As Nico and Elayne took a pause on their quarrel, Genesis revealed himself and cracked his knuckles. A mischievous grin appeared on his face as he glared at Nico.
"Eyes, arms, legs... So may body parts I can tear in two," he said in a menacing voice that sent chills down Nico's spine. "But, before I do anything to you, I want you to answer a few questions of mine. Who put you up to this?"
Nico didn't respond, and instead, raised his Voided Xiphos and conjured up a red flame around the blade. Genesis shook his head and sighed, throwing his arms side to side as he felt that conversing with Nico would be useless unless he beats him up.
"Are you hurt, Eli?" he asked Elayne.
Elayne looked at her left arm, where her HP bar was located.
{ HP:850/900 }
"I'm fine. He barely did any damage," she responded. "Let's just get rid of him quickly."
"You've read my mind."
Elayne and Genesis started walking towards Nico. Like a foolish man who had just awoken a sleeping giant, Nico felt cornered and his anxiety slowly grew. Right in front of him was one of the few people that managed to kill Ares, the god of War. He had every right to feel nervous.
But, that didn't mean he would go down without a fight. With that being said, he conjured up his Dancing Fire and draped it all over him. The amber and red flames danced around him, attaching to his skin and hair, changing the colour of them.
His once peachy skin was now orange, covered in veins and heat waves. His hair was now more silver than white, giving a gleaming colour. Even beneath the rain, Nico's flames continued to burn with no signs of dying out.
"I'm not god killer like you, Genesis. But, I refuse to let you use people for your own advantage," said Nico as he pointed his blade at Genesis.
"Mh hm-hm," Genesis chuckled. "As if you didn't do the same thing with Lindsey and Laura. Let's face it; you're just using them for your own personal gain as well."
"My 'personal gain' is also for their benefit."
Nico drew his sword back and dashed towards Genesis, leaving behind a trail of fire as he did. Then, he swung his blade and slashed Genesis, a stream of fire flowing with the movement of his Voided Xiphos. But, Genesis blocked it with his own weapon, adamantine knuckles.
Then, Genesis threw a punch, which Nico jumped back in order to evade. But, right behind him was Elayne, who three a Gatling Shot and successfully landed it on Nico, sending him flying towards the walls of the abandoned building behind them.
Nico collided with the wall, but quickly recovered and dashed for the both of them once more, switching his targets and slashing them as if he was teleporting. As the seconds passed, he quickly gained the upper hand, simultaneously parrying and landing attacks of his own.
Genesis gritted his teeth and his threw a heavy attack, which Nico evaded. The ground shook as Genesis set his fist on it, sending debris flying everywhere. Elayne charged in and three a punch, only for Nico to catch her punch and twist her wrist. She winced. Then, Nico kicked her on her stomach and sent her towards Genesis, who caught her in his arms.
"Where'd this power suddenly come from?" Genesis queried.
"Not sure..."
'I can't keep this up forever. I have to atleast get them to retreat!' Nico thought to himself as he gathered his mana.
"I've got a plan. But, I need you to trust me on this," suggested Genesis.
"I do," Elayne declared as she nodded.
Genesis smiled and gathered his mana, channeling the energy into his adamantine knuckles as he did. "When he charges, don't move. I'll cover you and swing. Got it?"
Elayne nodded and took a defensive stance, allowing Genesis to stand in front of her. Nico took a deep breath, his scarlet red eyes staring at Genesis with a burning anger. He then dashed towards Genesis and swung his blade, the sound of the Voided Xiphos whizzing through the air as it came close to stabbing him.
But then, Genesis disappeared, leaving Elayne standing in between the Nico and the attack. Nico's eyes widened and Elayne's did the same, her heart beating extremely fast. With little time to react, all she could do was stand there and watch the Voided Xiphos close in on her.
'Is this... the end...?' she asked herself as her life flashed before her eyes.
She saw her life as a child, when she'd run around the field of her school. Then, she saw herself growing into adulthood, her life becoming more and more depressing. More events unfolded before her, leading her to this very moment.
Before the blade could hit Elayne, Nico flipped the Voided Xiphos and slashed the ground, sending piles of rock flying behind Elayne, where a small slash appeared on her cheek, drawing red blood.
Nico's body ceased from burning and he returned to normal, the Dancing Fire draped around him burning out in the process. Elayne stood there frozen and Nico gritted his teeth, realising that he had been played.
Before he could move his body, he got kicked on his stomach, sending him flying towards the sky. He gagged as he floated in the air and, before he could fall to the ground, Genesis plunged his adamantine knuckles straight into his nose, sending him crashing into a building, causing the whole structure to collapse.
Elayne took deep and heavy breaths, standing still as her eyes and hands shook. Genesis placed his hand on her shoulder, reassuring her with a smile on his face. "You did good, Eli. You and I make a good team."
"..." Elayne looked at him, her eyes narrowed slightly. "I could've died..."
"But you didn't. Besides, I knew he wouldn't kill you," Genesis nonchalantly responded.
"How?"
"... The kid likes you."
Genesis walked towards the debris and pushed the piles of fallen walls away, digging until he found Nico. He grabbed him by his collar and lifted him, seeing that he was still breathing.
'It's not like I expected it to kill him, but no one's ever survived a direct Gatling Shot from my adamantine knuckles,' he said to himself. 'Doesn't matter. He's dying anyway.'
"You killed the roots of Genesis. That's equivalent to snipping off the roots of the tree of Yggdrasil. How do you think I'm supposed to feel after you killed Ace, one of my most trusted men?" Genesis queried as he glared at Nico.
Nico closed his mouth and spit out his blood on Genesis's face. "... I don't regret anything... Ace was a piece of shit..." Nico replied with a low voice. "Although, I'm not surprised why the roots of Genesis were so shitty..." Then, he smirked. "The whole tree is nothing but a toilet."
Genesis's eyes dialled back. Then, he slammed Nico onto the ground and began pummeling him.
{ HP: 80/400 }
{ HP: 10/400 }
{ HP: -60/400 }
{ +1 Value has been added!
Aestrol Coins: 234,569 }
Genesis stopped punching Nico and slowly stood up, his knuckles covered in crimson blood from the fallen Nico. Nico's body turned cold, along with his eyes, which became lifeless.
"... Dogshit," he said as he walked away, Elayne watching him leave. Hesitantly, she followed behind him, thinking about how he practically sacrificed her in order to land a hit on his enemy.
From this day forward, she will never view Genesis as the same person. Her trust in him has been greatly reduced. She stopped walking for a few seconds, looking back at Nico's body. Then, she thought about how he spared her and got killed.
She didn't feel guilty. But, she did feel angry. Angry that she was used. She took a deep breath and followed Genesis, saving her aggression for another day.
***
Lindsey and Laura recieved notifications on their status screens. They opened them and read the message being displayed.
{ Vortex_ has been slain}
"What...?" Laura said as she read the text. Then, she slowly looked at Lindsey, who had a disgruntled facial expression as she gritted her teeth. "Lin, it's okay."
"There... There has to be some mistake, right...?" she asked with her eyebrows furrowed, tears forming in her eyes. "Nico... Nico can't just die... can he...?"
Laura didn't reply. Instead, she hugged Lindsey, who sobbed in her sister's arms. "Why?! Why did it have to be him?!" Lindsey screamed as she cried.
Laura brushed her hair and comforted her. "It'll be alright. I promise..."
"Nico..."