Chapter 12-Awakening

“Of course it’s a fucking tengu.” Amaru muttered nervously, standing in front of Kira and Emi to protect them from the oppressive aura of the enraged creature looming just a few feet away from them. “I was wondering how he was able to drag us into a Shadowrealm.”

Only two kinds of beings can create or enter Shadowrealms, powerful monsters or extremely powerful magicians. Shirahata, though very skilled, was nowhere near as powerful or skilled enough to be able to achieve such feats. It puzzled Amaru at how he managed to drag all of them into this Shadowrealm with his level of power, but now she knew the truth. Shirahata had been drawing on the power of a powerful monster—a daitengu.

“A-Amaru,” Kira said in a shaky voice. “What’s that?”

“A daitengu, an upgraded version of a crow tengu.” Amaru said, clutching her sword tightly. “The bastard had it sealed under all those spirits inside his body and was subtly drawing on its power. Without those other spirits to keep it in check, the daitengu burst free.”

Emi looked at Shirahata’s still body, which was still impaled on the staff. “Is…is he…?”

“No, he’s still alive.” Kira cut in. “But he’s fading fast. Amaru, we’ve got to save him!”

“Excuse me?!” She exclaimed.

“Shirahata might know something about Margareta’s plans. We can’t let him die!” He said.

There was logic in his statement, but even Amaru could tell he was acting out of some measure of mercy. He couldn’t just let a man die like that in this place, to this monster. He wasn’t ready to cross that line yet. Amaru sighed and faced the daitengu again.

“Fine, but first we need to get out of this mess first. Daitengu are strong and I don’t think I can handle one alone.”

Amaru held up her hands, still holding her sword as she spoke to the yokai. “Noble daitengu, I am Amaru Koizumi of the Oina. I know you are confused about your situation, but please, remain calm.”

The daitengu made no move to speak. He didn’t make any indication that he heard Amaru at all. Kira grasped Emi’s hand and tried to keep calm for her sake. Still, he couldn’t help but shudder at the daitengu’s intense gaze.

“I don’t know how you came to be sealed within this man,” Amaru went on. “But I promise you, we mean you no harm—“

There was a rush of air, followed by sparks and a loud metallic clang that made Kira’s ears hurt. It took him a minute to realize what just happened—the daitengu had shot two of its long black feathers at his head! They smoothly cut through the air like arrows and moved as fast as bullets. By the time Kira could’ve registered the attack, he’d be dead before he could bring up a barrier.

Thankfully, Amaru was just as fast, summoning a wall of wind using her spirit’s power to shred the feathers to pieces with minimal movement. Amaru did not look at Kira, knowing he was okay as she glared darkly at the yokai.

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

In a smooth, practiced motion, Amaru spun around and swung her sword in a circular arc, sending a curved flame arc at the daitengu. She thrust out her hand, channeling the power of her spirit and gave a command.

“Breath, Reramaru!”

The wind that blew from her hand shot forth like a tornado. It made contact with the flame arc and enhanced the attack, making the flames bigger, fueling it from a simple blade to a spiraling inferno. Amaru manipulated the flames to shoot towards the daitengu at full force.

The daitengu hardly looked concerned at the attack. He waited for the flames to get close enough before his arms shot and clapped his hands together. Moving through a series of hand motions too fast to make out, he thrust his hands out and released his unspoken spell. The refractionary environment of his immediate surroundings warped and shifted in front of him, forming a prismatic shield that blocked the flames. Another hand gesture sent that same shield rushing towards the children, sharpening into blades of glass.

“Move it!”

Amaru summoned a strong gust of wind that carried them all away just as the blades of glass shattered on the ground. The daitengu followed their movements and performed another hand sign, this one causing the area around the children to once again fracture and morph into sharp blades.

Amaru took out her mizu prayer stick and pumped mana into it, commanding the water spirit inside to summon a dome of ice to deflect the glass.

Monsters were naturally stronger at using magic than humans, and there were many monster species that could use different types of magic like it was second nature. Elves were a good example, being naturally adept at plant and animal magic that allowed them to basically turn their forest homes into weapons. Daitengu were monsters known for possessing vast magical knowledge and were extremely powerful. Fighting one even as a group was seriously advised against by local hunter organizations unless they had more than one A-Class magician on site, and even then they needed to be careful.

