The vacant streets rumbled as Trey and Zora, standing side by side, watched Azul as she emerged from the shining marble. Two roaring embers of power - one red and one blue - shone in the lens of Vani's distant cameras. "VANI, OUR VIEWERS HAVE MULTIPLED! IT WENT FROM 20,000 TO…"
"LET ME SEE!" Vani urged, grabbing the camera from Clyde's grasp. The number on the screen had left her as stiff as a rock. "TWO MILLION VIEWERS!? HOLY SHIT, YOU'RE NOT LYING!"
"Hey," Zora began, "Riley told me the danger zone's clear. You know what that means, right…?"
"Yep," Trey replied immediately, "we have permission to get creative."
Vani's mind flickered at the overwhelming perception of power in the distance. "Get creative…? I don't even know what that means, but I can tell this'll be a HELL OF A BRAWL!"
Azul staggered from the marble, her bubbling coat waning under the embers' pressure. Their scents conveyed their personalities - one fragrant and relaxing, and the other observant and metallic, flooding her mind with their surging dominance. Small, glimmering fragments of crystal rose from Zora's hair, lifting into the vast skies above the battlefield. "Zora," Trey's voice nudged, "you ready to finish this?"
A calm, controlled smirk creeped across Zora's face. "Yeah, I'm ready."
Volume 13, Chapter 80 - 7 and 9
William Village, Nahatan Countryside - 12 hours ago
Away from the Nahatan country's urban bustle thrives a small village with a population of 105 - William Village, the birthplace for the 36th NFEHH captain, is a countryside village about 350 miles away from the capital. Here, you can find many individuals, from farmers to civilians, and even retired captains…
The morning thrived as a bandaged Zora trekked up a steep hill overlooking William Village. Each step forced a ragged breath out of him, the bandages tightening around his ribs like a knotted rope. His gaze secured onto a wooden house at the hill's peak, thinning the air with its power-rich presence. Zora halted before the quiet residence, detecting the nostalgic sense with a relieved exhale. "This is where she lives? So much for the NFEHH's 39th captain…" Zora trembled up the creaking steps, hitting the thick, wooden door with his bandaged knuckles. "Hey, Gabriella, it's Zora! You've probably heard the news, but-"
"What news?" replied a sharp, mellow voice. The scent of intelligence grew as Zora's eyes flew to his four o'clock, recognizing the hazel-eyed, brown haired woman atop a rocking chair. His composure trembled under the woman's presence as her eyes narrowed, examining the bandages wrapped across his body. "Oh, the Royal Complex Incident? I was the NFEHH's last captain, of course I heard of it." She rose from the cushioned seat, observing the flakes of sparkling crystal scattered across Zora's arms. Her guest winced at the bright sunrise, twitching at Gabriella's ice-cold touch with a paranoid shiver. "I promised to redeem myself for Azul, and I'll do just that. No matter what the media says, I'll save her."
"I've heard everything. About Fire Moon, about her disorder, about the alleged culprits - I'm convinced not even Adrian could solve this case. However, do you remember what I told you all those years ago?"
Zora's eyes shot open. "The tale of how the NFEHH came to be… You told it to me so much as a kid, that it's been completely engraved in my memory…"
The sum of power diminished in dawn's peaceful bliss as Gabriella's finger rose to Zora's heart. Her warm, tender smile triggered a feeling of peace within Zora's mind, within the layers of chaos unfolding back home. Despite the situation, Gabriella never failed to encourage Zora to keep pushing - to keep going. "Learning from your mistakes is key to improving as a person. If you don't, you'll never become who you want to be…"
—
Soon enough, you'll see what we're capable of.
Among the uniting scents of justice thrived a scent of malice, its aroma multiplying as Azul's head snapped upward. The air grew heavy as an orb of crackling flames emerged, its belligerent scent growing as Zora and Trey watched the phenomenon with their sharp gazes. "Get ready, Trey," Zora grumbled, fragments of blue crystal sparkling across his raising arms. "I've already lost one chance, and I won't lose another."
The orb soared above the shining marble, extending into a ray of satanic flames that tainted Uraview's consistent prosperity. Small flakes of transparent crystal shot into the skies from its ruthless impact, swallowing the twin embers in a shroud of metallic smoke. Vani scoffed at the horrifying sight, maintaining her composure as her pupils shot towards the blinking cameras. "They just suffered a direct hit… wha-"
Zora and Trey's embers detonated like synchronized bombs, revealing their grins through the fading cloud. One red and one blue, both radiating a scent of unmatched power.
