As to be expected, the well-pnned Ourias had tingencies in pce for su oute. He was ruly defenseless. A t wall formed from the air to block the beam. Scorch marks and smoke appeared as the only results. “You know I have defenses setup. Such attacks are pointless.”
Smiling, she didn’t let it deter her. “Of course, I o run through all of your defenses. You do nothing while I burn through all of your back-up pns.” The light from the orb, in front of her palm, grew brighter preparing for another shot. Hexagonal discs appeared in front of varying thiess and opacity. When the energy fired, it passed through the discs being brighter and thinner. It focused the energy.
The beam pierced the wall without being stopped for a moment. Multiple more defenses appeared in different forms to stop Sumiko’s attabsp; However, when it seemed to stop, another hex slid, fog the beam further. Nothing stood in its way. Everything was torn asunder.
“The white beam lost its light, being nothing but harmless unfocused rays.” He spoke, but his defeill fell. ‘She really has somehow ralized my power. What did she do?’ Everything seemed right, but reality didn’t lie. His power no longer worked. ‘I still have everything I set up prior to the fight, but anything new ’t be created.’
“I told you before. You do nothing. I’ve sealed your speech.”
Ourias felt the ering presence from Sumiko. She somehow figured out a way through his power. “How’d you do it? No one’s been able to do that.”
“That’s only because you fight your own kind. This is only something that someone like me would be able to achieve.” She saw the fusion in his eyes. “You ’t hear it? I guess it is different hearing your voice as opposed to hearing someone else’s voice.”
“What?” He had the clues hao him, but it still didn’t make a lot of seo him. Ourias sorted through her hints. ‘I should be able to hear it? My voibsp; There’s nothing wrong with my voice…it’s the same as…always…’ Something came to him. He stared across the Field at Sumiko. The realization of what she might be meaning hit him. The weight of the truth felt like it would crush him. “Impossible…you…”
“You figured it out. I knew you could do it.” Sumiko lifted her hand. A disc appeared floating at her fiips. “It was the first attempt I made. It actually surprised me that you made it that simple. Your power works fristering your voibsp; Naturally, you ’t have others trolling it, so it’s tuned specifically to you. Because it is tuo you, a slight ge in your voice is enough to throw it off and not accept what you say.”
“But when and how?”
“I’ve beeing your defehe whole time. Back with golem. I learned your defenses don’t react to non-hostile invasion. A fw in your defense is assuming I’d only use attacks.” The disc bounced in her palm bringing attention to it. “A couple of tweaks and this easily bee a filter rather than a shield.” She pointed over to him as a faint shine ing from one of the discs embedded in his neck.
A new beam began charging in front of Sumiko ready for the final strike. “As I said before, this is where things end.”
Chapter 245 – Sealed Freedom
The white line flew across the Field straight for Ourias. However, a barrier erected around him. It held against Sumiko’s attabsp; She tio focus the beam, but never made any progress. Shutting dowtack, she regrouped. “You made it iructible, didn’t you?”
“A final defense. It’s my duty to protect the Capital. No matter the means.”
Suddenly, discs started to fly away from Sumiko over towards Ourias. They pieced together a barrier around him. “It’s not as direct, but this will have to do.”
Ourias looked around not sure what she pnned. ‘She ’t pee my defense, what’s with the barrier?’ Nothing offensive happened. His defense remained silent. He looked around trying to uand it. It still didn’t make a lot of sense. He knew she did something to him.
Then he felt a little strange. His breathing came shallow, almost strained. Looking over at Sumiko, he finally knew. ‘You’ve sealed me inside your barrier preventing oxygen from entering. You’re pnning on winning by suffog me!’ Ourias walked towards the barrier. It was solid with no hopes of him breaking it.
All around tiny lights appeared. They surrounded him just waiting for him to make an a. ‘You pn to take me immediately if I drop my Field to try to rewrite it. I’m out of options…’
“What are you doing?” asked a young voibsp; He wasn’t familiar with it, but it was clearly a woman. Ourias lowered the pad of paper, oared at for the st several hours. Lying down, he saw the face of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen painted with a perfect sky as her background. She stared down at him very curious to the reason he id in the middle of the park.
He lifted himself up quickly, feeling pelled. The pad fell down to his side. “Just reviewing some notes.”
“Notes?” She drew back her golden hair to keep it out of her eyes. “Are you a student?” The woma dowo him. Her curiosity still seemed strong. It wasn’t the first time she saw him in the park.
Waving his hand, he corrected her. “Nothing like that. I don’t have the moo attend the Uy.” It robably more than he o say. However, it didn't seem to sway her. She wao know. ‘Is she ied in me?’ Ourias looked surprised. A bit of red bleed into his fabsp; “It’s a story I’m w on.”
It seemed to intrigue her even more. His embarrassment did nothing. “You’re a ?”
“Well amateur is probably more accurate. I haven’t published anything.”
“But yoing to?”
“That’s my dream!”
She sat down pletely drawn in by him. “ I read what you have?”
Nervousness immediately popped up through all of Ourias’ body. Sweat started to pour out. He never had anyone read what he wrote. He couldn’t imagi. “W-well it’s not really very coherent right now. It’s just a bunch of random scribbles.” Ourias tried his best to dissuade her.
“Oh? That’s too bad…” The woman stood, suddenly looking to have lost her i. She started to walk away leaving Ourias stu the reversal. Then she paused and tilted her head ba. “What’s your name?”
“Huh?”
“So that I know who to look for when you publish your book.”
If his jaw could hit the grass, it would have. Ourias froze up. The longer she stared at him, smiling, warming the more he thawed. “Ourias!” He finally managed.