Not much is known about the combat abilities of a daitengu, but it was said that they used a very old form of magic that involved manipulating the environment using specific commands. This was a highly advanced form of mana manipulation that allowed a daitengu to essentially warp the landscape at their leisure. An art that the mirror Shadowrealm was well-suited for.

‘We need a way out of here!’ Amaru thought. ‘And the only one who could do that is trying to kill us!’

“What?! What do you mean you can’t contact them?”

Any innocent civilians enjoying their afternoon took cautious steps back from the screaming woman who emitted a scary aura. Mai’s grip nearly broke her phone into pieces, but fortunately it withstood her strength as she listened to the rest of Saya’s explanation.

‘She’s right, Kira should’ve answered immediately, which means that he’s in trouble.’ Mai thought. ‘Damn it, is that little brat making another move already?’

“Saya, put Sai on the phone.” She said. After a couple of seconds, she talked once more. “Huang, what do you think is going on? Should I expect another attack?”

“Maybe, but not one as blatant as the attack at the school.” Sai replied, unusually serious. Margareta and her companions were not people he took lightly. “Margareta won’t use Henry and Anya to get Kira this time, at least not directly. We know their faces after all. She’ll probably have someone else capture Kira and hold him long enough for Henry and Anya to retrieve him.”

“Any possible methods?”

“None I can think of off the top of my head. You can’t sense them?”

“No, I already have a sensory unit combing the downtown area, but so far no sign of Kira and the girls.”

“Shit.” Sai cursed. Mai had to agree with him, this was an absolute mess.

“I’ll have a unit move in and scout the area again. Knowing Margareta, she’ll use illegal and unconventional methods to hide Kira’s mana signature from us.” Mai said. “You and Saya stay put and don’t make any sudden—“

The ground around Mai exploded, causing debris to fly everywhere. Civilians who were in the vicinity screamed and shouted as stone and glass fell over them, though no one was seriously hurt. People ran from the cloud of smoke, some had to be helped away after the explosion rattled their heads and seriously damaged their hearing.

A slender figure leapt back out of the smoke and landed outside the crater. Mai scowled, wiping dust from her blouse as she glared at the remains of her phone, which wasn’t as lucky as her.

“Another phone wasted. Why do I even bother anymore?” She grumbled. Mai tossed the broken phone away and looked back at the smoke. “Come on out. It’d be ride to keep me waiting after trying to get my attention like that.”

A large man jumped down from a rooftop, landing next to the crater with a hard slam without even using mana to cushion his fall. He was tall and very muscular, with his hair cut close to his scalp and dark grey eyes. His black sleeveless shirt and jeans didn’t seem to fit his large frame properly, and his face almost looked like it was chiseled from stone.

“And who might you be?” Mai asked, sliding her wand out of her belt.

“…Brahe.” He replied in a dull tone.

“Attacking a STAF officer is liable grounds for a seven year prison sentence, Brahe. Though, assuming your dull disposition, it’d be a waste to read you your rights.” Mai summoned her scarf and wrapped it around her face, her hair turning silver and her skin tone darkening. “I’m going to make this quick. I have better things to do than screw around with you!”

Brahe made no comment. Instead he positioned his arms behind his back and released two explosive bursts from his hands, propelling him forward. Mai leveled her wand at his head and prepared a spell.

Both mages were not going to hold back.

XXXXXX

Kira formed a light barrier to block the next onslaught of glass blades sent at them. Emi huddled close as her friends valiantly fought off attack after attack. As much as Amaru wanted to keep them safe, Kira had to step in to relieve the stress on her. He could see the Oina mage starting to tire and if she exhausted herself, they were as good as dead.

Magic drew its power from mana, the life energy in all living beings, and every act of magic drained a little bit of mana from the mage’s reserves. The more a person used their mana, the stronger their power grew, like exercising a muscle. Experienced mages had cultivated their abilities to the point where they could use magic for long periods of time. But all mages were bound by their natural limitations. Using too much magic at a given time can lead to severe exhaustion, or even unconsciousness.

Amaru wasn’t too tired from fighting Shirahata, but she knew she was burning a lot of mana trying to stay alive. Kira’s Nephilim powers, which were an inborn trait inherited from his mother, did not put any strain on his mana reserves and he could use it freely without problems.

Still, all they could do was defend, not attack, and it won’t be long before they grew tired.

“We can’t keep this up!” Kira said, struggling to maintain his barrier. “We need to fight back.”

