"Quivering from the same person who you called weak and pathetic, hm? Let me show you why you shouldn't be so quick to judge," Heizu spoke coldly, slashing his staff through the air at Mazaki.
The air swirled violently, the glass of the building cracking and shattering as Mazaki and Heizu continued the barrage of assaults at each other. Mazaki prepared another technique, precisely calculating which vital spot would take Heizu out for good since she clearly missed his solar plexus. Though thinking carefully was challenging due to Heizu's persistent attacks with the radiating staff that he gripped tightly.
Mazaki lunged backwards onto the spire of the building, gripping the pole tightly as she frantically searched for Heizu's next move. In Heizu's mind, all he could think about was taking down Mazaki. He had to do something for once in his useless life, since he had never helped the Organization besides being an extra hand in case of emergencies. All he was known for was being a backup aid that wasn't so strong due to not possessing large amounts of cursed blood. Heizu knew he had to prove he was more than a backup aid, so he deliberately hurled himself at Mazaki. Not because he was reckless and useless, but because it can stall sometime for the others to get closer to Akujin. Stalling was a thing Heizu has always done; he never was hand on hand combat besides that one time in Shinjuku. This was the moment where everything came down to him. Whether it meant risking his life for millions, or it meant millions of lives were at risk because of his cowardly behavior. Then a familiar voice crossed his mind, everything around him slowing down but not at the same time.
"When do you think we'll be free of this chaotic mess, hm?" Yuna smiled, which caused Heizu's eyes to widen as the sudden memory flashed before him.
"I can't wait to explore the world out there and be free from this Organization. Sometimes, I regret having the cursed blood I do," Yuna looked at the night sky above them, the crescent moon shining above the skyline of the city.
"Let's make a promise," Heizu proposed the idea, "We'll get out of this mess together and explore the world out there."
Yuna's eyes lit up at the idea, "Really?! You promise?"
"I promise," Heizu cheerfully agreed.
When I saw her that day, that very unfortunate day when Riku turned his back against the Organization, I was in disbelief. Just like how Nitaru was when Akari was killed by Akujin right in front of him and all he could do was helplessly watch. That was like me and Yuna. I saw Riku's blade pierce through Yuna's upper right chest, near her collarbone. All I did after that was cry, cry even more, and lay on my bed. I felt so bad for not being an asset to help Yuna as she fought against Riku who was clearly more powerful than she could ever become.
But here I am now. Yuna was gone, so I already broke the promise I swore to Yuna. Was it even possible? The dream every Assassin has always dreamed, freedom, was impossible to obtain? Not with the kind of wicked and cruel world Akujin created by setting criminals throughout the streets with her scheming ways.
Heizu breathed in a deep breath, then slammed his foot into the glass facade below him, preparing his technique. Mazaki looked at him from her position on the spire, and grinned. Mazaki prepared her own technique, gathering the energy from her radiant magic dust from the palms of her hands. Heizu clasped his hands together, the staff he created earlier from the bow circling him fiercely, its blue beaming light glowing brightly in as it circled him.
"Lost Wings Of The Phoenix!" Heizu released his attack, aiming directly at Mazaki as the magic swirled furiously, scraping the glass and causing it to crack. Each crevice that cracked formed smaller cracks that split the windows further.
"Dreadful Stinging Loath!" Mazaki unleashed her technique, the vines sprouting from the glass and whirling towards Heizu with precision, aiming for vital sections of his body. The two attacks, which had coincidingly unleashed together at opposite opponents, clashed aggressively together, causing a whiplash that sounded like a thunderclap, the force from the aftershock causing the building below them to split into several sections, the building losing its structure and beginning to collapse. Heizu slid down the remaining pieces of glass, trying to escape the building before possibly getting caught in debris. Mazaki's eyes widened in rage, knowing she can't just let him escape that easily. Mazaki threw herself from the spire, diving down swiftly and preparing her technique.
"Sin of the Crescent Moon!" Mazaki's technique slashed out from her fingers, several jagged and barbed whips lashing out from her hand, hurdling towards Heizu. Without realization, Heizu blindly looked back as he felt the gust of wind coming towards him. Then he saw the sharp point of the whip swirling toward him, which was near his left shoulder blade. Trying to avoid the incoming whips, Heizu moved his torso to the right, but then felt something sharp pierce his thigh and right shoulder blade. Blood spurted from his lips once again, trickling down his chin and onto the concrete below him. The skyscraper the two were just on had fully collapsed behind them, only several feet away as the dust cloud slowly dissipated on its own.
Heizu's eyes widened as he found the whips pierced through him, the middle of his thigh where he can see the blood splattering onto the ground. He then looked to where he felt the other pain, eyeing the whip that pierced his upper right shoulder, possibly right through the top of his lung. He couldn't breathe easily at all, his breath coming in short, desperate draws. Blood trickled from both major injuries, and Heizu breathed in, his lung crackling and gurgling as blood filled his airways slowly. Mazaki grinned as she approached, retracting her whips from his body with a forced pop, causing Heizu to crumble to the ground. Mazaki walked slowly towards Heizu's struggling form, her whips vanishing into her body.
