Chapter 31 - Chapter 29 - He Who Shatters Glass

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

["Speech Through Technology"]

||

…

[One Month Later.]

In a universe with no stars, on a planet with life that shouldn't exist, inside a restaurant that had no customers, a white-haired young man slouched over the counter behind a register.

Currently, he was wearing his work uniform of a red shirt, black pants, and, for whatever reason, he had decided to put on his black boots. In his words, "Resources not being used are being wasted."

Dante, however, was too engrossed with his phone. A smirk rested calmly on his lips.

"I still find you weird." A feminine voice said from the side.

"What?" Dante responded without even facing her direction. "How so?"

Looking up from his phone, Dante looked directly in front of him. The restaurant, empty as if abandoned, was almost too quiet. Not a single customer in sight.

A genuine smile graced Dante's face as he smiled at seemingly nothingness. Teeth showing and all, Dante looked genuinely happy for a moment before he finally turned to the feminine voice, annoying him.

Amelia, in all her 5'6 glory. Wearing the same uniform as Dante, except for the black boots. Her blonde hair, which usually ended near the bottom of her back, was now tied in a ponytail. A black hat sat atop her head.

From Dante's perspective, Amelia was average. Average in all but the face department. She was skinny, had average curves, had in-between small and medium-sized breasts, and had the same for her ass. She wasn't anything like his type, which cut her off from the list before she even had a chance.

Amelia inhaled slightly deeper than her previous breaths. "What I'm trying to say is, you should've had more than enough time to do whatever you wanted to do here."

After saying her first bit, Amelia paused, figuring out how she should word what she wanted to say next.

"You're obviously supernatural in nature; There are no resources here for you, no gains to be made, nor any power to be obtained." Amelia cocked her hip to the side, placed a hand on it, and planted her other hand on the counter. "Why are you still here? Trapping yourself at this restaurant, what is your goal?"

"My goal?" Dante said aloud to himself. "Survive..."

"Survive?" Amelia repeated to herself aloud in confusion.

"Yeah." Dante nodded. "I want to live a normal life. I don't desire power, nor do I crave it. For me to want power would be the height of greed. I don't see all greed as bad. Greed is progress. But the more you want something, the more you have to take."

Dante's face fluctuated between excitement, calm, deep in thought, and a faraway look, before finally stopping at neutral.

"There's this analogy I always used to make, but I'll change it up for originality's sake." Dante had a silent laugh, shook his head, and continued. "Say there was a massive cake. Many people want this cake and think they need a slice. But you, as you are, get there first.

For those people, you can take the grandest slice of cake. Not only because you got there first, but also because those people will have to split the rest of the cake between themselves. Most will be happy even getting a slice, many will accept the slice they're given, and some will begrudgingly accept what is left for them."

Dante's eyes widened as he expressed this first half to Amelia, his arms and hands working together with his voice to create a story.

"However!" Dante said loudly, his voice filled with wrath. "There is a minority who SAW what you took. Unlike the others, they're not happy with what you have over them. They could be considered esteemed guests, maybe even the person of honor. For you, even though you are first, to be getting the largest slice of cake—slice of power, at this event!

They cannot allow it! A lower-born thing taking what is theirs? This cannot stand! Greed is want, greed is progress, but the more you greed, the more eyes see you take. They catalogue this. The more you take, the more enemies you make! These enemies don't disappear; unless eliminated, they grow with you, each time you take a slice of cake."

By this point, Dante had walked up to Amelia. His height and frame became increasingly apparent to her as she had to look up further to hold eye contact.

"This is why," Dante sighed. His momentum and anger with which he spoke died instantly. "I took a small slice of cake. Nothing too big, adequate for me to enjoy. To make sure large prying eyes wouldn't be on me. I stay in my lane, don't mess with anyone else. If I made an enemy, I didn't. Many enemies will try to escape and try again someday later, but I'll never allow that."

"I only want to live a peacefully comfortable life…"

The last words seemed to be cut off from his rant, as if it were coming out of the mouth of a tired computer science college student who decided to take all his computer science classes in one semester.

Taking in the information, Amelia went quiet.

Right as words were about to form into a sentence, a timer went off.

"Ah, looks like I'm off the clock," Dante said as he began borderline running out of the restaurant. "See you later, Amelia!"

Dante waved as he went out the door, quickly disappearing from sight of the restaurant windows.

A deep breath left Amelia's lips. Her expression went from stunned to confused. It finally settled on a weird, detached look.

"Dante, you really are so weird…" Amelia whispered to herself. In the seven days she's gotten to know Dante, saying his character was weird was an understatement.

He could go from calm and collected to on edge and cautious to mumbling about plans on how to make barricades on windows that hurt you more going in than out. Saying "I usually plan out loud and make a series of paths to better map out my route predictions."

"Dante…" Amelia mumbled even quieter than she had last whispered.

"Why do you have so many faces…?"

…

Walking down the street, I looked back on what this week had brought about. It was honestly relatively peaceful.

Through thorough testing, I developed a theory about the "ability" that Malo and I share. I have no idea what triggered it, but for some reason, we can feel each other's feelings.

Every bit of happiness, confusion, anger, and sadness. Every bit of satisfaction, disgust, disappointment, and surprise.

At first, I was disgusted. It was so immediate that Malo thought it was because of her. Her confusion broke into pure hurt, and I had to tell her that it wasn't her fault. And it wasn't, I didn't like the idea of someone being able to borderline feel my thoughts.

I wasn't the type of person who would love to be connected like this. Having my thoughts, feelings, and ideas read rubbed me the wrong way. I was one of the firm believers of, "If someone read my mind, they gotta die."

It took a lot of getting over as we both found out that our emotions could bleed into each other. If I felt too happy, she'd feel happy. If she felt happy, I'd feel that happiness.

The bad thing is that this loop scales. We'd keep looping back and forth, like two phones placed side by side during a call. Initially, when I discovered this, I felt horrified. Imagine if we both felt lust. That infinite loop would definitely kill me.

However, I have no idea what happened to the song I heard. I don't even know if it was me being mentally fucked or if I really heard it. Quite strange.

Pausing my walk, I turned behind me slightly and held out my hand.

"Ready to go home?" The moment I finished speaking, excitement, contentment, and pure happiness washed over my mind.

Malo grabbed my extended left hand with her clawed right hand. Once she confirmed she had a good grasp of my hand, she started walking ahead of me.

To anyone else, it'd look like I'm being borderline dragged forward by air. At least, that's what I'd think.

"Oh? Look at you, standing street side to protect me from any cars." I jested with an increased flare to my voice and the over-the-top rolling of my right hand.

Malo turned her head to look at me while we continued walking. Our heights matched instead of her towering over me.

Once again, I was hit with emotion. Faux pride as she softly pressed her left hand's finger tips to her chest as if to say, "Yes, look at me. I'm so great." Then came the second bombing of pure happiness, combined with—I actually didn't know what that was.

It felt like multiple different emotions, and left an actual taste on my tongue as it bled into me.

Looking at Malo, I smiled. The emotions that were bleeding into me, breaking my poker face. I'm sure if she could smile, she'd be doing it too.

Malo's head whipped back around as we were about to cross the street. Not at a crosswalk, but taking part in Jaywalking. She seemed constantly on the lookout for anything and everything that could hurt me.

'Who knew the best girl doubled as a guard dog~?' I couldn't hide the teasing feeling in that thought.

Immediately, Malo's head snapped to me. Embarrassment, disbelief, and half-acceptance had hit me full force.

Damn, did she feel that? She might be better at this emotion-feeling thing than I am.

Going back to staring ahead, Malo tried quickly crossing the street with me in tow. Both of us were still coming off our shared emotional high and began settling into a calm silence.

Until we got to the center of the street.

A full-body shiver hit me, dread I couldn't describe fell from my heart straight out of my body.

Something was indescribably wrong.

*CRR-EAAAKK*

Both of us looked skyward as the light of the street lamps cast a figure in the background of the starless sky. Malo's hand slowly let go of mine.

Wrapped around not only houses but also a few street lights in the distance was the longest neck I've ever seen. The familiar black hair on the parts of the neck that seemed to wrap around the sky itself was all I needed to see.

*CRA-CRREEAAKKK-CRRRRRK*

The entire sky seemed to move as a horse skull practically lowered itself from the sky. It was back.

The Bearer of Bad News, The Bad Omen, The Long Horse.

