This will be the first chapter I put out today. You know what that means?....My first double release day! Woohoo! At least....hopefully. I'm pretty lazy but I'm already half-way done with chapter 42 so I think I can do it. No annoying swim practice at 5 pm to 7:30 pm so at least I have that. EDIT: Nvm, people just like to comment a thanks lol

Anyway, I'm getting off track. Enjoy the chap.

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After reaching the train entrance, they saw Akina walking toward them. She had a hard look about her, like an unmovable rock. Her hair seemed to be resemble the most precious silver, and even her eyes had a blue-ish tint. She wore a slight smile that looked like she was greeting old friends.

“”Akina!””

Jol and Light both ran up to Akina, jumping onto her. Though they weren’t capable of tackling her, having two people jump onto you made it hard to walk. Regardless, she continued to walk forward as Jol and Light were being dragged behind her.

“Welcome back, Akina.” Rose said.

“Mm! I’m finally back.” Akina replied.

Kyte suspiciously looked at Akina and asked:

“So, where were you and what happened? I would appreciate an answer.”

“Ahaha, well...we can talk on to the train. Most people are still asleep, aside from the early birds, so fortunately there’ll be elbow room in here.”

“That’s true. Well, it’s a good thing you’re back. The surprising thing is that you’re now an S ranker. Though, not officially.”

“Yea. I doubt there’ll be any more rank-up tests because of what’s happening. Doesn’t really matter anymore though-”

“Heeeey~, Akinaaa~, can we get some cake on the way home?” Jol asked.

“C-cake? Why do you want cake right now?...”

“Because I want cake~. You want some too, right Light?”

“Hahaha, of course! But I kinda want some old fashioned donuts...just thinking about it making my mouth water.”

“You two…we can try, just as long as any stores are even open. I doubt there will be, though.”

“”Awwww…””

“Right, well, we should get on the train now. It’s departing in about ten minutes.” Kyte stated.

Kyte began walking through the open train doors with his arm interlocked with Rose’s. Akina was a little surprised when she the two of them, though she then remembered about Rose’s behavior before she went unconscious. Her surprise immediately subsided, and she only sighed as she followed behind them.

The inside of the train already had several people within it. Fortunately the train was pretty big so there was enough room for a lot of people to enter. Though it wasn’t enough for hundreds of people, it was able to hold a good amount. This is mostly because the level of comfort within the train was quite high, so the furniture took up some room.

Kyte and everyone walked around a bit to find a big enough spot for all of them to sit; they naturally found one and sat down.

“So, care to tell us what exactly happened?” Kyte asked.

“Yea, I should tell you guys, now that I’m finally back. Well, where do you want me to start?” Akina said.

“Tell us about how you defeated that S rank Guardian.”

“Alright. Well, while I was outside the store, I was hoping you would be able to stop the pulse signals. Unfortunately, you didn’t. An S rank Guardian showed up, which shocked me. Of course, I had to sacrifice myself. There was no other way for you guys to get out of there. After we shared a few blows, I was about to lose consciousness because of blood loss. It was then that I comprehended a new part of my power. The bad thing is that I had to forcefully activate it. The power I gained put an enormous strain on my brain, so I was only able to hold on for about ten seconds before I would be completely powerless. Fortunately I was able to destroy the Guardian a second before I ran out of time. My mind was completely clouded by the stress I put on it.”

“I see. However, I don’t see how that allowed you to reach S rank?”

“Well, that part actually wasn’t all me. Dan and David have a history together, believe it or not. Because of that, the both of them are actually quite close. David helped me by giving me a Soul Recovery pill. Those pills are very precious because there are only three people who are capable of creating them. Even then it takes about a whole week just to create one. Anyway, because of that, I managed to naturally break through into the next stage.”

So there are people who work with the soul here? Interesting.

“I see...Do you know anything about what happened with Dan and David?”

“Of course I do. I have to know the backgrounds of the members of my Branch. However, Dan will tell you if he wants. Just ask him when we get back.”

“That’s understandable. I wouldn’t want anyone to give out my past either.”

Kyte took out his phone and began to read a book that he recently downloaded. Whether he got it legally or not wasn’t a concern to him. As long as it interested him, he was willing to get it. It wasn’t hard to bypass certain procedures.

After a while, the train finally stopped. Everyone got off and each Branch grouped together. Apparently there were other entrances to this boarding area as Kyte saw other Branches opening other doors and entering them. Just as Akina pressed the button for the elevator, a voice entered her ears.

“Ah, Akina! I didn’t expect a weakling like you to be here. Heh, last time I checked, you were unconscious.” Seeker walked over and arrived in-front of everyone.

