His head felt off-kilter as the worst news ever filled his ears. An insane monster stood in front of him, while yet another stood behind him. He was firmly positive that they couldn't even take out a single one. "This is bad." Ryuji readied his blade, preparing for his last stand. He put his hope in the chance that fate would let him try once more.
Queen who stood beside him made a similar effort. "First Gate." An unnatural blue aura surrounded her as she detonated the mana inside her body.
Envy seemed unfazed. "You don't need to do all that. Listen, I hate picking on the weak, so until your sycophant friend dies, you're safe and sound." His putrid smile made Ryuji's stomach turn over.
He glanced back at the other one he was worried about. Her eyes were glassy, and she appeared barely conscious. "Is she falling asleep? In this situation?"
"I'm... awake~." She outstretched her arms to balance herself before she fell over. Wiping her sleepy eyes with her hands, she stared at Rhea. "I don't really want to fight... so I definitely won't attack you. You can be suuuuure~."
"Then why are you even here, you sleepy loli!" Ryuji felt outraged that he had to be tortured with the presence of a monstrosity who didn't even want to be here.
"Loli?" Her head tilted to the side. "I'm here because someone... disturbed my sleep." With very little energy, she used the slightest amount of firmness in her voice. "If I can't sleep, then I have to take the one disturbing it out of the equation."
Ryuji felt a tension in the air emanating from his friend beside him. Her face was a cocktail of different emotions. He saw fear, anger, humility, and guilt. Her voice shook as she spoke. "Ryuji, we can't trust them. I'll try to hold one of them off. You run away and get the others. Okay?" The pleading gaze he got was enough to make his brain shut down for a moment.
"Okay!" He prepared himself to make a quick getaway. The second an opening showed itself, he would bolt to get Dot.
"I would like to express my deep concern for your mental state. What you're planning is a terrible idea. Mostly because your idea involves getting past me. One arm is all I need to stop you both." A harsh glare that froze the very atmosphere peered into the soul of Marie.
For a moment, the world felt still. No one dare breathe. Then, a sharp intake of air. Queen lunged forward, planting her feet and twisting her hips with the punch. "Blue Dragon Shock!" The visage of a dragon followed the length of her arm and aimed itself at Envy's stomach.
"Blue Dragon Shock." Ryuji once again witnessed Zelus surpass human motion. His fist struck into her spine, pinning her to the cracked ground. Her eyes wide while her whole body twitched. A soft noise escaped her mouth. Ryuji could only interpret these as cries. Their intensity slowly picked up until both it and the twitching stopped altogether.
Ryuji stood helpless. This wasn't like Rhea or like the time on the road. This time it was a close friend. Someone he loved, and this time he had seen it with his own eyes. His appearance matched that of a demon as he directed the mountain of hate inside him at the psycho in front of him. The words he spoke came from so deep inside the abyss of his own soul that he felt like he might cease to be himself. "Die!"
Zelus stared at him with contempt of his own. He walked over the life he had just ended and stood a few feet away. "I hate that look in your eyes. Like you can do something! Like you can save something! You know what!? You don't get to save something. You don't get to have revenge! You don't get to be happy!! If I couldn't, then there's no way I'll let you have ANY OF IT!!!"
"GO TO HELL! End Line Final Verse!" His sword flourished through the air, ripping up the brick below. A sword skill that utilized all of his available mana into a single strike. If this couldn't hit him, then the only solution would be to put his life at the edge.
"Pathetic." His dagger effortlessly cut through the sword like butter. Without hesitation, he jammed the dagger in between Ryujis's hands, locking them together before slamming him and the dagger into the stones below.
The pain he felt in his hands caused his whole body to seize. His toes curled while his fingers dug into the unforgiving brick. Spots of white flashed through his vision. Sounds became harder to interpret. Keeping his eyes open grew to be a chore. The man who had flirted with death multiple times and had even experienced it was about to pass out from a single stab. His brain was addled, but even then, he could tell something was wrong. He tried to focus on something anything. That's when he noticed. "Where... go?"
The slothful loli next to him understood the raspy, broken sentence. "Your noisy friend... left a while ago. She took Wrath with her~."
Ryuji had to use this chance wisely. No matter what, he would have to reset now. He believed Rhea would win and come back, but in the meantime, he would get information. That is if his body let him. "Why aren't you... killing me?" The more he talked, the worse his vision got. As if speaking used too much of his brain.
