Chapter 9
I wiped away the blood dripping from my nose glaring at the Inquisitor. His insane smile only grew wider as he crept nearer with outstretched arms.
"Do not fear Murnax, for I have come to indoctrinate you to our ranks and teachings! He slinked a finger at Doppio. "Why do you still clutch that heathen like she's of importance? She's lied to you and even kept you hostage, a selfish attempt to prevent your destiny!"
"Y-you're right, I was just holding her out of shock." Couldn't do shit right now, best thing was to stay on his good side...
"Then step away from the traitor and I shall make quick work of her with Marlos!" Ozech gestured to the giant next to him. I couldn't help but narrow my eyes in fear as the golem readjusted its gargantuan hammer-staff.
"But she's valuable." I reasoned. "We need her resources to aid the Order, you said so yourself."
Ozech haughtily wagged a finger at me. "You make a fair point Murnax, but our Holy Doctrine strictly enforces the teaching of no tolerance for traitors!"
I had to do something fast, Ozech and his Alphonse Elric giant were steadily closing in. A little constant beep drew my attention towards a purple hologram on the machine, causing a recall in my memory. Doppio mentioned this was a gremlin mecha, and if I remembered correctly the MGE profile said it had weapons….
"Then let's keep her alive for now at least, I've overheard she's very important to the um...uh..." I frantically swiped across the control panel while trying to make up an excuse. Why couldn't I've had a writing translation spell on arrival? This shit looks like Minecraft enchanting table!
"You seem awfully intent on me sparing this girl…" The Inquisitor narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Could it be a case of Lenderfill Syndrome?"
I'm guessing that's this world's equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome. "Uh, no, Mr. Ozech. I'm just really against taking a life unless absolutely necessary."
CmonCmonCmooon….
"Oh but this is more than necessary!" The man's voice jumped a few decibels. "Doppio Sciciliano has committed multiple acts of treason against our theocracy, including concealing technology, rendezvousing with Initium Novum members, and worst of all keeping you hostage! The only atonement for those sins is death, eradication, annihilation!"
Found it!
I slightly articulated two tendrils above the mecha. Ozech and "Marlos" were now standing in front of me, the golem raising its hammer over its head.
"Move from the traitor. Now."
"Yknow what animal makes a quack?" I asked out of the blue.
"...What?"
"A duck."
I felt the biggest shit-eating grin spread across my face as I tapped on the panel to charge the tendrils above. Ozech's eyes inflated like balloons as he realized my stupid hint.
"DUCK MAR-"
*KZZZZRRRRR!*
The cannon let loose a purple beam of energy starting from the ground up. It seared the grass and split the golem clean in half as it traveled upwards with the sheer force knocking Ozech hard into a tree. Both the giant's halves fell backwards in two thuds slightly apart from eachother.
After its torrent the laser seemingly ran out of juice, fading with a little pew. I exhaled in relief trying to calm my thumping heart. That fucker hit the tree like a bag of wet shit, no way he-"
"How….DARE YOU!"
I quickly tensed up at the screech. It was Ozech's voice, but more...echoey. I glanced back at his body, which was very much dead and unmoving with the spine bent at a very obtuse angle.
"That was one of my favorite vessels, you blithering idiot!"
The chained rock next to his body was floating towards me, now pulsing a deep red. A strong wind swirled around the stone into a human silhouette before a slight rumble drew my attention to the golem, rocks spilling out and dragging its halves back together.
"You gotta be fuckin kiddin' me…"I muttered as I felt my jaw slacken. Was this guy and his giant fucking immortal?
The giant slowly stood up to full mast, lugging it's massive hammer up from the grass.
"Marlos!" The windy voice screeched. "The boy takes priority! Leave his brain, heart, and loins intact, I have no use for anything else!"
My jaw snapped shut as I frantically swiped through the hologram for its shield. The golem raised its hammer over its head preparing to smash us.
IknowIsawitsomewherefuckfuckFUCK CMON!
