CRANG!
CLANG!
KRRRRSS!
ZHING!
CLUNG!
The clash between the three combatants was inconceivable. Every attack was blocked, parried, and countered. The ground crumbled with every step, the mountains quaked with every clash, and their figures were indistinguishable, moving around like streaks of light across the ashen mountains.
'It's two of us at the peak of our strength, and yet WE are the ones struggling!'
Subaru thought with gritted teeth, lifting his crimson nagamaki to block the descending black blade. Before the impact of the oni's strength was felt, Subaru tilted his sword, making the flaming blade slip.
Taking the opportunity, he spun his body diagonally to land an upward strike, cutting deep into Rudger's side, but that didn't seem to affect the oni even a little bit as blood spurted out from the wound.
BANG!!
He lifted his leg and kicked Subaru in the chest. The terrifying impact made Subaru taste the familiar metallic taste of blood in his mouth as he was sent flying through the air like a ragdoll. Using his sword, Rudger parried the materialized holy sword and used his forearm to block the incoming hammer strike, which sent him skidding back a few meters.
Daniel pressed on, not letting the oni take a moment of rest and unleashing a devastating combo beginning with a spear thrust which was dodged, but it turned out to be a feint.
SHUCK!
Changing his footing, the thrust changed into a swipe, leaving a thin cut on the oni's stomach. Letting go of the spear, he grabbed onto the sword and landed a diagonal slash before ducking under the vertical swing of the black blade.
FWOOSH!
Suddenly, the golden spear came flying through the air, breaking through the veil of raining ash from behind Daniel, thrown by Subaru who had been waiting for the opportunity as it pierced halfway through Rudger's abdomen.
The chakrams spun faster as Daniel disappeared for a moment before reappearing with the giant hammer pulled back behind him. Swinging with all his might, it slammed into the back of the spear, making it rip a fist-sized hole in Rudger's body before the hammer struck Rudger's body, sending him skidding across the ground, gouging a deep trench inside the rocky ground.
"That should do the job, right?" Subaru appeared next to him, left fist raised. Daniel lifted his right hand and gave him a fist bump.
"I highly doubt that was enough to put him down. Brace yourself." Just as he finished speaking, white flames burst out from dust that slowly turned dull and grayish before Rudger emerged. The black flames on the blade were slowly seeping into the silver aura around Rudger.
"HAHAHAHAHA!!! YOU TWO ARE TRULY AMAZING!!! I HAVE NOT SEEN SUCH KEEN BATTLE SENSE AND SKILLS IN DECADES!!!"
He laughed with joy and excitement, feeling more alive than ever. His wounds, once grievous and life-threatening, had already closed, and the hole in his stomach was sealed shut.
"That's quite disheartening. All those flashy moves and combinations only for it to heal in a blink." Daniel sighed behind his visor and grabbed the daggers in a reverse grip.
"Well, since that didn't work, let's go with Plan B then." Subaru said, his nagamaki changing into dual daggers pulsating with crimson energy.
"Heh, what was Plan B again? Ah yes, the ol' reliable..." They both leaned forward, their shoulders relaxed while the daggers were held in a firm grip, and with a sharp crack and broken stone, they both launched forward, grinning inside their helmets.
"HIT IT TILL IT DIES!!!!"
Rudger was taken aback by the two and their sudden change in fighting style. He raised the burning nagamaki and swiped it horizontally in an arc with the flames solidifying in the air, turning into a barrier.
The daggers collided with the barrier; the moment their blades collided, they instantly jumped back. The barrier turned into fire again and wrapped itself around the blade once more.
They both glanced at their weapons and found that Daniel's manifested daggers had become noticeably dimmer and see-through, while Subaru's daggers lost some of their crimson hue before absorbing more blood from his body and returning to their original state.
They glanced at each other before turning to look at Rudger. Daniel was the one who spoke first.
"Right. A Sin's fragment. By the effects, it's most likely Gluttony since it absorbed my energy." Subaru's dagger shifted back into threads and wrapped around his thorny gauntlets before solidifying into jagged scales and spikes.
Cough! Cough!
'Damn. I have been changing its shape way too much; completely forgot about the cost.'
Blood trickled down his face into the helmet as the toll for using the Abyssal threads started to kick in.
[HP: 65,300 -> 31,458]
The lower half of the visor opened, and a few mouthfuls of blood flowed out before closing again.
'This is bad. I'm losing health too fast, and Daniel's been using a lot of energy to maintain his weapons.' Daniel watched the entire process before gripping the daggers and readied himself to charge again.