Envy looked down on him, figuratively and literally. "I'm going to save you for last. Think of it as a gift for having a dark soul like ours. Although it looks like you got saddled with a shitty one considering how easy you went down." His voice showed just how much he was loving this situation despite his permanent injury. "How's it feel to be powerless, to be nothing."
"I get the feeling you already know." Ryuji said something he instantly regretted. A shoe came down on his head. The world shook, and sound deserted him. He lay there in a static void. Eventually, the ringing stopped. His clouded vision faded. In front of his face was the smug man who had just put him through the wringer. "Why?" Envy raised his eyebrow at the mess in front of him. "Why didn't you use photon razor earlier? You could have won."
Zelus showed his confused face to Ryuji for the first time. "Photon razor?"
"Zel." Aergia interrupted the interrogation, but Ryuji had already gotten quite a bit of intel. "The fight is almost over~."
Envy rose back to tower over Ryuji with a smile on his face. "Yep, didn't think ol Furor had it in him to win. Looks like you're about to be up!"
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A few blocks away, two titans clashed in a burning city. Rhea didn't like leaving the two behind, but this was the best option. If she could manage to lure him away and put him down, then they would stand a much higher chance against the other two. The problem was that this man had a lot more sturdiness than she thought. That and her eye was throbbing intensely. Her focus remained being constantly interrupted by nearly unbearable pain.
"I get the sense that you're annoyed with me right now. I feel as though that should make me mad. I'm the one who is supposed to be irate in this situation where you provoked me to a fight." A fast strike from her sword glanced off his arm for the umpteenth time.
"Do you ever tire of your own voice?" She originally thought this battle would end quite quickly. Wrath was protecting himself only using his bare hands. How he was accomplishing this was by cloaking himself in dense mana to enhance his body. Normally a technique like that would incapacitate someone after a few minutes of use, but this man was still going strong.
"A silly question. I do not grow tired. You, however, seem quite worn out."
She shot forward. Her sword was aimed directly to his center to cleave him apart. With a dizzying speed, she zipped around to his backside as he fell for the feint. "Photon-" His eyes never lost sight of her.
"Your impatience is your undoing." A kick slammed into her side as he rotated to cover his blindspot. She flew back a few feet and readjusted herself.
As she moved to make another attack, she almost fell over. The spot in which she was kicked felt numb. As if her own body cut off the response from that area. She felt bewildered. The kick was strong, but a kick strong enough to do that would have decimated the block.
"You feel concerned. That is to be expected when there is something you don't understand. El Rathor." The compressed mana acting as his shield turned into a violent glove on his hand. Cocking back, he aimed his fist. The air trembled. The surrounding buildings shook as if an earthquake had hit.
"La Buris!" Waves of destructive energy rang out and intermingled. "You people disgust me." The crimson-haired duo ran at each other through the dust and debris. Again sword clashed against fist, but this time-
"It seems I'm on the cusp of losing. Is there where I get scared and run away or get angry and try my best to win despite the odds?" A gash appeared on his right knuckle where the sword had struck. "That eye of yours transformed. I would think people would be frightened of that."
The Saint's eye had changed. Instead of amber, it was now closer in pigmentation to the cosmos. Visible lines that looked like circuits appeared on her iris. Crimson flowed from the corners. "My eye of death will lead you to your natural end. You monsters roam the earth for eternity lest we put you down. I don't care if I have to bear your burden in exchange for your life! I won't let you hurt anyone else." She readied her blade once more.
"So you're going to try and end it?"
"Cut!" Her blade gouged out the flesh of his arm. With every strike, she pushed him back. Furor countered every attack perfectly with his own. But without the protection of his armor, he was destined to lose. Rhea followed the lines given to her by the blessing. The cut of each line guided her closer to victory. As if following a perforation, she continued to cut him down piece by piece. A new line appeared horizontally across the top of his arm. "CUT!" The arm disembarked, while a line of buildings behind him had a new slant installed. A smirk bathed in the blood of her enemy spread.
"You're quite mistaken about something." The monster in front of her remained unfazed. His expression did not change, and neither did his voice. Without missing a beat, he stepped forward twisting his hip while he cocked his good arm back. "El Rathor."
