Before the battle between Jago and Aymir
Constant footsteps could be heard in their ears as the trio consisting of Kuroh, Issei and Sabiazus strode down the hidden pathway after Aymi had them leave him behind, the man having decided on confronting his oldest foe. Despite the worries Sabiazus had felt inside for his legion master, he was sure that God would allow his leader to survive against the foulest enemy. Nevertheless, he cannot let those feelings linger around because it'd be pointless for someone like him to doubt his lord's battle prowess.
Upon thinking this, Sabazius wiped out the remaining traces of doubt from his mind.
However, all wasn't right in the world simply because the hulking juggernaut had his shit together for the shrieking kept getting louder and louder as they kept going forward through the hallway. The grim expressions on their faces increased with every scream whilst the cold biting chills of fear wriggled down Issei's spine, filling him with a rapidly mounting tension and dread for what lay ahead. The screams were making him feel like something terrible was about to happen. His mentality was about to break when he didn't want to continue forward, his hands and body shaking from the constant shrieking. One could compare it to the fear of the unknown making the shrieks all the worse for him.
Nevertheless, Issei shook his head several times with his teeth being clenched tightly within his jaw. The brunette refused to let this fear take him as he thought about what Asia must be going through, to which steeled himself because no matter what was going to happen he'd do what he could to save her, it was one thing in his mind he would do no matter what he does. Soon they see the end of the passageway where the shrieking was taking place.
Kuroh gazed at the end of the hallway, looking at it before sharpening his eyes and gripping his katana hard enough to strain against the grip. Before long, he was the first to step forward with the others following his action soon after. When they entered the room they were taken back by the area around them.
"What in the hell?!"
"Oh my God…"
"By my lord and his omnipotent power….."
There in the room was a hidden underground room… made entirely from still-living bodies. Beneath them lay a carpet made from various different faces, all of them constantly screaming and moaning from the sheer torment they were currently going through. Past to a pool of shadow a Night Lord could be seen sitting on a throne made from human bones.
Issei couldn't take it from the sit, his face turned green before he turned around and vomited from the scenario. Kuroh has seen many atrocities, but this…this is something even Alucard would find sickening(A bit).
While Sabiazus expression remained hidden behind his helmet, the creaking sounds from his power armor's hand gripping hard on his staff spoke volumes. His helmet's lenses glowed intensely with the amount of anger roaring like a lion.
When Issei finished vomiting he felt something soft and squishy. His grim expression returned when he slowly looked at what he was leaning to. On the wall was also made of human skin. Jumping back before dropping down to the ground while his grim expression turn to terror when he witness the sight of the building structure.
"Wha…what the hell is all this?!" Issei shouted in horror, scooting away from the human skin wall looking like he'd been thrown into a gay bar.
As if waiting for the brunette's shrill cries, a mocking voice echoed throughout the hall. "Hahahahahahaha did you look at his face?! See how he was so scared when he just looked at the wall? This guy's like a scaredy cat or better yet a crybaby! Oh man, it's so pathetic!" the voice mocked Issei, mixed in with a sickening cackle.
Another voice, coming from the Night Lord who was sitting on the human skeleton bone throne. "Cease your jest Sellzen. Your in the mere presence of our guest…..but I cannot deny the fact that weakling could not last a minute. It is no wonder humanity has become progressively weaker each decade."
"You said it boss!" the voice responded to the night lord, to which the owner then promptly stepped forward to reveal their location being just ahead of them. That said owner took the form of a young man with short white hair and red eyes, wearing a long coat reminiscent of a priest's robe, with some clerical clothing beneath it while he sported a disturbing smile on his face. His coat was dark blue on the interior whilst on his coat's side were gold buttons. His shirt was white including his pants, but on the button shirt had blade line in the middle.
In his right hand, he wielded a curved blade resembling a Scimitar with a blade as long as a human forearm, one blacker than darkness itself. It's hilt consisted of two sharp-looking bat wings with their edges a bloody crimson like they'd bathed in the blood of countless victims. In the hilt's centre, lay a crimson emerald which radiated an energy sicker than anything the Devils could ever hope to replicate.
