Monou High School stood in sileh not even a stoumbling. A hush drew over the nd for the moment that two fierce pairs of eyes exged looks. The sun high above looked down about the battlefield with anticipation as the two stood unmoved for seds. A strong gust signaled Yuki to turn away from Demostheowards Saki. She id on the ground still desperately fighting to stay scious.

  He k down to lift up her head seeing her light blue eyes defiantly staring up to him. A gentle calm came over his eyes as he watched. “It’ll be alright, Saki. You rest now.”

  She couldn't answer him immediately, but through the pause gained some strength. “…Yuki…please…”

  “I know, Saki. But I ’t stand by and watch my friends be hurt because of me. You know how much that hurts me.”

  Saki coughed before she closed her eyes momentarily in uanding. As she stared at him there was a different look that she hadn't seen in such a long time. ‘Yuki’s willing to fight, but it’s not because he’s doing it to enjoy it. There’s a kind, gentle look in his eyes like when he was much younger. Please stay like that, Yuki…’

  He id her back down on the ground. Yuki stood bad closed his eyes for a moment. Green waves burst from his feet quickly expanding out beyond the school faintly disappearing. Particles of energy lifted up from the grass, sidewalk and wall filling the air with a dang show of lights. The energy began to be drawn into groups as it hovered over students that y on the ground aered their bodies filling them with warmth. Wounds, scrapes and bruises were all quickly meogether rest vitality to them. Voices were murmuring across the school grounds as the light faded away.

  “Everyone listen up!” Yuki’s voice carried across the Field. “Once you move, please run away from the school.” There ause in his words as he thought back to what they had all done for him to protect him. “I’m grateful that you protected me, but this is my fight to deal with now. I don’t want anyone else to be hurt because of me.”

  Demosthenes watched on monit the skill of Yuki having bee curious. He could clearly tell that he was no loaring at the same child he had faced the day before. The ge that he had undergone was sudden and drastibsp; ‘If the seal is truly broken, he should have plete trol. The st gift is finally gone…’

  Saki stood up walking over to Yuki once she had been healed. “Yuki, let me fight with you!” She ched her fists tightly trying to hold down the boiliions that were threatening te with her.

  “This is his fight, Saki,” Ayumi said ftly as she approached from the opposite side.

  “But I—“

  “Hey, wake up man!” Hiroshi shouted in panic as fear was woven through his voibsp; They all turned around running over to Hiroshi’s side where Kazuhiro id. Kazuhiro’s still body was unmoved by Hiroshi’s shaking. All of the wounds that he had suffered were repaired, but he still remained unscious.

  Yuki k dowo Hiroshi staring at Kazuhiro's emotionless face trying to find life. He turned back over to Ayumi looking for an answer from her. “Why isn’t he waking up? I healed his injuries!”

  Ayumi joihem on the opposite side examining his body before cheg for a pulse at his nebsp; She looked up at Yuki once she had finished. “He’s dead.”

  “What?! But I healed him, Ayumi! He should have been fine!”

  “You ’t bring back the dead, Yuki. You fix his body, but not his soul.”

  “What are you talking about?” Hiroshi looked between them. He held on to his friend’s hand. Tatsuya had finally joihem hearing the worried voices. Hiroshi barely kept his voice from failing him after hearing Ayumi’s decration.

  Ayumi stood up and started to walk away from the se. It wasn't her pce to be. However, Hiroshi grabbed her wrist quickly, holding her from leaving. “What do you want?”

  “Fix him, damn it! I-I…” Hiroshi’s features were wavering under his emotions. His lips were quivering from the thought that his friend was really dead. “I know, know you do something! I don’t uand it, but you fix him!”

  Everyone froze when Ayumi loudly spped Hiroshi across the fabsp; “Dead means dead! We aren’t gods!” There was hiddeion behind the words that she spoke with a meaning that only she could uand.

  Hearing the words had hit Hiroshi hard as he colpsed to the grouo his friend. Tatsuya remained quiet trying to hold back tears. “…Kazuhiro…”

  Yuki stared down at Kazuhiro’s body feeling his owiing out of trol. They were causing his arms to begin to shake soon followed by his body. However, it wasn’t fear that made him quiver. Anger boiled in his blood. He had been calm before thinking that he could save everyone a Demosthenes, but it was different now.

