Inverse System

Chapter 121 - Unexpected Hostage

"The hell was that sound..?" Sho uttered as he looked around him, suddenly being able to hear Chloe and Xenia, who were sitting on the opposite side of the barrier.

"The barrier's gone! Does that mean they did it?" Xenia exclaimed as she ran into the town.

"No… Look up there," Chloe pointed up to the moon, where a black silhouette hung over the spherical light, a man with a waving scarf flying above them.

"Did that man just destroy the barrier? But we hit it with everything we had… How is that possible?" Sho uttered as the man dropped down to the ground, the shining moonlight, instead of casting a silhouette, was now outlining his features.

He had ashy grey hair and piercing blue eyes. He wore a long, flowing black scarf, a black jacket with 2 rectangular holes placed in a symmetrical fashion at the bottom of the coat, with a white undershirt. He wore baggy grey pants, with red anklets between his pants and his black shoes. He also wore 3 red necklaces on his chest, revealed by his unbuttoned jacket, and along with his normal weapon ring, he wore 3 more red rings on his fingers.

"Damn this place is shabby. And it looks like a couple of Rangers already beat me to the punch. Can't say I'm not impressed," the man scratched his head as Sho, Xenia, and Chloe arrived in front of him.

"Who are you? And what do you want?!" Sho yelled as he saw the man picking wax out of his ear with a bored expression.

"Wait, I've seen this guy before…" Xenia claimed as she took a closer look at him.

"You have? Where?" Sho asked.

"I think… I saw him up in the secret base Clyde and I were transported to a while back… That's right, he was with the woman!" As Xenia recalled the woman's face, she finally made a connection, one that frightened her to her core.

"No way… Was that woman… Did she become the queen?" Xenia thought as she broke out into a cold sweat.

"So he's a bad guy then? Shit, he seems extremely powerful too," Sho exclaimed as he summoned his nunchucks and got into battle position.

The grey-haired man yawned in boredom, his unamused expression growing.

"Look, I'm not looking to fight any of you weaklings. I'm just here for that curse, got it? Man, she said there wouldn't be anyone else here. This just became so much more annoying," the man complained, finally looking up to take a good look at the Rangers in front of him.

"Hold on… You're the Econican prince, aren't you? And no way! Is that the Orthlysian princess too? Wow, it's been a while since I've seen you," the man laughed as his expression grew humorous, Chloe turning her head in confusion at his words.

"It's been a while? I've never seen you before in my life," Chloe remarked, the man facepalming in reaction.

"Come on, you forgot? And after you said those hurtful things to me? I wasn't even hiding my face," he shook his head as Chloe's pupils suddenly shrunk, her mouth opening in shock as her eyes widened.

"You're the one… from that day…" She began trembling in terror as she feebly stepped back, beginning to hold herself to contain her fright.

"You're scared of me? You haven't changed at all then. I thought you swore you'd kill me? What happened to that?" The man remarked as Chloe's mind continued to dread, closing her eyes out of horror.

Xenia clenched her fist, growing veins on her forehead out of anger, stepping in front of Chloe to defend her.

"Who the hell do you think you are?! How about you stop being a little bitch and square up?! I'm not scared of you, I'll beat your ass!" Xenia claimed as she summoned her greatsword.

"Who are you? A friend of the princess? And where'd you say you saw me? In the 'secret base'? Are you referring to *that* base? The last time I was there was when I failed to capture that other cursed girl, the one with hazel-colored hair. Actually, you match her description pretty spot on," the man scratched his chin as he squinted his eyes towards Xenia, making him raise an eyebrow, then begin laughing genuinely, putting his arms over his stomach as he couldn't contain his innocent laughter.

"Oh wow, what a coincidence! It is you, isn't it?! Perfect, now I can get 2 curses in 1 mission!" The grey-haired man gained a perk in his voice, yelling enthusiastically as he finally summoned his glaive, beginning to slowly approach the 3 nonchalantly, whistling in a carefree manner as he marched.

"Luther!" He suddenly heard a familiar voice emerge from his right, turning his head to see Rein standing atop a home's roof, with a black-haired girl in his arms, 2 other Rangers standing beside him.

"Holy crap..! It's you, Rein! Man, I've been longing to see you! That wench should've said you'd be here! I'd have come in a flash!" Luther expressed his joy as he faced Rein with a delighted expression.

"Cut the shit. I was expecting you to come, and this time, you're gonna listen to what I have to say. No getting the jump on me this time you fucker," Rein set the girl down and glared at Luther, who looked jubilant at Rein's appearance.

"I can tell you've gotten stronger! We're gonna fight now, right? I've been itching for some action!" Luther warmed up, stretching his arms and legs as Rein laughed slowly, shaking his head.

"No, we're not fighting. I've got the upper hand here. You see this girl? She's the cursed Spring wielder you're after," Rein claimed as he grabbed the girl by the arm, summoning one of his swords as he put it up to her neck, taking her hostage.

"R-Rein?! What are you doing?!" Chloe yelled out of her agitation, Rein ignoring her call as he unflinchingly kept the sword to her neck.

"Hey! Keep the girl out of this Rein!" Sho angrily yelled, Rein turning his head to him, staring at him with his eyes widened, making Sho keep quiet.

"What is the meaning of this Rein? Why are you taking the girl hostage?!" Clyde cross-examined.

"Hey, dude..? This is going a bit too far…" Core remarked as he and Clyde approached Rein from behind to pull his arm back, away from the girl's neck.

"Stay out of this," Rein called as he burst a gust of wind from his back, sending Clyde and Core flying back, making them land on a roof behind him, unable to advance as he kept up the current of air.

Sho and Xenia also wore bewildered faces at Rein's sudden action, now directing their attention to him. Lillia, the girl being held at the point of a blade, had a blank expression as if she didn't care that she was being held hostage.

"Heh, are you tryin' to threaten me or something? Force me to surrender because you've got leverage? Yeah right, you don't have the balls to pull something like that off," Luther claimed as he scoffed at Rein's threat.

"Wanna test it? If you don't do what I say, this girl's as good as dead, and you're gonna have to look around for the curse again. Won't that be a pain in the ass? And imagine how disappointed your mistress would be," Rein continued swaying the conversation in his favor, Luther scratching his head in thought, seeing Rein's murderous eyes, different from the ones he saw in Aquifa.

Even yet, Luther smiled devilishly, pointing to his side, straight at Xenia, who still had her attention on Rein.

"Don't get it twisted kid, you don't have the upper hand in this situation at all. You're not the only one who's got a curse hostage. You can take the life of that girl, but as soon as you do, this hazel-haired girl's curse is mine," Luther reversed the odds, leveling the conversation in terms of leverage.

No, he didn't level it. He completely shifted it in his favor. Either way, Rein would be losing a cursed Spring, and even more than that, a valuable ally. However, Rein's expression didn't falter. Not a single flinch at Luther's words, sternly keeping his composure as he summoned his other sword, gripping it in his right hand.

"Sure, you can take Xenia's curse," Rein exclaimed, hearing the gasps of shock from his teammates, even bewildering Luther, who once again scratched his head, this time in confusion rather than boredom.

He lifted his left arm, bringing the sword up like his other one, this time passing up by the neck of the girl, all the way to his own neck, grazing the black steel blade on his own throat, drawing a small streak of blood that flowed down to his shirt.

"But as soon as you do, I will cut my own head clean off."