The man began to introduce himself with a sickening and disturbing smile, throwing up his arms as he pronounced about like a deranged clown on heroin. "Hey hey hey! Welcome to our base! I am so glad all of you are here because I just can't wait to cut you up like a gutter, twist your eyeballs until they scalp out from your socket! It might hurt at first, but later you will feel so good that you will cry. Here is the good thing about it, you won't be having any tears because you don't have any eyeballs to cry with! Hahahahahaha!" he declared with a maniacal cackle.
It naturally didn't take long before Issei had enough of Sellzen's deranged laughter as he got up from his crouching position and pointed at him. "Shut the fuck up, you crazy asshole! I don't have time for your disturbing jokes! Where is Asia?!" He demanded of the man.
The deranged man stopped his laughter and instead looks at Issei with a grin. "Oh? Your here for the little girl then? Why, she's over there!" he pointed above of where the Night Lord was sitting. From there Asia could be seen not too far above him, hanging in front of a large cross connected to it by various mechanisms, with Raynare floating there. Asias' clothes were in tatters, some areas looking torn to shreds and her breasts were almost being exposed. She was currently screaming right now from the way the mechanisms dug into her body in the most painful manner possible while Raynare laughed like a raving lunatic.
Issei widened his eyes at the sight of Asia's state. "Asia!" he called out to her name but she didn't reply to him in favor of screaming in pain.
"Be glad boy. She is being freed from her burdens."
The night lord spoke to Issei in a calm manner.
Issei did not reply with the same manner as the night lord. "Being free?! You fuckers don't know what your doing to her! You're hurting Asia and you call that being 'freed from her burdens'?! How the fuck would she be freed from any fucking burdens like this?!"
"We are relieving her of her precious artifact. She has experienced much hardship through her life, no one helping her out of fear of her healing-based sacred gear. No longer shall she be prosecuted by others, no longer shall she ever experience universal hatred, sorrow and agony. Her pain only comes from when she'd been banished from the church, now she shall be set free to go to heaven where she belongs."
Hearing his sickening way of relieving the burden from Asia, Sabiazus stepped forward and pointed his staff at him. "How does this justify your actions? How can it help the former saint? You speak and preach about the life and hardships she has gone through, and yet you have the audacity to say you are freeing her by tearing her apart from her sacred gear? You are a fool for thinking you're helping the girl! You find her screams pleasurable and your sin justifies it all around us as we speak! How many have to die? How many do you think is enough?!" He bellowed furiously, his staff crackling with volatile energy as if to mimic it's master's emotional state.
The night lord did not speak for a while, as if he did not listen to Sabiazus' lecture in favor of hearing the shrieking voices. The night lord's lenses glinted when all of a sudden, he got up from his skeleton throne and started walked down the altar's stairs with the sounds of crackng bones accompanying every step.
"It is not enough. We stand in the dust at the end of years of useless sin and endless failure. The Legion was poisoned and we sacrificed anything to cleanse it. We failed.. There, again, we failed. We swore vengeance on our former leaders, yet we run from every battle where we don't possess overwhelming force over a crippled enemy. We fail, again and again and again. Have you ever fought a battle you'd struggle to win, with no hope of running away? The church was not ever pleased with us, the world despised us so what do we have to run from? Instead, we… no, I will not see my life whored away without meaning. Do you hear me? Do you understand me, Exorcist? I want vengeance against the world that hates us. I want every being and deity to fear and cower when we draw near! Even when you slaughter our entire brethren, I shall create more and more until we are enough to cast the shadow over the world. I want to see our vessels pouring the remains of skinned children over their sacred shrines, I want to see their so-called 'followrs' break both in mind and body at their inevitable doom when they're cast aside. Only THEN will I be satisfied, satisfied in that our name will be remembered for what it should be."
With a strong convection and words that sent everything into stunned silence, the Night Lord reached down and drew his blade from the sheathe made from flesh strapped to his waist. The blade is in his hands could be best described as a masterwork of form and function. The hilt and cross-guard were crafted from bronze and polished ivory, forming the outstretched wings of an angel. Between the wings, set into the base of the blade on both sides, rubies the size of a mortal man's eyes were cut and shaped into crimson teardrops. The blade itself looked to have been forged from stained gold, with runes hand-scribed along the weapon's length detailing it.