“Ourias…I’ll remember that.” She resumed walking away.
He scrambled to his feet trying to chase after her. “What’s your name?!” he shouted through the whole park, immediately regretting the attention. “If I may ask.” His voice softened up.
“Dione.”
“…Dione…”
A fire suddenly ed everything around her. It all faded away. It was the house, their house. It was on fire. Ourias leapt out of their bed. The baby cried o him with Dione slowly waking up. ‘What’s going on?’ He rushed over to Dione, helping her with the baby. “We’ve got to get out of here!”
She looked around their house. Fmes covered everything. There didn’t seem to be any way out. “What’s happening? Where’d this fire e from?”
“I don’t know, but we have to hurry!”
Suddenly, something hit their door. It made them jump babsp; The door crumbled with a body falling with it. In the distance, a voice screamed, ohat wasn’t familiar. Yet the se before him felt like something he saw before. Ourias looked over at Dione. “I-I…”
“This is a se…from your story.” She knew just as quickly as him. It should be easily remembered as it was in the first chapter of his story.
Then as though never existing, it all vanished from sight. Everythiuro normal. They both knew immediately what it meant. Their first rea was to look at their child, but it was impossible. The only remaining answer came to them. It only took a few more is for them to be certain.
A heavy knock came to their door. No one answered. It all happeoo fast for them.
Their house disappeared. It was the military. In the er, Ourias huddled with his wife and child. Nowhere remaio run.
Ourias stretched her arm out as they dragged him away. “Dione! Dione!”
She tried to run after him, but they stopped her. “Ourias!”
“I’ll return to you! I promise!”
He walked into the with a gloomy shadow over his whole body. Most of the room had kids in it. The only adult made him stand out and it wasn’t for his as. The nosy kid o him perked up. “Back from solitary?”
“Yeah,” he replied with no further details.
“You know that’s going to happen if you keep trying to escape.” Ourias remained silent, ued in something from a fourteen year-old know-it-all. “This is your new home, better get used to it. No one escapes.”
‘It’s not going to stop me.’
He marched down the hall to the Academy ander’s offibsp; He smmed his hands down on the secretary’s desk. Ourias gred at the young Lieutenant, he was just a normal human. “I want to talk to the ander, right now!”
The young man was a little shaken by Ourias’ presenbsp; “What is it that you want?”
“I want to know why you aren’t delivering my letters! You won’t let me leave, but I should at least be able to send a letter!”
“I’m sorry, but Academy policy is—“
“Your policy be damned!” The door to the ander’s office slowly opened. The man behind it appeared, drawn by the noise. He gred across the room at Ourias, not intimidated.
Another failure.
“The only way to ge things is at the top.”
“I know.”
“You ’t do anything from the bottom.”
“I know.”
“It’s pointless, just accept reality.”
“You seem iing,” a woman’s voice said from the darkness.
Ourias looked up to see ander Rheia staring at him. Her presend notoriety were enough to make him take a step babsp; ‘What does she want? Does she want to fight me? I only just retly joined Omega.’
Rheia stretched out her hand to him. “Want to be a Titan?”
“Huh?” He stared at her in disbelief. It wasn’t something that was so easily passed around. Even if she was the ander of the Titans.
Ourias id on the grass, the st of his air leaving his body. He could see the blue sky above staring babsp; ‘Dione…I promise…’ His eyes slowly closed, no longer able to keep scious.
Everything ended quickly at that moment. Sumiko nded on the ground. The barrier faded away. The red in her hair began to fade away as well as the green in her eyes. “This is as far as I take you. Anymore, you have to do it on your own.”
Yumi’s sciousness smmed bato her body. She darted her head around, uanding quickly things weren’t right. The man she challenged id at her feet. “It happened again…” It didn’t take long for her to realize the sword was missing and everything about her body felt different once more. She had a thousand questions to ask, but no oo ahem.
Before she could think much more about her situation, she heard Yori’s voiside her head. “Please hear me, everyone! You must listen!”
“Yori?! How are you in my head?”
“Everyone please stop with the questions…I barely have any strength, just listen… I know the truth finally. I know what Ayumi’s goal is.” The sudden reveal made Yumi freeze ieps. She would finally have the ao the biggest question they all had. The mystery behind Ayumi. Her motive. Yumi wao know immediately, but Yori seemed to be straining himself. “He’s in danger. If Ayumi succeeds in her pn. Yuki Hayashi will die!”
‘Ayumi’s going to kill Yuki?’ The revetion stunned her. She couldn’t reabsp; The world disappeared. Nearby, she could see Yuki walking away with Ayumi pulling him. She stretched out her hand trying to stop him. She tried to shout at him, but her voice was gone. She was helpless.
Yori’s voiapped her back to reality. ‘Why? How? What did you learn?’
“The truth is…”
Yumi listeo everything Yori said. Her hands lifted up to her mouth as eae her more shocked tha. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “How that be?! All this time…” Yumi turned her head towards the Capital, where Ayumi and Yuki had to be. “…Ayumi…you pnned all of this knowing that? Ayumi…” Yumi hung her head down, most of her face disappearih the shadows.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed her ankle. It snapped her out of her own world to stare below her. Ourias stared up at her with fierce determination. “I won’t lose… I made a promise…”
A wind suddenly blew out from Yumi. The area around her eyes turned dark as night. Severe lines carved into her fabsp; An iy not seen before shined from behind her eyes. “You ot stop me,” she uttered in a grave tone. “Ayumi… Not even hell itself will stand in my way! AYUMI!”