Guardians of the Light [Chapter Twenty Two] Metamorphosis
CHAPTER 22 - Metamorphosis
Toma, Jin and Kazuya moved away from the fight as the skeletal warriors took over. Hikaru, Daiki, and Nino tried to stop them but were overwhelmed by the summoned abominations.
“That’ll keep them busy for the mean time.”Toma said.
“Is it time? Are we gonna do it now?” Jin excitedly said.
Toma nodded. “Let’s get out of this place. We can’t consummate our task in this situation.”
They were a few meters away from the brawl when they have been engulfed by a yellow orb. They stopped and looked back. Ryosuke pointed at them, his index finger glowing. Yuto, Yuri, Ryutaro, and Keito were behind him.
“Well this is annoying.” Kazuya said.
Toma touched the orb and smiled as he absorbed Ryosuke’s power until they were free. “I told you. You can’t stop me Ryosuke.” They mouthed in unison as the Hollow’s deep voice echoed.
“But we can.” Yuri inserted.
“Brat.” Kazuya launched a plasma ball at Yuri, which was deflected by Ryutaro’s air sphere.
“You don’t get to hurt us anymore.” Ryutaro bravely uttered.
“Eat this idiot.” Jin pitched one plasma ball after another to the Guardians and Ryosuke. Keito shifted his footing and pulled his hands up. Along with it, the ground rose and made a strong barrier, enough to ward off Jin's attacks. Kazuya was about to attack when Toma pulled him back and shook his head. He faced the Guardians and summoned more of the skeletons.
“Let’s go.”
As Keito removed the barrier, several skeletons popped up and attacked them. Their reflexes have been timely that they were able to evade all incoming movements of the enemy. Because of the matter at hand, they failed to consider hunting the Triad down.
“Those idiots, as if they could beat us.” Jin jeered, as they flew towards the burning Tokyo Tower.
“This could be a good spot. Let’s begin here. I can feel the Hollow almost settled in.” Toma said.
They all settled under Tokyo Tower, where they have been surrounded by dancing flames. The hotness was ignored by the three as they moved in a circle around the base of the tower. They sat, cross-legged, on the hot ground.
“Time, it is nearing.”
They stared over a nearby building, which was fortunate enough to have survived the onslaught that surrounded it. A large digital clock read 11:58 PM.
“I call upon the darkest night, bestow on us eternal might; swallow this world in eternal slumber, make our bodies the Hollow’s bearer.” They chanted in unison. The wind grew harsh and the ground trembled. The Triad was soon covered by a dark light that emitted from the arcane circle that formed on the ground around them. Smoke came out of the edges and converged, looking like a thundercloud on top of them. Lightning crawled inside Tokyo Tower as if it was filled with the darkest energy ever known to man.
A bright yellow ray of light shot in the middle of where they were seated, making them jump away in a hurry. The thundercloud remained and threw out even more lightning forks. Ryosuke and the Guardians evaded the electric bolts as they attracted the Hollow’s power towards them. The Triad moved to one side and continued chanting the same words.
“Stop them! The union should not happen. Move!” Ryosuke ordered.
Ryutaro slid to one side, attacking Kazuya with his outstretched arm with spiraling white columns of wind. Yuri was beside him, throwing a roundhouse kick. It gave Kazuya a hard time to chant and evade at the same time. He sidestepped, bent down, and did a somersault with dark orbs projecting from his feet. The young men moved away and recoiled by sending simultaneous attacks of air spheres and fireballs. On the other hand, Yuto and Keito were all over Jin as the latter cussed in pain. Keito’s boulder hit him on the gut after Yuto had immobilized him with his elongated hands. He was only able to be free from Yuto’s grip after shifting the particles of his body into an almost plasma form. Toma was having difficulty in warding off Ryosuke as well. The latter kept hurling kicks, punches, and light orbs to prevent Toma in completing the union. Toma groaned and blew a dark pillar of smoke at Ryosuke, making his vision nothing but a blur.
