In the gaming room, Kuzu was having a conversation with Tengoku through his apple mobile.
"Our motive is the same… the death of two teenagers," Kuzu said.
"So? Do you propose we form an alliance?" Tengoku asked, Kuzu did not have to answer. "I am a mercenary, Erabu, why would I ally with my students who want to kill two mages? As a teacher, I should stop you—"
"And as a mercenary? What would you do as a mercenary, Tengoku?"
Tengoku paused, dead silence for a few moments, then he chuckled. "I am already in the mage prefecture for a month, waiting. What is the plan? I have not got a single chance to attack them, only if I had, I would have…"
"There is a chance, on the first of February. The mages are going on an expedition in the Forest of Doom."
"Hm… I will meet you near the partition. Make sure you do not get caught up with some monsters, our government is too lazy to clear the forest."
"At midday, first of Feb. But we have a condition."
"Oh, shoot."
"Will you please kill Hitori only? Leave Kamiya Jigoku for us, Masao-san has a personal grudge with him, he needs to fix a few things with him."
"No problem. Where did you get the information from, though?"
Kuzu snickered. "A spy…" He hung up the call.
Kamiya had healed Hitori, and Hitori healed Kamiya. They were not in their peak condition, they had lost half of the mana, they were drained, and they had trouble walking.
"Shame," Kamiya muttered.
Hitori glanced at Kamiya, still walking with his hand on Kamiya's shoulders.
"It is a shame we could not bring the octopus with us… it was worth the pain." He looked at Hitori with his hand on Hitori's shoulders.
"Forget about it. I swear I would not enter the forest ever again. We almost died, I hate this forest."
They walked shoulders to shoulders and crossed Mahoutokoro's castle.
"Look over there," Hitori said, pointing to the right, "I can see the castle's wizard tower."
"We are close and we are on the right path."
They giggled and continued their journey till Hitori heard a whisper.
"Thanks to chaos things were easy for us."
"Maybe we are lucky, sir."
That voice. That voice was familiar.
The wind whooshed and a man with orange reptile eyes crossed Hitori. Their eyes met, they looked till they went past each other, their grins disappeared, and a strange expression took over.
The man leaned forward and turned off his nitro booster. Hitori stopped to keep eye contact over his shoulders, Kamiya joined, and so did Hidari by Tengoku's side.
"Hitori," he muttered, "it is him. Hitori!" Tengoku pointed. He lifted his sunglasses and activated the nitro booster again. "Oh, get him, Hidari!"
Hidari did a swift, pushed the leaves, and burned a few as he bolted towards Hitori and Kamiya.
"Fuck! Is that—"
"Tengoku," Hitori looked at Kamiya, "yes, he is." They exchanged glances.
Hidari caught with them in an instant, Tengoku followed him, and now they were facing each other.
"Oh-ho, where were you going… damn, we would have missed you." Hitori looked at Tengoku, his eyes fell on the katana dangling by his side.
Hitori grasped Kamiya's shoulder. "We should teleport."
"Huh?" Kamiya glanced at him, trying not to show his shock. "Yes. Yes, if we meet with teachers—"
"We can not," Hitori said, without moving his eyes from Tengoku.
"Huh? Can not? W-Why?" he asked.
Tengoku leaned forward. "The building is enchanted with the anti-teleportation spell, that is why," he chuckled. "Just wait for a few minutes, our company is coming."
"Hitori…" Kamiya lowered his eyebrow.s.
"Give me your mana…" he whispered.
"But…"
"God damn it!" he shouted.
Tengoku raised his eyes and stepped back. Hidari cocked his gun.
"Just give me your freaking mana!"
Kamiya closed his eyes and Hitori grunted and pinched his eyes close.
Tengoku muttered to Hidari, "Shoot their thighs and knees." He drew his katana to stab their legs.
Hidari lowered his gun and pulled the trigger. The bullet missed Hitori's thigh. It fell on the pile of snow and leaves behind him, it pierced a leave and disappeared in the snow.
"They are gone," Tengoku muttered and looked at the dense fog. "In the forest," he looked at Hidari, "now!"
