16 - Juggernaut

Otto slowly walked in along the battlefield, his heart full of sorrow. The remnants of the soul prowess lingering in the dusty air still echoed Erwin’s name. Each cloud in the emerging stormy sky represented a fallen comrade.

He glanced at the ground one more time. He bowed down and touched it with his palm.

“So, you left me too, Erwin...”

“You should have been enjoying your life, not sacrificing it.”

“Although, who am I to talk about sacrifices...”

He caressed the concrete a little, his palm turning a shade of gray.

“My father always told me that justice is above everything.”

“My fate was set in stone the moment my father knew I was going to be born a man. I would follow him into the military, climb the rankings, and be a brave soul.”

“But after disease took the best of him, the Global Soul Even decided that it’s better if I become a soulful instead. I sought the same idea of justice and fairness, I promised to dedicate myself to the idea of preserving the greater good, the founding pillar of my father’s and my own ideology.”

“That ideology would etch itself into my blade and grant me the power to replicate other powers. Whenever I saw someone with great power, I always thought that I’d do something better if I was in their place. I was convinced that I, unlike them, would use their power for the better. And in a way, that line of thinking granted me my ability.”

“And look where it got you, Otto Richter.”

“I’m sorry. Hermann, Klaus, Victoria, Danny, Reina...and Erwin.” Otto whispered to himself. “I must continue this war alone, and I will not rest until my goal is complete.”

“It is my job as a general to win the war.”

“It is my duty to allow the few to sacrifice themselves for everyone.”

“Look at you, regretful soulful.” A voice said from across the battlefield. The presence could not be mistaken, and as soon as Otto felt it, his heart ripped out of his chest. It was the exact moment that all of the sacrifices to this point were leading up to.

“The only one left in your fantasy is yourself.” The man that uttered those words in front of Otto was Kaito Kamiki himself.

“You scum...at last, you’ve shown your face...” Otto said. In just an instant, his face was engulfed with rage and hatred. He summoned The Replicator in his hand, the three gemstones that decorated it shone brightly. His soul presence flared up.

“All of this culling, just for you to kiss the ground and cry?” Kaito said. “You truly are soulless.”

“It will be over soon, my brothers and sisters...” Otto thought. His sorrow, his gamble, and his sacrifices had finally paid off. The lives that he took with his own hands, and the lives taken with his orders...

...would all bear witness to the swan song of the world as they knew it.

“I thought I’d arrive here myself and call you soulless myself.” Kaito said, gracefully approaching him. He stood still for a few seconds, watching Otto’s rage in amusement. “To think that a soulful would align himself with the pathetic whimpers of the soulless...”

“In the name of my father and my fallen comrades, I’ll strike you down and stop you.” Otto said. He prepared to sharply advance.

“Then let’s have a contest of soul prowess.”

At that moment, Kaito flared his soul presence to its maximum.

The battlefield felt like an ocean, and there, submerged in its deepest point, was Otto himself. The overwhelming presence signified the presence of a truly divine power. The release of his presence alone was stronger than a lot of divine acclamations. After all, that indescribable strength was one of the many things about him that separated him from other soulfuls.

Otto rushed in, swinging his sword. The Replicator clashed against Kaito’s own katana. The impact of the clash alone cracked the concrete beneath them. They exchanged more strikes, but Kaito seemed to be taking the fight rather lightly. He wasn’t striking Otto, and Otto couldn’t strike him. One connection by either side would end the fight.

Meanwhile, Otto was too enraged and fixated on his desire to kill to remember to utilize his copied soul expressions. After seeing and causing so much death, his mind was clouded. It all came down to exactly what Kaito said - a contest of soul prowess.

Eventually, Otto got the upper hand in one of their exchanges. He distances himself away on purpose, and as Kaito went in, he barely managed to avoid the lethal counter-attack.

“How bothersome.” Kaito said, lunging back. “I’ll make sure to kill you in one shot.”

Kaito swung his katana, launching an unfathomable release of soul prowess at Otto. The latter dodged, but the slash continued flying and decimating every building it came into contact with for quite some time. Otto blindly charged in blindly again, except this time, his luck wasn’t as forgiving.

Kaito quickly launched a second slash, cutting Otto’s right arm off for good. And simple slashes of soul prowess weren’t enough to replicate a soul expression. Before Otto could react, a second slash hit him in the neck.

At least that’s what Otto foresaw.

He dodged the initial slash, and used the second one to rapidly close the distance. Kaito looked shocked by that maneuver.

“ ✦ Divine Acclamation ✦ ”

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“The blood that you all spilled...”

“Is priceless.”

“ ✦ Unwavering Soul of Justice! ✦ ”

Kaito dashed back, but Otto chased him down, carefully foreseeing and dodging the incoming slashes. His eyes started to bleed more and more, but his determination remained concrete.

“But it was not wasted.”

With a swift motion, Otto narrowly avoided one of the slashes and charged in. Kaito tried to step back, but some type of force held him in place, stopping his only chance to retreat. Otto advanced even more, and at last, the Replicator pierced Kaito’s chest.

“And there it is.”

Otto smiled, the blood by his eyes was mixed in with some tears. A fourth gemstone quickly appeared on his blade.

“A delusional maniac like you should have never attained this power.” Otto said. “I promise to all my fallen comrades...that I will use it to eradicate you.”

