"W-what did you just say?" I heard it loud and clear but I couldn't believe it. Is there finally a glimmer of hope beyond this door?
"Mayu basically is alive. Oh, in case you ask, I'm not joking either." B-but I saw her with damn blood all over the floor!
"W-what do you mean she's still alive?"
"She's alive, enough said."
"But I saw it with my two eyes! Her bloody body... Her pale face... HER CORPSE!"
"Is that all? Have you even checked her body AFTER you came into the Eclipse vortex? You didn't. She was sucked in as well, but as a hostage. She was simply unconscious, not dead, mind you."
Really?
I'm... so glad... Now I can apologize to her properly...
"Wait. What do you mean by hostage?" I asked, Akemi cast her face downwards and cleared her throat.
"Well, this is exactly why I decided to come along with you. There are greeds called Elder Greed and they're the boss of this labyrinth. We need to beat them, and I can't do it alone." What does that relate to my question thou–
Oh.
"You're telling me she got taken by the Elder Greed?" This situation is getting worse and worse...
"Yes, those type of greeds tend to take someone with strong negative feelings." Strong negative feelings... So, when I saw her lying on the ground... She was suffering so much in pain... If only I wasn't that scared back then, this wouldn't have happened...!
"HYAH!" I shouted suddenly as someone blew air on my neck!
"Don't think about the impossible. No normal human would be sane after seeing what looks like a dead body. Besides, we're going to save her right now, right?" Yeah... Akemi's right.
"Thank you, Akemi." Akemi's words really snapped me out of my negative vibes.
"Hehe, you're welcome!" She smiled at me and pointed at the door, "C'mon, you open it." Well, alright then, let's do this.
I slapped my cheeks and ready my soul device, and put my hand on the door.
"We're going to save you, Mayu!" Then, I opened the door.
What lies beyond that door was...
a huge monster.
"That's... so fuckin' huge!" Holy crap, is this fucking real?! We have to fight that?!
"Heh, heh. Don't just lose motivation, Kano, look behind the monster, you have a girl to save, right? What happened to your motivation earlier? You've fought a Greed as huge as that earlier..." Oh yeah... I don't have time to be scared right now... Behind that monster... Mayu...!
Mayu is unconscious inside a cage behind that Greed!
Hang on, Mayu... I will save you right now!
*GRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!* A loud growl rang through my ears, signaling that the Greed saw us.
"I see that you got your motivation back! Get ready! He's coming!" ...He's charging right at us!
"Let's do this, Verus Hache!" I call out my soul device as I swipe my Xiphone's screen to summon my weapon.
"Hm, quite flashy, huh, Kano? Alright, I'll follow! Heed my call, Swift Blade!" Akemi shouts as she summons her weapon, similarily to my style. No time to think, "Let's strike 'em!"
*SMASH!*
Smashing my large ax to the ground, I shook the dragon-like greed off his feet due to the quakes that my weapon produced by striking the ground as hard as I can!
"Nice one, Kano!" Akemi follows suit, she runs upon the large handle of my ax and rushes towards the enemy, the greed is about to get up...!
"No, you aren't...!"
*SWISH* *SLASH!*
She used the wind to slice through the greed's arm! She safely lands in front of me, looking straight at me.
"Great thinking, Akemi! It's my turn now!" I ran towards the huge monster; getting his attention, he tries to charge towards me too! "Head-to-head, huh? Not bad!" Akemi shouted from the sidelines, cheering me on (probably?)
As I get closer to the greed, I slowly enlarge my ax, which almost restricts my movement, but that's perfect! I'm now in the perfect spot to strike that greed!
"Gah!" I groaned as I swung my heavy ax sidewards, it may be not that sharp compared to Akemi's katana, but through the heaviness of my ax, I shall knock him back towards the wall...!
*BOOM!*
A loud thud can be heard from the clash of my ax and the huge monster... and also the impact of it hitting the wall! But, not yet, not enough! It's not yet dead!