They turned to the dense part of the forest and got lost in the fog.
Hitori and Kamiya appeared right in front of the river near the partition. They were panting, they realized how weak they were, and they felt drained after teleporting.
"What now?" Kamiya asked his hand on his knee.
"We got to call a teacher," Hitori said, catching his breath. He raised his head and dropped it back. "Use the wand mic."
"You do it…" Kamiya said and dropped his head.
Hitori exhaled the cold air and fog and threw his head forward. He drew his wand. "Do you think we will face any monsters today?"
"Enough for today, do it quickly!"
Hitori activated the wand mic and said, "This is Saibai Hitori with Kamiya Jigoku. We need help, SOS, we are under attack. We are in danger, I repeat, we need help. We are near the partition."
No reply. He did not know what was wrong. His voice had echoed, the spell was working, then what happened to the mana connection?
Jiyara shook his head. "No, no, no," he said, shaking his head, "how?" he asked.
Then he reached for his wand, he found Senso running back to the Ministry building and the two blue dots of teens had appeared near the partition out of nowhere.
"Sir!" he shouted on the wand, "can your students teleport?" he asked.
Senso picked the wand. "Teleport? They are second-years."
"Yeah, 'cause they did! They were coming near the Ministry building but then suddenly went to the partition. Like teleported!"
"Damn it. Do you see someone else by them?"
"Not from our side, if there is someone, and not powerful enough to have their mana reflect on my radar. I think you should hurry back to the partition. It might be anyone."
"God…" Senso groaned. "Try to contact them, I am on my way."
Onogi and Kuzu took cover behind a tree. They had turned off the boosters suddenly, they had slipped on the snow and came to a sudden stop. Then they crawled on the ground to reach out for the nearest tree.
And now they both were looking at Kamiya and Hitori who appeared out of thin air.
Hitori held his wand by his thigh. "I can not contact them."
"Then we should go back."
"Back? Tengoku is waiting there and he said 'company is coming."
Kamiya got to his feet and pushed his shoulders back. "That leaves us with the forest."
Hitori froze, then he shook his head. "Dragons, Dinosaurs and god know what else."
"Listen, we have no other choice. We will not risk encountering any monster, we will sneak through the forest…" Kamiya paused. He bent down and picked a twig from the snow.
He used his foot to clear the ground and then patted the snow with his hands. He brought the twig to the snow and tried to move it, but it snapped. He took his wand and moved it through the snow.
He created an arc, a semi-circle on one side then looked at Hitori. "We will take this route. Make a curve around the deep side just enough to trick Tengoku and pass through without encountering any monster, then re-route to the sparse area. Grab our asses and run straight to the Ministry's building."
That plan was satisfying and sounded safe, too. Hitori had to make a decision, he did not have enough time to linger over the plan.
"And, if you can, contact your friends."
"Friends?"
"Your guardians, the powerful warlock and witch."
Hitori raised his eyes. "Eya-nee and Kogara." Hitori smiled, then his smile faded. "But how can I contact them?"
Kamiya nodded. "I thought you had something connected in case something happens to you…" He diverted his eyes to the woods.
Hitori shook his head. "What would we possibly…" His voice faded.
He never told them to come and save his house but they arrived at the right time and saved it. He never asked them or told them anything, but there they were– always at the right time to help him. How? There must be something…
'I got to heal those plants…' He remembered Kakashi's words. 'The house guardian!'
He turned to Kamiya. "The house guardian, what do you know about it?"
Kamiya turned his eyes back to Hitori. "Everything." He shrugged.
Hitori sighed and picked on his eyebrow. "Let me change my question to: How do you end this enchantment's effect?"
"There are a few ways…" Kamiya said.
"Tell me the most convenient and obvious one."
"Kill the trees. One by one with the spell: Flora Killer. They would not dare to regenerate and attack you—"
"What if you WANT to protect the trees but want to enter the— how would my warlock friends enter the house? They need to protect the trees, and keep the enchantment, but reach out to me, too. What would they do?"