Looking between Malo and Long Horse, I just now realized how both of my only friends were skull-faced.

"Sorry, I didn't prepare the apple," I said with surprise as I didn't expect Long Horse to show back up so quickly. "But I do have someone I want you to meet—"

I couldn't even reference Malo as Long Horse smoothly passed by me. Its head was looking around for something, completely ignoring me.

I took a step forward, "What do you—URGH." And I was stopped in my tracks both verbally and physically.

Long Horse's skull pressed against my chest, pushing me back into position. It then quickly began looking around, as if it were checking for a reaction.

I'd never seen this before. Long Horse—did it ever do this? Was it ever said to interact with those it warns physically?

I had no idea. Yet, it continued, neck wrapping around everything as it checked every bit of space around us. I think it's at this point that the fear is starting to kick in.

I lifted my foot and tried once more to move from my position, only to be pushed back into place by the warning god.

And for long minutes, this song and dance continued. I was stuck in place while Long Horse inspected the area around me.

Until eventually, I was face-to-face with Long Horse. Its neck looked limp, and it looked dejected, as if it had tried all it could and couldn't do anything more.

Its snout pressed against my head, the smell of cinnamon washing over me as it did so. Pulling back softly, it stared at me for a few seconds.

Before finally raising its head into the air and disappearing.

"What…?" That was all that I could say.

Where's the danger?

I looked around over and over again, and nothing seemed to be showing. I even had Malo check the area, and still nothing.

I knew Long Horse's showing meant an event of misfortune was guaranteed to occur. Be it being hit by a car or attacked by an entity. But what was supposed to show?

It obviously didn't want me to move, and I knew that much. I'd be an idiot to try and move, but as the seconds turned to minutes and the minutes became ten minutes, I still couldn't see a lick of danger.

'Still, this is scary as hell. I've never seen Long Horse give up on a warning before.' I thought to myself.

I couldn't stand here, in the center of this weirdly empty road, especially when it's been ten minutes of no cars or large sounds.

I had no choice. I needed to move from this spot. It was hard coming to terms with a death that was supposedly brought about by taking a step. Now supposedly brought by myself.

I lifted my foot. Gently, I pushed out my leg and slowly placed my foot on the ground.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Nothing happened?

Everything was the same. The seconds ticked on, and I turned to Malo with confusion. She looked at me the same way.

"Well," I said with disbelief. "Let's go home, Malo—"

The second I took my second step, my original surroundings disappeared. Gone was the dark street with its lit street lamps. What was left in its place was a warehouse.

Blinking, Malo appeared beside me. It was a warehouse, I could tell that much. The lights from the ceiling's high roof, the dark spots where the lights couldn't reach, and the pillars in parts of the warehouse as foundation support.

The only problem? It didn't end.

From my point of view, from what I could see, this warehouse spanned an infinite distance in that direction. Turning around, I saw the same as I did before turning around. The warehouse spanned an infinite distance in both directions.

The confusion, uncertainty, and unease from Malo weren't doing me any favors either. I was under the impression that this was a trap, and it was; the only problem was where the enemy was.

To me, there was no point in exploring this place. It would be only a waste of stamina when the enemy finally showed up.

Walking over to a greater opening away from any pillars, I waited. Constantly vigilant, I allowed Malo to watch my back. I blinked every second to give her the maximum freedom of movement without compromising my vision.

At only two minutes into this song and dance, the enemy finally made itself known. Getting a 360-degree view of my surroundings, I could confidently say I was surrounded.

And I could also confidently say I was fucked.

Malo's unease transformed into fear, not for herself, but for me. I had to begin tuning her out, lest I fall into her same emotional state. Fear, anger, hatred, and any other emotion that could cloud my judgment at this moment weren't needed.

As I looked at our opposition, I could see the number totaled at least 100.

To explain what I was seeing seemed impossible. Deformed mouths, some too tall, too many eyes, some black while others were brown, misshapen heads, hands that held other hands, heads that split open to reveal rows of teeth infested with small worm-like creatures, and more.

I had killed so many, but blood hadn't affected me, yet this scene was disgusting. I could feel vomit rising from my stomach, especially when the smell hit.

But I ignored it all. I sent Malo my confidence, my annoyance, and my gratitude for her being by my side. Hiding the fact that I wasn't sure I'd make it out of this.

Even with all my preparations, I left my bow and a multitude of traps at home. I had all my knives with me, but with the insane reach and size advantage, I wasn't sure I'd get past them.

Even with my current mastery of Renewal Taekwondo, I wasn't sure my body would last under the strain. I was sure of my supposed demise, yet my brain ran predictions,—'Focus the ones with speed, leave the ones with reversed legs that can't walk or run correctly.'—my fingers and toes curled and uncurled, allowing cracks to be heard as I readied myself.

'Go after the taller ones, use Malo to your advantage along with Renewal Taekwondo to one-shot their vulnerable heads, and get out of the encirclement.' My thoughts ran ahead to ideas on how to use my stamina to the fullest.

Every dead end I ran into because I didn't have enough stamina or because I broke my legs from overuse was carefully considered and bypassed.

'I only have so many knives, I need to use my martial arts to lower the numbers, conserve stamina, and then deal with the stragglers—?' My inner thoughts were momentarily halted due to one of them.

This creature was different, not only in its look but in the way it stepped up from the back of the crowd.

It was humanoid, and that was putting it lightly. Its eyes were where any normal human would have eyes, and the shape was normal—actually, I take that back.

Its body was perfectly the outline of a human. You'd think it was a manikin if not for its brown skin with no hair anywhere. The eyes barely had any sign of the whites you'd see, as the pupils were way larger than any human's. The mouth was lopsided, higher at one end than the other. Another mouth ran from the side of its stomach to its back.

It had no clothes on nor any genitalia, and I couldn't see its back, so making out any details was a no-go.

This one was dangerous. I knew because I couldn't see a path of action in which killing it first wouldn't have me instantly die or put me in a position I'd not want to be in. It chose a spot perfectly designed for my end.

The upper mouth of the creature opened slightly, then closed, and began lifting as if it were smiling.

It took a step toward me.

At the same time, all the other creatures took a step toward me. 'So he was the leader.'

I took a more serious stance. My posture was similar to someone who would begin running forward.

As if an invisible whistle had been blown, all of them began running towards me. I immediately sprinted forward, blinking as I did so.

I was hoisted into the air, flipping multiple times as I was. My leg lashed out at the tallest one, combining a blink followed by force that wasn't entirely my own, and my heel struck the side of its head.

Blood, brain matter, and shattered skull met air. The creature's body immediately began falling, and my foot felt like it had hit a brick. Ignoring it, I blinked once more and felt myself thrown towards another tall one.

This one's head was more lanky, throwing a combination of emotions and feelings towards Malo. I lashed out with another kick. This time, my right heel met the creature's head in an axe kick.

Blood, brain matter, skull fragments, and skin flew through the air exactly as previously.

Hitting Malo with a feeling of fear, specifically with fleeing intent, I blinked.

My body was tossed out of the encirclement. The second I hit the ground, around twenty-five feet away, I began analyzing the few seconds of combat.

'They're organized.' My analytical thoughts came forward. 'Someone is ordering them silently, though not all appear to be listening with all of their being.'

When I jumped into the air, most of them tried encircling where I should've landed. But some tried to push their way through to intercept me, undermining a part of the encirclement's effectiveness.

Slowly walking away on my hurting feet, I feigned weakness. I walked as if I had broken a foot, casting a look back filled with pain that I looked to be trying to mask.

A combination of allowing my foot to heal and trying to build their cockiness. However, all of them looked at me as I slowly walked away with an almost blank expression.

After a second, they all slowly began walking after me. Even as I looked back, I couldn't see the humanoid one that was in the front previously.

A few seconds of walking from both parties—being myself and them, of course—went by before seven creatures broke the formation. Their excitement and bloodlust, I could feel from afar.

'This piece of shit is actually smart.' More of my analytical thoughts surfaced. 'He's using the ones that won't listen to not only check my stamina, but also using them as fodder to lower my output. If they won't listen, then they're best as bodies to the grinder, right?'

The first of the seven, running on hands instead of feet, had two limbs outstretched to grab me. Its slug-like head was positioned forward as if it couldn't wait to get me.

Sending my emotions to Malo, I blinked. I knew she was better at this sensing thing than I was, and she could grasp the concepts behind what emotion I gave her. I had expected her to allow me to kill more before I left the encirclement, but she followed my plans to the letter.

