"Thanks for healing me, Alisha." thanked Suzuki as they were running towards Hikari and Lux.

"It's fine, but have you not learnt anything in these past four months? When will you stop being reckless?" questioned Alisha.

"It's not my fault that we ran into a Delta!" replied Suzuki.

Just as Suzuki and Alisha reached where Hikari and Lux were, they realised the horror of the situation they left their peers in. Both of them were beaten to a pulp and fought for their lives. However, their opponent was too strong for them to handle.

"Hikari! Lux! What the hell has happened?!" yelled Suzuki as he ran over to their beaten bodies.

"Master Suzuki...He's here on the island. They weren't on the radar. I don't know how they slipped through, but they did." told Hikari.

"He?" wondered Suzuki.

"My brother and your father..." stated Hikari.

"What?!" exclaimed Suzuki.

Just as Suzuki was getting to the bottom of what happened, an unwanted guest appeared in the same area.

"It's been a while, Suzuki Fujimura." said a familiar voice.

As Suzuki turned around, he saw the person in question and thought, "Who is this guy?".

"Don't look at me like that you fool! I am the guy you fought when your friend stole the Lakra fruit!" yelled the enemy.

"Oh, when Kotaro ate that fruit! Sorry, I still don't remember you," said Suzuki honestly.

"My name is Yataro Shimizu, and I am now the Vice-Captain of the Belephegor clan," revealed Shimizu.

Yataro Shimizu is a male who has pink hair and red eyes. He wears a white t-shirt along with a long white jacket. He has navy blue trousers and wears black leather boots. He has the sheath of his blade in his belt too.

"I'll admit it. Despite being on opposite sides, I've always admired you and saw you as a rival. All the feats you have achieved are awe-inspiring, but there is one thing that makes you not so great...Heroism." began Shimizu.

"Heroism?" queried Suzuki.

"Your side of the Realm is all the same. Your ideal is to save people who are close and co-exist with everyone. Let me put it to you straight, it's all just an unattainable dream. An ideal that will never come to fruition." rambled Shimizu.

"Why don't you think it won't come to fruition? With a little understanding, everyone can co-exist with one another," said Suzuki.

"Why? The answer is simple. While your mind focuses on many things like saving and reasoning, our minds focuses on getting stronger. The proof is here. Psamathe Axe!" chanted Shimizu.

Shimizu unsheathed his sword and pointed it upwards. Just as he does this, a sand-like axe formed in the sky. He swiped his sword down and then the axe fell too. Since it was going for both Hikari and Lux, Suzuki Flashstar'd towards them and pulled them out of the way.

Just as Suzuki got out of the way, another attack was coming his way. This time the sand was in the form of a slash. Since he had no time to block, he let the attack hit him.

"Suzuki!" worried Alisha.

"Don't bother about me. Focus on getting Hikari and Lux back to health. I can handle him." reassured Suzuki.

"See what I mean, hero. As I said before, your feats really are impressive, but they left you in the mud compared to me. The last time we fought, I wasn't even able to put a scratch on you. However, this time, I did and it looks like a deep one too." taunted Shimizu.

"What's one scratch? This doesn't prove your stronger nor that our ideals make us weaker," said Suzuki as he drew his sword.

"Really? Then, allow me to show you the difference between me and you. Cursed Overtake: Psamathe." taunted Shimizu.

Just as Shimizu uttered those words, energy bursted away from him. A sand robe formed around his body. Then, black coloured sand formed around his head to make a helmet. His sword turned into a giant spear.

"This is a crazy amount of power!"

"NOW WHAT, HERO?! CAN YOUR IDEALS PROVE ME WRONG?!" shouted Shimizu.

*Thank you for reading this chapter of 'Mysterious Ways!'. If you enjoyed it, please give this chapter a vote and comment! Please continue to support the story by sharing too!

Author Note: I've been learning some Japanese through the Duolingo app. It's pretty fun!