"Ask them, man!" Kamiya threw his hands. "I mean, you do not know?"
"I can not ask them, so spill it if you know!"
Kamiya looked down. He thought for a few seconds, then realized Tengoku might arrive anytime. "The Guardian Bond," he said, "also known as the protector's bond. It is the only way, but the risky way. "
"And what does that mean?"
"If you are in danger, the one who formed the protector's bond with you will know it. He will drop his work and run to you. If you die, he dies, the enchantment is lifted, and the forest behind your house withers."
"I need to be in danger!" Hitori clapped, but then lowered his head.
He glanced around, he saw a blazing flame in the distance. The only bright light in the darkness. Kamiya followed his gaze.
"Hitori, we should leave," Kamiya said as he drew his wand.
Hitori reached for his wand but then reached for the katana in his hand, grounded by the silver chain around his wrist, refusing to let go.
He hummed and nodded. "Let us go." They bolted into the darkness, looking out for monsters and trying to make as less movements as possible.
Hitori's heart was beating like a drum, he could feel the thump against his chest. It had finally arrived, the final battle. If the company Tengoku was talking about is Onogi and Kuzu and their men, then this battle would mark the end of the war.
Onogi's men, Tengoku versus Kamiya, Hitori. They had their fears hidden deep inside their hearts, every one knew their lives were at stake.
Yet, here they were, running from the end. You can not prevent the end, if you run from it, it will be your end. Hitori caught up with Kamiya.
"We should not run…" he said, "We should stand and fight them."
The fog around them was the thickest they had ever seen, yet unaware of what caused the fog, definitely not February's cold. Maybe monsters– most probably them.
"What are you saying, Hitori?" he said, slowing down at the peak of the arc.
"They are going to come for us sooner or later, let it be sooner. What worse could—"
Hitori remembered they had this conversation before. Kamiya had his sister to look after and he can not afford to die. Hitori on the other hand had nothing, not even sure if his parents are alive, he would not mind dying sooner than later.
Dying was not an option. But How he died was the matter. If he was killed like a helpless lamb, it would be a disgrace. But if he killed Onogi and then Tengoku or Kuzu took his life, it would be satisfactory.
"Who said we are running from them?" Kamiya walked to Hitori. He pulled his hand to Hitori's shoulder. "We are not making that mistake again, Hitori, we are not letting them divide and rule us ever again."
Hitori looked at Kamiya. Nothing beyond Kamiya's face was visible. It was like the deeper he went into the forest the less he could see and the more the darkness would spread.
"This will be the last, Hitori. Either they live or we do. People from only one side are leaving this forest alive today. This place is the best for the showdown, we would not find such a place ever again." He smiled.
"Then… what are we running for?"
"Tengoku, Hidari, Onogi, Kuzu, the hitmen from the hospital, and their men. Do you think we two can take them?"
Hitori waited, then nodded. "Ally… we need allies."
"Atama-sensei, Senso-sensei, Eya-nee, Kakashi, and the other big shots from the academy. With the teachers on our side, we can win– avenge.
"We will run to the end, then call the teachers for our aid, charge in the forest, and fight the motherfuckers." Kamiya clenched Hitori's shoulder. "This will be better, friend, things will be better."
Hitori wanted to squeeze Kamiya. But he buried his urge and smiled. "And… will we go back to how we used to be?"
Kamiya's smile faded. He looked down and shook his head. "No, we can not…"
Hitori felt the same as a lover boy would feel after the love of his life rejected him and now he is heartbroken. Hitori's heart sunk.
"But we will conquer tens of dungeons and become the emperors of the apocalypse!" He raised his head, he was grinning.
Hitori bit his lower lip. His eyes were teary, he wanted to cry and hug Kamiya for sure this time.
Kamiya put his other hand on Hitori's shoulder and looked into his eyes. "We will be better. Hitori." He nodded. He tugged Hitori to him.
When they were about to hug the life out of each other, Kamiya's grip loosed on Hitori's shoulder. Hitori frowned. He opened his house and found Kamiya sinking into the ground.
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