Avic's dagger cut through the air. It whistled as it inched closer to Gatio's chest. Gatio caught the attack on the blunt of his sword. The weapons screeched like sharp fingernails on a chalkboard. He was good, just as Avic had suspected. Gatio then countered with a powerful kick. A single hit would surely send him flying.
However, despite not being a Sicarius, Avic wasn't about to lose so easily. He skillfully twirled himself out of the way. Gatio's eyes widened with shock. He had missed. Avic slammed the palm of his hand onto the hilt of his dagger to give it more momentum. It drove towards Gatio's thigh, piercing his flesh.
"Tsk!" Hissed Avic. His aim was not as good as he had hoped. He was aiming a little higher, just below the Sicarius' abdomen.
Though roaring with pain, Gatio brought up his knee with a ferocious attack. It slammed underneath Avic's chin for a painful uppercut. His teeth clamped shut. The impact echoed through his skull. The force sent him airborne.
However, Gatio was a relentless beast. He grabbed onto Avic's foot before the momentum could finish throwing him across the road. With a powerful throw, using all his might, Gatio slammed Avic onto the ground. Pain rocketed through his body like a missile. He felt as if he had just taken a hundred-foot drop to the ground.
"Ack!"
Avic's mouth widened, trying to scream in pain. But the only thing that came out was a small half-cry. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and blood shot from his mouth. It was inconceivable. He could feel it. He was quickly drifting off into darkness. No, he couldn't allow this to happen. If he was defeated then he would never find out what happened to the others.
Unfortunately, willpower alone wasn't enough to recover from serious physical injury. The back of his skull was almost caved in and his spine had been ruptured.
Pulling the dagger from his leg, Gatio groaned in pain. He then tossed it to the ground beside the unconscious Avic. He hated to admit it but if Avic had just a little more battle experience, he might have ended up with a more serious injury than a wounded leg.
"You've got potential, kid. You could have been a seriously powerful Sicarius if you put your mind to it. But with those injuries, you'll be crippled for life. That's assuming you even survive."
Gatio then slowly turned around and started walking away. On the other hand, Avic laid motionless on the ground. His willpower urged him to get up and continue fighting but his body couldn't respond. Instead, he continued to drift away into darkness.
Suddenly, images of chaos and blood began filling his mind from Somnia City. He saw people being crushed by falling buildings while they scurried to run away, screaming in terror. He saw Sicarius fighting back against countless Monsters, Demons, and other unknown entities. Many died while others gave up and ran.
Wormholes appeared all over the city, releasing endless waves of dangerous entities. The sky was pitch black with thunder roaring from the heavens and lightning racing across the sky. It was that dream again—the dream of the Great Spirit Disaster 10 years ago.
The ground shook like an earthquake as the gates to Purgatory connected to the Realm Of The Living. Out stepped a massive blood-red dragon, stretching its wings across the sky with a powerful roar. The face of a handsome man with teakwood skin, long curly black hair, and golden eyes, watched from above. The strange angelic wings that extended from his eyebrows flipped back and forth as he gazed down.
The man then opened his mouth to speak. This was when the image of his face began flashing in and out like a badly recorded film, enough to gift seizures to anyone with epilepsy.
"You have the power of dreams," he said in the voice of a handsome young man. "You have the power of reality. Use it. For the god Of Dreams shall not see you die!"
The dream then ended abruptly. Avic was cast back out into the darkness. He was still unconscious but something was different.
Gatio stopped in his tracks. He could feel a strange presence in the air. Carefully, he glanced back at Avic. Something was wrong. Golden Hemo Energy was slowly gathering around his body. His eyes widened in shock as soon as he saw this.
Quickly, he turned himself around to face the strange occurrence. He didn't know what was happening but he had a very bad feeling. Just as things looked as if they couldn't get any stranger, Avic's body rose from the ground like a puppet being manipulated by strings.
His eyes remained closed as if he was still asleep but his body continued to move. It was as if he was being controlled by some sort of ghost.
"What the hell is this? How are you able to move with such terrible injuries?!" Boomed Gatio.
Avic didn't answer. His eyes remained closed and his lips were sealed shut. However, there was a strange expression written on his face. He was frowning. This made Gatio confused. He couldn't tell if Avic was awake or sleeping.
"I'm surprised you got back up but don't you dare think for a second that you're some type of big shot! I'll make sure I kill you this time by cutting off both your legs! I'll be experimenting on your corpse!"
Gatio then unsheathed his sword and rushed toward Avic. He swung his blade dangerously at him. However, Avic easily dodged by simply stepping to the side. Gatio hissed in annoyance. He felt like Avic was making a fool out of him.
He swung himself back around with another powerful slash. Yet again, Avic dodged the attack with ease. However, Gatio was persistent. He shove the tip of his blade toward Avic's gut. One hit and he would run him straight through.
To Gatio's horrific surprise, Avic neither dodged nor blocked the attack. Instead, as soon as the sword came close to him, he used the back of his hand to swat the blade's blunt side. This threw off Gatio's accuracy, causing him to miss.
Gatio was now more confused than ever. None of it made sense. Avic's eyes were still closed. It wasn't supposed to be possible to dodge and deflect attacks without the aid of his vision. Yet, Avic was doing this as if it was second nature.
Avic then calmly turned around before walking back over to his dagger. He picked it up and clenched it calmly between his fist. Gatio was now more annoyed than ever. He charged toward Avic, screaming at the top of his voice. With a lethal swing, he came down with his sword.
Avic slowly raised the dagger before his face, intercepting Gatio's attack. As soon as Gatio's sword made contact, it was deflected, leaving him wide open. Finally, with a single thrust of his dagger, Avic pierced the carotid artery in the side of his neck.