Extra's Re-awakening: System Errors Made Me Too OP-Chapter 55: A Fateful Clash
"Let me tell you something about us kid." Kazuki said, referring to Kaira as he stepped forward slowly, releasing a calm puff of smoke.
"Those idiots might have not been blessed with Soul-Energy like you noblemen, but that didn’t stop us, we worked our muscles to the core, sacrificed our blood to achieve so little. That’s the difference between us, being talentless isn’t our weakness, it’s our strength. We never run from danger, we’ll never give up, and we’ll never abandon our comrades either. That’s the 14th Soul-Squad."
"The 14th Soul-Squad huh?" The man smiled, and in the next instant, he vanished from where he stood between the three boys, reappearing several meters away as if he had never moved at all.
Rai’s brows twitched slightly, surprised by how fast the man moved. He was so fast that he had completely slipped past his perception.
"Are you alright Kaira?" Ken reached out a hand to help her, but Kaira, proud as ever, pushed herself up without his aid and faced the enemy head-on. She felt ashamed , disgraced even. Being rescued by members of the 14th Soul-Squad of all people was humiliating. She swore to make up for it at once, to defeat the enemy and prove she didn’t need anyone’s help.
Almost immediately, one more figure appeared beside the man, another man. Both of them were dressed in black cloaks, each marked on the left side of their chest, and at the back with a circular symbol of black and white, the Yin and Yang.
W-who are they?" Aiden asked, feeling uneasy. Not only had their numbers suddenly increased, but the presence of the two figures carried a heavy, intimidating pressure that made the air feel tense.
"I see... A Soul-Hunter with the ability to cut through anything, and also the ability to sense us even in this highly concentrated and dense fog. You must be the captain of the 14th Soul-Squad, Kazuki Matasuragi." The man in the middle, the one who had slipped from the three boys’ grasp, spoke calmly.
"Oh? I’m flattered, no one ever remembers the 14th Soul-Squad unless it’s time to pay for damages." Kazuki chuckled, placing the sword on his shoulder. "But it wasn’t easy cutting through that fog, with that said, judging from the insignia on your chest. The Inner Souls... I presume?"
"T-The Inner Souls!?" Aiden exclaimed, and at the mention of the Inner Souls, every gaze wavered, and a mix of awe and unease filled the air.
"The Inner Souls?" Xander asked, he remembered the name, or rather the organization from the Soul-King’s domain after Livinus’s betrayal, but not what it was.
"The Inner Souls, they are a group of specially skilled Soul-Hunters that has existed for generations for as long as the history of Soul-Cores remembers. Their objectives are unknown, but one thing is for certain." As Kazuki exhaled sharply, and blew a puff of smoke from his mouth, his tone changed, and it grew colder.
"The last time these bastards showed their face, they destroyed half the kingdom."
"Really!?"
Xander faced them with a calm, almost indifferent expression. He already knew the Inner Souls were after the Soul-Stone, but even Livinus was unaware of what was truly sealed within it. That meant they didn’t know about the Primordial Essen-Beast trapped inside — which could only mean their goal for the stone was something entirely different. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
But for now, one thing was certain, the Inner Souls were connected to the disappearance of the villagers. The reason behind their actions, however, remained a mystery.
"Yes, but now they’re back." Kazuki replied, spinning his custom made sword in his hand.
"What do you want with the villagers?" He asked.
For a brief moment their silence infuriated Kazuki, he spat out the cigarette in his mouth and glanced at them. "Quite cocky are you? I won’t ask again. What do you want with the villagers?" As he spoke, his Soul-Energy surged into his sword, and the blade began to glow with a dark grey aura that pulsed faintly with power.
"Our goals are far beyond your understanding." One of them finally replied.
"That so? You can try me, I’m quite good at understanding things, including the fact that you’re stalling." The two men froze, confused by his words, but they quickly realized there was no point in dragging it out any longer.
Before they could respond, a figure stepped through the gates behind the two men. It was a woman, dressed in a tight black sleeveless crop top and black trousers, boots laced up to her calves, her black hair framing her face. A pair of glasses rested on her nose, and over it all she wore the black cloak of the Inner Souls.
The moment she stepped through the gate, the two men immediately turned to face her.
"Do you have it?" One of the men asked.
"No... All that’s left of it is the rubbles of the temple and a huge crater in the ground, it’s gone, it must have been moved."
’Rubbles of the temple..." Rai’s eyes snapped open as he immediately realized what she meant. "You don’t mean... The Soul-King’s domain!?"
"Hm?" She lifted her head gracefully, her eyes sweeping down over the threats that stood before her. "Judging by the number on you all, you must be..."
Her eyes snapped open, and a sly smile curved at the corner of her lips. "Rai!" She shouted, almost as if she had reunited with her long lost friend.
"Huh?"
She pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose, then leaned forward slightly, her gaze locking on Rai as if he were the man she had longed for. "I never really got to completely analyze you, and now my opportunity has come."
"Analyze me? Wait..." He took a closer look at her, then his eyes widened in disbelief. "You’re that girl from before..."
