Shun Yin glared at Ying Bu Si as he asked coldly. Even though his eyes had been fried, the Umbra a.s.sa.s.sin smiled as he glanced up with an eyeless expression in the high school student's direction.

"What's this? You don't sound surprised at all. And for you to figure it out…you must know Miss Angelica very well. You must be very close to her…is Angelica perhaps your lover?"

"Don't even joke like that." Shun Yin tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword. "I haven't seen her in almost ten years. How is it possible for her to be my lover?"

"Really? But I can still feel some lingering desire in you." Ying Bu Si's grin grew wider. "Hmm, so you wish to take Miss Angelica back from the Porter clan using magic that you weren't capable of casting when you were a child."

"Wrong."

"Gah!"

Ying Bu Si cried out in pain as Shun Yin stabbed him deeper, twisting his sword maliciously as if he had forgotten his heroic values. Despite the agony and a bead of perspiration running down his cheek, Ying Bu Si maintained his smile.

"Really? Miss Angelica says that she still loves you, you know." He chuckled ominously. "Deep within herself, she continues to wholeheartedly harbor a desire to see you. That's the only reason why she sold out her own family just so she could obtain more power."

"Isn't it because she hates her own family?" Shun Yin responded dispa.s.sionately as he glared at Ying Bu Si. "And because we need to have this obligatory cliché twist of main heroine being the villain?"

"Now, now. Don't be dense. Even now, Angelica is eager to embrace you, you know?" Ying Bu Si reached out with a hand. "Sir Shun Yin…please follow me to where Miss Angelica is."

An explosion resounded some distance away from the two of them, clearing some segments of the fog. Mages in uniform were das.h.i.+ng through the fog, their weapons drawn and spells cast, and attacking the a.s.sa.s.sins aggressively.

"The Federation military is here!" one of the surviving students yelled in relief and delight.

"They'll save us!" another student agreed as he clutched his arm, still standing with his sword drawn as he fought off a black-robed a.s.sa.s.sin. "We just need to hold out for a few more seconds!"

"Oh dear." Despite the desperate situation, Ying Bu Si didn't look too dismayed. "It appears that we've run out of time."

Shun Yin merely regarded him callously, his sword still stabbing into the Umbra a.s.sa.s.sin's shoulder. Ying Bu Si smiled in a friendly manner as he tried to look up at him, even without his eyes. Shun Yin noticed the dark shadows creeping out of the man's ruined sockets and trying to restore his sight and eyeb.a.l.l.s.

"If you could please withdraw your sword, then we can begin to bring you for a reunion with Miss Angelica."

Shun Yin slowly pulled his sword out inch by inch before suddenly stabbing the flinching Ying Bu Si furiously, causing him to grunt in pain.

"Ugh!"

"I refuse." He glared at Ying Bu Si. "Instead, I want you to spill everything you know regarding your client and their plans. What is Angelica intending to do, joining up with them? What are they researching on?"

"Sorry to disappoint you." Ying Bu Si was breathing heavily. "But no matter how much you torture me, I won't tell you anything."

"Then die," Shun Yin replied callously as he cast his spell.

"Wait!" Ying Bu Si called out. He wasn't exactly panicking, but he did realize how close he was to death. "If you kill me, then you and Miss Angelica will never…"

"Who cares?" Shun Yin responded nonchalantly. "It's fine if we don't see each other again. It's not as if I grew stronger just to meet her…"

"That's such a cold thing to say."

Shun Yin s.h.i.+vered when he heard a feminine voice in his ear. He yanked his sword out of Ying Bu Si and jumped as far back as he could on reflex, raising his sword defensively.

And not a moment too soon.

A girl descended upon him, swinging her sword and forcing him to parry her blade. There was a thunderous clang as metal ground against metal. Gritting his teeth, Shun Yin raised his head to glare at his opponent.

"Angelica."

"Oh?" Angelica looked a little taken aback for a moment, but she then smiled. "No longer using any honorifics, are you?"

