Elijah held his gun to the window; his breaths turned shallow and fast as he sprinted with all his might. As he was about to smash into the window, he pulled the trigger. The pin smashed against the casing at an extreme speed, shattering the glass into thousands of little pieces.

Miyuki grabbed Augustus; her grip didn’t dare to let go.

Elijah jumped out of the window, feeling the cold breeze sway against his hair.

“Liminal Space, Transfer'' Elijah shouted, and a massive, pulsating portal appeared underneath them. Large bursts of essence coloured blue, red, and yellow shot out of the portal. Inside the portal was pure black, like the abyss was calling to them all, and they responded to their call.

The friends and Augustus fell into the portal, feeling a sensation that they'd never felt; it was like being on a rollercoaster, but worse, their stomachs churned and it felt like their organs were squished as they were falling through the portal.

Eventually, they could all see the light and were slammed into the soft grass. The day was ending with a cold breeze as the sun was beginning to set.

“Shit.” Miyuki muttered, looking around her surroundings. She readied her hand, hovering over her silver and turquoise sheath. The friends and Augustus realised that they had been surrounded by guards everywhere.

Their expressions furrowed as they began to think of their next move. With a deep breath, they used what little time they had to check the guards; they all boasted shiny, silver armour that reflected the sunset and a large, dark steel sword, imbued with essence.

Dark steel swords are a special-class weapon that has had essence imbued into them. Like dark steel, the main advantages to this are increased strength and durability. The fact that each guard around them wielded a dark steel sword made the friends gulp.

“About time.” Itzozu laughs before a massive explosion hits the palace, the burning mushroom cloud disseminating half of the palace and sending large boulders of marble their way. It was a wall of destruction heading their way and combining with a shockwave.

This shockwave swept through the battlefield. The friends tried their hardest to remain upright by holding their arms to their faces. The guards weren’t so lucky; their bulky armour made it difficult to stand up, and some fell over, smashing against the ground.

“What the hell just happened?! “ Miyuki shouted.

2.

“Serpent. You just can’t keep your hands away from blood.”

“Hah. Even after you ‘retired’”

“Though…Soon you shall take your final kill.”

The mysterious person was surrounded by pitch black; the only thing you could make out was a singular table in the centre of the room, a dangling light, and a light switch on the left wall. The walls were cracked and damp, with a few drops of water leaking from the roof.

Light filled the room with a flick of the light switch. Revealing the decorated room filled with posters. One of them was a strange person jumping from a building, with the writing below being signed by someone called “E. Wood.”

“Vas, how many times have you practised that mysterious speech?” Another person bantered while stepping into the room.

“Ah, Kyoka. Haven’t you also been hyped to fight again?!” Vas laughed back.

“My, my, we can’t rush into this, Vas. We have to wait.” Kyoka stated this to Vas. She grabbed a silver remote with a dozen buttons on it and opted to press the red one on top. The screen lit up with various shades of red and yellow before displaying a map.

image [https://imgur.com/a/HjmeV2R]

image [https://i.imgur.com/ToRTHuo.png]On the screen was a picture of an old, torn map displaying an area around the Edessa and Nova borders. The Fortress City of Chthonia had a massive red x scribbled across it with circles around Mezoryn, Edesa, and Lemora. Then there were blue circles around Supernova and Blitzar, which are cities within the Republic of Nova.

“Hehe, they’re somewhere in these cities. Thanks to MY company,” provoked Kyoka.

“The only reason your company even worked was because of funding from Sora!” quipped Vas.

Vas took a long sigh, setting down a gun on the table and then taking a seat for himself. The wood creaked as he sat down. He was spinning a pocket knife in between his fingers.

“Well anyway, Serpent... You are done.” Vas laughs as he throws his knife at a portrait of someone; the light didn’t reach quite far enough, making only a faint silhouette.

3.

Back to the battlefield in Chthonia.

“What the hell was that?!” Miyuki shouted, her words barely heard over the loud raptures of the fast wind.

“I had some friends prepare something... Just in case.” Itzozu shouted back, barely making out Miyuki’s words.

The shockwave had passed, and the damage was unveiled before the friends. Most of the guards had been knocked down, and several cracks started showing inside their armour; however, it seemed like they were still ready to fight. With no time to spare, they got up, holding out their swords to the friends.

