Rangers Endgame

Chapter 109: A Fluke

YAKERU:

Yakeru's heart hammered against his chest, and adrenaline flooded his veins as he stared into the man's left eye. A sense of dread weighed heavily in the air, the cloud of hopelessness creeping out from the back of his thoughts. Fear had begun to crawl throughout his body, conjuring a wave of gooseflesh that rippled along his skin.

Dread. Hopelessness. Fear.

During his time as a ranger, he'd grown familiar with these dark emotions brought about by the crushing pressure of death. However, the pressure exuding from the man felt...lighter compared to what he was already accustomed to.

Though it was meant to evoke a certain layer of fear meant to simulate the inevitable, it lacked death's icy presence, its ensnaring jaws, its haunting gaze…this was nothing but a cheap imitation. He was almost offended.

Despite the harsh force, Yakeru remained steadfast as he reached for his will and clamped down on it to push back against the oppressive pressure. The man barely regarded him as he brought his sword up to cut his throat, overconfidence spilling from him. Using that to his advantage, Yakeru waited until he came close enough to strike first.

"I'd hoped that look in your eyes wasn't just for show. But alas, you're just like the rest of them." He rambled, his eyes already preemptively looking for another ranger to confront.

Just before his blade could make contact, Yakeru lashed outward, aiming for his neck. Unfortunately, the man was just barely fast enough to evade. Frustration crossed Yakeru's features, but it faded when the man whipped his head back and forth as if he thought someone else had intervened.

He then looked back at Yakeru's sword trickling with his blood, and a manic cackle left his lips. Yakeru continued to watch him with uncertainty. He'd learned that the second phase of the elixir affected their minds, but seeing someone burst out laughing after death had nearly claimed them was unsettling.

He looked back at Yakeru and spoke again. "Tell me, who are you?"

Yakeru's eyes wandered in consideration before responding curtly. "Yakeru."

The man's grin somehow twisted even further in some kind of sick pleasure. "Yakeru...I'm Kagami."

"I'm not here to exchange pleasantries," Yakeru said matter-of-factly, hardening his gaze against the pressure still exuding from Kagami.

"Neither am I here to kill indiscriminately," Kagami replied as he lowered his katana, almost as a sign of peace. "Like you, I'm on a mission." His eyes swept across the battlefield, ringing with haunting cries and shouts as steel continued clashing and spells dominated the sky. "There are countless rangers who are all talk. They have no comprehension of real strength."

Yakeru's mood darkened further as he recalled something similar. Those like the Ripper, and even Kenji for a time, grew power hungry and lost themselves in the process. Daichi had also gotten drunk off of power and went to get himself killed afterward.

"I'm familiar with your song and dance. Though I can't say I'm particularly fond of it."

Surprisingly, Kagami's grin deepened. "Then you know better than most. The world can no longer afford those who chase selfish desires."

Yakeru's brow rose a fraction of an inch. He couldn't help but wonder if they were even speaking on the same subject. "What are you babbling about?"

Kagami's face smoothed out into something more serious, something darker. "The Savior has seen what the world will descend into. And rangers won't be enough, as they are more concerned about themselves."

Yakeru glanced along the ground that was now littered with lost appendages and broken weapons from both Second Grades and rangers alike.

"Rangers have always risked themselves on the front lines. I fail to see your perspective." Yakeru said firmly, not actually bothering to step into Kagami's shoes.

"That's the problem. They're so obsessed with fame, fortune, power, status, and so on that they're willing to die for it." Kagami looked at the battlefield raging around them. "How many rangers do you think would still be here if there was no monetary gain to be had?" He challenged.

Yakeru was about to counter, but no words followed when he opened his mouth.

"The world will need heroes. Soldiers. Unfortunately, most don't fit the criteria and thus must be disposed of." His predatory gaze shifted towards the infirmary tents in the near distance. "After I'm done here, I'll test the back lines next."

Yakeru was hit with a cold realization. 'Kenji. Aoi.' His expression turned frigid as he slipped into a comforting numbness. "I've had enough. Let's get this over with." He drew his sword back and fell into a stance, his bottom half charging with coiled energy.