"There's no point pretending to be respectful and polite to someone who betrayed the Porter clan, is there?" Shun Yin responded dryly.

"That's true." Angelica nodded as she increased the pressure of her sword. Shun Yin grunted as his knees buckled and the ground shattered beneath his feet from the tremendous impact. Angelica smiled. "Impressive. There are very few people capable of stopping my sword."

"Kuh…"

As he dropped to his knees, struggling to withstand Angelica's blade, Shun Yin gasped. Studying his opponent, who was effortlessly pinning him down despite him hurriedly casting several physical reinforcement spells in succession, he wobbled.

Is this strength even human?!

"Don't disappoint me now, Shun Yin." Angelica was giggling. "I know your true strength isn't limited to this much."

Shun Yin narrowed his eyes, and the knocked her back determinedly. He retreated in a single bound, maximizing the distance between them.

However, Angelica effortlessly kicked off the ground and closed in, swinging her sword and bombarding him with a relentless hail of swings that nearly tore his arms off their sockets. His sword vibrating violently, Shun Yin was forced to yield ground and retreat.

He ground his teeth and began casting a fire spell. Flames crackled in his hand as he prepared to launch a fireball at her.

"Heh! A spell, huh?" Angelica continued to giggle joyfully. "So you're admitting that you won't be able to best me in a sword duel?"

Shun Yin responded by flinging a fireball into her face. Angelica merely cleaved the relatively tiny projectile apart with her sword.

"What did you think you were going to achieve with such a pathetic spell?"

However the moment the fire dissipated, a single blade thrust through the flickering flames and stopped right before her throat.

"Ah…"

Her eyes wide, Angelica froze. She stared at Shun Yin in disbelief, realizing that the fireball had been a feint.

Shun Yin met her gaze evenly, waiting for her move. Angelica smiled as she gazed down at the sword at her throat.

"Amazing. You really have gotten so much stronger...haven't you, Shun Yin?"

She playfully placed a hand on her chest and smiled flirtatiously.

"Perhaps…you grew stronger for my sake?"

"You wish." Shun Yin lowered his sword when he realized that Angelica no longer had the intention to fight. She knew as well as he did that he could have killed her in that strike, and that she had lost the match.

"I see." Angelica squeezed her chest somewhat wistfully, but she maintained that coy smile on her beautiful face. The expression, Shun Yin noticed, didn't reach her eyes. "But I got stronger just to be with you, you know?"

"That's no reason to join up with the a.s.sa.s.sins Guild and start slaughtering innocent students in Vermillion High to spark a war."

"Don't be naïve, Shun Yin. You know as well as I do that these students aren't innocent. Haven't you seen the kind of person Charles is? He's not the only one in this school, you know. The majority of the so-called n.o.ble students here are just as rotten to the core and arrogant as he is, thinking they can trample people like you…refusing to recognize your talent. All because you're from a commoner family. Don't you think they deserve death?"

Even as she stood amidst the fog, the two of them could hear screams of death and pain continuing to echo throughout the darkness.

"Argh!"

"NOOO!"

Angelica chuckled ominously and clasped her sword arm with her other hand.

"This power…one can get drunk upon it, you know? Isn't it the same for you, Shun Yin? Don't you enjoy this power coursing through your body?"

"…power? What are you talking about?" Shun Yin stared at her, completely bewildered.

"If I succeed in mastering this power, we can be together forever. Bound together by bonds stronger than that between me and my accursed family."

"What is this power you're talking about?" Shun Yin demanded, still not comprehending.

"So that's why…I'll surpa.s.s all other mages…all other humans!"

Angelica cackled as she raised her sword up high. Then she swung it down, unleas.h.i.+ng an enormous inferno in an instant, cremating a good section of the school courtyard. Shun Yin s.h.i.+elded his face and jumped to the side to avoid the spell, but Angelica had never been aiming for him in the first place.