Kyte’s body flickered before appearing in-front of Seeker. Seeker’s face slightly twitched when he saw Kyte as he thought back to what happened in the arena. However, he instantly smirked, thinking to himself.

Heh, he was just a puny no ranker before. How far could he have climbed?

“Get out of my way, trash.”

Seeker reached his hand out, but before he moved his arm any further, Kyte lashed out his fist. Seeker felt a large weight smash against his chest, making him land several feet back. His face instantly changed into one of anger and embarrassment.

No one dared to touch him ever since he had mutated and reached S rank. More so, his identity as David’s son made people respect him even more. His sudden and large rise in power made arrogance seep into his bones, as if no one could match him. He looked down upon others as if they were trash, ignoring the fact that he himself used to only be a C ranker before he mutated.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Seeker growled.

“What do YOU think YOU’RE doing? No one told you you could speak to her.” Kyte’s words were filled with contempt.

“Heh, what are you, a mere Bronze S ranker, gonna do about it?”

“Hahahaha. The real question is this: What are YOU going to do about ME?”

“...You’re really pushing it, kid. You’ve already broken a rule, did you forget that?”

“Do you think I’m scared of a puny rule? I would kill you right now and I still wouldn’t care. But I know David would be mad at me for killing his piece of shit son who got his power through luck.”

“You’re talking as if you know my power. You’re as ignorant as they come. You think I got this by luck? Heh, you’ll need quite a bit of that if you’re thinking of escaping from me.”

Seeker threw a golden spear of energy straight at Kyte’s chest, fully intent on striking him through. However, to his amazement, the spear stopped just as it hit Kyte’s chest. A layer of black energy stopped the spear from moving any further. The spear disintegrated into particles of energy before moving back to Seeker.

“Hmph.”

Two spears appeared in Seeker’s hands which were strongly thrown in Kyte’s direction. Two black energy swords appeared in Kyte’s hands as he knocked the two spears away. Kyte’s figure flickered and appeared just before Seeker as his two arms slashed downward. Seeker stepped back and a golden wall appeared in-front of him. Kyte’s swords smashed down onto the shield, however, the shield held strong and prevented the swords from breaking through.

“Heh, even with your boost in power, you’re still weak.” Seeker laughed.

“Oh? But what if I told you I wasn’t even using half of my full power?” Kyte said as he grinned.

Seeker’s face slightly twitched as Kyte jumped back several feet. Kyte sliced his thumb and a stream of blood flowed out from it. The blood instantly spun around Kyte and it faintly shined before disappearing into his body. A pair of black gloves appeared on his hands and an intense Dread aura drifted out from his two swords, giving out a suffocating pressure throughout the whole area. Of course, he made sure the effects were only around him and Seeker.

During Kyte’s preparations, Seeker had already thrown out three spears. Although it only took Kyte half a second to complete everything, the spears were already a few feet from him. He instantly knocked two away but failed to fully dodge the third one as it sliced through half of his leg. Despite this, his leg fully regenerated within a second. Seeing this, shock appeared on Seeker’s face.

Kyte instantly burst toward Seeker and raised his right arm. Slicing it downward, he anticipated the sword to be blocked by a shield, which it was. Using the repelling force, Kyte angled his body over Seeker’s. The force brought from the shield propelled Kyte over it and Kyte switched the grip on his left sword to a reverse-hold. As he soared over Seeker, Kyte continued to flip his body forward and used that momentum to thrust his left arm down. Kyte’s head was now pointing down at the ground as his left sword was an inch away from Seeker’s back.

A golden shield appeared just before the sword was about to pierce into Seeker’s back. When the sword slammed against the shield, a few small cracks spread out from the point of contact. Kyte landed on his feet as he completed the somersault-like flip and instantly turned around while weaving Spirit energy into his swords. Seeker simultaneously turned around and created several walls of golden energy to block Kyte’s swords.

The twin swords pierced through the first few layers before stopping just below Seeker’s chest.

“You two, just stop already!”

Akina walked over and released a burst of white energy at Seeker who blocked it with a shield. However, he was knocked back several steps as a look of shock appeared on his face.

“D-don’t tell me...you’re also an S ranker?!” Seeker exclaimed.

“What do you think, moron!”

Akina walked next to Kyte and looked at Seeker.

“If you ever make trouble for my Branch again, I won’t stop Kyte. In fact, I’ll join him in the act of killing you.”

Akina’s ice-cold piercing gaze locked onto Seeker. He felt a slight shiver run down his spine as he involuntarily avoided her gaze.

“Come on, let’s go. The elevator’s here.” Akina said as she lightly tapped Kyte’s shoulder.

“Alright.”

Giving Seeker one last glare, Kyte dispersed his swords and his buffs. He nonchalantly walked behind Akina and into the elevator where the others were waiting.