Kagami shook his head disinterestedly. "My blade has no quarrels with you."

Yakeru activated Blitz Step in that same instant, the world smearing in his periphery until he appeared before and beside Kagami. "Mine does." He said, swinging his katana outward.

The air between them exploded into a violent colony of sparks as Kagami had just brought his own sword up to block the attack. The two struggled for dominance for a few seconds before Kagami shoved him aside.

As Yakeru slid back, he redirected his radiance from his legs into his sword and fired a crescent that whipped the bloodstained grass as it soared towards Kagami. The man pushed radiance into his conduit as it now hummed dangerously with charred gold and sliced through the projectile.

At the same time, Yakeru imbued his legs once more and flashed to his right. His form blurred through and between the battles unfolding around Kagami, using the chaos to further conceal his movements. He burst out of the raging crowd, now on Kagami's left, and swung for his neck again.

Kagami's eyes flicked to him, and he brought his sword up, deflecting the blow with a resounding bang that was swallowed a moment later by the cacophonous fighting around them. Yakeru stumbled, not expecting him to be able to defend himself, and jerked back painfully when Kagami delivered a kick to his ribs. He was sent into a roll and then recovered to his feet.

"Self-infusing to enhance your speed...fascinating." Kagami mused.

Yakeru burst forward again, and Kagami brought his sword up to block. The boy fainted high, then swept low toward his legs, but Kagami still managed to dodge.

The two erupted into a brutal match of quick slashes, a wild dome of amber arcs slicing the air around them as Yakeru unleashed a flurry of strikes, but Kagami matched his strikes with uncanny precision. As their deadly exchange shifted through the battlefield, Yakeru snapped his foot against the shaft of a lone spear on the ground, shooting it into his offhand, and thrust it at Kagami's chest. As expected, he deflected, but Yakeru followed up with a low slash.

As Kagami's focus was on the spear, he was sliced across his stomach, but it wasn’t deep enough to draw blood. Yakeru pressed the assault, clashing blades with him again, but this time, he activated Blitz Step with their blades still locked.

A sharp gasp got lost in Kagami's throat when his head lurched as Yakeru launched him and himself forward. The wind lashed at them, and the ground beneath Kagami's feet was wrenched away as he was helplessly catapulted backwards.

When Yakeru braked, Kagami was sent tumbling through multiple fights. As he swiftly recovered, a ranger bearing the Saberclaw sigil on his heavy armor took notice and decided to take advantage of his exposed flank.

Radiance wrapped around his claymore as he raised it above his head. However, before he could bring it down on him, Kagami snapped his gaze towards him, and the ranger froze, fear twisting his dirt-caked features.

Yakeru took note of the effect his gaze had on others, though he didn't quite understand why it had little effect on himself. But there was no time to theorize. Yakeru imbued his legs once again and exploded through the many combatants in his path. Along the way, he sliced through the Second Grades' tendons in their legs to throw them off balance so his allies could deliver finishing blows.

His blurred form weaved a jagged line of gold across the battlefield, injuring Second Grades and leaving them vulnerable in his passing.

Kagami swung for Yakeru's frozen ally, but before his blade could reach his neck, the youth intercepted in a flash of amber flames. Their blades clashed in a screeching explosion of sparks that jolted the Saberclaw member to his senses.

"Get a move on," Yakeru ordered the ranger while his gaze was still locked with Kagami's.

The ranger stumbled back a few steps, eventually breaking into a run, either to find another Second Grade to combat or to flee from Kagami. If the man's gaze froze his targets in place, he could potentially wipe out waves of rangers with little to no effort. Kagami said he would "test" the back lines, and as it stood, Yakeru was the only one who could stop this butcher.

"You're becoming a nuisance." Kagami hissed with an edge of annoyance.

Imbuing his lower half again, Yakeru fired a flying knee toward his sternum. Even at close range, Kagami reacted perfectly, moving off center and allowing the young ranger to soar past.

