Let's go a little back in time. After Vektor and Mythbird fly to confront Null, Reiko reports the current situation to her father, asking him to bring the royal airship along with a medical team. After that, she returns to inside the Sun Tower, where Hayato is shutting down and opening all the capsules.
Little by little, everyone's equipment is removed. After the eight prisoners are placed on the ground, the vital conditions of each of them are inspected.
Everyone in the Haidora family is in good condition, just sleeping. The same can be said for Sych and Mitsuko Kageki. However, Master Noogard and Vektor's mother, while still alive, have blood pressure and heart rate far below normal, while Kder's body is quite unstable.
After the inspection, Reiko and Hayato awaken all those who are in good condition, explaining the current situation to each of them. The last to be awakened is Sych, who as soon as he regains consciousness, soon feels Null's presence and raises his upper body:
"What's going on?!"
"C- Calm down! Don't move your body so suddenly!"
Reiko tries to calm him down while explaining everything:
"We are in the Sun Tower. You were unconscious in here but you're fine now."
"Huh, what do you mean? How did I end up in here? And where's Vektor?"
"He went off somewhere, I don't really know why."
"Could you tell me which direction?"
Even from inside the tower, Reiko points in the direction Vektor flew, causing Sych to panic:
"That direction... is where that presence is coming from!"
"Presence?"
Hayato butts into the conversation:
"Vektor spoke about an evil pressure earlier. Are you talking about something like that?"
"Yes... Wait, you mean Vektor is also able to sense that?!"
"He seems to have obtained some ancient power some time ago. That must be why."
"The ancient power... This presence... How long has it been since I lost consciousness...?"
Reiko once again tries to calm Sych:
"Like I said, everything is fine now. My father is coming to help us, and with everyone safe, all we need to do is wait for Vektor to return and then leave."
"No, this presence is too strong. If we just wait, Vektor might end up getting killed. We must go to wherever he is now!"
"B- But now we have no way..."
Hearing this, Mitsuko raises her arm:
"Hey, I can help with that."
The four Etykiran apprentices and Sych ride the elevator to the top of the tower while Yuko's parents observe the still unconscious bodies inside the tower.
Sych looks in the direction where Null's presence is coming from.
"(What a familiar presence... very similar to the one I felt on the Dawn Plateau...)
Excuse me, could you tell me which of you four have combat skills?"
Hayato crosses his arms behind his head and replies:
"I'll be honest with you, my specialty is robots. I can handle myself in a fight, but I'm nothing compared to Reiko, for example."
Reiko adds:
"But I think it's fair to say that Mitsuko is the strongest out of the four of us."
Mitsuko feels flattered by the sudden compliment:
"Wow, thanks, I didn't expect to hear that from you."
Yuko answers last:
"I don't have any fighting experience, but I'm pretty agile, I think."
After listening to the apprentices, Sych nods and points towards the coast south of the deserted island.
"So, I want everyone who's willing to come with me to get Vektor. Can you take us there, Mitsuko?"
"Well, my power is limited to one companion at a time, and depending on the distance it may take me a while to get everyone..."
Reiko soon adds:
"That won't be a problem. We have Hayato's mini-airship, which can carry up to two people and is fast enough to get there in a few minutes. And I can easily create light clones in open places like this, even at night."
Sych then concludes:
"That being the case, the five of us can go there in one trip. To tell the truth, I think that against someone so powerful, perhaps even all of us together cannot win. However, I have the solution for that.
(Good thing I kept this out of my backpack...)"
Sych's plan is then executed. He and Yuko fly Hayato's mini-airship to Null, while Mitsuko teleports with Hayato to the island's coastline, the location of Vektor's battle, and Reiko follows them by creating light clones on the way and substituting with them.
Upon arriving at the battlefield, Mitsuko finds Vektor on the ground about to be touched by Null, but manages to teleport him out of his reach in time.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
The purple-haired man looks at the gathered apprentices, while Reiko gives instructions:
"Hayato, stay here and make sure Vektor stays safe. Mitsuko, let's attack together until Sych and Yuko get here."
Mitsuko soon gets irritated:
"You're not the one giving the orders here, princess, we're not on Netern Island. I'm here precisely to fight, so just don't get in the way."
"R- Right..."
"Let's go!"
The two apprentices use their powers to instantly launch an attack on Null, who still manages to easily keep up with their movements.
"I'm not here to fight with you, the one I came to fight with is already defeated. None of you have any chance of defeating me, so I think it's best if you just leave here."
The two simply refuse to listen and continue attacking. Each attack from the two is very well coordinated, and their experience means that there is no need to fight on the ground, with all attacks being in mid-air. Null begins to show impatience:
"I wasn't given permission to kill when participating in this mission, but any damage that is not lethal should be valid. Therefore...!"
He jumps up into the air, still defending himself from each attack from the two, and begins his counterattack. Taking care not to use a lethal level of strength, he takes advantage of the impact of each punch to stay in the air.
After taking several blows, Reiko can no longer fight and returns to the surface. Thanks to her physical resistance and the simplicity of her power, Mitsuko continues to fight despite not being able to land any attacks. Even though he still has the advantage, Null finally feels pressured:
"This girl and her ability are quite troublesome... I'll have to seal it."
Applying a little more strength to his arms, he catches one of Mitsuko's punches and knocks her out with a punch to the head. She falls to the surface but her body is caught by Reiko before she hits the ground, thus preventing further damage.
After also falling to the ground, Null slowly walks towards Reiko as she slowly rests Mitsuko's body on the ground.
"If I leave you standing, you'll only continue to get in my way, so I'll make sure to knock every single one of you out. Don't move, girl, I'll make sure it won't hurt."
