CHAPTER 3:

  While walking out of the dimly lit alleyway his first contact were the blistering clouds of Jerusalem, by itself the scenery was otherworldly

  “So where exactly am I supposed to find this guy?”

  “Near the church of the holy sepulchre, he should be around there, based on the database”

  The boy couldn't help but admire the eye candy, even though he was talking to another person

  “I don't know if i’m supposed to be scared or relaxed about this, that aside the architecture here is great, at least from what I'm used to”

  “That's what you're focused on? Seriously, Haru, pull yourself together, and yes, you're supposed to be tense for this. Most likely, you two will fight, mainly because of his god complex”

  “Ok fine, I'll get to it four eyes”

  “Do you seriously not express emotions? Besides when meeting the supernatural?”

  “My parents say that it has always been like that”

  A momentary pause came to Sylvia, maybe it was hesitation to question him further…

  “So I'm guessing fascination isn't simply an emotion to you?”

  “Technically it's just a normal human reaction”

  Shortly after the exchange Haru had lost his way through the city

  On the way there, there was a football stadium, kids played football in bliss, his mind involuntarily stopped to watch over the fence

  It was nice seeing children being children, but right now he didn't have the time…

  With a stroke of luck, the holy church of Sepulchre was found

  The church of Sepulchre looked magnificent under the hue of the lights bouncing off its marble

  With the modest and humbling look of the structure, it gathered around crowds

  The security guards were loose and relaxed as adults prayed and children were playing around, the atmosphere though was eerily calm, like it was silent

  Meanwhile, Sylvia was already asleep on the other end

  “Hey, Sylvia, I found the place…Sylvia?”

  He asked, tapping on the smartwatch

  Sylvia abruptly awakened, in one motion she lifted her head up from the desk, she quickly adjusted her glasses and hair

  “Sorry I just fell asleep, yawn, not even elves are perfect as you see”

  “Seriously? For a guide you sure do seem unprofessional, you know?”

  His face grew a deep purple, rather comically…

  Intense blushing crept up on her cheeks, at the same time the urge to shout was enormous, with a valiant effort she bit down on her tongue

  “Anyways, did you find Matthew there?”

  “No, not yet, I just arrived, cut me some slack, will you?”

  Just as Sylvia was about to answer, the connection cut off between them

  “...”

  “Sylvia? Sylvia! Goddamnit!”

  For the first time in a while he thought ahead, shutting down the smartwatch

  “Might as well save battery for later”...

  Footsteps could be heard not too far from him

  Then, the voice of a man could be heard talking to Haru

  “It's like I could sense it from a mile away, the mana stench of a weakling in these holy grounds? Preposterous”

  The man proclaimed, running a hand through his black, luscious hair

  “I would presume that you are Matthew right? And it's also safe to assume that you have no idea who I am, right?”

  At that Matthew laughed vehemently, albeit his voice was a little raspy when speaking

  “You are correct. After all, why would I even bother knowing a worm such as you?”

  “Heavens, you're even worse than Sylvia described you”

  Matthew fake gasped before laughing yet again

  “Of course I know who you are, or did you forget who I am? I can foresee everything and anything, Haru senkawa, and I also know your deepest secrets, if you're interested”

  “What secrets are you talking about? I don't need to hide anything from anyone”

  “So why do you fight?”

  Said Matthew while closing one eye

  “To be something greater than I am, and what do you fight for?”

  “To crush worms like you”

  Matthew's face twitched unnaturally, smiling from ear to ear

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  In a blur of light he leaped into the air

  His arm extended and a small broken shard touched Haru's forehead, that shard was of course the first shard of the church, a transparent broken piece that held the light of the church, door to infinite places they say

  “What the? What are you doing-”

  Harus's voice was abruptly cut off, as a thousand different things raced in his mind in a very painful surge

  The futures that were shown to him appeared in the form of visions, they themselves appeared like static old TV with horrifying showings

  Enough to torment a child and scar it for life, as a result Haru screamed out loud, pain etched into his face, he was being forced to see the different futures and outcomes that Matthew could see

  It was like time itself had accelerated, the fiber of his brain twisted so violently that it began to break apart

  “BAM!”

  A loud thud echoed in the crowd filled church(the outside)

  Haru dropped on the floor, not even on his knees, blood had rushed out of his nose and mouth

  The iris had recoiled so much that only the sclera of the eye was visible

  “Pathetic, so this is who the imaginary codex chose as its new host? How utterly disgusting”

  With a vile hurl Matthew spat on the boy's back

  Meanwhile, on the ground Haru was struggling to lift his body, the floor below him felt like it slipped at any moment

  “What did you just do to me? Is this how you fight, coward?”

  His voice came out unnaturally

  “Ha, an insult like that isn't enough to faze me, don't you dare even think about getting up!”