“How? Daitengu are strong, too strong for me to fight alone.” Amaru said.

“But you’re not alone, you’ve got me, right?” Kira replied, focusing on his inner well of power. “Did you forget what I am?”

“Kira…” Emi’s eyes widened as she saw a visible dark red aura form around Kira.

“Ha!”

With a shout, Kira expanded his barrier outwards in an explosive burst that destroyed the glass blades pelting them. He shot up and grabbed Amaru’s hand, transferring his power over to her.

“What are you…?” Amaru clamped up upon feeling the rush of energy enter her body.

Kira remembered how Sai had him and Saya channel their power into him during their fight against Anya and Henry. It gave Sai a power boost that he used to beat the two Phantom agents. Kira was hoping for the same miracle to happen here.

Sensing the rise in power, the daitengu, intent on nothing else but the eradication of the filthy humans that imprisoned him in that limbo, outstretched his wings and flew at them. Amaru saw this and raised her sword.

“Don’t even think about it!” She shouted. “Reramaru!”

She slashed downward and released not just an arc of wind, but also a blast of flames, which grew stronger as it merged with the wind blade. The daitengu raised its staff and spun it around, deflecting the spell with ease, but Amaru lashed out with another fire blast, this one more powerful.

Amaru thrust her ikupasuy forward and shot two large streams of fire that intertwined and slammed into the daitengu’s defense. It was unscathed, but the attack had pushed him back, which was a good sign. Amaru fired a large mana blasted and coated it in flames, once again pushing him back.

“Yeah, that’s right!” Amaru hollered, now really feeling the power.

She commanded her water and fire spirits to manifest and come together for another big attack. A huge spout of sewer water rose from the ground and a large plume of spiraling flames from her sword. They came at the daitengu from both sides directed by Amaru’s thoughts, and slammed into the yokai with explosive force.

Emi covered her ears from the deafening boom that came from the clashing elements. Steam and smoke spewed from the impact point, and Amaru took a deep breath to settle down from using such powerful magic.

“Wow…that was amazing.” Amaru breathed. “I’ve never been able to do that before.”

“The benefits of being a walking battery.” Kira smiled, wiping sweat from his brow. He felt a bit tired, but not as much as he should be, so he was good for the moment. “Emi, are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah.” Emi said shakily. She was shaking like a leaf and had a death grip on Kira’s hand, but aside from looking a bit pale she was unharmed.

“Focus up, Kira, he’s not done yet.” Amaru said. “It’ll take more than that to destroy a daitengu.”

Just as she said that, the steam cloud was blown away, revealing the daitengu. He glared hard at the children, though no one could tell where he was staring. They got their answer when the daitengu attacked with a huge blast of wind blades aimed not at Amaru, but at Kira!

“No you don’t!” Amaru jumped in front of Kira and created a silver mana shield to deflect the barrage. That would have been the end of it, but the daitengu suddenly appeared right in front of them.

Amaru, Kira and Emi barely had any time to let their hearts fill with dread as the daitengu swung his staff at Amaru. She managed to block the attack with her sword, but the force of the blow sent her crashing through the window of a nearby shop.

“Amaru!” Kira shouted. The daitengu turned his attention onto him. He quickly brought up a light shield to avoid being impaled on the yokai’s staff, but the force of the blow knocked him back.

“Kira!” Emi cried out. Terrified as she was, she was more scared for her two friends. The daitengu seemed more intent on killing Kira for some reason, and it showed in how hard he was trying in his attacks.

Kira was pushed on the defensive, putting all his energy into defending against the attacking daitengu. Every blow pushed him back and put further strain on his body. This creature wanted him dead, and he had a feeling it was because of him being an avatar.

‘I won’t last if this keeps up.’ Kira thought, struggling to keep his light barrier up. He was starting to tire from the assault, but if he faltered he was done for.

Thankfully, he was saved when a fire blast slammed into the daitengu’s side. From the broken window she crashed through, Amaru flew out on a funnel of wind, her flaming katana in hand and poised to strike. Her gray aura flashed as she raised her flaming sword and slashed downward.

A flaming arc slashed into the daitengu’s back and it retaliated by swinging its staff at her. Amaru used a mana shield to deflect the staff and raised her sword for another attack. She thrust her weapon forward, but as she did so, the daitengu smacked her blade away with one hand and thrust his other arm forward. Inside his palm was a rotating orb of wind, which was pushed directly into Amaru’s chest.