Freed jumped in excitement, swing his arms wildly around like an ecstatic schoolgirl on a sugar rush… which looked just downright wrong in the eyes of the onlookers. "Oh man, are we getting started now Talos? Because I am ready to carve out some skin flesh baby! Ohhh this feeling is making me so damn hot and horny!" his tongue was out while pointing his blade at the trio.
Kuroh stayed silent for a while, ignoring the screams around him before taking out his blade and made a stance. Sharpening his eyes, no longer wanting to hear any of their arguments before he faces at the man in front of the night lord named Talos. Sabiazus followed his action while facing Freed.
"Issei, go save her." Kuroh ordered with a strong tone.
"Kuroh…" Issei whispered, a little unsteadily at the implication of those words as the brunette looked at Kuroh harden gaze. The brunette male could tell thesamurai male wasn't paying attention to him due to that gaze being pointed forwards. "Are you sure you can handle it?"
"Issei, I need to warn you. I won't hold back my power, if you get into the crossfire you would be killed because of my actions, which I cannot allow. Go, and be the hero who saves the princess in distress you damn pervert."
This assured Issei enough for him to put on a determined expression and made his way to the stair case.
"Oh no you don't! Your not interrupting this plan!" Freed declared as he moved forwards, trying to stop Issei from going any further with Talos following him. Fortunately, Freed suddenly froze mid-stride before starting to float above the ground. While this happened Kuroh sped towards Talos, entering a vicious deadlock against him with their bladed weapons grinding against one another.
"Your fight is with me Sellzen." Sabiazus said to Freed, his staff pointing towards Freed with it's snake eyes glowing brightly. That is, before the juggernaut flicked his Staff to the side in which Freed gasped when he got telekinetically thrown in the same direction.
BAM!
After Freed impacted at a flesh wall he spat out blood that fell down his chin, the man groaning in pain. "PFFAH! COUGH COUGH!" Freed spat out blood before getting up. He did a 180 degree turn and sneered at Sabiazus. "That was a dirty and neat trick you got, old man." he sneered in a deranged manner. However the sneer didn't last long before it was replaced with a deranged smile whilst he pointed his demonic blade at the vice-captain, to which the weapon glowed with a red aura that surrounded the blade. "But I wonder if that magic trick can save you any more gramps!"
One couldn't see his reaction to that statement, but with the way that the helmet's eyes started glowing in a similar manner to those of his staff it became clear that Sabiazus had readied himself for their fight. More proof of this came when he pointed his staff at the enemy and promptly started generating these circular portals around the weapon the size of basket balls and the shape of whirlpools. From these whirlpool-shaped 'portals' came a bunch of energy bolts shaped like lightning, all headed straight for the deranged man before him.
In the following moments a mad chase ain to cat and mouse began, with Freed darting throughout the underground room in a mad flurry to avoid the various lightning attacks Sabiazus launched at him one after the other. Sometimes he'd try to get in close for some close combat, but every time he made motions to do so somehow the larger Juggernaut would anticipate his trajectory and provide obstacles that'd halt him in his tracks.
During the few instances where he DID get close enough for close quarters combat, Freed discovered to his dismay that Sabiazus would be no slouch in that field either unlike the majority of magicians throughout the supernatural world due to him augmenting his physical abilities with energy before launching attacks that rivaled professional spear experts. Experts, not masters, his movements didn't imply he had mastered any spear arts or devoted his life to such practices.
Yet as the battle progressed, Sabiazus' gaze sowly fell upon the blade that Freed had been using with an increasingly intense stare by the second. His expressions may have been hidden, but the way he moved himself hinted at thegrowing unease he felt ust from looking at it.
'That sword… it's make resembles those of the foul heretic Night Lords, which means it likely has a few tricks up its sleeve waiting to be utelized against me.' the massive being thought while conjuring a bunch of lightning bolts above them and launching them down towards the enemy in complex, unpredictable-seeming patterns to keep him on his toes. He also snuck in a few bolts from his staff here and there that were aimed at the man's vitals to try and end this fight quickly, actions brought about by his worries over what that blade was and what it's powers would be. He wanted to defeat Freed before he got the chance to utelize such a heretical weapon.