  Matthew raised his legs and stomped on Haru's back repeatedly

  That causes Haru's head to bash against the polished stones and for his ribcage to break

  More and more people started to gather around the site, they ended up encircling the two combatants

  Lights flashed as phones were raised and words were hurled around

  The noise made Haru almost go deaf, but of course the codex wouldn't allow him so

  All of a sudden, Haru grabbed Matthew's leg, a desperate attempt

  His hand though monetarily slipped before fully grasping its target

  “Insolent wrench!”

  Matthew's leg was yanked away, then he stomped on his raised hand as hard as he could

  “CRUNCH!!”

  The sickening wound made the catheter crowd stop for a single moment

  “Hmph, what's this? Are you still trying?! I'm utterly pissed at your attempts, little worm, just die already. Why don't you, it will save us all the more time”

  Blood dripped from Haru's mouth as he spoke, like a cat having its head stomped

  “You think I'll give up just because you say so? Well, you're so wrong”

  “But why? Why is it that you try so hard? Just concede, we both know who the best one of us is here”

  Haru's hand flew to grasp at a bulging rock, using it to hurl himself in that direction

  Effectively dodging Matthew's kick, which were aimed at his head

  Now slowly standing up despite the pain, it was a sight to behold for the flashing phone cameras

  On the other side, Matthew almost slipped on the rocks, landing rather awkwardly after his missed hits

  “You want to know why? Because I've finally been given a chance, a chance to be useful, not just to one person but the whole world, and I'm not gonna waste that because some prick is in my way!”

  As the two were engaging, the sun had finally set

  “I see, so that's your motivation? Well, how noble of you, mister hero, but I'm afraid this has to come to an end”

  With a loud crackle his body was lifted in the air, while going down Matthew shifted all his momentum into.his right fist

  Even though Haru couldn't see him physically move he could see the trajectory and the blurry lines left behind, after all it was the second time that Matthew had done it in the fight

  Then he pivoted forward just enough for the punch not to land, narrowly grazing his head

  “The hell!?-”

  Before Matthew could even finish his sentence, a grueling pain could be felt in his abdomen

  Haru's punch had connected while he was in mid air

  “I won't fall for the same trap twice, asshole. You're clearly using your speed to your advantage”

  Matthew, for the first time in a long time, spat blood on the floor, the overwhelming sensation of anger consumed his logic

  “Shut up, kid, you don't know nothing about me, absolutely nothing”

  Skillfully his hand flew to the ground to catch himself from not faceplanting

  “Fight me like a man damn it!”

  “What do you think I've been doing?”

  In a single moment they were at each other's face

  Luckily since everyone snapped photos constantly, one of the cameras captured the moment before they directly crashed, their fists on opposite ends

  They ended up punching each other at the same time to start the fight

  As if instinctively Matthew began aggressively punching away at Haru's face

  To counter it Haru played defense with a high guard, both his fists protecting his face

  Due to the slippery floor both of them kept losing their footing, the uneven terrain didn't allow for too much shifting around

  It caused Haru to make the biggest mistake during the fight, his foot slipped past what was intended, his right flank was wide open

  Prompting Matthew to land a punch at full momentum to his right cheek

  The force slammed him against the ground, the pain made his muscles twitch violently

  “CRUNCH!”

  A sickening sound echoed as Haru broke his nose while slamming face first to the ground, blood and skin stained the uneven ground

  Matthew now proudly stood over him, proclaiming

  “I hope you have a nice stay in the ground where you belong”...

  All of a sudden, snow started falling through sky, it grazed the floor, pelting the church and the ground, the scene was simply breathtaking to behold

  In a weak attempt A moved his eyes, blood was tickling down his eyelashes, partially blocking his vision

  “What day is it again?”

  “The 26th of December, why?”

  “The day that the imaginary codex chose me was 25th then, the birth of christ, this must be symbolism, the birth of a new god”

  It took him great effort to push himself off the ground, his breath fogging along the way

  “The birth of a new god?! Haha, don't make me laugh. That's utterly ridiculous! The only true god that is worth worshipping is me!”

  “You clearly are psychotic”

  His body slouched back, all odds were against him to lose the fight

  Lights flashed from everywhere at the same time, an opponent that can see the future, and the expectations of being greater than himself if he wanted to succeed in saving the world

  He had to be brighter than the light of the sun…

  “This is my victory!”

  Basking in all his glory Matthew momentarily let his guard down

  With the expectations and the pent up rage inside him, Haru's fist flew across the short distance, connecting with Matthew's nose, even if he was he would have barely blocked it

  “CRACK!”

  The ferocity of the punch was enough to nearly shatter his jaw if it was an uppercut, the Forster was left speechless

  “...”