Kira watched in horror as the sphere exploded like a bomb, engulfing Amaru in a sphere of highly compressed air, full of razor sharp blades of wind that tore into her body. Amaru’s mana skin bore the brunt of the attack, but it was quickly worn away, and once it was gone, deep, bloody cuts sprouted all over her. Her clothes were shredded apart and her sword and ikupsuy were destroyed or heavily damaged.

The attack lasted on a couple of seconds, but that was more than enough time for Amaru to sustain a heavy amount of damage. Once the devastating spell ended, Amaru’s bloodied body fell to the ground without a sound. Kira had not taken his eyes off her, and that was a mistake.

The daitengu spun around and threw his staff at Kira. The weapon slammed against his light barrier with enough force that it shattered the construct and the blast threw Kira back.

He flew across the street and slammed into a car. The air was knocked from his lungs and he slid to the ground, aching and exhausted. The daitengu raised his hand and the staff flew back into his grasp.

‘No…is this…how it ends?’

Kira struggled to push himself up, but the pain in his back was too much. Even his mana skin could only take so much damage, and he could still feel pain.

‘Is this how I die?’

He heard Emi calling out his name. She was crying and yelling for Amaru to help him, but the Oina mage was totally unconscious.

‘I didn’t even get to know my mother’s real name, and now I’m going to die in this place.’

The thought of dying in this worthless place, far from his father, aunt and sister, made something within him snap. He didn’t want to die, and he certainly didn’t want to die here of all places!

At that moment, something snapped. Kira felt a burning rage fill his heart and his will to survive burned brighter than ever. The feeling was unexplainable, but it was similar to a rush of adrenaline that filled his body with a desperate surge of energy. Only this rush was more tangible and powerful than anything else experienced in a human.

As the daitengu raised his staff over the boy to deal the final blow, he felt a drastic increase in Kira’s aura and paused. The boy’s body twitched before he looked up…revealing a pair of glowing orange eyes.

The daitengu brought his staff down, but before he could even blink, Kira was right in his face, radiating power. Kira thrust a palm into the monster’s chest, and the yokai suddenly found himself being blasted back by a powerful blast of wind that sent him flying down the street, smashing into a truck.

Kira landed on his feet, eyes glowing like suns as a dome of rapidly spinning air surrounded him. Glaring furiously at the daitengu, Kira opened his mouth and roared.

XXXXXX

As soon as Brahe lunged at her, Mai slashed her wand and sent out six beams of fire at him in a circle formation. They moved faster than the eye could see, but Brahe somehow managed to dodge them by leaping over the flames. He unclipped a long chain whip from his belt and cracked it at Mai. She saw the air shimmer for a brief second before exploding with a thunderous boom.

‘Damn it!’ Mai thought, leaping away from the explosions. She activated her link pearl. “All units converge on my position. I’m battling a rogue mage and I need the area evacuated of civilians!”

Brahe charged at Mai, swinging his whip with amazing skill, leaving fiery trails in its wake. Mai summoned a fire shield to block the worst of his explosions before charging inside Brahe’s guard. She lashed out with a flaming punch to his chest that was strong enough to send him crashing into a sign post.

Brahe barely let out a grunt before stomping his foot and unleashing a chain of explosions down the street at Mai. She leapt into the air and released a burst of flames from her feet that propelled her forward at Brahe, and she shoved her hand towards him while calling out her spell.

“Red Fire Cannon!”

A large orb of condensed flames formed in her palm before shooting at Brahe. He paid the spell no attention, simply dodging to the side to let it fly past him, but he wasn’t expecting the orb to explode as soon as it was close enough to him. Caught off guard, he was blasted away by the explosion and sent flying towards Mai, who was not finished with him yet.

“Raging Light Fang!”

A bright red magic seal appeared at the tip of her wand before firing multiple beams of light from its center in a cage-like formation. Brahe tried to dodge the barrage, and though he managed to dodge a few, he was still hit by the rest of them. Blasts of light hit his body with great force, putting tremendous strain on his mana skin that didn’t do much against Mai’s attacks to begin with. He slammed into the ground with a crash, leaving a crater in the ground.

Mai prepared to restrain him with another spell when Brahe leapt from the crater and pulled his fist back.

