"Electric Drive: !"

"Argh! Damn it!"

I look in Yamiso's direction to see him crashing into the walls behind me. She is gone again.

Before I can react...

A kick to the back of the head knocks me face first into the floor.

BATAN!

All knowledge comes at a price.

"Hang on, Oren!" Yamiso yells. "Darkness Drive: Eclipse Void!"

"Don't bet on it!" I hear Hunter-sama retort.

Sutoria-sama quickly grabs my cloak and tosses me into the air, outside of the sphere of darkness Yamiso has created.

For every assumed truth bears many consequences.

Then seventeen blows. Seventeen near simultaneous blows to different parts of my body. With each strike, I am knocked back and forth between her attacks before I can even finish making a sound of agony.

I am one of the fastest members, no, "former" members of the Keisetsu, yet I cannot keep up with her speed! So this is the speed of an electric tone.

The speed of a electric tone harmone.

Knowledge is guidance, belief, and manipulation.

This time, before colliding with the floor, I spin in the air to make sure I land on my feet.

(Soul Conversion 7...BEAT!)

I unsheath Clarent and begin to counter each of Sutoria-sama's attacks with a swing of my sword.

Counters that are in vain with each strike.

It's difficult when you truly don't wish to hurt your target.

All of which are viewed differently by everyone.

With each direct hit, I realize that all I'm hitting are her clones. And with each eliminated clone, at least two more land a blow somewhere on my body.

"Give up, Oren!" Hunter-sama demands.

As soon as these words leave her mouth, she writhes in agony and places her left hand over her left eye.

"Oren! Get out of here! Run!" Hunter-sama again says, this time in her "true" concerned tone of voice.

Can man be entrusted to do the right thing with said knowledge?

Yamiso jumps in front of me, blocking frontal attacks with his Devil's Claw technique.

"Darkness Drive: Fallen Wings!"

Presently, he wraps newly sprouted wings around both his own body and mine. Though I cannot see Sutoria-sama or her clones, I can hear the thunder of her punches and kicks on the other side of Yamiso's wings.

(Damn it!) Yamiso thinks. (Hurry up, guys!)

Or is the price too great for mortal hands?

After a few more seconds, Yamiso's wings are destroyed. Sutoria-sama then delivers a round house kick to my face, smashing me into the wall once again. The collision knocks the wind right out of me.

"OREN!" Yamiso cries out.

"Don't interfere!" Hunter-sama yells, now in her cruel tone. As soon as this statement is made, Sutoria-sama rushes past Yamiso to get to me.

As I attempt to catch my breath, I ask Sutoria-sama, "Do you think Tarran would want this!?"

At this question, she loses focus and misses my head by a few centimeters. A barrage of slightly off attacks follows, with tears in Sutoria-sama's eyes. She grabs my face and shocks it with the electricity from her hands.

"AAAHHH!!!!!"

"This is for my brother!" she says, through tears. "There is no other way!"

Memory-less souls are the only honest people in life.

"Now!" Hunter-sama yells. "End this now, Sutoria!"

Sutoria-sama jumps away from me towards the middle of the room. She quickly wipes the tears from her eyes.

"Electric Drive: !! Maximum output!"

The air around me becomes more electrified than before.

"OREN, MOVE!!!" yells Yamiso.

As I regain my sight, I see more Sutoria-sama clones. MANY Sutoria-sama clones! So many I cannot see beyond them!

"GO!" Sutoria-sama shouts.

And with that, they rush towards me at blinding speed, hitting me with a stream of jabs, pushing me further into the wall.

For memories are the true embodiment of lies.

"Now, the final blow!" Sutoria-sama states weakly. "Electric Drive: !!"

The real Sutoria-sama rushes towards me and appears a few centimeters away, almost as if she teleported.

"Oren, I'm sorry!"

These are her final words to me...

As she thrusts her hand through my chest into my heart.