I furiously jammed my finger through the light as the earth-giant brought its hammer down. Right before contact a transparent purple bubble formed around us, the weapon colliding and sending ripples throughout it.
I wheezed hard, staring in shock at the bludgeon a few feet from my face. Holy shit, Doppio and I almost became jelly paste, but despite the near fucking heart attack we were now safe.
*SLAM!*
Fuck….Of course, I spoke too soon.
Marlos started a slow but sure assault on the shield repeatedly hitting it like a blacksmith. With each smash the force field flickered slightly dimmer. A worrisome beep jerked my attention to the hologram to see a little bar decreasing scarily fast with each hit.
My fingers frantically swiped back to the energy cannons, only for a warning to pop up in an unknown language. It seemed the imagery indicated the shield was using up all the mana leaving no power for the cannons.
*SLAM!*
My teeth clenched as the bubble became a constant flicker. Even if the impacts were slow, four more hits and the shield was done. I needed to do-
"Either step out or die, it's your choice!" Ozech giddily declared. Ignore him, focus on the-
*SLAM!*
"Fuckingbullshit fantasy world." I muttered, placing an open palm on the mecha. I focused on the alloy and curled my fingers, the metal melding like clay in my grip. I pulled the clump of metal off like a piece of gum then tossed it through the force field.
*SLAM!*
Ok, my affinity's still active and I can go through the shield without turning it off. The hell do I do now? My eyes snapped to the golem's leg about five feet from the bubble to observe the knee joint bending with each slam. Watching the limb lit a sad excuse for a plan in my mind.
Will that even work?! This whole things fucking cra-
*SLAM!*
Fuck it, I need to do it now!
I lunged through the force field and latched onto Marlos's knee like a koala. Right before it delivered the final blow I squeezed with all my might, tightening the greave around its shin. The sudden constriction locked Marlos's knee joint in place offing the knight's center balance. The would-be fatal blow came down diagonally, completely missing the shield and pulverizing the ground instead. I pushed hard off its leg, yanking off a little lump of metal which I stuffed in my pocket in case. The brute desperately tried to keep balance only to slowly tip over and crash into the ground with a mighty thud.
Settling dust peppered the atmosphere as a banshee voice wailed through the air.
"You...you have roused my temper more than any individual in the last forty years! It seems torture is fit for your rebellious streak!" A transparent figure crept through the dust with the chained rock in his "chest". That had to be the source of his power.
The giant was attempting to get back up, but couldn't due to its stiffened leg. Ozech huffed and snapped his 'fingers' causing the metal shin to fall off and a new one to take its place. I felt myself scowl at the rising good-as-new golem.
"Do it right this time Marlos! Don't let him near your legs!"
The giant roared and raised its hammer like a bat. I frantically shoved backwards and fell on my ass feeling the air resistance from the hammer swinging in a wide arc. With the weapon above its head again the golem opted for a downward strike and heaved the hammer down. I rolled to the side as the bludgeon made a crater in the ground where I was standing. Goddamn, this was tiring. Marlos shouldn't be my focus right now, I needed to destroy that floating rock. If I could somehow reach those chains wrapping it….
"WHICEHELPME!" I screamed excessively loud, looking over Ozech's shoulder. It all happened in an instant, Ozech reacted to my bluff exactly how I wanted and turned around on reflex. I grabbed the chunk of metal from my pocket and zeroed in before chucking the hefty lump at him. Thankfully he wasn't that far from me so his core was a pretty easy target. The metal sphere flung through the air colliding with the earthen one, causing him to recoil in shock.
Yusss! I internally cheered. All of this happened in about a second, but to me time was going by twice as slow. I was two steps ahead, initiating the second action before the first even started.
I was already furiously sprinting towards Ozech as he crumpled to his knees. He raised his hand into a weird symbol, carving four large rectangles out of the ground. An invisible chisel whittled them into sharp stalagmites which suddenly shot towards me. The spikes barreled towards me, causing me to drop to the ground and cover my head. I dove to the ground in a painful baseball slide and covered my head barely avoiding the spikes. I was still sliding when a stone pillar punched my gut from below, launching me in a shallow arc across the air.
