The dust-filled changing room gripped the conflict securely. Sleeping Elliott's body worried about Gabi's task. For as long as her opponent in front was dozing off, her capacity to negate muscles in limbs was ineffectual.
She finally encountered someone she knew would need to fight without the benefit of any special skills after using the needles to demonstrate to other enemies that they couldn't stand a chance against her in a real fight.
"I'll be honest. Finding a fighter who can move his body while asleep was not what I had anticipated. The brainstem transmitted messages to momentarily immobilize the muscles that move your torso, limbs, and legs, which is so uncomfortable for me that it effectively negates my entire ability.
"I never imagined that seeing a sleeping human would help me feel better. You are not a typical person. You have a unique quality that deviates from how skilled you were in some way. I've read a lot of news articles and have heard many things, including the time you defeated Marienne in the Golden Wasakona. You came so near to passing away, but of course you managed to stay alive.
"I'm curious about the history of your enormous potential. Your tactics are intimidating, and the idea of fighting while you sleep seems barbaric. You nearly make me think of some sort of lesser divinity."
Although he was in the room, he could not hear a word that Gabi's voice was saying. He kept his mouth shut and made no effort to hide his hesitation.
To thrust the tip of his blade into the broken glass behind him, he moved it past his right hip. He cautiously placed his left sole on the ground before extending back his other.
Her needles poked out from between her fingers, crossed her arms in front of her neck. She prepared herself and waited patiently for Elliott's initial move. He leaned forward, his entire body, and she noticed a brute force oozing out from below his manly posture.
He couldn't use all of his speed in the limited space where he was standing since it would be difficult to control it. He ran directly forward. As he approached Gabi, he grabbed the sword from behind and slashed it across her body, sending electrifying yellow arcs trailing after the swing.
On cue, Gabi squatted down beneath the swing and started to revert. Elliott pursued her and sent a barrage of repeating blows at her from different angles, but she deflected each one.
When the time was right, he would frequently strike out, she hid underneath the swing. She moved in a circle around him, inserting numerous needles into his thighs and hips. She finally made a move for his neck, but Elliott dodged and cocked his head.
She used her eyes to watch his motions as she swung the needle back to strike the weak spot. He turned over her arm and chopped horizontally as he landed, intending to sever her chest.
She stepped back to move out of the way; cut missing her, barely.
"This is improbable. You can still move freely after I injected multiple needles into your right side of the body? I'm not sure how else to approach him, and waiting would just make the situation worse.
"I fear there is no way to stop that other than to rouse him up. Yet how?" she was struggling to find a solution when she saw the clock in the distance. She had an idea flood similar to a surge of water entering a vast ocean.
"Alarm, that's the one."
Kou looked around the upper floor thoroughly before understanding that Muro had only been separated from him by a wall. He went through every room and looked for any secret doors, but nothing was there that matched his search criteria. He took care not to destroy the bottles because he could only locate samples of blood inside them from earlier maidens.
"Come on, come on. I looked everywhere on this floor for a hint as to where Muro may be, but I couldn't find one. I would have found him by now, therefore he can't be on this side of the castle.
"I better get going and return to Ralphie, give him the bad news."
He pondered.
His body started to quiver suddenly from shock before he was able to turn around and leave the room. He felt something warm begin to round his wrists and ankles. It was constrictive and unpleasant.
"I am afraid I cannot let you do so. Your decision will not suffice."
Kou turned to look behind him but quickly became uneasy. He was unable to leave the room or even walk a single foot because he was trapped inside. To his surprise, the last of the "Sun Soldiers" arrived to hinder his progress.
Trap was leaning his back against the wall and standing in the door frame with his arms crossed. Kou found his expression to be uncomfortably serious and even terrifying.
"I... I'll be honest... I forgot... that you... exist... damn it... let me... go... you... you're choking me...!"
Kou felt what appeared to be golden cables made of pure light crushing against his body. His possibilities of breathing entirely stopped as the one around his neck began to suffocate him more tightly. He had been dripping perspiration over his face and it had begun to turn his face purple. He was unable to speak or think clearly due to the pain, and his eyes were shaking.
"Let you go? It wouldn't be a good idea to do that. Really, I had no idea that I would run into a kid. Are you not too young to be on a pirate ship?
"You are, well, putting your own life at stake. Your ability to see or hear will soon be lost. You'll plummet to the ground like a shot bird that lost control of its wings." Said Trap.
He gestured his arm on his wrist.
"You... You're... a psycho... T-This is... child abuse... I... I thought... that... soldiers like... you... had fairness in... in a... b-battle..." replied Kou.
He began tugging his own arms. He hoped to pull free by grabbing the cable around his neck. But his fatigue mirrored his strength.
He almost got it, but he was interrupted. One of the cables was caught by Trap, placed beneath his own feet and dragged it up to his chest. He made Kou's cable tighter around his neck, which caused him to become unsteady. On the floor close to Trap's feet, beyond his line of sight, he was dragged on the ground.
"Could you perhaps be less obstinate? You can't escape the cords' hold. Your physical capabilities are severely constrained, turning you into a lifeless tree." He explained.
He knelt down next to Kou, casting a critical eye over the frail frame of Kou.
To stop Kou from breathing or moving, he stomped his foot on the cable and hauled it back firmly.
"Look kid. This castle is not supposed to be some playground for you to slide around like a little child whose own happiness is brought forth to the vision of the others. It is a battlefield in which you must not behave stupidly. You are one of the trespassers and even if you are young, we have no excuse not to kill you.
