The morning came faster than Ryu would have wanted.
He had barely managed to sleep a few hours.
He dressed in reluctance, a new pair of glasses was placed - ideal to which they broke - and went down to breakfast with his mother, who did not ask too much.
It was as if they both understood that there were things that were better not to say aloud.
Shortly after, Ryu walked down the street for school.
The sun illuminated the city, but its mind was still full of shadows.
As he approached the door of the institute, he immediately distinguished his friends waiting for him.
Ryota greeted his hand, smiling.
"Hey, sleepy!" Are you OK? Asked Daiki with concern.
"Yes ... more or less," Ryu replied, forcing a smile.
Ren adjusted his glasses, looking seriously.
"Have you thought about what we are talking about yesterday?" We cannot stay with a crossed arms if those demons come back.
"I know." Ryu looked down. But I don't know where to start ...
Haruto put a hand on his shoulder.
"Anyway, if something happens, we are with you."
Before I could answer them, a soft voice was heard behind them:
"Do you know ... can I talk to you for a moment?"
The five turned in unison.
In front of the main door of the school, with its long silver hair shining under the sun, there was Arthelia Luxiel Mikaelis.
He wore normal clothes, a school uniform that did not seem typical of it, although he still could not hide his bearing impossible.
His heterochromes eyes calmly traveled to each one ... and stopped in Ryu.
"I need to speak with you, Ryu Tatzuki." It is important.
The five boys were frozen for a moment, surprised by the sudden appearance of the mysterious girl.
Ryota frowned, crossing her arms.
"Who are you and what do you want with Ryu?"
Haruto approached a little, trying to be confident but with a pinch of nervousness.
"Are you a new companion?" I had not seen you before ...
Daiki exchanged a look with Ryu, looking for some sign that this was normal.
Ren, without losing his composure, adjusted his glasses and asked:
"How do you know your name?"
Ryu, meanwhile, was paralyzed, his eyes fixed on her.
His heart was beating strongly, as if he recognized something invisible to others.
Finally, he took a step forward and said in a firm voice:
"What do you want to tell me?"
Arthelia smiled softly, but her eyes were still intense.
"There is no time for long explanations, but I need to warn you: your life is about to change forever."
The others exchanged nervous looks, feeling that it was barely the beginning of something much bigger and more dangerous.
A heavy silence fell among them.
The looks were nailed to each other, uncertainty could be cut with a knife.
Ryu felt that breathing failed him for a moment.
His friends watched him, expectant and at the same time worried.
Suddenly, a slight buzz began to be heard in the air, almost imperceptible.
The wind got up, stirring Arthelia's hair and causing her layer to gently wave.
She raised a hand, pointing towards the horizon.
"There is not a lot of time." The demon we saw yesterday was nothing more than a warning.
His heterochromes shone shone with unusual intensity.
"They are approaching much more powerful and dark forces, and you ... Ryu Tatzuki, you have a fundamental role in all this."
The boys exchanged nervous looks, without daring to interrupt.
Arthelia lowered her hand and took a step towards them.
"You will understand." But for now, you must prepare.
Ryu frowned, his voice came out trembling but firm:
"Do I prepare ... for what?"
Arthelia looked at him seriously, as if measuring each word before saying it.
"To survive." His tone was serious, almost cold. And to protect everything you care.
His friends kept silent. Even Haruto, always a joke, seemed unable to find something to say.
"No more demons will come." Arthelia looked down a little, with a slight flash of sadness in his expression. And not everyone will intend to capture you alive. Some will want to destroy you without hesitation.
Ryu squeezed his fists. He felt a cold traveling his back.
"But ... why me?" He finally asked, with a voice.
Arthelia breathed deeply, as if charging with that answer was a weight that she didn't want to reveal so soon.
"I can't tell you everythingstill. But you must trust that your strength is greater than you think.
It made an even heavier silence.
Ryu looked down. His hands trembled, as always, but now he didn't know if it was for fear or for something deeper.
Ryota broke the silence with a whisper:
"This seems crazy ...
Ren nodded with frown.
"If everything you say is true, we need clearer information."
Arthelia turned to them, her serene but firm look.
-I know. That's why I want this afternoon to meet me.
-Where? Asked Daiki with distrust.
—In the old abandoned church, at the end of Nakatomi Street. At six. Arthelia looked at Ryu directly. There I can explain everything without anyone else listening.
Ryu swallowed.
"It's fine ... I'll go."
His friends exchanged uncomfortable looks, but one by one nodded.
Arthelia slightly bowed her head.
-Thank you. We will see each other there.
He turned around and began to move away with quiet steps.
Even dressed as a student, his presence looked like another world.
Haruto exhaled strongly.
"I am the only one who feels that this is getting out of control?"
Ryu closed his eyes for a moment.
I knew Haruto was right.
