The Last Rising Sun

A strong white flash filled the scene which blinded everyone for a moment, as if the retinas of the guests in this castle were burned with that pure and strange color.

At that moment Sakura felt a strong headache accompanied by that strange sensation similar to falling into infinity. She grabbed her head with both hands trying to calm the pain, but when she did, she involuntarily opened her eyes and the flashing white scene changed to an eerie silence and darkness.

She was now in a strange place. A laboratory of sorts. In that laboratory, watching some screens and writing on some blackboards, lay a man wearing a long white coat. His hair was brown and, although his back was turned, you could see by his ears that he was wearing glasses.

The man walked around the room performing different activities, all at the same time and with perfect coordination. It seemed that this laboratory was like his natural habitat, a place where this man could feel free.

However, when the man turned around, Sakura could see his face, a face that became blurry the moment she woke up.

"Sakura!"

Waver's voice calling out to her. Sakura slowly tried to open her eyes. As she did, she found her father. He was holding her in his arms with a worried expression on his face. At that moment, she thought:

'Somehow this is nostalgic...'

Because she remembered that time ten years ago in the ruins of ancient Babylon.

"What was it?"

She asked. All she got in response was a sigh of relief from Waver. She then noticed the place they were in. A white place with a giant round shadow acting as a sky. She understood at once what it was about.

"Bounded Field..."

She whispered.

Who didn't take long to say something was Luviagelita Edelfelt, who was also trapped in this place along with Gray, Waver and Sakura. To her, Sakura's reaction was quite typical of a Magus. She watched as Sakura analyzed the situation with her eyes while her father helped her to her feet. That girl was already thinking of a way out of this place, but Luvia also saw the disappointment on Sakura's face as she realized that this is not a normal Bounded Field.

"Looks like we were the only ones who got trapped in this prison. It could be a dimension separate from ours, something more than just a barrier. Seeing what Geryon Ashbourne can do even after dying makes it clear to me that he was no joke."

Waver, seeing that Sakura was able to wake up without any problems, looked around the area thinking about how to get out, but without a connection to the outside world it's impossible.

"I need you to explain to me what that Servant did."

Luvia rebutted Waver's calm words with an authoritative tone, but the man didn't flinch at that. In fact, he also wanted to know what Asahi Toru wanted to do. He already had some theories about it, but it's better to hear it from Toru's mouth rather than relying on pure theories.

"That's what I would like to know. Assassin already discovered the mind behind all this. What he's doing now is part of that discovery. A while ago he tried to break through the security of the castle barrier with his mana. That security mechanism was activated, which sent us to this place. Now, the reason why only we are trapped here is known only to Assassin. We'll have to ask him later."

Gray felt worried because...

"How are we supposed to get out of here?"

Sakura replied:

"We can't. We're stuck here. Assassin isn't with us either, that means he stayed out of all this."

No. Waver denied that.

"It's not like he was left out. Normally, as well as us, it must have been impossible for him not to enter this prison. He should have been brought with us, since he was the one who breached the castle's security, but he wasn't, which is a strange thing and leaves us with those eyes of his as our only answer. Surely he stayed out of the prison by cutting it off and 'murdering' it on the spot. So, if he stayed outside, it's to get us out of here when he needs to."

"So..."

"It's like all of us have been dancing in the palm of his hand. But it's normal. He at this point knows everything and we know nothing. That's how he works and that gives him the advantage. His actions will always be strange, but in the end he will solve it without problems. That's the way of the Assassin, darkness and mystery are part of them; they come together perfectly to create impossible 'secrets'"

'That last one I didn't get...'

Gray thought. This all felt strange to her, as she somehow thought that Adashino Hishiri's death made Assassin find the clues more useful, ending with the story her mentor told her earlier in the hallway.

"Now we can only wait. So I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when Assassin breaks this prison."

"Hey, what, wait!"

Luvia folded her arms with a headache. Unable to know anything, she felt like a stupid sheep in a pen. She thought that Servant is just teasing everyone by acting so mysterious, but that's far from reality, for outside this prison is where the denouement begins.

***

His body vanished without a trace. This was his ghost form, something no one could see him with. So he took advantage of this and saw that, among all these people who were not affected by the castle's security system, was the culprit.

It was in just a split second that he appeared in front of the statue of the archangel Michael. A sudden black swirl of dust, whirling around and around, let out the shadow that reformed on the ground with the appearance of that four-eyed dog. It was about the shadowy beast that Toru faced.

"What the hell?"

Flue had no time to react as the beast lunged at him with a mouth full of black fangs ready to crush and tear. Still, Heine wasn't going to indulge that beast in killing someone else. He immediately activated his magecraft, unique to his family. 'Living Stones' that's what they called it. The moment Heine made his mana flow throughout his body, liquid stones poured out of his skin and covered him in sleek combat armor accompanied by a spear, which looked more like a metal staff with both ends sharpened.

With this Heine had thrown himself into combat while Clown, Luvia's bodyguard, took charge of protecting little Rosalind. For his part, the yamabushi, Seigen, merely watched the scene with terror in his eyes. He was so frightened that he had no choice but to flee the place.

For the elder Orlocke this situation had become one of life and death. He watched from his wheelchair as Heine fought hand to hand alongside Flue to defeat the beast. Flue was throwing wind infused knives, while at the forefront Heine was constantly dealing damage by the second with powerful blows of his spear.

Although, despite their initial supremacy, they were soon overpowered by the beast's endurance and strength.

Only ten seconds passed since this whole confrontation began, but the beast had an ace under its claws. It skidded backwards on the ground and opened its mouth. At the moment it let out a powerful roar that echoed off all the walls, which somehow stunned everyone present. At the roar, everyone began to have strange hallucinations, which left them defenseless against the beast. The beast took it upon itself to kick Flue and Heine away.

