Tenmei takes control of Agami’s armament and opens the vent on his arm. He turns it toward the oncoming enemies. A large stream bursts forth, but it isn’t like before; this time, Agami can feel heat emanating from it. The people scream as the stream incinerates them.

  “TENMEI STOP!” Agami begs. He drops his weapon and tries to move his arm away, but is unable to. The stream flickers for a moment as Agami tries to retake control of the armament, but it doesn’t respond.

  A few seconds later, the stream dies down, and all that is left are charred bodies. Agami falls to his knees and stares at the floor. The mix of ash and steam creates a sickening smell. A sharp, needle-like pain cuts through Agami’s body, and he refuses to look at the remains.

  “I am sorry, Agami. It was them or us, and I had to step in. We need to press forward,” Tenmei says.

  Agami doesn’t respond. His mind returns to the casino floor. The corpses haunt him.

  “Agami!” Tenmei shouts. There is no response.

  Agami slowly stands up; the hollow feeling returns to him. “My word doesn’t matter anymore.” He picks up the Sharpshooter and steps forward. His mind is blank.

  He sees Sora standing beside Baltro. While Agami was dealing with the people, Sora fought Baltro again. The monster lies defeated, its legs destroyed, and its body badly damaged.

  “Fortunately for us, Sora was here to defeat Baltro. We can proceed with the vanquishing,” Tenmei says.

  Agami approaches the corpse. Sora flashes a bright smile at him. “Time for your moment to shine, Agami!” He raises his arm for a high five, but Agami doesn’t move. The smile slowly fades from Sora. “Are you alright?”

  Agami doesn’t answer his question and simply says, “Tenmei, get it over and done with.”

  “Place your hand on him, Agami,” Tenmei instructs.

  Without question, he places his right arm on Baltro’s head. The armament begins to glow intensely as light travels from Baltro into his right arm. Baltro begins writhing and screaming in pain. New legs burst out of his body, and he tries to run, but before he can move, Sora grabs him.

  While Baltro screams in agony and tries to run away, Sora says, “Don’t think you can get away so easily.”

  Agami focuses on keeping the armament on Baltro; his hand feels stronger the more energy is absorbed.

  “PLEASE. MERCY! I SWEAR, YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS!” Baltro screams in fear.

  Agami’s mind drifts away from the situation, his hand remaining firm. He doesn’t notice Baltro’s body fade away. He tries to remember Rosa and the servants, wishing he were back with them.

  He returns to reality and notices the armament slowly settling back into its previous state, the silver form fading.

  Tenmei appears from the armament and cheerfully announces, “Vanquishing successful! Good job, Agami!”

  “Let’s go!” Sora shouts in celebration. Imino jumps down from the roof and joins him.

  Agami continues to stare at the spot where Baltro’s body was. That numb feeling still haunts him.

  “I’m heading home,” Agami mutters. He turns around and looks for a couple of seconds, trying to find the Cloudy River amongst the skyscrapers. He sees the familiar balcony and walks toward it, leaving Tenmei behind.

  As he leaves the rubble, he walks past Ken, who looks battered and exhausted. “Agami! What happened to Baltro?” he asks.

  “He was vanquished,” Agami answers. He suddenly remembers Stella and what happened to her. “Ken, I–”

  “He was!” Ken says excitedly as he runs toward the rubble.

  Agami stares as Ken walks toward the rubble. “I lost Stella,” he says. He continues walking back to the Cloudy River. The only thing he wants to do now is sleep. He doesn’t care about any remaining Ascenders. As he walks toward the hotel, numerous vehicles drive past him toward the ruins. The gales and rain fade away the more he walks.

  Agami stops in front of a store he passed by earlier. It is a suit and dress store. Unfortunately, the store was caught in the chaos, with the front window smashed to bits, and the mannequins lay on the floor.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  He looks back at the destroyed hotel and at the Cloudy River. After contemplating for a few seconds, he decides to stop somewhere first.

  He looks at the destroyed Sand De Royale hotel again to orient himself before proceeding. Tenmei has not returned to his armament yet. He never explained why his armament is so special.

  So what now? Where to next? He thinks about Rosa, Erik, and the house servants. Does he even want to find them anymore?

  He reaches a barrier set up by the Orderlies to prevent civilians from entering the warzone. Worried onlookers watch the hotel from behind.