I roughly hit the ground and rolled like a ragdoll, coughing up vomit from the strike. But I didn't have time to writhe as a massive shadow loomed over me. I rolled to the side, barely avoiding Marlos's hammer as the weapon smashed just shy of my stomach. The golem hovered its foot over me to which I quickly sat up and rolled forward, the iron boot leaving a crater in my wake.
I wheezed furiously cursing my weak body. At this rate Marlos would crush me within a minute.
Now right next to the grounded hammer I slapped my hand on it and concentrated hard, imagining a spike piercing into the floor. My sudden migraine was rewarded with a white glow and the sound of metal impaling the earth. Marlos tried lugging its hammer back up only to meet the weapon's resistance. Even for a golem its size it'd be damn hard to uproot it.
While Marlos was distracted I jumped to my feet and dashed behind its armored leg. Pressing both hands against the knee joint I squinted hard and visualized a sheet of tin foil crumpling into a ball. The same white energy shone causing the metal-clad joint to swiftly implode at the knee.
"Augh!" I clutched my head in pain as the golem fell to its knee in an ironic knightly kneel. I wasn't stopping now though, this time I'd make sure Marlos stayed down.
I sunk my fingers into the armor and started to rock-climb the golem's back. Heh, rock-climb. Marlos slowly raised his hand behind his back to squash me, but I detached my right arm and foot swinging out like a parlor door to dodge the gauntlet.
*CLANG!*
Holy shit that was clo-SHIT!
I quickly switched grips and swung the opposite way to avoid the golems left hand smashing its side. The faster I hauled ass the less likely I'd be splattered against its back. This time I sunk my hand into Marlos's shoulder plate and concentrated. The whole pauldron indented like a submarine underwater, locking the limb in place. I swung back the way I came as Marlos slapped its back again, but before it could withdraw its hand I hastily put my hand on one of its digits and visualized the steel melding together. A glow of white emerged from Marlos's palm, sticking the gauntlet against it's back. A shaky smile plastered my face when Marlos tried to move both arms but was stuck in a perpetual old geezer pose rubbing his back.
But sunnavabitch my head hurts!
The beast thrashed left to right trying to throw me off, but I relented and clung to its back like a frog. I gripped Marlos's collar and focused all my energy on its torso, again imagining the breastplate crumpling into a ball. Another bright white emitted from my hands causing the armor to creak. As the chestplate indented little by little the strain was spreading through my whole body, an intense migraine throbbing stronger each second. I clenched my teeth and forced out all my energy, the shine from my hands enveloping my entire vision. The golem's breastplate flattened into a metal clump pulverizing the rocks within. Now reduced to a tin-foil ball with limbs the kneeling figure fell to the ground, this time permanently.
I wheezed hard in the settling dust clutching my stomach. The single thing that saved my organs was how slow Marlos was. Despite my exhaustion I ripped another fistfull of metal from the armor and stuffed it in my pocket just in case.
"Damn you, damn you, DAMN YOU TO THE PITS OF HELL!" Ozech cracked the ground with his voice. "You and your Chief Godforsaken Shiryu abilities! I shall see you to the-"
"Oh, shut up for once, will ya?!" I screamed back. "You're like a fucking Disney villain! A manchild who monologues and monologues with no other personality besides being evil! You're not even the charming or interesting kind of evil, just the petty kind whose sole purpose is to be defeated! You have no depth, no soul, nothing! Get a fucking grip on reality already!"
I acknowledge my hypocrisy on monologuing when I just let out a massive rant, but I was sick of this guy's shit. It's been hard adjusting to the two-dimensional aesthetic of this world, but this prick was one-dimensional, at least metaphorically speaking. He fit the "evil Inquisitor" cliche to a T so well it hurt.
Ozech slowly lowered his hands, a venomous tone replacing his voice. "You call me delusional? Claim me to lack humanity, morality and integrity? That I have no soul?"
