THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 261: 261. SHOWERS OF DEBRIS

”Everyone, step back first. If you don’t want to die!” Sagiri said to Seya and her fighters. ”You too,” he turned to the two squads.

First things first.

The arrows needed to be put to work. Seya had submitted just like he had hoped. It had taken things to completely go out of hand before it happened, but Sagiri did not, for once, think the woman was going to just give her turf over without things going so stale or close to the point of rotting.

The thousands of them, suspended above him, trembled against the archive. He had spent a chunk of his strength just for this, and he just hoped no more madness could ensue, well, until he at least recovered. Both squads had now left his side, and they had gone into hiding just as Seya and the remainder of her fighters. It seemed like the civilians had been moved far enough during the fight.

Sagiri moved his hands slowly. He brought them up in front of him, palms open, fingers slightly curved, like he was feeling the space and controlling it. He felt every angle of every arrow. He stretched his hands wide before he pulled them in and crossed them on his chest. The pressure changed as the arrows tightened together. It pressed into the ground, into his chest, into the air itself. Breathing felt heavier.

Sagiri rolled his wrists once. Like he was loosening something invisible, then he spread his fingers wider. The arrows responded this time. A faint tremor passed through the suspended shower, as if something had just taken hold of it more firmly before they changed trajectory. Their tips began to turn, slowly at first, then faster, rotating in perfect unison until the entire storm angled upward. Thousands of arrows, aligned to a single direction.

Upwards.

Sagiri stepped forward once. He opened his stance even wider as if he was carrying the weight of the arrows on his back. His hands rose slightly higher, elbows loose, posture relaxed, a harsh contrast to what he was doing. His head tilted just a fraction, eyes tightly shut with maximum concentration, like he was being careful with the weight he was holding.

Then he paused, held them there for a split second. The air tightened even more, like something was about to break. Sagiri gathered all his strength at that moment. Then, in an instant, he stood up straight, pulled his hands apart, and smacked his fists together. The archive surged. Sagiri moved within it, jumping once into the air and taking the thousands of arrows with him.

He pushed the whole shower with him as he rose, and they went higher and higher. With a cry and with everything Sagiri could master, he pushed them once more, and this time they tore through the ground that was the artificial sky of Tatani. There was a momentary pause before they tore the ground and split it.

They did not stop even after the sharp impact made the whole place tremble. Sunlight tore into the place from the forming cracks before the place caved in, and with it also came the thousands of pieces of debris. If Sagiri did not move away, he was for sure going to be smashed. Stone cracked above him, a deep split racing across the surface before chunks broke loose and dropped fast. Dust followed, thick and blinding, turning the air into a choking haze.

Sagiri didn’t look up. He moved. Gravity was his friend this time as he allowed it to bring him down even more quickly. He stepped on one falling debris the size of a house to gain momentum. He twisted his body between the two big pieces of debris, big enough to crush him, barely avoiding getting smashed.

No time to relax or even take a breath before the shower got even more life-threatening. Sagiri dodged in a blur and twisted his body to avoid being hit, but just as he was escaping, another rammed into him hard. That was going to hurt for a while. He fell hard, spitting a mouthful of blood as he went. His feet hit the ground hard, and he slid back a few yards.

More were still falling, and he did not have the luxury to catch his breath because he had to dodge yet another one the size of a house. He took one step forward, just as a slab slammed into the ground where he had been. He shifted left immediately, smaller fragments raining down around him, striking the stone with sharp, rapid impacts.

More were still raining down, and he had to stop them.

”Arrgh!!” A groan tore from deep inside Sagiri’s chest. He must have underestimated how deep underground Tatani was. The markings on his body stirred. He did not have time to move within the archive or push it out.

Sagiri jumped to meet falling debris. He pushed his hand back, and with all his remaining strength, he rammed a fist into the debris. The piece of debris shuttered but its pieces were still big enough to hurt.

”Nokai!!” He finally called as he landed. The archive hummed as Sagiri pushed it out. Just enough to shield his body from the falling debris. Perhaps he should have called for Nokai sooner. The blades sprang out of the archive and got to work slicing the debris into small pebbles so that when they finally touched the archive, they were just pebbles.

The shower of debris went on for a few seconds before it finally stopped. Nokai did not stop as it got to work to dig Sagiri out from under the pebbles.

Sagiri shook off the dirt before he pulled himself from underneath the dirt, stone, and debris. He could finally catch his breath, but he was now spent. He only had the strength to crawl out before he collapsed on top of the heap of debris. Nokai fell into his hand before the blades snapped back seconds later into their handle.

”Sagiri!! Sagiri!!” N’varu’s voice tore the place apart after a few seconds of silence befell Tatani. He was frantic, and Sagiri could feel his fear as he ran around searching for him. Dozens of feet followed right behind him, calling him too. Sagiri could tell how hard it was to find him at the moment. He looked brown and black up to his face.

”Where are you!!” N’varu yelled even when he was standing right on top of him.

”You are going to crush my lungs further,” Sagiri coughed, and only then did N’varu jump aside.

”He is alive! He is here!” N’varu yelled to the others in relief.

”I just stopped thousands of arrows. Yet you think I can easily be killed by this?” Sagiri choked on his own blood.

”Shut up!” N’varu said, pulling him up from the dirt. ”You cause too much trouble.”

”You are welcome,” Sagiri said right before he passed out from exhaustion.