But deep down, I also felt that there was no turning back.
The sun began to wear when Ryu and his friends reached the end of Nakatomi Street.
In front of them, the old stone church rose, with its broken windows and its inclined bell tower.
It looked like a time out of time, almost too silent.
"What a more sinister place ..." Haruto murmured, hugging his arms.
"It's the perfect place if you want anyone to listen to what you are going to say," Ren replied, adjusting the glasses while watching the facade. No one would come here by chance.
Ryu breathed deeply, trying to control the tremor in his hands.
-Come on.
He pushed the door, which creaked with a long and rusty squeak.
Inside, the gloom covered everything except for some rays of orange light that sneaked between the roof cracks.
As they moved around the central hall, they saw Arthelia waiting for them in front of the altar.
He wore his full armor again, and his white wings folded solemnly behind him.
"I am glad they have come," he said, his voice echoing in the silence of the Church.
Ryu stopped a few steps from her.
"We are here." Now I want you to tell me everything. Why did those demons come for me? Why me?
Arthelia watched him carefully.
-Very good. The time has come for you to know the truth.
He turned to the altar, posing his hand on the dusty stone.
"A long time ago, before humans walked on this earth, there was a war between the demons of the abyss and the angels." Among all the beings that existed, there was one that was considered the shame of demons: Zarkhiel NoTareck, the weakest of all ...
Ryu felt his heart hit his chest.
That name ... It was as if his blood remembered it even if his mind could not understand it.
Arthelia looked up, with her celestial and green eyes twinkling.
"Ryu ... you carry that demon." And now, those who fear that their will has survived consider you a threat.
A absolute silence filled the church.
No one dared to move.
For a moment, nobody said anything.
Daiki step back, with the pale face.
"What ... what does that mean?" What Ryu is ... a demon?
"Don't say stupidities!" Ryota ran away, although his voice was shaking. Ryu is our friend. It has always been.
Ryu looked down.
His hands trembled so much that he had to close them strongly to hide it.
"I ... I don't understand anything." If that demon was so weak, why would they come for me?
Arthelia breathed deep.
—Because even the weakest can change the fate if his will survives enough time.
Ren crossed his arms, thoughtful.
"And what evidence do you have all this?" You can't expect us to create something like that without more.
Arthelia raised an eyebrow, as if the question did not surprise her at all.
—The portal that opened in front of your school cannot be created by any minor demon. He was summoned by someone high. They do not waste time with humans ... unless they are sure that their goal has something they fear.
Haruto ran a hand in his hair, exasperated.
"This is ... too much." What are we supposed to do? Go to classes likeIf nothing while some monsters try to kill us?
Arthelia looked down for a moment.
-No. Now that they have located you, Ryu, the attacks will not stop. That's why… "He looked at him again -… You must start training your power.
Ryu's heart shrunk in his chest.
For a moment he wanted to wake up from that nightmare.
But I knew there was no turning back.
Ryu breathed with difficulty.
He felt everyone's look on him.
Your friends.
Arthelia.
And, somehow, he also felt the presence of that demon in his memory, as if his shadow had stuck behind him.
"Start ..." he repeated with a low voice. What if I don't want to? What if I simply try to live as always?
Arthelia did not separate her eyes from him.
"If you don't do anything, you'll die." And not just you. All those who are by your side.
A heavy silence filled the church.
Daiki swallowed.
"Ryu ...
Ryu raised his head slowly.
Although his expression was full of fear, there was also a spark that none had seen before.
"That's what is needed to protect them ..." he whispered. Then I will do what is necessary.
Ryota nodded firmly, and Haruto gave him a slight punch on his shoulder.
"We knew you weren't going to flee," Haruto said, forcing a smile. You are an idiot, but you are our idiot.
Ren looked away, but his voice sounded softer than usual.
"If this is going to happen, we will not let you face it alone."
Arthelia bowed her head, as if that moment were important for her too.
"Then ... tomorrow we'll start."
Ryu breathed deep.
His hands were still trembling.
But for the first time, he didn't want to hide them.
The next day, on the outskirts of the city
Ryu was standing in a forest clearing, with the first rays of the sun illuminating wet leaves.
His school uniform had stayed at home.
Now he wore comfortable clothes that Arthelia had given him: black pants and a dark shirt that had something big.
"Why here?" He asked, looking around. The place was completely empty, except for the song of the birds.
"Because if you lose control," Arthelia replied as he displayed his wings, "no one will be injured."
The other boys were a little further back, watching in silence.
Ren held a notebook where he pointed every detail, while Haruto and Daiki remained close to Ryota.
"What are we going to do exactly?" Asked Ryu, with an accelerated heart.
Arthelia looked at him seriously.
"Today I'm going to force your demonic energy to manifest." If you are really the bearer of the power of Zarkhiel NoTareck, I need to see how much you can endure.