“Hey...”

“The power that is known as-”

“Look again.”

Otto was confused at the statement, but he was taken aback even more by the information he just received. The power he was supposed to copy was the legendary soul salvation system.

Slowly, a liquid-like mask started to melt away from Kaito’s face. In fact, it wasn’t even Kaito. It was a teen with tanned skin and dark brown hair.

“Name’s D. Alvarez.” The boy smirked. Despite looking young, he had the courage many didn’t possess. He was sent on a mission he knew would likely end with his death.

“What...?” Otto was shocked.

“You saw me as Mr. Kamiki, didn’t you?” Alvarez smirked, blood pouring out of his wound. “I’ve got a power that lets me disguise as someone else, even matching their soul prowess and soul presence. All I did was read a script and sacrifice my life, and my family down south has enough money to live a dozen lifetimes. Pretty cool, right?”

At the same time, Kaito was far up in the mountains, in a cabin so far away that Otto would never look there to find him. He, his son and a few of his people were all up there.

“God...damn you...Kaito Kamiki!” Otto yelled.

“ ✦ Soul Sacrifice: Perfect Disguise! ✦ ”

The blast of energy completely destroyed the boy’s body. In these moments, he was completely enraged. But unfortunately for him, this type of operation didn’t only involve Alvarez himself.

“NOW!”

Oskar fired off an electricity lightning arrow which pierced Otto’s torso. Ichika chucked a pair of ice spears that impaled his neck and feet. Not only did they deal lethal damage to him, but they also froze him to the ground.

“No, this cannot be...”

“A trick like this?!”

And finally, Ausra was the one to deal the finishing blow. The massive explosion destroyed the weakened and off-guard Otto’s body heavily. Oskar took aim again, and an electric arrow pierced him in the head cleanly.

"I should've concluded that this was a trap."

"Thankfully..."

"I've already foreseen it all."

The moment Alvarez’s body was destroyed, he took a sharp leap back, dodging the arrow. He then perfectly blocked the spears. His eyes gushed out more blood.

With a swing of his sword, the ground beneath him was destroyed, and the explosive-armed bits of concrete were thrown into the sky. Ausra detonated them in panic, and Otto was covered in thick smoke.

“Shit, how did he figure everything out?!” Oskar yelled. He charged in, and so did the other two. Otto was engulfed in rage, he screamed like a madman.

Ausra chucked an explosive bit of concrete at Otto, but the makeshift bomb was quickly pulled to the ground and neutralized. Otto charged at her, slashing her body and kicking far away into one of the ruined buildings nearby.

“Ausra!” Oskar called out. Angered, he aimed his bow again. He would’ve shot Otto had it not been for the latter’s foresight. Otto quickly advanced at Oskar, the gravity pulling Oskar down with no remorse. He tried to fight back, but Otto pierced his stomach, pulled the sword away, and struck him in the face strong enough to send him flying into a pile of rubble.

“Soul Interpretation.”

“Flash Freeze!”

Ichika’s palm was placed on Otto’s back. The freezing effect kicked in almost instantly and destroyed a large chunk of his body, leaving him almost paralyzed. Unfortunately for Ichika, he had already foreseen that development. He quickly turned around and parried the attack, kicking her away. Blood continued squirting out of his eyes, but he didn’t care about pain anymore.

She quickly conjured a blast of ice, but Otto’s foresight allowed him to dodge it perfectly and close the distance, Ichika fought back, but eventually, the gravity overpowered her. Otto hit her with a powerful slash, grabbed her, and threw her into another nearby pile of debris.

He charged in again. Ichika quickly conjured a wall of ice to block his advance, but Otto broke through it. He swung the replicator like a madman, and Ichika tried her hardest to keep up with him.

“All this blood...”

“All of this is a result of your cowardice, Kaito Kamiki! You despicable waste of life!” He said in a truly hateful voice. He strengthened the gravity to its maximum, weakening Ichika and forcing her onto the ground. He kicked her away, throwing her into a pile of rubble.

The sky was covered with dark clouds. Beams of sunlight broke through, but the battlefield was dark. It was dead calm. The war would resume itself. Casualties on both sides, no resolution, only hate. Otto’s next target was the Heisei itself, after which, any stronghold that would attempt to challenge him to protect Kaito, and after that, every single human being that would support him.

He walked in Ichika’s direction, preparing to finish her off for good. He triumphed over the secondary division, but there was not a single celebratory thought in his mindscape. The war now favored him.

“Show yourself...”

“Kaito Kamiki!”

That was the case, until, another soul presence appeared.

“This is him...”

“And that’s...”

“Ausra?”

“Oskar?”

“I-Ichika?”

"The guy who killed...Hayk and...K-Kouta..."

“That’s right.”

“Every time life seems better...”

He remembered that scene next to the supermarket again. He remembered exactly how that gunshot sounded.

“The abyss drags me back in.”

His soul could not contain his hatred anymore. He tried to scream, but it came off more like a desperate cry for help.

“OTTO RICHTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Breaking through the darkened skies, Sakuto Hitori entered the battlefield! He charged at Otto with incredible speeds, and the impact of their blades clashing pushed Otto further and further back! The ground collapsed, as the instruments of fate were in the hands of the hateful soulfuls!