Itzozu gasped out some air and then started laughing uncontrollably. His breaths turned erratic as the sclera in his eye started fading from white to a deep red. He outstretched his arm in front of the guards, massive piles of essence forming from his hand.

“Let’s. Get. This. Started.” Itzozu glared at the guard.

“Essence Technique, Enchain.” Itzozu shouted as he crossed two of his fingers.

Dozens of chains sprouted from his back, making a loud bang as they slammed into the ground. They slashed around violently, destroying everything within their path. Making easy work of any guard who dared to stand in its way.

Leftover chains littered the ground after the onslaught ended, but just when the guards thought it was over, the chains ignited in flames. In a burning combination of red, yellow, and orange.

Essence Technique, Enchain had two phases to it. The first phase sends out a barrage of silver chains that are nigh-invulnerable to cut, cleave, and slash anything that’s in his way. In the second phase, the chains left on the battlefield are set on fire. This flame was everlasting, only able to be put out by destroying its chain.

“Do they have some goddamn cloning facility? How many are there?!” Miyuki seethed.

“Wait… Is that a Xinyang symbol?-'' Augustus wondered before he was cut off by seeing a number of guards run at him. He took refuge behind the friends. Hoping they would defeat them before they got to him.

“I’m feeling so tired.” Asher yawned.

Eijah walked forward; each step he took in the grass only got faster. His speed ramped up to a full sprint. He outstretched his arm and activated the Space.

“Liminal Space, Transfer!” he shouted, a massive portal opening. With the swipe of his finger, a dozen explosives flooded out of the portal. The noise was ear-piercing as the surrounding grass was incinerated. The explosion sent shrapnel everywhere.

Asher quickly blocked it all with his own shield, extending it all to Miyuki as well. Although his shield was not as strong as Itzozu’s, a small piece of that shrapnel had cut through the shield, leaving him with a graze on Asher’s cheek.

“You know how to make shields?” Miyuki questioned, wiping the blood on Asher’s cheek with a piece of tissue in her pocket.

“It’s a basic technique, duh.” Asher bantered.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“I’m going to kill you.” muttered Miyuki.

“Left.” Miyuki declared. Asher looked at her inquisitively before seeing the guards run at them. He quickly followed what Miyuki said by ducking to the left. The moment Asher was free from the guards. Miyuki used it as a chance to fight back.

“Bye bye!” Miyuki laughed as she dove underneath the gaurd’s weapon and then slashed above, destroying their armour and piercing through their skin.

Another guard attempted to swing at her, but Miyuki gripped her sword and swung it upwards, slicing their legs and causing them to lose balance and fall. “Good night!” Miyuki shouts before cutting him across the throat, killing them.

Asher was dealing with the other guard; he took advantage of his essence and summoned a single ice arrow into the arm of the guard and then summoned another to the other arm, effectively disarming him. With a final ice arrow, it stabbed into his head, killing him.

Suddenly an attack appeared from above and stabbed through Miyuki’s hand. She clutched it in pain as she looked above, her eyes full of seething hatred.

It was a guard from above who fired an arrow made out of essence. Miyuki threw her sword at the guy, and it pierced straight through their eye, severing his brain and killing them.

This battle concluded with another victory for the friends. The guards were defeated, and Augustus was safe. Now that the guards are defeated, the friends can return home, and Augustus can be free.

“Guys. We don’t have a car.” Elijah sighed.

“Could we just take another car?” Itzozu questioned him, and he looked around his surroundings. The burnt grass turned to ash, the holes in the ground and the hundreds of chains scattered across the field. There was not a single car in sight.

“Right, that explains it.” Itzozu sighed as well.

“Let’s just walk,” Miyuki demanded, walking towards the gate.

Asher grabbed Miyuki’s hair.

“Do you not realise how LONG that would be?!” Asher shouted. Not relenting his grip.

“OW! LET ME GO!!!” Miyuki screamed out in pain as Asher kept tugging on her hair. Miyuki unsheathed her sword; the silver blade flung out and slashed towards Asher. He let his grip go, and the sword cleanly cut through Miyuki’s hair.

“Fuck.” Miyuki sighed.

“I’M GOING TO TEAR YOUR LIMBS APART!” Miyuki shouted, in a violent fit of rage, all the while Asher was laughing his head off.

“Huh?!” Both of them loudly gasped when they saw a cloud of smoke at the gate entrance. This smoke was pure black, and it barely moved. Instead standing in one place ominously, and then...