"Wait a minute," Vani blurted, watching as their stances diverged across the colored pavement. Zora and Trey exploded into motion, their paths widening into a perfect V before collapsing inward. Their auras approached Azul from opposite directions, merging into a singular, united front of flaky crystal and trickling blood. "Not only is their strength unique, but their dynamic…"
"Crystalized…"
"Armoring Clot…"
"Rupture!"
"Left Arm!"
The resonating fronts clashed with Azul's raised leg, their powers joining together against the creature's rock-solid layer. Azul's soul seemed to cry within the encasing skin, emitting muffled fragments of resistance within the satanic inferno. Zora, Trey… if you two can hear me, don't only focus on saving me, but the people as well! "We're on the billboards for a reason, Azul," Zora muttered. Her weak power signature entreated Zora with a flare of hope - a flare of redemption and determination. His smile indulged in the growing hope, evolving into an uncontrollable grin of excitement. "We'll show you what we can do!"
Their auras split once again - Zora's glittering sky-blue crystal light and Trey's crimson blood-red, crossing mid-air like strips of DNA, crossing in a repeated barrage of precise strikes. They flashed past one another repeatedly, trading sides with each blow - left, right, left, right, slowly luring Azul towards the street's end. They reunited in a flash as their hands joined with a perfect clap, emitting funnels of breathtaking power through Uraview's deserted threshold. The camera's lens blurred at the phenomenon, the viewers multiplying alongside Zora and Trey's power. "Not even Fatima could do that! Their teamwork is mythical!"
A ripple of crystals erupted from the concrete's face, harbored by three gushing orbs of blood melting into Azul's body. Zora chuckled at the satisfying merge, trapping Azul within his crystal's blooming shards. "Remember to hold back, Trey! Azul's in the entity's heart, and we aren't letting her die!"
"I could say the same for you, Zora!"
Zora's sparkling crystal shot upward like a blooming flower while Trey's blood boiled like a miniature sun. The shards impaled Azul's body with a piercing crack as Trey's power grew richer, the orbs of popping blood within Azul inflating her arms and waist like a stone-coated balloon. "7 and 9," Trey and Zora exclaimed in unison, their voices lifting alongside their determination as Azul's roars intensified.
"Exploding Suns," Trey began.
"AND PIERCING SHARDS!" Zora finished.
The rock-hard layer of skin cracked open at the unfathomable pressure, fragments of the entity's limbs dispersing with a muffled burst. Azul's head charged forward in a desperate motion, blocked by the sturdy barrier of shining crystal implemented by her clever opponents. "Trey," Zora shouted, "it's your turn!"
A giant wall of crystal rose in the distance as Trey's body thinned, darting towards the shining wall with unprecedented force. Trey's body reverted for a moment, his shoes pushing against the shining barrier. The sudden increase in mass shattered the wall, converting his building momentum into power as he launched forward. Zora followed Trey's thinning body as it flashed through the skies, closing his hands with a fierce grip. His glimmering shards ejected Azul with an upward burst, plunging her body into Uraview's vast skylines as Trey's needle-thin body approached. "BLOOD STYLE - THINNING PIERCE!"
The crimson-red needle impaled the entity's head like a racing dart, collapsing backward onto the street with a loud thud.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Vani blurted in shock. "He thinned, unthinned, launched, thinned again, AND FINISHED WITH AN IMPALE!?"
Trey's body popped into shape as shoes landed perfectly onto the decorated marble beside Zora. His head shot towards Azul, her roars weakening with every passing second. However, a feeling raced through both of their minds - she may be on the ground for now, but the fight was far from finished.
Azul's head shot upward, enveloping the marble with a dark, sticky fluid that expanded through the streets. The shallow puddle snuck under the duo's shoes, an unsettling scent of malice now covering the entire street as Azul rose from the shackles of defeat. "Hey!" Zora shouted, his movement restrained by the unusual, tar-like substance drowning his soles. "What the hell is this stuff… and why can't I…"
Suddenly, a moment of realization hit Zora. "Trey, there's thousands of them. Thousands, I tell you!" Trey scanned the street one final time, observing the scent of growing humanoids blooming throughout - every corner, every following second. "Entity reproduction?" Trey muttered. "But, in the form of a human?"