He raised his arms as his silhouette turned crimson red.
"I'm about to demonstrate just how invalid you are."
I had to get away from him. I used up all my energy against the golem, no way could I fight Ozech myself. I started scooching back from the malevolent spirit, but he was steadily gaining ground. Ozech gnarled his fingers in another handsign causing stone walls to fence me in on all sides. The fingers twisted into a different handsign reanimating the golem's legs next to me. I shimmied around trying to outmaneuver them, but their reach encompassed the whole area.
"I only need the vitals and loins." Ozech glowered. "Anything else can be disposed of."
I stared in horror at the looming arms and legs, my voice too petrified to even plead with the Inquisitor.
"By the time you're revived, you shall have become a fine Hero of the Order, Murnax."
The legs stopped their swaying to zero in on their target. I shut my eyes and curled into a ball waiting for impact. I'm sorry Whice, I just wasn't go-
*SHHING!*
My eyes slowly opened for the squash that never came. Slinking out of my ball I slowly lifted my head before my gaze looked around in confusion. One by one the limbs slid clean off the joints followed by the walls trapping me.
"Seems like you held out pretty well, Mr. Cynical!" A silky voice called out.
"Whice!" I exclaimed in joy. Never have I been more relieved to see someone in my life. Her figure stood proud in front of me with a billowing cape and brilliant white rapier glowing in the dust. The Musketeer turned her head and flashed me a dashing Robinhood smile.
"Glad to see you're alright, Murnax."
"Y-you too." I stuttered in relief.
Our moment was interrupted by the insane religious fanatic. "Whice Wintergem, member of the Initium Novum and wanted criminal to the Church. I shall see that both you and the boy meet your respective fates."
"Is that...Ozech?" Whice squinted at the spirit.
"Yeah, it is." I answered. "I killed him against a tree but he's still alive-, er, 'active', I guess."
"He must've infused his soul with the elemental." Whice grimaced. "We need to kill the core or else he won't stay de-"
"What shall your next move be, strumpet?" The snobbish voice interrupted. "Surely the infamous dhampir must have a trick or two up her sleeve, no?"
"Hm, what if I told you I'm actually Lady Crescentria?" The Musketeer closed an eye and put her index to her lips, leaning on her rapier in an incredibly sexy pose.
"DO NOT INSULT ME WITH THE GUISE OF A HOLY SAVIOR!" Ozech screeched. "Your sole existence as a Mamono elicits no less than death, on top of spitting upon one of Lescatie's most prestigious heroes! You will die here today, Whice Wintergem!"
Ozech stamped his foot at the word "die", cracking the dirt. He fell silent as we all looked down at an ominous rumbling below. Before any of us could react the ground caved under us, leading into a pitch-black abyss.
"AAAHHHHH!"
I screamed in fear at the fall, the wind blowing my hair back full force. Why do I keep plummeting from ridiculous heights? Each time took a couple months off my golden years. Various giant crystal pillars glowed in the dark revealing a massive expanse of tunnels and foliage underneath, as well as an underground reservoir. I tucked in a ball and splashed into the mostly still pond with my buoyancy defying the pull of gravity. Thankfully the various dirt clumps broke the surface tension, but going from twenty meters per second to zero in the blink of an eye was not a pleasant experience. I felt my bones creak from the hit, leaving an undoubtedly nasty bruise on my butt. Still, it was better than smacking the water in an angel pose and bruising my whole front side. A few kicks later I was above the water, floating in the near-freezing pond.
"Whice!" I shouted between breaths, treading on the water.
A beautiful blonde burst out the water somewhat far off to my right.
"Murnax!" She replied in relief with a shake of her hair. "You okay?!"
"Yeah, I'm fine!" I shouted back, doggy paddling towards the shore. "We need to get out o-mmf!"
