Arc I.5: “The Cosmic Guard”
Chapter I: “Restoration”
Episode V: “Akira vs. the UFA!”
[The sky in the Central Region]
Two streaks blurred in the sky.
A storm of aether blasts whizzed past the first streak, originating from the second one behind them.
“Dammit!” Asuka yelled, weaving between all the blasts as she flew at top speed towards the UFA Mainland.
Behind her, Akira followed; his eyes were glazed over as a metal collar around his neck surged with red electricity.
Asuka gritted her teeth, glancing back at him every few seconds.
I need to find a way to get that collar off! It doesn’t seem like he’s conscious. Almost like he’s in a trance.
Within an hour, Asuka could see the island.
Her creamy white aura flickered, then snuffed out entirely— her aether flow depleted. Her vision blurred, her consciousness starting to fade.
N-no… I have to warn them!
She reached her hand out as she plummeted, her eyes dimming. She unconsciously returned to her natural state, completely out of power.
Before she touched the water, someone swooped in and caught her.
They said, “Hey, are you alright?” as they braced Asuka in their arms.
Asuka was barely able to open her eyes as she tried to make out who it was that saved her.
“D-Darc…?”
“Yeah, don’t worry, we’ve got this!” Darc said, as he swiftly flew to the infirmary, “Just leave it to Rayon!”
As Darc left with Asuka, a group of Senior-Licensed UFA Officers surrounded Akira.
“Let’s stop him here!”
“Don’t let him near the school! The students haven’t evacuated yet!”
They all closed in, attempting to secure him there.
“Argh!” Akira bellowed as his aether surged, blowing them all back with his incredible yield.
“Stand back!” someone said as they descended onto the scene.
“He’s too powerful for you guys to handle.”
It was none other than Rayon, primed and ready to challenge Akira.
Dammit, he’s only in his natural state, and he already outclasses everyone here!
Rayon closed his eyes, gathering his aether.
“Focus,” he whispered as a layer of aether tightly wrapped around his body.
He glanced at Akira’s left arm.
“The only silver lining here is that he seems to be injured.”
Rayon dashed around in a semi-circle until he was outside of Akira’s vision.
“Blue Bullet!”
He fired a small, yet deadly shot of piercing aether.
However, Akira easily dodged it without even turning around.
So, it seems like he’s unconscious, but his senses are still intact.
“Then how about this one! Purple Destruction!” Rayon used both his hands to hurl a formless mass of energy at Akira.
Akira turned around this time, gathering aether into his hands for a counter.
He created a golden orb of light, Utopic energy spilling out of it. Then, without uttering a word, he launched a beam from the orb— the head of a golden dragon fronting the attack.
“Shit!” Rayon dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding the blast.
His Purple Destruction was easily overcome, turning the blue sky orange as the clouds were set on fire.
“He’s mixing his Utopic aether with his light affinity and his dragon energy form!”
Sweat ran down Rayon’s face.
“I knew this guy was always a monster… but dammit, this is impossible to beat.”
What’s taking you so long, Darc?
[The infirmary]
Darc was rushing Asuka into a room, having already called a doctor for her.
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“H-how…” Asuka whispered.
“Huh?” Darc looked down at her, “You should try not to exert yourself. Your aether flow is dangerously low; you could die from exhaustion.”
Darc placed her in the bed, then turned to rejoin the fight.
Asuka slowly sat up, barely able to get her words out.
“How did you guys know Akira… wasn’t himself?”
“Oh,” he turned his head to look back at her.
“We could tell something was up when you guys passed through the barrier. And Akira was using his full yield, so we thought there must have been an emergency.”
Oh, she thought.
The Aether Registration Barrier, that’s right. After what happened with Julie, they set up an array to monitor aether signatures and yield levels across the entire island.
Asuka slouched back into the bed.
Darc put his hand on the doorframe as he was about to exit.
“Anyways, you don’t have to worry about a thing,” He showed the whites of his teeth, his lips curving up to his eyes.
“Rayon and I will take care of this and make sure Akira gets back to you safely!”
Then, he rushed out to the headmaster’s office.
I’ve got to hurry! Rayon won’t last that long by himself!
[Akira vs. Rayon]
Akira blurred, vanishing from Rayon’s sight.
W-what!? Where’d he go?
Rayon frantically searched from side to side.
There!
Rayon turned around; aether gathered in his hand.
“Red Laser!”
A crimson shot of aether pierced through Akira’s left shoulder.
I feel bad about targeting his injured arm, but I don’t have much of a choice here!
