AN: Managed to get this chapter done in spite of having 30-something needles in my head and Etrian Odyssey Origins coming out on pretty much the same day. Will I succeed the next week? We'll have to wait and see. Hope you enjoy reading~

Chapter 18:

Samuel drew in a shaky breath as he looked at his surroundings. Everyone was running about, shouting toward each other, issuing commands and orders, trying to figure out what to do about their latest predicament.

About the Wrestler, Overlord Brutus, who had stormed the Pocket Netherworld demanding to battle the leader of the Rebel Army.

Wanting to fight Killia.

As Samuel stood there, watching their worried faces, he wondered; had they noticed his unusual aura, too? Or were they simply in shock as to how and why he had barged his way into their Pocket Netherworld?

The details did not matter at the moment. Samuel had to get the guy out of the Pocket Netherworld. The Netherworld would not be able to handle the power that he wielded. And Killia…not in his condition.

No one knew what to expect. Samuel did.

It was up to him. And him alone.

Samuel looked to his right, his gaze immediately falling upon the Prinny that oversaw the dimensional gate. Perfect. He would need his help to get Brutus out and away from everyone.

He rushed over to him, knelt in front of him and slapped his hands on either side of Prinny's face in order to make him focus in on him. "Prinny, listen closely; I need you to open the portal to a deserted netherworld. I don't care where, just a place where damage can be limited."

"F-for him, dood?"

"Yes."

"B-but how are we getting him through the portal, dood?"

"I'm going to drag him through."

Prinny began to freak out, like Samuel anticipated. "By yourself, dood?!"

"Yes." Samuel increased the pressure on his head slightly in order to make him re-focus. "Six minutes. I need you to close the portal behind us for at least six minutes. I need you to understand this, Prinny. Do not open this portal before six minutes. Do you understand?"

Though teary-eyed and very uncertain, Prinny saw that Samuel was indeed very serious, as was their situation. "Y-yes, dood."

"Good." Samuel dropped his hands to his sides and stood up. "Now, get ready. I'm going to be reckless. But we need to get this guy out of the Pocket Netherworld at all costs."

First, he needed his axe. A weapon. It wouldn't do much good against a fully enhanced enemy, but it was better than nothing. The chain attacked to the axe would be useful in dragging Brutus through the portal if nothing else.

He spied his axe resting against the bottom step, he having left it there in case he needed to scoop it up in a rush for their next mission. He didn't have any more time to waste. Others were attempting to face Brutus in battle. And they were being thrown back without any effort on Brutus's part.

Samuel darted forward, snatched up his axe and bolted up the stairs. He briefly registered the sound of someone calling his name but pushed it aside. He had to focus.

Because of the Seedling, Brutus didn't have the same vulnerabilities that the average demon or Overlord had. Pain receptors have been cut off. He felt nothing but sadistic pleasure and his own superiority.

The body, however, still had the weaknesses.

Strike the knee, knock him off balance. Press the chain against his throat to cut off breathing, pull his head back. Plant his foot against his back to throw him further off balance. Use the momentum to drag him toward the portal. To ensure that he could not return, he would keep him busy.

Brutus had been enhanced before he barged into the Pocket Netherworld. Samuel only needed to keep him busy for a few more minutes.

Just a couple of minutes. Surely, he could manage that.

No, he would. For everyone's sake.

For Killia's sake.

"Now, Prinny!"

"R-right, dood!"

The flash of blue of the dimensional portal brought him a small sense of comfort.

Especially when the portal closed behind them.

Good.

His relief didn't last for long, however.

Twisting his body at an unnatural angle, Brutus reached up and grabbed him around the waist, his unfathomably large hand encompassing his waist entirely. His grip was steely, stealing the air from Samuel's lungs with a strangled gasp. He then turned, pivoting on his heel and threw him over his head, sending him effortlessly through the air.