Something clenched around my ankle and yanked hard. My head suddenly went underwater, instantly activating my fight or flight response. I thrashed around with all my might trying to break free, but the grip stayed firm. A glowing red spirit with an even redder core illuminated the dark as it pulled me into the abyss. My mind devolved into an irrational mess which screamed for one thing and one thing only:
Air.
A white shine materialized behind the crimson glow and slashed the spirit's torso in half, causing it to dissipate and scurry upwards in retreat. The figure behind it grabbed my hood and started pulling us upwards as my consciousness near faded to black. Finally Whice breached the surface and heaved me onto the shore, myself coughing water from my lungs and shivering furiously. The only sound in the chasm was both our heavy gasps and a zipper being pulled dow-wait, wha?
"Hey, what are you-are you doing?!" I stammered as she practically ripped off my hoodie and tossed it to the side. "Now's not the time fo-"
"I'm saving your life, so shut up and raise your arms." Whice hissed as she peeled off my Nujabes shirt. My words promptly died in my throat, half from her sudden outburst, half from her hastily tugging my pants down.
"Shake your head from side to side hard."
"Huh?"
"Do it!" She demanded.
Shaken by her stern command I shook my head furiously. Water sprayed everywhere making my curly mop less and less matted.
"That's good, stop." Whice said curtly before swiftly wrapping her hands around my head and burying me into her chest.
"Mmf!"
My cold limbs were completely numb in contrast to my undoubtedly steaming red face. Despite my embarrassment I finally got the idea and wrapped around her to conserve warmth.
We held each other tight in the cave, shivering and gasping. The bare skin contact save our undergarments only caused my cheeks to burn brighter between her breasts. Fuck, her body's so soft and her scents-No!
We stayed like that until both our temperatures somewhat recovered, which was way too damn long. Whice finally relented and pulled back a bit from her embrace.
"Haah, sorry for bein so forceful, but I had to warm you up or else your body would've shut down." She shakily smiled.
I cast my gaze sideways in embarrassment, unable to meet her eyes. "Um, thanks Whice...that's four times you've saved me."
"Five times if you count the whole Arachne aftermath." She chuckled. "And before you complain, burying your face in my chest was necessary. If your head's cold then your everything's cold."
"Yeah, can't argue with that…" I timidly agreed. Damnit, I just nearly died of drowning and hypothermia and all I can think about is this girl on top of me, focus dude!
"Hey, you need to warm up your head too?" I asked in concern. "You're still shivering."
"Nah, I'm fine, but I'll gladly take you up on your offer!" Whice smugly teased and placed her head on my chest.
"Heee! T-that's cold!" I tensed up to her freezing mop of hair.
"Hehe, think of it as compensation for feeling my boobs." The Dhampir teased, snuggling up to me. Before I could retort she jerked her head up with a dreaded expression. "Murnax, is Doppio okay?"
I blinked at the sudden question. "Sh-she should be fine, but I can't guarantee it. She hit her head pretty hard and is unconscious, but I activated a force field from her mecha to keep her safe."
"We gotta check on her, Scipio and the townsfolk too." Whice hastily separated and grabbed my clothes. "On the bright side that Ozech bastard's finally dead now, so that should mean the villagers are safe." The musketeer whirled my clothes and her cape at inhuman speeds before tossing the former to me.
"Are you sure he's dead?" I asked as I threw my pants on.
"I sliced him in half with a Shiryu infused blade, he's gotta be." Whice replied.
"I guess he would've attacked us already if he were still alive." I added as I pulled my shirt over and zipped up my hoodie.
"Looks like there's some ruins over there, if we can't find a way out there I can make some vine rope." Whice pointed to another large cavern while reattaching her cape.
"Okay. Wait, you can use Shiryu?"
"Yeah, that's why I was assigned to find you. My fa-"
Without warning she tackled me to the left upon entering the next expanse. A skinny crystal pillar erupted out of nowhere, striking and sending us flying into another. I wheezed hard from the collision but Whice took the brunt of the force. With both of us crumpling against the column I noticed a fist sized eye glowing in one of the columns.
