Wilted Flower ~ Chuuya x Non-Binary Reader

Chapter 37

3rd-person POV:
With Akutagawa and Atsushi now covering Y/n's back, they can give their full attention to stopping Crux, knowing that Akutagawa and Atsushi won't let anything happen to them.

For a while, there was a stalemate; neither side making any moves or speaking a single word. That is, until Fyodor began chuckling, the sound getting gradually louder and almost hysterical. "Ah, more people trying to stand in my way. And one of them so happens to be the one I've long waited to be granted an audience with. How ironic."

Fyodor's eyes were locked on Atsushi, sending a shiver down the boy's spine, for he had no clue what Fyodor was talking about. Before Atsushi can respond, Akutagawa steps forward and uses his ability to restrain Fyodor, the fabric of his coat wrapping around Fyodor's torso. "I have no use for your idle chit-chat. My mission is to stop you, so be grateful I won't kill you."

"You think this is enough to stop my plan? My divine being can't be killed by ordinary means, and I'm sure my dear Y/n-san knows that. But simply stopping its movements won't help you defeat it. The more time that passes, the closer they will get to losing their focus and releasing Crux from its paralyzation. They want to play the hero so badly, but they will always be nothing but a pebble trying to act as tough as a boulder."

"I'd watch that tongue of yours before I cut it off." A blade of cloth curls around Fyodor and stops just under his chin. "I will not allow you to say such things about Y/n, not while I'm here."

Y/n POV:
Fyodor was right about one thing: this wasn't enough to stop him. Even if we continued to restrain both him and Crux, my paralyzation won't hold up forever because of how much energy I had already exerted. But that didn't mean that I was going to give up.

"Don't underestimate me that easily," I say to Fyodor, still keeping my ability up. "I didn't think it'd have to come to this, but I know that I can't just keep Crux paralyzed the entire time."

I knew that I was taking a huge risk by doing this—an even bigger one than I was already taking by using my paralyzation technique on Crux—but I had no other choice. While still keeping it paralyzed, I channeled whatever strength and energy I had left to convert my body into pure electricity. I had only attempted this a few times during my training, and every time I ended up passing out before I could properly succeed. My body just couldn't handle that level of power; but right now, I prayed that it would work, even if I had to force it to. The air around me was intense, blowing away anything within my reach, sparks of electricity flying in every direction. My plan was to enter the divine being's mind, in hopes of being able to somehow separate Fukuchi's body from the Holy Sword by controlling its mind.

A bright purple light emanates from my body, and I can feel my body slowly turning into electricity. It feels like my body is being torn apart but I keep going; I can't back down now, not when the world depends on me defeating Crux.

Once my transformation is complete, I enter the divine being's mind, searching for a way to separate the sword from the body. I didn't appear to have a regular body, but one that was transparent and almost ghost-like, my feet hovering above what I'm assuming is the ground. Since everything is pure white, I can't tell if there is a floor or not—or even if there were any walls or rooms. A blank white space is all I can see before familiar faces come into view. Teruko, Kunikida, and Tanizaki were all in this space within the divine being's mind, but they seemed to be sort of frozen in time.

~⟡☆⟡~

3rd-person POV:
"I wouldn't be so quick to judge me. I merely want to have a conversation with the one fit to be my other half." As Fyodor says this, his gaze stays fixed on Atsushi.