The pain was so horrible that just calling it painful wouldn't be enough to describe it. It felt like someone had taken a bucket filled with molten lava and was continuously pouring it on my side.
It felt like someone had unleashed a colony of fire ants unto my abdomen. The pain didn't stop there. It flowed through my whole body, coursed through my veins, and my nerves.
The pain was so bad that it overloaded my brain, and white flashes and black spots dotted my vision.
"Aughh!" Blood rocket from my mouth, and even the motion of just coughing burned.
Everything from blinking to breathing to swallowing.
It felt like someone had lit every single part of my body with a hellfire that would never burn out.
Subconsciously, I reached out to grab the side of my body which was hurt. However, my hands were just meet with air, and a splatter of liquid.
I looked down in horror to see a crescent shaped hole where the lower left side of my stomach should have been. There was no sign of bone, nor any internal organs. Anything that had been there was completely blown away. My hand was covered in my own blood, and I could feel the liquid as well as bile rising up in my own throat.
And it was then that I realized I was falling. In order to avoid the majority of Aergia's attack, I had to drop the floor of the ice palace below me.
Above, I could see the shining crystal, even though the rain that pelted me ceaselessly.
I was falling, and fast. It would only be a few seconds before I reached the ground. If I didn't move to save myself now, I would be dead.
But I was tired. Bone tired.
I had made a mistake, and now I only had seconds to react before I died.
Fool yourself and your allies if you have to! Because if you can do that, then you can most definitely fool your enemy!
Suijin's words returned to my head once more.
Of course, fool yourself and your allies in order to fool your enemy.
I reached out a hand into the air and closed my eyes.
Having only seconds to act, everything I did was off of pure instinct alone.
I dropped two more wholes inside of the magic palace.
One for Homura and one for Suijin. They both came falling down. Shock, pain, and worry covered their faces.
Rain quickly drenched their features.
After getting them out, I concentrated the very last of my mana into one final attack.
Closing my fists, I caused the palace to collapse in on itself, condensing together until it was as small as a table. A table made of jagged spikes of ice.
CRASSHH!
The spikes were stained with blood, and in the center of the ball of spikes, was Aergia.
Pierced by the spikes of ice.
In less than a second, the ice collapsed, fading away as I ran out of mana.
A rain of bright blue pieces of crystals began to fall simultaneously with the heavy rain of water.
I reached a handout.
My strategy had worked. I had fooled Aergia into thinking I was out of mana, and then, caught her off guard with one final attack. Even if this blow didn't kill her, the fall would. And even if that didn't, she would be out of commission.
Thankfully, I hadn't let everyone down.
Still, there was a part of me that was regretful.
About a lot of things.
For one, I didn't want to die.
I was scared. I was scared of death.
Would it be painful? How long would it last?
I was scared of leaving behind my family. Of leaving Mina. I regretted that I didn't value her lessons more. Of leaving mom. I regretted the fact I would never be hugged by her again. Of leaving dad. Terrified that I would never be able to receive any of his advice again.
But most of all, I was terrified of leaving Raiden. All alone. What would happen to him? He already didn't care about himself enough. He had made it clear his only goal was protecting me. And so if I died, he would undoubtly blame himself. Even if it celary wasn't his fault. Out of control, he would take all the blame.
And where would that lead him? How deep would he fall into darkness after his sister died?
And deep down, in the back of my mind, there was a part of me that accused me of being a murderer. I had killed Aergia after all. So maybe this death was deserved in away.
An eye for an eye.
In my last moments, my thoughts were torn in multiple different directions. I wondered when my life would flash before my eyes.
I guess that was just a myth.
Above me, the shining crystals of ice were within reach for me to touch them. There was also a bright blue light.
And so, I reached out a hand and touched it.
It was cold, and yet warm at the same time.
Under me, I felt a pair of strong arms.
And above me, I same a curtain of red hair.
And then the world went black.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Suijin had realized it much too late.
And she hated herself for it. She had asked for these girls helps, and they had provided it. Courageously risking their lives in battle without a second thought.
And yet now that the battle was over, Suijin could do nothing to help them out.
Down below her, Kami was falling. She would make contact with the ground in less thanf a few seconds.
Next to Suijin, Homura was shouting-no crying, screaming at the top of her lungs. She could do nothing but watch as her friend took the plunge.
Above us, Kami's Ice Palace completely collapsed.
A rain of bright blue crystal ice had begun.
Kami had managed to do it. She had fooled everyone and managed to land the critical final blow of the battle.
Suijin could sense Aergia's fading mana signature. She would be completely out for the count.
But what was the point of any of that if she didn't survive to see her own victory come into fruition!
What was the point of anything Suijin had done, if she let another student die, this one in her care!
There would be no excuse!
What would the others think! She would have failed completely! But more importantly, this brave young girl would have lost her life.
This girl who stood tall against a literal force of death, who mustered the courage to look and upperclassmen in the eye and tell them they were out of line. This girl who had a family, and a brother who loved her more than anything.
She would die.
What would Raiden think?
Desperately, Suijin stretched out, creating a handout of water magic.
She shot it out, desperately hoping, desperately praying that it would reach in time.
However, her prayers were not answered, and her hopes had been shot down completely.
Time seemed to freeze, Suijin opened her mouth to scream, but horrifyingly nothing came out.
It had been drowned out in the rain.