"My oh my, what luck you have!" An ethereal voice taunted. "Without your harlot your spine would've bent out of shape like mine."
I lightly shook my friend splayed out on me. "Whice! You okay?!"
"Yeah...I'm...I'm fine…." Whice replied in a daze. Contrary to her words she didn't look too good, her bobbing head was trickling blood from multiple areas.
"How the fuck are you still alive?!" I yelled at the spirit. Hopefully I could buy some time through his monologuing.
"Tch. Alive?" Ozech scoffed. "You think this miserable state counts as 'alive'? First you splat me against a tree, then your whore cleaves my soul in half!" The whole room shook with his words. "I do not think you can consider this living, boy."
"You know what I mean, Ozech!" I shouted. "How is your soul still here after she cut you?!"
"Do not think I'm ignorant of your merchant's tongue." The voice echoed venomously. "You tend to stall like a weas-"
"He's weak." Whice interrupted, shakily getting on her feet. "His soul took a fatal blow, so he retreated into the elemental. That's why he's hiding in the pillars."
"Silence wench!" Ozech shrieked. A large spike erupted from the spot where Whice was standing, but she sidestepped and seemingly teleported to Ozech's column. Her sword slashed the pillar but the eye evaded and retreated to the crystal. A diagonal cut slid said crystal downwards causing the whole cavern to slightly shake.
"Careful with the columns!" I warned instinctually.
"Yeah yeah, I know." Whice brushed me off. She grinned from ear to ear that concerning adrenaline junkie smile. "This fight seems like fun."
I rolled my eyes only to jump at Ozech's voice. "'Fun?' You consider this scuffle 'fun' while I massacre the townsfolk above? By all means, take your time!"
Whice's smile faded to a mean scowl. "Not only do you fight like a coward, you also speak like one." She sharply turned and stabbed the pillar behind her where the eye was looming only for it to again retreat in the gem. Spikes jutted out of the column behind to impale Whice, but she whipped around and cut them off at the base.
While they fought a rumble above me caught my attention. I gulped at the noise's sudden halt, something feeling very off. That sense of off turned to getthefuckouttatheway as I lunged out of my previous spot, a large boulder kamikaze-ing through the ceiling creating a crater where I was standing. Movement out of the corner of my eye prompted me to scramble back and stare down the rock. A humanoid figure was rising from the slight crater in the floor, smaller than Marlos but bigger than your average Joestar.
"Ah, Bathos! Your form's still corporeal!" Ozech's voice warped around the room. "Forget about the girl, target the boy without harming his vitals or loins. Anything else you can crush as you wish."
My heart sank in fear, feeling like I was facing a bull rather than a golem. I unwittingly backed into a column as the figure kneeled into a sprinter's position preparing to charge.
"Murnax!" Whice panicked. Before she could even take a step countless spears erupted from underneath forcing her back.
"You must not forget your opponent, Lady Crescentria." Ozech taunted over her constant slices. Her rapier barely slowed down the constant spikes pushing her further away from me. A demented roar jerked my head back to the golem now sprinting at me full force.
ShitshitshitDODGE!
I rolled to the side last second as Bathos rammed the column head first. Cracks formed in the crystal reflecting light everywhere as the room slightly shook again.
"Don't attack the supports you simpleton!" Ozech hissed. "We can't revive him if his vitals are smashed!"
The golem pried its head from the pillar and hunched into another charge stance. Not good. This one had no armor I could manipulate and was much quicker. I spotted Marlos's remains and hammer in the shallow pond, beelining towards it. That armor was my only chance at defending myself.
Another roar resonated from behind as Bathos chased after me. Reaching the end of the cavern I noticed a crude opening into another cavern which I barreled into. A second later the golem smashed through the tiny opening Kool-Aid man style, sending prisms flying.
Thankfully Bathos slowed to a stop in a daze as I took refuge behind another pillar.