Unable to flee from there, the elder Orlocke suffered the force of the beast, who crushed him into a pile of minced meat scattered on the ground as if something had exploded and splattered all over the ground.

When the scene calmed down, everyone was lying on the ground, knocked out by the roar of the beast.

In the eyes of this beast, the magical crests lying on the ground attached to the Magus' bodies looked extremely delicious. It opened its mouth to eat Heine's magic crest, but just as it was about to do so, its canine face deformed the moment a fist appeared to strike it.

The beast shot out against one of the walls, destroying it and braking on the rubble. Getting up in great pain, the beast opened its eyes in fear at the sight of the monster that had appeared.

Toru still had his fist clenched, but then he relaxed his fist fingers and clenched them again, which somehow made the joints in his hand creak.

"What are you waiting for? Go run to your master, or should I say go cry to your son?"

The beast trembled.

"Your husband couldn't let you go and turned you into this. I can still see your human soul inhabiting the body of this beast. I finally know everything, I managed to figure it out in time."

Hearing Assassin's words, the beast looked around looking for a way out. When it saw the hole in the wall, frightened it ran out with all its might.

This time Toru didn't let it escape and followed it mercilessly.

"What the hell was that?"

Flue had taken no time at all to wake up. In fact, he'd been awake all this time playing dead while Assassin said some interesting things. He sat on the floor and looked at the mess that was spread across the floor. Rosalind and Clown had passed out and Heine was suffering trying to wake up. Who fared the worst... the elder Orlocke. His body had turned into a bizarre and disgusting mash of flesh and blood on the floor.

There was something else too, though.

There was a child-sized bag of flesh on the floor near the blood. That 'chrysalis' began to move until out of nowhere it began to open. Flue made a disgusted face as he saw that, out of it, came a blond, green-eyed boy.

The boy smiled with blood on his face before saying:

"I must say that hurt too much. That's too bad. There went a third of my magic crest..."

That child turned out to be Orlocke Caesarmund himself. His papillary magic had helped him to be reborn from all that blood and flesh on the ground. But since all that was too little, he now had the appearance of a ten year old boy, not to mention sacrificing decades of cultivating his magic crest.

"Elder Orlocke. You were the last thing I had yet to discover."

Toru's voice next to Hishiri's statue and corpse. Thus he manifested from his dematerialized form and looked at the whole mess intently. His bored voice and look gave him a hint that he didn't care about anything that was going on here.

"My original did some things here. I guess it's my time to act now. I need everyone to wake up right now. I take no responsibility if the castle falls on them."

This was the clone Toru summoned at the beginning, who was waiting outside for the person responsible for the whole mystery. Once his location was secured, he returned to free Sakura from the prison and lead everyone out of the castle, but it seems that his summoner saw something special in the beast that knocked everyone out.

He downplayed the importance of those lying unconscious on the ground and took the dagger out of his right hand. He imbued it with Shakuton and extended his hand in the center of the place. Flue and the... old Orlocke? saw Assassin and already knew what he was going to do next.

In a childish voice, but with a manner of speech characteristic of an adult, Orlocke said:

"Those eyes glowing under your bangs must be those Mystic Eyes I've only heard of in legends. You can give death to everything that exists, I saw you do it when you broke through the castle barrier."

"Mystic Eyes of Death Perception"

Heine's voice echoed near the unconscious Clown. He was carrying his little sister in his arms after the stone armor re-entered his body.

"Some say those eyes are one step closer to discovering the origin of all things."

Flue scratched his head at Heine's words.

"I never expected to find someone who could use such legendary eyes. They must be worth a fortune."

"I guess at my age I can still surprise myself."

The young and old Orlocke chuckled.

Toru ignored those comments and made a cut. As he did so, the space in the place distorted and, as if it were glass, the air shattered and Waver and company appeared, who as they fell to the ground abruptly saw the whole mess in the area and looked at Toru with questioning expressions.

"Is this what you were getting at?"

Waver asked. Toru nodded.

"Indeed. All the Magus who were invited to this castle are in this room except for one. The yamabushi by the name of Seigen. At this moment my original is going after him being guided by the shadowy beast. We must hurry. This place will not stand what is to come."

None of them refuted anything. They now understood that this Assassin already had it all figured out except for one thing.

"That beast can emit a sound that causes the same hallucinations as when we arrived."

Heine said. This clone of Toru didn't know that.

"I understand. That's a disadvantage. When I arrived I was also affected. My eyes can protect me from that but, if it's a continuous illusion, I have to protect myself from that continuously and that's a 0.3 second margin of weakness. If it's continuous, you should already imagine what would happen to me."

Because the illusions that beast would generate would be different from the ones he had to deal with in the past, which altered chakra.

"So, this time, we will need someone to support me in the rear while I go to the vanguard. The yamabushi is not going to stand idly by."

Toru looked at the hole in the wall.

"By the way, Lord. Here you go."

He pulled a scroll from his cloak and tossed it to Waver, who had difficulty catching it.

"What is this?"

"It contains all the information I have gathered. I'll add more to it later. Now, Sakura, I need you to stay away. Everyone must find a way to protect themselves against that roar. I'll meet you outside."

"Assassin, wait-"

Sakura tried to speak to him, but Toru vanished like smoke. She frowned and ran to the hole in the wall. As she was about to get out, the floor shook violently. She immediately jumped out and, looking up, noticed flashing lights and loud thuds echoing.

"He's fighting..."

Seeing his daughter's reaction, Waver looked at Gray, who nodded in response and opened the cage. After that, Add said:

"Let the feast begin, brat!"

The final battle begins.

To be continued...