I left the freakiness of the idea of her reading my mind behind and felt a pull through the air. Curling in on myself, I pulled my leg out and did my favorite move.

My leg lashed out, snapping straight onto the neck of ol' slug head, causing his neck to bend the wrong way. Practically disappearing, I reappeared in the air next to the second of the seven.

The base of my foot hit its throat, its neck snapped in a crooked-looking direction, and I disappeared once more.

Reappearing in front of the third of the seven, my foot met the side of its neck. Both upper and lower parts had separated and pierced through the flesh barrier that was its body.

Landing behind the third as a finishing move, the second, my feet touched the ground.—

*WOOSH*

The air had displaced and flown out in all directions. The four that were running toward me and the rest of the creatures working together paused.

Running forward, I took advantage of their confusion. Hitting the third stance once more, I took out three more of what was seven. The last one seemed to be contemplating backing away, and that would be the last thing it would try to decide.

I drew a knife that instant, combining it with a blink, the knife—assisted by Malo—flew forward with more force than anything thrown by me should've been.

Striking the creature straight in the throat, the second my feet touched the ground—*click*—I landed in a crouch.

*WOOSH*

"Hah." I let out a breath.

The crippling pain in my feet felt lessened. The way the bones in my legs felt like jelly went away. The pain in my waist disappeared.

Staring at the rest of the creatures, it felt for the first time that they might be trapped in here with me.

Standing up, I smiled.

For the first time since I awoke in this world, it felt like none of it mattered.

The way they hesitated, the fear of death and pain in their eyes, the idea that I may, in fact, be a predator akin to apex. Their emotions bled away into me, washing away my doubts, my fears, and my human ideals of the past.

A smile split my face so deeply that I couldn't feel my cheeks. My body knew what I wanted to do before I could put it into words. My fingers trembled at the ideas pulsing in my mind.

I was going to tear them, consume them, devour their thoughts. Their past, their present, their future, it all belonged to me. When I was done here, only deteriorated remains would remain.

I'll make sure of it. It'll happen just as I see it! I'll definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely split their rib cages, and drown in their blood!

It's so—

*CLI—*

I felt two hands caress the sides of my face. Their clawed fingertips told me exactly who they belonged to. I felt my thoughts and tensed muscles burn away as a full-body shiver.

"Sorry about that," I said quietly, my head tilted down as if directed to no one.

Looking directly ahead, I spoke louder, addressing the audience ready to tear me apart. "Did my outburst scare you?"

It was obvious from the look in their eyes, the way their bodies tensed, and they all took steps back. Whatever they saw left a lasting impression.

"If I did, good. If I didn't, then I'll give you something to be afraid of." Coming from the mouth of an ordinary person, this would've sounded funny. But I could tell they all took it seriously.

Taking a deep breath, I blinked.

From that one action, I practically disappeared. Reappearing beside a creature within the outskirts-center of the crowd, my foot was already at its head level.

*CRUSH*

The force of my foot to the side of its head was so great that it broke its spinal cord, causing the head of the creature to fly to the side and strike another of its brethren. But by the time any of them could turn their head, I was gone.

Disappearing and reappearing twice more, the same thing that happened to the last creature repeated twice more.

Standing within the encirclement, I took my knife out of my holster with my left hand, and my body was promptly tilted hard to the right.

A hand flew over my left shoulder. Grabbing it with my right hand, I pulled it farther forward. The second I did so, I twirled the knife in my left hand from a forward grip to a reverse grip.

Swinging my left hand back in an arc, my knife struck the chin of a creature. Going straight through the lower jaw till it was stuck to the hilt, I once again practically disappeared.

In the air, above the creature with my knife embedded in its chin, I brought my left leg that was high in the air down.

The creature hit the floor so hard that the knife embedded in its chin was able to pierce its brain from the force.

From this moment on, I cared not for stamina or bone integrity. I slaughtered my way through creatures, even using my knives to deal finishing or lasting damage.

All until there was only one.

"You're the last one left, buddy," I said to the creature I knew was intelligent.

It was still standing upright, with no damage taken. The same one leading this ragtag group was the last one to go.

It smiled at me, but not with the mouth on its face. The mouth connecting from the side to the back had tilted. However, it did not open.

Waving my knife tauntingly through the air, I disappeared once more. All three kicks landed on one target.

He didn't flinch.

Its skull cracked open, large bones came out from the side of its chest, and both legs were broken in disgustingly distorted ways.

That was the last one, and he knew.

With pain on my face, my legs wobbled before they could no longer withstand my weight. My feet felt like they had broken long ago. As I fell, I felt myself being grabbed and held as I struggled to breathe.

Malo held me against her chest softly, coddling me like a child. I felt her happiness at me being alive, not at the victory. It was weirdly calming. Both of us sat practically cuddling, surrounded by bodies.

*squelch*

The faint sound of something moving made us turn our heads in unison. My eyes widened as I caught sight of an entirely different entity.

It wore a brown cloak that covered almost all of its body, except for its shoes. It was human in outline, truly human in outline. Was this the true leader I was waiting for?

"Hmmm," A masculine hum came from the entity. "You did better than I expected."

He spoke as he stood over the defeated bodies of what was probably his subordinates.

"What'd you expect of me? I'm the king of being unpredictable." I said it jokingly, but it came out weirdly serious when I heard it from my perspective.

The cloaked entity turned its head slightly in my direction, causing both me and Malo to tense. However, his head only slightly turned before returning to its original position.

"Perhaps…" The entity spoke seriously; the voice, upon second inspection, was definitely masculine. "This was too easy for you."

That shocked me. "Too easy? I almost died. You don't even—" I was about to start a rant to downplay my actions and cause the entity to underestimate me, but I was rudely cut off.

"Yes, it was too easy." The entity said calmly. It broke through the bloody atmosphere like a cut in space. "However, a question of mine has been left unanswered."

The cloaked entity turned to me, his hood completely black underneath.

"What's your question?" I asked, nerves on fire from tension.

"If you had to fight all of these creatures as you did before, would you be able to do it again?"

The question had me silent for a moment. It wasn't because I couldn't answer it, but it was because of what would happen if I did. If I said the wrong thing, I was sure my upper half would be separated from my lower half.

"I… don't know." Those words were my safest bet. It didn't oversell me as strong, but made it so I wasn't believed to be weak.

It seemed the cloaked entity accepted my answer as he didn't change posture or move.

"Do it again."

Those words caused me to freeze.

"Huh?" I heard what he said, but I pretended I didn't to give myself more time to think.

"Do it again."

The second those words left the entity's mouth. The blood from my hands disappeared, and I blinked in confusion. Looking around, I noticed the bodies on the ground were gone, too.

The blood, organs, and brain matter that covered the floor were all gone. Standing up, my eyes widened.

My arms and legs felt weak. At that moment, I realized there was no way for me to conserve stamina to fight off whatever that entity was. It was a foolish endeavor.

The creatures, every last one of them, were alive. It wasn't necromancy, it couldn't be. The way they looked at me, I could see the hatred.

The way their teeth would grind as they looked at me as if remembering the past. The way their hands clenched, awaiting the day they got their hold on me.

This was true resurrection. Time reversal? Perhaps. Checking my holster, all of my knives were in position. That sealed the deal for me. This entity could directly affect me, but chose not to.

However, my stamina had not been restored. Looking at the revived eldritch horde, I saw no sign of the previous leader with the human outline.

I think it's this moment right here, this moment is where the weight of everything that has happened so far truly sank in.

I'm going to die here.

I was fucked wholeheartedly. No amount of praying to God, no amount of money, no amount of begging, and no amount of effort would ever get me out of this situation.

And here I was, trying to save my stamina, trying to hide all of my trump cards. As if I were Mechamaru fighting Mahito and Kenjaku, I thought I could win if I could conserve just that extra bit.

Old habits die hard.

Taking a breath in, "Hahhh…" I let out a calming exhale. Turning to look at where the cloaked man was, he was gone.

The second I turned back to the horde, it was once again as if an invisible signal had rung out. All of them began charging me.

My arms slowly moved upward, rising like waves in a river. Feeling the waves heed my beck and call, I motioned them around me with each finger and fingertip. Before they finally rested in front of me, both my hands extended, and my entire body poised to fight.

Tuning out Malo completely, I focused solely on myself and what she could do for me.

