The teenage boy stared up at the one he knew as 'Yoiya' as the wind swept across his cheeks like blades. It screeched in his ear like the chalk scratching against the blackboard in the older classrooms he had to sit through on certain days. It was hard to believe that his newfound friend had this immense power, yet it was ironically unsurprising.
"You were always a strange one… but this isn't really you, is it… Yoiya."
Kuroshin stood in an red-stained classroom. Blood was splattered everywhere, yet there was no bodies. It hurt to stand, it hurt to speak; as if gravity was pushing him to the floor. The blinding rays of the morning sun beamed into the class, seemingly amplified by the familiar stranger's presence. In return, those streams of light reflected within Yoiya's golden eye as he slowly raised his hand. In a blink of an eye, a shimmering onyx blade formed in his hand. The teenage boy braced himself for a swift death.
Shht.
The classroom door burst open.
A small figure burst inside, rushing forward like a bull. With a leap forward, they landed a direct hit on Yoiya's face with a impulsive attack: a dropkick. Yoiya staggered, caught off guard by the sudden attack.
The figure stood, yelling out.
"Move it, Kuro! Let's get out of here!"
It was Kiwusawa. Yet Kuroshin could not move a muscle. Despite his calm expression, it was not gravity that held him in place, but fear.
"Geez! Grab him, Cherubi!!!"
Another figure, larger and with long black hair, ran to his side. Without words or anything more than a quick exchange of eye contact, Cherubi grabbed Kuro by the arm and dragged him out. Kiwusawa followed closely behind as they left the school building in haste.
"You just left her out here alone?" Kuroshin had asked.
"We're not leaving anyone behind." That was all Kuroshin got out of Kiwusawa for an answer.
After running for an hour, they arrived in the alley beside an electronics store with televisions on display at the window.
"I think we lost him." Kiwusawa said, taking a deep breath as she stretched down and waited for her breath to catch up with her.
"Lost? More like he decided not to follow us, surprisingly." Cherubi muttered. "If Yoiya is that powerful, he should have been able to save them… my sister… her friends… my father…"
Cherubi began to tear up as her face swelled with rage.
"No…" Kuroshin muttered.
Cherubi's head perked up but not in a good way. She approached Kuroshin angrily. "What?"
"That wasn't Yoiya. I'll admit Yoiya has always been rather strange…"
Rea nodded quietly in agreement.
"But that wasn't Yoiya. He seemed too different. The look in his eyes… it was like he was possessed."
"Oh, is that so? So are you saying Yoiya isn't to blame? Our entire school was massacred. If we weren't all late this morning, we would have been caught up in that as well."
"Yes, I know. But-"
"Guys… I think we have something more important to worry about." Kiwusawa spoke up.
"What, your stomach again? Now isn't the time for food, Mashiro."
The group approached her slowly, finding that she was staring at the sky. They, too, slowly raised their heads.
The sight they saw was unbelievably real. It was as if somebody had invented top-notch futuristic technology, the kind you would only see in sci-fi manga, and used it to project a massive hologram against the sky.
The very fabric of reality was being torn apart, right before their eyes. The sky had been ripped open, torn apart, leaving only a black emptiness: a void.
Black lightning crackled, thundering about in flashes as it crushed everything below the abyss up high. The group could only watch in silence as they eyed the distant calamity.
…
"It's almost time to join the fun."
The one called Noki murmured with a smirk as he looked down at the chaos unfolding below.
Loid stood beside him, holding his scythe as he, too, grinned with excitement.
Down on the streets, the lightning struck relentlessly at the pedestrians. Some hit by lightning disintegrated, others exploded into spires of flame, some melted into a pool of water like defeated slimes; but a few survived. Many of those who did were rampaging across the streets, shooting out magic. They were drowning in the power of the Void, living out their fantasies in pure ecstasy.
A battle royale had broke out amongst newborn mages. A calamity beyond the scope of anything this world had ever seen before.
"Magic wasn't supposed to exist here. Not beyond any simple card tricks." Noki murmured.
He pointed to the sky, retaining the same cocky smirk as ever.
"I wonder what their government thinks about this."
Loid looked up, his eyes sparkled as his blood began to rush with adrenaline.
Planes flew overhead; and they weren't just any ol' passenger planes. They were the best airforce the country had.
"Where you find lightning…"
Noki snapped his fingers as the black lightning ripped through the air like a whip.
"You often will also find rain."
Bombs began to fall out of the sky. The land beneath them was torn to ruin by consecutive explosions. Flames burned corpses to ash and scorched puddled to gas.
Still, some survived, protecting themselves with their newfound magic.
"Our turn."
Noki smiled as he turned around and winked at Loid before letting himself fall into the chaos.
…
A clock struck, striking once. Twice. Three times.
"A clock? I don't recall creating a clocktower of any kind." My head perked up as I looked behind me, from whence the sound originated.
Four times. Five. Six.
Feeling the mana in the field rising, I quickly stepped away from the astral mechanism. It was a familiar sensation, one identical to a ritual spell being activated at its fullest.
Seven.
One by one the stars on the mechanism lit up in different colors. White, turquoise, blue, gray, purple.
The light began to fille the room, expanding rapidly as it bounced off the mirrors on the wall.
I shielded my eyes with my arms.
…
A girl's scream burst out from the chaotic streets of the city.
"Get us out of here!!! What's even going on!?" Kiwusawa sobbed loudly.
"I don't know! The guy just started breathing fire! Just keep running, Mashiro!" Cherubi shouted back.
The group of students ran from a man who began breathing fire from his breath after drinking alcohol.
Dark clouds blanketed the sky above them as they fled from the new danger they had encountered. Yet…
It was pointless.
Icicles, lightning bolts, acid spray. Humans all around were lobbing such out like it was second nature. Mass amounts of strange occurrences were constantly occurring everywhere they looked.
"Shit." The only boy in the group cursed without hesitation. In such a situation, it was the only proper way to address their position.
"Yan. The clouds." The small girl spoke. Having not made a single sound in this crisis, the others were constantly surprised in how calm she remained through it all. Rea Dola, the doll-like princess of the Tea Time Book Club.
With a simple gesture, the pointing of her index finger to the sky, the group looked up.
The black sky abyss had grown wider and the atmosphere above was painted a gloomy, eerie ghost gray.
All they could do is stare into the distance as destruction erupted in every direction.
"I want to save him. Don't you?"
A calm, gentle voice echoed in their ears, breaking the silence.
They all looked to the small girl, the princess, the one who had yet to give in to fear.
In the corners of her eyes, tears could be faintly seen but her face showed nothing but determination.