“Burst Fist!” He roared and punched forward at Mai. Mai crossed her arms and created a mana shield that Brahe’s punch smashed into, and his spell generated a powerful explosion that sent her back a few feet. He continued his assault, chasing after her while casting another spell.

“Chaos Calamity!”

Mai felt the air around her heat up and she encased herself in an orb of golden mana as the ground under her erupted in a huge explosion. STAF and police officers who were evacuating civilians from the battle zone were caught off guard by the massive pillar of flames that blossomed from the explosive spell that destroyed two feet of the street.

Brahe emerged from the flames, his clothes scorched and sporting numerous burns along his skin. His dark blue aura skin flickered from being so close to his own destructive spell and he stumbled away from the thick cloud of smoke. Propelling himself onto a nearby rooftop on a jet of flame, he landed on his feet with a grunt and fell to his knees.

‘That should be enough to take her out.’ He thought and looked at the thick cloud of dust that was left in the wake of his spell. ‘I don’t like expending so much mana in a single moment, but she forced my hand. Those spells of her are no joke.’

Brahe turned his attention to the scattered law enforcement groups down below and thought of how he was going to get past them in his escape when he felt something pressed against his back and a familiar voice whisper into his ear.

“Hellflame.”

Brahe’s vision was engulfed in light as a pillar of red hot flames erupted around him, completely swallowing his body in an infernal blaze. This powerful spell destroyed his aura skin in an instant and pain seared his body right down to his nerves. He didn’t even have time to scream.

The spell lasted several seconds to a minute and that was more than enough time to cause serious damage. When the flame pillar dissipated, Brahe’s severely burned body fell over, smoking and sizzling, his eyes blank as he blacked out from the pain. Standing over him with only a few holes and burns in her outfit was Mai, who glared down at him with her wand in hand.

“You’re going to pay for these clothes, you bastard.” She said in a stone cold tone. Her wand was smoking and felt almost unbearably hot in her hand from using such a high level spell, but she had to finish the fight quick before he got more people hurt or killed. “Alpha Team, I’ve subdued the enemy mage and disabled him. I’m bringing him down for you.”

“Roger that, Starlight. We’re securing the area as we speak.”

“Good. Make sure we don’t have any more unwanted visitors.” She said and took a deep breath. ‘Kira, please be alright.’

XXXXXX

Ah!”

“Saya?!”

Sai rushed over to Saya and caught her before she felt to the floor. Her body was shaking and her aura was fluctuating wildly. But what really concerned Saya was the girl’s eyes, they were flashing with a green light, like broken headlights flickering on and off.

“Saya, what’s…” Sai couldn’t put his confusion into words. This happened so suddenly!

“It’s Kira…he’s in trouble!” Saya panted, holding her head. Sai immediately realized what the problem was.

‘Something’s happened to Kira.’ Sai thought worriedly. ‘Saya’s avatar power is reacting, probably because they’re twins.’

Saya felt as if her chest was about to explode. Her body felt hot, too hot, and her black aura flared like a beating heart around her body.

‘Kira…what are you going through right now?’ Saya could feel his fear and his rage. ‘What’s happening to you?’

XXXXXX

Emi had somehow managed to retrieve Amaru’s body and pull her out of the street to hide behind a soda machine. The Oina made had deep cuts all over her body and her clothes were tattered rags barely covering her modesty. Emi swallowed her queasiness at seeing so much blood and turned back to Kira.

Kira was hovering a few feet in the air inside an orb of air that he summoned around himself. His eyes were glowing bright white and his body emitted a deep red aura that pulsated like a beating heart. Emi shuddered at his ice cold expression, which was simmering with pure rage at the moment.

‘God, what’s happened to him?’ Emi thought.

Kira, who was deep in the thrall of his hidden power, glared hatefully at the daitengu that tried so hard to kill him and his friends. The yokai was mostly unharmed from the palm strike he dealt to it. Best to fix that little problem.

Raising a hand, Kira slashed, sending a crescent shaped blade of mana at the daitengu that smoothly cut through the air. The yokai quickly diffused the attack, but Kira suddenly ran behind the yokai at superhuman speed, his movements enhanced by his air magic. Kira slammed a fist into his back and released a powerful burst of compressed air that once again sent the daitengu shooting forward. The yokai flapped his wings and stabilized his position in the air.

