"I... I didn't mean it..." Riku finished his words, "It was unwillingly done, I was ordered... I was threatened..."
Nitaru stared coldly at Riku, feeling absolutely no sympathy. How could he after what happened to Yuna and Akari and all the other Assassins?
Riku coughed up blood, "Maybe I could've denied...but there was no denying that Akujin successfully manipulated me..."
An explosion disrupted the scene, the debris crumbling down to the already destroyed asphalt. Nitaru swiftly sliced the air, creating several shifting slashes that bounced the debris to the side of him and Riku. Riku stared up at Nitaru in shock, not expecting him to save both of them from damages. His shocked expression caused him to cough up blood from his injuries, his lungs burning with a tingling sensation from a deep cut that made his lung collapse. Riku's breaths were shallow, breathing in and out fiercely with struggled attempt as he tried to maintain a pattern.
Nitaru leaned down on his knee, grabbing Riku's chin in his grasp. Riku looked up at Nitaru with vulnerability, clearing accepting his fate, "Please...just do what you should've done a long time ago, Nitaru.."
Nitaru looked at Riku, his facade crumbling as he wrapped his arms around Riku's shoulders. He sniffled in his hug, catching Riku off guard. He was expecting to be killed immediately, but a hug? Riku weakly reached upwards, wrapping one arm around Nitaru as they shared the embrace.
"I thought you did this because you were working willingly..." Nitaru continued, "But I couldn't accept it. We've been friends for so long..I just...it's difficult."
Riku was speechless, compared to Nitaru's earlier aggressiveness, this seemed like a completely different person, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Nitaru..."
"I can't kill you, Riku...I just cant." Nitaru said straightforwardly, pulling a bandage out of his pocket and wrapping it around Riku's bleeding ribcage.
Riku's eyes widened at the kind gesture, "I'll help you defeat Akujin and anyone who opposes the good, okay?"
Nitaru smiled, helping Riku to his feet, "Let's get to the center tower. That's where Akujin is since its the only building in the city that has all the lights on."
The two began walking towards the bright skyscraper as the explosions and other nearby buildings crumbled from other clashes going on.
Heizu felt a sharp needle prick his skin from Mazaki's technique, and he pulled away desperately, trying to give Gyonu enough time to recover. Though with increasing difficulty due to no weapon, Heizu managed to maintain a decent fighting stance, using anything in his range as a weapon against Mazaki.
"Just succumb to the poison, already!" Mazaki growled angrily, lunging even faster, her attacks becoming increasingly stronger and more precise.
Heizu flipped backwards, landing on his stomach from the exhaustion catching up to him. How much longer would it take Gyonu to wake up from his unconscious state? Heizu latched his belt, pressing a button that installed foot grip as he stepped onto the glass of the skyscraper. Using his quick thinking, he gripped the section of a metal pole and severed it from the pipe, grabbing it and using it as a temporary weapon. Mazaki quickly latched herself onto the building, chasing after Heizu as he ran higher up the skyscraper's glass layer. Grasping the edge, she lunged forward, preparing her technique. Heizu's eyes widened as he saw her impending release of the form, and he tried to hurry as far away. He threw the metal pipe in his hand at her, but mistakingly missed by a far shot.
"Dammit!" He yelled in frustration, struggling to get far away in time as he stumbled in desperation.
Mazaki grinned, forming her hands into a twisting formation, making a clump as she grasped her hands together. The formation grew in size slightly, glowing with purple elegance and shining brightly as it prepared to launch at Heizu.
"Whispers of the Butterfly!" Mazaki released the formation, which compacted itself together and formed into an arrow that gleamed ominously with misfortune and certain severe injury depending on its impact. The arrow flung and plunged into Heizu's right abdomen, splitting through his vital organs and slicing through the other side of his torso, blood splattering onto the glass below him as the grip on his shoes kept its grip on the building. Blood trickled from the crevice that separated his lips, and his eyes widened as the purple glow illuminated the arrow. A sharp sizzling feeling burned in his abdomen, causing him to tremble violently as his body was searing from the inside. The intense shivers of pain caused him to collapse onto the building his shoes still on the surface of the glass layer, but weakening due to his position. At this moment, he didn't know what he could do. His intestines and stomach could've been pierced through, but there was no indication as if it were. At least not yet.
Mazaki slowly approached with a cocky grin, her steps slow and paced perfectly with his trembling pain, "You're so weak, pathetic," she began, "You're nothing more than a weakling who dreamed of power. You were desperate, weren't you? All you could do was hope the other weak boy would awaken to help your even more helpless self."
Mazaki degraded him even more, her words harsh and utterly disrespectful, "You're hopeless. No accomplishments but complaints that you would never be good enough. With every effort you put in, it only gained you more weights that'll drag you down. You're only known as a burden, and that's why you're pathetic. No one ever wanted to be in your presence, you are weak and greedy with no future!"
Heizu coughed up blood, the red drops splattering onto the glass below him. And then his thoughts began running through his mind, 'Was I ever enough? I'm weak and pathetic, aren't I? I am the weakest of all the people here.'
Heizu's eyes widened as he realized that he was listening to Mazaki's words, but she doesn't even know him and automatically described him. That didn't mean what she described was fully accurate about himself.
Heizu spoke, his voice quivering and rough with soreness, "You don't know me, do you?"
Mazaki grinned an even wider grin, wondering what he had to say now despite his weakened state, "I do, I can tell your useless and unnecessary life by just looking at you."
Heizu stood up slowly, blood trickling from his wound as the arrow remained pierced in his abdomen. Mazaki's eyes widened in shock, "How can..."
Heizu grasped the arrow, pulling it out swiftly with his hand, his body trembling slightly. His eyes gleamed with fierceness and determination. The arrow in his hand transformed into a metal staff that radiated with blue essence, the staff glowing. Mazaki took a step back, not expecting his move.
"Crescent of the Rough Atlantis" Heizu unleashed his newly created technique, the staff glowing brighter as several slashes cut into the building and aimed at Mazaki. Mazaki parried with her red essence, the two essences clashing together with such aggression. The skyscraper groaned as its structure struggled to withstand the pressure from the two essences and also the cuts from Heizu's technique.
As the glass began to crack, Heizu lunged forward at Mazaki, aiming his staff directly at her, "Quivering from the same person who you called weak and pathetic, hm? Let me show you why you shouldn't be so quick to judge."