A heavy atmosphere pervaded the pins of a te Atntean m. The sense of immi danger almost felt like it created an audible deep thud across the etlefield. Lines already drew up with Yuki, Yori’s sister and Seiji isoted from the others. Surrounded by soldiers, with no iion of being merciful, they forced their friends to face their immediate problem. No aid would be ing.

  While the others stood on edge with unease about their situation, Chiharu gnced around zily noting all of the soldiers. ‘All of these soldiers are just normal humans. The special ones divided up the weaklings. A standard divide and quer tactic, but the enemy doesn’t uand the capabilities of those that they’ve surrounded.’ She had seen enough of Saki’s strength to know that the soldiers stood no bsp; A sense of annoyance for being taken as weak went buried by her, not wishing to admit to it. “This is b,” Chiharu lightly ented, “There’s not arong enough to hold my i.” She stepped away from the circle before vanishing from sight.

  Saki and Fumiko turned around only just realizing what she said. They were too te. Once five a moment before, they became four. Abandoned, Saki ched her fist in frustration. “This isn’t about fighting strong oppos!” Slight movement from one soldier smmed her hair trigger. In an instant, the man id on the ground and Saki back at her spot. She id into all of them with a fierce stare making them hesitate.

  Chapter 114 – Waking Mind

  Arg through the air with dust trailing from the ends of her clothes, Yumi sped away untrolbly. Her mind didn’t notice when she was reag the edge of the Field geed by the woman and the ons that attacked her disappeared. Even without the force, she was careening away from everyone. The cold blistering wi against her skin, chilling her. ‘…it bites deep…’ Her eyes refused to open. ‘What’s happening to me?’ Yumi was fighting to move, but found herself weighed down. ‘Why do I feel so numb?’

  Sailing in the sky had to end, gravity saw to that fabsp; Cast like a fotten doll, Yumi smmed into the grass sparking a green fsh briefly before boung bato the air. Left behind from the impact, dirt and grass broke into the air from the forbsp; A sed bounce soon came with a smaller cloud of debris along with two fshes of green.

  Her body still had speed to it and the ground gave her rotation. Flipping carelessly across the earth, Yumi left sparks and dirt clouds in her wake. Finally, her body slid along the ground losing enough momentum making it impossible to return to the air. Scrapping along the grass threw up green sparks all around her carving out a lengthy path of destru.

  Still having to run under her own strength, Photine couldn’t help her own surprise at the se. Had she not watched everything with her eyes she never would have believed it. ‘I figured I caught her by surprise, but I shouldn’t have knocked her back with that much forbsp; Even the most skilled Meso Prosecho couldn’t have survived such a fall!’ While reeling through her disbelief, part of her mind worked through all of the details. She khat a normal human would have died, yet what she saw told her that Yumi remained very much alive. A worrisome fact, that Photiruggled to expin.

  Repying through the fall, Photied something strange. She remembered the fshes of green light that appeared every time Yumi collided with the ground. ‘The barrier she created was creen as well. It looks simir…’ When her ons attacked her after shattering the barrier something blocked them from getting through. ‘…I saw a green light then as well… Was that an automatic defensive Law in her Field? Could that be the light I saw?’ The distaween them closed quickly, Yumi’s body starting to return to crity in her sight. ‘Is that how she survived? Using the barrier to dampen the blow?’

  Wind carved stone pilrs and dried cracked earth swallowed up the grass around Yumi. Thick streams of dust blew through filling the air with a tan haze. No movement came from Yumi the lohat Photine closed. She tio py cautious as the strength of the child remained unknown to them. Rushing in for the kill could have triggered a trap. The fight had to be smart. ‘Is she uo move perhaps?’ Still air and silence left her questioning what she saw and w if the first strike succeeded more than she hoped.

  Her numb feeling from before felt as though it had mao increase twofold, something that she still struggled to figure out. Only her mind seemed to be funing at a normal speed. Her sight blurred and slowly failed to give her any clue to her surroundings or dition. Movement from her body lost all e. ‘Is this another dream?’

  If she dreamed, she khat something more would be happening. Nothing seemed to be to her. All was still. ‘What’s wrong with me? What happened?’ Yumi rolled through her mind remembering the desperation that she felt only a minute before. The tugging she was feeling before no longer weighed on her. She sought out what happened i instance before she felt numb. ‘It happened so fast… Something…someone?’ A vague image of a woman crossed her vision briefly.