She would be forced to watch, in horrifying detail, each and every second leading to the end of Kami's life.
She couldn't close her eyes. She couldn't close her mouth, and she couldn't stop the tears.
And just then, a figure swooped from down below, grabbing Kami at the last second.
Before Suijin could react, she was also grabbed by a pair of strong arms.
Sliding across the ground, Suijin's savor jumped from roof top to walkway, before finally making their way down to what remained of Theta Magic Academies lobby.
Gently, they set her down on the ground.
When Suijin finally caught her bearings, she looked up to see Yuri, staring down at her, his expression covered in fear. His eyes, usually covered by his signature black glasses, where bare, for all the world to see.
He was scared. Still, when he saw that Suijin had noticed him, he removed the fear from his expression and smiled.
"HAHH!" Suijin suddenly took a deep breath, realizing that she had been holding it this entire time.
She rolled over and coughed out multiple times.
Yuri immediately dropped to one knee, using his hands to check if she was bleeding anywhere.
"I'm sorry I really am." He apologized as he did so. "Does it hur-"
"I'm fine!" Suijin managed to gasp out in between the massive breaths she was taking.
Still Yuri did not stop hover over her.
"What abou- what about Kami. And Homura-"
"Don't worry, they were also caught. Now tell me about you, are you hurt, do you need to see a heal-"
"Yuri I said I'm fine!" Suijin pushed away his hand, before leaning forward, and sitting up.
Taking deep breathes; she surveyed her surroundings.
From the moment that Masayoshi had managed to convince her to leave, to now, the lobby of Theta magic academy had changed.
To put it simply, it had been utterly wrecked. An entire wall had collapsed, there was debris all over the ground, and the air had the smell of something burning.
The rain poured down in a concentrated circle in the center of the lobby, due to the hole in the ceiling caused by Wrath.
In the rain, Suijin could see Masayoshi, standing above the fallen body of an opponent.
"We've defeated Wrath. And as you heard, Shindo also ended up defeating another one of them. And judging from the third person we saw falling, you've also managed to defeat your opponent.
Suijin had stopped listening after Yuri had said they had managed to beat Wrath. Wrath? They had managed to defeat him. Suijin almost didn't want to believe her own ears.
With the help of Yuri, she managed to stand on her own feet. "What's left?" She said, back to business immediately.
Yuri looked at her for a split second, and his lips shifted upward almost imperceptibly.
"There's an untold number of places we need to be. Don't tell me you plan to do everything al-"
"No. I'm not going to do everything alone. I was just lectured about that by two people younger than me." Remembering Kami, she turned around quickly.
"Where's Kami?"
"Was she the one who?"
"Where is she?" Suijin didn't even need to speak to let Yuri know that they answer was. "Yes."
Yuri remained silent for a few seconds, before finally speaking. "I don't know where she is. However, I know that a boy with red hair had caught her before she fell."
Suijin breathed a very light sigh of relief. She couldn't be sure until she saw for herself, but that was a good omen at the very least.
Suijin began to survey her surroundings. She noticed Masayoshi standing in the rain. She took note of the battle raging on outside. She took note of the fact that Nova and Erika were just now walking in with Aergia's body propped between the two of them.
And then there was the fact that they she still had to find a way to group up with the kids in the P.A. system, and-
Just as Suijin was about to let herself be drowned in the number of things that she had to get done, Erika and Nova finally arrived, and the propped Aergia's body up against a piece of debris.
Her body was covered in holes that were bleeding, caused by Kami's final attack. Yet somehow, she was still alive.
Suijin turned to Erika and Nova.
Nova answered her unasked question. "She said she wanted to tell you something."
Suijin couldn't understand what Aergia could have possibly wanted to tell her. Suijin didn't want to talk to her. Suijin made sure to use water to completely bind all of her limbs as well as her eyelids.
Aergia locked eyes with Suijin for a moment, before finally speaking.
"There are two things I thought you should know. The root of these abilities we've been given, they do not lie in magic." Everyone stood in stricken silence as she spoke. "Their called delusions. Their given out by the witch. She is the main perpetrator behind this attack. She is our leader. She was the one who gave us these delusions. In the simplest term, power that was born from trauma. Even if you defeat everyone here, chances are she'll still have achieved her goal."
Suijin had questions. However, she decided to let Aergia continue to speak.
"Here end goal is something beyond the comprehension of anyone. None of us questioned it, because we owed a debt to her." Everyone knew by us, she was referring to only the other 4 strong aura signatures. The men in the python tattooed men were of a different affiliation. "However, know this. She is of a power beyond your imagination. Her goals are beyond your understanding. And whatever she wants to achieve at a current moment, she will. And at this current moment, her sights are set on Raiden Chisaki."
Everyone gasped at that statement. This person, this leader of the organization which had launched an attack on Theta magic academy, was after one of their own students.
Why?
That was the one question on every bodies mind.
"Why would you tell us this?" Suijin asked skeptically.
Aergia looked up.
"Death is inevitable. But I was impressed by you three. You broke the wall of apathy that hid Aergia." She then locked eyes with me. "So, I gave you this information. So that when you meet your inevitable end, you'll realize that no reason can justify the struggle against the inevitable."
As she finished, Aergia clicked her tongue. Realizing, Suijin called out for everyone to dodge.
However, Aergia's attack posed no threat to any of the students.
Because she slit her own throat with the attack.