PHASE 44 - A BATTLE BETWEEN SIBLINGS!

This is the judgment day for Heushac.

It was already four in the afternoon, and the sun is still irritatingly bright as ever. Summer is coming, which makes most of the people here in this gymnasium are drenched with sweat. But not the kendo champion. Helena is calm and stiff as ever.

Only a few students know this fight, and it’s not like teenagers are interested in kendo anyway. There’s only the Kendo Club members, Amy, Tiara, and I, and then the janitor who will watch this fight.

I’m playing a special ribbon in my hands as I watch the siblings gear up for their sword fight. A gadget, disguised as a red ribbon. Detective Conan style. This ribbon will be the key to Heushac’s win.

There was a long whistle, signaling that the match will start soon. Both of them are wearing black kendo armors, but their color-coded back indicates who’s who. Heushac is red, and Helena is white. Both of them positioned their bamboo swords and made a centered stance.

Then the whistle echoed throughout the gymnasium.

“Haaaaa!” Helena started with her war cry, as she mercilessly made three swift downward slashes. But Heushac managed to block it with his sword! One of the hit went to Heushac’s chest, but the referee didn’t consider that attack as a valid point/cut.

There was a lot of quick slashes, but Heushac stayed on the defensive. It makes me feel great that a hard-headed Heushac is following my instructions. I counted the pattern of Helena’s “incoming attack” and when I saw a future opening, I whispered to the red bow. “After blocking two slashes, make a thrust directly to the head!”

One, two. Those were downward hacks. After Helena’s attack, Heushac saw the opening that I foresaw, and made a piercing attack on the helmet of his sister!

The whistle blew, and the referee raised the red flag. It was Heushac’s point! Tiara celebrated with a smile, while Amy was dumbstruck.

The secret: The red ribbon is a transmitter which was connected to Heushac’s earpiece, which he is wearing right now. Nobody will notice it because Heushac’s head is covered by a protective helmet.

Also, I am able to effectively coach him during battle because I activated my Guardian Ability , which makes me able to see Helena’s future movements twelve seconds in advance.

Of course, it’s cheating. But Helena is cheating too! How can you expect a clueless human to defeat a national champion? And I’m just practicing my tactics! I’m the field commander of the Aether Crusade!

Then the second round started. The siblings clashed their bamboo blades. There was a change in Helena’s future movements, as she was going into a counterattack. All I did tell to Heushac is to stay defensive until Helena’s quick barrages of slashes slow down a bit.

“Gah!!!” Heushac cried in pain.

Helena managed to hook his little brother’s sword and parried it straight away, as she makes a downward slash to Heushac’s head!

It was Helena’s point. The whistle went loud and the white flag was raised.

There is a limit to my . I can accurately forecast the attacks, but that doesn’t mean that it can be dodged or parried. It still depends on the agility of the attacker and also the swiftness of the defender.

“Hey, what’s that?” Amy said as she snatched the ribbon device from my hand.

“W-Wait! Give it back!” I shrieked, as I tried to rob it from her hands, but she’s so freaking quick!

Amy managed to check at the device with a glance and then she glared at me. “As I thought. You guys are cheating. There’s no way that Heushac can block the attacks with precision.”

Then that blonde bitch stepped on the ribbon, completely shattering it into pieces. It made like a loud cracking sound, which made Heushac look at the audience’s seat. He saw Amy crossing her arms and glaring at him like a mad mother.

I made a slitting-throat hand sign to my poor friend, telling him that he’s certainly dead.

But Heushac only shrugged. He’s still in the condition to fight! Only one point remains, and the winner will be decided.

But now, it’s all up to him.

The third whistle echoed, and Heushac started with reckless series of attacks as if he was a berserker! Helena managed to parry, block and evade all those slashes! His moves are so easy to read!

Suddenly, the sword princess shifted to counter-attack, hitting Heushac with several slashes, but none of them hits the mark, so no points. She just wants to hurt her brother’s muscles, and she’s doing it on purpose!

