POV: Rai Shinsei
~ Minutes prior ~
In a daze, I stared lifelessly into the sky until the unpleasant screams of Aria brought me to my senses, prompting me to slowly rise into a sitting position as I began to watch Wrath, who was tormenting Aria as I assessed our dire situation.
Arthur is fatigued from fighting nearly every member of the Seven Sins.
Sarah is unconscious along with Everett, who is either dead or on the verge of death and as for Aria, she's fighting for her life while I'm watching helplessly from afar.
Wrath then raised Aria into the air as gravity began to swell around his fist, the air itself filled with his palpable bloodlust as Wrath truly intended to kill Aria.
If I would have used my Aspect from the start, I could have prevented all of this and yet, the past is still haunting me.
"Rai, it's not your fault. You saved everyone here. Your power is a blessing, not a curse. Do you remember our promise?"
As Iris' words echoed inside my mind, I picked myself up from the ground and closed my eyes, taking a moment to clear my mind from all of my worries as the soothing cool breeze of the forest brushed across my injuries, an odd, yet confronting sensation that aided in easing my mind.
"Now make it into a reality so a tragedy such as this one will never arise again."
I placed myself before you all and because of my selfishness, you all had to suffer.
This is my fault, so I'll make sure you all make it out of here alive.
You have myword.
With a deep breath, I activated my Aspect and released my Aspectual Force as my heart raced with a nostalgic sense of exhilaration, directing Wrath's attention towards me as in the moment he averted his eyes from Aria, I appeared before him with a graceful step and flicked my fist into his chin with a sharp, fluid motion, knocking him unconscious for a split second as I rescued Aria from his grasp while the sheer momentum of my speed carried me forward across the ground.
My power is overflowing right now.
"Rai…?" Aria uttered with a soft, confused tone as I matched my gaze with her own, whose once coruscating eyes was now replaced with dread as her nose was fairly battered along with several bruises across her cheeks, provoking a guilty sensation within me as clenched my jaw in frustration at my own incompetence.
"Everything is going to be all right now. I'm going to end this fight so we can all go home." I said with a soft smile of reassurance as I gently placed her onto the ground before facing Wrath, who rubbed his chin with an ecstatic grin as I sharpened my gaze.
"You're alive!" Wrath shouted exuberantly as he planted his feet into the ground below, eager to rush towards me, but his grin was short lived as I suddenly appeared in front of him and smashed my fist into his abdomen, sending him flying backwards into a thicket of trees as he spewed out saliva in the midst.
As I flexed my hand, I picked up my sword from within the ground and placed it back inside its scabbard before shifting my focus towards Pride, who glared at me with a scowl.
"Your actions don't make any sense. Why would you hide your power when your lives are at stake?" Pride asked.
"Because I didn't think it was necessary to defeat you all." I replied nonchalantly as Pride activated his Aspect, releasing his Aspectual Force as it was seamlessly conquered by my own while he rushed towards me with a furious expression.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" Pride bellowed, enraged as he tried to land several punches into my face, however, I swiftly weaved through every punch as I slipped under his arm and landed a sharp uppercut into his chin, knocking him unconscious for a split-second as I followed up with a spinning back kick into his chest, sending him tumbling backwards across the ground.
As I began walking towards Pride, a veil of gravity suddenly enveloped me as I was forced to kneel onto the ground, shifiting my eyes towards Wrath, who was emerging from within the forest with a satisfied grin.
"Raw strength that rivals my own and blue lightning that blesses you with the grace of speed. The only explanation for your bizarre existence is that you have the blood of a noble running through your veins, am I right?" Wrath asked, striding towards me with confidence, despite his body being marred with slashes as I remained still within the veil of gravity, waiting to take advantage of Wrath's arrogance as he approached me.
"That's none of your concern." I replied indifferently as I forced myself to stand and with a sharp, yet acrobatic motion, I landed a high kick into Wrath's jaw, disorienting his senses as I spun my body, pivoting on my heel as I jumped into the air and tried to land a spinning hook kick into his chin, but despite the disconcerting sensation of his brain rattling against his skull, Wrath was able to block my attack with his guard as the impact sent him sliding backwards across the ground with his eyes widened in surprise.