The first creature was upon me, one I detested killing. Its gait, the hunch, the way its head and neck were lowered in proportion to its humanoid shape, it all disgusted me.

This thing's head was around my shoulder level, and the way both its hands were outstretched made for a repulsive scene. As soon as the hand was about to make contact, my right arm shot out faster than humanly possible.

My fist, knocking the limb off course, completely destroyed the forward momentum the creature had built. It swerved like a man who had been tripped, its body curving right, giving me the perfect opening.

However, from the full turn of my hips, there was no humanly possible way to keep this momentum going into the next attack. So, I didn't.

My momentum had been fully halted by Malo! My teeth gritted from the instantaneous stop, my left fist clenched harder from the pain, and faster than humanly possible, I lashed out!

I felt my knuckles make contact with the malformed forehead, the force from the punch causing the skull to cave in and burst. However, I didn't stop there!

I carried my momentum! Pushing my punch deeper! By the time I was done, skin, blood, brain matter, and skull fragments burst from the creature's head, my punch sending it flailing to the side.

My knuckles bled from the impact, my left hand constantly shaking and twitching. It proved my theory, only Renewal Taekwondo boosted my statistics.

My breathing was heavy, more so from adrenaline than exertion. I gritted my teeth harder as I clenched my bleeding hand.

*click*

The plan was the same as last time! Disable as many as I could before using my Renewal Taekwondo to rend the disabled crowd of these eldritch, anomalous abominations!

Taking a knife from my holster, I flicked it left as fast as I could. My aim held true, hitting the eye of a creature sneaking up on me, and it pierced through the eye of that abomination. The movements of it instantly halted due to the knife tip hitting the brain.

The next creature that would reach my location came from directly in front of me. The majority of creatures were behind that one running in the same direction. Me.

'Garou's technique doesn't increase my statistics. It isn't an offensive martial art.' I thought to myself, formulating a forward plan to successfully disable a large crowd without reusing the same method that worked previously. 'Therefore, I need a way to provide myself with a way to target limbs, ligaments, and joints, without getting overrun and gang-jumped.'

And for the first time since this encounter began, I could feel myself about to grin! This plan was risky, and I planned for a backup plan in case of failure, but if this worked, I would be the smartest mothefucker in existence!

Using Renewal Taekwondo, I disappeared from my position with a quickness not seen before. My foot found purchase in the face of the creature that was directly in front of me, its nose bending inward, the inhuman face losing more structure than it already didn't have.

Pushing off its face, my body defied both gravity and the laws of motion. I backflipped. However, mid-flip, my body was somehow being pushed forward.

I landed on the chest of the creature I had just kicked and pushed off of! The forward momentum of the body, now my surfboard, carried me forward.

Both my hands raised, flowing like two opposing rivers before coming together in a vortex of waves.

As I was carried forward into the mass of eldritch bodies, my fists shot out like they weren't connected to my thoughts. I targeted the elbows, punching them, bending them in angles they shouldn't be in!

I targeted the knees, punching them inwards and sideways, causing the legs to crumple limply!

I pushed in joints like the wrist and ankles! I punched throats and slapped away punches!

The momentum from my constant exertion of force caused the body I was surfing on to begin spinning. It began with a slow swerve and then became faster and faster.

By the time I was borderline driving through the crowd, the body had swerved so much that I was now spinning around in the mass of bodies like a Beyblade on crack!

"WHOOO HOOO!!" A shout escaped my lips. I couldn't help it, I was smiling like a madman who had just discovered fire!

I had swerved so much through the crowd that it seemed like almost everyone would get a turn! Some even got seconds! Their broken limbs looked like sticks hanging from a tree that a fat man had fallen on.

By the time my makeshift surfboard finally lost speed, I had kicked it in the throat, folding it like an omelet, and began using Renewal Taekwondo to boost my speed.

Using that, I quickly went from disabling mode to kill mode. My kicks found their marks. Necks were kicked in, heads were caved in, teeth were stomped in, and brains were making aggressive love to the bottom of my boot.

By the time I was done? Only five remained. I even thought of names for 'em!

One. Mr. Leader. The same abomination I had determined was leading this bunch of waste of elder god spawn.

Two. Big Boy. It looked like a Dimetrodon if you took away the sail, increased the limb length so it pushed further up off the ground, and gave it some weird scale-like armor on its body. The eyes were on the side of its head more than the usual dinosaur look, and even had armor protecting them.

Three. Mr. T-Pose. It looked like an anteater when they stood up on their hind legs. However, this one looked super armored and had weird proportions.

Four. Mr. Know Me Not. Humanoid in appearance, however, the body was all black. I'm talking charred black, and the mouth was between the eyes. Remove the nose because the mouth was vertically across the face and not horizontal at all.

Five, and lastly, Frank. Frank was a monster to end all monsters! I'm talking super devious type beat. He was a small snake that could open its mouth like a blooming flower and had these weird probing tongues that would try to wrap around your face or get down your throat.

Firstly, Big Boy had to go. He was strong against cutting-type attacks but weak against blunt force trauma. That's how I beat him previously.

I rushed over toward the creature with Renewal Taekwondo, all three of my kicks aimed at its head.

*BANG*

Though just like last time, my kicks didn't break through its skull or kill it.

Three more kicks to the body wouldn't hurt, right?

*BANG*

The three kicks sounded out as if they were one hit. The way Big Boy's body recoiled into one of the metal foundation pillars was a sight to behold.

However, it was still alive! Whatever should we do?!

Let me take a little off the top!

*BANG*

Three more kicks landed on its head. I could see blood pooling in its eyes and falling out of its nose.

Yet, it still wasn't dead. Hmmm, maybe I should put foot to spine? They always did say: "2,000 dollars per backsho-"

I felt arms softly wrap around my neck. My body stilling and my eyes widening slightly.

'Sorry about that, I was messing around too much.' I don't know if it was the moment of getting the upper hand or if I was feeling prideful, but I needed to lock in and finish this.

Disappearing from my standing position, I landed three kicks to the skull of the creature I had named "Big Boy."

Its skull immediately caved in, blood leaking in torrents, brain matter and skull fragments across the floor and on the bottom of my boot.

Next.

Slightly turning my head, I looked at the creature I named "Mr. Know Me Not."

Disappearing from my position once more, my foot found a nice resting position in its face. The bottom of my boot hit it so hard that its skull was crushed between my shoe and the wall. Blood sprayed and smeared itself along the wall, floor, and even parts of myself.

Next.

The little snake I named "Frank" was stepped on and crushed. Never was it given time to process its death as it spat up its organs faster than a bear could gobble a hot dog.

Next.

The upward anteater thing I named "Mr. T-Pose" was dangerous, at least, it would've been.

The bottom of my boot hit its chest three times. The first kick had crumpled the creature down onto its back. The cold concrete had caused it to twitch and shiver.

The second kick was the start of the war between my foot, its chest, and the concrete, and I really wanted to find out which would break first.

The weak ribcage had molded and broken under the force of my shoe by the second kick. It coughed blood in waves, unable to breathe from the violent squeeze of its body.

By the third kick, it had become roadkill under my foot. It looked as if someone had taken a steamroller and pressed it into the concrete below.

Lastly.

The leader. I had looked around for it for a few seconds before realizing it was beside the creature I threw a knife at. The only reason I realized this was because it had successfully dug into the dead thing's eye to fish out the knife.

Once it had done so, it flicked the blood off with disgust. Holding the knife up playfully while looking in my direction, it walked into a clearer position away from the dead bodies.

Holding the knife in a forward grip, it aimed it directly at me in confrontation.

"What is this supposed to be?" I said as I took a knife from my holster, making sure it wasn't that one."A duel to the death?"

To my surprise, the creature nodded. But, realistically, why would I agree to this?

"I'm assuming you don't want me using my abilities. If I did, I'd just kill you with a kick." The second I finished speaking, I got another nod.

"But, why would I agree to this? I could just kill you here and be done with it."

It was obvious information. I could speed blitz this thing without issue, fighting this thing would give it a chance, and I was always extremely unlucky.

But, to my surprise, the leader of this ragtag group of malformities actually began laughing. Normally, it wouldn't have weirded me out or deterred me. But the way this thing was shaking its head like I didn't know what was coming gave me a recalibration order on this whole scenario.

That shake of the head, giddy laugh, and the current look of "Does he know?" It all gave the same feeling of knowing someone was holding an awakening while at one percent health.