Rhea got lost in the moment. She hadn't expected him to be completely nonchalant about losing an arm. Even a god would have hesitated for a second, especially since there was no way for him to get his appendage back. In that millisecond of hesitation, Furor planted his foot forward and slammed home his decisive blow. Rhea could only shield herself with her arm. The vibration shattered her bone to pieces. The feeling of her missing eye faded away as a blaring new pain replaced it. The second afterward, she was shot back at warp speed. Her body tumbled through flaming buildings and debris. Rhea's consciousness flitted as she struggled to move.
"The triumphant return of our favorite woman!" Envy looked at her with eyes of disdain that faked concern. "What happened to that arm of yours!? It looks absolutely ragged!"
She tried to stand herself up. A migraine began forming in her head as she looked over to Ryuji. He was lying on the ground, affixed to it by a dagger. Next to him was Marie. She was reposed and inert. Rhea listened close and found that she had no heartbeat.
"A wave of indescribable sadness. This makes no sense to me." Wrath walked over the trail of destruction a tumbling Rhea made. The manaskin he employed had clogged up his open wounds and allowed him a few more precious moments of life. "Wouldn't the correct response be anger? Why would one feel guilt from this situation? You have done all you can, but yet you still feel as though you could have done more? I don't understand. This doesn't follow reason. Explain." He stopped within ten feet of her.
With incredible struggle, she rose to her feet and completely stood up. Her face was blanched with sweat dripping. Her hand was clammy, and the sword that rested in it felt oddly heavy to her. "She died because of me. You all are here because of me. If she hadn't met me, then..." She didn't have the strength to finish her sentence. Tears flowed from her eye and intermingled with the blood.
"I see you feel those emotions because you do not have the correct understanding of the situation. This makes more sense. Now, after fulfilling the drive to understand that we all need, I will continue with my revenge." Hist fist raised towards the heavens. "El Rathor."
"Sidat." Rhea cleaved the arm off, marking the third that she took today. Without hesitation, Furor twirled his body and aimed to kick in Rhea's head. "Sleep." With a manaskin of her own, she coated her blade. Its edge sank deep into his skull before sliding down and spilling all of his contents onto the square.
A dark something perpetuated the square. The air became stagnant and defiled. A revolting feeling of something squirming covered her from head to toe. As if an invisible parasite was caressing her. Then as soon as it appeared, it vanished. Rhea let out her held breath. An explosion rang out. A bolt of lightning arced into the air as Rhea instinctively countered it with her blade.
"Did that surprise you~." The little girl slowly walked forward. "I dislike effort, so I was hoping that a sneak attack, while you were down, would do the trick. I was also hoping that little wrath... would have put up more of a fight~ so that I had less to do."
Rhea couldn't piece together the girl's broken logic. "He was your comrade. Do you people feel anything real?"
"Comrade? I can count the times I've spoken to little wrath on one hand~. And I do feel. Right now, I feel verrrrry tired~." Her index and middle fingers pointed towards Rhea. Arcs of lightning soon followed.
Rhea had no problem knocking both bolts away before speeding towards the girl. Without a trace, she vanished. Rhea instantly sensed her from behind and cut directly at her. Gone again and now to her left. Right, left, up, behind, front. Without incantation, she continued teleporting all around. "Zone." Rhea focused and instantly cut out to the place Sloth appeared.
A smile that could only be described as disturbing was on full display from Sloth. Without fear, she took the slash and pushed her way within centimeters of her. Sloths hand playfully tapped Rhea's broken left arm. Rhea recoiled and hopped back to gain distance. The lilac girl looked ecstatic. Her clothes were now smutted by the red surging out of her chest. A great sword stroke was etched into her flesh from her waist, diagonally up to her shoulder.
Upon seeing the deranged smile, Rhea's emotions billowed. "Is this a game to you!? Do I look like I'm messing around!? DO I!??" Inordinate amounts of hatred flowed out of her like a river of poison. Then a strange sensation she felt caused her to come to a full stop. Her broken arm felt tingly. The sensation then quickly changed to tugging, which changed even faster into tearing. Without pause, she amputated the arm. "Healing flowers." Crystal flowers bloomed out of her open wound and stopped the bleeding. The arm she disposed of quickly disintegrated into nothing.