Yakeru's frustration grew. As soon as he landed, he dashed to the right, encircling Kagami in a ring of gold. But the man stood there, unfazed as he waited for the next attack. Yakeru's form produced behind him as he lunged forward with a downward slash, but Kagami had anticipated this.

With his features now hardened and more serious, Kagami whipped around Yakeru as the boy drove his blade into the earth. Now behind Yakeru, Kagami slashed through his Achilles tendon. With a suppressed yelp, he buckled as his leg gave out from under him.

"Your grit is admirable," Kagami commented as Yakeru soothed his injury. "Though it will take much more than that to mend that tendon." He began to walk away, letting out a sigh of relief as he now had the breathing room to slaughter his allies at his leisure. Or so he thought.

"You're right." Yakeru pulled out one of the health elixirs Aoi had given him and downed the green substance.

In moments, his severed tendon fused back together, and he was able to lift himself to his feet. The elixir not only healed him, but it also wiped away the growing pain in his legs from using Blitz Step so often.

Kagami's eyes narrowed as his annoyance reignited in his features. "You truly won't stop. Though I suppose that's to be expected with those with wills such as yours." His face then gradually softened into a grin as if he'd just had a revelation. He spun his sword in his grip and took on a more offensive stance. "Very well."

Before Yakeru had the chance to infuse his legs, Kagami had exploded forward. Startled at his sudden burst of aggression, the young ranger brought his sword down to defend against a strike meant to remove his right leg.

The violent clash sent a jolt through his arms that stung his muscles. Using his shoulder as a battering ram, Kagami slammed into his chest, causing him to stumble. Yakeru tried to retaliate with an awkward swing to his neck, but he twirled low and whipped his blade along the side of his calf, drawing blood.

Ignoring the pain, Yakeru slipped into a defensive posture as Kagami was on him in a blink. Even as half his head burned with jagged power, his sword was imbued with ashen radiance as well. Without being quick enough to channel radiance to his legs and create distance, Yakeru pushed radiance into his sword to better absorb the blistering attacks.

As his bombardment continued, the strength behind each of his swings increased, as if to cleave through his defenses. With every close parry or narrow dodge, Yakeru struggled to follow up with a counter.

As he fended off Kagami's onslaught, he noticed something: Kagami's attacks never targeted his vitals. Though some swings were high, they were meant as feints while his true target was his lower half.

The man wasn't planning to sever tendons any longer. He was planning to cripple.

Yakeru's eyes flicked, recognizing Kagami's overextension when he went for a low sweep, and immediately capitalized. He leapt into it, driving his knee into Kagami's nose, causing him to tumble backwards.

Recovering rather quickly, he stood to his feet, the blood trailing from his nostrils painting over the maddened scowl.

"If a fluke is the best you can offer, you're in danger."

His eyes grew more wild as he burst forward again. He wasn't going to stop, and Yakeru could barely match him in close combat. Blitz Step wasn't a viable option either since his enemy could anticipate his movements. But that was exactly what he’d trained for.

Opening the gates to his bottom half once again, Yakeru felt his power gently course its way through his muscles. Focusing on the familiar feeling of his muscles coiling like springs, his face knitted in concentration as he held onto the delicate balance. His legs tingled with stored energy, but he waited until the moment Kagami raised his sword to strike.

Then, while still standing upright, he gave his muscles a tug.

As the earth yanked back, the details of the landscape around him clawed into a wild, indiscernible mix of color, and the metallic air slashed against his ears. Yakeru's sword, along with his form, flickered, and he felt subtle resistance on his blade as he passed Kagami's exposed torso.

He flickered back into existence behind Kagami, who was now still as a statue, as if he couldn't comprehend what had happened. Pain exploded in Yakeru’s lower half, and he dropped to his knee. He glanced back, and after a few seconds of delay, blood sprayed from a line of red through Kagami’s ribs that wasn't there a moment ago. The ashen radiance, once blazing around one side of his head, was snuffed out. Then he collapsed.

"How's that for a fluke?"