Editing City Series:Volume4b Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 6===

'''7:58 PM

It was the fire.

The flames filling Takada stopped him from moving.

Someone was burning. He had to save her.

But his feet would not move forward.

He realized his face and body were stiff with tension.

An emotion that controlled his body more than his mind had frozen him and it refused to go away.

His legs, his body, and his arms did something other than move forward.

They trembled.

His body was ruled by a bone-rattling exhaustion and chill and a sharp pain stabbed into his forehead.

The sword wound he had received two years before filled his head with a powerful phantom pain.

This chilly emotion brought back his memories of the past and sent a tremor through his body.

That emotion was known as fear.

But…

…''How strange.

The fear permeating his body now was not of the unknown. It was a pure fear that did not even include any curiosity.

…''I’ve never seen the Flame High’s fire before, so why!?

That rational part of his mind was shattered by a cry of instinct.

–''Shoui – Mind Tech – Auto-Take – Restraint – Miss!

“Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!”

He heard a scream escape his own mouth.

It was an unpleasant voice. It was a loud, ear-splitting voice that seemed to squeeze all the air from his lungs.

He tried to stop it but could not.

He wailed.

A voice answered his cry.

“Takada!”

It was Hisahide.

As Shoui motionlessly screamed, Hisahide called Takada’s name and supported her body.

When he held her upper body from behind, her waist and below fell to the floor.

The Flame High strike had bisected her torso.

Both her clothing and her entire body were enveloped in flames and burning.

Shoui saw her detached lower body turn to ashes on the floor.

Her stole gradually turned to ashes and scattered into the air, starting from the bottom. On her shoulder, Taromaru grew entirely white and vanished into a wisp of ash.

The Dog God on Shoui’s shoulder gave a small cry.

It was a long, drawn-out, and metallic animal cry.

Taeko ran over from behind Hisahide.

“A-are ya all right!?”

But Hisahide ignored her and tried to turn Takada to face him in his arms.

It was too late.

In that instant, Takada turned to ashes inside his weak grasp.

She Ashed.

“…”

Everyone remained motionless as white sand-like ashes spilled to the floor.

Hisahide clawed at the air as if to prevent the ashes from reaching the floor.

It was a pointless action.

What had been Takada spread out across the floor.

Hisahide fell to his knees amid the white ashes.

He spread out his arms and scraped the ashes together in front of him.

His hands moved a second and third time before stopping.

He hung his head, so Shoui could not see his face.

Hisahide simply clenched his fists to squeeze together the ashes he had gathered in his hands.

“Oh.”

A quiet voice escaped his mouth.

“Ohh…”

It continued.

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

He roared.

He sprang to his feet.

–''Shoui – Mind Tech – Auto-Tech – Detect Killer Intent – Hit!

Hisahide ran through the train and struck Shoui with a presence that had nearly physical intensity.

He roared.

He looked up to the ceiling and raised his voice. The monotone voice seemed unlike a cry of sorrow, a roar of motivation, or a howl of anger, and yet like all of them at once.

The simple voice grew louder and louder.

As it did, shimmering heat and a white light surrounded him.

“————!”

The voice stopped.

Nakamura Hisahide looked to Shoui.

Nakamura was not crying.

He was not smiling and there was no anger in his eyes. He looked to Shoui with an expressionless face.

It was the look of a Killing Holder.

He then continued forward.

He took one step.

Shoui was still on the ground and he took a step back while facing the other boy.

His back ran into Yuuki’s legs.

She did not retreat. Ether light filled Housei as it rested on Shoui’s shoulder.

At the same time, Nakamura continued wordlessly forward.

Every action was controlled by the name Killing Holder.

Before Nakamura could launch his fiery kick, Yuuki’s spell activated.

A giant icicle appeared above his head.

“!”

The icicle stabbed straight through the train in between Shoui and Yuuki’s position and Taeko and Hisahide’s position.

The metal screamed as the train was torn in two.