Recall

As Ryoshi stood before Yoshiko, confusion etched into his features, he sought to unravel the mystery behind his adversary's sudden change of heart.

"What do you mean by sorry?" Ryoshi questioned, his voice laden with skepticism as he awaited Yoshiko's response.

Yoshiko's gaze faltered, his eyes clouded with remorse as he struggled to find the words to articulate his inner turmoil.

"I'm sorry for causing so much suffering and fear to everyone around me," Yoshiko confessed, his voice heavy with guilt. "Everyone in this town has given up on taking back their prized village all because of her!"

"Who's this her?" Ryoshi pressed, his curiosity piqued by Yoshiko's cryptic revelation.

"She's... she's this voice in my head that completely takes over when she chooses," Yoshiko explained, his voice trembling with suppressed emotion. "She's the main reason everyone fears me in this village... I can't take it anymore."

"Calm down..." Ryoshi urged, his voice a soothing balm amidst the turmoil of their surroundings.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I'll tell you what happened... one day when I was only 8—"

In an instant, the world around them seemed to warp and shift, transporting Ryoshi and Yoshiko back in time to a bustling classroom twenty-five years earlier.

At a local school in Yoshiko's hometown, the teacher captivated the students with a demonstration of magical prowess, summoning a sword with effortless grace.

"What's that?" a curious girl inquired, her eyes alight with wonder.

"A magical weapon," the teacher explained, his tone infused with authority.

Excitement rippled through the classroom as each student eagerly showcased their own magical abilities, summoning swords with a flourish of youthful exuberance.

But amidst the excitement, one figure stood apart from the rest—Yoshiko, his expression a mask of uncertainty as his classmates boasted of their newfound powers.

"Yoshiko, do you have a magical weapon?" a boy taunted, his voice tinged with mockery.

The cruel words pierced Yoshiko's heart, igniting a spark of defiance within him as he sought to conceal his inner turmoil from his peers.

"Yoshiko doesn't have one!" another boy jeered, his laughter echoing through the classroom.

"Yeah, he's hopeless!" a girl chimed in, her disdain palpable.

Undeterred by their scorn, Yoshiko brushed off their taunts, his friendship with Liam providing a source of solace amidst the chaos of adolescence.

But fate had other plans in store for Yoshiko, as a chance encounter with a mysterious figure would set into motion a chain of events that would shape the course of his destiny forever.

As Yoshiko and Liam encountered the enigmatic blindfolded man, an air of uncertainty hung thick in the air, each word uttered by the stranger laden with an ominous weight.

"Oops, sorry," Yoshiko muttered sheepishly, his gaze darting nervously between the blindfolded man and his companion.

"It's all right," the blindfolded man reassured him, his voice calm and measured. "I overheard you discussing your desire for a magical weapon."

Liam, ever wary, interjected with a note of caution. "He seems shady, Yoshiko. You shouldn't trust him."

But the blindfolded man brushed off Liam's concerns, his demeanor serene as he extended an offer of assistance to Yoshiko.

"You can rely on me. All I want to do is assist you," he insisted, his words imbued with a sense of sincerity.

Yoshiko hesitated, his parents' warnings echoing in his mind. "Well, my parents said that I shouldn't trust strangers, so—"

"Nobody is immune to karma's fate in this universe," the blindfolded man countered. "Whatever you do comes back to haunt you. Therefore, if I tell you how to unlock your magical weapon, something good could happen to me."

Yoshiko pondered the stranger's words, grappling with the weight of his decision. "Yeah, I guess so..."

With a determined nod, Yoshiko signaled his readiness to proceed, his resolve firm as he prepared to unlock the secrets of his latent power.

The blindfolded man wasted no time, his hands deftly unwrapping the bandages that concealed his true intentions. As the fabric fell away, revealing the enormity of his hidden agenda, Liam's apprehension grew palpable.

"What are you doing!?" Liam demanded, his voice laced with fear and uncertainty.

"I'm simply reawakening his magical weapon," the blindfolded man explained calmly, his gaze fixed upon Yoshiko.

"Reawakening?" Liam echoed, his confusion mounting with each passing moment.

"Yes, your acquaintance has already activated his magical weapon, but his mind has most likely attempted to forget about it," the blindfolded man elaborated, his tone measured and deliberate.

But as the blindfolded man began to channel his forbidden magic, Liam's protests grew increasingly frantic.

"FORBIDDEN MAGIC!?! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO!?" Liam cried out, his voice tinged with panic.

"You're too young to understand what forbidden magic is," the blindfolded man replied dismissively, his focus unwavering as he continued to weave his spell.

As the magic took hold, wrapping Yoshiko in its ethereal embrace, Liam's fears reached a fever pitch.

"Yoshiko! Are you okay?" Liam called out, his voice tinged with desperation.

Yoshiko emerged from the ordeal unscathed, his confusion mirrored by Liam's own disbelief.

"Did you hear what he said, though? He used forbidden magic on you," Liam exclaimed, his words tumbling out in a rush.

Yoshiko's eyes widened in shock as the realization dawned upon him.

