Tak... Tak... Tak...
Commander Magatsu absentmindedly tapped his cigarette against the table, his dark face obscured by his service cap.
"Commander, everyone is waiting for you," a soldier said as he opened the door.
TUNK!
The Commander stood up, fixing his cap, the soldier giving him space.
"Halt, soldiers!" the man leading the march shouted.
STOMP!
Hundreds of soldiers froze in perfect formation.
CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!
Every rifle rose to their shoulders as one.
"Magatsu, stand here." A 6-star GENERAL asked Magatsu to stand on the stage.
"Yes... Yes." Magatsu stood at the very top of the stage.
"Soldiers!" the GENERAL shouted.
"I hereby declare the second 6-star General of the armies, Magatsu Varkax!" the General declared.
Every congratulation, every medal, and every star on both his shoulders felt colourless. And then, suddenly, the whole world lost its colour.
Magatsu's brain stopped processing the details and muted the whole world into a silence where he could only hear his heart beating.
At his house, he sat at the low table alone with his uniform on. He poured two glasses of tea.
Although he was alone, he slid the other cup to the opposite side.
Suddenly, a projection of a girl formed, holding the cup.
"Aren't you happy?" the girl in front of him asked.
"I am very happy. You wanted to hear that?" Magatsu took a sip.
"Wasn't this what you wanted, doing anything to come into power? Even faking your love for mom," the girl said, lowering her cup in anger.
"You are right. Now I have this, now I am... a General," Magatsu said, his hands shaking.
"After everything I did—killing, torturing, faking—everything worked in my favour. I got what I wanted," he said, his eyes hidden by his cap.
"Yes, Dad! But then why are you feeling empty? Why do you feel sorry for the killing Kairo did? Why do you feel guilty that you couldn't save me?" the girl asked innocently.
"You cannot see inside my brain. You are a human, a filthy human, you don't have any power. I don't have any guilt. I am an arcanist who is here to protect my people, and you aren't... you—" Magatsu lost his temper, his words shaking.
"Of course I cannot, but that is because you are my father, and your hatred mask doesn't work on me," the girl smiled warmly.
"Why... your mother didn't return, why did you—" Magatsu couldn't complete his sentence.
"'Cause being part of your sadness was my last wish... I think that is why I am not free to go yet, Dad," the girl said, tilting her face.
"This is because you have to see my filthy face, but I think not from today," the girl said, laughing teasingly.
"You... You still love me?" Magatsu asked, sitting again.
"I do, and I will 'til the world falls silent," she said with a beautiful smile.
"Oh no, I think my time is up. It's almost time to go," she said, fading away.
"Wait—" Magatsu stopped.
Remember, 'til the world falls silent... she said, fading away.
THE GENERAL POURED TWO CUPS OF TEA AND SLID THEM TOWARDS THE OTHER SIDE. NO ONE CAME.
The General drank the whole cup knowing it was bitter, but it was the favourite of his daughter.
General Magatsu took the food he bought and started to wander the streets.
"Are you hungry?" Magatsu asked as he saw a homeless girl.
"You should take this." He gave her the food as the girl nodded.
"See, this girl is still alive. She was dead; it feels like someone else's soul entered the girl," Magatsu heard a distant conversation.
...drop... A single teardrop fell from the GENERAL'S eyes.
"Sorry," tears fell as Magatsu saw the girl eating.
"To the one I loved more than anyone, yet I failed to show it—this is for you," Magatsu said.
"Now that you're gone, I have nothing left to give you except my tears. The only proof of a love I was too late to express..."
"Actually, there is," the homeless girl said.
"Is there?" The GENERAL looked down.
"I have heard from a long-lost friend that God is Dead," the homeless girl said, eating.
"This is what my daughter used to write, but how can God die?" Magatsu asked.
"It doesn't mean that God is literally dead. It means that the God who gave us the motive to live has stopped giving it," she took a pause.
"So everyone here is a wanderer without a motive, so we consider Him dead," she said, standing.
"Do you have a motive?" Magatsu asked, wiping his tears.
"Yes, my ultimate motive is surviving, sir. What is yours?" she asked.
"Mine?" The question left the general in confusion.
SPLSH!
The General, in his house, splashed water on his face. He cleaned the mirror in front of him.
"KILL THE BLASPHEMY AND MAKE THE WORLD EQUAL FOR ALL."
THE GENERAL HAS GOT A MOTIVE.
Thump.
"Ninety-eight..."
Huff... Haaa...
Push!
"Ninety-nine..."
[Academy Gym]
[USHIMOTO ARASHI'S - POV]
"Hundred..." my counting speed became faster.
From a distance, Zorian saw me doing my workout.
Zorian reached for the heaviest plates there.
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
Zorian added weight like he was just there to flex, not lift.
"The weight has reached 5 tons," another arcanist student said.
Everyone in the gym stopped their own workout and watched Zorian add more and more weight.
"What is he doing?" Pearl said, and she tried to run and stop him.
GRAB!
I moved fast and grabbed her hand.
"Don't touch me," Pearl said, freeing her hand.