“Impressive.”

“Truly Impressive.”

“You’ve bested this land. Just like we have this world.“

“When this world turns to asunder, Our mother shall enlighten us.”

“Your journey shall be stained with the stench of blood.” A voice calls out from the fog.

Their voice was strange. A male with a mix of anger and tranquilly, they sounded calm yet ready to trample anyone who stood in his way. It was almost as if he was hiding a dark secret.

“A barrier!?” Itzozu shouted.

The friends heard a loud banging noise from the sky, and the sky turned into a yellow hexagonal dome. The barrier surrounded the whole of Chthonia. It was an impressive barrier, to say the least. Itzozu looked up, examining its properties.

Asher attempted to use a technique, but before even casting it fully, the technique had fizzled out.

“It’s an essence barrier.” Asher stated.

“What’s all these fancy terms!?” Miyuki shouted, completely dumbfounded. Miyuki never learned any of these things due to her not being able to cast essence.

“Most barriers stop you from leaving or entering. However, essence barriers is different. While using the same framework as a regular barrier. These ones instead block the casting of essence in exchange for free passage between meanings. Techniques won’t work here.” Asher explained this to Miyuki.

“Can’t we just leave then?” Elijah questioned.

“No. Whoever said this is strong, and they’ll think we’ll try to leave. They’ll surprise attack us.” Asher stated.

“I’ll analyse it in the meantime,” Asher boasted, sitting down on a patch of unharmed grass. Several strange symbols appeared around Asher, lighting up in a neon green colour. Asher moved his hands together, stacking both of his hands together.

"Asher, you’re full of surprises.” Elijah laughed.

The only technique that a barrier would allow is an anti-barrier technique that is stronger than the barrier itself.

The person in the smoke talked while walking out of the smoke. Revealing themselves to their friends. This person was wearing a navy and silver Chinese robe. They had various accessories, such as a pierced ear with a blue gem. On their chest was a symbol; this symbol looked like two arrows colliding.

They laughed maniacally, stretching their swords towards the friends.

“I am Yúzé. The Eleventh Harbinger of The Xinyang.” He introduced himself.

“The Xinyang! I knew that symbol.” Augustus realised.

“Harbinger? Who are they?” Elijah asked.

“The Xinyang is an organisation that spreads like a plague. They have deep roots in crime and corruption. The fact that they are here now only means one thing. Augustus trailed off.

“They’re here for us.” Miyuki stated as she drew her sword.

Yúzé looked at the friends, his dark blue hair swaying as he cocked his head back and forth. A large smile was painted across his face as he leaned in towards Miyuki. She was taken aback and attempted to slash at him.

Her sword made a loud clash as it was knocked from her hand to the ground. Miyuki gasped as she felt his grip tighten on her arm. Yúzé, with a massive grin, began stomping on the sword, destroying it beyond repair.

“Haha! You're almost correct. Everything we do is appointed by Mother. She is our light and our darkness.” Yúzé shouted, lifting his free arm into the air.

“She has taken an interest in you; Mother wants you to meet her.” Yúzé demanded.

Miyuki mustered all her strength into a kick, and her foot impacted directly into his knee, which caused him to relent his grip for just a split second. She used this chance to run back to her friends.

“All you do is ruin people’s lives!” Augustus retorted.

Yúzé stood still, looking at Augustus, before having a laughing fit, slapping his knee as it looked like he struggled for air. His reactions were manic and illogical; he stopped laughing and just stared at Augustus.

“Huh? Who’s this trash talking to me? You think you can just turn up here and insult Mother?” Yúzé snarled.

Yúzé drew out a sword, holding it at his waist. He gave a wide grin before sprinting towards Augustus. He dodged and weaved through all the lifeless guards and was about to stab Augustus directly in the eye. His heart pounded.

Yúzé’s sword clashed against another, and he gave the expression as if to say, “Huh? What just happened?”

“Yeah… This guy kinda needs to live. We need money.” Miyuki interrupted, revealing to Yúzé that she had another sword.

He gave a deep breath after another, to the point where he was hyperventilating.

“I see, I see, I see you and your tricks. Tricks!” Yúzé shouted, clawing at his face.

“Mother. They are delusional. You will allow me to use force, yes? shall enforce your judgement!! ALMIGHTY MOTHER!” Yúzé shouted before holding his sword in the air. The silver blade shone against the yellow barrier.