Falling onto his rump, he glanced at the scorched crater and molten earth, dazed from the enormity of the spell.

"That was…?" he murmured to himself, his eyes wide and perspiration pouring down his face. He then glanced at Angelica. She cast such a powerful spell in an instant?! How is that possible?!

"Surprised?" Angelica asked mischievously. She then brought her sword up to admire it. "This is a spirit weapon."

"…spirit weapon?" Shun Yin repeated, dumbfounded.

"Ah, yes. That's correct. You should be aware of the existence of spirits, right? After all…you were flirting with that Seinagi Tens.h.i.+ and her research team this entire time. They were so close to summoning spirits to our world…but because they exist in another dimension, they can't properly manifest in our dimension. So…I thought, why not have these spirits 'possess' weapons and sacred artifacts?"

"There's a spirit…dwelling within your sword?" Shun Yin asked skeptically. That was way beyond what Tens.h.i.+ and her team had researched on. And how did Angelica know about it? No, of course she would. She was the heiress and the future leader of the Porter clan. She would be able to know everything that her family was doing.

Even her uncle.

"Exactly. It cost us a lot of resources and lives, but we eventually implemented a working system for sealing the spirits into the weapons and making them safe enough to use. It's still not finished yet, but I'm confident of completing the technology very soon."

"You…sacrificed people's lives for that experiment?" Shun Yin repeated incredulously, a chill running down his spine.

Angelica looked at him disappointedly, even as he slowly rose to his feet. She lowered her sword and shook her head.

"You've also sacrificed a lot in order to become this strong, haven't you? Shun Yin."

"It's not the same thing!" Shun Yin snapped. "All I did was put in a lot of effort and invested a lot of time! I never hurt anyone! I never sacrificed anyone else in order to obtain my strength…"

"Ah, what about your master at the Miyamoto dojo? Didn't he spend a lot of time and effort raising you to be the swordsman you are today?"

"That's…" Shun Yin clenched his fists. "That's different! He's my master…he taught me…"

"And you don't deem that a sacrifice?"

"There's a difference between sacrificing other people's lives for an experiment, and sacrificing your time and energy teaching others! I wouldn't think twice about training and teaching someone how to fight!"

"No. I don't suppose you would. You probably wouldn't see that as a sacrifice of your own time and effort." Angelica lowered her head slightly and smiled cynically. "Whatever the case, it's no use arguing over this. But I'm sure you know as well as I do that without power, you will never be able to protect anyone."

Shun Yin didn't refute that.

"We won't be able to protect the people we love. And thus…we seek power. I seek power. You also seek power."

"You call this protecting the people you love?" Shun Yin growled, gesturing toward the blood and carnage around them. "How in the world is this…?"

"Hey, Shun Yin."

Angelica cut him off and extended a hand toward him.

"Won't you come with me? I can give you power too." She smiled temptingly as she reached out with her hand. "I need your a.s.sistance to complete this research…I need your help in order to obtain more power. And I'm sure you also need more strength…to achieve whatever goals you have in mind. Even if that goal doesn't involve me…"

Then she suddenly faltered and swayed on her feet. Shun Yin was moving before he knew it, reaching out to grab hold of her, but she withdrew as she clutched her chest.

"Sorry, Shun Yin. Right now, I…"

"What…?"

Angelica looked up at him, her face red and tears streaming from her eyes as she stared desperately at him.

"I'm already…possessed by the spirit."

"Angelica!" Shun Yin was still puzzled, but he knew that whatever was happening, it was bad. He anxiously reached out to her. "What are you talking about? What do you mean, you're possessed by the spirit?"

"I failed the experiment. In order to house the spirit, I used myself as a guinea pig. And this is the result."

Crimson fire began burning and etching themselves across her snow-white flesh, forming what seemed like tattoos.

"I don't know how much longer I have left…"

Flames began burning uncontrollably around her sword, and wings of fire began unfolding behind Angelica's back.

"Oi! What is…?"

"I want more power…more power…to burn the world…!"