"Don't try to stop him then," I said, lowering a bit and grabbing my sword.
"I will not fight you after Osaka, but the weight he is going for is impossible," Pearl said, turning towards Zorian.
"Reality didn't create those boundaries, human imagination and social constructs did. He is tearing up the lies," my words echoed in the gym.
"If he is able to perform an Olympic snatch with 10 tons, he won't be human himself," Pearl said, walking towards Zorian.
SHE STOPPED.
"What I can't lift with my legs," Zorian said, so only he could hear.
He looked around the whole gym; seeing every pair of eyes locked on him, he felt MOTIVATED.
He closed his eyes and remembered the explanation of the GENERAL on the Vita core.
THE WORLD BLURRED INTO A SINGLE BALL OF LIGHT INSIDE ZORIAN'S CHEST. FLUX STAGE 2 VITA CORE.
Suddenly, every nerve inside his body surged with power. The ball broke until it became invisible, merged with his blood, and flowed throughout his whole body, providing power to every organ.
CHNK!
He lifted the barbell through his legs to his hands in an instant.
THUNK!
He took the barbell overhead and performed a deep squat.
"He didn't drop the weight," another arcanist's voice broke the silence.
"He is going for another repetition with 10 tons in an Olympic snatch!" another arcanist said.
From a distance,
"Oh! I think the ultimate position of USHIMOTO is in danger from a worker," Vance sensei giggled.
"Aww! Vance, you think you can tease me? I am here to see what my brother can do," Master said from behind.
"Six... Seven..." Zorian counted.
BOOM!
He dropped the barbell.
Huff...
He let out a relieved breath.
As Zorian turned, everyone's face dropped; even the 6th-year arcanist was shocked by the control and the way he used his flux.
TOK... TOK!
In between everyone's blank eyes and dark faces came the voice of someone walking. One pair of legs crossed them. MINE.
SCHWING!
I unleashed my katana, pointing it directly at Zorian's face.
"What do I consider this as?" Zorian smirked.
CLANG!!
As he loosened his arms, his twin axes fell into his hands.
"You'll lose," I said confidently.
Zorian lifted his left leg...
Before it could touch the ground, he teleported right behind me, axes aimed at my neck.
"There it is," Zorian said.
FWSSHH!
With my katana embedded in the ground, I lowered myself into a one-legged squat, dodging Zorian's attack on my neck.
Click!
The exact moment the axes were above Arashi's head and he was on one leg, a picture clicked. The headline of THE ARCANE HERALD (The publishing house responsible for all official Arcanist newspapers), the description read as:
[ARASHI USHIMOTO]
Age — 12
Weapon — Classified
Status — WANTED
Capture Order — DEAD
Genius of the Dark
The Child the Dead Feared
"That was a failure," I taunted.
"The spar has not ended," Zorian smiled.
FWIP! FWIP! FWIP!
Zorian started vanishing and appearing at the same time in different directions.
"This is not a technique," I said, analysing.
"You are right, this is my raw speed and the result of training alone," Zorian said.
Clang!!
The Judicium Eternis made contact with my katana.
THRUM...
Zorian successfully distracted me and launched a kick directly at my face at an unhuman pace.
With a speed no normal human could track.
The kick tore through the space where my face had been. I answered with an unhuman backbend, my katana piercing the ground behind me. Using the planted blade as a pivot, I slipped beneath the strike without losing my balance.
CLICK! CLICK!
As Zorian was just above Arashi's body in the kick position, his photo was also clicked, just like Arashi's, to be printed beside Arashi. But his description was different; it read as:
[ZORIAN STERLING]
Age — 12
Designation — J.E.
Status — WANTED
Capture Order — ALIVE
The Crowned Anchor
The One Before Whom Reality Stood Still
"You're still too slow, aren't you?" I teased Zorian.
"Don't think so," Zorian replied flawlessly.
KRAAANG!!
Judicium Eternis and my katana clashed with catastrophic force.
The whole aircraft shook from the impact; every arcanist in the gym took two steps back.
"Hey! Wanna eat this?" June said, passing popcorn to Pearl.
"What? We should stop this," Pearl said in worry.
"Only you want that," June said. "Everyone else has already taken it."
As Pearl looked, everyone had the popcorn, and they were watching the fight with an unreal excitement.
BZZZT!
A single spark of electricity from a broken bulb, caused by the impact, fell on Zorian's back, burning his sweater and revealing RINNE NO HAHA on his back.
CLICK!
The photo of the RINNE NO HAHA instantly printed beside it.
[Zeverin Raiden]
Age — 17
Weapon — Rinne no Haha
Status — DECEASED
The DIVINE FLASH
The One Even Lightning Failed to Follow
"Ohhhhhhh! So hotttttt!" Every girl in the gym swooned upon seeing both Zorian and Arashi shirtless.
"THE ARCANIST WHO BROKE EVERY LIMIT EVER RECORDED… THE LEGEND OF THE CRUCIBLE OF THREE."
"THEIR STORY HAS JUST BEGUN...."
"THE S-RANK DEFECT"