My exhaustion was catching up to me and I severely doubted I'd be able to keep up much longer. Additionally, I panicked and bulldozed into this area without thinking thus separating myself from Whice and the armor. With my hands on my knees I looked up and noticed an abandoned structure of four columns with a heavy roof overhead. Bathos was literally asdumb as rocks, so maybe I had a shot at my favorite strategy: use their momentum against them. Finally steadying my breath I stepped out from the column.
"Yknow, you're really stupid not to notice me through a translucent glowing pillar." I stated matter-o-factly. The golem-bull thing dragged its foot across the floor preparing to charge.
"Ho-ho, so you're approaching me?" I said as suavely as possible, leaning back and bending my arms outwards in a cocky manner. It felt stupid as hell, but frankly I had to pull something ridiculous to distract myself from the fear.
Bathos simply snorted in response. Wait, how can a golem 'snort'?"
"Oh ho! Then come as close as you-"
"RRROOOAAARR!"
"ItakeitbackItakeitback!"
I one eightied and sprinted towards the structure with all my might while Bathos lugged behind. Ignoring the searing pain in my legs I was quickly approaching the building with the golem slowly catching up. Just a little bit further….
NOW!
Right as I reached the far column I stuck my arm out and wrapped it around the support, instantly swinging full force around the pillar and letting go. As I rebounded away from the column a huge collision exploded from behind sending stonework flying.
Great... I thought.
But I was still going way too fuckin fast for my feet to keep up.
"Oh fuckin' sunnavabitch ow!"
I sailor cursed upon losing my balance and eating shit, promptly collided into another pillar.
See the pattern here?
I would've curled into a ball and wished for death, but there was still a problem. I was still under the near collapsing roof with Bathos trudging forward to smash me. My arms desperately army crawled away from both, in too much pain to get up. I couldn't tell whether the constant shaking was from my fear or the unstable structure, probably both.
Pleasepleaseplease makeit please...
Rightas I cleared my foot the roof came toppling down on the golem, trapping it underneath. A deafening roar near split my eardrums as the golem thrashed in vain trying to uplift the weight, but as much as it kicked and punched that roof wasn't budging.
After crawling a good distance from the tantrum-golem I splayed out on my back.
"Uuuuuhn."
Looking up at the glowing crystals on the ceiling almost made me want to fall asleep right there, but instead I painfully got on my feet and hurried back towards Whice's cavern. While tired out of my mind, I was relatively fine barring feeling like a bruised peach.
I entered the cavern to see Whice standing there with two crystal shards in her side. She quickly whipped around preparing to stab a column with a glowing red spot before said column grew a cluster of crystals in front. Her rapier jabbed into said cluster getting stuck between the nooks, causing Whice's face to contort in surprise. She furiously twisted the sword trying to wrench it out, but her efforts fell short of the cluster crackling and shooting out an array of spikes like a sea urchin. The attack forced her back while also springing the rapier out of the cluster. The blonde hastily picked her blade back up and formed another defensive stance. A few seconds of silence.…
*KRK!*
A fence of sharp quartz shot up around Whice encircling her in, to which she countered with a spin attack leveling the spikes. She front flipped out and used the following momentum to stab the ground where Ozech layed, but the red glow slithered under just in time followed by another crystal needle emerging from its spot. The shard pierced deep in her shoulder causing a yelp of agony..
"Whice!" I yelled on instinct before immediately regretting my action. In my outburst I very intelligently announced my presence to Ozech.
"Murnax!" She shouted back. "Get away from here, it's not sa-"
The ground collapsed under her in a large circle trying to trap her in. Whice jumped from falling rock to rock before making one final leap of faith, barely making it by stabbing her sword into the edge. She now hung above a pit of certain death with sharp crystals at the bottom.
"Whice!" I yelled substantially louder this time starting to rush towards her.
"Not this time!" Ozech's voice taunted. A wall of spikes erupted in front of me causing me to stop. In my halt a large rock-tendril wrapped tight around my body, thoroughly immobilizing me..
"Murnax!" Whice yelled climbing out of the pit but froze before making my same mistake.
"Drop your weapon." The red eye materialized on the tendril around me glaring at the dhampir.
