Seiji charged out ahead of them with nard for the se.

  Already out of sight, Simonides and Nerine looked a little curious at each other. For them, the only thing in the distance was some greenish shapes that might have been trees, but the angles were wrong. Everything looked normal. “How you tell?” she asked.

  “Our strength and speed weren’t the only things increased,” noted Chiharu before she disappeared from their sight.

  The sudden ge made Nerine jump a little. She wasn’t used to it still. They moved in impossible ways and did things that should only happen with a Field. Everything about them seemed a fantasy, a dream she wondered if she would ever wake. Each time she thought she might wake to reality, their reality reminded her nothing was a dream. It was all real, denial did nothing to ge what her eyes saw every minute. Denial only deyed her acceptand made it more difficult to adapt to the ges.

  Yumi smiled a little at their two Atnteans. “We should probably hurry. If things are as bad as you fear, the Omega Division may already be on the move.” She stared over at Simonides with words in her eyes.

  Turning his eyes forward, he nodded in agreement. Simonides already had several specutions in his mind for the cause of the disturban front of them. “You’re thinking the same thing. None of my me this far, at least under my orders. The most likely answer is the Omega Division already has its orders. If so, we’re already running out of time.” He began to run even knowing the effort was futile with such powers around him.

  “But we’re not out of time. There is still plenty remaining to save Atntis.”

  Chapter 223 – Troubled Ground

  Several more percussive waves tore up the small forest taining Saki. Seiji arrived just as she reappeared from her st attabsp; It had felt like so long since he saw her that his emotions took over his sense of battle. “Hey Saki!” he shouted with his arms open looking to hug her. However, her response was to punch him, which sent him flying through the earth.

  Massive ks of earth exploded as Seiji’s body dug a kilometer long trench through the earth. Rocks erupted from the end of the trench as Seiji freed himself. “What the hell’s the matter with you, Saki?!” His bandaged fist rammed into the earth o him exploding in a bright fsh of light as well as sending the energy outward to carve out arench equally long off to his side. Clouds burst up from the trench, a sign of Seiji’s charge bato the forest.

  Saki’s fist still hung out a little red from the strike. Her eyes were narrowed and focused, hardeo a siask. Sweat covered her fad clothes. However, she didn’t have any time to pause as Seiji finished closing on her. His glowing fist stretched out for her. It was too slow for her rea. An open palm stopped him.

  Behihe earth rumbled and pined before exploding outward in a giant arbsp; Large ks of earth and rock flew up only to be disied a moment ter. Meters beh her feet the earth ainfully torn away from the sheer force.

  tering Seiji’s response, Saki threw out her free fist and Seiji matched. Their fists smmed against each other erupting a shockwave of destructive forbsp; It ate into the earth between them expanding out quickly digging a deep ge making the trenches seem like lines in the sand.

  The rest remaining with Yumi were ko their feet, uo stand. When the shockwave came for them, Neri up to protect them. Dozens of gaus materialized in the air to pummel the flying debris into dust. Even with the prote, the ground jumped up and down for them. Anything more than lying doointless.

  Once most of it passed, they started to get ba their feet. It left Simonides more shaken thahers. Even without being on the frontli still felt like he was in the middle of their fight. He thought MP battles were uling, but their fights were nothing in parison. The distance he had on the destru gave the best view of the scope of the effects from their csh. “It looks like two gods desded.”

  “Shouldn’t say that to Seiji’s face, might go to his head,” joked Yumi. She started walking forward, resuming their course. “It’s just Seiji and Saki exging blows. He probably said something he shouldn’t have.”

  “The entire ndscape is ged in mere moments!”

  “Good thing, they’ve sorted things out.” The ck of any more fireworks made it clear to Yumi things calmed down for the two.

  “Seiji?!” Saki questioned, still not believing what she was seeing. She leaned forward, still with her arms out battling Seiji.

  “Yes, it’s me!” he snapped. “The hell’s the matter with you?”

  “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be resg Yumi’s brother.”

  “We fihat already!” He shook his head trying to remain on topibsp; “Don’t ge the subjebsp; What sort of greeting was that? I don’t see you in days and the first thing you do is punch me!? The hell?!”

  Saki finally backed off acceptiy. “Sorry, Seiji, I thought you were the enemy.” She rubbed the back of her head carrying a bit of embarrassment for slugging him so hard.

  “The enemy?! I know we have our differences, Saki, but the enemy?”

  Defensively, Saki leaned in no longer just taking Seiji’s pints. “You’re the ohat jumped into the middle of my fight! What did you expect to happen?”

  “You should have said something if you were fighting!”

  “You didn’t give me a ce!”

  Ign the debate, a new round of arroeared on all sides of them. They didn’t wait for even a fra of a sed to fly at them. The two teens put their argument on hold to deal with the immediate threat. Most of them were dealt with quickly, but Saki missed a few f Seiji to cover for her.

  After destroying the arrows, he turned back to Saki. She was a little bent over. Her body looked more exhausted than before when she yelled at him. “What’s wrong? Did those arrows do something to you?”