Said man quickly broke into a mad sprint TOWARDS the next set of lightning bolts, seemingly intending to run into them like they weren't even there. However, his real intention soon came to light when right before their impact Freed side hopped from left to right in a constant zigzagging motion, avoiding them while also closing the distance between the two of them. There had been 6 lightning bolts launched in total, and Freed managed to dodge the first 5 whilst swinging his sword upwards to cut through the 6th before it could hit him. Although that last action proved to be a mistake due to the energy within the bolt being greater than he had anticipated, resulting in Freed stumbling backwards in a display called being caught off balance.
A sight which Sabiazus quickly picked up on and exploited the following second by pointing his Staff at the space beneath the silver haired man which started to turn a bright red moments later.
Freed naturally pulled an 'oh shit' face when he saw this through the corner ot his eye, before he promptly dove to the side in an effort to avoid the followup attack. It was a good thing he did, because seconds after he had moved a MASSIVE pillar of pure blue flames roared to life from that spot, shooting upwards to the ceiling and setting the surroundings alight with it's pale blue splendor. The surrounding area also heated considerably with the walls closest to the pillar showing signs of beginning to melt, much to the man's horror after he got back to his feet post dive roll. "Holy shit, that's some fire! I'd have become some roasted Freed if I were to take that to my face!" he proclaimed in an almost cartoonish manner.
Sabiazus didn't respond to this and promptly started preparing his next attack, channelling his energy into his staff which was visually represented by it's eyes gaining a stronger blue glow. "You would do yourself and the world of man a favor by letting my flames scorch your miserable experience, mortal." he stated coldly, his next strike ready to be launched judging from how the staffs eyes flashed briefly. "Let God's light perish the wickedness of your soul-"
"Not so fast! Flayer kun, go!"
"?!"
In an instan, Freed interrupted the larger male's words with that loud outburst while clenching his sword's grip tightly. In the following seconds, the blade's crimson eye started glowing in a similar manner to those of the snake staff with a crimson energy that sported a blackish outline. This sight caused Freed's lips to twist into a sickening cackle as cuts started appearing around the hand holing the blade, from which trails of blood started flowing down the hand and onto the eye itself.
Immediately Sabiazus realized what this meant alongside the true nature behind the sword that Freed currently wielded. 'That's…!' he thought, quickly making to launch his attack first before Freed could complete whatever spell he was going to cast…
SQUELCH!
"Guh!"
To bad for him that Freed's little 'trick' activated quicker than Sabiazus anticipated, for the moment that his attack was about to launch a bunch of hooks connected to wicked-looking chains appearing to be similar in appearance to centipedes, burst out from the blade's eye. They lashed out like living Tendrils, shooting through the air faster than one could see them towards their target. Sabiazus quickly tried defending himself by launching his attack which took the form of a concentrated energy beam, but there were two many chained hooks for it to take out. Therefore, some got through with some snagging his arm holding his staff while others latched onto the weapon itself. Immediaely the juggernaut tried breaking free by grabbing the hooks by their chains to try and pull them out, but his efforts only served to somehow make them dig deeper to which he started hearing the groaning sounds of his armor being bent by those damn things.
'Tch, these chains come from fell demonic energy…' Sabiazus thought while studying the hooks more closely, soon noticing some things which sparked traces of familiarity within his conscience. 'Hold on, aren't these…'
"Hehehehehe! surprise! " Freed gloated, cackling as he darted forwards with the intent to close the distance between them and go for a decapitation strike due to the way he had positioned his sword while he ran. "Flayer kun's really nice, ya'know! Likes making bloody hooks to trap enemies in for his rightful master! Takes some blood to do it, but hey what can ya do?" Freed taunted him.
Sabiazus did not respond to Freed's taunt, instead he attempted to work his way out of the hooks ensnaring his arm, but it was no use, the hooks showed signs of sentience when they kept increasingly piercing through his armor. He could feel them getting closer to piercing through his skin each second that passed by. Gritting his teeth in fury, Sabiazus grunted while struggling to escape the bonds, his armor creaking from the sounds made from the exertion.
