He allowed the punch, feeling his senses get overwhelmed by extreme pain as a couple of his ribs cracked from the force of the blow.
Then he held the outstretched hand of the boy steady, just enough to keep him from pulling away.
Raising his head, Elias rammed it against his helmet. Again and again and again.
The force of it caused the boy to let out a groan as the helmet caved inwards, one of his fists punching right into Elias's chest and blasting him backwards.
But Elias was already standing on his feet, his body bloodied and battered, his face twisted into a snarl.
The boy tilted his head at him.
"What are you—"
He didn't finish, because right then, Elias threw a handful of sand right into his helmet.
The boy staggered backwards, a sharp hiss escaping his lips.
Elias was already on him, flames following his figure like a fiery whirlwind. He raised his hand to throw out another punch, only for the boy to dodge again, twisting his head to the side.
But now it was slower than before, nevertheless just enough to still anticipate his attacks.
The boy growled, clenching his gauntlets to give him a punch to the stomach.
Elias didn't try to defend himself. Rather, he fought through the agony before twisting his hand that was outstretched into his guts, causing the boy to let out a loud howl of pain.
Then he raised his face again, ramming it against his helmet, ignoring the pain from his flesh splintering and his teeth shattering from the force.
The helmet caved in, followed by a snarl from the boy, who desperately raised his knee, giving him a jab to his side.
Elias didn't defend either, ignoring the maddening pain as he jabbed both his fingers inside the visor of his helmet.
Elias felt his fingers strike his eyes right as the boy let out a maddened growl, his hand proceeding to drag Elias by the arm and hurl him straight into the air.
"I will kill you! Do you hear me! I will kill—"
He barely finished because, up in the air, Elias threw a handful of sand towards his face, causing him to let out a quiet curse.
CACKLE
Elias had barely landed when the boy was already right in front of his face, his knee flexed to give him a jab to his stomach, the poleyn that covered it overflowing with tendrils of lightning.
With a laugh, Elias didn't even bother dodging, blood spurting from his mouth at the impact, his eyes nearly rolling backwards.
In the same breath, he clutched onto his knee, a wicked smile playing on his lips as he held it forward, lifting the boy into the air like a rag doll before blasting him into the ground.
The boy had barely managed to breathe out a gasp before Elias was already right on his face, kicking his feet into his helmet in a motion that was followed by a storm of flames.
The boy let out a loud, agonized howl, his leg kicking against Elias and causing him to shoot backwards, his body blasting against a line of trees.
Elias shakily stood on his feet, blood spurting violently from his lips. With his swollen eyes, he could barely manage to see anything, and any motion kicked up waves of dizzying pain that made him feel like screaming from the sting of it.
But still, no sound escaped his lips. He merely moved with shaky steps towards the direction of his assailant.
Meters away from him, the boy was beginning to stand on his feet too, his legs staggering as he let out gasped breaths. His helmet was charred, and Elias had no doubt that his face within the helmet was already burnt.
He spoke now, his once-calm voice now adopting a hint of wariness.
"How are you still standing? Why the hell won't you stay down!"
Elias ground his teeth, his feet not stopping for a moment.
'Do you understand... desperation?'
He activated |Last Applause|.
The ringing of his Resonance String picked up a new beat, ringing out with a sound that made Elias feel as though his blood was boiling.
🎶🎶 PAP-PRAK! PAP-PRAK! PAP-PRAK!🎵🎵
Elias reached him now, the whirlwind of flames around him roaring outward with renewed intensity.
Then he punched out his fist towards his face, arcs of red flames swirling around his arm as his Weaves rang out with maddening intensity.
Unlike before, the boy was barely able to dodge, the impact rattling his face and causing his helmet to let out a loud, metallic crunch.
He let out a loud screech hollowed out with rage.
"You vermin!"
Elias held him by the neck, blasting his body to the ground as his screams tore out from his helmet in agonized howls.
'How can you ever hope to understand struggle?'
Lightning cackled around his armor, only to fizzle out as though the cooldown for its enchantment had elapsed.
Applause rang out from his Weave, filling Elias with fervor so maddening that he could feel it resonate through every part of his being. Even through the biting agony of his body half torn apart.
With him on the ground, Elias then began to punch at his helmet, the air howling from the force of his blows as the metal rattled and creaked.
"Stop this. Stop this at once!" The boy screamed, his voice filled with pain.
Elias didn't stop, his blows only descending with more frequency even as his hands got torn apart, his eyes feral.
'Unlike you, I am desperate. Unlike you, I am determined not to lose. So what if you are stronger? What if you can fight better!'
He punched, faster now. The metallic surface of the helmet was already shattering into tiny shrapnels as the blood of the stranger began to flow through the gaps, his voice a loud, croaky gasp.
