Chapter 24: Anir
'Rina's' expression became slightly more distasteful. "That's none of your business. The only one who can inquire about us is our mother and maybe our uncle. You and your mother might think yourselves to be our family, but you are just passersby in our life."
Kaizer did not stop walking towards Rina until he came to stand before her. "Utter nonsense. It is not for you, whatever you are, to decide what my cousin can or cannot consider to be her family. Return her this instant or I will have to take harsh measures."
'Rina's' visage cracked and became one of hot fury. "This! It is precisely this that I hate about you! What makes you think you have any right to us, just because of a foolish childhood promise?!"
Kaizer was suddenly blasted into the rooftop's entranceway by a whip of black energy that emerged from Rina's body. It was so fast that he only barely sensed it before it struck, and using telepathy on Rina was useless since the same problem persisted, so he could not read her next actions.
Kaizer emerged from the rubble relatively unscathed, brushing off the dirt from his body as he displayed a new power he had managed to finally grasp on his way here. He had been practicing nonstop for 3 days before school resumed, trying different famous applications of psychic power, but many of them required either more practice or more power to grasp.
Strangely, after killing those operatives with his psychic power, some energy had been absorbed by him that almost tripled his base psychic power, so some of those abilities he could not access were now open to him, though their usage was rough and unskilled.
Right now, one could see a translucent energy lattice that was light blue in color form around Kaizer, approximately 5 meters away from his skin, covering his entire body. This lattice seemed fragile and improperly organized, so it crumbled in places and was rapidly fixed the next moment.
Psychic Barrier!
The basic defensive ability of any battle-oriented psychic with a telekinesis ability, the psychic barrier was something that every psychic needed to maintain their weak physical forms as they combated foes, or they were essentially like glass cannon mages—one hit would spell the end of their mighty prowess no matter how powerful.
Kaizer had recognized this but simply could not muster enough telekinetic power to form a strong barrier that could cover his whole body. Not only that, but his barrier did not last long and was fragile enough, not to mention that if it shattered, it would directly backlash him.
So even during his fight with the three enemy Dark Espers, he did not dare use it because one wrong move and he would face annihilation. However, with this sudden power boost, he felt he could give it a try… but that was actually giving himself a lot of credit.
The truth was that in the split second he had to react to Rina's sudden attack, he subconsciously used the barrier to defend himself, and it just so happened to work out fine. Now, he was getting the hang of stabilizing the barrier as he raised his head to glare at Rina, who was still hovering where she had been.
Her expression of distaste became even stronger. "You have stolen a part of my authority from me with your repeated violations of my privacy! How could you, a mere psychic with strong above-average talent, ever hope to become anything if you didn't take a portion of my power?!"
Kaizer relaxed his shoulders and cracked his neck as he walked back over casually. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I can infer a few things. Firstly, you are not Rina nor are you not Rina. You are likely an alternate personality either she or her subconscious created to help her deal with her immense power."
'Rina' displayed an expression of surprise and puzzlement. "That's impossible. How could you know this? Did my mental barriers to block your peeping fail?"
Kaizer wanted to say that it was because he had recently read a manhwa with this plot, but it would sound too casual and childish given the situation they were in. People like him who consumed fiction were, if one were to say it nicely, genre-savvy, and if one were to say it bluntly, had overly active imaginations.
Also, she had let slip that she was the source of the mental barrier. Though, given her obvious resentment towards him and the familiar feeling of this black energy, Kaizer could have already guessed who was responsible for making him unable to understand his cousin's thoughts all this time.
"I already guessed that from the start, which is why I asked who you are and to give Rina back. Even if you're an alternate personality, you are your own person with your own thoughts, desires, and wants, given how you dislike me even though Rina and I are close," Kaizer responded casually.
He had realized that Rina's power was not something he could contend with right now. She was literally overflowing with her energy, and it was already about to encapsulate the entire campus in its berth.
What he feared was that Rina was going through what he went through when he awakened, with a surge of overwhelming power that allowed him to crush Carla, but he almost liquefied his brain in the process. It was possible that this limitless power belonged to Rina, but no matter what, her body was only flesh and blood and had to train itself to channel that much power, like Kaizer did.
So it was best to talk her down and make sure nothing fatal occurred. Since this alternate personality had not truly fallen out with him, he decided to be more upfront and understanding to calm her down. He already had enough experience doing that with the real Rina.
"My own person…" 'Rina' spoke slowly.
"That's right. My sister is herself, and I am me. Since her name is Rina, I will call myself Anir." Rina… no, Anir said with a certain firmness in her voice.
Kaizer nodded with satisfaction. "Good. Anir, release your mind to Rina and stop using your power, otherwise you might overload your body. Now that you have awakened, the most important thing is to survive."
Anir glanced at Kaizer and seemed to hesitate. "Sister… she died."
Kaizer froze, not understanding what Anir meant by this. It was at this moment that Franco walked over with a difficult expression, looking guilty. Before he could even speak to relay what happened to Kaizer, the young man inadvertently sent a wave of power into Franco's mind that caused his eyes to turn blue.
Immediately, Kaizer saw the scenes Franco had just experienced, from the moment after he himself disappeared, to their escape, their last stand, and finally… Rina's death. After that was her awakening, her resurrection of the two bodyguards, the culling of the remaining operatives, and then his appearance just now.
The blue light in Kaizer's eyes disappeared along with the one present within Franco's eyes as the bodyguard crumpled to the ground in unconsciousness, his mind slightly overloaded. Kaizer, though, was extremely pale, his face a mixture of shock and despair, understanding what Anir meant.