Yumi’s head lifted up realizing what she needed. ‘I just need to get her to move! There’s another way!’

Fueled by her new resolve, Yumi rushed over to Fumiko’s side. The moment she saw the vacant look in her eyes she knew it wasn’t going to be easy. ‘I can’t give up. She’s the only one that can do it!’ However, nothing seemed to be getting through to her.

The troubles Fumiko faced through their time in Atlantis didn’t go unnoticed by Yumi. She didn’t know what the original cause was, but she saw Fumiko being very quiet and distant from the group after Skoupa. It seemed that rescuing Yori gave focus to her and the time in the camp gave her some confidence. However, it all shattered with the release of her new power. All of the deaths on her hands, accidental or not, was too much to handle. It was going to be hard to break through it.

‘You’re being too soft.’

“Come on, Fumiko! We need you!” Yumi tried shaking her a little. Her hands struggled to keep from tensing up. ‘Shut up! I’ll do it my way!’

‘You’re out of time.’

Resisting was all she could do. Ignoring it did nothing. “I know you’re hurting, Fumiko!”

‘You only need a single phrase.’

‘I won’t do it!’ Shaking Fumiko a little harder, she tried to get through to her senior. It surprised Yumi a little to see Fumiko so broken. The appearance she gave made her seem like the strongest one in the group. She had everything together. She tried to be the glue, the mother figure that held everyone together. It was just a façade. ‘Besides you don’t even know it’ll work.’

‘Humans are very predictable creatures. Everything I’ve seen of her makes me certain I’m not wrong.’

‘You can’t know. We aren’t so simple!’

‘On the contrary. The excuses are complex, but the reasons are always very simple.’

“Don’t let it win, Fumiko! You’re stronger than this!”

’Sweet words aren’t what you need right now. The girl needs to be motivated. She needs a reason to stand. You know what will make her stand.’

An explosion of earth shot into the air towering above the forest. It was no doubt Seiji. Yumi tilted back in the direction of the fight. The trees made it difficult to see what happened to Chiharu. She struggled in an impossible battle with her only chance of winning resting on too much luck. Her hand tightened up frustrated. Everything continued to get worse. Yumi looked back at Fumiko. A split second considered the alternative, but dismissed it immediately.

‘Accept reality. You wished for this, you can’t turn away from your wish. This is the reality.’

‘Things are getting worse for Chiharu and Seiji. I have the answer, yet…’ Yumi rested her folded legs in the grass, knees pressed to support her leaning forward. She faced Fumiko no longer leaving part of her turned away in fear or uncertainty. The choice had to be made and committed to completely. Yumi leaned in, whispering in her ear. “Fumiko…”

Chapter 225 – The Crawling Fear

Suddenly, the light came back to Fumiko’s eyes. She stood up. The expression on her face was no longer devoid of life. A painful look of guilt, fear and resolve stirred together in Fumiko. She looked down at Yumi. “Where is she?”

“…in the forest. I need you to burn everything as far as you can. It’s the only way.”

Fumiko looked down at her hand. It shook a little, but held fast. “I understand. Where’s my staff?” She glanced over her shoulder at Yori holding on to it for her. He passed it to her, where it suddenly glowed red for a brief moment. “I’ll handle this.” With her decision made, she ran off into battle.

Yumi watched her fade into the distance until the trees hid her. Her entire body shook. It was a disgusting feeling, yet she made the choice. It was something she had to live with. ‘Who are they?’

‘Likely the source of her guilt. The reason she acts strong, but is actually weak. The hand always strangling her neck until she can’t breathe.’

‘I just made that grasp tighter…’

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

‘But she’s alive again and will save your friends.’

‘Ends justify the means…’

‘…always…that’s the world you’re destined for…’

Yumi turned away, unable to watch any longer. A massive column of fire rose behind her expanding to become larger. She caught the uncertain looks of Simonides and Nerine from the fire she started.

Everything happened so quickly and secretly, he didn’t know completely what to make of it. “What did you tell her?” Curiosity infected him deeply, despite the signs he saw from the troubled Yumi.

She walked away from it all and past the Atlanteans. “Exactly what she needed to hear. The thing she fears the most. Repeating the same mistake.”

Nerine stared a little in confusion at the cryptic words. Yumi put more distance between them. She needed space. ‘What happened between them?’ Like Simonides, she had curiosity, but she had to withhold it. It wasn’t the right time to probe deeper.

“I see the strategy,” commented Simonides, looking back at the disappearing forest.

“Sir?” When Nerine took a new look at the scene she started to understand as well. The flames had engulfed the entire forest. A massive inferno raged, stretching across more than a hundred meters of ground. Nothing could escape. “If you can’t find them, attack all points at once.”

“Yes, it’s simple, but effective.”

Gray smoke filled yet another shallowly dug trench. It wasn’t anywhere nearly as impressive as the one Saki made using Seiji. It was merely a few centimeters of the top of the earth shaved off. Mostly just grass went missing. It didn’t change the fact Seiji laid amongst it. A couple clumps of grass fell on him.

“Losing again,” Chiharu commented, appearing standing near his head. She stared down at him with a narrow expression. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”

He glared over at her. “Don’t have a fight of your own?”