"S-stop."
It was right then that Elias heard the sharp ringing of a Resonance String. At first, he thought that the boy had finally decided to manifest his Resonance String, but what he saw instead was a new figure burst out of the trees towards his direction.
It was the last person that had been hiding in the shadow of the trees. His face was hidden behind a plain white mask, his Resonance String humming a tune as it rang in front of him.
Its sound was vexing.
🎶🎶 NRRRIIIING....🎶🎵
Elias felt dizzy, the sound making his headache slightly.
'Why am I even fighting?'
His lips curled slightly at the edges into a small smile.
'I should just surrender. Yes, I am sure that's the right thing to do.'
Of course he shouldn't be fighting against these guys. What had he been thinking! He should be defending them against Dorian. Dorian, that heartless, insidious wretch.
A slender, ivory sword appeared in the hand of the masked figure, the sharp edge of the blade gleaming with white light under the radiance of the moonlight.
Elias let out a wistful sigh now, his eyes narrowed into a struggling expression.
'|Sonic Skill: Steady Tempo|.'
The Weaves in his hands twisted, ringing out with a sound like constant drumbeats.
🎶🎶DUM DUM DUM!🎵🎵
The invasive thoughts in his mind didn't vanish, but Elias could now at least feel a bit of control over his mind, followed by a sharp, throbbing pain that threatened to split his skull.
The moment his eyes regained just enough clarity, Elias barely had enough time to react, with the blade almost swinging towards his neck. He didn't even have time to question why someone was so desperate to kill him!
In a breath of time, he manifested the only Lament he owned. One he hadn't used on purpose for the very reason that the last assailant had yet to move.
He stopped the ringing of his Weaves, the throbbing in his head becoming harder without his mental protection as he fought to resist the intrusion.
'|Lament: Veil of Null|.'
He twisted his body sideways away from the path of the sword, his body going invisible along with his Weaves.
The masked assailant stopped for a moment, as if confused. Then he shot forward towards the direction of the armored boy lying on the ground, a snarl escaping his lips, no doubt when he saw his condition.
Still invisible while lying on the ground and barely able to move, Elias twisted his Weaves, the red threads twisting and twisting until...
BOOM
An inferno of bright flames headed towards the two assailants, blasting them into the air.
The assailant with the white mask let out a howl midair, clutching a shimmering blue orb out of his pockets and pressing into it with the palm of his hand.
It burst into a dazzling vortex midair, letting out a deafening sound like that of bombs exploding.
🎶🎶BOOOOAAAAAA🎵🎵
There was a brief, bright flash of light, then both figures disappeared midair, almost as if they were never there to begin with.
Elias groaned, catching the movement of the four figures fighting Dorian from the corner of his eyes as they all dispersed in various directions.
The gorilla-like tremor that had been fighting in his stead had long been called back, unable to handle the amount of attacks thrown at it sporadically.
So for a while, Elias had watched Dorian fight the four of them by himself... but even with the amount of means in his possession, his luck could only take him so far.
Elias had no doubt that he was injured. At least, just as injured as he was. But that begged the question, where the hell was Dorian?
Leaning against the trunk of a tree, Elias let out a sharp groan, withdrawing his Lament as his invincibility wore off.
The System Notification flashed in his eyes.
[MISSION: Defeat and overpower your opponents, claiming victory.
MISSION COMPLETED!
YOU HAVE OBTAINED A RITE OF CHALLENGE. THE CHALLENGE MAY BEGIN WHEN YOU WILL IT.]
Elias couldn't help but roll his eyes, taking in a deep, raspy breath.
'Wouldn't call it defeat. Not when I got myself beaten out of my senses.'
He snorted, the simple action throwing him into a coughing fit that had his mouth throwing up blood.
'Dammit. I am a mess, aren't I?'
The underbrush shook behind him. Elias barely managed to shift his head towards the direction of the movement, his eyes catching the figure of Dorian crawling through the ground with a glimmering light blue fragment in his hand.
His face was bloodied, but there was still the same unnerving smile curling at the edge of his lips.
He threw the fragment towards Elias, his voice hoarse.
"Absorb it."
Elias didn't have to do anything himself. The moment the Echoform fragment got to him, it shot to his chest, the rush of euphoria making Elias gasp.
He felt his injuries begin to close up at a rapid pace, just enough to stop his bleeding.
Dorian moved to lean his back against the side of the trunk adjacent to him, his amused voice cutting through the silence.
"We both look like shit, don't we?"
Elias didn't know why, but laughter began to rumble deep in his chest. Then it tore out from his throat, his shoulders jerking.
Dorian joined in too, till the both of them were laughing now, the sound of their voices resounding across the quiet of the courtyard.