Part 1

(I’m going to save her.)

Haruko's words echoed in her mind as Emi walked down the street back to her house.

Emi stopped walking as she pondered those words.

"Given the distance, he is probably there right now. It would be easy for me to be on my way home, but..."

Emi turned around and sighed because she knew what she was about to do."

"I’m sorry, Emilia, but there is no way I can leave your father to his own devices because he is an idiot," Emi said as he began running in the direction Haruko ran off in.

_____________________________________________________________________

Nereus began to pick himself up off the floor.

Blood dripped out of the side of his closed mouth, causing him to wipe it away with his thumb.

(Something really is different about this kid; by itself, that would not be a problem. The problem is that both are working in tandem with each other; if I take this kid head-on, it leaves me open to her attacks.)

Nereus glanced over at Aoi.

(And if I deal with her attacks, it gives him a small chance of attacking. His attacks don’t have any real power behind them, but there is a possibility that he can land a lucky hit. I can’t risk attacking the girl too much, as it might kill her.)

Nereus glanced over to Haruko.

(My only option is to deal with the boy swiftly; doing it this way may cause my soul to become unstable, but..)

Haruko readied himself for his attack.

It was just a blur, but it was too fast for him to react.

Nereus kicked Haruko across his midsection, causing Haruko to cough up blood.

Haruko flew off his leg and bounced off the floor several times, a couple of feet away.

(That speed... I was barely able to see it.) Aoi thought as Nereus landed back on his feet.

Groaning Haruko slowly began to pick himself up, holding his midsection. Blood was pouring out of his mouth.

Nereus immediately dashed towards Haruko.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

As he got closer, a wall of water appeared in front of the teen, shielding him.

Nereus appeared behind both the wall and the teen.

Haruko looked behind him, only to get kicked several feet into the air. As Haruko was sent into the air, Nereus jumped after him.

(This is bad; I can’t follow him.) Aoi thought as she watched Nereus punch Haruko higher into the air. (My Crystal Guardian powers are only able to move as fast as I can react….)

Nereus appeared behind Haruko's broken and bloodied body in the air.

(If he moves faster than I can react, then...)

Floating above the approaching Haruko in the air, he brought his right leg back.

(I won’t be able to help him.)

With a yell, Nereus kicked Haruko, sending him back to the ground.

BOOM!!!

Haruko crashed into a small shack containing several pieces of construction equipment.

Aoi watched on in horror as Nereus landed in front of the broken debris of the shack and the smoke.

There was silence that filled the area as Nereus watched on. With a gust of wind, the smoke was blown away, revealing the body of Haruko Matsumoto lying on the floor, face down.

The teen was not moving.

Nereus closely observed the teen.

He noticed that the same blue and white vein-like pattern was appearing on the skin that was visible.

(He is still alive.)

Nereus quickly raised his left arm in the direction of the girl.

Aoi started to gasp for air as a massive ball of water behind her fell to the ground.

"You are really going to try this again, even with your last hope defeated."

Nereus slowly closed his hands into a fist, causing Aoi to scream out as she felt like her insides were being crushed.

There was a loud yell coming from behind Nereus.

SHUNK!!!

Nereus eyes widen as a steel rod pierced through his chest from behind.

The sudden impalement caused Nereus to lower his arm. He turned his head to glance behind him to see Haruko beaten and bloodied, holding on to the steel rod and breathing hard.

(To the very end, I assume.)

With his left hand, Nereus pulled the rebar forward out of his chest, yanking Haruko along. As Haruko got closer, Nereus hit the side of his head with his right elbow.

Dazed, Haruko threw a wild haymaker with his right hand. Nereus caught Haruko's wrist with his left hand and used his right arm to lift the teen off his feet.

With a judo flip, Nereus slammed Haruko's spine first into the ground, causing him to let out a painful gasp.

The vein-like pattern on Haruko’s skin flickered on and off before fading out completely.

Still holding on to the teen's wrist, Nereus rolled Haruko over onto his stomach.

"That’s it, huh?" Nereus said with a disappointed tone in his voice, "This is the extent of your abilities."

Nereus released the teen's wrist, letting his arm fall on top of the other arm.

A white sword began to form in his right hand.

In one quick motion, he stabbed the sword through Haruko's right palm and left forearm, impaling the ground, causing Haruko to grunt in pain as his body twitched.

Blood was seeping into the dirt.

Nereus rested his right hand on the handle of the sword.

"And now this battle is over."

With a final look of disapproval toward the teen, Nereus started walking towards Aoi.

"Wa…wait, don’t go near her," Haruko growled out.

Without paying Haruko any mind, Nereus pulled the steel rod out of his chest before quickly examining it.

"If I had been a human, your little attack may have killed me," Nereus said as he tossed aside the steel rod.

Haruko stopped struggling.

"If you had been a human... what is that supposed to mean?"

Nereus stopped walking and turned to the teen on the floor.

Haruko knew that he had lived for a long time, but not being human was something entirely new to him.

Nereus stared at Haruko with a puzzled look on his face.

"You really don’t know, do you?"

"Know what?"

"Because you kept coming back to save her time and time again, I assumed that you had to be aware of it, even at a subconscious level. But it now seems that you are an idiot who has gotten way over his head. I'll explain it to you just so you are brought up to speed."

Haruko stared at the man.

"The nature and origins of the Crystal Guardians powers, myself, my followers, and..."

Nereus pointed his right index finger at Aoi, causing Haruko to turn his head and look at her.

"....that girl is not from this world."