Heushac is under pressure, and his blocks barely repel his sister’s attacks! She’s too strong! But I know him. He will never give up!

“Haaaaaah!” Heushac shouted as he made a blind thrust! He didn’t care if it would make him wide open! But Helena saw the opportunity as she made an upward slash, aiming at Heushac’s head!

Pak!!! A loud clash echoed.

Everyone was silenced when a helmet fell to the floor. It was Heushac’s helmet. But… his sword was sticking on Helena’s head!

Then a loud whistle ended the match. The five-minute time is over, but the referee raised both flags. It was a draw!

Tiara and I went to the field and checked on our boy, while Amy went to Helena’s side. Heushac is drenched with sweat due to the mixed emotions he got and the humid summer afternoon air. Tiara gave him a bottle of cold water to drink, and I slapped him with a towel.

“You did great, Mister Heushac!” Tiara cheered.

“It’s not enough.” Heushac is heavily panting. “There’s still an overtime, right?”

“There’s no more overtime.” It was Helena’s voice. She went to his little brother’s front with her helmet stuck on her elbow. She lent out her free hand to Heushac. “You did well, baby brother.”

“But the winner has not been decided!” Heushac cried. “And I’m not a baby anymore!”

“You win.” Helena smiled. “You already won when you accepted my challenge. This fight is just to test your skills in life or death situations.”

“But they still cheated. Is it still okay with you, Helena?” Amy butted in. Why is it always her the villain of my life!? If only I could punch a woman!

Helena shook her head. “My baby brother will fall into Alaric’s command anyway. So I’ll let them be. At least our fight tested their sync and trust to each other. I’ll completely entrust my baby brother’s safety to our field commander.”

That is a music to our ears. Heushac and I stuck our tongue as we stare at that blonde runt. “Bleh!” We said to her. We’re perfectly in sync!

Then the group became noisy as Tiara congratulated both of them. Actually, Amy, Heushac, and Helena are also talking, but their voices are all mixed up.

I don’t understand any word they say as it became inaudible in my ears. I felt that there was an invisible force squeezing my head. And all I can hear is static.

My head… It hurts! Every time I blink, I see static like those in the TV. I felt nauseous, so I sat and curled in the corner of the gym.

Tiara and Amy noticed me, and they went to my side. They are both worriedly talking, but I couldn’t hear a word!

Suddenly, a voice spoke through my head.

TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO HELENA EFILION

Then in a Planck instant, my senses went to normal. But it doesn’t matter because it’s too late.

We all felt a shockwave from the center of the gym. It pulsed two to three times, and then there was a blinding flash!

The next thing we know is that we are already in Yami. We’re inside a golden Roman castle, and I’m sitting on the red carpet. There are expensive chandeliers, golden knight monuments and imperial banners at the walls of this wide hall.

I made an attendance check inside my head. Tiara, Amy, Helena, Heushac, and me. I’m so glad that there are no bystanders around. But Heushac is not a Gate Guardian yet.

“D-Did somebody opened a Gate?” Tiara asked.

“No,” Amy muttered.

My is still active, so I know the impending doom that’s waiting for us.

“It’s them,” I said as I helped myself stand on my own feet.

We were surrounded by a lot of black-cloaked people. All of them have white hair and red eyes, making them identified as Cursed Guardians, obviously. There’s too many of them… I stopped counting at fifteen.

And at the top of the stairs which was connected to the red carpet, was three iconic persons.

One is a hooded man who wears a skull of a wolf as a mask. He is wielding a chainsaw buster sword with his right hand. His body is largely built, that looks even tougher with his knight armor. This man is certainly Void Wolf.

The second is an unknown six-footer lady with demonic black wings. She was wearing a metal bodysuit which gives has an idea of this woman’s measurements, but her face is utterly terrifying. She looks like a corpse.

My blood pressure went up in the sky when I saw the third man. He wields a masculine version of Tiara’s face. This guy is wearing a black cape on his slim bodysuit armor. He’s holding a thick burning katana on his right, and his left fist is engulfed with flames. It’s Diadem Solstice!