Samuel hit the ground with his shoulder first, causing him to roll, and to somehow end up on his feet. He skidded across the dirt, kicking up dust and small pieces of debris. He somehow managed to remain on his feet, until he finally came to a stop where he finally collapsed to his knees, wheezing after having the wind knocked out of him.

Through it all, he somehow managed to hang onto his axe. The chain wrapped around his wrist helped immensely.

"Aha-ahaha, so you're going to fight me by yourself?!" Brutus cackled gleefully. "A willing sacrificial lamb, are you? Not going to do any good, not when I'm enhanced like this."

Enhanced…?

O-only those from Nugatory would refer to those infected with Seedlings as 'enhanced'.

"Who was it?" Samuel demanded as he pushed himself onto his legs shakily. "Who gave that Seedling?"

Brutus tilted his head to the side. "Hm? Seedling?"

Well, he clearly had not been told its name, had he?

"The object in the shape of a traditional seedling, but gold in colour. With the mark of a sun with a water droplet etched onto the side. That one."

Brutus faltered, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. His hesitation did not last long, however, as he threw his head back on a guttural laugh. "Yeah, so what? Power is everything in the Netherverse! So what if I got a little bit of an enhancement?"

"That 'enhancement' kills in six minutes," Samuel retorted. "You can't power through it. It will kill you. Brutally. Painfully."

Brutus continued to laugh. Not believing him. Not even for a second.

"Whatever you say, pretty boy!"

Samuel knew he wouldn't listen. They rarely do. Seedlings offer a sense of euphoria to hide their toxicity. Their victims have no idea that their bodies are being eaten away slowly. Their nerves, their fibres, their very essences being taken over by the spiralling, twisting roots and vines of the Seedlings. Eating them from the inside out.

They had no idea.

Not until the sixth minute.

But before the sixth minute, there was still a chance. A chance.

Brutus's time was running out.

"Who gave it to you?" Samuel asked again.

"I don't want to tell you!" Brutus retorted as his face twisted into a delirious grin. "You're in no position to be making demands of me, pretty boy."

Brutus sprung forward, his hands in front of him, his fingers twisted and gnarled.

Samuel lifted his axe in front of him in a defensive stance as he instinctively uttered a Mega Ice spell, hoping to use the large pillar of ice as a barrier or deterrent.

Neither happened as Brutus smashed his hand right through the ice, his clawed hand aiming right for Samuel's face. He leaned back and to the left, dodging Brutus's fingernail by the skin of his teeth.

He kept his momentum of leaning to the left, uttering another Mega Ice spell toward Brutus, manifesting several sharp, towering pillars of ice from the ground. In-between him and Brutus. A desperate attempt to put some kind of barrier between them.

But Brutus just used Purgatory Palm through them all.

In a last ditched attempt to protect him, Samuel raised his axe in front of his chest, just as Brutus's palm slammed into the blade – shattering it. And sending him flying backwards several feet, and off a small embankment.

Samuel landed hard on his back, the broken remnants of his axe splintering in several directions.

The ice pillars softened the impact of the punch, but it still hurt like hell.

It…wasn't surprising that Brutus was so strong and resilient. Seedlings were said to grant the power, or at least the feeling of ten-thousand demons.

C-calm down. He didn't need to win the battle. Just…just prolong it. That was all he could hope for. Prolong the battle. Until the undulating veins on Brutus's chest turned pitch black, signalling his core had been rotted through. That the Seedling had transformed…into a Snap Draingon.

And that Brutus's very core was destroyed.

Brutus suddenly jumped down from the ledge and landed on Samuel's right forearm.

A scream ripped itself from Samuel's throat as his back arched up from the ground. He knew immediately that his arm had been broken. He didn't need to look at it to know that it was broken. Not from the way that Brutus threw his head back with a laugh.

Brutus reached down and grabbed Samuel by his unbroken arm, gripping him tightly by the wrist. He lifted him up off the ground, holding him aloft in the air and in front of him. Samuel peeled open an eye and found himself staring directly at Brutus's chest.

