Rue's eyes widened.
The bird released its initial into its crimson-brown feathers, each of which were now infused with its Will.
Ding!…
A gong-like noise allayed in a steady tune, before thousands of crimson feathered blades rained like hellfire towards Rue.
From the beast's perspective, they had drawn the checkmate, its foe was backed into a corner, literally and figuratively.
No matter how Rue looked at it he would lose, or at the very least he would receive severe injuries.
He opted for the possibility of the ladder.
CRK!...Tear!
SNAP!
Digging his fingers under his solar plexus, Rue drove his hand under the flesh to the internal side of his ribcage.
Wincing from the pain, he tore out his ribcage. Immediately his entrails began to spill from the open cavity—great streams of filthy blood began to trail down his griffdrift.
Commanding his Will, the torn flesh, now responding to their master's demand, tendriled out latching onto the individual crevices within the ribs' structure.
The torn flesh thickened—muscle fibers bore into fruition, ravaging themselves around. The fibers weaved amongst one another, fastening into the ribcage
Muscle grew, and his main body, in response to the sudden influx of muscles being removed and used, began to shrivel and wear.
His body pathetically trembled just from the weight of his current girth.
Liver spots began to cover his body, his eyes caved in, his muscles were atrophied, his once milk-white skin began to darken with a sickly black.
Even through all of this, his expression remained focused—resolute— as he faced this impending doom.
Clamp!
In front of him, the object he had been creating finally morphed into existence—it was an imposing body-sized shield made of solid flesh and bone.
Tu!Tu!Tu!TuTu!TuT!…
Thousands of those feather blades dug into the shield, only stopping after transversing several inches into the solid flesh before stopping.
The hellish torrent continued for a few more seconds.
Nothing happened after that. Both parties were severely drained—the bird-like creature was exhausted, and Rue was in a near death-like state.
These were only temporary impediments for the two.
Receding his shield of flesh back into his body, Rue glared at his foe. The bird faced the inquisitor with an equal look.
Contempt, but with an underlying respect.
"This damn cunt," Rue mused with a grin. He was amused—never once in his life would he think he would have to face such an annoying bastard.
Yeah, heretics were cunning snake-like fiends, but this fucking bird was elusive as hell.
Maybe those bastards could learn or two from this thing
Reaching his peak again, Rue began to approach the bird.
Crumble…RUMBLE!!!
They stopped, frozen—a wave of fear washed over them.
Rue's breath hastened, and his body squirmed in involuntary anxiety. He recalled this feeling.
That reeling feeling… it was the same one he felt when he first arrived at these odd planes—right after he achieved his long-coveted freedom from his cell.
The wave of annihilation, or so he dubbed it.
It had already caught up to him, again!…
"FUCK!"
Giving a glance towards the bird, Rue smirked before pointing towards the oncoming wave of destruction a few thousand kilometers away.
Given a rough estimate, it was safe to say that it would be here within three minutes.
The bird, confused by the gesture's lack of malice, out of curiosity quickly followed the direction they pointed to with one of their relatively less useful eyes.
Meeting the location, the bird was shocked.
A large wall of impending doom was currently barreling towards them, its speed was around half its own, but still—that was quick as hell!
Confused as to why its foe pointed this out, the bird tilted its head, bewildered.
Seeing a reaction from the bird's part, Rue chuckled before proceeding to point towards the bird and then himself.
With a motion of his hands, Rue created a fist with his right hand, and with his left he pointed to the bird before gesturing towards his fist.
'This is you'
Or so he tried to communicate.
Not waiting for the bird's reaction, Rue continued with his finger show.
With his left hand, he mimicked himself before he rested the finger-person onto his clenched fist, essentially the finger man was straddling the fist.
Seeing this display, the bird was fortunately able to understand the intent held behind the action, but it still felt confused. Were they not just fighting only a few seconds prior?
Sensing unease and confusion sprouting from the bird-like creature, Rue pointed to the bird and himself once more before giving a few jabs and then crossing his arms in an 'X' shape.
'I don't want to fight anymore,'
Cusping his shoulder, the inquisitor, in an attempt to show his goodwill, pierced his finger through the tender mussel, grappling the bone of his shoulder blade, and beginning to mutilate himself from the shoulder down.
He amputated his left arm.
With his torn-off appendage within his grasp, Rue tossed the piece towards the bird, as if it were a useless object. Sniffing the arm, the bird confirmed that it was genuine. Clenching the appendage within its beak, the bird reluctantly gestured a nod towards its back.
While it may be a beast, it wasn't ignorant of the simple concept of trade.
For now, this arm would suffice for this transaction.
This was a temporary truce.
Still wary of the bird, Rue carefully neared it—caution was a commodity he didn't spare.
By its side now, Rue hopped onto its back, straddling it in the same manner that he had with his demonstration.
Lacing his legs around the sides, Rue propped his back down positioning himself in a similar fashion one would with a horse.
Seeing as they were finished with preparation, the bird kicked back its legs several times, adjusting its twerk. Confident in its preparation, the beast readied its explosive forward.
Unlike mortal cheetahs on Earth, who could only traverse short distances at a limited constant top speed, the bird-like creature was able to maintain its own top speeds nearly indefinitely.
FWOOM!
The bird exploded forward, immediately reaching speeds of nearly four hundred kilometers per minute.