The dirt was colder than I expected. Every now and then I would see dirt particles vibrate from what seemed like muffled steps. Muffled sounds of people cheering in the background. And everything beyond, except what was inches away from me, blurred out like a white space.
I think... I think this would be a good place to fall asleep. But someone was running toward me.
"Is that Ryo? Why is he running so slowly? And that young girl with the blonde hair… why was she crying?" I said to myself under my breath.
The white room enveloped, and the silhouette of a male stood before me just a few feet away as I continued to lay face flat on this oh so comfy dirt.
Though I couldn't see his face, I knew his voice all too well.
Really, kid? That's all it's gonna take to do you in? I thought I trained you better than that. Come on… You look so pathetic… the male said, laughing toward the end. He sounded like he was in his early forties but still sounded young and full of life. I could feel the warmth of his presence and his words.
"Asura?"
Get up. It's not over. Your friends need you. You can't save anyone lying down there, you damn brat…
This was a memory. A memory of a similar time when I was just like this, but it had fit the current situation at hand.
I gave a tired grunt in response.
Get up, kid. His final words. And that was all it took to push me. A gentle, yet powerful push...
At this time, the white space began to fade and I had barely realized I already pushed myself off the ground, standing.
My eyes blurred in and out as I surveyed the area. I was surrounded by the slender one that was Captain Friera's vessel, the four arms with the unnamed Silver Sharks Captain, and the large armored one in front of me with the previous Arcane King within it.
With my ears still muffled, I heard Terek's paper-ripping voice forcing itself through my hearing, "If you come any closer, Ryoku, I will smash him down again!"
Ryo stopped in his tracks with his claymore faced in our direction. He ground his teeth at Terek's words.
I stopped bleeding from my mouth but had dried blood on my chin and half my face.
Terek focused back on me now, "You should give it up, 'Captain'. Just admit I'm stronger than you… If you do, I might just let you live," Terek said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince me.
Battered and heavy-headed, I replied, "If you give a child a gun, is the child strong?"
"Are you calling me a child!?" he snarled then calmed himself, snarking as he said, "Well, no matter… when the gun is held to your head, you are still at the mercy of the one who holds the trigger."
"Then pull the trigger," I said, looking like death.
Terek, feeling threatened by my words, held out his hand with wrath in his eyes. Right then, the large mech in front of me raised its huge fist and held it there, casting a shadow entirely over me and remained.
"What are you waiting for, 'strong man'? Do it," I taunted.
He clicked his tongue and my senses heightened like it had when I was in LeHarla. I heard his thoughts.
This imbecile really thinks he can beat me? Fine, go ahead... Strike this mech. And I will end you for good.
I sensed the sweat on the side of his face. Heard the hesitancy in his thoughts. Hurried breathing. Slow rising heartbeat…
"I thought so…" I said with a whispered confidence.
I looked at the large mech, as it stood in place, unmoving with its heavy arm lording over me—still waiting to strike. Pain magic. An annoying ability that allowed the user to take the pain it received and share it back onto the one who dealt the damage, healing itself in the process and doubling its power back onto its oppressor for a second strike. But that seemed like the only two things it could do. And Terek was betting everything on whether I would strike it or not.
"You need me to hit it again, don't you?" I said, looking at him and gesturing to the large mech in front of me.
Terek sneered. "I need you to die!"
Battle again. The four arms raced at me, running its hands over the ground as it swerved, its hand skidding and setting off explosions like splashed water. Through the smoke and fire, the slender one dashed, joining in as well. Its two swords extended, wrapping around me and making a shell until I was completely covered within it—hardening like a cocoon all the while.
From inside, I heard beeping. Multiple bombs planted within the clay shell. The explosions set off inside with me. A muffled boom sounded from the outside of my sealed clay cocoon, the ground cracking from underneath. The slender one's swords unwrapped, and the smoke seeped out from where I had been.
Through the smoke, nothing could be seen for a moment. But as it faded, my silhouette came into view. I stood there looking up, arms hanging at my sides, the smoke clearing even more. Pants were in tatters, my right leg from the knee down exposed, barefoot. But my skin, if darkness could shine, was covered now in a black coating all over my entire body. A form that hinted to Terek throughout our match.
Fanged teeth wrapped my head from ear to ear, displaying an eerie, sinister-looking smile. My eyes shone red, bleeding their glow in the air, and I was covered from head to toe with a black coating, if darkness could shine. My hair was a mess, fluttering with the dust breeze, and each step rose the pressure in the air. Each step, dreaded and frightening. A black wolf, through and through.
"What the fuck are you? Are you immortal!?" Terek yelled, frustration overtaking him.