  Between panting for air, Saki shook her head. “No, some idiot made me use my full strength.”

  “That shouldn’t matter! You shouldn’t be having any trouble with this!”

  “I’ve been trying to serve what energy I had left to deal with them, but you made me waste it on you!”

  “What? How long have you been fighting?”

  She paused, not having a good answer for him. Gng around at the forest, rebuilt already from their destructive greeting, her enemy remained as secretive now as at the start. “I don’t know anymore, I’ve lost track after it felt like an hour passed.”

  “You’ve been fighting for hours? Why haven’t you e already?!”

  Her fist tightened up. If she had the strength to punch him again, she would have already. “I would if I could! I ’t find them! They’ve been invisible the eime firing those damnable arrows at me!”

  Seiji scratched the top of his head. It didn’t make a lot of seo him. “What are you talking about? They’re right there.” His ed arm pointed out to ay spa the ter of the forest.

  “No, they aren’t! I already tried that three chapters ago! Otherwise this would have beehen!”

  “That’s the ter, of course they are there.”

  So many things were wrong with what he said that Saki didn’t know where to start with him. Rather than trying anymore, she just motioo him to try. She watched him as he took her offer. His attempts ended with the same results as her. Nothing but air was there. “See? Nothing.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. They should be right here.”

  “What doesn’t make sense is you knowing all that and figuring it out that fast.”

  “Huh?” Seiji jumped up into the air several meters for what seemed like no reason. He nded in the same spot as he started. The odd look from Saki made him answer. “Just cheg if they were floating in the air. Their Fields are spheres not circles. So you have to sider all three dimensions when fighting them.”

  Her face went ft in disbelief hearing everything ing out of Seiji’s mouth as though matter of fad simple. She wasn’t sure if she was looking at Seiji anymore. “You sure you’re not someone else?”

  Seiji walked back to Saki. Her rea puzzled him. “What are you talking about? It’s me.” “Then how do you know all that?”

  “It’s simple. I’ve already fought them several times. Didn’t take long to figure it all out.”

  Saki couldn’t say anything more to him. He was a wall she couldn’t break. ‘Stupid natural fighting talent.’ Any more debating was a waste of energy, she decided. She pushed around him to front her invisible foe. They were still out there with new arrows. Her body felt like lead, but she couldn’t let it get to her. She prepared herself for the ining attack.

  It never came.

  Ringing of metal preceded their appearanbsp; Chiharu’s binja garb made her an easy figure to determine. Her arm lowered to her side with the bde of her short sword resting against the back of her arm. Tilting her head over her shoulder, she gnced back at the two of them. “I hahis. You rest. Musclehead, there’s another one looking at you.”

  “Chi-“

  “Rest, I heard everything. Their pn succeeded. They wao exhaust you, sihey couldn’t finish you off directly. I’ll deal with them now.”

  Seiji knocked his fists together. “You found me someone?” he said, sounding almost like a kid with a oy. He looked around, but the forest made it a little difficult to find them. It took Chiharu pointing in the dire. There was nothing to see, but he trusted her. He went charging off through the forest.

  “Mindless,” she remarked, watg him disappear with eagerness.

  It took a little bit for her to catch up to everything. “Is there really someone over there?”

  “Yes, I didn’t have the time to deal with them. So getting him out of here will help me.”

  ‘They’re w together? I thought all they did was fight. What happened iime they were gone?’

  Yumi and the others arrived at the border of the battle long after Chiharu and Seiji began their fights. The chaos in the distance kept them from going further. They had nothing to offer to improve the situation. They could only watch to see how things turned out.

  Simoried to work on an analysis of the situation. He couldn’t let things drag out. The more time they lost in fights the further away ‘Ayumi’ became from them. Unfortunately, it was an unprepared field of battle. He had no clear vantage points. It didn’t stop him fr. He withdrew his binocurs to try to get closer to the fighting. ‘The forest’s in the way, likely a deliberate Field manipution. It’s not random enough to be otherwise.’

  Lifting her free arm up to Simonides’ shoulder, she motioned for him to stop. “There’s not much point in strategy.”

  “If you told them—“

  “Any sort of detailed pn isn’t going to be followed by Seiji. It’s just who he is.”

  He went silent after hearing Yumi. It made him question how things turned out the way that they did. It all just looked like chaos to him. No order. ‘How did my pns lose to them? Is it just their bond?’ Suotions seemed like fairy tales and wishful y. The world didn’t work in such a way. Yet maybe it actually did for them.

  Suddenly, something smmed into the grass only teers away from them. ks of dirt tossed up, but it was mostly without any sort of fre, unlike previous dispys. They all leaned a little curious what it was.

  Out of the smoke filled crater, rose a weak looking Seiji. Blood covered his fad dripped down his arms. The papers around his arm soaked up some of the blood. For a battle only going on for no more than ten minutes, he seemed in surprisingly poor dition. No one knew why, but he looked ready to colpse.