“Ha!”
Rayon tensed his muscles as he leaned forward. He gathered aether beneath his feet, then— with a burst, he Aether-Skipped towards Akira, managing to catch him off guard.
Or so he thought—
Akira’s body faded like a mirage, reappearing behind Rayon.
“W-what the!?”
Akira gathered a massive amount of energy into another art.
Sweat ran down Rayon’s cheek as he turned around.
Dammit, I won’t be able to dodge in time!
He tried to brace his arms to block the attack.
“HA!” someone yelled as they swooped in.
“What!?” Rayon’s eyes widened in shock.
It was Darc, managing to kick Akira out of the air and onto the island.
“Rayon, are you alright? Sorry, it took so long to get here.”
“Y-yeah…”
“How does it look, you two?” The headmaster said as he descended through the air behind them.
“H-headmaster!? What are you doing here? You’re in no condition to be fighting.”
“I may have sat out last time,” the old man said as he stroked his beard, “but if Akira is being controlled by the enemy, then he may pose a threat as big as Apocalypse. No, it would be even more terrifying.”
Darc gulped as he and Rayon looked at the headmaster’s grim face.
“Now, the three of us will have to do something about it. The other senior warriors don’t stand a chance, and the elite task force is offsite on a mission.”
“But what are we supposed to do?” Darc fretted.
“We have no choice,” Rayon gripped his fist, “We’ll have to bond.”
“Are you sure that’s enough? Last time we were barely able to beat Cette!”
In desperation, Rayon looked towards the headmaster.
“Headmaster, if you can find an opportunity to remove the collar, Darc and I will distract him.
Akira doesn’t seem to be fully conscious; he’s just a mindless puppet right now. He won’t be able to control his power to its full extent, so we still have a chance.”
“Hmm…” the headmaster thought.
“I see. Then yes, this may be our only opportunity. As long as whoever is controlling him doesn’t figure out how to draw out more of Akira’s power, then we may be able to succeed.”
“Alright, let’s do it!” Darc pumped his fist.
Darc and Rayon backed off to set up their arrays while the remaining senior officers and the headmaster gathered around to slow down Akira.
“We only get one shot, so let’s make it count!” Rayon yelled.
“Yeah!”
Aether poured out of the runic array, swirling around Rayon and Darc with its red energy.
One by one, Akira swatted down the senior officers. Not even the headmaster could keep up with him.
At this rate, we won’t get anywhere… how much longer do those two need?
Suddenly, Akira tried to blitz the headmaster, but Daryon intervened. Knocking Akira back, Daryon made his entrance.
“Sorry we took so long,” he smirked, “We poured every ounce of aether into the array.”
We also had to make sure it was placed somewhere where it won’t get destroyed… if our bond is broken, we’ll lose all the aether we sealed into the array!
Daryon squared off against Akira.
“Now, let’s get the show on the road.”
Daryon’s aether poured out, leaving nothing in reserve.
I’ll Boost my flux as much as possible! Then, I’ll Focus and fine-tune it!
“HAH!” He swung his arms down; a massive shockwave was expelled from his body.
Akira, still in a daze, cracked his neck. Then, his muscles tightened as his eyes turned white and his aura surged.
“There it is…” Daryon’s eyes sharpened.
Spirit Resonance… will we be able to handle it? “There’s only one way to find out!”
Daryon charged ahead.
“Blue Fragments!”
A barrage of blue, bullet-like aether blasts surrounded Akira, causing a grand explosion.
Did that get him?
Akira rushed out of the cloud of smoke, practically unscathed.
“Not enough, huh. Then try this! Purple Charge!”
Daryon manifested a large missile-like construct made of purple aether. He fired it away, the explosion illuminating the sky as the sun started to set.
“Want another? Here!”
He manifested several other missiles, firing them off one by one.
Even Akira won’t be able to handle this! But I can’t use too much power or the array will run out of aether.
Daryon backed off, waiting for Akira’s next move.
What’s that!? Daryon tensed up, raising his fists.
He felt an intense surge of aether coming from the smoke cloud.
His yield shot up! He’s increased his power even further!
As Akira was revealed amongst the fading smoke, a sharp golden aura encased his pure, creamy-white one.
“Shit…” There’s only one thing left that I could try… do I have enough flow left over?”
Akira staggered for a moment, then floated towards Daryon.
Seems like he’s near his limit, too.
He glanced over at the headmaster, who was watching from below on land.
Now’s your chance, headmaster!
