Thunder crackled accompanied with streaks of lightning as if to accentuate the somber mood I felt as I sat alone in my empty room. The thought of being powerless in front of that bastard made my blood boil as I couldn’t believe that he just took Shiho so easily. I slammed my fist against the wall of my room in anger hoping that it would mitigate some of my rage but it was little to no help.
“Restia, appear and unlock another seal, I am going to destroy that fucking beast and make him regret ever coming to find me!”
I called out in a fit of rage as the familiar purple haired girl who for some reason chose to dress in goth lolita attire materialized herself in front of me.
“No, I will not do that Kazu-kun. You need to calm yourself down and think rationally. In addition, have you not realized that you are down to the final seal. Do you really want to forget about her completely?”
Restia questioned with a serious tone that was out of character for her.
“But without that power, I cannot defeat Raikou.”
I retorted furiously. The next thing I knew, there was a loud slap alongside a stinging sensation on my cheek.
“Calm yourself down, even with power you can’t do anything when you have literally zero idea on where he is. My master has never lost his cool in tense situations like this and this is not going to be the day where that streak ends.”
She explained calmly after slapping me across my cheek with all her strength. While it did not hurt, that slap without a doubt brought me back to my senses and calmed me down.
“I’m sorry you had to see me losing my cool like that. And thank you for not following my orders to break the last seal. I can’t deal with another loss like that. Not now at least.”
“Yea no kidding, while it was indeed interesting to see you lose your cool for the first time, I believe now is not the best time to do so.”
Restia said as she sat down next to me and dematerialized back into the crystal on my chest. As if on cue, there was a knock on my room door and I could probably guess who it was. A voice called out soon after which confirmed by suspicions.
“Kazuha-san, I know you must be upset about what happened with Shiho. However, It was not your fault and none of us blame you. I hope you will come and share with the rest of us what you know about that bastard and we can take him down and rescue my younger sister together.”
“That’s right! I am not alone anymore, I have people I can rely on to help me.” I thought to myself as I gathered up my resolve and left my room. Risa who was standing outside my room awaited me and the 2 of us headed for our classroom.
When I entered the classroom, I was met with the concerned faces of Emiri, Shiho, Mayu and Miyu who were all probably worried about my mental state after that confrontation with Raikou.
“Onii-chan, are you feeling better? Risa and the twins told Emiri and I what happened. Don’t beat yourself up over it. It was not anyone’s fault other than that man’s.”
My sister asked with a concerned voice as the other girls in the class looked to me as well expecting an answer.
“It’s alright everyone, I have composed myself and I seek your help in rescuing Shiho.” I asked as I bowed my head to the rest of the girls.
“What are you doing Kazu? Is that not already clear? No way I am going to let that scumbag live after what he did to one of my precious students. He was lucky I wasn’t around when he attacked.” Emiri declared confidently while exuding her powerful aura which makes me truly wonder exactly how powerful she truly was.
“Yes, now with the president and the vice-president back, there’s no way that guy is going to get off the hook easily.” Miyu added on.
“But the problem now is that we have no idea where he even is or where he took Shiho.” Mayu stated.
“Kazu, he’s a member of the JSF right? Weren’t you a part of the JSF as well? Do you have any clues as to where he could be?”
Emiri asked in a commanding tone which was quite unexpected from her but I guess she can be serious when she needs to be.
“Unfortunately, I have zero idea as to where he is hiding as high ranking members of the JSF operate independently and it was considered taboo to inquire about where another captain’s base of operations was.” I answered her question while sighing at the lack of leads.
“Maybe you can ask him, Kazu-kun? I’m sure he will have some sort of clue.”
The purple haired goth loli appeared and commented. When she mentioned about “him”, every hair on my body stood on edge as I immediately knew who she was referring to even without his name being mentioned.
“Him? Restia-san, who exactly are you referring to?” Kasumi asked.
“Why don’t you ask your dear brother? He certainly has an interesting relationship with that man.” She replied Kasumi vaguely which made me shiver as I thought of my unique relationship with that man.
“I would rather not return to him if possible. I’m sure we can find some lead elsewhere.” I said as I tried to skillfully change the topic and divert their attention away from that man.
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“This is important Kazu, we do not have time to play around. If there is a way to obtain a lead, you better go get it.” Emiri ordered with a grin on her face as she was probably getting a kick out of this.
“Onii-chan, please. Any lead to help us find Shiho would be of utmost importance.” My sister begged with a serious expression which made me relent.
“Alright fine. I know a Major in the JSF who could possibly give me information on where Raikou is. He was the one who took me under his wing many years ago when I was forced to work in the JSF.”
I sighed as I explained who that man exactly was but purposely left out the key details as to what made me shudder when he was mentioned.
“That’s great news, we will go see him at once.” Risa commented to which I quickly rejected her proposal.
“That is impossible, JSF operations are meant to be discreet and if not for my previous accolades and that man’s influence, I would have been forbidden to speak about it let alone return after my contract with them ended. To be honest, I am not even sure he will grant me an audience even if I returned.” I explained.
“Who are you kidding Kazu-kun? You’re that man’s favorite after all. He would bend the rules and go against any enemy in the world if you so requested it.” Restia chimed in which made me get goosebumps.