I may be looking too deeply into it, but having survived this world as long as I have, nothing is too far.

I took a second to recompile the details in my head.

'These creatures can revive, keep all the information of their previous attempts, and have a higher-tier anomaly watching. This thing probably has a grudge against me and wants what we can deem as "fair ones."

Think about it, you're a creature that hunts humans, or have above-human intelligence, and you're done dirty by the human a higher up has sent to you? That's foul work right there. You'd obviously have something to prove.' I could see the writing on the wall from afar.

This thing was salty as hell.

Bad news for me is that it would probably do something if I didn't give it a fair chance.

"Alright, alright, I can see what you want." As soon as I said that, the creature's face grew an even more sadistic grin.

"But!" My exclamation caused it to pause. "We do this fairly."

It stared at me, but didn't move a muscle. It was still stuck in its "duel me" position.

"This shall be a one-on-one."

It nodded almost imperceptibly.

"No superior statistics, no kicks, only fair knife combat."

Another nod.

"Any and all use of supernatural physiology will cause an immediate loss of this fair contest. The winner is immediately chosen by the disqualification of the other."

Another greater nod.

"With that being said!" I pulled a knife out from my holster, spun it between my fingers into a forward grip, bent my knees, and arms slightly while holding the knife forward. "Let's dance!"

We both rushed to each other. However, believe it or not, knife combat is so far different than sword combat. The second we got close enough, we both took a step back, anticipating an attack we could counter.

We both had no idea how adept each other were.

I used a forward step-flinch into a back step to apply feinting pressure to keep Mr. Leader at bay. This caused the creature to take multiple steps back before trying its hand at offense.

Mr. Leader tried a mix of quick forward pokes, quick steps back and forth, combined with wide arching feint thrusts to apply mix-up pressure.

Right now, both of us are in a tango of back steps, forward steps, slashes, and feints. I could only assume we were trying the same method of figuring out the opponent's rhythm to bypass and predict choices.

I pressed forward with a couple of quick and light forward stabs, all of which met air. Mr. Leader seemed keen on playing defensively, with its probable higher-dimensional heritage, I was sure it would figure out my fighting style sooner than I would figure out his.

Therefore, I need an attack that will break past its guard and end this instantly.

As soon as Mr. Leader took a back step, I pushed forward. With the idea of feigning an attack out of my mind, my sharp push forward caused a change in the rhythm of our fight.

I had moved to phase two while Mr. Leader was stuck in phase one. The opening I took was calculated. Mr. Leader's left foot was further behind than its right foot. This wouldn't have been a miscalculation if not for the fact that his left hand also held the knife he was using.

In other words, in this moment, to stab me, he would require more time than my forward right foot and right-handed thrust.

I immediately came in with a forward thrust. I was making sure to take advantage of this opening. This wasn't going to be a slight stab, a poke, or any small wound. I was going for the goal!

A slash straight across the throat, exactly where Mr. Leader was weakest! With the creature's slight hunched posture, I was sure to hit the neck.

*clack*

The sound of metal slapping metal rang out, and my eyes widened. With inhuman precision, Mr. Leader had deflected my knife with utmost mastery.

My mind ran through thoughts and replays of the fight up to this point.

'The opening I thought I saw was really a bait designed to lure me in!' This was actually bad, how the hell?! 'The mastery needed to pull that off is maddening! I still had the knife in my hand, but he deflected it outward, so my arms are basically wide open.'

I could see the knife traveling. The cool facial expression of the creature flashed in the corner of my vision as if it had expected this outcome.

I was going to die. I had fumbled so extremely hard.

I'm going to die.

This would be my end.

There was no way of defending it. I could break the rules of the deal, but that might be instant death from the creature higher up. Which one did I prefer? Instant death or a drawn-out one?

'Wait, no defending it…?'

All of it happened in an instant.

If I can't defend it.

I DON'T NEED DEFENSE!

I flicked the knife in my right hand to my left! It flew through the air, but I ignored it. I trusted my instincts and hand coordination to catch it.

Instead, I focused solely on landing THAT HIT!

'Because you flicked my hand outward and opened up my guard. I CAN DO THIS!!!' I screamed mentally. Pulling my head back slightly, I caught the wrist of the creature with my right hand!

At the same time, I felt something land in my left hand, and I squeezed it hard.

I could see the eyes of the creature widen. It was as if it couldn't believe reality. Pulling my left hand back, my knuckles white, I kept my right hand held on its wrist. It tried hard to pull back, but I wasn't letting go.

Pushing my left hand forward as hard as I could, I aimed directly for the neck.

'THIS IS IT! This was...?!' I couldn't believe reality. My eyes had to be playing tricks on me! 'No way! THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL HE CAUGHT THAT?!!'

I couldn't believe it. Mr. Leader's legs buckled, and it had pulled its head back slightly, but it had actually caught my wrist! Our hands struggled to hold each other's attacks off.

We were in a deadlock tie. Both of us were unable to move, but also unable to finish the attack.

'What do I do? This guy obviously won't keel over for me nor disengage.' Thoughts ran through my head, but like lightning, I heard one voice shout the loudest. 'ATTACK! Don't defend anything! If it works, it will work!'

Gritting my teeth, I began slowly pushing open both of our arms. This caused us to be stretched, and we slowly drifted closer and closer as our arms widened.

'I said no kicks, right?!'

The second we got close enough, our arms fully apart, I placed my foot behind Mr. Leader's foot and pushed forward. Using the mass and height difference between us, Mr. Leader, being around 5'9, and lanky, I slowly but surely caused his legs to wobble.

'I never said I wouldn't trip you, dumbass! You were so unbothered by my legs that you let me get this close!'

The weight of my efforts was quickly realized! Both of us began falling, but due to the height difference, the way we were falling, and the difference in our distance to the ground, I was gonna win!

Almost completely forgoing my defenses, I spun my knife into a reverse grip, bringing it down onto its chest!

I could tell this wasn't in Mr. Leader's head as a possibility from the way his eyes were sky wide and near bloodshot.

My knife was making its way down towards its chest. If it hit the ground, my knife would pierce. This was game over!

*clap*

A clapping sound resounded, and suddenly my knife halted. The hand of the creature was able to stop me, but this wouldn't have been possible if it reached the ground.

I couldn't believe—

Suddenly, my right hand began moving toward me, and I realized I was supposed to be holding his knife in place.

Instinctively, and quickly, I tried holding it back, but its moment was too much. It would pierce me if I didn't do anything.

My mind quickly determined that the mass and acceleration were too much to halt before the knife would pierce me. Instead, I relied on my knowledge of Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist: Don't fight the raging motion, redirect it.

Pulling the wrist inward, I directed the knife away from my body and towards the left of me. This would have inevitably led to stabbing my own hand as the best-case scenario. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make—

'What the…?'

"AHHHHGHHHHHH!!!"A scream tore through my throat at that moment.

My hand had been pierced straight through, the bottom middle of my palm kissing the knife hilt. But that wasn't on my mind. What was? Apparently, I had tunnel vision!

The whole reason this abominable thing hadn't been stabbed was that it never fell to the ground! I caught a glimpse of it as I redirected the stab into my hand.

This thing… has a pair of arms on its back! This tracked with the information I had of it. It never once allowed me to see its back. The worst part is that after I killed it, I hadn't bothered checking the anatomy of this thing.

The whole reason I hadn't won yet is that this motherfucker is cheating!

Automatically, this should be my win! The only problem is that I couldn't kick his brain into the concrete if I were stuck wrestling this fool.

'Malo, fling!' At that thought, both I and the creature were violently tossed into the air. The only reason Mr. Leader was flung was that he was holding on to me.

The cheating, abominable bastard looked surprised at our launch. He immediately tried to push away from me, which I allowed. Both he and the knife in my grip parted ways from me mid-air.

My left hand was too weak to hold it anymore, but that didn't matter.

"GGGRRHHHHHH!!!" I clenched my left hand, knife still embedded in it, a large, demented smile gracing my lips.

Taking my right hand, both the creature and I still mid-air, I grasped the hilt of the knife embedded in my hand.

Unclenching my hand—"URAGGGHHHHH!!" I tore the knife out of my left hand. The scream that I released had been full of my anger, Malo's saddened heart, and my urge to win.

Pulling my right hand back as far as I could, I saw Mr. Leader pulling his arms up in front of his face. The absolute horror of his facial expression told me all I needed to know.

