Previously On Unknown: Akishima, exhausted on the stairs, encounters three foes. A devil inquires if he seeks survival, and he defeats the adversaries but regrets using the power. In his subconscious, he faces consequences and collapses, vowing to save the ability for Yuji. The devil's voice initiates another subconscious journey.
(Continuing)
Akishima, finally understanding what the devil is getting at, inquired. "I get that you can devour the core of the guy I killed earlier. But how would this help me? Wouldn't the power just go to you?" he looked at the devil's hand, awaiting another response.
The devil answered the boy's question with a slight chuckle. "𝔜𝔢𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱, 𝖙𝔥𝔢 𝔭𝔬𝔴𝔢𝔯 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔤𝔬 𝖙𝔬 𝔪𝔢. 𝔅𝔲𝔱 ℑ 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝖙𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔱𝔥 𝔬𝔣 𝖙𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔬𝔲𝔩 𝔦𝔣 ℑ 𝔴𝔦𝔰𝔥𝔢𝔡." As he says this, the orb in Akishima's hand starts glowing brightly. Litting up the endless void, like a single torch in the darkest cave.
The magical core starts to manifest into the inverse silhouette of the fat boy and soon after a spiritual form of the fat boy, just like Akishima, appears from the magical core.
The boy was understandably shocked and confused. "Uh…? Where am I? What is this place?" he inquires, with a slow, grumpy, and slightly deep voice as he draws up the snot in his nose. He didn't realize it at first, but after calming down and processing what he saw before him, he was terrified to the core, no pun intended.
Akishima then tells the fat boy to shut up in an irritated and disrespectful tone. "Shut up, you overloaded pig." But before the boy could say anything the devil's hand grabbed him, and as he screamed for help in the vast nothingness his body started to fade in luminous light, the agony evident on his face, it was as if he was dying again.
And as the boy completely disappears, the devil chuckled, saying, "ℑ𝔱'𝔰 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔬𝔫 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴𝔩𝔢𝔡𝔤𝔢 𝔞𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔤𝔰𝔱 𝔯𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔟𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔣𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔬𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔞 𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔬𝔫 𝔴𝔥𝔬'𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔶 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔡, 𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔰, 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔦𝔫 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔩 𝔬𝔯 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔫, 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶'𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔢𝔵𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢."
Akishima just stood there, watching all that unfolded. Even though the body of the fat boy was erased, the light particles that were left behind flew gracefully through the air.
The giant hand of the devil started to form a sign. Then, at the same moment he was about to chant a spell, Akishima stopped him, saying, "Hold on. Do you think I'm that stupid? He questioned the devil. His eyes are a mixture of determination and seriousness.
The devil, understanding that Akishima had caught on to his act, replied to the boy with a slight, devious chuckle. "𝔄𝔥, ℑ 𝔰𝔢𝔢. ℑ𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔰𝔬 𝔞 𝔰𝔲𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔪𝔢. ℌ𝔬𝔴 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔞𝔠𝔠𝔢𝔭𝔢𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 ℑ 𝔰𝔞𝔦𝔡." the devil continued, "𝔅𝔲𝔱 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔯 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔞𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔶𝔬𝔲, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔡𝔬 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 ℑ 𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱." the devil revealed. Akishima was just standing there, staring at the devil's hand.
Then he perks up, saying, "Yeah, I know that. But if you have to take a part of my body for you to give me the strength that I need to fight, then I refuse." he declared, his eyes reflecting his demeanour.
The devil got excited at the boy's sudden change. He then negotiates with the boy. "ℌ𝔪𝔪… 𝔖𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔯𝔢𝔣𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℑ 𝔠𝔞𝔫'𝔱 𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔬𝔟𝔢𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔢𝔩𝔩 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔬𝔴 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔴𝔢 𝔪𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔞 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔩. ℑ'𝔩𝔩 𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔱𝔥 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴 𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱."
Akishima thought about the exchange and soon he agreed. "Alright then, it's a deal. No funny business." he continued, "Got that?" he stared at the devil's hand, with a commanding voice, as if he were at a higher hierarchy than the devil.
The devil chuckled amused at the boy's attitude. He acknowledged the boy's permission and then he chanted. "𝔗𝔲𝔯𝔫 𝔜𝔬𝔲𝔯 ℑ𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔫𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 ℑ𝔫𝔱𝔬 ℜ𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔶, 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔖𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔬𝔴𝔰 𝔒𝔣 𝔈𝔳𝔦𝔩 𝔖𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔩 ℭ𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔲𝔪𝔢 𝔜𝔬𝔲! 𝔐𝔞𝔫𝔞 𝔗𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔰𝔣𝔦𝔤𝔲𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫: 𝔐𝔞𝔫𝔞 𝔐𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔭𝔲𝔩𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫: 𝔖𝔬𝔲𝔩 𝔗𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔰𝔣𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢!" The light particles from the fat boy started to glow even more, and then they rushed to Akishima.
They entered his body and then he started to glow even more than he was before as if he were getting healed. After the assimilation was complete, the devil then said, "𝔑𝔬𝔴 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔡. ℌ𝔬𝔴𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯, 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔲𝔪𝔞𝔫 𝔴𝔞𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔫𝔤, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔰 𝔰𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔫'𝔱 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔢𝔱𝔢𝔩𝔶 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔡. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔯, 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔩 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔭𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔫𝔬𝔴, 𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔬𝔫𝔢'𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔩𝔩 𝔯𝔢𝔠𝔢𝔦𝔳𝔢, 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔯𝔲𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔞 𝔱𝔦𝔡𝔞𝔩 𝔴𝔞𝔳𝔢. 𝔄𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔱 𝔬𝔫𝔠𝔢!" the devil explains. Declaring to Akishima what will happen after an hour has passed.
But he didn't stop there, he concludes, "𝔄𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔯 ℑ 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔞𝔰 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔟𝔬𝔡𝔶 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔥𝔬𝔩𝔡."
Akishima only looked at the devil's hand with a smirk. The devil acknowledged Akishima, words not necessary to show their agreement.
As Akishima turns around and walks away, memories of the past flash like lightning through his mind.
Akishima remembers the words of his teacher during their training.
*A Couple Months Ago At Matsumoto's Hideout On Garton…*
Dusk is approaching, the sun is beginning to settle on the horizon, and the time seems to be around 5:00 pm. Matsumoto, Akishima, and Hisashi are all relaxing from what seems to be a long and tiring training session. Hisashi is asleep, his back facing Matsumoto, and Akishima who are both eating. The food they are eating looks nothing like what you'd find on Garton.
Matsumoto stopped eating, then said, "There's something you must know."
Akishima stops eating and looks at Matsumoto, realizing that Matsumoto is talking to him. He inquired about what Matsumoto said. "You have something to tell me?" his face filled with confusion.
Matsumoto starts to explain, "The elements are mana that have been formulated. Without formulas, the stability and potency of mana cannot be conjured into magic." Matsumoto gives a little insight into magic.
Akishima was even more perplexed. He already knew about the importance of formulas within magic. "Yeah, I knew that. But is that really all you wanted to say?" he inquired, eager for an answer.
Matsumoto granted Akishima's request. "Well, while formulas are necessary to form elements, not all elements can be formed from formulas."
This came as a shock to Akishima. "Wait what?! What are you saying?" His face filled with shock and surprise. For he was about to learn another important lesson from his master.
(To Be Continued)