Inverse System

From above, they heard the sound of burning flames, looking up to see Sho floating down on a cloud of fire, with 2 broken arms. He landed beside the 2 and sat down in fatigue, his legs giving out from overuse and energy loss.

"Sho? What happened to you?" Chloe worryingly asked.

"It's nothing major. Just a couple of bruises," he claimed.

"Bruises? Can you even move?!" Chloe scolded, making Sho look away in shame.

Rein looked down at Sho with a blank stare, then rolled his neck, loosening the joints.

"Chloe, take Sho to somewhere safe," Rein commanded as he looked away from the 2, re-asserting his gaze forward.

"Wh-why..? Are they still..?" Chloe uttered, to which Rein nodded.

"I-impossible… Nobody should've been able to survive that…" Sho asserted in disbelief.

Rein took a deep breath, then put his swords back into his weapon rings.

"Just leave them to me. I'll defeat them and make sure your brother and Emria are safe," Rein promised, to which Sho rejected, protesting against him.

"There's no way we'd let you fight them alone! That'd be suicid—"

"No, Sho. Let's trust him," Chloe decided, picking up the crippled prince of flames.

"What?! Princess, have you lost your mind?" Sho yelled.

"Maybe. But I think Rein can do it," she gazed at Rein with an ingenuous smile, Rein grinning a smile of gratitude back at her. "Good luck. Make sure you come back to me, understand?" Chloe sternly ordered, Rein sounding an affirmative breath, closing his eyes certainly.

Chloe jumped up to the surface, boosting herself and Sho up using the power of wind as they made it to the ground above.

As they left, Rein heard the rubble crackling in front of him, seeing a hand emerge from the messy ruins, the hand promptly turning into a drill as it dug the rest of the body out.

A loud breath, almost like they were stuck underwater, was let out as the pink-haired man emerged, pulling up the 2 other women that were also stuck with him. The 2 women were conscious, coughing from the dust that still lingered above.

"What the hell was that?! That fire prince has a lot to expla—" Jona looked around, eventually stopping his speech as his eyes stopped on Rein, scratching his head in confusion.

"Hm? Where did your girlfriend go?" Emma asked Rein, who didn't reply, still stretching his arms and legs.

"It seems like he means to fight all 3 of us alone, despite not being able to defeat 1 of us in battle. I don't understand this man's way of thinking…" Shuna concluded as she dusted off her blue clothes.

Suddenly, Rein let out a loud grunt of satisfaction, finishing his stretches, then reaching down to his ankles. He removed the 2 blue, glowing anklets that were set on his legs, then set them into his inventory. He then sat back up and unbuckled an uncomfortable-looking belt that was around his waist, one that wasn't holding up any pants. He also set the brown, glowing belt into his inventory, then resumed his stretches.

"Man, that feels so much better," Rein yelled with a wide grin from ear to ear plastered on his face. "Well then, shall we get started?" He exclaimed as he summoned his dual swords one more time, readying his battle position confidently.

"Haha! You really are a fuckin idiot," Jona laughed as he turned his hands into drills. "Fine, I guess I'll drill you up instead of that prince," he settled.

"What a foolish way for you to die," Shuna readied her rapier and sighed. "But very well then. If this is the way you want to go, then I've got no objections."

"I don't really understand it, but okay. Though, I kind of wanted to play with that wind princess a little bit more," Emma playfully laughed, mocking the strength of her opponent in the process.

Suddenly, Jona and Shuna rushed forwards, Jona activating his drills into maximum output, and Shuna jittering her rapier vigorously, pointing it at Rein in an undodgeable fury. Emma followed behind the 2, sending out a bolting bullet of metal at Rein, who simply stood there, unphased.

"You're dead!" Jona roared, thrusting his drill straight into Rein's chest, gallons of blood spewing out from the impact.

"Hehehe… HAHAHAHA!" Jona laughed as he took the drill out from his chest, hearing squirms of pain. "That'll do it. Now, do you know your pla—" Jona's voice stopped as soon as he laid eyes on the body in front of him, his pupils shrinking in fear, and his body beginning to tremble in horror.

"Jona… Why…" The yellow-haired woman standing in front of him had a drill sized hole in her chest, her mouth spewing blood as she dropped dead on the ground.

"Shuna?! Shuna!" Jona picked her up in his arms, her scarlet red blood still on his hands. "Why…" Jona's tears fell on the corpse in his arms.

He let out an excruciating scream, echoing through the entire city in an agonizing reverb. Emma stared at the scene unfolding in front of her in terror, feeling like there was a stone stuck in her throat, unable to move an inch.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Jona wept intensely, hugging Shuna's cadaver. "I coulda swore that I was attacking the kid… SO WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"Jona… How could you…" Emma uttered in disbelief, Jona looking back at her innocently.

"Wait, no… I didn't mean for this to—" as Jona looked at Emma, he suddenly saw a black blade shove through her throat, her eyes losing life as she also flopped to the ground, seeing a black-haired man standing behind her, an intimidating red gaze in his eyes.

"You're really susceptible to illusions, huh?" Rein exclaimed as he approached Jona. "You shoul've trained your mind, you gullible brick," Rein kicked Jona in the stomach, making him spit out blood.

"H-how… Did you…" Jona struggled.

"Shhh…" Rein put his finger on his mouth. "You're now going to tell me everything, got it?"