"You ready, Aoi?"
"Yeah."
"Alright. Now then, let us test out this new invention."
Akio and Aoi walk towards this new machine, which can supposedly instantly transport them to their destination. Before using it, however, Akio asks Hanami if she's sure, since he doesn't feel like being late on another mission.
"Yes. Now go!"
"Alright, alright..!"
Hurriedly, the two Successors enter the machine, which starts making a deafening sound. At that moment, they start to worry, thinking that it has started malfunctioning, but a bright flash of light ensues them.
When the light dissipates, Akio and Aoi look around, with Akio calling Hanami, asking her if this invention of hers worked.
"Indeed, it has! You two are on the location of your next mission. Now, I shouldn't hold you back any further. Good luck!"
At that moment, Akio remarks on how Hanami, even though very bright, is a bit of a loose cannon. Nonetheless, he tells Aoi to keep her guard up. For a few seconds, Akio activates his Burning Sense, enhancing his magic sensing ability, and right after he has some general knowledge of the enemies' locations, he deactivates it.
"What did you see?"
"I think I have some idea of where they are. Follow my lead."
"Alright."
Akio jumps up, unsheathing Durandal, as he slashes the air, sending magic cuts through the nearby forest, as they explode the moment they make contact with the ground. Aoi follows up, sending water bombs at the forest, leveling even more of the nearby area.
This proves to be somewhat useful, as the dark soldiers are forced to come out of hiding. What Akio and Aoi didn't expect, however, was the fact that the soldiers knew better than to get tricked by such a dumb attack.
Aoi's guard is down, as four soldiers prepare to hit her all at once, finishing one off, before they focus on Akio. Akio is not fast enough to react, and Aoi did not have the time to prepare any counters, as the blasts are shot.
At that moment, Akio activates his Burning Sense in a final attempt to save Aoi, but he notices something. When he realizes what it is, he calms down, but Akio is still quite surprised. A few seconds later, right as the blasts are about to kill Aoi, Akio appears in front of her, cutting the blasts in half.
Akio then continues to charge at the soldiers, killing all four of them in a matter of seconds, as he prepares to kill the rest, who desperately shoot blasts at him, in an attempt to kill him. Akio doesn't budge, however, as he cuts through the rest of the soldiers as if they were butter, but he decides to do something fancy for the final soldier.
In a similar fashion to how he tried to kill Theos' murder, Akio places his palm on the soldier's chest, shooting a fireball directly at him, blowing the top part of his body off. Afterwards, Akio kneels, and Aoi calls out to him, now a bit worried, but Akio stands up, simply shooting a thumbs up at her.
Aoi, however, does not react positively, as she tries to warn Akio in time.
"Watch out!"
Her warning was too late, however. Before Akio could even turn around, a fist appeared in his face, striking him head on. Akio's knocked back a few meters, but Aoi manages to catch him, albeit being pushed back a bit also.
"Damn it, that was a strong pun--"
Akio abruptly silences himself, being able to recognize the soldier that stands in front of him. Aoi offers to give Akio a healing injection, but the latter rejects the offer.
"You.. bastard... How dare you.. show yourself again!?"
Pushing Aoi back, Akio charges at the soldier, having activated both his Burning Sense and this cyan-haired state, as Aoi couldn't even see Akio moving from here all the way to the soldier. Akio, though, does not care about anything at the current moment, as he desperately tries to damage the soldier.
"First.. you kill dad.. and now.. you show yourself to me..!"
Akio's hair and irises become darker, as he repeatedly blasts the soldier's body, which regenerates indefinitely. Even knowing this, though, does not make a difference, as Akio continues to damage the soldier.
In retaliation, the soldier punches Akio in the face again, but this time, he grabs a hold of his skull, as he bashes Akio to the ground, with the latter starting to spit blood. This continues for a few seconds, but Akio grabs the soldier's hand, freeing himself of his grasp. His hair and irises have taken an even darker shade of their respective colors, and black parts start to appear on his body, as he turns to Aoi.