"My authority will render you to nothing. All I require is but a single touch~." The girl who had still done nothing to stop the loss of her life confidently dispensed valuable information. "A quick and easy way to win, isn't that just the perfect definition of sloth?"
"Your reliance on that power will be your downfall. You will soon wish that you had touched a more vital area." Rhea stood straight and confidently got into a one-handed sword stance. She was almost out of gas but only needed to hold out until her opponent bled out.
"Do your best, my beloved Aergia!!!!" A terrible man gave an even more terrible cheer from the sidelines.
"If I'm still alive after this is done, then I'm coming after you next Zel."
"Scaryyyyy."
"I suppose I need to go to you if I want to get anything done. What a bummer~."
Sloth vanished and reappeared within inches of Rhea. The resulting counter from Rhea missed as she ported to the side. Translucent hands flittered in front of her, supported by long flimsy arms sprouting out of Aergias's back. Two cuts decimated the two hands, who after being separated, faded into the wind.
"I never said it had to be my real hands that touch you~."
Resolutely, Rhea stood firm. Her eye lost all concern as she poured the rest of her dwindling mana into her body and blade. "If you come near me again, then it will mark the end of you."
"Pfft." Sloth let out a little laugh before assuming a pose most would call crazed. "Nice, good, amazing, delightful~! Finally, finally, finally! I can rest. Just stand there, don't move! I'll be there shortly, so don't leave! The moment I've been waiting for has arrived! Deliver to me eternal indolence~." Rhea and the others felt like they were witnessing a rare event. The sleepiness that was resting in her eyes not too long ago was gone. Now replaced by insanity.
"Yes, I can give that to you without any need to repay."
Sloth ran forward without any sign of doubt. Rhea waited patiently for her to enter the zone in which she would surely be dispatched. Aergia's foot made it into Rhea's range. Then gone. Sloth teleported directly beneath her and raised her hand. A legendary sword sliced through her head. The matter emptied onto the stone.
The dark feeling perpetrated her once more, chilling her to the very core before disappearing once again. Rhea turned to face the last obstacle who looked at her with a smug face. She stepped forward.
"...Eh?"
Blood gurgled in her mouth. The smell of copper and something frying filled her nose as dampness infiltrated her ears. She lost control of her limbs and fell like a puppet with cut strings. Breathing became impossible. Her thoughts turned to a gallant figure. Memories of laughter and freedom were the last things on her mind as her life faded to black.
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Ryuji watched in abject horror as the worn-down Rhea ceased moving. His head had cleared significantly, and his brain was fully functional. His temper, however, had not cooled down. Fury burned in the pit of his stomach as he waited for the death he knew was coming. He wasn't scared. After all, this was his fifth flirt with death.
"That damned sly bitch. She touched her in that last second. So slyly that even the Sword Saint didn't notice! Although I guess she was already about half-dead anyway, right?" Envy talked to himself but then decided to bring his prisoner into the conversation as if they were best buds.
"Kill me."
"Eh?"
"Kill me!"
Zelus smiled wide before getting on his knees to cup his ear. "EH!?"
"KILL ME!"
"Understood." Zelus pried the dagger from between Ryuji's hands. He stared into the eyes of his victim. "That's what I wanted to see. That's what I needed to see today! That conceding look! The look that tells all who see it that you have surrendered. That you have finally figured out how this world works. You might think it's too late to figure this out, but it's never too late."
An uncomfortable vibe filled the air between the two. Ryuji could sense some weird form of comradery taking shape.
"Me and you, we're cut from the same cloth. This world pushes us down, but we're too damn stubborn to give up. We're not powered by dreams. No, we're powered by something far stronger, HATE. Dreams, dreams are nothing. I've crushed dream after dream without remorse, without thought. But hate, hate always finds a way to survive. Hate is the driving force between all of the sins. Without hate, humanity itself would not exist. Kingdoms wouldn't rise and fall. Heroes wouldn't be born. Legends would never be told. We would be stagnant in a sea of deceit. A sea full of lies we would tell ourselves instead of just accepting what we are. Admitting and getting mad about it! Don't you agree?"
Ryuji could not understand a single point the man in front of him was trying to make. Nor did he want to, so he answered in the way that he thought would give him what he sought. "No."
A dagger pierced him through the throat before slicing down and splitting his chest. "I didn't think you would get it."