"Ahhh whats the matter? The itty bitty little big guy can't whip it out? Well tough luck, there is nothing you can do about it! Those babies will stay there until they weave into your skin and flesh, ripping it out and drawing that sweet delicious blood!" Freed arrogantly explained to the juggernaut in front of him. "This is the best weapon I've had in my life! Whats more these guys are now my best friends, because they sure know how to pack a punch, get what I mean? Hahahahahaha! I should've met them sooner!"
Soon he felt the hooks were stabbing his skin, inches, slowly by slowly. They would've got into his skin if not for his armor slowing them down from going further. He was reaching for his staff which is close just to his finger tips. He could feel the foul energy through his armor.
"Now hurry up and let yourself get drinken up by these babies! I'm losing so much blood here and it would take weeks to replenish it! Your wasting my time here!" Impatiently Freed said to Sabiazus to hurry up and die. His arm is beginning to become pale each minute from the amount of blood his demonic sword Flayer is consuming. "Your useless without that fancy staff of yours! So I'll just have to speed up the proccess!"
He ordered the hooks to take the staff inches away from Sabiazus which they did so, depriving him of his chance to reach his staff. Instead of feeling despair, anguish or afraid when his staff was taken away from him, Sabiazus spoke in a calm voice. "Do you think just because my staff is taken away, I'm useless without it?" the vice captain brought his arms to his face, making an X formation.
Freed was confused what this guy meant, being too stupid and annoyed he walked to the juggernaut. "Hey what the hell are you doing!? It better not be one of your silly tricks no-"
"Gods Wrath!"
BOOM!
"AAAHH!" Freed cried out in pain and surprise when a primal form of force, created a powerful shockwave. Knocking him away from the juggernaut. With the interruption the hooks loosen their grips when Freed lost his concentration of the Flayer. It was enough for Sabiazus to run to his staff and conjured holy power around him to expel the demonic chains, making them sizzle before they started crumbling to pieces.
Freed on the other hand, got knocked back into a flesh wall which didn't hurt him a lot but the force was enough for him to feel his back start crackling from the shockwave. The insane man growled in fury with his eyes becoming animalistic, getting up while glaring at Sabiazus glinted lenses. "You messed up my concentration you fucker! Now your in for it!" Raising his demonic sword up to the air, the gem glowed in response to Freed's wish. "Flayer kun! Tear this man apar-"
"You will not finish that sentence heretic!" Sabiazus interrupted Freed before he could command Flayer. Pointing his staff toward Freed, the cobra blue eyes glowed in response as well before Sabiazus announced his next spell. Lines began to spiral, forming a circle, on the sides ancient latin words.
"Oh God! Your mighty holiness, purge this filthy heretic from existance fo he could no longer defy your garden! Fury of God!"
From the staff's circle, a creature resembling a winged serpent made from pure blue fire charged forward, burning anything or anyone caught in its path. The animal was the King Cobra, opening its mouth exposing its two large venomous fangs before charging towards Freed.
The said deranged lunatic was not backing down from the sight though, instead he growled before pointing the demonic sword towards the creature. "You piece of shit! DIE! FLAYER, ABSORB MY BLOOD AND DESTROY THIS THING IN FRONT OF ME!"
BOOM!
From the blade's eye burst out multiple chains, swirling around like angry vipers before they eached lunged towards the blue fire cobra. The two attacks promptly clashed with one each other in a battle for dominance and superiority. Dark and blue light were lit the surroundings around Freed and Sabiazus as a side effect of the clashing attacks.
Freed growled as he pumped more and more blood into the sword, trying to break the clash between Sabiazus so he could chop him up to pieces, skin his flesh until there was no more and burn him inside of his amor where he could feel the constant agony. It was making the white haired stray exorcist to smile at his imagination.
However Sabiazus spoke through the clash. "Freed! Your sword absorbs your blood is that correct?" he asked Freed for clarification about the abilities of his demonic sword.
Freed was confused about what this man was saying during the clash, confusion which quickly transformed into irritation that was further pushed by the lack of change in the conflict."Are you blind or stupid? Idiot, Yes it does, so what are you asking about?!" Freed answered Sabiazus.
"Then you should've been more careful when dealing with a demonic sword, because with this amount of blood being consumed, it should start making your arm feel numb from that much blood loss!"
