Chereads / Eclipse of the Magi / Chapter 34 - Chapter 34: The Nail in the Coffin

Chapter 34 - Chapter 34: The Nail in the Coffin

Jackal would rise himself up from the swamp, his body being nearly destroyed, yet having himself covered by the house. He grips at the floorboards and applied his Gravity Magic at its base, collapsing the very establishment into nothing, the rooms caving itself in and the base being blasted apart, buried deep in its dirty water. Only smoke was left, as Graves would feel a strong sensation across his body. Pain. Such pain caused Graves to collapse above the water, yet did not scream. It did not make him cry. It did not make him angry. It just simply hurts him. "How.....How are you alive...? HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!? You were BLOWN UP to Kingdom come!! You shouldn't even be WALKING anymore, how are you-" His words were cut off as he saw the answer before his eyes, when the dust and debris that was caused by the house settled. Half of his body was practically burnt down, wounds of stabbings and cuttings from top to bottom, his very face being mutilated into nothing but muscles, with skin only being seen around his eyes and at his neck to lower right jaw.

The other half was missing. It was gone. It was like it was never there at all.

A Huge chunk of his body, as well as his entire left arm was gone, with only a broken ribcage and pieces of muscle remaining, reaching out as if it was still there. His left face was also exactly that, more specifically at his left jaw, which has such a jaw being removed entirely. He was alive, but barely. "I'm not alive. At the very least not in the mere future. It could be right now, or it could be later. All I know is...I'm clearly not gonna make it. Despite that, however...I'm not dying alone here." His legs trudge across the swamp, limping directly towards the demonic child, still stabbed into the tree by his knife. "All it took was for my legs to bury me deep in the swamp, and for one of my halves to take the hit. It hurts like hell, but it doesn't matter to me." He'd continue, looking towards the demon, while Graves looked for an answer on how to face him, with his body being wounded in such a spiritual manner, still maintaining his focus to Jackal's words.

"I said it once.....I said it twice.....and now, I'll say it Thrice.." He says, still maintaining his professional tone as he'd try to reach for a second knife upon his pocket, burning his hand due to its temperature being high, yet it mattered little to Jackal. "You're not smart Kid. I have lots of experience with trickster's like yourself. Like the Galigans. Like the others I've been contracted. It's not personal, kid. It's simply business." He finishes, as he sends a direct slice towards Zazel's body, cutting him cleanly in half. The attack was successful. Jackal has won. As he turned around, however, to try and take down the remaining houses that Graves doesn't seem to be aware of, he would hear a laugh. It was a weak laugh, but it was present. Both of them looked at the body, as both realized what was happening.

"Got.....cha..." Zazel gave a wide, toothy grin, blood still pouring out from his mouth, as he would slowly start to disintegrate.

BANG!!

A Bullet. One directly at the man's stomach, causing a roar of pain and him to stumble further into the waters, as he looked back, a horrified expression by what the demon meant. What Jackal was facing was nothing short but a Fake. A Copy.

What Jackal saw in front of him was Zazel himself, still adorning the royal's clothing, a smug expression on his face as he had the very monster before him to fire the shot. It was a robotic creature, with a metallic plating of purple and blue, harboring a long-barreled cannon for a head, smoke emitted out from said barrel. The reasoning for where such a bullet came from. There were also claw-like hands that seemed to house more barrels, although small enough to fit upon its palm, being like machine guns than a standard weapon. There was a scope that is above the cannon, able to turn itself to have better aim, and lastly, its very body seemed to house a glass-like front, red wires connecting its internal structure, powering it with a black fuel, most likely oil. Such a glass compartment has numerous weapons cycled across its body region, as well as a separate compartment where it stored its ammunition. Its name was stated before, to which Jackal repeated as he stumbled back into the waters, clutching his wound in prayers he can fight back.

"So this is Sabnock....God damnit all..." He cursed himself as he sees the supposed demon that supplied Zazel with such weaponry, his right eye widening as he sees more of them, around 3 more to be exact. He'd try to gather his knives and send them forward, but the robotic demons would simply strike back, firing down and blasting apart his very hand and arm, rendering it almost unusable. Zazel would have the Sabnock's jump straight down, approaching the man. Jackal was clearly going to die. He was clearly going to be met with an irreversible fate. When he quickly looked around, however, he couldn't find Graves anywhere. Pissed off beyond belief, he'd try to roll himself across the waters to see where he was, where his very fear came to be.

Graves himself, still in pain, yet crawling himself to a different house, touching it, inspiriting it, and granting him a realization of what his magic is, by seeing the very house pulsate a small amount. "You're done, Jackal. You're not only outnumbered...you ran out of Options. Before we take you down, however...Tell me what your 'Business' is." Zazel granted Jackal a chance to speak, to which he took a deep breath, trying to get up.

"A Broker. You'd usually see us with weapons. Guns, knives, Grenades, all that good stuff. When it came to magic, on the other hand, it was like striking gold. We could usually...Ngh..." He'd wobble a bit as he'd try to stand up. Zazel at least had the courtesy of helping Jackal, raising him up with one of the claw-like hands. "...Usually we'd just learn the magic outright, Selling ourselves to Kingdoms for soldiers. I, however, had a different idea. That staff I had? The one you broke? That was gonna be classified as an Artifact, due to how old it was. It would've sold in the millions, and coupled with the cash the old man had, I would've gotten away with it all, give or take a few years. My life would've been set with those rewards, yet when the Galigans took it for themselves...well...You already heard what I said. It was nothing short than a transaction between me and them. To think that I'd fail like this....That I lost such profits..."

"And that you took lives to get it.."

"Like I said kid...It's just business. Nothing I do is worth a damn to those who aren't ready. You either suck it up, walk it off, and survive against whatever God decided to throw at you...or you give up, and lay on the ground, letting yourself die. Personally....I choose the former.." He'd finish by splashing the water directly towards Zazel's face, having Gravity Magic intensify the water.

"Sorry Kid....I can't let my business die now. Not after what I've done!" Despite his calm, collected, and cold tone, this was the first when he gave emotion, as he tried to drown out the Demon, hoping such was able to let him escape, giving himself hope that he would survive in the very end. Yet, with such hope...

BANG!!

BANG!!

BANG!!!

Bullets were made once more, one at his chest, another at his head, and the last at his legs, letting the man be left dead in the waters. Jackal was killed, once and for all...