Reiko becomes increasingly terrified as he approaches, clenching his fists.
However, Null stops his walk when he hears a strange laugh echoing along the coast:
"Mwahahahahahahaaa!"
"Hm?"
"You think you can take us all down? Don't make me laugh!"
Null looks towards Hayato, who somehow maintains his villainous posture:
"Know that in my presence, your pressure is as strong as the steps of an ant!"
"...Are you kidding me, kid? I'm doing serious work here, I don't have time to play around with you."
"The one who's joking here is you! Daring to impose your supremacy above even me!"
"...I don't even know who you are, kid."
"I'm glad you asked. Well then, hear my name and tremble before my power! I am the one who will one day rule over Netern Island, and then extend his rule to the entire world! I am... the Villain of Evil! HAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!"
"..."
...
"...Listen here, kid, I've already spent too much time on a simple task, so I'm not going to waste any more time. If you want to go down first so badly, fine by m-"
During this moment of distraction, Null lets his guard down and receives a punch in the face from Hayato, the first full blow he receives.
"Heh..."
"Y- You...!"
Null tries to counterattack with a punch as well, but Hayato manages to dodge it and then starts running around him. Unlike Vektor, Hayato's speed is not much higher than his. However, Hayato has more experience in taking advantage of his speed to create openings.
Hayato's sneaky fighting style coupled with Null's instability make it seem like the advantage is finally on the apprentices' side.
"Hahaha! What do you think of this?! No matter how strong you are, there is only one emperor above all and everyone, and that... is me!"
"..."
Null remains still to regain his concentration, while Hayato delivers his final attack:
"Disappear!"
Hayato throws a punch with all his strength at Null's face, but his fist is caught in the middle of its trajectory, just inches before it hits the target.
"My patience is over... you brat."
With a sudden surge of strength, Null squeezes Hayato's fist with intense physical pressure, causing a shock so powerful that it causes all the bones in his right arm to shatter.
Hayato feels as if a lightning storm is coursing through his nerves. Every cell in his right arm seems to be vibrating from this storm. Vibrations of pain, as if every muscle, every vein, every nerve is going to burst at any moment. His right arm at this moment feels like a time bomb about to explode with pain.
Null simply throws Hayato's body away, making the boy feel the pain of having every crumb of the bones of his arm relocating inside his flesh.
Reiko manages to catch Hayato's body in the air through a light clone, but the moment his body is placed on the ground, Hayato finally explodes in pain:
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"
Hayato's scream is so intense that it manages to make Mitsuko regain consciousness, although she still can't move very well. Reiko despairs when she sees Hayato succumbing to the pain:
"Hayato, don't panic!! We'll be safe soon!! Everything will be fine, I swear!!"
The green-haired boy continues to agonize on the ground until he begins to lose consciousness after so much stress. Reiko doesn't know what else to do other than watch. Null starts walking towards Vektor.
"This should teach these youngsters to not treat life as a joke. Well, time to fulfill my duty. In the end, it was all much more stressful than I expected."
Without wasting any more time, Null touches Vektor's chest and begins to transfer his soul into the boy's body. His body made of dark energy dissolves into the air, becoming a purple cloud that is completely absorbed by Vektor's body.
Seconds pass and Vektor's body starts burning with purple flames, which cause his body to completely regenerate, repairing every fracture received during his battle against Null. The flames then go out, and Vektor finally gets up.
His eyes then open, revealing glowing purple pupils. Unlike when he is under the effects of a curse, his eyes now do not exude any vapor, but instead glow brightly as if they were amethysts. These eyes indicate that Vektor's body is completely possessed by Null.
"Now that I'm in command of the body, I can easily take him to my destination. But I have to be quick, he might regain consciousness and try to take the body back at any moment..."
In Vektor's body, Null prepares to leave the battlefield, but Reiko suddenly blocks his path:
"I won't let you...!"
The princess holds Vektor's shoulders with all the strength she has left. Null can't understand the reason behind this:
"You won't be able to take me down with just that. Just get out of the way, or you'll get hurt for nothing."
Reiko keeps holding Vektor in place, unable to hide the nervousness on her face. Null then holds one of the girl's arms.
"This body may not be at its full potential, but with enough effort I can make good use of this strength. So, do you want me to break one of your arms too?"
"..."
"I assume that's a yes. So..."
Null squeezes Reiko's arm tighter and tighter, with the princess having to endure the increasing pain without moving. She grits her teeth to keep Vektor's body in a fixed place.
Until when her arm is about to break...
"Now, Sych!!"
"Huh?"
Null tries to turn back, but doesn't realize that Sych is right behind him, about to touch Vektor's neck with the item that will guarantee victory for them...
Before executing his plan, Sych explained what to do the moment they encountered the enemy:
"To tell the truth, I think that against someone so powerful, perhaps even all of us together cannot win. However, I have the solution for that. Vektor's mother gave me a magic crystal able of sealing any evil entity that touches it."
Hayato expressed disbelief upon hearing this:
"Does such a convenient item really exists?"
"Yes, however, considering how agile more powerful entities tend to be, it is quite difficult to use this crystal without first weakening the entity in battle or with some external help to keep the target still."
Reiko understood the plan immediately:
"So that's why you want help in the battle? To create a gap?"
"Yes. I need you to keep them as busy as possible so that I can have at least a chance to use this item, the thing that will bring us ultimate victory..."
Now Null can't escape anymore. Reiko is holding Vektor's body down on the ground, and the arm he could use to counterattack is busy squeezing the princess's arm.
With his body propelled through his own telekinesis, Sych finally manages to defeat Null by touching Vektor's neck with the:
"Sealing Crystal!"