  ‘A woman? She…attacked me…attacked?’ Pieces began to fall into pce for Yumi. She recalled the force of something breaking through and the shattering. ons came for her with such force that she thought she should have died or maybe she had. ‘Am I dying? I ’t feel anything because I’m on the verge of death?’ Fearful fusions built up for Yumi as she was wanting to know why she felt so numb.

  That fear caused her to stir and ignite life bato her body. It took her a few seds to uand that she o fear no more. Her eyes finally opened once miving her a gaze at the blue sky. Yumi id on her ba the dried dirt. Her clothes appeared dirty, but unharmed as did her body. Pulling herself up quickly in surprise, Yumi was examining her body, not certain why she had no injuries from what happened.

  A gnce away from her took in deeply how far away her friends stood. The distance she covered and her dition quickly became clear to her. ‘I was thrown more than five hundred meters?! How is this possible?’ Still fused, Yumi slowly started to stand up, not realizing the dahat closed upon her.

  Through the haze Photiook sight of Yumi rec. Her eyes widened a bit, finally getting a look at Yumi. ‘Unharmed?! her defenses be that perfectly timed to have protected her? I must be careful…’ She made her approach with caution.

  Out of the air the brisk dirt-filled wind spun in increasingly tighter spirals. More dirt pulled in making it denser until it seemed to bee solid. F a short drical shape first, the wind grew in form building out until the shape became clear. A wide bded sword, a meter ih, solidified from the dirt.

  Cast aarticles fell from the sword revealing well polished steel and an edge that nearly hummed. Apanying the sword, another sword materialized quickly, but took on a different shape tha. This on had a visible thied edge. Its length came up only to two-thirds of the other. Both hovered in the air gleaming with eagerness. ‘Let’s test that barrier…’

  Yumi was still trying to get her footing and bance back so she didn’t notice the ons prepared for her. The ons uhrough the air with tremendous speed. A slight jab in her side like someorying to get her attention knocked into her. It pulled her eyes away and towards the two swords. Having to take the time to process what she saw deyed her reas. Fear snapped into pce f her eyes closed. In a reaary move, her hands came out in front of her crossing over as a futile effort to protect her body.

  A loud pounding g reverberated arouo crushing effebsp; Yumi felt the ons pierce her for a moment in tuh the impabsp; She was staggering back reflexively responding. However, as the seds slipped on she realized that she remained unharmed. Cautiously opening her eyes she saw the ons rattling against a pale green wall standiween them. ‘What’s going on? Why’d they stop?’

  ‘Fast rea, but something feels off…’ Watg Yumi made her question some of the things she took franted from another MP user. ‘If it’s as strong as before it’ll take more than that to break. o find the right amount of force…’ A flick of her eyes summoned four more ing from rapiers to pikes.

  Rattling on her barrier, the two swords began to sound like saws pressed against a brick wall trying to cut through. Rising to a discordant symphony, Yumi was thinking that the noise couldn’t bee any worse. Photine’s four newly created ons joihe assault. Sound turo utter ade amplified by the dome. Yumi was feeling the sound waves creaking through her bones making her knees shake. ‘Make it stop! I ’t take it any longer!’

  ‘Then do something about it!’ shouted a voice from within.

  She turned around in her mind trying to face the dire of the voibsp; However, hat she looked could the person be found. The space remaiy. ‘Am I hearing things?’ Gripping pressure smmed into Yumi’s chest, suddenly making her weaken further. She khat she could resist no more.

  ‘Stop closing your eyes!’

  ‘Who are you?’

  ‘Face your reality!’

  ‘My reality?’

  Taken in by distra, the barrier holding back the ons weakened. The bdes of the ons broke through so fast that the sound of the wall crag didn’t make it to her in time. Slowed down only by passing through the crumbling green field, the ons disappeared in a streaking fsh through Yumi too fast for her eyes to follow.