  Human blood gushed out of his nose, staining his lips and chin, and then the throat

  He has no choice but to pinch his nose, it was painful enough to make him scream at the top of his lungs

  Even when this boy was utterly humiliated and everybody saw it, even with the newfound powers that he got, he still had the determination to fight to the very end?

  “I'm in going to kill that complex of your's”

  Haru uttered with a rugged breath, with a scream he initiated another punch to the nose

  Since the trajectory was downward it nailed Matthew to the ground like a screwdriver, his head bumped against the slippery ground, a loud thumping noise rang out

  “THUD!”

  Almost like a club hitting against a wall

  The media was going into an absolute frenzy over this, videos that were uploaded were hitting the 100 million views mark within minutes…

  Haru backed off a couple of steps to catch his breath, unknowingly he allowed Matthew to escape but…he didn't

  “You beat me, fair and square kid, I can't deny that, truly, you're an annoying one”

  “How come though you endured all that suffering?”

  “...”

  “Does it matter? My suffering is little in front of my goal”

  Letting out a scoff he walked away through the crowd, eventually he disappeared into the night

  After Matthew left, the crowd dispersed quickly, things went back to normal for the city of Jerusalem…

  Haru dragged himself over to the stairs of the church, his smartwatch finally reconnected with Sylvia

  “Well, this is awkward. It was so sudden that our connection severed. Is everything ok on your part?”

  “Everything is fine here Haru, you don't have to worry, plus I saw your fight with Matthew(on the media)….I got to say, even with my experience, you amazed me”

  “Don't, I just…did what was right, I didn't have the chance to befriend him but i saw a glimpse of change in him”

  During the fight snow had accumulated in his hair

  “Even I didn't expect so much resilience from you back there, but…like I told you, I have faith in you that you can operate on your own”

  Her cheeks turned a soft pink at the end of her sentence, was she falling for this guy? After all they were same age biologically

  “After this, should I return to your room or at school? I wanted to grab some fruits and vegetables anyways”

  “You should definitely go to school, I am not a master but I'm pretty sure that we need to avoid suspicion for some time now?”

  Haru just nodded at her explanation, shortly after an odd silence fell, with a light tap on the glass creek the smartwatch switched off…

  Into the midnight he made his way back to where he first teleported here in Jerusalem, the weather was surprisingly cloudy today

  Around him little kids played in the snow, their parents supervising them from the side

  Harus's gaze lingered on for a moment, memories of his childhood resurface, memories like his parents were the only people that genuinely saw him for who he is as a person and not just a mere form intellect

  While walking through the snowy streets he'd reach a stall that he had seen earlier on his way to finding Matthew, conveniently he wanted to buy some fruits and vegetables

  “Will that be all sir?”

  “Yes, thank you”

  Aiming aimlessly his mind floated to the previous fight with Matthew

  Especially his ability, which traumatized him, truth be told

  (So this is the power of the 9 holy relics?...)

  At the same time,on the opposite end of the city, Matthew was doing the same thing

  Least to say his ego was hurt a lot after that, the very foundations he stood upon were shaken

  “How could this happen to me? To me of all people!”

  An intense rage blinded him, it made him smash the liquor glass against the wall

  The ounces fell on the floor rapidly and the alcohol stained the expensive red wall

  “Young master! What happened?!”

  “Shut up! None of your business!”

  With gnawing teeth he pushed her out, spilling more alcohol in the process

  “Master!-”

  “Shut up!”

  When she left he fell on top of the bed

  “Maybe...just maybe that kid has more potential than I think?....I can't tell if I'm being delirious or not…”

  As a mere kid who didn't show any prowess not only rivaled his powers but overpowered him with just pure will, his mind continued to ponder internally ….

  Way back at Haru's home, his parents were still appalled, they feared for the absolute worst

  Kuse, Haru's mom, was absolutely broken at this point, it wasn't as much as Haru missing anymore but his complete disregard towards them

  Meanwhile

  Shirou was left emotionless and stoic, trying to cope with that fact himself, his way to cope was to close himself off just like Haru

  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree the saying goes, overall the house was left simply shattered…

  “Eyes on the target yet?”

  “Rest assured, I know where he is. It's just that I let him flee for my little hunting game”

  The mysterious woman replied, her voice dripped with animosity

  “You can do anything that you want. Just bring back the target safe and sound. Even if you touch a single hair on his head, we will both be fired”

  “Calm down, i'm not gonna do that, I'm just gonna amuse myself like always”

  The mysterious woman assured the person on the other end(of the call) while standing on the cross of the church of the holy Sepulcher, her gaze fell to the snow that streaked Jerusalem below her feet

  “You know what, I don't even care at this point, as long as you don't do anything reckless”

  The mysterious man uttered with little to no effort as he hung up

  She chuckled quietly to herself and put her phone back in her pocket

  “I wonder what his blood will test like”

  The spear of longinus could be seen into her right hand…