Heizu struggled, flipping to his other side with a pained wince. He scooted away slowly, looking around for Gyonu. Though he couldn't find him, Heizu remembered Gyonu being near a street when he fell unconscious. Heizu was currently in a plaza of business offices and headquarters for certain companies.
"You must be in pain, aren't you?" Mazaki mockingly laughed, clearly making fun of his struggled breaths.
Heizu gritted his teeth, looking at Mazaki as she leaned down to his level.
"Can't talk. Figures since I purposely aimed for your lungs so I wouldn't have to hear that annoying whiny voice you act with so you could get attention from everyone, huh?"
Heizu's expression remained determined, despite the excruciating pain he was going through. Blood trickled from his lips, and Mazaki smiled sinisterly.
"Let me treat you like how you should've been treated all along," Mazaki put her hand on Heizu's shoulder.
Mazaki then slapped Heizu across the face so hard that his neck cracked out of place, causing a weak pained scream that escaped barely from his throat, blood gurgling in his trembling scream. Mazaki then grabbed his jaw, her grip tight and forceful, "No one loved you, ever. Get that through your head, you useless piece of scum."
Heizu stared right at the ground weakly, thinking that this is over for him.
"Don't gaze at the ground as if you stand no chance. Finish this fight," a familiar voice sounded in his head.
Heizu recognized the voice as Yuna, his eyes widening immediately as he thought in his mind, "I..I can't, my body has gone limp mostly, and I'm getting dizzy..."
"Use every last ounce of strength you have in your body," Yuna's voice echoed in his head, "Do it for me."
Mazaki grabbed Heizu's chin again, making him look at her despite his dislocated bones in his neck. "Stop getting distracted from what I'm saying, did you even hear me or is death already getting to you?"
Heizu grit his teeth, lifting his hand slowly and weakly. Mazaki looked at his attempt to lift his hand, not bothering to stop him, "You're too weak to do anything to me. Your body is dying, isn't it? Must be great to finally escape your pathetic and worthless life."
Heizu coughed, blood running from his lips as he spoke hoarsely, "It has worth, every second was worth living. No matter how d...difficult it...got. Now stop assuming my life based on how I appear!"
Suddenly, Heizu grabbed her face, clawing at her face and digging his nails deep.
Mazaki yelled in severe pain, gripping his hand that clung strongly to her face, "Let go of me, don't touch me with your filthiness!"
Heizu gripped tighter, blood spurting from her cheek as he dug his fingers into her face, his grip fierce and determined, just like how the look in his eyes are. Mazaki's blood ran down his fingers in large amounts, and slipped into his own wounds that were on his wrists from the glass shards of the windows earlier.
Mazaki struggled against him, trying to use a technique to obliterate his hand from her face but couldn't due to the strengthing hold on her face. How did he have so much strength after being wounded so severely?
Heizu prepared his last ditch technique, planning to try and injure Mazaki so severely that she won't be able to attack anyone after being effected by it. His veins pulsed as he prepared to unleash his most likely final technique.
"Poison of a Withering Flower!" Heizu unleashed his attack, poison injecting into Mazaki's bloodstream as he dug his fingers deeper into her skin, trying to get the poison thoroughly into her.
"Agh! Let go of me! It burns!" Mazaki screamed, feeling the poison pulse through her as her body begins to immediately succumb to the poison, her legs already going numb.
Mazaki squirmed against Heizu as he held her firmly in place, causing the poison to only spread further through her body as she struggled. Her hands weakly gripped his hand that clawed into her cheekbone, pushing him away slightly. Heizu blinked furiously, trying to stay awake to make sure she dies. He struggled against his weakening body, trying not to fall unconscious. The technique he still is using rises around the two, a maroon color sprouting from Mazaki's wound. Mazaki struggled against the poison, but her eyes closed as her body convulsed violently in pain from the strength of the poison. Then she laid still. An eerie silence fell over the surrounding area, and Heizu weakly looked at the flames around the two from the electrical fires from the building collapsing. His eyes widened when he saw the gasoline nearby from a crushed car, and the fire was close by, meaning a pending disaster.
"This is it, huh?" Heizu spoke to himself, blood splattering from his lips and onto his shirt. He closed his eyes, breathing in and out with a struggled, uneasy pace.
The flame touched the gasoline, causing the large gasoline puddle to ignite into one huge explosion. The surrounding buildings crumbled to the ground as the explosion plowed through several skyscrapers nearby. Ruka and Zak saw the explosion, their eyes widening as the gust of winds slashed around them, their black silky capes flapping furiously in the wind.
"What the hell?" Zak gasped as he saw the bright flames and enormous smoke clouds of the explosion as the flames rose high into the sky.
Ruka continued glancing around, noticing something off. Sensing the blade, Ruka flipped herself around, parrying the blade with her own steel knives.
"Nice reflex and perception skills!" A raspy voice tingled her ear as the female before her tauntingly leaned forward, "Though don't be too happy to congratulate yourself yet, I'm just getting started!"