Chapter 27: All out Battle Anthony strives to Win
The metal image lunged for Anthony throwing a balled fist as it came close.
"Lend me your power," Anthony's eyes shot open, giving a red glow, red flames started emanating from his body."Karema!"
"Dragon tooth!" Anthony clenched tightly to his sword the flames increasing and evaporating all the water around him "Technique 8!" Anthony launched into the air with a gale if wind following behind.
"Vertical circular slash!" Too fast for the giant image to react Anthony slashed his sword down at it's shoulder a whirling flame energy cutting deep into it.
"Ahhhhh!" The giant shrieked throwing a fist at Anthony.
Anthony back flipped off the giant leaving it to inflict a punch on itself. The giant stumbled back a few feet before regaining itself.
"I'm not done yet!" Anthony charged again for the giant with all his might. "Dragon tooth! Technique 2" He slashed aiming for it's knee "vanquishing flames."
Anthony's sword made a deep cut in it's knee letting the giant give yet another ear piercing shriek.
More furious now the giant sent a fist flying down for Anothony.
"Pathetic," Anthony launched into the air evading the giant's attack. He lands on the giant's shoulder right before it's face.
"What!" The giant yelped in shock, he had given Anthony a clear opening to his face, "idiot you can't lay a dent in my metal..."
"Technique 5! Desolate exothermic!" Anthony slashed his sword for the giant's face with all his might.
Boom! His sword connected with the giant's face with an explosion of fire and wind that hits Ayami dozens of feet away.
As the smoke and flames cleared out the only thing that remained of the giant was nothigness. Anthony had done it. He swallowed hard as he felt blood erupt from within him, but it wouldn't go down. Soon it filled his entire mouth and forced itself out. His heart thumped hard on his chest, he felt drowsy and hurting everywhere. Anthony hunched his back to stare down at the river "it's... Not over yet... Karema."
An ice spear came from behind him unnoticed lodging deep in his rare. "Ahhh!" Anthony groaned turning back immediately to attack but... There was no one there.
Another spear came from behind but this time Anthony vibes it, turning around sharply cutting it down. Also there was no sign of Ayami, it was like he disappeared and appeared unnoticed which was impossible for his physical state.
He was hiding somewhere, such a huge object how could he conceal himself silently. This reminded Anthony of his mother, when she taught him how to catch a quni fish, they were huge but could easily conceal themselves in the small pond they had at home. The key was to track not the active tracks, but the dormant tracks through vibrations. That day he had caught them a large quni fish which they ate for dinner.
Anthony smiled a tear drop rolling down his eyes... Mum!
"Uhhh?" Anthony had a great sense of foreboding as he perceived an object hovering above him. A wall of ice plummeting fast for him. Anthony braced himself slashing up for the ice when...
The wall suddenly shatters into tiny ice blades which Anthony doesn't see until the last moment raising his arms to block.
"Arrghhhhh!" The ice blades penetrated his skin lodging deeply into it. The river below him suddenly froze up restraining his legs. Anthony writhed in pain.
"Hehehehe!" Ayami rose from the river with a wide grin on his face that showed his monstrous sharp fangs "you loose."
"No... Not yet," Anthony's hands shook as he slowly climbed to his feet the agony from the blades in his body increasing greatly. "Tsk!" He stumbled almost falling to his face but stabilizes himself.
Ayami gasped in shock, he had never once seen this courage, determination and desperation in a hunter, he was out of Aura, his body was far spent... There was basically no chance of winning but why keep on fighting. "What the hell is wrong with you I win, I defeated you... You can't win," Ayami yelled out enraged "why are you trying to defy the odds? Why are you trying to defy fate when it's already written?"
Anthony rose to his feet his back hunched and head down "be... Because I..." Anthony's mind ran through his previous meetings with his friends his family, their pain, what Scales had told him all this had kept him going until now, so he had no exception but to win this battle for them all.
"Why the hell do you keep on fighting?" Ayami's tone sounded more offended.
Anthony gritted his teeth and gave Ayami a stare that frightened him "because I must protect them all, slime toad!"
Ayami flared up feeling insulted, he raised his palm all the water below and behind him turning into hundreds of ice spear "die you disgusting bug!"
