Inverse System

As Rein uttered those words, he saw Luther's eyes widen in astonishment, then furrow his eyebrows as he felt the oozing, menacing aura exude from Rein's body.

"You— You wouldn't… You're bluffing," Luther claimed as a streak of sweat formed on his forehead, flowing down his cheek.

"Wanna try? Go ahead and steal her curse. That'll just mean that I'll thrust my swords through mine and this girl's necks," Rein glared at him with unwavering spirit, his words shaking Luther's unconscious.

"Heh… I don't care if you kill yourself. Go ahead, I'll taking this girl's curse now," Luther claimed as he took a step towards Xenia, still keeping his face tilted to Rein, who began frowning.

Luther's uneasy expression grew as he took another step, Rein suddenly lodging the blade deeper into his neck, making it gush out even more blood, forcing Luther to stop his advances and grit his teeth in an annoyed manner.

"Have you made your decision then? You will listen to my commands, else the only person who could entertain you in a fight would be gone, just like that. Well? What's it gonna be?"

"You sick fuck… But impressive, I have to say. Fine, I give up. The hell do you want from me?" Luther relented, putting his arms up in surrender as he relieved his agitated expression.

"If you make one move out of line, I'm killing myself, you understand? You'd better not act up," Rein threatened as he moved the sword away from his and the girl's throat, recalling them into his weapon ring as he stopped the gust of wind coming out of his back, picking the girl up again and jumping down to Luther.

"First, answer this question: What happens to the person when you take a cursed Spring?" Rein interrogated.

"You've seen it first hand. Unlike taking regular Springs, cursed Spring users disappear after being separated from their curse," Luther answered.

"I see. So what happens if it's not a cursed Spring anymore?" Rein questioned, Core and Clyde returning to the roof that Rein was previously standing on after being freed from the gale flurry that was holding them back.

"The hell do you mean by that?"

"Take it. Steal this girl's Spring," Rein offered, the rest of the group startled by his proposition.

"What?! Rein! You just said they disappear! Why the hell—" Sho exclaimed, to which he was interrupted.

"She's dead in 3 days anyways. No point in waiting until she died," Rein retorted, Sho halting his speech as Rein said that.

"Well? What are you waiting for? I told you to take her Spring," Rein hurried Luther, who also looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay..? Could've sworn your intellect stat was higher than this though…" He muttered as he put his hand on the unflinching girl's face, taking a breath before phasing his hand through her skull, pulling out a white ball of light.

"Well, that's strange. I took her Spring, but why the hell is it white? And why hasn't she vanished? Coulda sworn this was the curse," Luther scratched his head as he gazed upon the white ball of glow in his hands, everyone else watching them with gaped expressions as Rein laughed.

"Alright, toss me the Spring," Rein commanded, Luther awe-stricken at Rein's cunning maneuver.

"Ahahaha! I see what you did now! Clever! Well shit, you got me this time. Here ya go," he threw the glowing white light to Rein, who caught it with his right hand.

"Perfect. Now my final order to you. Fuck off. Go back to your mistress and tell her that I'm coming for her," Rein commanded, his throat still bleeding from the cut he induced on himself.

Luther sighed in acceptance, hopping up into the air, picking his earwax in disappointment.

"Yeah yeah, I'm going. But next time we meet, I'm not letting you get away. We're fighting whether you like it or not, you understand? Hehehe… Don't forget that," Luther laughed with a twisted smile appearing on his face, his eyes growing an intimidating glow as he flew off, which slightly unnerved Rein, though he didn't let it show.

Luther flew away southbound, having finished his encounter with the group without even fighting. Rein heaved a sigh of relief as he felt the cut on his throat, wrapping it with a thin cloth to stop the bleeding, sitting down from exhaustion, the inverted cursed Spring in hand.

"Rein! What were you thinking?! You could've died!" Chloe ran to him and knelt in front of him as she put her hands out to feel the cut on his throat, rubbing the cloth to reinforce it.

"But I didn't. That's all that matters, right? And the girl's curse is gone, so everything turned out okay in the end."

"What did you even do? How did the girl not disappear?" Sho asked.

