Chapter 38— The FALLING STAR
The air warped.
Not metaphorically—literally.
Heat bent reality itself. Buildings in the distance twisted like reflections in broken water, their outlines wavering, dissolving, reforming. The ground beneath their feet shimmered, as if the world could no longer hold its shape.
At the center of it all—
Ragna stood.
His body glowed with a violent, unstable heat. Not flames anymore… something beyond that. Something denser. More dangerous.
Tokita narrowed his gaze.
What the hell…?
His instincts screamed.
Ragna's Core was nearly empty—he could see it. It was fading.
And yet—
It was expanding.
Breaking.
Evolving.
"…An awakening?" Tokita muttered under his breath.
His eyes sharpened.
At death's door… and he still breaks his limit?
A survivor's instinct.
Or something worse.
Tokita exhaled slowly.
Then I end this now.
He moved.
No warning. No hesitation.
The ground shattered beneath his feet as he vanished—
—and reappeared directly in front of Ragna.
His fist drove forward.
Fast. Precise. Lethal.
But—
It hit nothing.
Tokita's eyes widened slightly.
…Missed?
His fist cut through empty air.
A presence shifted—
Behind him.
Too fast.
Tokita turned—already mid-motion, elbow snapping back toward Ragna's face—
But he was late.
A single finger touched his side.
Just one.
And—
BOOM.
Tokita's body was launched like a missile.
He tore through a building, concrete exploding around him, steel bending as his body ripped through multiple floors before crashing out the other side.
Flames swallowed the impact point.
Silence followed.
Then—
Debris fell.
Tokita stood up slowly from the rubble.
Smoke curled off his body.
His clothes—
Gone.
Burned through almost completely.
Only charred remnants clung to him.
His expression didn't change.
But his eyes… sharpened.
"…He burned through it… with one touch?"
His voice was quiet.
Measured.
That suit was heat-resistant…
He looked up.
Ragna stood in the distance—arm trembling, body glowing brighter, the air around him distorting harder now.
Tokita exhaled.
"…So it's not flames anymore."
A pause.
"…It's evolving."
Ragna raised his head.
"…Don't move."
His voice was strained—but steady.
"Take one more step…"
His arm lifted slowly.
"…and I blow everything."
Tokita stopped.
Not out of fear—
Out of calculation.
"…What?"
Ragna laughed weakly.
"…You can feel it, can't you?"
His right hand trembled as energy began to gather—pulling in from his entire body.
From the air.
From what little remained of his Core.
Condensing.
Compressing.
"…If this goes off…" Ragna continued, his voice low, almost amused, "…everything within two hundred meters is gone."
Tokita's eyes flickered.
Ragna tilted his head slightly.
"…Your friends too."
Silence.
"…All those civilians you're playing hero for?"
A faint smile spread across his face.
"…Gone."
The energy in his palm began to take shape—
A sphere.
Small at first.
Then growing.
Black.
Deep red.
Like a dying star on the verge of collapse.
The ground beneath him began to melt.
The air screamed.
Tokita's mind moved instantly.
If I dodge…
They die.
If I take it…
…uncertain.
Ragna watched him.
Smiling.
"…So?"
His voice cracked slightly—but the grin stayed.
"…What's it gonna be, Red?"
A pause.
"…You… or them?"
Tokita responded calmly while smirking, "you won't do it,did you forget your comrade Hoshina's with them, and from the way you treated the b*stard with care while he was injured,I can already tell, you won't do it."
Ragna looked at Tokita with annoyance visible across his face. "... exactly I don't wanna hurt Hoshina and I won't ever...Because I'm still gonna shoot this beam directly at them and then...that's the part when you come in hero, because you'll have to stop the blast from reaching your friends and to do that you'll have to make contact with the blast,am I right Hero~?"
Tokita clicked his tongue.
"…Tch."
Then—
He moved.
Gone in an instant.
Straight toward Ragna.
If I land the hit first—
The attack collapses.
That was the plan.
His fist drew back—
Speed peaking—
Distance closing—
Ragna's smile widened.
"…Too late."
The sphere pulsed.
Then—
FIRED.
Tokita's punch was inches from Ragna's face—
When he stopped.
Not hesitation—
Precision.
His body twisted mid-motion.
Foot pivoted,the ground beneath him shattering.
Momentum redirected.
In a single instant—
He abandoned the attack.
And turned.
BOOM.
He vanished forward—
Chasing the blast.
The projectile tore through the battlefield like a falling star.
Everything in its path—
Erased.
Concrete vaporized.
Air ignited.
Reality bent around it.
Tokita ran.
Full speed.
"Shit—!"
Closer.
Closer.
If that hits them—
No.
He clenched his teeth.
"…Not happening."
In the distance—
Aoi and the others.
Unaware unaware of the Danger that was coming,but still fealth something was approaching them fast.
Tokita accelerated.
Everything around him blurred.
The world narrowed to one thing—
That attack.
That single point of destruction.
I have to reach it.
And then—
He did.