Ascesa Fenice

"…IV…"

"ORAORAORAORAORAORA!" Gunha put all his power to the cross he was holding on to—putting everything into his this blow; Abbacchio's fist and Gunha's fist smashed both of them in the face.

FLASH!

The clash between two incredible powers. There was a flash created by the collision and it blinded Gunha's eyes. He also felt the feeling of the things he was wearing vanishing. The same feeling you have when you take your rain coat off when you get home on a rainy day. It was similar to that. At the same time Gunha felt heat surrounding his body; it was too hot.

Until before Gunha didn't feel anything hot like this. When Gunha regained his slight, he realized the changes. The armour was gone; the armour of Starlight Second Liberation that was covering his whole body disappeared! Unprotected body. There was only his left arm, which was Gai's which was left. His cross that seemed to have been knocked off during the previous attack was lying on the ground near him. Gunha cursed to himself, "Hey Gai! What's the meaning of this!? It hasn't been 10 seconds yet! Why has the armour disappeared!? Wait…are you telling me the price I paid only let me use it this much!?"

"Nuh-uh. The price you paid to attain my power is enough. But your basic stats are too low to control my godlike powers. You lack training." Gai sadly replied.

"Damn it! I trained that much to protect you guys and yet I'm lacking it!?" Gunha snarled.

"It's not your fault. Hell, you need to be exactly what I am to use it for more than ten seconds."

"Aaaah! Geez! I don't need things like that now!? Give me the armour one more time! What do I have to pay this time!? My eyes!? My legs!? I will give you anything!"

"Using the second armour in this short time is impossible for you now."

"…Is that because I am weak…? Shit, why do I look so uncool at crucial times…? That was the only thing someone useless like me could do!" Gunha cursed his failures.

"When the power of the armour disappeared, I transferred a bit of the power to Eshajōri. You can overwhelm this bastard for a short time, but that's it. To beat a Phoenix Yōkai, it's…" Gai muttered.

"I have to beat him down hundreds of times or eliminate him with absolute power." Gunha was sure of that.

"Yes. Unfortunately you can't beat him many times with the current power of your sword. Even the multiplied power is far from close to the 'absolute power'. You don't have either of the two." Gai sighed.

Gunha was grabbed strongly by his collar. It was Abbacchio. Gunha was lifted up from the ground while having his neck choked. Raiser choked Gunha even strongly while smirking. "I praise you for doing this well for a nobody. You really did well. To tell you the truth I didn't expect you to do this well. I experienced the power of the Rising Phoenix with my own body. If you had a year, no six months for you to get used to your armour's power I would have lost."

He didn't seem to be joking. He had a serious face. If it was only six months…then wait for him to attack Vittoria for another six months! That's what Gunha would have liked to say. Abbacchio's clothes and body were worn. Even for Abbacchio who had very high regeneration ability, the rate to heal the damage from anti-spiriton attacks was taking long. His fire wings were smaller than before. He received quite a lot of damage… "There's nothing you should feel ashamed about. I will train you after I kill the glitch; you will become a powerful defender."

Gunha snapped, "Shut up! That's none of your business!"

"Now, I will have you go to sleep. You will lose consciousness for a short while. By the time you wake up, it will be all finished. Even you don't want to suffer anymore, right? I'm not a sadist so I will finish it now." Abbacchio had a face that had confirmed his victory. Gunha was going to lose? No, that would be unforgivable.

"You're a good person." Vittoria's words continued to echo throughout his ears.

"…Vittoria. I promise you…I…won't…lose…!" Gunha snarled, as he took out a small object from his pocket. "To extinguish fire you need water, right!?"

The thing Gunha was holding on to was a small bottle that contained holy water. This was the other thing he prepared before he got into the new universe. Abbacchio's face turned pale. "Dammit!" Abbacchio's hand that was choking Gunha became even stronger. It felt as if his throat was about to get crushed…But before that! Gunha opened the lid and sprinkled the holy water on Abbacchio. He was going to multiply the effect of the holy water to the level that a Phoenix Yōkai couldn't ignore.

"Furin Kazan!" The multiplied power flowed into the holy water on Abbacchio's body from his sword.

"Cra…!" It was too late by the time Abbacchio noticed Gunha's attack. The transferred power multiplied the effects of the holy water on Abbacchio's body.

BOIL!

The sound of the water vaporizing from fire echoed throughout the whole area. Abbacchio's fire wings started to look weird because he couldn't maintain its form. The holy water burnt Abbacchio's body insanely. There was smoke coming out of his whole body. Gunha released himself from his grip and took his distance while holding onto his throat.

"Ugaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Abbacchio started to writhe from the effects of the holy water.

"…Is he going to die?" Gunha questioned.

"Nope. Even if the effect of the holy water has increased, it won't be simple to kill a Phoenix Yōkai."

"…Is that right, Gai?"

"But the effect of the holy water extinguishes a lot of stamina and the soul. Even if it's a Phoenix who can come back to life from ashes, losing a great amount of stamina and soul will be…They won't be able to recover the soul immediately." Gai continued.