"If there's reproduction like this, there's only one possibility - Fire Moon used a ritual to transform Azul."
The duo stood back-to-back as the entities approached, their expressions of professionalism captured by Vani's distant lens. "I feel your excitement, Zora," Trey chimed in. "Close-combat style is more of a you thing..." His eyes darted towards Azul, fleeing amid the building chaos. "Azul getting too far is going to cause a big problem - therefore, I'll chase Azul while you exterminate every single one of these guys.
An excited grin bloomed across Zora's face among the building negativity. "You want me to wipe out a whole species of entities? Haven't done it before, but you only live once…"
The tar under Trey's shoes bubbled as his body shot above the buildings, scattering small droplets of crimson in his flashy exit. "I'm leaving this to you, Zora!" Zora examined the groaning humanoids with a cautious gaze, pivoting his body in a full circle. "There's hundreds, no, thousands of these guys." Sharp, glittering blades of crystal erupted from both his elbows, erecting over his knuckles with a visceral churn. That same moment, Zora charged into the storm with his sparkling blades. Like an elegant swordsman, he advanced through the crowd with a swift grace, the tip of his crystals covered by the gooey, black tar dripping onto his arms. The storm of glittering strikes continued with each movement Zora performed - each swing, each splatter, each thought of Azul within the scent of her fragmented presence. Her bright personality, swallowed by Pyron's flames of darkness, bled through the tar like a marker bleeding through paper. His gaze shot upward onto an approaching swarm of airborne humanoids, fracturing the peace with their gut-wrenching groans. Zora pushed backward, shooting his blades upward as he sliced the mindless mobs with a quick spin. "Compared to my other close-combat exercises, this is a hell of a workout!"
"Even through an apocalyptic situation," Vani muttered, her eyes fixing on Zora, "his hopeful smirk still remains… He's holding back, and he can still fight thousands with just two crystal-blades!"
—
The wind wheezed as Trey entered the street with a rippling blast, sliding across the lime-colored marble towards Azul's weak pulse. Her body dragged backward, dispatching a blazing ray of fire above the street with an ear-piercing roar. Trey's ears winced at the sound, neutralizing the surprise attack with a dual Vein-Armored Punch. The scene settled into silence as Azul's belligerent, orange pupils met Trey's observant, red gaze, clashing like two similar magnetic poles. "Her pulse is growing weaker and weaker.."
A system of rippling cracks raced through the streets, the malice of Azul's scent deteriorating the street as her soul grew cold. Trey's pupils lit with a sense of urgency as he lunged forward. "The nail in the coffin… it's time to prepare it!" Azul rocked the street with a deafening screech, tearing down the street like a roaring tsunami. The shockwave swept past Trey, shattering the surrounding windows into small, glittering glass shards. His nose twitched, the impact of Azul's rage settling as the shatters ripping down the street halted. That same moment, his gaze was lured upward by an orange glow, followed by a moment of realization. Azul had caught Trey in a surprise attack, unleashing an explosive shockwave followed by the wind's ruthless slaps. For a moment, the only scent remaining on the street was Azul's overwhelming malice. A wave of gut-wrenching bliss washed through the streets as Azul's pulse weakened, sinking into the mighty clutches of despair.
"Blood Style!" Trey called, his needle-thin body darting through the shroud of smoke and soaring above the decorated marble. The flesh-coated needle ripped through the entity's body, exiting through its back with a sudden rip. "Tangled Veins!"
Trey popped into shape, locking his gaze onto the trembling entity with a quick twirl. "That was a hell of a surprise attack," he muttered, his shoes dragging across the marble as his body leaned. "Luckily, I managed to immobilize your whole body from the inside while also leaving Azul unscathed…"
His fists rose above his waist. "Zora, you better be finished by the time I'm back - we're finishing this together."
—
There were no breaks in Zora's movement as he breezed forward. His blue, crystal shards danced through the crowd in a breathtaking sight, the sounds of tearing flesh inhabiting his ears. His momentum refused to fade - he simply kept advancing, leaving a widening trail of dark, melting goo behind him. One mob leaped towards Zora with a cracking groan, luring his eyes upward along his sparkling blades. His arm swung in a sideways motion, the tip of his blade forming a ripple within the humanoid's chest.