"Stop calling me 'the girl'. My name is Lillia, get it right stoner," Lillia retorted in an angry manner, Sho startled by her remark.

"S-stoner? I told you, I don't smoke—"

"Whatever, I don't care about you guys. Thanks for saving me or whatever, but I'm going back to check on auntie."

"You do understand that she was the one behind everything here? She was forcing you to kidnap the villagers, and even tried to capture us as well," Rein informed, Lillia not accepting his words as truth.

"I'll believe it when I hear it from her. I can tell that you're lying just by loo—"

"It's true Lillia. I was the one who forced you to do that," the village chief emerged from the alleyway leading to her house, Lillia blinking repeatedly with a blank expression.

"Wha… What!? What do you mean auntie..? Haha… you must've hit your head on something… There's no way you would—" suddenly, she was interrupted by a series of abrupt cheers, the villagers finally coming out of their homes, despite it being the dead of the night.

"Finally! The ghost is gone! And it's all thanks to the chief!" One of the villagers exclaimed excitedly.

"Thank you chief! We owe you our lives!" They cheered as the group of Rangers looked around at them in severe confusion.

"Where the hell did you get that notion from? The chief was the reason any of this happened in the first place! " Xenia yelled to them, one villager replying.

"We know! The chief was the reason behind the disappearance of the ghost! So she was the reason the ghost was vanquished! We've always believed in you chief!" The villagers began chanting the chief's name, and as the chief was about to speak up to correct their mistake, Rein put his hand over her mouth.

"Shut your mouth. Don't say anything, let them keep believing that," he whispered intimidatingly to her, making her quickly comply out of fear.

"Do you idiots just have blind devotion for your chief?! What the hell?! Think for yourself for once!" Xenia remarked, her words ignored by the villagers.

"And you! The chief's niece was the ghost! How dare you steal our children and loved ones from us?!" The villagers suddenly became angry towards Lillia, who they believed to be at fault for everything that was happening.

Lillia developed a sad expression at her unjust treatment, gritting her teeth as she had no recollection of ever doing anything.

"Do as I told you Lillia," Rein whispered to her, which made her bite her lip, an angry aura emerging around her.

The village began throwing items at Lillia out of hatred, Rein keeping the chief in check so that she wouldn't say anything, the rest of Rein's classmates finding it difficult for them to watch. The villagers threw tomatoes, shoes, and rocks.

"Get the hell out of our village!"

"We hate you!"

"You took my daughter away!"

The villagers continued insulting and throwing, each time an item would hit her, Rein's classmate's expressions would worsen, the chief's expression especially. Suddenly, Sho lost his temper, making a wall of fire that blocked all of the villager's projectiles, the shock from his action halting the villager's throws briefly.

"Stop throwing things at her! You guys don't know shit! She—"

"Sho!" Rein yelled with a commanding voice, grabbing his shoulder as he interrupted his retort, making him stop talking as well.

Sho released the wall of fire, his eyes closed as he held back his anger.

"Is that the prince of Econica too?! Who let him into the village?!"

"Yeah! Chief, kick his ass out!"

"Banish that little devil of a niece while you're at it! We're counting on you chief!"

The villagers continued to rave as the chief was also reaching her limit, Rein glaring at her so that she wouldn't say anything.

"Banish us. Banish us all along with your niece," Rein whispered, the chief reacting with a horrified expression.

"Why are you doing this…"

"You should be thankful that this is your punishment. I'm letting you off easy since nobody died. Now stop asking questions and do as your told. You're to banish your niece, and live as this village's chief for the rest of your life, while deep down knowing about the pain you caused them. Live with that turmoil, and take the credit for the problem you caused. I wonder how much that'll eat at you, the constant thought of guilt and pain. It's a fitting punishment, wouldn't you say?" Rein muttered to the chief, whose terrified eyes began trembling at the sight of him.

The chief closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and with a shivering, rigid voice, she banished her niece and kicked the Rangers out of the village, the same ones who saved her niece from her curse, and the same ones that covered for her mistake. She would go on to live the rest of her life with venomous guilt in her heart, chipping at her sanity slowly, day by day...

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