However, before Angelica could swing her sword and unleash fire, dark shadows curled out and seized her, restraining her.

"That's enough, Miss Angelica." Fully healed and standing up straight, with no sign of the injuries that both Shun Yin and Glen inflicted upon him earlier, Ying Bu Si approached the crimson-haired girl. "You'll lose control if you continue using that weapon."

"Y…yeah, you're right."

"What the h.e.l.l did you do to Angelica?!" Shun Yin demanded as he charged forward, but Ying Bu Si gestured for him to stay back.

"I didn't do anything. The a.s.sa.s.sins Guild didn't do anything to her. This is between Miss Angelica and our client…though she's probably part of our clients' organization for now. Still, there is a way if you really want to know."

Ying Bu Si smiled, his eyes gazing upon Shun Yin darkly.

"You should just join the a.s.sa.s.sins Guild."

"I asked you what you did to Angelica!" Shun Yin yelled as he leaped forward to slash Ying Bu Si. However, Angelica parried his sword with her own. In front of his stunned eyes, she cut his sword, sending half the length of his blade flying off and stabbing into the ground. In a single graceful move, she pointed the tip of her sword at his throat, and stopped there.

"Now we're even." Angelica smiled. "In return for not killing me earlier, I won't kill you now."

"You…" Shun Yin gritted her teeth, but Angelica ignored him. Instead, she stepped forward and embraced him.

"Hey, Shun Yin. I love you."

Refusing to let go of him, she clung to him tightly. For a moment, Shun Yin couldn't hear or feel anything except their heartbeats resonating, especially as she pressed her chest to his and leaned her head on his shoulder.

For a fleeting moment, Shun Yin was reminded of the past.

"I'll ask you one more time, Shun Yin. Won't you come with me?"

"I won't." Shun Yin's reply was straightforward and immediate.

"Even if you can obtain more power?"

"Not interested."

Angelica narrowed her eyes disappointedly, even as she continued to rest her head on his shoulder. She then pushed herself away.

"Ha ha ha…I wonder if you hate me or something."

Shun Yin watched as she ran a hand through her crimson hair, and then shook his head and softened his tone.

"The power I aim for and the strength that you desire are simply different."

"Ha ha…" Angelica kicked a pebble away, trying to hide her frustration. "I wonder when our paths began to diverge."

"Perhaps we were never walking on the same path to begin with."

"Maybe. But I think it's safe to tell you this." Angelica leaned closer, her voice in a conspiratorial whisper. "The organization I joined…they plan to destroy the world. They have some religious beliefs or whatever…claiming that humans are a blight on the world, and it's better to give the Earth over to the monsters. I can't say I agree with them totally…but I do want to help them create an environment where only the strongest can survive."

"…what?" Still holding onto his broken sword, Shun Yin scratched his head in bemus.e.m.e.nt.

"You'll get your chance to become a hero…an ally of justice. But in order to become one…you will surely come to me. At that time, you will definitely desire me." She spun away, but turned her head slightly to keep her emerald eyes on him. "So we'll meet again."

"Angelica, what are you…?"

Before Shun Yin could finish his question, Angelica hopped backward. She smiled brightly, and almost innocently.

"I love you, Shun Yin."

And then, just like that, she was gone. Disappearing into the fog and beyond his sight.

"Finally…I didn't think she would let you go just like that." Ying Bu Si sighed in exasperation. Shun Yin turned to glare at him, but he merely smiled. "Don't worry…you'll eventually want to join us. I'll keep in touch. Hopefully you'll change your mind the next time we meet."

"f.u.c.k you…"

"I'll be going now!"

Before Shun Yin could burn the b.a.s.t.a.r.d alive, Ying Bu Si vanished in a manner similar to Angelica. And just like that he was left alone in the fog.

"d.a.m.n it!" Shun Yin cursed as he dropped to the ground, discarding his broken sword and slamming his fist against the broken concrete. "d.a.m.n IT!"