Chapter 3 — When the Sky Answered

Meanwhile, as the main force prepared, Yuma made his way toward the highest tower of the Imperial Palace.

There, he gazed into the distance.

Arfy’s broadcast had been announced not only in the Main District, but throughout all the districts as well.

Yuma closed his eyes.

There was only one summoner.

Quite surprising, considering the number of Shadows that had appeared.

But what concerned him was—

What was their goal?

So far, there had been no truly lethal moves. Only the highest-ranked Rank A Death God had appeared.

Perhaps they simply wanted to exhaust the entire force.

Then what would they do after that?

Yuma continued detecting the locations of the Shadows as he thought. Something impossible for an ordinary person, yet easy for him.

Then he opened his eyes.

“School.”

If their goal really was to weaken the force, it made sense that they would want to awaken another powerful force by sacrificing the Shadows, which were the lowest level of power.

The stronger the soul, the greater the level of contamination. There was even a possibility that a high-ranking Death God could awaken.

And the only place where they could easily select talents was a school.

Yuma frowned.

This was worth investigating. Especially... there was someone there—

He shook his head and opened his eyes.

His eyes turned a blazing red.

Gradually, a bluish membrane enveloped his body—the sign of his awakening power.

A bow appeared in his hand, followed by blue arrows flickering with golden light.

Making the soul into a solid object was one of the most difficult levels of power for a person to achieve. But for Yuma, it was something he could do with ease.

As he nocked an arrow onto the bow—

One.

Two.

Three.

...

Until eleven arrows floated on either side of him.

“They’re trying to attack more than eleven districts at once...”

It could be said that the enemy was betting everything this time.

“So killing a summoner this powerful will definitely leave them a little broken, right?”

His murmur was filled with killing intent, causing the arrows around him to hum along with it.

“Ten seconds.”

His voice echoed throughout all the districts.

He drew the bow.

The air rumbled.

When the countdown reached one, Yuma aimed his bow at the sky and released the arrows.

“Stay where you are.”

As the words rang out, everyone in the districts fell silent and stopped attacking.

The Guardians raised their shields.

As each arrow entered its respective district—

“Hm?”

A man in a black robe stepped out from the tree where he had been hiding.

He grinned as he watched everyone freeze.

“Are they stupid?”

Before he could laugh and order his Shadows to attack—

“Eh?”

A bluish arrow pierced his chest.

“---!!”

Along with his hysterical scream of pain, hundreds of arrows descended from the sky, striking the Shadows.

—Shaaaaaaaa

Like a rain of light, the arrows reflected the sunlight beautifully.

But the splashes of red and blood made everyone realize that this was not a rain of light, but judgment from the heavens.

Those who sinned. Those whose souls were contaminated. Humans with impure hearts.

They had to be punished.

After nearly a minute, the Guardians released their abilities. The soldiers then followed up with attacks on the Death Gods.

It was an absolute victory.

“Rank S....? No, above it.”

Wiping the blood from his chin with a blank expression, Yuma stared at a single point.

His expression grew colder.

His instincts screamed danger.

Only that one person would be capable of killing all of his people.

Yuma took one step forward, but his step faltered, and he collapsed.

He touched his chest.

...The seventh regression... Back then, my brother stabbed me through the heart with a knife...

Wounds did not simply disappear because of regression. Wounds that had not yet healed, as well as the wounds that had caused his death, remained in his soul.

His body returned to perfect condition each time he regressed. But those wounds continued to pile up within his soul.

That was why the pain sometimes returned.

Pain.

His body creaked.

But years of habit had made him numb to it. He simply got back up and kept moving forward.

Yuma stood upright once more.

Even with his lips turning blue, he disappeared—

No.

He walked through the air. With every step, thin shards like glass appeared beneath his feet, holding his body up so he would not fall.

Then Yuma ran.

Faster and faster.

—Bang!

A scythe clashed against another scythe.

Black and blue.

The Death God blocked the incoming scythe with his own.

Soul power?

He tried to retreat, but swiftly changed direction and leaped into the sky.

Numerous spears emerged from the ground, nearly piercing his body.

But as he exhaled, a black shadow appeared above him.

“!!”

A blue-haired boy appeared, a large hammer in his hands.

Hastily creating a scythe, he knocked the hammer aside, sending his body flying toward the ground.

But he could not fall.

Sharp cones emerged from the ground, following his steps as he tried to get away.

“Ugh.”

Dodging to the left, an arrow filled with life aura grazed his cheek.

The pain was real.

It was proof of just how powerful his opponent was.

Strong.

The man gritted his teeth as the blue-haired boy appeared behind him.

The boy caught the arrow again as it continued flying after grazing his cheek.

As he swung it downward, the arrow transformed into a sword.

—Clang!

—Klaaang!

Scythe and sword clashed.

When the boy’s sword slipped from his hand, it flew back and transformed into a spear, striking toward him.

“---”

The man could only sacrifice his arm to evade it.

But before he could even scream, a sharp cone pierced his leg.

“---!”

—Shaaaa

The man moved as far away as he could, enduring the pain.

I have to leave.

His task was not to fight, but to observe. The summoner’s death was not a good thing.

But at least, they had managed to weaken many of their enemies.

However—

Even if this was a surprise attack, how can a child possess this much power? I have to tell Lord.

The man stared at the boy slowly approaching him.

Black smoke spread from his body.

—Seeehhheeeettt

Long chains appeared behind the boy.

Like snakes, the chains moved toward the man before finally catching him.

But before the man could be crushed to death—

“What—”

Yuma recoiled in surprise when the man suddenly appeared in front of him.

But the man was surprised as well.

He had intended to confirm the boy’s face while launching a surprise attack.

But the reverse summoning had already begun.

He did not have enough time to confirm it.

But one thing was certain.

The boy’s face was the face of—

Yuma staggered and fell as the man in front of him disappeared, along with the chains.

He had been deceived.

What he had caught was only a Doll, a manifestation of the Death God’s power.

Just as humans could use soul power to create various abilities, Death Gods could also create Dolls that copied all of their powers and abilities.

Like an extra life.

A Doll’s death affected them, but did not actually injure their bodies.

However, because Dolls were created from their life force, the death of a Doll also left them “crippled.”

Yuma pressed his lips together.

And I let his Doll go by accident.

He should not have let his guard down. He should have kept crushing it.

However—

Yuma looked at his trembling hands.

He had reached his limit.

The arrow ability from earlier had required an enormous amount of power.

Even if he wanted to, his body might no longer be capable of releasing any more power.

What a shame.

“Uh...”

Yuma wiped away the blood he had vomited as he watched Rue, pale-faced, running toward him.

His vision began to fade.

I hope I’m not unconscious for too long.

There’s still so much to deal with and discuss about this attack...

Ah...

It hurts...

Being alive...

It’s so exhausting...

You gave me a curse, Kazuki.