Chapter 38: The Party of Death 6
The crowd started murmuring immediately.
Another girl grabbed Himari’s sleeve. "Himari, stop! Please don’t go closer!"
"It’s fine," Himari said without looking back. "Minato is still Minato... right?" She forced a small smile, her eyes fixed on him.
Minato didn’t answer right away. His throat felt dry. His mind went blank for a second.
Then Himari asked the question he didn’t want to hear. "By the way... where’s Yuto? I saw him earlier with you. Is he okay?"
Minato froze completely. His body went stiff, and his heart felt like it stopped. He looked at her... her hopeful eyes, waiting for him to say something, for him to answer.
He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He bit his tongue, trying to force the words to move. His eyes started watering. His grip on the blood axe loosened up.
"Himari..." he responded quietly. "Yuto is... he’s..." He struggled to finish, his voice breaking. "Yuto... Yuto is dead."
The smile on Himari’s face disappeared instantly. Her eyes lost their light. She stood there, completely still, staring at him.
"You’re joking... right?" she said, her voice small and unsteady.
Minato didn’t answer. His silence said everything.
The crowd went quiet. Only the wind and the distant sound of the still-active portal could be heard.
Himari took a step back, her lips trembling. "No... no, that’s not possible," she said, shaking her head rapidly. "You’re lying... Yuto was just with you... he was having a drink with you! I saw him!"
Minato looked down. He didn’t move. His hands were shaking, the blood axe still in his grip but slowly fading away into red mist.
"I tried to save him," Minato said quietly. "But the Cyclo... the monsters... it was too fast."
Himari covered her mouth with her hand as her knees gave out. She fell forward, crying uncontrollably. Two other girls rushed to her side, trying to hold her. "No... no, please stop..." she repeated, her voice breaking.
Amelia walked over slowly, her clothes still covered in blood. She looked at the crying group, then at Minato. "We don’t have time," she said, her tone emotionless, but deep down she felt their pain. "The other portal... if it breaks completely, it’ll be worse than this."
Minato turned his head slightly toward her. His eyes were dull and red from exhaustion. "I know," he said.
Some students started backing away, whispering among themselves.
"Did she say another portal?"
"There’s more of those things?"
"What is she talking about?"
Amelia ignored them and grabbed Minato’s arm. To everyone else she was cold, even though they all hung out together at the party, but Minato himself understood that they must stop the coming Portal 3 break.
"The longer we stay here, the more dangerous it gets. We need to destroy the Portal 2 core and move to the mountain top."
Minato briefly turned back toward Himari. She was still on the ground, crying quietly while her friends held her shoulders. Her hands were covering her face, and she couldn’t even look up at him.
"I’m really sorry," he said quietly. His voice was really sore and rough. He wanted to say more, but nothing else came out.
He turned away and started walking toward Portal 2, which was still active.
As he got closer, he noticed red and blue lights flashing in the distance. Police cars were coming down the main road fast. Their sirens echoed through the neighborhood. Several armored vans followed behind them.
Minato frowned slightly. Why now? he thought to himself. Why was this portal left unprotected compared to Portal 1? There should’ve been guards, drones... something.
He didn’t have time to think further. He stepped forward and entered the portal. Amelia followed right behind him.
The inside of Portal 2 was silent compared to the first one. There was no wind, no sound... just an empty circular room with blue light coming from the walls. In the center floated a large crystal, glowing a light blue color.
=====================
[DING]
[PORTAL 2 CORE LOCATED]
======================
Amelia looked around carefully. "It’s clear," she said.
Minato walked up to the crystal. Without hesitation, he raised his blood axe and brought it down in a single strike. The crystal cracked, then broke into two clean pieces.
A burst of light filled the room, and another smaller portal appeared in front of them... this one was showing the outside, the university grounds again.
"That’s the exit," Amelia said, pointing at it.
Before walking toward it, Minato turned to her. "When we go back outside, the area will be full of people... police, students, reporters, everyone." He paused. "I don’t want you to use your mind control on them."
Amelia looked at him, surprised. "But if we don’t, they’ll know who you are. Your whole realm will find out about you."
"It’s fine, Amelia," he said, looking down for a moment. "A friend of mine died. I don’t want him to be forgotten, and besides, I started this... I’ll be the one to end it. I won’t hide anymore."
As he began to walk toward the exit, Amelia reached out and grabbed his hand.
"Minato," she said, holding onto him tightly. "I understand that you’re angry. It’s okay to be angry. But don’t turn that anger against yourself. Redirect it toward them... the ones who caused this. I don’t want to see you in pain. I don’t want to lose the Minato I know."
He looked at her hand holding his. For a moment, he said nothing. Then he gave a small, forced and fake smile.
"Thanks," he said quietly, pulling his hand away.
The smile stayed on his face, but his eyes were empty. He didn’t say anything else and stepped into the exit portal. Amelia followed right behind him.
They reappeared outside the university street again. The scene had completely changed. Police cars, ambulances, and armored vehicles were parked everywhere. Officers were putting up barricades, and a few drones were hovering overhead, scanning the area.
As soon as Minato and Amelia stepped out, several people pointed toward them, shouting. The officers raised their weapons, but before they could act, Minato spread his Vampiric wings.
The wings opened wide, dripping blood as they caught the air. He launched himself upward immediately. Amelia did the same, following him into the sky.
The crowd below shouted in confusion and fear as the two figures rose higher, leaving the flashing police lights behind.
Below them, the street where Portal 2 once stood was now quiet... just filled with smoke, rubble, and the sound of police sirens.