"?!" with the sudden realization of what Sabiazus has told him, Freed looked at his hand wielding Flayer, his blood is flowing to the demonic sword through like a stream of river. His hand was becoming pale and, now that it had been brought to his attention, Freed also realized something else: he couldn't feel his arm anymore. Gradually he saw how he was starting to lose his grip on Flayer's hilt, much to his building horror. "NO!" he cried out before he quickly grabbed the demonic sword with his left hand. It made his right hand go limp, but it also made the demonic sword break the chains coming out from the gem.
He thought he had the upper hand now that his weapon was back in a stronger hand, prompting him to smile in victory, but when he felt the temperature getting warmer and hotter he lost that smile and instead pulled another 'oh shit' expression. He lifted his head and saw the cobra was closing in on his ass, prompting Freed to start widening his eyes alongside going completely.
"Ah shit, forgot about that."
WHOOOSSSSSHHHH!
The cobra incincerated Freed from the spot, burning his body, skin, flesh, and ashes till nothing remained of him.
Sabiazus ended his stream of fire, extinguishing his spell when he noticed this. Kneeling down from the holy energy he had put into the spell, panting in exhaustion while gripping his staff. He stared at the spot where Freed was burned alive, not even ashes remaining. Only the scorch trail where he used to be and the Demonic sword there remained as evidence that the man had been a part of the living world, some burn marks could be observed across it's blade but he cared not for the weapon's appearance. This barbaric sword couldn't remain in this world so he brought his hand forward to cast a holy barrier spell, manifesting a pure white sphere around the blade to prepare it for sealing later.
It would be best for him and his legion to hide the blade or give it to someone more worthy, as demonic weapons had the tendency to be indestructible by mortal standards. After dealing with the blade, Sabiazus turned around to head to where the girl was being tortured at, hoping it was not too late to save her from her torment.
Elsewhere in the church's undergound
"GRRRRAAAAHHHH!"
The sounds of Crackler and Sneer growling at Karasum filled his ears after a loud pair of thumps which had accompanied their previous fall. They had landed flat on their backs in an unceremonious manner, their armor sporting various gunshot marks on various places which exposed the multitude of wound marks on their flesh.
In stark contrast, the uni coach remained unfazed by their screams although the same could not be said for his suit which was in tatters, whereas he also sported fewer wound marks around his body. That was likely due to the leather armor he ordered from the black market, having provided the protection that it did. Blood was dripping down from his head and eye, making him close his right eye in order to not get blood on his eyes. He had his Benneli M4 pointed at both of their head. Sharpening his eyes aimed at them.
"HISSSSS! Don't think this is over human! We will come for you, you and you're entire family! We will forever remember this, we will know who has deprived us of our lifestocks!" Crackler bellowed after hissing like a serpent, one eye closed from the pain he had fallen under yet he maintained his ability to give the strongest glare he could. "And when we do! We shall remove your bones, you and your precious loved ones, slice your flesh into cubes while making sure your blood vessel keeps you alive, pumping with blood so your suspended what's left hanging from said blood vessels across a ceilin-"
BANG!
Faster than lightning, Karasuma had enough of his sickening rant and disturbing vow of hunting him and his family down. Before the guy could finish his rant, the uni coach blasted the piece of shit brain into pieces, making it scramble to pieces.
"BROTHE-"
BANG!
As for the other one who cried out in alarm for his brother's sudden demise, Karasuma claimed another body when he blasted that said male with his Benneli M4, turning his brain into mush. He'd long since grown tried of their sickening tones, so silencing them like he did felt more therapeutic than he had expected.
For a while, Karasuma stayed like this before he turned to the captives hiding from the battle scenario. He'd seen them peeking out from behind the closed door, obviously too unwilling to open it fully for fear of being used against the uni coach.
"They've been dealt with! Come on lets go!" Karasuma spoke to them. That made them get out of their trance and got out of their hiding place before following them. They caught up to Karasuma, heading to the stairs while ignoring the loud noise or sound of what it seems to be a battle field.
When they reached upstairs and out of the church dungeon, the sounds of conflict raged louder and louder from just by the room near them, a signal that things were getting increasingly hectic. Karasuma grew curious about the sounds of chainsaws and people shouting. Maybe it's either from the police SWAT team stormed into the church when multiple people were reported to be kidnapped or the military has finally started to take action.
