Part 9

It was a quiet night in front of the hospital.

Antonio placed Elora on a nearby bench with his white jacket under her head for support.

He sighed as he turned his head to see Haruko standing in front of the barrier that surrounded the hospital.

"What is this?" Haruko said as he examined the barrier. (This barrier is nothing I've ever seen; in fact, I don’t think I've ever seen anything like this.)

Haruko slowly raised his right hand to try and touch the barrier.

As his index finger was mere centimeters from the barrier, his wrist was grabbed by Antonio.

"Surely you would know not to touch things you are unsure of."

Antonio released Haruko's wrist, letting his arm fall to his side.

Antonio turned his attention back to the barrier.

"This is no ordinary barrier; in fact, it may not even be a barrier."

Haruko stared at Antonio.

"If this isn’t a barrier, then what the hell is it?"

It's hard to tell; it doesn’t look like it is interfering with the surroundings, but it seems someone is pouring their own energy out into the open."

Haruko quickly turned to the man as he stared at him.

"Their energy?" Haruko repeated it slowly. "You mean like in an anime?"

"It would appear so."

"If that is the case, what happens to everybody inside this energy? My family and Aoi are inside."

"Please calm down, Mr. Matsumoto; there is no telling what might happen if we enter blindly; it could set off a horrible chain reaction."

Haruko paused as he stood there.

"To fucking hell with this!" Haruko exclaimed as he hit the barrier shoulder first.

"Mr Matsumoto!!" Antonio shouted out.

Haruko's body crashed into the barrier as he passed through, like a hot butter knife cutting through butter.

"Woah"

He was inside.

As he stood there, he felt nothing. At the moment, everything felt the same to him.

"Mr. Matsumoto, are you alright?" A distorted voice from the other side of the barrier came from Antonio.

Haruko stared at both of his palms, opening and closing his hands repeatedly.

"Yeah, I think so."

Antonio walked calmly through the barrier. He expected to feel some resistance, but he felt nothing.

(This is odd; this is a barrier; there is no doubt about it, but we were able to enter very easily. If the barrier wasn’t to keep people out, then….)

"As far as I know, the barrier doesn’t seem to have much effect on the body at this range, but do not underestimate it-"

Antonio was cut off as Haruko ran towards the entrance.

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As he did, the closer he got, the denser the air became, almost suffocating the teen.

(What the hell?) Haruko thought as he slowed his walking to a snail's pace after feeling the change. (The air feels much heavier.)

The closer he got to the hospital, the more he felt as if his body was getting weak. It was as if an invisible force was pushing down on him.

His legs began to slow and feel weighted down.

His throat felt dry.

It was as if he were walking through the hottest desert.

His vision was becoming blurry.

There was a loud thud as his knees fell to the floor.

His body felt weak.

Haruko placed both of his hands on the ground to prevent himself from falling into the concert.

He could see beads of sweat from his head fall on the concrete floor.

"What…. the….hell is this?"

As Haruko was struggling on his hands and knees, he heard the hospital entrance door slide open.

He looked up, his eyes widening in horror.

"………….."

There was silence, followed by a loud gasp from Haruko.

Reiko Matsumoto.

Haruko stopped struggling as he saw Reiko lying on the floor, not moving.

He felt an empty gut feeling inside as he looked on.

(This is bad; this must be the effect of the barrier.) Antonio thought as he watched on.

"REI...KO!" Haruko shouted out as he attempted to move.

"Damnit move"

(The energy that was released is too much for us, and it's even worse for humans.)

Antonio clutched his fist tightly.

A small amount of energy began to emerge from his body and surround him.

(I don’t have enough energy myself to dispel the energy here.)

He closed his eyes.

The energy began to converge in his body.

He exhaled.

Suddenly, a white vein-like pattern appeared on his skin.

(But I can use my energy to increase my speed to gather everyone within the hospital and exit.)

Antonio began to put pressure on his legs, with the concrete ground cracking under his feet.

(Hopefully, after all this time, don’t fail me now.)

Even with his eyes closed, he could see the vast amount of energy that surrounded the hospital like a giant sphere.

And then-

Everything went white.

Antonio quickly opened his eyes in shock.

There was a loud yell from Haruko, followed by a huge shockwave that pushed Antonio back.

(What the….?) Antonio said as he shielded his face with his arm.

He saw Haruko standing there with his back to him.

Antonio lowered his arms and looked up at the sky.

Small white orbs of energy were floating in the air.

The barrier that enveloped the hospital disappeared.

(What is this? The energy from the barrier, including the barrier itself…….it all gone.)

His attention was cut off as Haruko ran towards Reiko.

"Reiko, Reiko!" Haruko shouted out as he lifted her head off the floor. "Hey, say something. Wake up, REIKO!!!!"

Still, there was no reply from the woman as she lay in his arms.

Haruko began to frantically look around the lobby, only to see multiple bodies lying on the floor.

(What the hell is going on?)

Haruko lowered his head to face Reiko.

"Mr. Matsumoto, calm down," Antonio said calmly as he was walking into the lobby.

"No, I can’t calm down," Haruko shouted back, his voice quavering. He was still trying to check for a pulse on her neck, but his fingers kept fumbling. "Come on"

"She is alive," Antonio said, looking around the room. "They all are. It seems that those who were nearest to the epicenter of the barrier were knocked unconscious, but at the moment the barrier has been destroyed."

"Destroyed how?"

A feeling of relief washed over Haruko.

Boom!!!!!!!!!

A faint shockwave broke out on the floor above them, causing both Haruko and Antonio to look up to the ceiling.

The second floor.

The area where Aoi's room was.

"That came from upstairs," Antonio said.

(Aoi.)

Haruko lowered his head.

He grabbed a pillow from a nearby sofa and placed it under Reiko's head for support.

"Head Doctor, was it? I….I know what I am about to ask you is a bit extreme given the situation we are in now, but…"

He paused.

Haruko placed his hand on his knee as leverage to push himself with a loud grunt as he felt his wounds on his body ache.

He exhaled and clenched his fist.

"But if that guy is there for Aoi, then I am going upstairs to save her," Haruko said in a serious tone of voice, his resolve never waving.

Haruko began walking towards the stairs that led upstairs to the second floor.

He placed his hand on the metal knob and paused.

"I’ll leave Reiko and everybody else to you."

Antonio kneeled down near Reiko.

"What are you going to do?"

Haruko opened the door.

"I’m going to end this, all of this, right here, right now." With that statement, Haruko ran upstairs, letting the door slam shut behind him.

Haruko ran upstairs.

Step by step, as he got closer to the door, he pushed it open with all his might and exited the staircase.

The second floor.

Everything was quiet.

As he was walking around, he could see various bodies lying around on the floor.

To the teen, everything was out of a horror movie.

"Well, this is something I did not expect."

A deep male voice started Haruko, causing him to look up.

He saw a tall man in a dark blue cloak covering his body standing in the hallway in front of the room that Aoi was in.

The man turned to Haruko.

Nereus turned his head to examine the teen as he stood a few feet away from him at the end of the hall.

Haruko rested his right hand on the wall to hold himself up.

Nereus smirked.

"You are just as he described, so you’re the one that defeated Eduard."