"Hm? You know her kid?" Kazuki asked, turning towards him.
"Not really, during the final stage of the Soul-Hunters examination, she sat behind me, and she appeared to be studying each participant as they battled."
"In the Soul-Hunter’s examination?" It was unbelievable to hear, that meant it wasn’t only one member of the Inner Souls that had infiltrated the Soul-Hunter’s association in pretence, but two.
"Well, it doesn’t matter, we don’t have time to waste here, take care of them, I’ll search the village." In a dash, she sped into the village, using the fog around her as cover.
"Kid! Go after her we’ll handle the rest!" Kazuki exclaimed, referring to Rai, but before he could say another word, Xander dashed off after her, with Rai quickly following right behind.
"Wait!" Kazuki exclaimed in frustration, finally understanding the kind of trouble Misa had been putting up with. He had sent only Rai, confident he could handle themselves for a while, especially since they needed every fighter available with the Inner Souls involved. But now, two boys had gone charging after her in pursuit.
One of the men pressed his hand against the ground, summoning a thick cloud of fog that spread rapidly, swallowing the entire area. He intended to use the cover to finish them off once and for all, and to give the woman a perfect chance to escape.
"Trying to impede our vision? No you don’t!" Kazuki spun the sword in his right hand, and with his physical strength fused with his Soul-Energy, he drove the blade into the ground. The impact was explosive, a surge of power burst from the point of contact, rippling outward in a wave of Soul-Energy that swept across a fifteen-meter radius around him.
The burst of Soul-Energy swept through the town square, blowing away the fog in an instant and revealing the two men standing directly across from Kazuki.
"I-Impossible!" One of the two men exclaimed. "He cleared out the fog just by sending his Soul-Energy into the ground!?" He added.
"Oh?" The other man spoke, his voice low and taunting as a wicked smile curled up the corner of his lips.
SWOOSH!
The other man spoke, his voice low and taunting as he slowly removed his mask, revealing a wicked smile beneath it.
Seconds later, he appeared behind the man with the wicked smile. But the man was already aware of his presence, he could read his movements as if he had anticipated them all along.
Without hesitation, Kazuki swung his sword toward the man’s neck, but the man spun around instantly, catching Kazuki’s wrist before the blade could reach him.
The force of the catch alone unleashed a surge of wind that rippled through a four-meter radius around them, and the ground beneath their feet cracked from the pressure.
"This is getting fun, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Chronos."
"Chronos?" Kazuki raised a brow, the corner of his lips twitching in slight embarrassment for the man. "Who names their kid Chronos without knowing the significance behind such a name? I see, your problems didn’t start when you became a Soul-Hunter. It started from your first naming ceremony."
Chronos smiled, showing no sign of offense. If anything, he seemed amused, as though he found the whole thing slightly funny. "Kazuki Matasuragi was it? You’re quite humorous. Now then, shall we get started?"
With matching smiles on their faces, Kazuki pressed down harder on his sword, pouring in even more strength than before. The force pushed Chronos back several meters, but like a seasoned warrior, he swiftly regained his footing. In the next instant, both men charged toward each other once again.
A sword of ice suddenly materialized in Chronos’s right hand. Without hesitation, he swung it toward Kazuki, who met the strike with his own blade. Sparks of Soul-Energy erupted where the two swords collided, the force of their clash sending ripples through the air around them.
As their swords clashed, the two warriors dashed past each other. Chronos spun around and swung the ice-forged blade toward Kazuki’s back, but Kazuki leapt into a backflip, narrowly evading the strike. He twisted mid-air, turning to face Chronos once more.
In a swift motion, he brought his legs down in a powerful strike aimed toward his Chronos’s head.
In a fluid motion, Chronos raised his arms above his head, blocking the descending kick. With a sudden push of his palm, he sent Kazuki hurtling backward, the force of the strike throwing him several meters away.
As he landed on his feet, he wasted no time. Both Soul-Hunters lunged toward each other, their right fists shooting forward with a blinding speed. Kazuki’s fist was engulfed in a violent dark grey aura, while Chronos’s radiated a surge of golden-black energy.
Their fists slammed together, and the collision of their energies created a massive explosion. Shockwaves rippled outward, sending shards of shattered ground flying in every direction. The force was so strong that it knocked everyone in the vicinity off their feet.
Ken lifted his head slightly, groaning in pain as he felt the impact from crashing hard onto the ground.
"A-amazing! Captain Kazuki is on par with the Inner Souls!"
"Don’t get distracted! There’s another one of them!" As Kazuki shouted, the other man suddenly landed right in front of them, appearing almost out of nowhere.
"Damn it... I never expected to fight someone like the Inner Souls this early into my life." Ken spoke, his voice trembling and legs shaking as the weight of their opponent’s power sank in.
"It doesn’t matter who they are." Kaira said, taking charge. "We’re part of the fourteen Soul-Squads, it’s an honor and pride to wield such title, so we fight, and we’ll win." As Kaira said, they all got into a stance, ready for battle.