A series of close combat initiated between the slender one and the four arms as I sauntered toward Terek, my movements drawn out and exaggerated. Continued attacks of both explosions and metal clashing sparked the surrounding area, flashing like fireworks in every direction. The Clay magic no longer had any effect; it could not even bind me. It seemed like I had become resistant to every and all kinds of attacks. This was the feeling of omnipotence.
I reeled in my right fist next to me, walking still, and flashed in a blink at sonic speed, disappearing almost completely from the naked eye. The speed I took was so fast that only a blur could be seen of me at best.
The large mech stood in the way, in front of Terek. Time slowed, and like a meteor, my body burned a hole through its heavy armor with the sheer speed of my dash. My fist still to my side, having not even thrown it yet.
Its ability activated but did no damage. It was as if it could not even comprehend the pain it received and, therefore, could not accurately share it back.
With speed continuing to accelerate, my body shifted, gliding onto my side over the ground, and I hit resistance through the air. The back of my fist skidded on the dirt, sparking, as it continued its tunneled destination to Terek's face.
Time slowed again, my body shifted upright, and my fist, a matter of seconds away from the bridge of Terek's nose. His eyes still looked beyond it. He had not yet comprehended that I was already there, inches away, about to do him in.
In those few seconds, I calmed the reel in my arm to lessen the damage I was about to inflict—holding back just enough not to kill him. This amount should do. And this was what I wanted to do from the very start.
BANG!!
My fist connected and the sound echoed, breaking his nose on immediate impact. His face rippled, and his eyes shot to the back of his head. His hair flew forward, and his braided rat tail undid itself as his head led the rest of his body in a continuous backward flipping motion.
I halted my advance, leaving a trail of sparks from my feet, and froze in place with my right fist forward and eyes focused ahead. Terek continued to flip backward, mid-air, in the same place. He flipped at least ten times, slowing down each time until his toes touched the ground, gently stopping his motion. From there, he fell to his knees and sat upright, face up, eyes white, and out cold.
The three mechs I had fought ceased operation and fell to the ground one by one. The crowd could not believe what they had seen, their reactions frozen, barely comprehending what they had just witnessed.
Ryo's eyes flashed with a combination of relief and astonishment, and the young blonde girl teared up with joy.
The arena and bleachers were so silent in those few seconds that I could hear a drop of water—in this case, my sweat. It was the longest twenty seconds of our lives.
Then afterward, Ryo broke the silence, "HELL YEAH! YOU DID IT, GREED! YOU WON! YOU FUCKING WON!"
The adrenaline in me slowly started to leave, and the black coating that covered me faded just as slowly. I stood up straight and dropped my arms as they hung to my side, falling behind me. My face up to the ceiling, taking my time to face Ryo with a forced half smile across my face, eyes closed in a cheerful manner. "Language…" I said, mocking his prudeness from earlier.
The crowd erupted, and the whole place became a zoo once more. The audience of fakes fought amongst themselves as some cheered for me and others booed and threw garbage my way. But then, as the roaring continued…
BOOM!!!
An explosion set off from the bleachers, and another, and then another, repeatedly.
BOOM!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!!
From all around the arena, fakes scattered, and the whole place began to crumble. The floating pedestal with the DJ lost control and fell onto the arena from large falling debris and crumbling walls.
I gestured to Ryo and rushed to the young girl, swooping her legs up and carrying her. She gasped as I did and she blushed when she realized she was in my arms.
It seemed we didn't have time to celebrate this win. Our objective now was to get out.
***
Up in the balcony of the place, the shadowy figure that occupied it gave a faint smile before standing up and exiting. As he left, the balcony he once occupied crumbled behind him, joining the mess below.
He then made his way through the hallway, where the rumbling and panic could be heard just on the other side, muffled screams sounded off every second along with muffled booms. When he made it a good distance, he held his hand to a random part of a wall, and it opened to a secret passageway.
Walking through it and down the stairs, he passed through a labyrinth of small hallways and tunnels until he reached a grand hallway underground—the rumbling sounds still following. Small crumbs of the walls and ceilings dropped as he made his way through it. Then, from behind him where he entered…
Snap…
A male in Black Wolves attire appeared, switching places with a spec of crumbled dirt that fell from the ceiling. He wore a white billed cap with a black fur hood over it. His left hand was in his jacket pocket while his right fixed his round glasses back onto the arch of his nose. Displaying his tatted middle finger and black painted nails as he did so—glasses reflecting off light, hiding his gray-blue eyes behind them. The tips of his hair were blacked out as it gradually faded into white within his billed cap. And a double-hilted long sword rested strapped over behind him—the colors, red and black.
"Finally caught up to you, Captain Syemore of the Blue Phoenixes… or should I say, traitor," he said.
When the shadowy male figure turned around to face him, his familiar face greeted him with his own welcome,
"Ah, Vice Captain Code of the Black Wolves. What an unfortunate surprise."