As the explosion forces everything back from Mika and Aiza. Ayato finds himself standing with a gash across his left hip. Blood drooling as he prepares to fight with such a disadvantage.
Pointing his sword in the exact spot, a standing silhouette is visible within smoke that was created from the explosion. The tip of the sword, dead aim on it.
"Shuzen, Letter D! Drivers Edge!" Ayato shouts as his body is shot forward with his blade held before him.
His blood sloshing from his side as he keeps steady, instantly phasing through the silhouette and ending up on its opposite side. Waiting for the attack to catch up, Ayato falls to his knees. Simultaneously, the smoke and silhouette are suddenly cut horizontally in half.
Ayato quickly looks back, his vision blurring yet his willpower blazing monumentally. Locking onto the two scarred hollowmarked's body as it fades into the air as ash. Ayato was standing with a bit of a stumble in his movements. His eyes noticed the winged Hollowmarked still standing; however, its chest held a massive hole through it from his previous attack.
"Y-You're still standing, huh..." Ayato remarks as his glowing eyes glare the winged hollowmarked down.
Its blood pouch was fully visible as it hung like a dangling thread in the hole. Ayato stumbles as he turns towards it, holding his sword out at it as he holds his wound with his open hand.
"Guess we're both in the same state, but let's see who drops first." Ayato mocks as he continues to wobble.
However, a quick beam abruptly shoots past his head, barely missing him. The winged, hollow-marked body instantly collapsed as its blood pouch had been shot through, and then standing behind it was none other than Mika. Standing with her hands held up in a finger gun position.
"You dummy, you shouldn't be moving around with such a wound." Mika insinuated before dropping her hands.
"Nearly... Took my head off." Ayato remarked as he fell back onto his butt from the blood loss.
"It was a risk I had to take; that monstrosity would've regenerated and massacred all three of us." Mika informed as she bent down to tap on Aiza's cheek.
"Just sit there and keep pressure. I'll get Aiza up, and we'll get patched up." Mika demanded as she continued patting Aiza on the cheek.
Ayato chuckles softly as he leans his head back.
"How many times does that make it now?" Ayato questioned
"Twenty-four... Twenty-four times." Mika answered.
"Damn, it's really hard to make up that total." Ayato replied.
"Well, how about we make it out of this mission alive, and then I'll cut you a deal?" Mika added,
"Nah, that just makes it too easy." Ayato insisted.
Mika slightly smirking as she continues waking Aiza.
The Park
Kentaro and Kairo are back at it, as Kairo managed to get his sword back. However, this time Kentaro was on the offensive as his face was fuming with rage.
"You shouldn't have that! It shouldn't even be possible!" Kentaro raged on as he continued slamming attack after attack at Kairo.
Causing him to stay on the defensive, however, due to his injuries, he found it increasingly hard as the battle went on.
"No, no! It just doesn't make any sense! The Sentarii would never allow this!" Kentaro exclaimed as he merged his scissor blades into the pair and smacked Kairo with the flat side, knocking him back.
Kairo sliding against the ground with his sword.
"You are the exact opposite of what they stand for! You shouldn't even exist! You shouldn't!"
Suddenly Kentaro clicked, his expressions changing between confused and intrigued.
Kairo is breathing heavily as he stands with his sword in hand.
"Could it work... His weapons aren't real... But could it work?" Kairo thought to himself,
"You're not an actual Sentarii, are you, Kairo Neru?!" Kentaro questioned furiously.
"W-Why don't you come over here and find out, Kentaro!" Kairo! he exclaimed as he felt his body sweating from its heat.
Kentaro twitches slightly before ripping his energy scissors apart once more, then with no hesitation charges at Kairo instantly.
"Here goes... NOTHING!" Kairo shouts as he pulls back his sword.
His blade engulfing itself in his purple and black energy as Kentaro closes in. His eyes widened in awe. But as Kairo prepares to launch his Soto-ita. Team A arrives, surrounding Kentaro from different angles. Keeping him locked down in place, Ayato keeps Kentaro's scissor blades pierced into the ground, while Mika and Aiza appear from his opposite sides with Shuzen ready to fire.
"So... you've called for backup. Just when we were getting to the good part too." Kentaro scoffs as he keeps still.
Kairo's soul energy vanishes from his sword as he stumbles to keep his guard up. Watching the unknown assailants with unease.
"No can do, buddy; we need him alive." Ayato instructs as he continues holding Kentaro's weapons implanted into the ground with his hands.
Kentaro is eyeing Team A silently as he quickly observes them. Before taking a deep breath.
"It seems my time here is done... Unfortunate, I must say." Kentaro murmurs.
"I hope you don't believe you're walking away from this." Mika interjects as she steps closer with her finger gun held up.
"Oh no, no... I don't hope I am. I know I am." Kentaro mocks as his eyes brightly glow, causing a massive shockwave to erupt from his scissor blades. As a ring of energy expands, pushing back all nearby entities.
Kentaro stands in his exact spot as his scissor blades dispel. Fixing his suit before clapping his hands together, he opens a mysterious pillar of energy that shoots into the sky.
"Wait!" Kairo screams as he stands ready to rush at Kentaro before he could escape.
Kentaro is glazing at Kairo as he closes in, but as Kairo gets closer, Kentaro's body continues being swallowed by the beam of light. His eyes locked onto Kairo's as he left with one last message.
"You're chasing a ghost, Kairo."
Kentaro's body was nearly fully absorbed into the beam of light.
"Stop!" Kairo shouts back.
"And by the time you catch me... you won't even recognize who you are." Kentaro's last words echoed as his head fully sank into the light, instantly shooting up into the sky and vanishing at the exact moment Kairo landed where Kentaro once stood.
Kairo falling to his knee and his sword piercing the ground. Leaving him to stare up into the sky where Kentaro vanished.