"I've never seen anything like it…" Vani muttered in disbelief. "He's moving so swiftly, it's insane!"
Zora's eyes shifted towards the next incoming wave, raising his arms with a quiet scoff. "This is the last wave of 'em, huh? In that case, I'll make this wave extra special!"
—
"Forgive me, Riley, but this is the only way she'll be freed alive!" Trey charged towards Azul with outstretched fists, approaching the malicious scent with each step forward. A shell of hardened blood unveiled across his arms, confronting Azul's chest with a bulging push. "Blood Style - Dual Vein-Armored Jet!" The impact accelerated Azul's movement like a speeding jet, forming an expanding cloud of dust as her body darted through a line of colorful buildings. "Come on, Zora! This is the moment we've been waiting for!"
—
"Crystal Style…" Twin vortexes of sparkling, crystal fragments swallowed Zora's hands as he charged forward. The whirlwinds grew with every heartbeat, cleansing the battlefield with a moment of bliss. He reached into the batch with a courageous shout, his speed persisting while weaving the punches approaching from every direction. "At first, there were two thousand of you idiots," he snickered, raising his arms, "but now, there's just thirty-two!" Crossing his arms in a fierce motion, the twin whirlwinds fused,, erupting into a swirling roar of crackling crystal. The aroma of Zora's power radiated through the streets, opposing the scents of malice lurking within. "Crystal Style…" his voice trembled, solidifying into a manly shout as he pushed forward. "Glimmering Showcase!"
For a moment, silence was all that remained. Vani, encased in curiousness, attempted to mumble, her voice silenced by the accumulating scent of justice.
Then, it happened.
Vani's exasperating mumble shattered the silence. "Aaaaaaaaaa- Wait… WHAT THE HELL!?"
The black tar had completely vanished from the street's face, substituted by a large mirror of sparkling, blue crystal reflecting the vast skies above. Surrounding Zora stood the thirty-two zombies, all encased within the glittering sparkle. The air grew light, then grew heavier as another front began to settle. SHING!
The sound was accompanied by a moment of silence, a moment of realization, and, for Zora, a moment of relief. Small, raindrop-shaped shards of crystal fell from the sky, chipping the sparkling street below.
"He crystalized the streets, the humanoids, AND EVEN THE AIR!?"
The moment was interrupted by an ear-piercing blast from Zora's six-o-clock. Azul's body had traveled in a line back to her starting point - back to where everything began. She slid across the blunt crystal, halting in the street's center. Zora examined the cloud of dust, his focus captured by a familiar shout. "ZORA!"
From the ascending cloud emerged an approaching shadow. Slowly, the dust began to clear - brown hair, bloodshot eyes, tanned skin. A small, trickling scent of blood filled Zora's nostrils as a smile bloomed across his face. "You're just in time, Trey."
"It's crucial that we finish this together," he replied, voice steady. "We're a group of three, two of us trying to save the third."
"You really want to use that attack?"
Trey's gaze narrowed. "Is there any other option?"
Zora's palm opened, welcoming Trey's as their embers resonated alongside one another. Their auras melted into a surging purple, growing stronger as they interlocked their fingers and exposed their palms - Zora on the right, Trey on the left. A whirring ball of gray formed between their palms, feeding on each side's power like a hungry pet. The orb, now a shade of half-blue and half-red, twinkled like a free, thriving star in the beautiful depths of space. In perfect unison, they approached Azul with the power-rich orb, not only holding their powers, but their very souls within the attack.
"So that's it," Vani mumbled, her eyes fixing on the vibrant attack.
"Hmm?" Clyde replied, raising his eyebrow in confusion.
"The attack used twenty years ago to stop the second coming of Thirst for Despair. They say its such an unique attack, nobody else can copy it. To cast it, you require an unbreakable bond, one stronger than even iron! They call it…"
"CYTRON BLAST!" Trey and Zora shouted together, their voices echoing through Uraview's skies as the orb expanded into a glowing ray. One side blue, one side red. One side rich with justice and love, and the other rich with justice and loyalty. These traits intertwined, serving as the very skeleton for their Cytron Blast. In a matter of seconds, the attack vaporized their opponent in a ruthless embrace, extinguishing the lurking stench of negativity from Uraview's face.
And, just like that, Azul's unwavering kindness rose from its slumber.