*click*

"Jackpot," I said with utmost seriousness. My hand flicked forward faster than humanly possible, the knife flying directly towards Mr. Cheater.

The knife hit his left forearm, going straight through it. It didn't stop there, as it went straight through his right forearm.

Finally, mid-air, the knife hit the throat of Mr. Cheater, completely embedding itself within his throat.

His body hit the ground with an aggressive thud while I was carried downward slowly like a princess.

After a minute, I had confirmed he had fully stopped moving. I—no—we had won. Once again.

Standing over the carnage that was this battleground, I could feel the effects of constant vigilance weighing on my mind.

As I felt the start of a headache coming on, clawed fingertips began softly massaging the sides of my head. I felt her body press against mine from behind, the weight unmistakable as it bypassed my clothes.

It made the fatigue I felt come in slightly harder. We'd mostly only be pressed together whenever I was in need of sleeping. However, this time, I was bombarded ever so softly by gratitude, trust, and belief.

If she hadn't supported me, I would've collapsed to my knees in mental satisfaction. My legs lightly shivered, and only by sheer force of will had I stopped my eyes from even slightly rolling up in my head.

The blood on my skin had begun crusting while the blood on my clothes stayed in liquid form; The metallic smell not bothering me in any way.

I swear, with moments like these, Malo had to be taking some sort of pleasure from feeling my emotions. Multiple fractured, half-completed mini thoughts flew through my mind, but one completed thought stood out.

'Why haven't I married this wolf-girl yet?' It was a reasonable question. She was obviously my ride or die; there was no reason I should exclude her from "the list."

'Realistically—'

I didn't get to finish that thought. My head tilted skyward, I immediately looked straight and turned left, Malo's hands leaving my head right before I tried turning.

He was there.

The same being wearing the same brown cloak. He was currently turned away from me, looking down at Mr. Leader, his failed subordinate.

"I was correct." His voice came out as more suspicious of something than anything else. "I had misjudged the level of power you hold."

His head slightly turned in my direction.

"…If you hold any at all."

I didn't respond, and he turned back to look at his fallen subordinate.

"You will do it again." He said as if it wasn't an option, but an absolute. "However, this time,"

He turned directly towards me, his hood still holding nothing but darkness underneath it.

"They will be allowed to use their abilities."

'What?'

My mouth hung open slightly. The words I had meant to say out loud were left in my head.

I couldn't even argue or come to terms with what was said. The blood on me disappeared, the corpses disappeared, and the thing hidden beneath a brown cloak had disappeared as well.

The wounds on my hand, however, had stayed. My knuckles felt fine. It looked as if my skin was regrowing over the wound. The stab wound in my palm had stopped bleeding as well.

But I knew none of that was good news. My knives were returned to my holster, the problem being that I hadn't been healed.

I clenched both my hands.

I felt cheated.

I was cheated!

Each overwhelming victory that I got through the jaws of defeat meant nothing. The wounds that I now held brought me the realization. In the end, it only took me one mistake.

This was some sick game for that creature. I was in a maze of sights, sounds, and misdirections that I was never supposed to win. A rat that would fight other rats to appease the circle of cats watching.

And all it would take is one mistake, one misplaced moment, and I would be dead.

That's how this is going to end, right?

The cloaked figure had disappeared. Turning around, I saw the same thing I had seen two other times. All of the creatures I had killed, all of them were back.

This time, Mr. Leader had walked up. He returned to the front. He probably had some stupid bullshit ability that made him so confident.

Mr. Leader sneered. He could probably see the growing despair on my face. He shook his head lightly, like someone knowing they're about to put belt to ass.

'He's absolutely busted, isn't he?' I could practically feel my thoughts sigh in defeat.

Mr. Leader raised his hand in a wave.

"ByE bYe."

His voice was incredibly distorted, but the worst part was that he said it with the mouth that ran across his body instead of the one on his face.

In that moment, the world around me ceased to exist. Space bent around me like someone folding paper into a circle.

By the time right and left returned to existence, I wasn't in the warehouse I was in before. Before me was an infinite hallway.

It was maybe three adults wide. Steel pipes blasted out steam at random intervals, extending the entire hallway. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made from concrete and bricks. As if someone forcibly merged space and forced those things to integrate. The hallway, exactly like the warehouse, went an infinite distance in the direction I was looking.

The lights on the ceiling flickered on and off, sometimes leaving me in total darkness for seconds at a time.

This was beyond creepy as hell, as when I turned around, I was greeted with another infinite distance in that direction.

With nothing to do, I began walking. Blinking in intervals of one second, I kept a lookout for attacks from anywhere.

I felt a presence behind me and quickly turned around. The hall was illuminated, not a single thing was behind me at—

*click*

Immediately turning around again, I came face-to-face with Mr. Leader. Not only did he look very pleased with himself, but he was also within a foot of distance.

I quickly tried throwing a punch on instinct. However, he disappeared as if he didn't exist.

The lights of whatever this place was constantly flickered on and off as I walked forward, assuming the direction was ahead.

Every time the lights turned off, I heard large footsteps ringing out from behind me. It would stop the second the lights turned on. I knew this was a fear tactic; the lights cutting on brightly kept my eyes from adjusting to the darkness, but the thing chasing me could be darkness-related.

By the time the footsteps were barreling toward me, I turned on my heel and got ready for an attack in the darkness. At the last second, the lights turned on, leaving a small black snake within my vision as the only target.

The snake's mouth split open like a blooming flower. The multiple probes that could be the equivalent of tongues vibrated threateningly. The snake launched itself at my face at speeds I hadn't seen before.

I pulled back my fist, ready to blast that thing into the ground. However, something was wrong with its approach. It had never attacked like that, and this weird feeling was plaguing me.

I blinked, my legs bending backwards ninety degrees instantaneously. At the same time, two pink arms came out of the snake's mouth. An upper torso of feminine origin was connected to the arms that had come out of the snake.

This new creature, either the true body of the snake or a design to lure people in, had a surprised look on its face. The new body tried looking down at me, who was currently parallel to the ground if not for my legs holding me up.

My leg came up faster than I could react, curled as far against me as possible, and stomped upward. The reaction was immediate. I had hit the lower torso of the creature dead on. It was somewhere between the snake's mouth and a semi-humanoid torso, from what I could make out of it.

The thing folded in half, becoming a seventy-degree angle real quick. The creature's back hit the ceiling with a heavy thud.

As soon as that back met concrete, the lights turned off. In the darkness, my body turned forcibly. I heard a heavy thud and the sound of concrete cracking before the lights turned back on.

Standing back up, I was left alone.

I could hear a deep rumbling sound, the cascade of cracking concrete following. The ground, walls, and ceiling all broke apart.

Flying around in all directions, leaving me on a three-by-three meter square platform surrounded by a void of nothing. The pieces of the space I was previously inhabiting were placed around me like a platforming game.

It was entirely eerie. Nobody knows what an absolute void looks like until they see it, and this, right here, was a void in reality. Every gap held nothing; if I fell, that might be it for me.

Looking over the edge of my platform, I saw nothing but a large squirming mass below me. The second my head peeked over, they all began raising their limbs in my direction.

'That's hell.' I thought to myself as I analyzed the other platforms.

There was a platform not too far away that was at least triple the size of my own. I could play this like a video game, and hop over to other platforms to get to that one.

There was always the idea that I would have a platform pulled from under me, but I had Malo. If I fell, I trusted she would throw me. If that didn't work? I tried.

I knew the way this entity liked to play. It was unlikely it would end me so prematurely. Instead, it would savor this as long as it could.

I took my chances to prepare, quickly jumping from platform to platform to gain more "ground" to stand on.

I reached my destination fairly easily. A few jumps, a few expected jumpscares that never came, and that was it. I hadn't been harassed on my way to the platform I scouted.

Looking over the edge of my new platform, I could see—?!

I felt a presence, a pressure behind me. Quickly standing and turning around, I felt a force hit my stomach.

It was at that moment that I saw Mr. Leader, his leg extended in a kick. He had teleported behind me, kicked me, and looked extremely pleased with himself.

I could see the swarm of bodies reaching out for me in extreme excitement. I obviously saw this coming, but I wanted to be the dumbass who just had to check again.

I blinked.

I felt two arms grab both my legs, flinging me upward. However, I wasn't going to land in front of that bastard like a dumbass. I was swung beneath the platform to the opposite side.