  Yumi staggered baot pletely sure what happened. She was thinking everything had passed and nothing wrong happened, but a feeling inside her told her otherwise. Looking down at her body, she caught the deyed release of thin trails of blo through the air in the wake of the ons. Small shallow wounds opened up on both of her shoulders, outer sides of both upper thighs and sides of her waist. Yumi bit through the sudden pain she felt, though not deep the feeling of being injured was not familiar to her. ‘It hurts…so much…’

  “Damn…” cursed Phontine, monit her success from a distanbsp; “I made it through, but a sedary defense split up my ons at the st moment. Only managed a gng blow.” She had only seen it for a sed, but a fsh of green light alerted her in the middle of her strike. ‘I haven’t seeher teiques used yet… Is she holding them in reserve for a more desperate situation?’

  Wanting time to nurse her wounds, Yumi was stepping away from the woman. Fear built up thiside Yumi finally realizing wholly that she found herself in a real battle. ‘…I’m all alone…’ None of her friends could help her, trapped in their own battles too far away from her.

  Those seds of peace grao her ended in a punctuated moment feeling something ominous behind her. Something told her to fall. Ag upon the urge, an instant ter a spear whizzed over her shoulder. Yumi caught herself on one karing wide eyed in shock at the spear embedded in the ground, the wooden shaft shaking a little from the leftover force being bled off. ‘…if I hadn’t…’

  ‘I had her blind spot and I still missed!? owers does she have?’ Shaking off the uainty, Photiraightened up and trated ba Yumi. She knew giving Yumi a moment's reprieve was too long. Neons appeared in the air ready for the strike. ‘I’ll have to attack from multiple sides to get a shot in…’

  Yumi caught the spear dispersed into the haze. It suddenly vanished from sight makiartle. ‘…this woman…’ She was fighting to keep her shaking under trol as she straio see through the thick wind at the Atntean. ‘She’s like Yuki… Not a normal human… But I’m just a regur high school girl… What I do!?’

  ‘Damn it! Stop thinking that way!’ yelled the voi her head, nearly feeling as though her brain rattled in her skull from the volume.

  ‘Who are you?’

  ‘Focus on yourself! Fight to live!’

  ‘But I ’t…’

  ‘Stop it! Yoing to get your ass hao you thinking like that!’

  The harsh voice made Yumi shrink in its invisible presenbsp; She didn’t dare to think her own thoughts to herself for fear that the voice would snap at her. Little made seo her already and the voily plicated matters. Yumi feared that she was going insane.

  ‘Pay attention! She’s ing for you again!’

  ‘Huh?!’

  ‘Fight back this time! Prove your worth to him that you’re so desperate for!’

  The voice’s words triggered a revival in Yumi’s heart. Crity came to her mind. “…I have to do this for Yuki…” Yumi turned her head up and straightened up her babsp; Blood that slowly trickled down her clothes sat ignored with the dull pain that apa. “…I…have to…fight?”

  ‘Damn, right! Use your powers!’

  “Powers? I have…powers…abilities…” Her words turned into a t that strengthened her body and mind. Yumi took a slow sluggish step forward into the tan haze. Aep rang out in the ground. Then another as well, each became stronger and more resolute. Her eyes narrowed slightly, feeling the boldness of determination that swelled in her heart.

  ‘Yes! Fight!’

  Thick soup-like wind rolled in, nearly obsg the woman from Yumi’s view. Grayed silhouettes multiplied in the space around them. The t seemed to grow beyond the numbers used previously. A fierce attack leaned on the edge as streaks of shadows flew about. Photine’s ons lined up all around the unaware Yumi.

  ‘Trust yourself!’

  “Yes!” shouted Yumi, as a battle cry to herself in preparation. The tension of the immi moment tried to taunt her again, but she held fast. As though realizing its futility, the ons released from their hold. Loud g and massive impacts shook through the dust cloud. Allowing the cloud to thin, more thay ons surrounded her. Each appeared as though randomly ripped from a on smith’s shelves. So closely knit, in the low visibility Yumi appeared pierced by all of the ons in a horrific sight.

  Yumi’s soft browill held a strong defiant look. A patchwork of three barriers yered upon each other protected her. Bdes sat held in pce pierced through the yers withiimeters of her body. “Yuki will see my strength!” The barriers disappeared suddenly and the ons rapidly shrank crushed under massive forces. All the finely made instruments turo small balls of metal in mere moments. “I will end this now!”