"You're able to move within my gravity?" Wrath asked, astonished from my feat as he tried to recover his balance, but I didn't give him a chance to retaliate as I closed the distance between within a step and landed a left hook into his liver, seizing his breath as he buckled over while I followed up with a devastating ax kick into the back of his head, sending him crashing face-first into the earth below as the impact buried his head within the rubble.
"It was a given since you're weaker than me." I replied as I felt an oppressing wave of bloodlust directed towards me, shifting my focus towards Pride, who clenched his jaw in exasperation as I glanced at his chin, noticing it wasn't bruised anymore.
Where did his injury go-
In a near instant, Pride suddenly appeared in front of me as his legs bursted apart from within, his blood splattering across the ground as his sudden injury disrupted my focus, leaving my face vulnerable as I was unable to raise my guard in time.
Taking advantage of my lack of focus, Pride smashed his fist into my jaw as the impact sent me sliding backwards across the ground until I regained my footing, wiping off the blood trickling from my mouth as I narrowed my eyes in confusion from the state of Pride's legs, which were fully healed as if they never bursted apart to begin with.
So that's it.
As I deduced his Aspect, I felt a grin of elation creep onto my face as my senses sharpened to a considerable degree, refusing to raise my guard in an attempt to provoke Pride.
"Try that again." I said as I taunted Pride, who was seething with rage as several veins formed across his forehead until Wrath emerged from the distant forest, wiping off the blood dripping from his nose as he approached Pride and placed his hand on his shoulder.
"I'll take it from here." Wrath said with an amused grin as Pride clicked in tongue in annoyance, deactivating his Aspect as he walked towards a dead log into the distance and seated himself.
There was a moment of silence as Wrath approached me until he stood no further than a meter apart from me, our eyes locking with one another as the air began to distort around us.
"Alright, let's continue where we left off-"
Abrupting his sentence, I initiated the first move with an immediate dash as I tried to land a one-inch punch into his solar plexus, but before I could even approach him, Wrath repelled me away with a force of gravity, sending me flying backwards as he sprinted towards me, underestimating his sudden shift in speed as he chased me down within a second and grabbed my face with the palm of his hand.
"I've always wondered what's stronger…" Wrath said as he slammed the back of my head into the ground, shattering the earth beneath me as he tried to smash his fist into my face, however, his fist struck the earth as I dodged his strike with a back roll, picking myself up from the ground in the midst as I tried to regain my footing, but to my surprise, Wrath used his Aspect to pull me towards him as I clicked my tongue in annoyance.
As I gravitated towards him, I stomped my foot into the ground in an attempt to resist the gravitational pull, but my efforts were in vain as I continued sliding towards him while he dashed towards me with gravity swelling around his fist.
"Gravity or lightning?" Wrath asked with a grin full of spirit as he smashed his empowered fist into my abdomen, causing me to cough up blood from his gravity rupturing my organs as he followed up with a sharp uppercut into my chin, nearly knocking me unconscious as my senses were disoriented beyond control and yet, I gritted my teeth and endured as I tried to land a sharp right hook into his jaw, but despite my best efforts, Wrath slipped under my arm and placed his hand onto my chest, repelling me away with a force of gravity as the impact sent me sliding backwards across the ground with blood trickling from my mouth.
This guy…
"Let's find out through a dance of death!" Wrath added, his grin widening as he dashed towards me while I planted my back foot into the ground and with a single step, I appeared in front of him with a strong left hook into his ribcage as he buckled over from the impact, wincing in pain as I then grabbed his head and tried to smash my knee into his face, however, Wrath caught my knee with his hand as he swept my hands away from his head with his arm and counter-attacked by ramming his shoulder into my chest, causing me to stagger backwards as Wrath raised his hand towards me and repelled me away with a force of gravity once more, sending me sliding backwards across the ground until I planted my feet firmly into the ground as I matched his gaze with my own.
He's stronger than I anticipated.
With a deep breath, I dashed towards him with the aim to regain my tempo, but as I approached him, I felt a spine-chilling sensation as Wrath's eyes sharpened.