"I couldn't hear anything in that, but what!?" Yoshiko gasped, his mind reeling from the revelation.

The blindfolded man, unperturbed by Liam's accusations, offered a placid response to Yoshiko's inquiry.

"I just utilized your mana to forcefully give you your magical weapon," he explained calmly. "The only drawback is that it will be lost by someone in your family."

Yoshiko accepted the consequences with a resigned shrug, his resolve unshaken by the stranger's ominous prophecy.

"Ah, that's fine," he replied nonchalantly. "The only person to ever use a magical weapon in my family was my great-grandfather, who lived for a thousand years."

With his task complete, the blindfolded man withdrew, leaving Yoshiko to grapple with the newfound knowledge of his latent power, the secrets of which remained shrouded in mystery.

As the blindfolded man vanished into thin air, leaving behind a lingering sense of unease, Yoshiko and Liam were left to grapple with the implications of his cryptic warning.

"Why?" Yoshiko questioned, his voice tinged with uncertainty as he watched the stranger disappear before his eyes.

"Let's just say I'm not planning on being around when you summon your weapon," the blindfolded man's disembodied voice echoed, his words hanging heavy in the air.

Yoshiko's brow furrowed in confusion, his mind awash with unanswered questions as he turned to Liam for solace.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yoshiko demanded, his frustration mounting with each passing moment.

But the blindfolded man's enigmatic disappearance left little room for explanation, leaving Yoshiko and Liam to ponder the stranger's cryptic words in silence.

"I don't like where this is going," Liam remarked, his unease palpable as he regarded Yoshiko with a wary gaze.

Yoshiko nodded in agreement, a sense of foreboding settling over him as he contemplated the implications of the blindfolded man's disappearance.

"But if things go south, I know you'd be around to stop it... right?" Yoshiko reassured himself, his voice tinged with uncertainty as he sought reassurance from his friend.

"Right," Liam replied, his voice filled with determination as he resolved to stand by Yoshiko's side no matter what trials lay ahead.

The next day at school, Yoshiko found himself confronted by his classmates, their taunts and jeers ringing in his ears as they mocked his lack of a magical weapon.

"Take a look at this!" the boy boasted, summoning his magical weapon with a flourish.

"That's so cool!" the girl exclaimed, her eyes wide with wonder as she marveled at the boy's newfound power.

But as the attention turned to Yoshiko, a sense of determination welled up within him, driving him to prove his worth in the eyes of his peers.

"I actually do have one!" Yoshiko declared, his voice ringing out with newfound confidence as he prepared to summon his magical weapon for the first time.

As the room fell silent, Yoshiko closed his eyes and focused his thoughts, channeling his mana with unwavering resolve. And then, in a flash of brilliant light, two massive swords with ancient writing materialized in his hands, their gleaming blades radiating with untold power.

"Woah!" the students exclaimed in unison, their disbelief giving way to awe as they beheld Yoshiko's newfound strength.

"That's so cool, Yoshiko!" the girl exclaimed, her admiration evident in her voice as she regarded him with newfound respect.

A red aura began to envelop Yoshiko

As Yoshiko's transformation unfolded before Liam's horrified eyes, the once-familiar classroom descended into chaos, leaving Liam to grapple with the overwhelming sense of disbelief and fear that gripped him.

"Yoshiko...?" Liam called out, his voice trembling with uncertainty as he watched his friend undergo a terrifying metamorphosis.

But Yoshiko's agonized screams drowned out Liam's desperate pleas, sending shivers down his spine as he struggled to comprehend the horror unfolding before him.

"Yoshiko!!!" Liam cried out in desperation, his heart pounding in his chest as he watched helplessly from the sidelines.

As Yoshiko's form contorted and shifted, his body swelling with unnatural strength, Liam could only watch in horror as his friend was consumed by an otherworldly power beyond his comprehension.

"Stay calm, class," the teacher's voice rang out, a futile attempt to restore order amidst the chaos that engulfed the classroom.

But as Yoshiko's transformation reached its terrifying climax, all semblance of normalcy shattered, leaving behind a nightmarish scene of destruction and despair.

Liam's mind raced with a torrent of conflicting emotions, his thoughts consumed by the harrowing realization that his friend was no longer the person he once knew.

As Yoshiko's monstrous form unleashed devastation upon the classroom, Liam's survival instinct kicked in, propelling him towards the nearest exit in a desperate bid to escape the carnage unfolding before him.

"What's going on!?!" Liam's mind raced with frantic questions, his thoughts spiraling into a maelstrom of confusion and fear.

As he fled from the scene of devastation, Liam grappled with the weight of his own guilt and uncertainty, haunted by the knowledge that he had failed to prevent the tragedy that had befallen his classmates.

But as the fiery pit consumed the remnants of the school, leaving behind only charred ruins in its wake, Liam's thoughts were consumed by a single, overwhelming question:

"What am I doing out here?" Liam's voice echoed through the desolate space, his words laden with confusion and disbelief. The fiery pit, a ghastly maw that had seemingly devoured reality itself, vanished without a trace. In its wake lay Yoshiko, unconscious, a stark contrast against the void where their school once stood.