“Jin! Kazuya! Disengage!” Toma shouted as he flew to the top of the tower.
The other two followed suit and left the Guardians hastily. They Guardians followed them in their Mist forms but were held back when Toma conjured a horde of skeletal warriors that pummeled them to the ground.
Just as Jin and Kazuya reached the top of the building, the dark clouds swirled even faster, a signal that time was nearing. Three arm-like projections sprouted from the cloud and grabbed each of the Triad. Lightning forks engulfed the body of the Triad and whirled at a fast pace. Then slowly, as if the world was waiting for something big to happen, the hands moved closer to each other and joined together. The Triad was smashed into a common junction and made a vortex of dark orb.
“NO!” Ryosuke shouted and invoked light orbs of his own to the enemy’s. The Guardians also tried their best to destroy the orb but to no avail. It didn’t budge even with the great force they were exerting.
And in a sudden blast of dark energy, everything ceased to move.
“Kota, look out!” Kei shouted and pushed him away just before a skeletal soldier slashed its rusty sword to where Kota stood. The former flicked his fingers and the soldier disintegrated in a flash of blue light.
“Gee, I was about to finish him off too.” He smirked. Then the huge wave of coldness rippled its way across them. Kota shivered in fright as his eyes bulged. “No…”
“Kota!” Ace shouted. She noticed that Kota’s face was stern and full of fear. “It’s done. They should need our help.”
“We already have our hands full in here Ace; we can’t really be of any help. Moreover, it’s their destiny. And besides, we should contain the damage here. Tokyo is a wreck but the land outside here knows nothing much about the carnage that we face. We need to protect them as well.”
“Nicely put Kei. Now let’s do our jobs.” Kota said and lunged in again in the center of the brewing fight with the skeletons.
The swirling orb of clouds vanished with the blast and left only a single dark form floating above Tokyo Tower. The man slowly and eerily floated down the tower. Several wisps of dark force emanated from him, making him look like a flying octopus. He wore black jeans and a navy blue coat that extended to be a flowing cape. The white undershirt beneath his coat complemented his pale, chalky appearance, making it look as if his shirt was still part of his skin. His jet-black hair moved freely with the wind as he opened his deep, dark orbs. His pinkish lips jerked into an evil smirk, his sharp jawline twitching as his whole frame shook.
“Hello, brother.” he said finally, eyeing Ryosuke.
The Guardians were in awe as they looked at him. They turned their gazes on Ryosuke then back to the Hollow, making sure they weren’t being tricked.
“That’s… That's not real…” Yuri muttered.
“Oh, yes I am Yuri. You didn’t tell them the truth I suppose.” He turned to Ryosuke then back to the Guardians. “This is just like last time. They always think I am the evil one, well, not until they know of the truth.”
Yuri clenched his teeth and closed his eyes. Then, his body was covered with bright red flames. “Let’s end this already.”
“Halt.” The Hollow said, lifting a finger. Yuri became frozen, he didn’t move a bit. Even his flames remained stationary. “Let’s get things right this time.”
“No. Things will never be right if you’re around Ryunosuke.” He winced as he uttered the name.
“I don’t think so brother. Do you still remember how your friends died before? It wasn’t just because of my powers and their weakness. The biggest factor of that fight was your cowardice. Well, mostly my anger but this time, it will all be just because of me.” he smirked.
“What did you do to Yuri?! Release him!” Ryutaro bellowed, his face red with anger.
“He’s okay Ryutaro. Don’t worry. I didn’t kill him.” he waved his hand and Yuri went back to being animated again.
“What the?”
“Enough of the hostilities Yuri. I’m rather civilized.” He addressed Ryosuke. “So, brother, how will you end it this time? I suppose you’re gonna cower once more and leave these people dead. That would be really uncomfortable.”
“Shut up Ryunosuke!” Ryosuke shouted and flung a light ball at him. Ryunosuke deflected it with a wave of his hand and grinned.
“So this is how you want it, eh? Let it be done.”