Yuu and Raxis were locked in a fierce battle; Yuu's flaming fists and the Governor's lightning strikes tore through walls and shattered doors. Eventually, they reached the highest point of the City—the central tower of the palace. Both of them looked exhausted.
"You really don't know when to give up, do you?" the Governor said, catching his breath.
"I'm not stopping until I see you on the ground," Yuu replied, also taking a moment to recover. Once again, he had broken the promise he made to Shinya. They were supposed to rescue Toru and retreat as soon as possible—but instead, they were fighting Raxis and the Lightstorm.
"You know you're no match for me," Raxis said coldly. "You ran away when I killed your parents. You ran again during our fight the other night. Are you going to run away this time too?"
"I won't run anymore. This will be the last time we meet."
The two clashed again, flames and lightning colliding in a storm of raw power.Yuu struck Raxis in the face, just as the Governor's blow landed on his chest. They both staggered back.
"I should've finished you off that day," Raxis growled, breathing heavily. "I should never have shown mercy to a brat like you."
"Yeah... You should've killed me yourself back then," Yuu replied, voice steady.
"Your parents were protecting a criminal. The General's orders were to eliminate anyone who helped him. I had no choice, boy. You should be thanking me for sparing you."
Yuu didn't hold back. Before the Governor could raise his guard, Yuu unleashed a flurry of blows, each one heavier than the last, until Raxis was slammed to the ground, bones clearly broken.
Yuu stood over the old man, towering like a shadow as dark clouds began to gather above.Too late.
A grin spread across the Governor's bruised face. Bolts of lightning rained down on him, forcing Yuu to jump back. For the second time, Yuu found himself face to face with the great yellow tiger—the Ethereum form of Raxis.
"You've definitely grown stronger," the Governor said, his voice now warped by the beast's form. "But you should've finished me off while you had the chance, boy. Now... there's no escape."
Yuu didn't falter. His opponent was faster now, and the relentless counterattacks were starting to wear him down.A barrage of lightning slammed into him, nearly knocking him off his feet. He barely managed to stay standing.
He still had the will to fight, but his strength was nearly gone.
"How much longer can you last?" the Governor asked.
Yuu thought once more of Shinya's warning—to escape as soon as Toru was freed.
He let out a bitter laugh. "Sorry, Shinya... Looks like I'm breaking that promise too."
"Dammit, Raxis. What's this brat doing here?"
The Governor of Harthland froze and turned slowly. Perched on the tower's edge sat a girl with long black hair, wearing an elegant, vivid purple dress. Her eyes were black—an unfathomable well. Yuu thought that she looked a lot like Shinya.
"Governor of Esios, Kana!" Raxis barked, furious. "You put the whole city to sleep, didn't you?" he shouted at her.
She didn't flinch. "Of course. I was tired of your constant failures to catch the Libertas, so I decided to finish it once and for all. I just expected to find Kyorano, not this kid."
"Why did you put everyone to sleep? You helped them more than me!"
Kana smiled but said nothing.
"I know your plan… You thought that with the city's defenses weakened, Kyorano himself would come out to fight me. Then, after our duel, you'd kill the exhausted victor."
Raxis trembled with rage, and Yuu saw it clearly. He probably hated that girl as much as he hated Yuu.
"It's all over now. I don't care about this kid. Have fun with him."
Kana rose to climb down the tower, but Raxis barred her path with a bolt of lightning.
"You're not going anywhere!" he roared, voice full of fury. "Now I'll show you why the General gave me my title—White Lightning!"
A single white bolt fell from the sky. The moment it struck the tower's peak, a blaze erupted on the far edge.
Yuu tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond.
"What the hell did you do?" Kana screamed.
"You came here to get rid of two enemies at once, but now I'll do it myself. White Lightning is my special ability. Everyone—ordinary humans and Espers alike—within range are paralyzed. Only electric Espers are immune to this technique, and neither of you are."
Raxis's voice was calm. Yuu tried again to move, but his legs wouldn't obey.
"Are you insane? I'm a Governor! Free me this instant!" the girl shouted.
Raxis turned to Yuu. "You've tormented me for too long. Because of you I've embarrassed myself before the General more times than I can count. You go first—pierced the same way I pierced your parents!"
From Raxis's claws sprang the same bolt that had destroyed Yuu's family years ago. Now it came for him.
He didn't close his eyes—he wanted to see what death looked like.
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
"Idiot! Accept me now or it's your end!" the Darkness screamed.
"There's always another way, Yuu," the girl said through the flames.
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
The figure who appeared in front of him—and took the full force of the lightning—was his best friend, Keiji.
"What?!" Raxis exclaimed, stunned.
"Looks like your ability didn't work on me," Keiji said calmly.
He turned toward Yuu.
"Keiji, what did you do…?" Yuu cried, tears spilling down his cheeks.
"Even if you lost your parents, you can't keep clinging to the past forever. You have to move forward. Now we're your family—and it's a family's duty to protect each other."