  ‘He killed Kazuhiro… He killed my friend…’ Yuki started to turn slowly away from them towards Demosthenes. His head tilted down with his hair hanging over his eyes blog them for view. ‘This was just supposed to be about me… How could he…’ His body felt warm as though a fire was burning in his blood. ‘I ’t let this tinue any longer…’ The pounding in his heart was all he could hear through the echoes of Kazuhiro's voice screaming out to him.

  “Ayumi…Saki…” Yuki said softly through tremendous trol that still was barely enough to keep the shaking from his voibsp; “Take them away from here please.”

  “Yuki! I’m not leaving you!” Saki screamed, starting to run for him only to be stopped by Yuki.

  His head tilted over his shoulder with only one eye eg with her. Deep despair surrounded by an immense fury glowed in his light brown eye. It had frozen Saki iep. “I’m sorry, Saki. I don’t want ao see me like this.”

  The emotions that were being transferred through his eyes choked off her voibsp; ‘He’s struggling…that’s why I should be here!’ However, her own body wasn’t ag as she wished, still paralyzed. “You don’t have to face this alone, Yuki! I know—“

  “Please!” He felt the fmes in his body getting fiercer. “I ’t protect you like this…and I don’t know…what’ll happen right now. Ayumi…” Yuki appealed to her hoping that she would uand and grant his wish.

  “I uand,” she said calmly.

  “Ayumi?!” questioned Saki turning around.

  The snow Field had suddenly activated for her and raised a wall around her perimeter shutting off Saki from Yuki. Dull pounded from Saki could be heard through the semi-opaque ice barrier as it began to move with Ayumi f the others to move. They were soon out of sight having goraight through the school.

  Yuki returo face Demosthenes with waves of energy starting to pulse from his feet through the ground as an ill omen. Demosthenes patiently waited the eime just simply watg. It made Yuki feel even more enraged as though he was just an observer rather thahat had actually killed his friend. “…Demosthenes Alexander…”

  “…Yuki Hayashi…”

  Chapter 59 – The True Awakening

  “So it seems you’re finally ready for our duel. Prove to me that you deserve the title of King!” His Field had been up the eime, but an iy seemed to glow from it as a couple waves pulsed from his feet. He tightened his grip on the spear in his hands waiting for Yuki to summon his Field.

  A wind drew down to Yuki like a tornado sat atop him ag like a funnel on the clouds in the sky. It poured the clouds out into the ground rapidly to hit like an explosion. Pulsing waves issued forth stronger from Yuki’s feet passing by Demosthenes and tinuing beyond him. ‘He’s got a fir for the theatrical it seems, but his range…’ The forced fed clouds hung like a fog creating an uneasy tension that cealed the raging torrent.

  “No…” Yuki’s voice pierced through the fog as it began to evaporate into the air. “This won’t be a duel!” Yuki’s face was narrowed in untrolble emotions once he was revealed through the dissipating clouds. The pulsing waves became thicker as they were being released from his feet as though they were clumping together.

  Slowly vibratih beh them seemed to be responding to his fury, barely being held in check by Yuki. “You killed Kazuhiro! You killed my friend! I won’t let you think this is a duel anymore!” Thin streams of tears poured from his eyes as he shouted the words. Then as though his decration had been the final lo the cage of his heart the earth leapt into the air.

  A literal wave of earth, broken apart by the unnatural bending, rose from Yuki shooting out like a shockwave at blinding speeds. Everything in its wake was pletely altered as the wave didn’t seem to stop. No buildings were left as far as the horizon could be seen, just a vast field of tall grass and infrequently pced trees.

  The old man had barely been able to defend himself from the release of the Field. It had only been his own Field strength that dampe enough for him to brush it off as an illusion. He had no time to reabsp; ‘Such power…I ’t see ao his Field…it’s been a while since I’ve seen such power dispyed…’ Demosthenes reaffirmed his hold on his spear staring down Yuki.

  “…Yuki…” Saki watched from what Ayumi had decred a safe distanbsp; She still kept them from leaving, but allowed a clear barrier for them to be able to see.