  Before Agami can cross the barrier, one of the Orderlies grabs him by the shoulder, shouting, “All civilians are not allowed past this point! Please stay behind it.” He then pushes Agami into the crowd.

  He ignores the Orderly and pushes past them. As he walks away from the crowd, a man from the medical emergency response unit quickly runs to him.

  “Sir! Are you alright? What happened to your arm?” the medic asks him.

  “My arm?” Agami realises he didn't cover the armament. “Oh, that. It's fine, it's just a– uh, prosthetic. I'm alright.”

  “Don’t be afraid, sir. We are here to help. Please, foll–”

  “I said I'm alright!” Agami snaps as he pulls himself away. “Just leave me alone.”

  The medic remains undeterred by his protests and places a hand on Agami's shoulder. “Sir, we are here to help.”

  Agami struggles to pull his arm away; the vanquishing from earlier has taken all of his energy. “Hey, let me go! I said I'm fine!”

  A woman in a red and white uniform arrives due to the commotion, above her name badge are the words ‘Lifeline Captain’.

  “My goodness, his arm! Sir, this is severe gangrene. We need to rush you to the hospital immediately!” the captain shouts.

  “Get the sedative! He is still resisting!” the captain orders as she tries to help restrain Agami.

  “HEY! STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” a voice in the crowd shouts. The captain stops as a woman exits the crowd and pushes the medics away. Agami looks up to see his saviour. It’s Stella.

  “Ma’am, you are interfering with Lifeline’s work. Please stay out–” the captain is interrupted by Stella.

  “I will stay out of nothing! What are you doing to my brother?!” Stella asks.

  Brother?

  “His arm is extremely infected, and we have to rush him to the hospital immediately to treat it. If you could assist us–”

  “Infected?! INFECTED?! Excuse you, ma’am!” Stella steps forward with her hands on her hips. “My brother was born with a serious birth defect! That ‘infection’ is a rare genetic mutation that causes scales to grow.”

  “Oh, sorry. We di–”

  “Do you know how long it took for him to finally accept and be proud of it?! Twenty years of therapy down the drain! Thanks for your help!” Stella turns to Agami. “Are you alright?”

  At a loss for words, Agami can only nod. Stella takes his hand and says, “I would take this to court, but count yourself lucky I have a heart. Unlike you! Come, Agami.” As they storm off, he looks back to see the medics look away in shame.

  Once they are far enough, Stella releases his hand and exhales loudly, saying, “I honestly thought that wasn't going to work.”

  “Thanks for the help,” Agami replies.

  “By the way, I brought you a gift.” She tosses the Sharpshooter's sheath; the loose ammo jingles as it lands on the floor.

  “Again, thanks.”

  Stella crosses her arms and stares at the destroyed hotel while Agami packs his weapon away. “Since you're here, I'm guessing the big fight is already over.”

  “Yep.” After covering the sheath, Agami zips the bag.

  Stella sighs, “What a letdown. Can't believe I missed the whole vanquishing thing.”

  Agami looks at her as he rolls down his sleeve. “There will be plenty of opportunities in the future. But more importantly, are you alright?”

  “Who, me? Oh, right, the portal thing,” Stella laughs as she scratches her head. “It just teleported me back to the hotel. Nothing scary.”

  “That's good to hear,” Agami says with a smile. “I was worried you were hurt.”

  “Sweet, but as I told you, I can take care of myself.”

  Agami pauses and turns to her. “You never told me that?”

  A surprised expression appears on Stella's face, and she places her hand on her chin. “Now that you mention it, you're right.” She grins. “Huh, weird. I always tell people that.”

  Agami picks up the Sharpshooter and slings it over his shoulder. “I have more questions, but I'll ask them when I see you back at the hotel.”

  “Oh? Are you heading somewhere?” she asks, eyebrow raised.

  “Yeah. I just need some peace and some time away from that hotel room,” Agami answers. The whole encounter with the medics and Stella somehow settled his nerves.

  “Interesting~ Can I join you?”

  Agami struggles to answer. “It's up to you.”

  “Nice!” she walks ahead of him. “Let's go then!” Suddenly, she stops in place and turns to him, nervously chuckling, “Hehe…where…are we going, exactly?”

  He rolls his eyes and walks in front of her. “You'll see.”