Just before he collapsed, Keiji reached out and touched Yuu's arm. Instantly, the paralysis lifted.
Yuu fell to his knees and gently laid Keiji on the ground, closing his friend's eyes.
Raxis stood there, stunned. "I didn't know your friend was an electric Esper. Tch…"
Yuu, his eyes still locked on Keiji, slowly rose to his feet. His voice came low and steady.
"Keiji was right," he said. "I can't keep living in the past… But you destroyed my old family—and now you're trying to destroy the new one.I'll never forgive you!"
Without hesitation, Yuu inhaled the flames burning from the tower's edge. In seconds, his strength returned.
Raxis fired a bolt of lightning, but Yuu moved faster—dodging it with ease.
"A positive emotion," he whispered to himself. "A positive emotion... This time I won't let you down, Shinya!"
His body burst into flames—and then, the fire cleared.
Raxis shielded his eyes.
When the flames vanished, Yuu stood tall, his body clad in glowing red scales.But these weren't ordinary scales—they were unmistakably dragon scales.
In his hand, he held a long, golden sword. He drove it into the ground.
"I don't need this," he said firmly.
Raxis lost it. "You dare underestimate me, boy?!"
The tiger lunged at him, jaws wide—but Yuu didn't move.
As the beast closed in, Yuu's right hand ignited with blazing fire. In a single motion, he struck forward—piercing straight through the tiger's chest, destroying the lightning rod embedded in its back.
Raxis fell to the ground, spitting blood and begging for mercy. "Please… stop."
Yuu didn't listen. He grabbed the tiger's paw and hurled it into the air, then shouted, "Flame of Purgatory!"
From his body erupted a torrent of red flames so fierce that Raxis could barely scream. When the fire finally died down, Yuu collapsed to the ground, utterly spent.
The clouds in the sky cleared, and the wind carried away the ashes of the man who had been Governor of Harthland.
"Mom, Dad… the one who killed you is gone. You can rest now."
"You too, boy," the Governoress of Esios said, standing before him. The paralysis had vanished the moment Raxis died.
"I came all this way to get rid of two troublemakers. One is dead—but the other never showed up."
Yuu had just achieved his Vitalis, but as Shinya had warned, he'd burned through every last bit of strength and couldn't even stand.
"Even if that transformation makes you look like an interesting toy, I won't take chances. I'll deal with you and your friend now, then I'll hunt Kyorano," Kana said with a cold laugh.
Then she froze.
The figure who had just reached the top of the tower stopped her in her tracks. "Why don't you get rid of Kyorano now, while you have the chance?" said the head of the Libertas, cigar clenched in his mouth.
Yuu smiled.
Kana turned—but what she saw didn't please her in the slightest. Not only had Kyorano arrived, but Hitoshi, Mercure, and Lucas stood at his side as well.
The Governoress froze, then screamed in rage. "Damn you! So that was your plan all along—send this brat to the slaughter, have him take out that useless Raxis, and then stroll in at the end without lifting a finger!"
"You're wrong," Kyorano replied coolly. "I didn't order that hot-headed kid to do anything. He acted on his own. Up until a few minutes ago, he wasn't even part of Libertas. But as of this moment, I've decided—he stays with us until we win this war. Or until we drop dead, haha!"
Kana took a step back.
"But you did want to fight me, didn't you?" Kyorano continued, drawing his sword—a gray blade as dull and heavy as a storm cloud. "After you, Madame. Ladies first."
"Tsk. We'll meet again, Kyorano. The day will come when I get to admire your corpse… even if it's not today."
Kana summoned a golden scepter with a violet crystal at the tip. The gem flashed—and in the blink of an eye, she vanished.
"What did she do?" Yuu asked, surprised. He thought they had her cornered.
"Damn witch. She's one of those psychic types… like my scatterbrained daughter," Kyorano muttered.
"Seems like it," Hitoshi said, nodding. "Teleportation. Shinya can't do it, but if this Governoress can use it, that means she's definitely on another level. She's not to be underestimated."
"Okay, but when you said I'm part of Libertas again—"
Mercure cut him off, grinning. "Exactly. The moment we got Shinya's message, Hitoshi insisted we come back you guys up. Like Kyorano said, we couldn't leave that hot-headed brat all on his own, haha."
"And not to mention," Lucas added, "now that Raxis and the Lightstorm have been defeated, Harthland is free. There's no way we could leave you out—especially now that we've named your group the official Libertas vanguard team for Harthland."
"So… the others… they made it?" Yuu asked, eyes wide. "They defeated the Lightstorm? Are they okay?"
"Relax, kid. They're all fine," Kyorano replied with a smirk.
"And Shinya? She stayed behind to fight a dozen of Espers by herself…"
"We found the bodies of all the enemies—lined up neatly at the palace gates. And there she was... smoking on top of them," Kyorano said, shaking his head in disbelief.
Yuu let out a breath. Relief washed over him. All his friends were safe. Harthland was finally free. But deep down, he knew…
This war was far from over...
...has only just begun!