“All right then, Kazu will go and talk to this Major to seek a lead. Mayu, Miyu and Risa, the 3 of you will stay on standby in the school in case there is an Exceed attack while we are gone.” Emiri ordered.
“Where are you going pipsqueak?” I questioned,
“HEHEHE, I am going to pay the other 4 academies a visit to request for information and their help.”
“Information?” I cocked my head in puzzlement at her intentions.
“Yesterday, when that Wyvern Exceed attacked us, Liocott Academy was attacked simultaneously and I heard that Royal Academy was also attacked by a horde of Exceeds. This made Emiri and I suspicious as Exceeds are known to be independent beasts that act alone and based off instinct. Yet, there were simultaneous attacks at the same time at the 2 nearest academies from us when a category S appeared.”
Kasumi explained calmly which caught my interest as I figured out what she was hinting at.
“So you are saying that what happened yesterday was no coincidence?” Mayu asked and Kasumi nodded which confirmed my theories as well.
“Yes exactly that. I understand that the Wyvern acted weirdly yesterday and it was under the control of that scum. If our suspicions are right, this is just the beginning as he was probably not acting alone and he had help.”
“Which is why Kasumi and I will be going to gather information from the top rankers in the other academies and discuss plans on how to combat potential threats like what happened yesterday if they happen again in future.” Emiri added on with a tone of seriousness.
“But regardless, once you have any leads on where that bastard took Shiho, contact me and we will drop everything to assist you in the fight. Nothing is more important than the safety of my students.” Emiri instructed.
With everyone’s respective tasks being decided on, we all departed the academy immediately. Emiri and Kasumi used Dimension Ripper to travel quickly to the other academies while I used my wind abilities to fly towards the main base camp of the JSF which was hidden in the middle of the sea.
“It would be quite convenient if I was able to use Emiri’s Dimension Ripper to immediately teleport to the base but unfortunately the condition has not been met.” I thought to myself.
Meanwhile, Kazuha and the girls could only wonder what was happening to Shiho who was being held captive inside Raikou’s base.
Shiho’s POV
I felt a sense of dread and unease as the nightmare I was having was starting to feel all to real. I was dreaming about how I was all alone in a dark room and multiple insects were staring at me with bloodshot eyes. While I knew it was not uncommon for such creatures to have interests in humans, I could tell that they had other plans for me.
The insects started to climb into my clothes and infesting themselves in all sorts of places. The worse part was that I could feel the thousands of legs scurrying all over my body that made me retch.
It was not the first time I had such nightmares yet they always felt real.
I forced myself to awaken as I knew that the reason I was having such horrible lucid dreams was due to the drawback to my Regalia’s ability.
“I guess it is true that the stronger the Regalia ability, the worse the drawback. Of everything it could have been, it just had to be disgusting perverse lucid dreams.”
I thought to myself as I started to take in my surroundings.
It was so dark I could barely see 5 feet in front of me. I was being hung up on some sort of wooden board with both my hands and legs being restrained with thick metal bars that seemed to make them impossible to break through. The atmosphere was certainly nothing short of eerie and disturbing.
I tried to recall the last memory I had before I had that nightmare but all I could remember was fighting that bastard Raikou and him knocking me unconscious. I guess its safe to say that he was probably the one who brought me here.
I tried to break free of my restrains but to no avail. I attempted to unleash my stars but nothing was happening. I could not feel energy from within me at all.
“What the fuck is happening! I can’t feel any energy and I can’t use my abilities at all!” I shouted out in annoyance.
“Of course not little princess. Those metal bars around your little arms and legs are made of a special alloy that I have been engineering which is meant to be a counter to Exceeds. Needless to say, since you Fafnirs gained your abilities from Exceeds, they are effective against you as well.”
A creepy voice called out from the darkness and the silhouette of the man I have been searching for slowly approached me. The lights of the room sparked open and blinded me for a few seconds. As my eyes adjusted themselves to the light, his despicable face came into my immediate view.
His muscular body reeked of sweat and grime. The numerous beastly tattoos all over his arms and legs accentuated his aura but the worse thing of all was his face that was always coupled with a cocky smirk.
“It’s been a while princess. You seem to be more beautiful then before.” He called out to me while licking his lips as if he treated me like some sort of prey.
“Shut the hell up! Ever since that day, I have been searching for you to exact my revenge for the despicable acts you did to me that day.”
I retorted in anger at first but after thinking of the circumstances, I chuckled a little.
“HAHAHAH What luck! Never would I have thought that you would willingly come and present yourself to me.”
Before I could carry on, Raikou walked up to me and gave me a punch to my gut which made me cough out blood. He then used one of his hands to forcefully rip open the abdomen area of my white uniform blouse where that wretched brand he gave me was. He licked his lips once again and laughed while smirking.
“HAHAHAH Don’t make me laugh, have you forgotten who gave you that brand. You are still that same weak pathetic virgin even after all these years. Let’s continue where we left off shall we?”
As I caught my breath from his blow, he placed his fingers on my thighs and started touching them. The feel of his disgusting fingers on my skin made me gag yet what truly made it unbearable was the fact that I was powerless to do anything about it.
I could not think clearly and all thoughts led to the experience with this bastard all those years ago. However, this time I was truly powerless against him due to the weird metal restraints on my limbs.
All I could do was hope and pray for someone to save me.
“Save me... Kazuha..”