"One... more!" I enlarge my ax once again to reach the monster and swung my ax downwards, hitting the monster once more!
*BASH!*
"And another one!"
*CRASH!*
"The last one!" I put all my power into my grip, and crush that monster!
*CRACK!*
As I smashed the monster with my last move, a crack was heard.
... A crack on the wall? Wait, no, it's a crack on the monster's head!
"Akemi, let's finish this!" Akemi already knew what to do next and runs towards the monster, I feel speed gaining through me too! Akemi shared her power to me!
"Uooooooh!" With a loud war cry, I leaped towards the greed's vulnerable point; the crack on the head, and charge towards it with my hatchet!
"TAKE THIS!" I smashed my hatchet through the monster's crack on the head and...
Enlarge my axe.
*BAM!*
But it's not yet done, we need the final blow... through its core! I had already made an opening by crushing the thick armor in his head!
So that means–
"Akemi!"
—And with this... I sensed her killing intent for the greed. She instantly reacted to my call and jumped ahead of me, wind was pulling towards her, making my footing imbalanced.
"Greed who dirtied his hands... I will exterminate you right now. Sit back, Kano, I'll give it my all with this one strike." She's going to finish the Greed!
She takes up a stance; her sword raised above her head with the blade facing upwards... I feel intimidated all of the sudden... This aura... What is this intense killing intent?
She looks so different with that stance... Her eyes are devoid of what makes her ownself...
"ONE-SHOT KILL!" She thrusts her body forward with the strength of the wind!
Closing into the core, she ends it—!
*SLASH!*
"And it's the end."
Cutting through the core in a diagonal line, she finally kills the greed.
"Wowie, it's finally over! Hahaha!" Within a second, she quickly changes into her normal self... What a carefree girl this is.
"Man, I don't know how you pulled that off, but that was awesome, Akemi."
"Weeeell, I did learn Kendo a few years back, didn't know I was going to use it for this!" She puffs out her chest, seemingly proud of herself.
Huh, I'll allow her to brag about herself this time, she deserves it...
"Anyway, did you know? That stance is called Jo-" Akemi was going to finish her sentence, however...
Sound of footsteps were heard.
"Kekeke, I see you finally defeated one of them Elder Greed. Magnificent." The teach from before...!
"Ha? What are you going to do, huh? 2 vs 1 isn't a fair trade, isn't it?" I spoke back, standing besides Akemi, readying our weapons.
"Hm, no, but how about fighting two more?" ... What?
In an instant, two big identical Greeds appear besides each other.
"Oh, and also, your princess there in a cage? Rejoice, for she's going to die in that lava within minutes if you don't finish this quickly." Then I saw the cage which Mayu is in slowly descends towards the lava below.
"Wha–?! Hey, teach... You fucking bastard! That's playing dirty!" However, he didn't respond to my insults and walk away with a smirk... FUCKING...
I'll kill them all.
I'll crush them.
I'll cut everything in my path!
You'll pay for this, teach... BECAUSE I'M PRETTY PISSED OFF RIGHT NOW!
"Calm down, Kano, don't act based on your emotions!" Akemi held me back, as if to stop me from my madness.
But no, it's futile.
I'll crush 'em. I'll chop them all up until they can be held by my own hands...
Not good, more negativity is coming into my soul.
They'll fucking pay.
Offer no mercy.
My shadow thoughts are taking over my actions.
I pushed Akemi away, while she was saying something. No use, though, I can't hear her.
GIVE THEM PAIN.
Wait, no... More than that...
Give them... DEATH.
Crush everything with this power...
Just rely on this power and you can continue on with your life.
"Die, you fucking greed!"
Shadows are enveloping me.
A/N: Sorry for late update '-' Was busy with stuff like slacking off, and school. But mostly because I was slacking off. Anyway, thanks for reading! Tune in for the next chapter. Things got heated up fast, huh?