The second I was on the other side, I was flung upward above the platform. I could see that bastard now, trying to look over the edge himself in search of me. Seeing him standing like that pissed me off more than it should have.

Blinking, I was flung in his direction. Both my legs pulled in for a dropkick. Right as I was about to land it, I saw Mr. Leader's back.

He had an eye on his back, too! It looked like it wasn't being used at all. Though the second it saw me, it widened, its pupil focused.

Mr. Leader's entire body froze, and he quickly tried turning around.

My boots met back! His ass had sailed off the platform like a kid flung off a waterslide. His eyes quickly met mine before he disappeared. This time, his body folded in on itself like a collapsing star.

Once again, space reorganized itself. I was in the same type of tunnel as last time, maybe this one a bit wider.

I wouldn't have bothered being excited about the change if not for the fact that I could see the original warehouse in the distance.

Right as I considered running forward as fast as I could, the first creature materialized in the distance.

I knew what this was.

They were going to try to play defense. Showing me the exit means that I need to get there. In other words, that was my goal!

And I sure as hell am gonna SCORE!!

Running forward faster than I had ever been previously. I realized my competition was being brought in farther apart rather than being stuffed in a tight space.

'Outta the way.' I thought softly as I practically flew past the first creature.

Two creatures threw themselves at me.

Slipping under the first one, I jumped and barely curled out of the way of the second. My sprint continued, but I was unable to see my exit due to materializing horrors.

And to my horror, the walls of this tunnel began closing in on me slowly.

Gritting my teeth, I sprinted faster. Ducking, dipping, and dodging the monsters appearing in my path, I noticed a group of four.

They had blocked the entire path, but if I fought them, I wasn't sure I'd make it to the exit.

Jumping, I began running on the wall. However, it seems they weren't done with me just yet! All four of them launched themselves at me in different ways.

'In reality, this is a fight I have to take.' I thought to myself as all four malformed monsters, and I seemed to slow in my vision. 'But. That's what a loser who isn't going to survive would say!'

Jumping off the wall, my boot stepped on the head of one of the creatures. Both my arms expertly deflected four arms from both creatures in front of me.

Using the creature whose head I stepped on, I jumped and began running on the ceiling. Completely dodging all the attacks from the last creature.

The lights began flickering.

My head was immediately pulled right, a large claw passing through where my head was an instant ago. My eyes widened, it was the ant-eater looking thing.

Every time the lights would flicker, I would be moved. Sometimes it was a dodge, a duck, a curl, or even a slip. I had to drop from the ceiling because of how many attacks had come within a few seconds.

As I ran, the lights flickered once more. This time, that ant-eater thing brought company! In its pulled-back arm was that same small black snake!

It threw the snake forward with impossible speed, the snake quickly turning into half a woman again. The snake-woman held their left arm forward, fingers and palm completely straight.

I needed to duck!

At the same time, the ant-eater thing had prepared for my duck! The tunnel was too narrow to dodge left or right by this point. The claws of this thing would pierce if I ducked.

This was truly a masterful move. This was unavoidable, undefendable.

But who needed defense? Over the course of this experience, these creatures weren't the only things growing! My vision was no longer as tepid as it was before!

I ducked! The ant-eater I named Mr. T-Pose, slashed at me. The claw would surely have ripped me a new one if I hadn't already jumped.

Yes, this dual attack would pierce me if I jumped or crouched. However, I did neither in the way you'd be thinking!

The second I jumped, I was reoriented. My up became my down. I was folded until my upper body was parallel to the ground. At the same time, both my legs spread open as wide as possible.

The claw attack from Mr. T-Pose had missed completely! The forward launching stab from the snake-woman? That was my ticket outta here!

Because of my reorienting jump-legsplit, her attack had just barely missed grazing me. Both creatures had their eyes wide open, but I wasn't done yet!

The second her torso came close enough to my legs, I closed them. My legs wrapping around her torso caused a transfer of momentum. Which means, her speed became my speed!

From the launch forward, I could see the snake-woman's shocked expression while she stared at me.

I didn't give her time to process.

Left! Right! Left! Right!

I laid punch after punch into her skull as we flew. By the time our momentum started calming down, I had successfully flipped us.

The snake-woman's face was grinding the concrete as I rode her like a surfboard!

I jumped off my ride the second it had slowed too heavily. Breaking into a full sprint, the walls of the tunnel had started becoming less than a person wide.

Pushing through with the use of Malo, I made it feet first onto the floor of the warehouse. If I had been even a second later, the tunnel would've turned me to meat paste.

My breathing was shaky. The combination of the adrenaline pumping in me and barely surviving was doing wonders for my body.

"Hmmm…"

My eyes widened immediately. I hadn't checked my surroundings! I was too engrossed in barely surviving.

Focusing my vision forward, the same entity in the brown cloak was around twelve feet in front of me.

"Tell me," He said as he began turning around. "Is this the source of your power?"

In his hand was—

My phone!

I immediately took two steps forward. My hand reached out in an instinctive attempt to grab my phone.

As soon as my second step should've touched the ground, I felt it fall farther than possible. At the same time, my eyes had been wide open. Malo had barely been able to grab my collar and began pulling me back—

"AAAAGHHHHHHH!!!" I screamed, my leg being caught in the jaws of something.

Looking down, it was the creature I named "Big Boy." There was a hole in space where my foot was supposed to fall. Because of my single-minded walk to get my phone, I had failed to see space open up.

Now this thing was jaw-deep, almost right against my knee. I quickly tried prying my leg out with pulls and scrapes of my hands to open its mouth. Nothing was working. I could feel it so vividly. This creature had two sets of jaws, currently holding my leg in place.

I looked up for a second, seeing the entity still studying the phone. I then immediately turned my attention to the thing holding my leg in place.

Pulling out a knife from my holster, I stabbed.

And stabbed.

And stabbed.

And stabbed.

And stabbed.

And stabbed!

AND STABBED!

JUST FUCKING DIE!!!

*CRA—SCH*

The knife broke.

I could feel it, my hands trembling as I tried to grab another knife to stab with.

This was my mistake.

The one mistake that would end my life. All the fight that I had been through, for nothing! NOTHING AT ALL!!

I could hear the amused laughter of Mr. Leader behind me. I had even turned for a second to see him snickering.

"Who are you?!" I screamed at the entity in the brown cloak.

I could feel Malo's emotions. She tried desperately, looking around to see if there was anything she could do to get me out of this hell. Her emotions were the main reason for my emotional, stress-filled outburst.

The cloaked entity, apparently done studying the phone, began pulling its hood down.

"Hello."

The brown cloak had fluttered to the ground.

'What? That's not possible.' I thought as I saw the one person whom I didn't think I'd see in this situation.

"A-Ashley?" The name that came out of my mouth sounded like it was never meant to.

The one currently holding my phone, standing in front of me, and giving me this cheerful smile, was Ashley.

This wasn't possible. She didn't have powers, I knew this! No amount of trickery would get past my senses!

"What are you doing here, Ashley?" I asked the only question that could lead me to a believable answer.

She smiled at me. Me. Who's currently being held by the leg, barely standing, and being watched over by another creature behind me.

"I've come here to save you," Ashley said with a calm smile on her face.

Focusing a bit, I realized she was in an entirely different outfit. She was in black, short heels, her legs covered by black fishnet stockings, combined with a black skirt. Her shirt was a black long-sleeved shirt that left her midriff exposed. Her black hair was straightened and left to flow freely. She looked like she had makeup on.

She looked completely dressed to impress. My brain was stunned by the combination of a life and death scenario and her.

"What-what do you mean by 'save me?'" I tried calming myself down, even through the pain. I couldn't have emotions or pain cloud my thoughts.

The smile she had, the calm smile you'd give a loved one, made me feel burned. It was as if I were the target of affection in this disgusting scenario.

"You know," her head tilted. She held my phone in a loose grip, my eyes constantly flicking between her and the phone. "There are times when I see you smile, times when you're looking at nothing. You always seem so happy."

The way she spoke gave me this foreboding feeling. I could feel a pit rising in my stomach.

"But, Dante," Her smile, by this point, was sickly sweet. Her arms held behind her, linked, her head tilted to the other side, and she took a step forward. "Who are you always smiling at?"

"It's a question that's eaten away at me for a very long time." Ashley took a step back, bringing both her hands together in front of her, both hands now holding my phone.