Whice shot him a murderous gaze before angrily chucking her rapier to the ground. "What are the terms?" She spat.
"Hmm, let us see…ah, how about you leap into the pit, and I don't squeeze the boy's intestines out of his anus?" He sadistically jeered.
"No, Whice, do-" My words were cut off by the tentacle tightening around my ribcage.
"Silence, heathen." Ozech menaced through my gasps for air.
What can I do? What can I do? Ergh, whatever's pressing into my kidney is not-wait, the metal!
I strained my hand to reach in my pocket barely shimmying out the iron chunk. Despite my panic for air I gestured down to my exposed hand with my head. Ozech couldn't see me from this angle, but Whice could. She subtly glanced at my hand then back to my eyes, mentally telling me that she got the message.
"Ok, Ozech. I'll jump." Whice slowly turned around to the pit staring at the spikes. I started twisting my hand to align the ingot with his eye.
just a little to the left...Yes!
"Come now, we don't have al-AAAGH!"
I concentrated on the clump imagining a sharp blade erupting from it; said blade impaled straight through the Inquisitor's core followed by a tormented shriek. Whice whipped around and dashed forward, snatching her rapier and plunging it sideways through the eye so she wouldn't skewer me. Both of us silently stood there for a few moments staring at the glow.
"How…" Ozech peered up at me. "How did you stab me…"
"Remember that metal piece I pocketed?" I replied with a weak grin. The bleeding eye only furrowed in response.
"You cannot outrun your duty nor our Chief God's wi-gauh!"
Whice wrenched her rapier a few inches further for good measure. "I've learned from my last mistake, you have to vanquish evil at the core."
"Damn you...damn you both…." Ozech cursed us before the glowing red slowly faded to yellow. The earth-snake around me promptly collapsed into harmless stones on the floor.
"Thank you…." A soft impish voice breathed from the pile. My attention turned to the eyeball now glowing yellow before it closed and turned to sand.
"Was that…."
"The elemental." Whice finished. "Ozech chained it up and used its power against its will, but now it's finally free."
I solemnly stared at the mound of sand. "It's sad that we had to sacrifice it's life just to kill Ozech though."
"Ah, don't worry about it, elementals never truly die," Whice reassured with a hand on my shoulder. "It'll reincarnate in a century….or so…." The hand on my shoulder suddenly sagged me down as she leaned on me for support.
"Hey, easy there…" I shifted my stance to hold her in my arms. Looking closer Whice was pretty damaged; she was covered all over in pretty deep puncture wounds and crystal shards. "Looks like you took a lot of hits, we needa bandage you up fast."
"Well, that Order bastard used every dirty trick in the book, but I still kicked his ass." She snickered, making my heart flutter with a charming smirk. Said smirk gave way to a cute frown as she observed my features. "Hey, what happened to your face? Your entire jawlines purple!"
"Well I did crash from a mecha going forty miles per-ow!" I hissed as she lightly cupped my chin with three fingers. "That spot's still sensitive yknow!"
"Just bear with it for a bit." she dismissed while fretting over my injuries. "Oh dear, there's so many scrapes too-,"
I averted my eyes to the ground at how close her face was. Once her maternal instincts calmed down she looked at me with an unreadable expression.
"Here's something that'll ease the pain a little."
"But we should-should treat you fi-"
*chu~*
My words fell silent upon a soft sensation on my cheek. The pleasant warmth was accompanied with the tip of a nose gently pressing against my skin. After a moment the dhampir slightly broke away undoubtedly leaving a lipstick mark. I just stared with my mouth agape at her small but serene smile.
"Glad to see you're alright, Mr. Cynical. Let's get out of here."
"...Okay."
Whew, I'm usually two weeks ahead for chapters but this one took twice as long to make. I'm kinda iffy on this chapter's quality but I tried my best to make the fight scenes flow well and have a satisfying conclusion. I might wait two weeks to post chapter 10 so I can catch up to my regular pace, but next Friday will tell.