The daitengu cast his spell and sent three large streams of glass at Kira. However, the glass blades shattered against the wind sphere surrounding Kira. Then, with a single thought, Kira shot forward in his protective sphere like a cannonball.

Another hand gesture from the daitengu expanded its area of control over the dimensional area and he clapped his hands together in a prayer stance. The area around Kira shimmered and shrank around him, enclosing on his sphere. Kira’s expression didn’t change, and it was clear he was trying to break free.

Seeing that the boy was trapped for the moment, the daitengu cast another spell to end it all. He separated his hands and formed a sphere of light between them. The sphere fired a concentrated beam directly at Kira. The beam could’ve easily pierced the wind sphere, but Kira roared and released a powerful burst of energy that shattered the dimensional sphere around him. Shooting up out of the way of the beam, Kira flew forward and slammed into the yokai, using his sphere to slam the daitengu into the ground.

Emi screamed as the impact sent a shockwave rippling through the area and nearly blowing her away. Kira brutally dragged the daitengu through the concrete before flinging the yokai into the air and swung his arm to the side.

Blood spurted into the air. A large arm fell to the ground. The daitengu, now finally showing expression, stared at Kira in shock. His arm was completely gone from the shoulder, having been cleanly severed.

Tengu, from the average crow tengu to the powerful daitengu, were demons closely associated with the wind. They shared a connection to the element in ways that few humans experienced. For a child to use air magic of all things against a daitengu was almost suicide.

But this boy, who hadn’t even cast his first spell, was overpowering him in his own element. Though he knew no air spells, Kira commanded the element with simple hand movements and sheer force of will. Guided by the avatar power of autumn, Kira was far too powerful to deal with directly. Just the thought of being defeated by a human child was enough to snap the daitengu out of madness induced rage for just a moment.

That was the moment Kira needed.

The air pressure around the daitengu increased until it was slammed back down to the earth by an invisible force. The impact formed a crater in the street and his body was further compressed into the ground by the increasing air pressure pressing down on him. Kira hovered above the daitengu, looking down at the yokai with an apathetic expression.

Kira raised his hand and gathered all the air from his sphere to form a spinning drill around his hand. He brought his hand down and sent the air drill descending upon the daitengu.

The daitengu couldn’t move under the immense concussive force of the wind holding him down. The yokai was defenseless and vulnerable, yet his expression was one of awe. This would be the first and last time such an ancient creature was defeated by a human, the last thought the yokai had before his chest was torn into by the lethal attack.

XXXXXX

Mai was overseeing the officers transporting Brahe into an armored van when she felt the change in the air.

An intense spiritual pressure emerged from out of nowhere and spread across the area, pushing against the localized barrier that her team had set up to keep their activities from drawing any demons to them.

The air shimmered and wavered before visibly compressing into a spatial distortion, a hole in space. Mai’s long knowledge of magic phenomena told her that this was probably a portal to a Shadowrealm. Then she had a whole slew of questions as four figures emerged from the portal.

First out of the porta was Kira, but he looked different. His eyes were glowing white, like two sons, and his red aura was visible and flaring around him like a flame. Next to him, restrained in chains made of red mana, was an unconscious shirtless man who was pale and sweaty, possibly from mana exhaustion.

Emi was on his other side, gently holding onto another girl who was unconscious and sporting some wounds that were slowly healing. Mai realized that it was Kira’s ding, as he was holding the girl’s hand and was channeling his mana into her body to heal her.

‘This is his power. The power of an avatar.’ Mai thought. Licking her dry lips, she called out to him. “Kira?”

His powerful gaze shot over to her and she quickly had her men stand down. She didn’t need them starting a fight that’ll only cause more damage. From what she was told, Kira was highly volatile in this state, and any threatening moves could provoke him.

“Kira, it’s me, your auntie.” Mai said slowly, raising her hands. “It’s okay. You’re out of danger now. You’re safe.”

Kira’s shoulders sagged a bit, but he remained guarded.

“Please, Kira,” She pleaded with him. “Come back to us.”

Whether it was her words or the general lack of visible threats, Kira’s powerful aura diminished, and he began to calm down. His healing aura stopped and the air dome surrounding him faded away. He dropped Shirahata onto the ground, and he stumbled.

“Kira!” Emi rushed forward and caught Kira as he fell back into her arms. The glow faded from his eyes and they slowly slid shut, the events of the day finally catching up to him as he passed out.