Chapter 37

"Fight me."

He looked dumbfounded. "Huh?"

I repeated the two words. "Fight. Me."

"Why? I don't want to hurt you."

"I need you to spar with me so that I can prove something."

Hikan sighed. "I'm not even going to ask what you wanna prove," he stepped out of the room. "But I will fight you."

"Alright."

Hikan stretched his body while I patiently waited for him to finish. We were in a mountain range, which is totally a cliché, away from the people.

He finished stretching and jumped back up. "Alright, I'm ready," he materialized his blade. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

I unsheathed my blade. "Positive."

"Alright," he took a stance.

I also took a stance and we just watched each other, not making a move. Only the wind blew.

"…"

"…"

I activated Level Three and slowed down time.

*BANG!* *CRASH!*

I dashed towards Hikan and slashed downwards at him. He parried by swinging his blade up towards mine and causing my blade to fly away. He took a step forward and got ready to stab me. I activated my body to act at one hundred percent and slammed the blade down to the ground.

"…!"

*Crack!*

Right before I could retract my arm, he quickly raised his head and slammed it against mine, causing me to tumble to the ground. He rushed at me, materializing another blade along the way.

*Clang!* *Slash!* *Boom!*

I formed a blade out of my Devil's 'red' energy and blocked his strikes. But he was constantly smashing me down and was moving so fast that I couldn't even see a single opening. He raised his blade and slammed me further into the ground, creating a crater around me.

*CLANG!* *CRASH!* *BANG!* *SLASH!* *BOOM!*

I further slowed down time mid-fall. This time I could actually see his movements. Before another strike came down on me, I caught myself, dashed forward and banged my head against his. He stumbled back but quickly regained his footing.

"…" Hikan wiped the blood off of his face. "I guess you don't suck ass."

"Heh, I could say the same about you," I also wiped away my blood.

"But, like classic anime stereotypes, I'm not even using my full power yet."

I crossed my arms. "I figured. You are a CPU after all."

He looked at me weirdly. "What? Aren't you worried?"

I smirked. "No. Because, like you, I also haven't used my full power yet."

"… I see," he let out a sigh. "Well then, how about a no-holding-bars-back match now?"

I laughed. "That's what I was hoping you'd suggest."

He transformed into his CPU form and looked at me seriously. "Your turn."

I closed my eyes. "If you say so."

"You want us to fight this guy?"

I thought, Yup, now kick your rear in gear!

"Whatever."

My darkened vision slowly turned into a fiery red.

Hikan's POV

I watched as Tolise's body became enveloped in an orange and red flame aura. He opened his eyes back up. He was now wearing half of a white mask and his eye color had changed to a moon yellow with black scleras. His hair, which was now a silver color, had grown out and he now wore red tattoos that wrapped around both of his arms. He sneered and began to laugh maniacally. "HAHAHAHA! I haven't felt so alive in such a long time! Tell me boy, are you ready to die!?"

Huh? Just a second ago, he seemed like a completely normal guy. But now, he seemed to be a crazy maniac with only the sole intention of killing. "Tolise, are you okay?"

He continued to laugh. "Tolise?! HAHAHA! That boy is now gone! Now, you will refer to me as the name people used to fear, Lucifer!"

"…!" That name. When I had been taken to the other dimension, I had learned about these beings called Spawns. It was, after spending some time in that dimension, that I learned of two boys. I couldn't remember what one of them was, but the other one had been called Tolise, which was probably the one I was fighting. I had also learned of a boy nicknamed Lucifer and it was feared by many.

"So, you really are the one named Lucifer from over in the other dimension."

"That's right and do you want to know how I got that name?"

"Enlighten me."

"Heh. Actually, how about I show you instead?"

"…!"

Before I could do anything, he was already in my face. He gave me a devilish grin and slammed my head into the ground. A wave of pain blew up in my head.

I kicked back at him only to get my feet caught. He threw me into the side of a boulder, causing it to shatter when I hit it. I collapsed onto the ground. "… Damn." He was so strong now and much faster. If I didn't give it my all, he could actually kill me. I pulled myself up and lit my blade. I cast him a glare. "You're going to lose ….. and I'm going to win!"

This just caused him to smile. "I'll taste your blood first, but I'd like to see you try," he taunted as he formed a blade made of some type of red energy.