  Ayumi narrowed her eyes in as she analyzed the se. ‘His Field is far rger than it’s ever been… There’s something wrong with this Field…’

  Yuki stood in the grass uill wearing the white pants of a gi that hung loose on his legs. The white formal appearing robes over the upper part of his body were separated into yers. A longer sleeve form fitting undershirt extended out from the robes to a little past his elbow. Held over top was the sed yer to the robes held loosely to his body with a thick obi around his waist up to his stomabsp; The third yer of clothes fell over top of the two bound yers like a lo-like coat. Laid out upon the silk material were pale anic designs stitched to produce a raised surfa the clothes.

  Across the grass in a lower cut grass Field stood Demosthenes with a couple spare ons littered in his Field. “You need a on for us to begin.”

  “For this fight I don’t need a on!” Yuki charged forward into a full sprint.

  Demosthenes could see that Yuki was serious about taking him on with only his fists and accepted his resolve. The spear sang through the air as he made a slig swing once Yuki came in range, but Yuki evaded the attack by ging his movement. ‘His reflexes are faster…’ Another swing at Yuki was dodged as he was keeping him at a distanbsp;

  A quick series of swings from the spear left them still unged. Yuki avoided any attempt, gaining barely any ground in reag him through the range of the spear. The spear’s tactics ged as an opening was found allowing him to thrust at Yuki.

  There was a dull ring of the bde’s metal when the spear came to ay stop. It caught the old man off guard seeing Yuki stop the tip of the spear with merely his palm. A faint wave echoed from his hand as it held back the spear at no more than a timeter from pierg his skin. Their as paused there as Demosthenes gauged what had occurred.

  The spear retreated bad took another swing down at Yuki with it being suddenly blocked by his crossed forearms. Once more the bde was held a short distance away from his skin, never making tabsp; Demosthenes tio test out Yuki’s defenses, never able to make it through to wound him.

  I thrust Yuki blocked the bde with his left hand ing in close to Demosthenes and gripped it bare. His right hand then rammed through the shaft of the spear, slig it in two as he spun around. Catg the spear head, his left hand csped the shaft rotating his body to run it into the old man’s ribs.

  Demostheaggered back a step taken ababsp; He had been uo make the spear disappear in time and now blood slowly dripped from his wound. The pain stabbed deep into his chest from the spear as he ripped it free from his body. Even through the pain his mind still tried to uand what Yuki was doing. “You…You blocked everything. How?”

  Yuki adjusted himself to face the man still with rage filled eyes that had been staring at him the eime. “It’s nothing that a dead mao be ed with…” He raised up his hand with his fingers aimed ft. A momehe tensed muscles released burying the hand in the chest of Demosthenes. Yuki pulled his hand out trailing blood through the air with his fingers coated. There seemed to be a release in his features as Yuki stepped back.

  The old man colpsed to his knees before falling over, shock still etched into his fabsp; Yuki closed his eyes, taking in the moment. His mind was still holding images of Kazuhiro, pyiedly for him during the fight. “I’m sorry, Kazuhiro…please five me…” A stream of tears fell down his shut eyes as he pulled his head back to face the sky.

  Cold wind suddenly blew through the area pulling Yuki’s eyes open. There was something inside him that was telling him something was wrong. It broke through his sorrowful emotions trying to clear his mind. Yuki alerted himself. He sed the area seeing nothing, but a rge circle of shortly cut grass embedded in his own. “What’s with the grass here?”

  “It would seem you’ve found your strength,” a bodiless voice decred.

  It only took Yuki a moment the voice as Demosthenes. He turned back towards the body, but it was no lohere. The body had disappeared pletely. “Where are you?”

  “Right here.” The source of the voice became visible as though a mirage had been lifted from the area. It was the old man standing pletely unharmed by any of the attacks from Yuki with a renewed spear in hand.

  Yuki narrowed his eyes in fusion. “Damn, the same trick you used before.”

  “A test. If you couldn’t defeat a weaker e of myself, you wouldn’t be worthy of my real strength.” He lowered his spear down into an attag stance.

  “Does that mean this is the real you?”

  “Yes, the real battle begin… Show me if you’re worthy to i the King’s power!”