F L A S H B A C K O V E R

Yoshiko's voice reverberated in Ryoshi's mind, his words painting a vivid picture of chaos and inexplicable horror. "A few hours after that, some officers came after hearing the sound of a thousand crying souls," she recounted, his tone weighted with the burden of witnessing unimaginable events. "And probably saw me sitting there and Liam looking at me in complete silence. I've gotten out easy because they didn't expect me to be the reason why all of those people went missing and instead blamed demons."

Ryoshi's brow furrowed in bewilderment. "What do you mean by a thousand crying souls?"

"The school got dragged to hell," Yoshiko replied with a chilling certainty.

"Are you serious!?!" Ryoshi's disbelief was palpable, his voice cracking with incredulity.

"Yeah... and I saw it all happen, from Zeunpo," Yoshiko affirmed, his words carrying the weight of witnessing the unimaginable.

"Zeunpo? Isn't that just a made-up dimension that sits between reality and your mind?" Ryoshi's skepticism mingled with genuine curiosity.

"You're on the right track but no," Yoshiko corrected him. "Zeunpo, A.K.A the dream world, is a place that holds the thoughts and memories of every living being. When she takes control of my body, I get sent to the spirit world and watch from afar. That's how I knew exactly what Liam was thinking when he saw me kill all those people."

"What happened to Liam???" Ryoshi's concern was evident in his urgent tone.

"Liam took it in the wrong direction..." Yoshiko's voice trailed off, her words heavy with regret. "When I woke up in a bed in the hospital, Liam was still stuck in his stock state. And once he snapped out of it, he saw me gone and thought that I was forever lost. So he set his goals to join the royal mages and stop me."

"I used to want to be a royal mage. They were strong and smart," Ryoshi reminisced, a tinge of longing coloring his words.

"Same, but those dreams will never be a reality... But I found my true passion in owning a hotel," Yoshiko admitted, his voice carrying a sense of resignation and acceptance.

"Oh yeah, about the hotel..." Ryoshi began, his words trailing off as he hesitated.

"Don't worry about it," Yoshiko interjected, his voice reassuring. "She goes after people she knows that are strong, so this happens a lot. But nobody has ever survived... until now! And yes, you only survived because she fell asleep after getting hit by that attack of that friend of yours."

"Wow, I'm glad that he wasn't awake to hear that," Ryoshi breathed a sigh of relief, his gratitude evident.

"We were on our way to complete a mission, but now that everyone's beaten up, we might not be able to get there," Ryoshi lamented, his frustration palpable.

"Don't worry, I got you covered! My destiny magic is healing magic," Yoshiko reassured him, his tone brimming with confidence.

"Wait, really?" Ryoshi's disbelief was tinged with hope.

"Yeah, but just because I caused you guys so much trouble, I'll do you all a favor and revert you to how you were a day ago," Yoshiko offered, his voice tinged with sincerity.

"How?" Ryoshi's curiosity piqued, his gaze fixed on Yoshiko.

"Some guy named Juyo came over the other day and taught me how to use time magic," Yoshiko explained, his words tinged with excitement.

"Juyo!?!" Ryoshi's surprise was palpable, his mind racing with questions.

"Yeah, you know him?" Yoshiko inquired, his curiosity mirrored in his tone.

"N-no," Ryoshi stammered, his mind reeling with the implications.

"Well, his destiny magic is time magic, and after hearing that my destiny magic was healing magic, he taught me one-time magic ability," Yoshiko elucidated, his voice filled with determination.

"Time magic? Don't tell me that Juyo can control time or something," Ryoshi's incredulity was evident in his tone.

"Time magic: Time rewind (one day)," Yoshiko announced, his voice resonating with power.

Yoshiko created a yellow bubble, its size and luminescence reminiscent of his hotel. Within its confines, time itself seemed to bend to his will. The damage inflicted upon the hotel was undone, and Kuroshi and Toruri's wounds began to mend.

"That should be good!" Yoshiko declared, his voice filled with satisfaction.

"Wow, I feel much better," Ryoshi exclaimed, his relief evident in his tone.

"Yeah... It's about morning now; you guys should get going," Yoshiko urged, his voice tinged with urgency.

"But they're still unconscious..." Ryoshi protested, his concern for his comrades evident in his words.

"Then pick them up! I don't have all day; I'm actually getting a little bit tired," Yoshiko replied, a yawn punctuating his statement.

"Fine," Ryoshi acquiesced, his tone resigned.

Ryoshi lifted Toruri and Kuroshi, their forms limp in his arms, and exited the hotel.

"Wow, that was one damn weird way to say goodbye," Ryoshi remarked, his words tinged with amusement.

"Hey," a voice interjected, breaking the silence.

"Oh, Toi! I forgot about you... We should continue going to the vampires," Ryoshi suggested, his tone shifting to one of determination.

"Yes," Toi agreed simply, his voice carrying a sense of purpose.

And with that, Ryoshi and Toi embarked on their journey, their silhouettes fading into the vibrant hues of the sunrise, a new day dawning on their tumultuous adventures.