The veins on his chest were deepening and spreading. Pulsating deeply, quickly. His time was running out. Not much longer now.

Only seconds, if he was right.

"You're dying," Samuel murmured through gritted teeth. "Can't you feel it?"

Brutus scoffed. "You're repeating yourself, pretty boy. Got anything else?"

"…Twenty seconds."

"What?"

"Nineteen seconds."

Brutus frowned. "Alright, pretty boy, fun's over."

He then tightened his grip on Samuel's arm, causing him to grimace and to squeeze his eyes shut. Was he about to break his other arm, too?

…About sixteen seconds left.

A low, guttural growl was heard and the grip on Samuel's arm was suddenly relinquished. He felt himself falling, but instead of crumbling to the hard, rocky ground of whatever Netherworld Prinny had sent them to, a pair of arms that were oddly familiar caught him. And he was pulled against a chest that comforting.

Despite the pain in his arm, Samuel snapped his head up. And found himself staring into a pair of honey golden eyes.

Killia?

What? What was he doing? He should be resting in the hospital!

Prinny must have opened the portal sooner than he had told him to. Hah…Killia must have convinced him to. The chaos of Brutus's entrance must have awoken him.

"There you are!" Brutus crooned loudly as he held his jaw. "About time the leader of the Rebel Army showed up! Nice Rising Domination. Let's see if you can do it again!"

Killia's eyes darted in Brutus's direction and promptly narrowed.

Frantic, Samuel reached up to touch the side of Killia's face, causing him to immediately look toward him again. "Killia, wait. It's ok. You don't have to fight him. He's going to die soon."

Brutusscoffed loudly. "You keep saying that, and yet; here I am. Alive and kic-"

Brutus's eyes abruptly widened, his words cutting off in his throat. His body suddenly became tense, rigid. Like a stone statue. The veins on his chest were completely black. And had stopped moving.

"Six minutes," Samuel murmured. "Time's up."

"What's going on?" Killia asked, confusion evident in his voice.

Samuel sighed. But before he could answer, Brutus suddenly fell to his knees and threw his head back on a guttural, primal scream. An ear-piercing, heart-wrenching shriek of pain. He clawed desperately, frantically at his chest, where the black veins were, as he collapsed onto his side. Twitching and writhing, shrieking and howling.

It was too late to help him.

Far too late.

A Seedling had claimed another victim.

Samuel could only gaze upon him with the utmost pity. "Killia, please put me down. I need to fulfil my duty."

"D-duty?"

He…couldn't exactly keep it a secret. Not with how Brutus busted his way into the Pocket Netherworld, announcing himself and looking for a fight. And he especially could not explain what was about to happen next. It would be too cruel.

"I'll explain everything later, I promise. My memories…they're not false, after all." Oh, how he wished they were. "Though, I wish you weren't here to witness this."

Though clearly reluctant, Killia carefully placed Samuel back on his feet. "Witness what?"

"His death. He's being destroyed, from the inside out. It's an agonising death. No one…deserves that."

Samuel offered Killia a small, sad smile as he slowly pushed himself out of his arms, a measure that was surprisingly difficult. He clutched his injured arm as he staggered over to Brutus, pausing in his steps as the unknown overlord continued to writhe on the ground.

"I'm…burning from the inside out!" he shrieked.

There was no blood. No tears. There was nothing left in his. Soon, he would cease all movement.

"Wh-what's with those screams?

"I've never heard anything like it. They're…they're cries of pure agony."

The others? Samuel inwardly sighed. He especially wished they weren't to witness the brutal death of a Seedling's victim. But he couldn't tell them to leave. Not now. They wouldn't listen.

"H-help me, I'm dying!"

"I know," Samuel murmured as he descended to his knees. "And there is nothing I can do for you. It's too late. I'm sorry. This is all I can do for you. All I can do is stay with you as death takes you. I won't let you go through this alone. No one deserves to endure this alone."

Brutus's body gave one last lurch, one last death throe, before he slumped to the ground, his eyes, beady and empty but wide with fear staring up at him.