Daryon entertained Akira with a display of fisticuffs but wasn’t able to keep up with Akira’s speed.
I’m not gonna last much longer!
Akira spun around, whipping him with a fierce kick.
“Gah!” Daryon had the wind blown out of his chest, flying backwards a few meters.
“Seems I have no choice,” he put his hands together, gathering the last of his aether.
But, at that moment, the Duality Bond came undone, Darc and Rayon’s souls separating. Their spirits shot back towards the array, reentering their lifeless bodies.
“W-what!? What happened?” Darc questioned.
Flabbergasted, they both looked up in the sky above their destroyed array.
In the distance, they saw two men rise into the air.
“Heh, that thing seemed important, so I went and destroyed it,” The ringleader said with a slithering smile as he looked over at Darc and Rayon.
“Looks like I was right on the money! Now, finish them!”
Akira started gathering aether into his right hand, but then he unexpectedly lost control of his forms and returned to his natural state.
Grimacing in pain, he hunched over, panting.
“W-what’s going on?” Akira grunted, having no semblance of what was happening.
“Oh, that’s no good. Bosch, take care of it.”
“Yes, sir,” Bosch took out a remote and pushed a button.
“ARGAHH!”
Instantly, Akira was engulfed in red electricity flowing out from the collar.
“Akira!” Darc shouted out.
“Dammit!” Rayon clenched his fist.
Since our array was disturbed, we lost all the aether that was still sealed in it. Even worse, our meridians have been temporarily sealed since our internal array was overloaded.
It’s up to you, headmaster!
Rayon looked over towards the headmaster, watching as he ran to the shore.
Yes, it is my turn to strike, the headmaster thought as he observed Akira.
Just before ascending into the air, he paused for a brief moment to take a deep inhale.
All the stockpiled aether in his body began to scream as it was released all at once.
Is that!? Rayon noticed what the headmaster was doing.
“Ha!”
The headmaster increased his yield using a strange technique, his strength soaring to impressive heights.
“W-what!? How’s that old man so strong?!” the ringleader snapped.
The headmaster gracefully Aether-Skipped through the air until he reached Akira, getting ready to place his hand on the collar.
Aegis Ultimatum: Canticle of the Final Dawn…
His hand lit up like a flashlight, golden aether pouring out of it.
“Millennial Fist of Judgement!”
Barely making contact with the collar, the headmaster was able to split it in two without causing harm to Akira.
“What the hell is that…” Rayon watched with awe.
“No way…” Darc whispered.
The ringleader gripped his fists as he barked, “That’s cheating! What kind of a technique is that!?”
He caught him before he fell into the ocean and brought him to land.
After returning to his natural state, the headmaster collapsed.
“Are you alright!?” Rayon shouted.
He and Darc just finished running over the ridge towards the shore.
“Headmaster!” Darc yelled.
“Yes, yes, I’m alright. It seems I’ve pushed myself too hard.”
“I told you, you’re too old to be fighting, old man,” Rayon scolded him angrily.
His face flustered, Darc whispered: “Hey, you can’t talk to the headmaster like that!”
“No, he’s right,” The headmaster said.
“I’m too old for this… perhaps it’s time I retired.”
With reinforcements from the other senior officers and the return of the elite task force, the ringleader and Bosch were easily apprehended.
Bosch lunged in desperation, but one Task Force officer knocked him out of the air, then pinned him with a single palm strike that shattered the ground.
Another officer caught the Ringleader in a choke hold, binding him before he could draw on the drug again.
Neither even broke a sweat.
Akira was brought into the infirmary, where Asuka awaited his awakening.
[Next Time on Lyte of Utopia]: “New Beginnings”
[Yield Levels]:
Asuka: 5m
- SR: 500m (Physical)
Akira: 1b
- SR: 100b (Physical)
- SR + GEML10: 10b (1t) (Physical)
- Utopic Dragon Star Destroyer: x30
Senior UFA Officers: 1-20m
Darc: 30m
- Post Training: 40m
- FPB + PT: 200m
Rayon: 50m
- Post Training: 60m
- Focus + PT: 600m
- Blue Bullet: x5
- Red Laser: x2
- Purple Destruction: x20
Daryon: 8b
- Focus + FPB: 400b
- Blue Fragments: x50
- Purple Charge: x200
Headmaster: 10m
- Unknown Form: 10t
- Strained: 5
- Millennial Fist of Judgement: x1 quadrillion
Bosch: 2m
Ringleader: 50m
- Strained: 20m
Elite UFA Task Force: 25-40m