Ryu felt a chill.
"What if I can't?"
"Then your body will collapse," said Arthelia without Rodeos. But you will not die. At least not yet.
"What encouraging ..." Ryu murmured.
The sunrise light shone on Arthelia's sword when she raised her in front of him.
"Prepare yourself." I will free you from any containment that limits that power. After this ... there will be no going back.
The air seemed to tense around it.
And for a second, Ryu felt that something woke up in the depths of his chest.
A dark pulse.
A beat that was not his.
But that, somehow, he had always been there.
Arthelia raised her sword slowly.
The blade began to shine with a silver light that mixed with a faint golden glow.
"Ryu," he said in a firm voice. Whatever happens, don't lose control of your mind. The power you have ... is not a gift. It is a burden.
Ryu swallowed, unable to respond.
His hands trembled, but this time it wasn't out of fear. It was for something that burned under his skin.
Arthelia closed her eyes and pronounced a few words in a language that nobody understood there.
The wind began to turn around.
The ground trembled under his feet.
And then, something inside Ryu broke.
He felt the air burned his lungs.
He fell on his knees while an indescribable pain seized his entire body.
His friends shouted his name, but his voices came distorted.
The dark beat returned, stronger.
A monstrous pressure filled his chest, climbed his throat, invaded each fiber of his being.
"Ryu!" Ryota shouted. What are you doing?!
Arthelia opened her eyes, tense look.
"Don't interfere." If they do, they will kill him.
The floor around Ryu began to crack.
A black and red glow arose from its skin, forming an aura that oscillated likefire.
His eyes opened.
They were no longer dark brown.
They were red, like living embers.
And for a moment, the voice that spoke was not yours:
"At the end ... free."
A pressure wave swear of the forest, forcing everyone to go back.
Arthelia took a step forward, with her sword ready.
"Ryu!" Remember who you are! Don't let that will control you!
But Ryu didn't seem to listen to her.
The power of Zarkhiel NoTareck, although weakened, rose inside with the fury of a monster that had been waiting for centuries.
Ryota felt a chill that toured her column.
I had never seen anything like that.
The energy that came out of Ryu did not seem human.
It didn't even seem like this world.
"Ryu!" He shouted, advancing a step before Ren held him by the arm. We have to help him!
Ren shook his head, his voice trembling.
"No ... if you approach now, you will kill you without realizing it."
"But it's Ryu!" Daiki insisted. Look at it! You are getting lost!
Haruto squeezed his fists, unable to look away from his friend's silhouette.
The black and red aura crepitated like a fire around him.
Even at a distance, the pressure was so intense that it was hard to breathe.
"This is not just power," Ren murmured, with his eyes wide behind his glasses. There is ... Another consciousness. As if something inside him ... he was waking up.
Daiki swallowed.
"What if ... and if you can't be the same after this?"
For a moment, none responded.
It was too scary thought.
But then Ryota took a step forward, his firm voice.
-It doesn't matter. Even if you lose your memory, even if it is not the same ... we are going to be here. I will not leave it alone.
Haruto looked at him, surprised, before nodding.
-Me neither.
Ren adjusted his glasses.
"We are not as strong as he ... but we will remember who she is."
Daiki closed his fists.
"He has always been for us." Now it is up to him to know that we are not going to abandon him.
Arthelia, who kept the sword high in front of Ryu, heard those words.
For a moment, his heterochromes shone with something that almost seemed tenderness.
"Well ..." he murmured. That could be enough.
The wind was still swirling.
The earth was trembling.
But in the midst of everything, Ryota's voice rose, clear, without fear:
"Ryu!" You are not a monster! You are our friend! No matter what power you have, you will always be Ryu Tatzuki!
Within his mind, Ryu was standing in an empty space.
A black horizon that extended to infinity.
There was no ground.
There was no sky.
Only darkness.
In front of him, a figure slowly emerged from the shadows.
It was high, with twisted horns that rose on their head.
His eyes were two red embers who watched him with contempt.
And his voice rumbled as an ancient echo:
"You are weak."
You have always been.
Your body trembles, your hands tremble ... You are a mockery of existence.
Ryu backed away, breathing with difficulty.
-Who are you?
"I'm what you have always taken in your blood."
The last vestige of the most insignificant demon of the universe ...
Zarkhiel NoTareck.
Ryu shook his head.
"No ... I'm not you."
The figure inclined his skull face to him.
"You can't deny me."
Without me, you are nothing.
And without me, you will not be able to protect anyone.
A burst of images wrapped it.
His friends, covered with wounds.
The class, made rubble.
The demon last night, laughing while killed one by one.
Ryu squeezed his teeth.
-Be quiet!
"Do you think your pathetic will can contain me?" The voice sounded funny.
Let me take control.
Let me show you what true force means.