Samuel shuffled forward on his knees and leaned over Brutus, reaching out with his good hand to take a hold of his hand. "Can you hear my voice? Please, concentrate on it. And know…know that you're not alone. The pain will pass soon. I know. This…is all I can do for you now. I can only promise that your name will live in my memories."

"I-It…hurts…"

It hurts so much that screaming was no longer an option. Only silent agony.

"Tell me your name again, please," Samuel pleaded as he pressed Brutus's hand against his chest. "Concentrate on your name. So, that you can live on through my memories."

"…Brutus…"

"Brutus?"

"O…Overlord Brutus…"

"Your Netherworld?"

"N…N…"

Samuel sighed. The pain was too much. The Seedling was breaking through.

"It'll pass soon, Brutus," Samuel soothed. "The pain will stop. Just a bit more."

Brutus's body was beginning to crumble away. The Seedling was about to sprout.

"Goodbye, Brutus. Sleep well."

Brutus released a shuttering breath. "…thank you…"

He never inhaled again.

Samuel lowered Brutus's hand to the ground. And sprung back just as his body disintegrated, the ashes of his body forming into a twisting, gnarling thorned plant.

A Snap Draingon.

Three legged appendages allowed it to scurry across the ground, two whip-like arms allowed it to latch onto victims and to attack. And it's enormous, bulbous head was in the shape of dragon, allowing it to spit out blinding acid attacks.

More importantly, it was a parasite; it drained power and energy from anything and everything it could latch on to. Including Netherworlds.

The Snap Draingon whipped its head in his direction before it unexpectedly made an attempt to scurry away. Which was indeed a surprise. They usually rushed in, headfirst, and attacked anyone close by. Looking for food. Energy. Anyone and anything to devour.

Samuel quickly summoned several towering ice pillars, trapping the Snap Draingon in a tight corner. "I don't know how you escaped Nugatory, but I assure you; you won't escape here."

The Snap Draingon whirled around to face him, gnashing its mouth at him in primal rage. There was little to no intelligence to Snap Draingon. All they knew was to attack and drain their victims of energy, thus their food. No reasoning to be had. Just primal instinct.

They just needed to be destroyed.

The Snap Draingon opened it mouth, and screamed; "H-help me, I'm dying!"

"That's-!" Killia spluttered in surprise from somewhere behind Samuel.

Yeah, that was Brutus's voice. A rather disturbing feature of a Snap Draingon; taking on the voice and characteristics of its previous victim. Most troubling of all was when it screamed in their voice. Over and over again.

It was a way to lure in prey. To place doubt and uncertainty in the minds of others.

"It…hurts," the Snap Draingon continued to manipulate. "H-help me, I'm dying!"

Samuel shook his head and raised his left hand, manifesting a magic circle. "Use his voice all you want; it won't affect me."

Mega Fire. Burn that horrid Snap Draingon to ash and put Brutus's memory at ease.

The Snap Draingon flailed through the flames and screamed in Brutus's voice. It thrashed violently at the ice pillars, shattering them with its whip-like vines. Withering, it suddenly spun around and lurched toward Samuel, slamming its plant appendages into the ground one after the other in a menacing and desperate attempt to make its way to Samuel. To get to him. To attack him.

He gritted his teeth and concentrated on increasing the power of his Mega Flame.

It finally came to a stop, inches away from his feet.

And Samuel breathed a sigh of relief.

If he wasn't so tired, if he wasn't in such pain, he could have defeated the Snap Draingon a lot easier. And sooner, but that was neither here nor there. It was dead. That was the main part.

Samuel's knees suddenly buckled as he crumbled toward the ground.

Only, he never made it to the dirty, dusty ground. A pair of arms encircled him, and he immediately knew that it was Killia who caught him yet again. And he allowed himself to sink into Killia's arms.

He just…wished he knew who gave Brutus the Seedling that ultimately killed him.

And why…