dozen or more of the building's floors.
A wave of screams erupted as Tanjo and Regashi landed on the thirty-sixth floor. Employees were huddled in every corner, crouched under desks or crawling on the carpet.
"You all need to leave the building now!" Tanjo yelled, planting his feet down and standing tall once more.
*WHOOSH!*
A red pentagram whizzed through the building, slicing an employee in half and flying through a wall. The employee's blood splattered against the carpet and other people on the floor. Horror brimmed within every person that witnessed the grotesque event.
"Oh, god!" One employee shrieked.
"If it wasn't for your irritable durability, you would have died from you constantly losing focus." the Crimson Stalker stated, descending down onto the thirty-sixth floor with his wings.
Tanjo glared at the redhead venomously. "You can't kill everybody in your way, Yuso! That's not how life works!"
Yuso raised his right hand, the pentagram embedded in his palm glowing.
"Then prove me wrong and die."
Regashi, who was still next to Tanjo, fretted as he witnessed Yuso's arrival. His linen suit was drenched with sweat, the fabric clinging to his body. Everything happening had to be a nightmare—an incredibly surreal nightmare.
*BOOM!*
*BRRMM!*
In the same instance that Yuso discharged a red beam of light, Tanjo had managed to conjure another barrier. Although the first barrier failed to hold the Crimson Stalker's beams back, despite being created with two different Aura Senses, Tanjo imbued all four of the Aura Senses into this current barrier, preventing Yuso from turning the entire building to ash.
Tanjo's body ached. It burned internally. Even with the intense pain he felt bubbling inside him, the face Regashi made when he spotted Yuso put the teenager's heart in a vice-like grip. It was neither the Regashi in his home universe nor the Regashi Ketsueki that could fend for himself against Lord Phoenix—but a Regashi that had no Aura Sense to utilize.
'I… can't let any more people die… I can't!'
Images of innocent civilians succumbing to the damages that Yuso caused began to flood Tanjo's mind, instilling an overwhelming sensation of dread and physical pain that lapped around his head a thousand times over. With every sense of his being enhanced, including his hearing, Tanjo was forced to listen as people met their fate all around the city, hearing as they took their last labored breath.
Yuso narrowed his Shirugeto eyes, grunting. Subtly, the Crimson Stalker applied more potent magic to his red beam of light, hoping to destroy the teenager's Aura Amalgamation-infused barrier that protected him and the civilians in the tower.
'What am I doing wrong…?' Tanjo thought to himself, keeping his arms steady as he maintained the barrier. 'I'm not thinking enough… I need to find a way to counteract Yuso's magic… his portals are just too tricky to simply maneuver around if the lives of others are also at stake!'
The Disruption of Reality flashed through the boy's mind briefly but was immediately considered a doubtful plan due to Tanjo's current state. He was using his Aura Amalgamation more than ever just to hold the Crimson Stalker back. Adding the Disruption of Reality to Tanjo's arsenal once again would lead the boy to his own death faster than Yuso would.
Tanjo was supposed to be smart, quick, and able to save everyone, not so utterly useless and devoid of fruitful ideas. The boy could not even formulate simple thoughts. Kronos and Asami could not prepare him for the nightmare known as Yuso. The redhead was too strong; his magic was too potent.
It would end the same way before he and Yuso had landed in this city: Tanjo's arms would start to melt away as Yuso's power continued to grow. No Aura Amalgamation could save him.
"Leave us alone, damnit!" A voice howled, breaking Tanjo out of his thoughts.
Regashi, shielding his eyes from the blinding light, was slowly stepping forward, trusting the barrier that halted Yuso's beam.
"We did nothing to you! Leave us be!" The CEO demanded, stopping a few inches from the barrier.
Tanjo blinked, opening his mouth to speak, "Hey! Get behind me! You'll die in a heartbeat if that barrier breaks!"
Yuso hummed, "Blame only your creators for my arrival."
*KABOOM!*
With one final rotation of Yuso's Shirugeto eyes, giving his red beam of light enough potency to finally break through Tanjo's barrier, the entire tower was enveloped in a massive explosion. Tanjo watched as Regashi and the other employees of the building were swallowed by the light. The floor the boy stood on turned to dust due to the beam of light, causing him to be taken downward by gravity.
Yuso's words rang through Tanjo's mind repeatedly.
'Blame only your creators…'
As Tanjo fell down multiple stories, fragments of the tower plummeting along with him, a particular god graced his brain. Kronos, the God of Time.
Kronos could halt time, travel dimensions and universes, and peer into the future. So, if he could do all that, why was he not saving Tanjo? Was the boy no longer good enough? There had to be something Tanjo was missing—something vital.
Then, Tanjo was overcome with a realization.
Kronos only ever came if Tanjo was truly about to die, when the boy had no possible way of making it out of a situation alive, and when the universe itself would strategize against him. Kronos needed Tanjo. That much was clear.
If Kronos was not here, then Tanjo still had a fighting chance against Yuso.
That was all Tanjo needed. That thought alone was all the boy needed to not only subdue Yuso—but kill him.
"...You better hope that god holds me back, Yuso…"
*KRSSHHHH!*
Tanjo relished in the pain that thrummed throughout his body as he released the Disruption of Reality, the blue rifts that warped reality surrounding the boy's body.
Yuso spat blood as the rifts abruptly struck him in the chest, fracturing the redhead's ribcage and sending him flying throughout the ravaged city.
After a few moments, Tanjo landed on the ground, standing where Regashi's tower once remained. Rubble was everywhere, with clouds of dust getting kicked up into the air. The pain was all over; it was all the boy could feel and think about. Slowly, Tanjo raised both of his hands to his head, the Disruption of Reality clinging to his body greedily.
The exact moment the rifts touched his head could be compared to an epiphany. With the knowledge that the Disruption of Reality could warp any and all concepts of reality, the boy targeted his sole adversary—his brain. The world started to seem clearer—answers he never had materialized within his head.
He was altering his own mind, making himself smarter.
The entire world felt like a simple plane, with everything that inhabited it resembling pieces of a chess board. So malleable and able to be used. It was a form of enlightenment.
Tanjo softly withdrew his hands from his head and reached into his cloak, bringing out the mask Asami had given him to conceal his identity. The child slipped the mask onto his face, wrapped the strap around his head, and felt the heat of his own breath flow between his face and the mask.
He then opened his blue eyes, a newfound glint of determination residing within the irises.
XXX
Hey! I hope you enjoyed the new chapter! And, before you say it, "Oh, Tanjo can just MAKE himself smarter? That total bull#*$%!" …Tanjo WAS ALREADY A GENIUS! He had managed to outsmart more than half of the opponents he's faced, except for the times he was drastically overwhelmed! It's just how Tanjo is! The Disruption of Reality, as powerful as it is, can only be utilized to the extent of what the user lets it! That's why Yuso hasn't flat-out DIED when being struck by it. Enough of this rant. I hope you enjoyed reading!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_