A black hand emerged from darkness, spreading towards his chest.
Ryu felt something pulled his conscience.
An ice cream vacuum that wanted to drag and consume it completely.
But then ...
Another voice echoed.
It wasn't Zarkhiel.
Not his own.
It was Ryota's voice.
"Ryu!" No matter what power you have, you will always be you!
Then Daiki's.
"You don't dare to disappear, idiot!"
And Haruto's.
"You have to go back!" You have us!
Ryu felt that something warm turned on in his chest.
A tiny spark ...
But enough.
The black hand was still trying to catch it.
The void roared around him.
But this time, Ryu looked up and spoke with a firm voice:
"I ... I'm not."you.
"I'm not your puppet."
"It doesn't matter if I'm weak ... I don't plan to give up!"
With a scream that shook that infinite space, Ryu rolled his dark hand from his chest and pulled it away.
Zarkhiel's figure shuddered.
His eyes opened with surprise.
-That…?
Ryu squeezed his fists.
"This power ... it's mine."
"And I don't plan to let you use it."
The darkness broke around it, like crystal that splits.
Zarkhiel's figure shouted while fading in a shadow explosion.
And then, everything became white.
The white light faded.
Ryu opened his eyes.
I was again at school, standing in the middle of the rubble.
His breathing was agitated, but his hands no longer trembled.
The dark aura that used his body had dissipated, leaving only a slight reddish glow that slowly vanished.
A heavy silence filled the place.
His friends looked at him with his heart in his throat.
"Ryu?" Daiki asked in a low voice.
Ryu looked up.
His broken glasses barely hung from one ear, his uniform was torn, and he had cuts all over his body, but ... he smiled weakly.
-I'm fine.
Ryota was the first to run towards him.
-Idiot! He shouted, but his voice broke. You were going to kill!
Haruto arrived behind, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"You never make us go through that ..."
Ren adjusted his glasses, trying to look calm, although his voice trembled:
"You were a complete reckless ... but ... well done."
Daiki said nothing, just gave him a soft punch in his chest.
"Back, silly."
Ryu looked down.
For a moment, he feared that something different would see in him.
A monster.
A threat.
But on his faces he only found relief and determination.
Arthelia watched them all with her heterochromes, her sword resting on the ground.
"You have managed to suppress part of your demonic heritage." He had a slight head inclination. Not everyone would be capable.
Ryu swallowed, his hoarse voice.
"I don't know how long I can ... keep it under control."
"Then," Arthelia replied, serenity. We will have to train you to learn to master it.
Ryota nodded, determined.
"It doesn't matter how late."
"It doesn't matter how many times we have to remind you who you are."
"We are going to be with you."
Ryu breathed deep.
Fear was still there.
But for the first time ... I wasn't alone.
And that was enough.
Ryu looked up at Arthelia.
His breathing was still unstable, but his voice sounded firm:
"Now ... what follows?"
Arthelia picked up her sword, which materialized in a silver flash when she returned to her cover.
His eyes - one celestial, another green - stuck in his with gravity.
"Now your preparation begins."
"Preparation ... why exactly?" Ren asked, swallowing saliva.
"To survive." The answer was immediate. This demon that appeared was nothing more than a messenger. A test.
"There are very worse strength that have already put their eyes on you ... and in all of you."
Ryu squeezed his fists.
"Why do I have this power?"
-Exact. Arthelia bowed his head. And because if you don't learn to control it, you will end up being your instrument.
Ryota crossed his arms.
"Then, are you going to train you alone?"
Arthelia outlined a slight smile.
-Yeah. For a while, I will be close to you. My mission is to protect it ... but also make it able to fight for yourself.
"And what do you?" Haruto asked. Are we just looking at while it becomes stronger?
"Not necessarily." Arthelia looked at everyone. Each of you also has a role in this.
"Because the enemy will not only come for Ryu." It will come for anything he appreciates.
The silence that followed was heavy.
But none looked away.
Ryu swallowed, his low voice:
-Alright.
"If that's the price ..."
"I'm going to do it."
Arthelia nodded solemnity.
"Then we start."
"Share." None of you will be the same after this.
That night, Ryu walked only the streets back home.
The wind stirred its black hair, and its breathing formed clouds in the cold air.
Every step hurt.
His muscles, his bones ... Everything.
But what weighed the most was the memory of his own voice, full of fury, when he lost control.
"If I don't learn to master this ..." he murmured, looking at his hands. I will destroy everything.
He remembered the faces of his friends.
Fear in his eyes.
The determination of not leaving it alone.
He pressed his fists.
For them.
By himself.
I was going to bear whatever came.
In the distance, at the top of a building, a silhouette watched him in silence.
Two red eyes shone a moment in the dark before fading.
And while the night fell completely on Tokyo, a certainty became clear in his mind:
Tomorrow everything would begin.