"I am not trying to make your death be painful to see you suffer and cry like a baby, but if you keep forcing your way to breathe and try to stay alive for who knows what reason, then you should be killed in a more violent-"
"I-I... don't want to hear it," interrupted Kou. "y-you... think... that I'll... I'll just let you... kill me...? N-Not a chance... I-I've... wanted to see... to see the ocean... to sail across it... ever... ever since... I was a baby... Y-You don't... You don't understand... how it feels to see your... your own family die...
"I-If... you think... t-that... that I'll let you... ruin my... my one and only wish... you're wrong... I don't care... how hard this mission... is... but I tend to see... tend to see the world... to its fullest... I won't give up... even if you strangle me... I'll hold on... I'll hold on as long as I... have to-"
"Kou...," a feminine voice interrupted him from continuing.
"You're correct. You must persevere. Nobody should be able to stop you from your dreams becoming true. Your hopes should come to reality, and you'll discover that the happiness you formerly perceived is no longer present." He felt calmed by her voice. He felt relaxed, as though the girl's voice was pouring into his thoughts like water into a bucket.
"Wh-Who... are you...? Is that you, Tomomi?" he questioned. He saw a white silhouette of her floating around like a leaf repetitively being held in the air by the wind.
"Who else would it be, silly?" her voice was an echo like one to resonate through the inside of a cave.
"But, how are you here? How are you even able to communicate to me," he wondered, "I thought you were back at the ship. You haven't spoken to anyone since we arrived here to treat your condition."
"I'm not here, physically. I am only an imagination: a spirit, inside your head, communicating to you from the ship itself." She clarified. Kou struggled to comprehend. Inside his own head, he had a feather-like sensation of peace and lightness.
"W-What... how?" Kou asked.
He wanted to sit up, slowly and carefully. He couldn't as his body had virtually been a shadow.
"Us spirits have all sorts of mysteries surrounding our existence. Unlike humans, we have a Forbidden Technique ourselves known as 'Equanimity' the one that lets us enter the 'spiritual state', giving us an ability to enter someone's mind at our own will.
"Although the selection is limited, it nonetheless helps you to support friends or loved ones. Of course, the power won't simply work on everyone; a bond is necessary for it to develop steadily and function.
"I know you saved me, and I appreciate your kindness. But please don't give up—this kind of correspondence isn't the best method to say thank you. I wish to express my gratitude to you in person. I believe you can all heal this ailment, and I don't want to see any of you pass on as souls to a new planet.
"You have untapped potential within of you that is buried deep within your realistic perception. Wake them up. I want your dreams to come true for you. You clearly don't want to miss out on the chance Tim granted you.
"I know you can do it. Seek what you must to survive."
Her words grew subdued as her body faded like a single flame inside a pitch-black abyss of emptiness.
Kou's field of vision blurred outside of his own head. His entire body weakened and became so mushy that he could hardly distinguish the colors of the room. He became somber, like memories he could never forget. His field of vision started to regain its clarity, clear like crystal water.
His emerald eyes began to shimmer with a mint green hue that persisted in illuminating every moment.
Sparks continued to flash about him like electricity as soon as a power of some type, a green incarnation of green adaptive power, appeared. They were more vibrant than the sun and more green than exact grass.
Trap's eyes widened without him paying attention to anything that was taking place in front of him. He could only sense how the strength emanating from Kou's body began to overwhelm his light cables.
His physical prowess was reaching a brand-new apex. They were progressing as though his entire power had increased significantly. He could feel Kou applying pressure, quickly and effortlessly untangling the cables.
It was tedious.
Trap was unable to complete a basic task and his cables were useless. Kou was far more advanced than was initially thought. It didn't seem normal for a little child for his body to continue bracing the tightness of the cables as he fell.
Kou's footing became steadier and more powerfully destructive. As it happened, his expression went from serious to broad-lipped. He transformed entirely. It was the broadest grin anyone had ever given, and that was enough for Trap to recognize madness.
Kou's entire leg suddenly kicked upward, and Trap felt it before he saw it. Kou's sole pounded sharply against his chin, and when it hit, a strong pulse erupted and rumbled across the space like an actual maelstrom.
Because of its incredible strength, the whirlwind completely disorganized the rooms by hurling objects and furniture around. Trap's body was unable to withstand the pressure, and he was driven through the roof top and up several levels of the castle like a ball, breaking the ceilings just as an explosion would destroy the walls.
Above the castle, up in the air.
Kou stooped as he peered through the ceiling gaps. He suddenly leapt through the holes with a long and high jump as his hair spiked up from the electricity, which appeared to act as a magnet.
The jump was limited to the speed that a jet could equal.
Everyone inside the castle felt the tremor that was caused by the jump alone.
Kou sped up to Trap's level and then over his thrown body as he burst out of the highest point into the opening. He kicked downward after lifting his right leg above his head.
He sprang over Trap's frail body and elevated his leg in the air. He lowered it from the ceiling like a falling spike and slammed his heel into Trap's stomach.
With enough force, the strike's impact could easily blow away the sky's clouds. This additional destructive force was discharged into the atmosphere as an unseen pulse.
Trap's body crashed into the rooftop with the rapidity of a meteor, demolishing it with a single landing.
Kou landed on the roof after falling to Trap's shaky body's height.
Kou underwent a transformation. The ability's adaptation was a reckless failure. He appeared to be more than just a different person; you couldn't even call him a friend.
He had the characteristics of a psychopath, losing control of friendliness.
To be continued...