“Essence Technique: Seventh Blaze.” Yúzé shouts, his pupils shrinking as he shrieks his incantation. As the words left his mouth, a massive wall of sword projectiles made from flames appeared behind him. The fiery colours created an aura of red behind Yúzé.

Yúzé slashed his silver blade, and as it fell down, a massive slash of fire hurled towards the friends, with all the projectiles firing at a supersonic speed.

“Essence Technique: Overlord's Armour.” Itzozu shouted in response.

Itzozu stood in front of the fiends, watching the wall of fire quickly approach. He looked very satisfied. The attacks slammed against the shield as massive amounts of essence flew out from everywhere, turning the battlefield into a miasma of red and blue.

“Will this hold?” Miyuki questioned.

“Nothing can destroy this shield.” Itzozu bragged, laughing off what Miyuki said.

Asher felt one of his hairs stand up, and he realised something.

“This barrier has a weakness. I noticed it when you set up your own barrier inside of it, Itzozu.” Asher stated.

“I thought to myself, How was that Yúzé person able to activate his technique, and also you could activate it, Itzozu?” Asher followed up.

“This barrier cannot disable all techniques at once. When you and Yúzé activated at the same time, the barrier couldn't cancel it.” Asher finalised his theory.

“So we have to activate techniques at the same time?” Itzozu questioned.

“Yep!” Asher beamed, standing up from the warm floor.

Both Asher and Itzozu were ready to cast their techniques; if two attack techniques were activated at the same time, it may allow for the destruction of the barrier. The friends also realise that it’s not only the barrier that’s the problem.

Miyuki and Asher both attack Yúzé. Asher approaches from underneath his arm and touches the side of Yúzé.

“Essence Technique, Enchain” “Essence Technique, Solitude’s Blessing” Itzozu and Asher both casted at the same time. The chains of Itzozu’s technique struggled to activate until Asher’s techniques also activated.

A massive shard of ice erupted from Asher’s hand while the chains from Itzozu came in full force. Everyone felt the shear strain on the barrier; the hexagonal barrier started to form cracks until it completely shattered.

The chains and shards of ice both directly hit Yúzé, with Miyuki doing an overhead slash towards his head.

“Hmm. A technique that utilises propulsion and strength in exchange for having little to no accuracy. Having to get so close to an enemy is pretty risky, you know. If you weren’t so... Pathetic. Maybe your mother would appreciate how brave you are.” Yúzé laughed their attack off.

Yúzé grabs Asher by the throat and increases his grip. It felt like he was about to crush his throat as Asher desperately tried to get air, clawing and punching at Yúzé.

“Essence technique: King’s Gambit!” Augustus shouted out, revealing his own technique.

King’s Gambit is an essence technique that transports the user into their own mind. Inside their minds, time slows to an almost complete stop. Inside their minds is a completely white room with a single beige table in the middle.

On the table is a card game of blackjack. The user of the technique bets a certain amount of their power and must face themselves in a game of blackjack.

Augustus sat down on the table, shuffling the cards in between his hands. He saw another version of himself take a seat on the opposite end of the table.

“Well, shall we play?” Augustus asked the other version of himself, to no avail. The other version just looks at him, waiting to begin the match.

“All in.” Augustus demanded, moving all his power to the table.

After a stressful and intense game of blackjack, Augustus laid his card on the table and claimed victory.

The reward for going all in and winning was a three-time boost in power, known as “Gambler’s Dream.”

Having achieved Gambler’s dream, Augustus returned to the real world. The sky was dark with the charred remains of guards and grass. He saw Itzozu and Asher struggling to even harm Yúzé.

Augustus ran towards Yúzé at what felt like the speed of light; lightning sparked as he sprinted directly towards him as if he were a guided missile.

Yúzé was unable to react in time and was punched directly in the face by Augustus. The impact felt like it ripped apart his flesh from his skin.

Augustus didn’t let Yúzé go that easily and followed up with a barrage of punches and kicks; with each hit, the blood of Yúzé spilled out. After Augustus was finished, his fist was dripping with blood that was not his own.

“Y-Y-You!!! I can’t believe this. I need to talk to mother!” Yúzé shouted as he ran away, disappearing as he ran around a corner.

“I did something for once.” Augustus cheered himself on.

“That guy was so strong... And there’s ten more of them?” Miyuki exasperated.

“What now? We still have no car.” Elijah questioned.