'Even if we damage him now, a single misstep can end with him absorbing our energy to heal. If we could somehow deal with his regeneration, then—!!'
Before he could charge, though, Subaru's hand clasped his shoulder. Daniel turned to him, seeing Subaru pointing at something behind him. Seeing what Subaru was pointing at, Daniel understood what he meant. "I've got a plan. Leave the close quarters to me."
He let go of the daggers that floated in the air and grabbed onto the bow. Arrows began to be conjured in his hand as he readied himself to shoot.
Subaru stepped forward and stood in front of Rudger. His fists were surrounded in fiery red and soothing golden energies intermingling together.
"Ahh, you are planning to fight me while the other shoots! A great strategy.... but are you confident enough to take me on?"
Rudger said, with his complexion turning darker, teeth and nails elongating, and even his size nearly doubling. The tribal markings on his body glowed with mystical green energy. Subaru looked at the behemoth in front of him and smiled under his visor.
"Oh, I'm quite confident in my chances of winning. After all, I'm not alone."
At that moment, Daniel slammed his feet on the ground, and four pillars of light erupted in a cross formation around them, covering a large chunk of the ashen mountain range.
[Name: Grace of Michael
Grade: enlightened
Level: 2
Type: active
Cost: 5,000 DP on activation
Duration: 10 minutes
Description: A paladin-only skill that turns any land into a blessed ground where everyone with holy alignment is blessed while those with demonic alignment are cursed.
Effect:
(Holy alignment)
+60% to all physical stats
+60% increase in skill proficiency
+60% HP and stamina regeneration.
(Demonic alignment)
-30% to all physical stats
-30% HP and stamina regeneration]
The effects were instantaneous as weakness settled in Rudger's body. But that was not the end. Subaru was going to release all limitations now.
[Name: Heavenly Enhancement
Grade: enlightened
Level: 4
Type: active
Cost: 400 DP per minute
Description: A skill that allows the user to flood their body with Divine power and strengthen its core through the channels of blood and oxygen.
Effect:
+200% strength
+200% speed
+200% endurance
+200% perception]
The strength in his veins was beyond comparison with all the skill proficiency buffs and stat boosts.
In that moment, Subaru Natsuki had surpassed the strength of any hero in history. With that thought, it began. Subaru's fist smashed into Rudger's face, snapping his head back.
THUD!
THUD!
BANG!
SMACK!
THUM!
He didn't let up; he had the advantage and he used it to its fullest, landing blow after blow on the disoriented oni's body with blinding ferocity. With every punch, the blood-red scales and spikes of his gauntlets broke into his skin and broke off, but the damage remained minimal.
It didn't take long for Rudger to regain control; his blade swung faster, sharper, deadlier.
All to meet air. Subaru ducked low and came up with a jaw-breaking uppercut, which was as effective as it sounded from the looks of the spray of blood that came out of Rudger's mouth.
Rudger's eyes unfocused for a second before regaining his bearings as his leg rose up and kneed Subaru in his gut, which was blocked by Subaru's armored palms, but the shockwave from the knee strike still rattled his entire skeleton.
Rudger pressed on, swinging the nagamaki horizontally to chop Subaru's head off. Before the blade could reach his neck, he dropped to the floor and kicked the behemoth's leg to break his balance, but he underestimated the strength of the oni, since the leg didn't even budge.
His instincts screamed to get out of the way, but it was too late as the flaming blade descended, aiming for his head. Right before it reached him, the sword's trajectory changed due to an arrow piercing Rudger's wrist, shoulder, chest, and back courtesy of the flying archer. The discs were now spinning below his armored feet, working as propellers.
Seizing the chance, Subaru coiled his body and channeled all the energy in his being at one single point; small red spikes formed at the soles of his armored feet. Then, like a compressed spring, he unleashed the tension building in his body into a rising double kick directly in Rudger's solar plexus.
"Auugh—"
With a large sonic boom and a few mouthfuls of blood, the oni was sent flying into the sky, creating multiple shockwaves in the air, dispersing the raining ash. The spikes broke off and embedded into his body. His nagamaki was still buried in the ground.
Daniel began to charge a shot with almost all of his energy, the lightning blindingly bright. Subaru too didn't waste any time. He only had one chance.
He got up and materialized a golden-red spiked chain in his hands before throwing it and wrapping it around Rudger's airborne form, the spikes digging into his skin.