"Aoi, use Trishula!"
"On it!"
Aoi raises her right hand to the sky, as she calls upon the mighty Trishula, resembling the trident that the God of Water, Poseidon, wielded. She is slightly enveloped by water, but she joins the battle, alongside Akio.
In rapid succession, the pair manages to damage the soldier, but of course, it is not permanent. Akio and Aoi use a joint attack, but once again, it fails. The soldier punches Aoi, making Trishula crack, and knocking Aoi back, leaving her unconscious.
Akio, however, does not plan to give up so easily. He prepares his two blades, as he raises them to the sky, ready to swing them downwards.
"Flaming... Devastation..!!"
The blades hit the ground, making it quake, as cracks appear, and out of them come flames. Below the soldier, the ground collapses, however, as he's enveloped in the pillar of flames, burning indefinitely.
"Take this, you regenerative freak."
Now starting to calm down, Akio sheathes his swords again, thinking that he's done with this monster of a soldier, but from behind him, and out of the pillar, the same soldier steps out, but he has become larger, his skin having taken a very dark green hue, and his body has deformed.
"What!?"
Now spewing incomprehensible nonsense, the soldier punches Akio to the ground, but Akio manages to dodge the attack, as he tries to look around. A magic aura envelops the soldier, and now, it's visible, allowing Akio to see why the hell he's back from that Flaming Devastation.
"Oh, that's why. I see."
Seeing a wizard behind the forest, empowering the soldier, Akio shoots a blast at him, but the soldier blocks it with minimal difficulty, as he reflects it back at Akio. Akio, though, cuts it in half, as he is desperately dodging the soldier's attacks, trying to find a way to kill the wizard.
Ultimately, however, Akio drops his guard for a few seconds, which would nearly prove fatal. The soldier grabs hold of Akio, as he punches him in the stomach, and Akio vomits blood, as he's pummeled to the ground. His left hand is broken, as both of his swords are thrown away, and Akio can feel some of his organs being destroyed.
In that moment of despair, though, Akio sees something. It's blurry, but it is still there. It is a man with spiky, long, white and silver hair, looking over the horizon, but he saw that picture for a split second, as immediately after, he recalls the events of Theos' death, infuriating him greatly.
Akio's hair becomes bright cyan, as he activates his Burning Sense again, and he pushes back the soldier's fist just enough for him to get away. In an instant, Akio is next to the unconscious Aoi's body, as he reaches to her pocket, grabbing a healing injection. He stabs himself on the neck with said injection, as he pours the liquid inside his body, and he is instantly healed.
The soldier is trying to keep track of Akio, but he's moving too fast. Then, when he looks up to the air, Akio is charging directly at him, as if he was a fireball in himself. The soldier is unable to counter against Akio's attack, as Akio goes through the soldier, incinerating his body on contact, as he strikes the wizard also, killing him instantly.
Afterwards, Akio actually kneels seriously, spitting some blood, as he drops down to his base state, but now, he's satisfied. In a matter of days, Akio avenged his father, and he has finished his mission, now being early enough to avoid any damage in populated areas.
Akio heads towards Aoi, who is just starting to regain her consciousness, as she asks Akio what happened.
"We won."
"I see."
The two fist bump, as Aoi calls Trishula back, and Akio also calls Durandal back, sheathing the two swords again. Aoi, however, is a bit sad, since the trident is now cracked.
"Don't worry. It should heal."
"What..?"
Aoi looks at the trident again, as the cracks magically heal, and Akio says that the Trishula is an interesting weapon. If it is damaged, it takes a small amount of its wielder's magic energy to regenerate it.
"Now then, shall we return?"
"Yeah. After all, you said we're done."
Akio helps Aoi up, and then, they both come to the realization that Hanami didn't account for their return back to the capital, as Akio calls Hanami.