"Do you think this is a game?" Wrath asked with an unusually calm tone as he flexed his hand, but I chose to ignore his vague question as I planted my foot into the ground, leaping towards him with a spinning triple high kick towards his head, however, Wrath slipped under my leg and grabbed my neck, clenching it with considerable strength as my face flushed red with blood, unable to breathe as I gritted my teeth and glared directly into Wrath's eyes.
Through desperation and quick-witted thinking, I smashed my fist into his wrist, breaking free from his grasp as I landed onto the ground and tried to land a spinning back kick into his abdomen, but to my dismay, Wrath parried my leg away, stepping forward in the midst as he countered with a brutal right hook into my jaw, sending me crashing into the ground below as I was left in a daze with the throbbing sensation of pain aching within my jaw.
As I was buried in the rubble of the ground, Wrath tried to stomp my head further into the earth as dodged his foot by rolling sideways, picking myself up from the ground in the midst, but to my surprise, Wrath was nowhere to be found until I turned around and was met with a violent back kick into my abdomen, nearly piercing through my abdomen as I spewed out blood, staggering backwards as I clutched my abdomen while Wrath clenched his fist and smashed it into my head with an overhead punch, sending me crashing face-first into the ground below.
Seconds passed until Wrath used his Aspect to pull me towards him as he grabbed the bangs of my hair and held me in the air, gazing into my eyes with digust as he clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"I've spared your life and yet, you have the audacity to hold back against me?!" Wrath berated with a scowl as he released his grasp from my neck and smashed his fist into my abdomen with an uppercut, causing me to wince in pain as he began brutalizing me with a variety of crude attacks until I parried his arm away and countered with a sharp palm strike into his chin, nearly knocking him unconscious as he stumbled sideways while I tried to follow up with a spinning high kick into his jaw, but despite my retaliation, Wrath didn't budge an inch as my foot rested against his jaw, arising an unnerving sensation within as cold sweat beaded across my forehead.
I underestimated him.
My will to fight began to waver from doubt as I quickly tried to space myself away from him, but despite my superior speed, Wrath used his Aspect to suppress my mobility as he dashed towards me with gravity swelling around his fist.
"Rai."
"ARE YOU JUST LIKE THE REST OF THEM?!" Wrath asked, yelling with his jaw clenched in exasperation as he tried to smash his fist into my chest, however, I barely managed to block his attack with my guard, leaving an irritable numbing sensation coursing through my forearms as I skidded across the forest with my brain in overdrive to find a sliver of hope in victory.
"Why are you holding back?"
"ARE YOU JUST ANOTHER COWARD?!" Wrath questioned persistently, infuriated with my actions as I tried to regain my balance, but Wrath refused to give me the luxury of doing so as he rushed towards me and began thrashing his fist into my guard, forcing me on the defensive as each strike pushed me backwards until I eventually ended up against a tree.
"You have the power to win and yet, you refuse to move on."
"If so, then perish." Wrath added, discontented with our fight as he broke through my guard with a decisive strike and placed his hand onto my chest.
"Let go of the past, Rai."
"Distortion." Wrath uttered as he blasted a destructive force of gravity through my chest, causing me to spew out blood as the impact sent me tumbling through a thicket of trees until I landed on my back, staring into the cloudy sky as I bathed in the morning dew of the cool forest ground while my consciousness nearly slipped away from me.
I'm sorry, Iris.
You lost your life because of my own weakness and for that, I will never be able to forgive myself.
After your death, I couldn't bring myself to ever use my Aspectagain and as time passed, deep down, I hoped that eventually it would be enough to atone for the misery I caused for you, but eventually I came to a cruel realization that I struggled to accept.
You'll never be able to come back.
I truly hate myself for being unable to protect the ones I cherish the most and after your death, I wanted nothing more than to distance myself away from everyone for their own sake, but everything changed when I enrolled into a hero academy, where my fate aligned with those who were truly kind souls.
I knew that my bond with them would eventually deepen and that's what terrified me.
I've already lost you, Iris and I didn't want to lose anyone else, therefore, by hiding my own Aspect, I thought I could atone for my sins and hide within the shadows without having the burden of their lives riding on my shoulders, but in the end, I was just a selfish coward who avoided responsibility.
Never again.
I may have failed you Iris, but I won't fail them.
On the day you died before me, I swore to myself that I will never make the same mistake again.
NEVER AGAIN!