The spears flew towards Anthony all at once. Anthony stared defiantly at it "Karema!"
...
"Hohohihi! You are really something else, you lack everything... Skill, talent and strength," Karema laughed still in the dark, back facing Anthony who stood and stared at him. "But you've got a daring heart that surpasses all I have seen in my time, you should be honoured to hear me say that ratbug."
"Hey! give me your power!" Anthony snarled pointing a finger at Karema.
"I gave you a tiny chunk of my Aura once if I double it your weak creaky body will not handle it and if it does kudos," Karema laughed out loud "Hohohihi!"
"Ahhhhh!" Anthony shouted with all his might his veins bulging his hair rising up as red large flames circled round him. He could feel a tremendous amount of Aura run through him. "Karema!" Anthony planted his foot into the floor shattering it, he clenched his sword tightly with his hands and charged Ayami.
Boom!
"What!" Ayami gasped as he lost sight of Anthony in seconds it was like a blur charging him. As Anthony ran past the ice spears the wind pressure and heat he emmited shattered them to bits.
"Shit!" This didn't bode well . Ayami turned away to run when he felt Anthony's sword on the back of his neck. "So fast!"
"Die!!!" Anthony roared pushing his sword through and out of Ayami's neck beheading him. He had won. Anthony exhaled hard feeling the power dwindle, "thank you Karema."
Anthony exhaled exhausted. Using Karema made his body stiff and heavy but luckily he won. Four ice spears suddenly rose from the river beneath Anthony which he doesn't notice until it was too late. Two impaling his back while the other two below his ribs.
"Tsk!" Anthony groaned writhing in pain. He tried to break free struggling but it was no use, his body was numb and paralyzed dew to his constant going beyond the limits.
"Ahhhh!!!" Anthony shrieked. But how was this possible? Was that Ayami he killed a clone? Had he been wasting time fighting the wrong guy the whole time? Anthony turned his gaze to the demon's corpse it's body standing upright not crumbling to dust, it's neck was missing a head... But there were three huge veins frozen connected from Ayami's neck to his head which was in mid air.
"You look surprised scum!" Ayami muttered "fate has decided you must die today though I might also die here too but this will be rather satisfying."
"Ahhhhh! How..." Anthony managed to force out as the spears dug deeper into his flesh.
"You lack brains unworthy scum? When you cut me off I managed to reattach three of my veins together increased their size and freeze them to keep me alive," Ayami frowned tears rolling down his eyes "I'll take your purid soul down to hell! We will die together! Rivals to the end! Aren't you fucking excited?" Anthony doesn't give a reply enraging Ayami even more, "i said aren't we fucking excited?"
"Ahhhhh!!!" Anthony cried in pain as the spears dug even deeper letting out a wave of blood that soaked his uniform in seconds. "You-bastard-slime-toad-why! Won't you stay dead!"
"We both are gonna die!!!" Ayami yelled out.
"Graaaahhh!" Anthony felt the spears breaching past his flesh slowly, it was a painful way to die, the agony made his body tremble and his heart thump hard to his chest, he needed to formulate a plan... Fast.
"Wait!"
"Hugh?"
Anthony and Ayami turned their gaze to the man who accompanied Anthony earlier and behind him were the villagers terrified by the sight, both adults and children having to watch I'm ale and pity.
"Please wait," the man urged.
"For what?" Ayami asked the veins on his head popping. "Do you want to die lick spittle?"
"No... I don't want to die, I am too young to die," he proceeded with caution "it doesn't have to end this way."
"Shut the hell up!" Ayami yelled out as one of the frozen veins shattered. "I won't warn you again!"
"It's useless-to reason with them," Anthony wrenched from his mouth. "Run, you can..."
"I won't!" The man cuts in angrily, "I won't run away anymore!"
Anthony was stunned by the man's tone, he sounded more pained than angry.
"I am Alexander Dorinthy the third, son of Jonah Dorinthy and Noana Dorinthy, the king and queen of Everstorn kingdom, I shall not run anymore!"
The crowd gasped becoming rowdy.
"He is a prince?"
Ayami growled "why the hell do I need to care!"
"Everstorn kingdom... Was destroyed over a... Decade ago and no one survived!"