"Hey, Akio! What is it? I don't believe that you failed this mission too?"
"No. It was quite the opposite, in fact. We finished the mission, and as an added bonus, I also took revenge for dad."
"I see. Well, congratulations. What do you need?"
"About that.. did you account for our return?"
"Oh.. no..."
"Just as we thought."
"Wait! I think that I stored something in your watch. Check it out."
"Alright."
Akio checks his watch, and to his surprise, there is.. nothing.
"Oops, that's my bad! Sorry, you two, but it seems as though you'll have to take the long way home. Don't worry, though. According to my calculations, it should take no more than three hours for you."
"Okay. In that case, we'll be starting immediately. See you later."
"Have a safe trip!"
Akio turns to Aoi.
"I take it that you heard us?"
"Yes."
"In that case, I need not explain. Let's go."
"Yeah."
And thus, the two begin their trip back home. Akio and Aoi make some small talk, but for most of the trip, they're both absorbed in their own thoughts. Back home, though, they're asked to give a small summary of the mission, something which Akio takes up, as Aoi goes back home, per the suggestion of both Akio and Hanami.
"Oh, Aoi? Since it's almost dark, I'll have a soldier escort you."
"Alright. Thank you, Ms. Hanami!"
Akio looks at Hanami with a confused look.
"Why would you give Aoi an escort? I don't think that she needs one, especially after her performance today."
"She's still a young girl, Akio. You can't understand yet, but it is important that we keep our girls safe."
"And what about 'your' boys?"
"Meh, you are strong enough to handle it."
After being given a quite angry look by Akio, Hanami instantly says that she's joking, and that she's simply worried about Aoi.
"Alright. Anyways, here is the summary."
"Okay, I'll read it and if need be, I'll call both of you back in tomorrow to sign the document.
"That's fine by me. Anyways, I'll see you later."
"See you, Akio!"
Afterwards, Akio leaves the headquarters, and he checks his phone. To his surprise, it's quite late, so he heads back home instantly. Hisako and Ichika greet him, asking him how his mission was, with Akio replying positively, something which both women are glad to hear.
The night proceeds as normal, as the three eat dinner, and Akio goes to sleep, preparing for tomorrow. And thus, tomorrow comes, as Akio wakes up at around 5:30 AM, as he prepares to head out.
Akio equips his battle suit, as he also calls Durandal, but before he leaves, Hisako wakes up, asking him where he's going.
"I'll go train at the headquarters."
"Alright, but please, Akio, do come home early today."
"Don't worry, mom. I'll see you later."
Akio closes the door behind him, leaving for the headquarters, and Hisako is actually a bit worried about her son, thinking that he's overexerting himself as a means of grieving Theos' death, but she is unable to think of an actual reason why he would be acting like that.
Meanwhile, Akio reaches the headquarters, as he instantly heads to the training chamber, making sure not to get noticed by anyone. Having noticed the existence of a certain something, Akio punches the top of the dashboard, and he grabs the key that comes out, as he places it on the control panel of the chamber.
"Just as I thought. You really are a brilliant woman, Hanami."
"Why won't you ever call me Ms. Hanami, like Aoi, you doof?"
To his surprise, Akio turns his head to the left, only to see a half-asleep Hanami, who had obviously stayed up all night.
"Sorry, force of habit. Anyways, why are you here this early?"
"It is hard being an engineer. Also, why are you here this early?"
"I came to train."
"Figures. Do you know how to use the key?"
"It can't be that hard, can it?"
"Nope. Just insert it and turn it clockwise. When you do so, a few more difficulties should be unlocked, but beware, for they can break you apart."
"Hmph, we'll see about that."
"Well, I warned you. Whatever happens to you from now on is not on me. I'll come to pick you up later for the documents, though. Have fun!"
"Yeah. Good morning."
Hanami goes back to her office, as Akio sets the difficulty of the training chamber to the new maximum, as he enters.
"Here we go."