With all his might, he smashed the oni into the stony cliff, obliterating most of it. Rudger coughed out blood, his vision spinning, but his instincts remained as sharp as ever, screaming at his battered body to move out of the way of the approaching light.
An enormous explosion rocked the entire mountain range as one of its mountains disappeared, leaving nothing but molten stone and a half-dead oni behind in an incredibly large crater.
The oni was anything but good. Almost all of his body was charred. His right arm and most of his chest were gone, revealing a charred lung and a damaged yet still pumping heart. The skin around his face was mostly gone, leaving behind a cracked skull, burned muscle and tissue, and a single somewhat functioning eye.
"H-Huff... I-Is it over!?" Daniel yelled while wheezing like a man starved for oxygen. He had used a technique that took a large toll on his body. His entire armor was cracked and dented, and the halo on his head was flickering in and out. "I'll make sure he is."
Subaru replied, making his way inside the crater. The black sword had been caught in the explosion and ended up landing near the oni who, to Subaru's surprise, was getting back up on his knees, newly produced blood spilling out of his body.
"You've fought well... Rudger. Now rest. You fought bravely." He had never expected himself to ever praise a demon, but here he was. He reached out to the obsidian nagamaki to finish him off with it, but the moment he touched its grip, his body froze.
Subaru's surroundings changed to pitch black. There was nothing around him no matter where he looked. Then his confusion turned into fear. Countless eyes and mouths filled with crooked teeth opened in the darkness.
Then the blade slipped out of his hand, and the sight that greeted him was unexpected. Just as unexpected was Daniel's shout to get out of the way.
Alas, it was too late. Rudger's arm ripped right through his abdomen, most of his organs coming out of the other side, wrapped around the oni's hand.
The pain was unbearably torturous as he flailed his legs and gasped, blood bubbling in his throat. Even through the agony, he heard Rudger's words.
"Had you used your own weapon, I would have been dead. It seems you weren't able to tame the weapon's spirit."
"W--we-weapon..... s-s-spirit.....?" Through a blood-choked throat and bloody coughs, Subaru managed to whisper out his confusion that the oni heard.
"...Yes. When great beings leave a part of themselves behind, the item formed from it has the possibility of containing an ego. A part of the being. If you wish to tame it, you need to show your worth."
Rudger explained in great detail about a weapon's will, forgetting they were both dying. But Subaru wasn't ready to die yet; he grabbed onto the arm impaling him. The oni's remaining eye seemed surprised, but that surprise morphed into horror as his body began convulsing.
He dropped to his knees, and Subaru's legs finally touched the molten floor, his body glowing, his healing working in overdrive trying to keep him alive.
"H-how? What... what did you... do to me...."
Subaru didn't answer; he simply couldn't. His helmet was completely filled with blood, and seeing his eyes through the slits, the oni understood. His eye softened as his convulsions became worse; there was something moving inside his body, tearing him apart from the inside.
"It seems.... it really was your victory... apostle—"
Before he could finish, his body ruptured, exploding into bits as black and red tendrils writhed around.
[Name: Abyssal Threads
Type: symbiotic parasite
Class: shape shifter
Rank: ???
Durability: indestructible as long as the host is alive
Conductivity: excellent
Description: A parasitic worm that forms connections with different species. If the host is weak, then it will devour the host and take the form of their worst nightmare.
(Currently tamed by the apostle and lives in perfect symbiosis. Gained Divine attribute by absorbing host's blood)
Effects:
[Formless]: Due to its malleable and flowing nature, the threads can take any form that the host wishes in exchange for their blood.
[Perfect Symbiosis]: By achieving perfect bonding, the host gains access to all of its abilities and senses, giving full control over every function of their body.
[Abyssal Power]: Due to the worm's origins, the unknown energy of the abyss flows through the host, giving them additional skills.
+50 strength
+50 speed
+50 endurance
+10 intelligence]
Subaru used the Abyssal threads to destroy him from the inside, sending small chunks of them through their clashes, slowly accumulating them inside Rudger.
He grabbed the arm in his body and pulled it out, blood spurting out before the threads rushed back into his body and began helping the divine energy in healing him.
Turning around on shaky legs, he turned in the direction of Daniel and let the helmet break into golden dust, the blood filling it drenching Subaru's upper torso as he smiled at Daniel, blood still flowing from his mouth. A few words escaped his lips.
".....Mission..... accom...plished....."
Through blurred vision, he saw Daniel crawling toward him yelling something, but he couldn't hear anything, and soon everything turned dark and he fell to the floor, unconscious.