I took a stance. "I'll happily accept your offer. Just don't come crying to me when you lose."

I had to give it my all if I wanted to win or even live.

*BANG!* *CRASH!* *BANG!* *SLASH!* *CLANG!*

I rushed at him, quickly went behind him and thrusted my blade at him. He turned around and slammed my blade to the ground. I quickly shot fire into the ground, causing it to blow up and allowing me to retract my blade. I jumped back to catch my breath before rushing at him again. I increased my speed and slashed at him. He blocked the slash and pressed his blade against mine.

"What's wrong? Can't win? What really is your will for fighting? Because, whatever it is, it's not strong enough!"

"…!"

He kicked me away and caught my blade. "Your will for fighting is what makes you strong. Not our stupid powers or weapons. Now, what is your will?"

My will...

I pushed myself back up. "No matter what..."

My will...

"I can't lose to you..."

Is to protect my friends...

"Because I've made promises to others..."

And to...

"AND I WON"T STOP UNTIL THEIR PROMISES ARE MET!"

Clear this dimension of Darkness and keep my promise.

"Then show me how strong this will of your is!"

"Fine! It's time you learned your place!"

*BANG!* *CRASH!* *BOOM!* *SLASH!* *SHWING!* *SHK!* *SK!* *FFWMPH!*

I felt a surge of power flow through me and I dashed at Lucifer once again. This time, I managed to get there before his body could react. I quickly grabbed him by the skull and smashed him into a boulder.

I kicked him through the boulder and rushed behind him, slamming him into the ground. He swung his blade at me, but I kicked it away and stomped him further into the ground. I materialized my blade and took a slash at him only for him to dodge and get back to his feet. I pressed forward. I slashed at him as fast as I could while he only dodged by hairs. After taking a few more slashes at him, I took one last swing at him and, right before he dodged out of the way, shot flames at him.

He blocked the flames and I quickly absorbed the flames into my blade. But he formed a blade of red energy and it became consumed in a red and orange flame. We slammed our blades against each other.

*BANG!* *BOOM!*

Tolise's POV

"…"

"…"

I looked over at Hikan, he was lying beside me. "Is it okay if we just call this a draw?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I can agree to that."

I closed my eyes and looked back at the midday sky. "That's a relief."

We had both lost an arm during our last clash and we were now just laying on the ground, bruised and broken.

"Hey."

I looked back at him. "What's up?"

"Why'd you want to fight me?"

I let out a dry laugh. "Well, you're going to think the reason is stupid."

"I still want to hear it."

"Well, Histoire told me about your past and that you sacrificed yourself to save your friends."

"Yeah, and?"

"And I thought your reasoning to protect others was because of some selfish reason but that wasn't it at all. Our motives are practically the same and I wanted to prove it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that we both want to see the world become a better place and we want to protect the ones close to us."

"Then, what exactly is your reason for fighting?"

I smiled. "Although it is to protect my loved ones and save the world from destruction, I also have another motive for fighting."

"What?"

My cheeks reddened a bit. "To protect Nepgear and to live a happy life with her."

"Why? Why would you go so far for one person?"

"When you love somebody, they become somebody you can't live without or be happy without."

"But you have your friends. What about your parents?"

"My parents tried to kill me and I had spent most of my time living and surviving alone."

"I guess I can't understand what you went through. But I do understand your motive to protect Nepgear."

"Whatever. As if."

He shook his head. "No, I can. I share similar feelings for someone else."

"Oh? And who is this special someone?"

"If you figure out where I'll be tomorrow, then you'll probably figure out."

"Alright."

"But can you at least fix my arm before we head back?"

"Sure, but under one condition."

"What's that?"

I looked back up at the sky and closed my eyes. "Promise that we'll fight again."

Hikan tisked and looked up at the sky. "I'll promise that, but we can't exactly shake on that, can we?"

I chuckled. "Not right now."

And, while the sun slowly set, we just sat there and talked...

A/N:

And so, this ends the battle between Tolise and Hikan. Who do you think should've won in their last clash? Let me know. Don't worry though. There will be more fights between them in the future. But, the next few chapters won't involve Tolise's story, instead it will focus on Hikan's story. Anyway, that's all I got to say. So, thanks for reading and I hope to see you in the next chapter!