"I would always question if it was a coincidence, if it was a memory, but I remembered one thing you told me."

Ashley brought up the phone and looked through it like it was disgusting. She turned the phone around, showing me my unlocked phone's home screen.

I have no idea how she got the password. The foreboding feeling got worse.

"The idea of cognitive hazards."

My eyes widened at that. There was no way she'd be claiming that!

Her fingers began tapping and scrolling rapidly. A look of revulsion slowly grew as she scrolled.

"Ashley, you can't be saying I'm under the effects of a cognito hazard!" I shouted. While in this state, she was blasting me with past retardation level claims! "I'd know if I were under one!"

"And there's the defensive rage…"

"Huhhh?!?!" I couldn't believe my ears! "Defensive rage?! Take a good look at me, Ashley! I'm one leg deep in the devil's ass crack, I'm so deep in they'd think I'm a cave diver!"

"Ughh, I suppose that was right. It's impossible to reason with someone brainwashed by a cognitive hazard." She spoke with such dastardly dismissal, I might've ripped off my leg just to beat her into the dirt. "Especially when you're smiling at a monster as ugly as this!"

'Ugly?'

She turned the phone around, scrolling through the pictures Malo had sent me. I could actively feel the shame, regret, and pain Malo was experiencing at this moment. I could see her tucking into herself. It hurt me more than any physical damage could ever do.

"She's not a monster!" I could feel my teeth grinding. "This has to be—"

"'She's…?'"

My words caught in my throat. The look on Ashley's face was indescribable. It was more of a blank, death stare than anything.

"I suppose there's no other option," Ashley said as her left hand and right hand grabbed opposite ends of my phone and began bending—

"Wait!" I screamed as I began pulling my leg with everything I had. "UUUURRRGGGHHH-AGGHHHH!! Wait for a moment, please!"

She bent the phone slightly further. "You're stalling, Dante."

Anything but this! Without Malo, even if I lost a leg and escaped, this would all be for nothing! I can't survive without her. I felt her emotions bleed into me farther than anything I'd experienced before.

I could feel myself beginning to hyperventilate. "Please… stop…" I had no idea who I meant to say it to, but it temporarily stopped Ashley and froze Malo's emotions.

With the transferring emotions no longer inhibiting me, I did what I did best, I thought.

'As I said before, even if I lose a leg, without Malo, all is meaningless. There'd be no way to defend myself. That means even if I lose this leg, I must save her! I can still beat all of my previous encounters with one leg if she's with me!' I needed to formulate a plan to reach Ashley, retrieve the phone, and get out. And I might just have it! 'Ashley's slightly too weak and won't take the time to remove the phone case that's providing extra protection! But it's not enough!'

I knew if I did anything, Mr. Leader would be on me in a heartbeat. This was a terrible hand. I was always unlucky.

Wait.

I might just have a plan!

I forgot for a second.

I'M THE SMARTEST GUY IN THE UNIVERSE!!

'If I faint, ripping my leg out with everything I have, use that, and actually rip my leg off, I could get that phone!' The thought was messy. The plan? Messier. But what choice did I have? 'Malo, please. Leave everything to me.'

"EEERRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!" I gritted my teeth as I began shouting in pain. My leg was being ripped apart in between the jaws of whatever this monster holding me was. Names were becoming faint, thoughts hard to come by, all from this pain.

Ashley had paused in breaking my phone. Her eyes were wide at what I was doing. I had no idea what Mr. Leader was doing, but I had to act now!

Taking that knife from my holster with my left hand, I threw it into the air! This one was special!

'Launch it!'

*BOO-WOOSH*

It sounded as if a gunshot had gone off near my ear. That knife, the one that was just launched, had my hair wrapped around it within the sheath! That meant Malo could interact with it. It was another one of my trump cards.

I couldn't look to see if the knife had actually landed. Instead, I focused on ripping my leg off.

"AHHHHHHHH!!!"As I screamed, I spun over and over again. Rending bone, mangling flesh, destroying arteries.

*SCRHH-SQELCH*

I landed on the ground, missing one leg—

'UUUUGGHHGGHHHGHHHH!!!' Thinking, hard! Hurts!

I was rapidly twitching, foaming at the mouth. It was so painful—

*click*

My eyes immediately widened. The agonizing pain that tormented me was silenced. Flipping around as quickly as possible from on my back to on my three remaining limbs, I was ready.

Time slowed in my vision. Ashley had dropped the phone in shock! I could still win!

My remaining plan? Run like a fucking dog on my remaining three limbs.

*CRR-ACK*

The concrete cracked beneath me. Practically disappearing from my previous position, I ran toward the phone with everything I had. My speed, crazily boosted even without Malo.

I could see it! The phone was dropping!

I'm gonna make it.

I'm gonna make it!

I'm gonna make it!

I'm gonna make it.

I'm gonna make it…

Why am I suddenly feeling so peaceful?

Oh…

Looking downward, I realized I had stopped moving at some point. A sword, slick with my blood, was stabbed into my chest.

*clatter*

The phone dropped in front of me. I could still grab it!

Reaching my left hand out, I tried reaching for the phone.

*CR-CHH*

Ashley's shoe, the heel, came down on the phone faster than I could pick it up. She stomped on it over and over and over and over.

By the time she was done, the phone was barely recognizable.

I blinked, my strength fading fast.

I couldn't even raise my arms anymore. My left palm facing skyward, my right palm trying to grasp the ground, and my head resting on its right side, trying to look around. It was failing. All of me was failing.

Malo appeared within my vision, not far at all. However, her knees buckled, and she fell onto them. Her feet had disappeared right from under her. Her body became something similar to static for a second before returning.

*click*

"Dante."

I heard the prettiest voice I've ever heard in my head.

Malo began crawling her way over to me.

"Please, Dante. Don't die."

The voice, feminine, hurt-sounding, rang so elegantly in my head.

"You have to live. I can't… I can't lose you, too! You're the only one to have ever been with me."

Malo's crawl increased in intensity. I could only watch as she slowly crawled toward me and disappeared at the same time.

"Oh, how I long for those days. Those peaceful days. How I long to hold you as I did every time you went to sleep. I long to see your sleeping face once more, I long to see your beautiful smile once more." Malo's legs were almost completely gone. Her left arm immediately disappeared right in front of me. However, even with that arm gone, she crawled with the remaining one. Her body had started disappearing more slowly than before.

"I wish those times lasted longer. You, who gave me everything. I thought myself broken, I thought myself disgusting, but you came to me. I was so lonely, so disgusted with myself. I wished at that moment to no longer live. But you came to me anyway, you held me, you offered me your heart." Malo dropped in front of me.

Her chest started to disappear as she reached her hand out to me fully.

"Oh, how I long to hold you in my arms." Malo's right hand fell softly into my still-wounded left hand.

I no longer had the strength to move. However, I could feel the strength with which she held my hand, and I could feel the look in her eyes.

"Live, Dante. To those days in which we were freest, I loved every moment. You made this life I thought worthless, worth living. You gave purpose to a thing once thought despised by its existence."

I could feel the voice building up.

"Dante! I l—"

Though it never came.

Malo's head disappeared right as she had been about to say something worth screaming over. Her hand. It stayed. Still pressing against me. Still slowly disappearing while squeezing onto me.

Only when her hand disappeared, and I could no longer feel the weight, did my life start flashing before my eyes.

My mother, my father, my older brother, my aunts, my uncles, my cousins. All of my birthdays, all of my failures, I wished I could change, all my wins that I wouldn't trade for the world.

*step*

My eyes could no longer move, but I could see that entity in the brown cloak. It stood right in front of me. Stood over my body.

My head had been tilted up enough to catch a glimpse beneath the cloak.

My eyes would widen if I had the strength to move still.

Under that cloak.

It was my own face staring back at me.

My eyes quickly became blurry after seeing it, but I couldn't help but wonder.

Ver…gil…?

…

Mission Clear!

[Time: {29:23:59:59}] [Rank: S]

[Orbs: 0] - [Rank: S]

[Stylish Points: 10,788] - [Rank: S]

[Damage: 545,372] - [Rank: S]

[Items Used: 0] - [Rank: S]

[Eldritch Hunter Rank] - [S]

...

(A/N: This is almost 15k words. If there are any mistakes, please write a comment about them. I've read this over and over again, so I'll leave it to the people reading this almost two-hour-long chapter.)