The ground trembled as Sorata stood, his purple destructive energy consuming his body, his destructive aura only grew stronger. A tornado of purple energy swirled around him, towering into the sky. His grin stretched wider, manic and proud.
"That was a pretty strong technique, Sōn," he said, his voice crackling with power. "Ninety billion degrees? You've really worked yourself to the bone to wield such heat. That's crazy! But sadly—" he extended his burning arms, the storm intensifying—"that's not enough to take me down!"
Sōn's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Impossible… how were you able to copy my technique after just being hit by it?!"
Sorata chuckled, shaking his head.
"I didn't copy it. I absorbed it. My destructive energy lets me take in other attacks. When you struck me with that last move, I absorbed part of it, converted it, and now I can release it exactly the same way."
Sōn's fists trembled, his mind racing.
"The exact same way… but this is a hundred times stronger than what I could ever do! How can he still be standing? I wasn't expecting him to die, but still. Could his hate for Dad really be so intense… that he's willing to burn himself to death just to keep fighting?!"
Sorata's wild grin didn't falter, even as his body continued to burn.
"Don't take it personally, kid. I'm just way stronger than you. You were just my warm-up before I fight our old man. But I'll admit…" his expression softened briefly, "I'm glad you turned out this strong. You really kept to our old promise. As your big brother, I'm proud you were raised into a good kid."
The energy storm pulled him upward, lifting him into the sky. But as he rose, Sorata felt the truth, he saw hus body burning faster "My body is burning away faster than i expected. I don't have much time. Worse yet, i don't even know where Kojin is. FUCK!".
That's when a voice whispered inside his head.
"Looks like you need some help. Don't worry… I got you covered."
Ukina.
A massive portal tore open above Sorata, sucking him inside.
"WAIT!" Sōn screamed, he tried to get up and chase after him, but his legs failed him instantly. "DONT DO THIS, SAITO! GET BACK HERE! PLEASE NO!"
Sorata didn't look back at his younger brother, the portal swallowed him whole.
Far across the wastelands, Kojin flew swiftly, his eyes focused, his heart heavy.
"I hope Sōn and the others are alright. Ukina… I'll end this once and for all!"
Without warning, a portal opened above him. Out of it came Sorata, leg wreathed in destructive energy, descending like a meteor.
"HYAAAH!"
The kick smashed into Kojin, blasting him straight through a mountain—the peak erupting into rubble and flame.
As the dust cleared, Kojin rose from the debris, his eyes locking onto the figure above.
Floating with a mountain-sized tornado of destructive energy swirling around him, Sorata smirked down at his father In the most unhinged manner.
"Hey, Dad! What's up? Since you couldn't come see me, I decided to drop by instead!"
Kojin's chest tightened.
"Saito.... It really is you. I'm the one who caused this. I turned you into the monster you are today. I'm sorry." He raised his fists, power radiating from his body. "But I'll stop you—even if it's the last thing I do!"
Sorata's grin stretched into a crazed laugh.
"Good. That's exactly what I wanted to hear."
In the city, chaos reigned with beams flying all over the place.
Runo blazed through the streets at light speed, her blade cutting down waves of shadow puppets, she was also shooting beams from her blaster at rapid fire. She ran and doged with every bit of skills she had. Each strike and beam left trails of light and explosions all over the streets. Runo spun, kept her blaster, summoned a sleek gun in replacement and began rapid-firing while dashing between the puppets.
"Hah! This is kind of fun," she muttered to herself while cutting another puppet in half. "Though honestly… I was expecting more of a challenge!"
Then the sky split open. A beam of light plummeted from above.
Runo intercepted the beam of light and spun mid-step, blade flashing. She deflected the blast, redirecting it across the city—the explosion erasing entire blocks "Damn, I hope that didn't kill anybody!", she thought to herself.
Her eyes shot upward.
Hovering above was an angelic figure: glowing white hair, bright purple wings, and a crimson magic circle floating above its head. In its eyes burned the same crimson sigils, and in its hands, twin swords of solid red energy.
Runo's lips parted in shock.
"An… angel?! Here? Veronica warned us about special threats, but this is…"
Her gaze sharpened.
"That circle… a revival mark. Which means someone resurrected it. They either gave you your memories—or forced you into control."
The angel twitched, its voice glitching, broken.
"Kill… everyone… kill every… one… Ukina's… orders!"
Runo smirked darkly.
"So, Ukina's the one who sent you. Don't worry—I'll set you free. The dead don't deserve to be chained and forced to fight someone else's battles."
She snapped her fingers. A jetpack formed across her back, roaring to life.
"Good thing I borrowed this from Deo. Otherwise, I'd never keep up with you."
Two plasma cannons materialized in her hands. With a burst from the jetpack, she rocketed upward, aiming straight at the angel.
"Alright then… let's go!"
Twin plasma beams surged forth, cutting the sky in half.
Meanwhile, Baraka was locked in a brutal brawl against three towering shadow puppets. His rock armor was cracked but unbroken, his massive hammer swinging with thunderous force.
Each puppet's strike was powerful enough to collapse mountains. Baraka countered with brute force and skill, his hammer strikes teice as strong with every swing. He ran, dodged, did flips all over the air and was blasting spikes of rocks, but the shadow puppets were dodging everything Baraka threw at them and were also keeping up with him.
Sweat dripped from his face as he gritted his teeth.
"What kind of insane strength is this?! These things were made to kill me! If I'm struggling this much, then what about the others?!"
Suddenly, one puppet ripped an entire skyscraper from the ground and hurled it at him. Baraka roared, slamming it aside with his hammer—but then, his eyes widened.
Above him, a barrage of buildings and houses was raining down, hurled by the other massive shadow puppets.
"Damn it—!"
The sky itself seemed to collapse as the shadows closed in.
End of Chapter 20.