“It’s been handled. Unlike this one.”

Her tone of voice was more than enough to tick him off. Seiji jumped up to his feet and leveled his finger down at Chiharu. “I didn’t lose, brat! I already beat him!”

Lifting her eyebrow in doubt, Chiharu examined him quickly. Blood streaks painted his face and arms. Significant parts of his body looked bruised and torn. The papers on his arm frayed looking ready to fall off in a few places. “I didn’t think it was possible for you to have incurred even more brain damage.” She leaned around him to see his opponent in the distance.

The man he fought still stood though looking a little roughed up. She glanced back at him with even more suspicions. “You don’t have enough brain cells to see one move ahead, let alone plan your certain victory in the future.”

“Huh?” It actually made Seiji back off a little because he didn’t understand Chiharu. He tried to figure out what she implied with her words. Unfortunately, thinking didn’t get him anything but more trouble. A lost cause for him, Seiji passed on by it. “He’s already beat, he just won’t give up!”

“So knock him out.”

“I tried several times, he just gets back up.” In their talk, the Atlantean closed the distance to attack. He wielded massive stone fists five times larger than even him. They hovered next to him moving with his motions. Chiharu easily dodged it, but Seiji seemed to hesitate taking the impact directly. It sent him flying again to cough up dirt.

Chiharu appeared at his side once more staring down. “Why didn’t you dodge? He’s not very fast.”

Annoyed a little, Seiji knocked his fist into the ground creating a little crater under him. It pushed him back up to his feet. “If you didn’t distract me! I would have!” He charged in ignoring Chiharu’s comments. The two exchanged a few blows. Seiji had the clear advantage, knocking the man down several times. Like Seiji said before, the soldier stood back up with a little more blood on his face, determined to keep fighting. “Stay down already!”

The stone fists threw punches at Seiji. “Like I keep telling you, the only way you can beat me is if you kill me.”

Seiji’s hands shook suddenly. He tried to keep them from being noticed by tensing up. “Stop saying that!” Charging in, he tried to knock the man down, but completely missed. Everything about his movement was off leaving him completely open. The counter sent Seiji flying back to Chiharu. “Dammit all!” shouted Seiji, standing back up. He staggered a little trying to get back to his feet.

Reading his movements, Chiharu tried to figure out what was wrong with him. “This should be an easy fight for you. The guy’s hardly worth our time.” The next attack from the Atlantean Chiharu stopped the movement of the man’s attack with a single hand. Grass blew over behind her from the sudden halt as the displaced force needed to travel somewhere. She effortlessly tossed the man away leaving him to tumble a few times before skidding to a halt in the grass.

“Taking over my fight now?” Seiji stopped in front of Chiharu. He tried to hold his stature over her as a sign of his condition to fight. “I’m not done with this fight!”

Her eyes narrowed a little, getting a bit of a read on him. “The fight’s already over for you. You’re holding back.”

Seiji’s hand jumped out grabbing Chiharu’s garb. His hand wrapped firmly around the loose bit of leather and chainmail. “What the hell ya say, brat?”

When she went to grab his wrist to break free, she paused. Her hand held on to his wrist just enough to stay in contact. ’He’s shaking. Is he scared?’ Glancing over at the Atlantean starting to stand, Chiharu grew more questions in her head. ‘Of him? He’s worthless. Why is he like this?’ She looked back at him to try to see in his eyes what scared him so much. It was supposed to be a talent of assassins to be able to read others, intent and emotion. Unfortunately, her skill remained unrefined. “What’s bothering you?”

Annoyed, he slapped away her hand and dropped his hold. “Nothing.” He walked over with the intent to continue the fight despite his apparent odds of doing so remained low.

A few more exchanges had the Atlantean falling over and standing up. Seiji could put him down, but not permanently. Nothing he did ended the fight for good. Then Seiji hesitated again and flew away from a well-timed strike.

Chiharu stepped in next to him again as he rose. “If he keeps standing you only have one choice. He’s already told you how to win.” She looked away at the soldier. “Kill him.”

Seiji paused for a second standing up. His body went cold. It lasted for a second then his muscles tensed in response. He forced himself to stand up. The shaking didn’t stop. No control could bring it to an end. He took a step forward. “Don’t say something so casually! Like it is an easy word.” Seiji started marching towards the man again. “You sound so comfortable with it.” An uneasy feeling churned in his stomach.

She had nothing more to say to him. Chiharu disappeared from his sight. A moment later, she reappeared behind the Atlantean. Two kunai appeared, one in each hand. Their blades buried into the man’s flesh in his arms. The quick motion made his arms drop to his side useless. His rock fists fell to the ground unmoving as well. In the next action, Chiharu wrapped her arms around his neck in a sleeper hold. He passed out quickly and jumped back up, however she remained locked on him. No matter how many times he revived, he couldn’t outlast Chiharu’s strength. Eventually, he had to give up.

A few minutes later, Chiharu’s work finished. She retrieved her blades and walked back. “It’s over, weakling.” A tone of disgust lined her words.

Seiji held his head down feeling as if he lost something he didn’t understand. The battle was over, but it felt like something worse only began. He dropped to his knees. It was all out of his control. Everything unraveled too quickly. ‘…damn…Damn! DAMN!’