Open up your ears! Open up your heart!

Realize I cannot live when we are apart!

BATAN! GA! Biri!

I try to continue to dodge and occasionally take the offensive, but I've slowed down to the point that I cannot dodge much of any of the attacks at all, let alone make a hit of my own.

BATAN!

With another kick to the chest, I get knocked into the wall, then fall to the floor.

But...

(I won't give up. Not now!)

Leaning against Clarent, put back into its sheath, I try to get up. The more I think about it, the more I know that I don't want to hurt Sutoria-sama, though I know I have to beat her. Finally, I'm starting to hit some of her clones, as it seems she too is slowing down. This gives me confidence. A chance we might win!

(Oren, that's enough! You can't win this!)

(Didn't you say you wanted to see my resolve? I'm not doing this for me alone. Yamiso is here, and he looks to have a plan. And I won't abandon Tarran and Ripperu!)

BATAN!!!

Another kick to the chest, making me gasp for air. Followed by a barrage of kicks from Sutoria-sama and two of her clones, pushing me further into the wall.

All the fame and wealth in the world cannot make me smile!

The bonds of friends and family are all that's worth my while!

(Come on, Rip! Come on!) Yamiso thinks.

"Gofu..."

"THERE!!!"

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As soon as the assumed final instrumental starts, Yamiso breaks a hole in the floor, then flies down it with his Fallen...

"STOP HIM!!" Hunter-sama yells.

BATAN!!

Before making it down the hole, Yamiso is kicked in the chest and launched into the ceiling. However, he looks determined and flies towards the hole again.

BATAN!!!

"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!

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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!)

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!"

"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.

"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.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"OREN!!!" Yamiso yells.

PARIN!!!!

("Parin?") Hunter-sama, Sutoria-sama, and Yamiso all think at the same time.

KKKKKKKKKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

To everyone's surprise, a radiant light shines brightly from my chest. Blinding, Sutoria-sama retreats towards Hunter-sama, and all three of them cover their eyes. When the light dies down, they look to see what I've done.

And they see something I never knew I had.

In my chest, behind my rib cage, covered in blood, is a crystal. A crystal of pure white where my heart should be. Large enough to be a heart, and those unfamiliar with it would think it to be similar to all the other crystals of the world. But its shape. The shape of two overlapping angel wings.

(No! No, he can't! That isn't!!!!!) Yamiso thinks...

As he sees the Illusion face.

Hunter-sama bursts out laughing.

"It all makes sense! Why didn't I see it!? I should have known! You're a curse to us all, and now I know why!"

Hunter-sama points to me.

"Sutoria! Kill him! He is a threat to us all! To me! To you and your family! To the world! Destroy the face, and save us all!"

Sutoria-sama, in confusion, hesitates.

I instinctively hold my hand to my "heart".

As Sutoria-sama rushes towards me at blinding speed...

I am engulfed in white.