Alexander continues "my family and kingdom was destroyed by and evil being and I some how ended up in the streets of a town I knew nothing of. I succombed to stealing to feed myself for some time before I was caught. I was to die but a sayer prophesied some wise crap to them and I was saved, lived in the village like the chief's son until greed and jealousy of men pulled me back down to the streets. They hired assassin's that chased my out if the village, I managed to reach here Mouta, started my own bar, owned the criminals on the street as my own personal body guard. I was nothing more than a criminal... Until now." He pulled on his sling shot he had held unto, inserting a stone and aiming "I don't know if I was interrupting something... But your time is up rotten snow face common shit."
He let's go of the stone letting it spin through the air as it immediately ignited fire shattering one of Ayami's veins.
"Ahhhhh!" Ayami shrieked feeling all his power and life force fade away fast.
The spears that were lodged inside Anthony melted immediately to water letting letting Anthony fall to his knee gasping for air. "Thank... You," he said.
Alexander smiled "now to finish this demon crap."
"It's not fair!" Ayami burst into tears.
"Life ain't fair to begin with," Alexander inserted another stone in this slingshot and aimed.
"Wait! Let him speak," Anthony rose to his feet groggily. "Everyone deserves a chance to speak," Ayami smiled as he heard Anthony say.
Anthony smiled back afterwards slashing his sword for Ayami breaking the last vein and sending his head tumbling down to the river.
Everyone gasped In shock including Ayami as his head made a splash drowning instantly.
"Yes, everyone deserves a chance to speak but you were buying yourself time to escape and reattach your head," Anthony smiled bending down dipping his hand into the water, pulling Ayami's head out.
"You damn idiot! I'll kill you!" Ayami barked out as he began to crumble to dust.
"Hehe, I know your games, the way you fight. Because of your lack of agility and speed you attack by creating a diversion and hitting your enemy when less expected." Anthony stood upright staring at the far end of the river "it's almost sunrise, enjoy your last moments."
Ayami panicked, the sun, he couldn't die yet, he... Ayami burst into tears crying incessantly "I... I can't die now. It isn't my fate to die, I am immortal a superior above every species, it can never be my fate to die!" He spouted.
"Sorry!" Anthony said with a smile across his face "I'm afraid you have to."
"Shit! No please! I-ca-ca-cant die!" He screamed, half of his face already gone.
Anthony hurled the head into the air with all his might "Sorry you were made to live through this fate but, as you said it's fate."
Ayami's head spun in the air, he couldn't stop crying as thoughts of his past ran through his head all he had become, and all that amounted to a head crumbling to dust helplessly. He was helpless as a human and also as a demon, surely this was fates doing.
He was fourteen when his parents got killed by greedy humans that wanted their farmland. The only one he had left was his gorgeous sister which was eyed by men of the village. He stole to feed them both. But as all stories go, he was caught one day betrayed by his partners in crime who sacrificed him for their benefits of escaping from their pursuers and sharing the loot. He was beaten to a pulp by his pursuers until his sister came to his aid begging the men, instead they took advantage of her each taking turns and raping her while he watched hopelessly. When they were done pleasuring themselves with his sister they tossed them into a deep river with metal balls chained to tgeir necks so as to drown them without resistance. He watched his sister die, become lifeless, choke till death powerless to help. He too died but woke up on the beach transformed into a demon by a monster ranked demon, the demon had razed the entire village to the ground massacred everyone and told him humans were the true animals.
Now, all that didn't matter, all that remained of him was one quarter if his face an eye and ear. At least he would die staring at the sun after centuries, his sister's best time of every day she lived.
The golden warm lights shone on him burning him into ash slowly. He didn't know why the sun had such effect in demons but it was surely nice as a last image "Thank you demon hunter," he finishes finally crumbling to dust.
"Live peacefully," Anthony smiled as the last piece of Ayami crumbled to dust. He turned away from the sight walking to the shoreline, what a long hectic night, nothing would be more rewarding than a long rest.
"Activate Demon Arising."
"Thank you for the opportunity you have given me," Alexander said "I will become a better person, I'll change the world... I promise."
Anthony turned his gaze to him and grinned widely "I will be looking forward to it and..." Anthony's tough look suddenly sufficed showing a pain filled expression "can someone get me a doctor?"