Vatel sat on a rock, his sword stuck in the ground. "Where the hell is he? I can't find him anywhere."
"Can't use my detect skill on him either. Dude's completely off the radar." Mareth said, pacing back and forth.
He pulled back his hair, clearly stressed out. "I'm glad Emopa cares about us, but doesn't he seem off to you? A little more aggressive?"
"Yeah, I've noticed that." Vatel said, coming up with an idea. "Alice."
"That's Mother to you," Alice said, appearing beside him.
"Mother, whatever. You're not my actual mother. Anyway, what's going on with Emopa? Don't sugarcoat anything; tell us everything." Vatel said, narrowing his eyes as he leaned against his sword.
"What's the story about the Abominations?" Mareth asked.
Alice sighed, seeing that there was no way out of this. "Fine. Without going into too much detail, they're essentially enemies of everyone."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Vatel tilted his head.
"Natural opposition to the natural order, and killers by the age of as little as seven. They're bloodlustful individuals that murder all except for their own kind. Evil." She said, narrowing her eyes.
"That's why I was surprised about you and Emopa being friends. Kageharas and Abominations hate each other the most." She said, turning around.
"But why? Why should I and Emopa be enemies rather than friends?" Vatel asked.
"I'm not saying you two should be enemies. It's nice that you guys are friends, but—" She was cut off as everyone felt a sudden pressure.
"That same Apostle?!" She snapped her head to the left.
Meanwhile, Emopa stared up into the sky as Alric looked down at him, holding a bloody trident in his hand.
Emopa was about to attack, but a lance made of blood impaled his stomach. The point of origin seemed to be his own blood.
Emopa coughed, some blood pooling in his mouth.
descended from the sky, chuckling.
"Got rid of your high ground?" Emopa asked, the spear liquidizing and falling to the ground.
"What need is there for high ground when killing you is easy?" Alric asked, tilting his head.
"Bold question, Alric." Emopa began to walk forward as he focused on Alric.
"By the way, you can't feel them, but one of your cores is destroyed." Alric said, making Emopa pause for a moment.
Emopa began to chuckle, soon breaking out into a laugh. "So?! As long as I kill you, that's all that matters."
The two dashed at each other, clashing weapons. Emopa swung his blade at Alric's feet, but he jumped over it.
He didn't anticipate, however, that Emopa would follow up with a straight punch aiming for the core on his chest.
He immediately blocked, getting sent flying back as a path of smoke and debris followed. Alric backflipped, looking ahead of him, only to see a sword hurling right for him.
He tilted his head to the side, narrowly avoiding it.
Morgul appeared in front of him, slamming the sword down while the other one was getting pulled back by an invisible force.
Alric tried to move, but found his feet frozen to the ground. "Shit!"
Morgul brought down the blade, causing a huge cloud of smoke to shoot into the air.
As the smoke cleared, Emopa recalled all his summons except Rot, who stood right beside him.
"When we kill him, we can rest." Emopa said, Rot nodding in response.
"Of course, master." He said, readying both his swords.
"You Abominations and your filthy fighting tactics. You make me grateful not all of them have magic; otherwise, killing you all would be a nightmare." Alric said as his body, which was once split in half, reattached itself.
"You've got to be kidding me." Emopa said, watching Alric walk from the smoke, a red glint in his eye.
"Blessed Apostles are immortal in a way, Emopa. So long as their god wills it, they can keep coming back to life via a blessing of Life. Of course, this comes at a cost of some power." Alric said, spinning the trident around.
Suddenly, the blood that had splattered on Emopa began to glow.
"Shit..." Emopa said, recalling Rot and felt head begin to emanate from the blood. Then, the blood exploded.
The sound rang out for a few miles, alerting Vatel and Mareth to his exact position.
"That should've gotten rid of all your cores. An Abomination that sold his body for immortality, a shame. You would've been stronger if you hadn't made a deal with that bonehead." Alric said, feeling two more people show up.
"EMOPA!" Mareth yelled, immediately dashing forward, shattering the barrier with ease.
Alric raised a brow, chuckling a bit as he spun the trident. "I've never fought a Verger before! Let's see how well you do!"
Vatel came from the sky, slamming his greatsword down, but Alric blocked with his trident.
"Justice is forced upon those trying to avenge a monster." Alric said, sparks flying as he looked ahead.
He swung his trident, causing Vatel to get tossed to the side.
He parried a strike coming from Mareth, but his hands still shook from the impact. "You throw quite the punch! Better than your friend." He said, looking at Emopa's charred body.
Mareth growled and immediately performed an overhead kick, the attack landing on the back of Alric's head.
His pupils disappeared for a moment as he lost consciousness.
"Vatel, now!" Mareth yelled, Vatel using chains made of shadows to bind Alric to the ground. It forced him to his knees, Mareth raising his foot in the air.
"Die, you filthy bastard." Mareth said, a look of disdain in his eyes. Before he could perform the 'finishing blow,' Alric grinned.
Suddenly, spikes of blood impaled the both of them, causing the chains to dissipate and Mareth's attack to fail.
"You people really don't know when to give up. You almost had me scared there for a second. A Verger killing me would negate my immortality, since he's a higher being than me." Alric said, cracking his neck.
Meanwhile, Emopa sat in The World of Bones. "So, all of your cores were destroyed, and you died." Mitorna said, strumming his guitar.
"Ah, the tuning's a little off." He said, Emopa, standing up and walking up to him.
"Resurrect me." Emopa said, looking down at him.
"Whoa man, that's not how this works. In exchange, you give me something of value." He was then cut off by Emopa attempting to stomp on his face.
He grabbed Emopa's ankle and swiftly moved behind him, tripping him and making him face-plant into the ground. "Just because you're an Abomination, you're still weak, reliant on me. Blame yourself for trying to find quick ways."
Mitorna watched as Emopa clenched the arid ground beneath him, his eyes unfeeling. "It's okay, Emopa." He stepped on Emopa's head.
"I can make you stronger; just accept what I have to offer and discard your emotions." He said, a small grin forming.
Emopa let out a sound, one of anger. He clenched the ground harder, "No..."
Emopa's hatred grew.
Mitorna's eyes widened. "Coming back to life on your own? Let's see how this turns out."
Back outside, Alric walked toward Mareth, raising the trident in the air. "A shame a Verger went out like this. You must be new."
"No..." Emopa said, gripping the dirt beneath him. "I'll be damned if I lose here."
Alric turned around, his eyes widening. "I can tell your patron didn't send you back... so how?"
"I AM A WINNER!" Emopa punched the ground, causing a considerable distance to crack. Mareth and Vatel watched with wide eyes.
Emopa stood up, his eyes now a deep crimson. The air felt different around the entire area.
Sorra stood in a kitchen. A little old due to the time, but her cooking abilities proved even more evident. "You guys feel that?"
Ulrich nodded, "Yeah. I got a shiver just now."
Emopa stared at Alric, a grin forming. "This shouldn't take long."
The conflict grows.