SMOKE…

The smoke that was coming out from Abbacchio's body weakened. What was left was Abbacchio who had a worn out body and clothes. Gunha picked up the cross from the ground with Gai's arm. He held it tight and put his power in it. He also sprinkled the second holy water he had on hand.

"Yuuki told me this. That Yōkai are weak against seki-sekki and holy water. So increasing the ability of both of them at the same time would give enormous damage to Yōkai, right?"

"Ku…" Abbacchio who was suffering from the effect of the holy water made a scared face after seeing Gunha's next move. Gunha looked at Abbacchio and his surroundings. There was nothing except his foe. Yeah, there was no problem.

"Mitsuru told me this. To widen my line of sight and look towards the enemy and its surroundings." Gunha gathered all of the spiritual power in his body at one point and then changed it to Gai's power and transferred it to the holy water and cross.

With that, the holy attack gained incredible powers. "Hizashi told me this. To gather the spiritual power that flows throughout your whole body. To concentrate and feel the wave of the magical energy. Yeah, even a dumbass like me can do it!"

Gunha then changed his stance so he could hit his opponent. "And Gai told me this. When you hit someone, aim at the middle of the body and push it deep into their body accurately!"

They were all the things he learned from his friends. Their words all became useful. "I'm going to save Vittoria with the power of everyone!" When he aimed his fist at Abbacchio, he started to panic.

"But if you do, this plane of existence will—!" Abbacchio howled at Gunha.

"I don't know anything complicated. But I remember I made a promise. I promised my friends that I'd protect them, no matter how weak I am. And Vittoria is my friend. Just then…she was crying! That is enough reason for me to beat the shit outta you!"

BANG!!

Gunha's fist that had the cross and the effects of the holy water shot deeply and accurately into his stomach.

"Gahaa!" Abbacchio took a few steps backwards while coughing blood. "Me..... from something.......like this..............!" Abbacchio uttered that, before collapsing on the ground. He didn't stand up again.

Gunha glanced at Abbacchio, who didn't seem to show any movements and walked towards Vittoria, when he heard a voice. Gunha muttered as he walked past. "We're only beings whose sole purpose is for war. It's not our place to change the world. That's up to people like Vittoria here. As relics of the past universe, we can only lend strength to those we trust."

Abbacchio snapped in his weakened state, "Trust? And just who should I be trusting? The humans that do nothing while their world falls apart? The humans that fear us, their own kind? Or the humans that try to conquer the world? We fight each other for them!? This world screams out in pain under them…Why should I trust anyone?! How can you trust them? How can you fight, Teishin?!"

Gunha declared proudly, "I made a promise to a friend I intend to keep. To someone who believed harmony between those spiritually aware and those in the dark was possible. I trust that friend. And I trust the people that friend trusts…Now, if you have any more complaints, come to me again. I'll take you on anytime!"

Gunha stood in front of Vittoria. He said to her while smiling, "Vittoria, let's go home."

"…Gunha." Vittoria's hand touched Gunha cheek while he was looking at the sky. "You dummy." She said it with a bitter smile. Vittoria seemed to have a relieved expression, though she gasped when she looked at Gunha's left arm. She was touching my left arm with a sorrowful face. Well it couldn't be helped. His left arm became so abnormal, it was covered in red scales and had sharp claws coming out of it.

"Your arm…You gave your arm as a price to borrow that power…?"

"Yep. It was a good deal. Someone like me with no talent and who has nothing was able to get the ultimate power just with my left arm. Thanks to that I was able to defeat Abbacchio and save you."

Gunha put on a smiling face, but Vittoria looked even sadder. "You know that this left arm won't turn back to normal anymore, don't you?"

"Aaah, that's a problem. A cosplay item! Oh that won't work. Aaah, what should I do?"

"…But if another foe appears…If you keep on doing this…"

Gunha answered with a smile on his face to Vittoria who had a sad expression. "Then I will give my right arm as a price. Then my eyes. I will keep on saving you. That's the only thing I can do. But I will definitely come and save you. That's because we'll be friends for life."

After Gunha said that, his lips were blocked. The thing that was blocking his lips was…Vittoria put her hands around his neck and put her lips on top of his. It wasn't something that happened just for a moment.

A kiss.

It wasn't a french kiss, but Gunha could feel her feelings from this soft kiss. The soft lips and the smell of her blonde hair froze his brain. After about a minute, Vittoria's lips left Gunha. Then Vittoria laughed. "My first kiss. It's something that girls treasure."

"Eh…? Ye…yes! Huh!? First kiss!?"

Gunha was really surprised—Vittoria's first kiss? Wasn't that an important thing to girls? "Ummmmm....are you sure!? That it was me?"

"You did something that's worth a kiss. It's a reward." Vittoria said it while smiling at Gunha. "…Speaking of first kisses. Do you want my virginity?"

"…Yes!" Gunha answered her straight away. He was too honest with his greed..... But that was his true feelings. Of course he wanted it; he even blurted it out in front of everyone looking on.

"…You really are honest with these kinds of things, huh…" Vittoria seemed troubled but was smiling.

"Ahaha, I'm sorry for being honest at these kinds of things." Gunha muttered; as he was apologizing in his heart, Vittoria started to pat his cheek. She just laughed happily; that was good—he was so glad that Vittoria was smiling again.

FIN