He shook his head and decided not to pay heed to the thought of what may be happening near them right now. His first priority was to get the captives out of here so they could be returned back to their homes safe and sound.
When they walked through the halls of the church, in front of them was the exit out of this nightmare the sight of which people cried out in happiness and joy. They were getting out of this hellhole and it was thanks to Karasuma who came in and saved them from the terrible and horrifying insane these people are.
Just before they could, one of them stiffened up in fear when a chill invaded his back. He shakily turns to Karasuma, bringing his attention to him. "C-co-coach. I-I don't t-think we're…..alone." the student said in a terrifying voice. The fear and terror was spread among the captives who were also mimicking his action.
Their fears and horror was coming true when they heard the deep and chilling voice.
"You are all such fools into thinking that freedom was within your grasp."
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Karasuma lifted his head, putting his shotgun down to the ground like a walking stick before slowly looking to where the voice's perpetrator was. The sounds of booming heavy footsteps could be heard, gradually getting louder and louder with each step. To him and to the rest of the quivering victims, those footsteps may as well have been the death tolls that signified a soul's departure from the world.
Out from the columns of the abandoned church came out the Night Lord who came out from the shadows. He turned to a 90-degree turn and faced the terrified people who shook heavily from hi sight, children and infants were crying out in fear of the deathly aura of fear the night lord is emitting.
Karasuma hardened his eyes in front of the massive being, not being fazed by his aura the Night Lord kept leaking out as his hulking, looming form seemingly overshadowed them like an infernal shadow wraith. Now he was facing against what looked like to be a military experiment of super soldiers because from the appearance and armor this colossal being had, it must've been part of their hidden projects.
"You are brave, mortal. I will acknowledge that, but even bravery can lead to stupidity. Do you think that you can just leave this place without any of us knowing? I knew something was wrong the moment those disgraceful recruits told my brother about someone intruding on our base."
"Then your paranoia was correct after all." Karasuma acknowledged the juggernaut in front of him while throwing away his AR15 down to the ground. He doubted it would be very useful to him at this point.
"Oh? So you even acknowledge us then hmmm? That feeble brain of yours and the lack of intelligence just proves what we've all been thinking: humanity has grown to be complacent, mired in their own sense of false security. I wonder what you will look like when I lobomitize your brain personally, and these fools will witness those who attempt to defy us."
Karasuma picks up his shotgun and aimed at the juggernaut with an angered expression. "You will not lay your hands on my student or these people." he spat, cocking his shotgun in preparation for the inevitability that loomed ahead of him.
"You think you can be a hero and save these useless insects? Insects that defy the world's soil? Fool, it will be your own downfall, born out of both your arrogance and your ignorance."
"The day I die is when I want it to be." Karasuma retorted, turning his head to the captives in a manner akin to a drill instructor. "Get out of here, all of you! I will distract him enough for all of you to escape this place!" he bellowed.
A wave of shock and horror coursed through the victims at the realization that their sole protector was planning on seemingly going on a suicide run. As much as their respect for the man had swollen for his bravery in rescuing them, none of them wanted to see their savior lose his life for their sakes.
This became a confirmed consensus when a young woman stepped forward with a worried and grim expression in her eyes. "Wh-what about you? Y-you can't win against that-that thing!" She protested, raising her arm to point at the Night Lord who had revved up his chainsword in preparation. The constant roaring of the weapon's engine made people almost faint in fear.
Nevertheless, their pleas fell upon death ears… or perhaps it was better to say that their rescuer remained well aware of the implications behind this situations' dangers. However, he didn't give a damn right now. "Do as I say! His fight is with me and me alone. Now the rest of you, go before it is too late!" Karasuma insisted on the captives and the woman in front of him to flee for their lives.
The woman bit her mouth in fear and worry, glancing at the thing ahead of them and Karasuma. After a brief moment of internal conflict, her eyes hardened when she finally made her decision. "I'm sorry." she regretfully said to Karasuma before grabbing her son and daughter and then turning on her heels, breaking off into a mad sprint toward the exit with people following her in a grim and regret emotion.
In the end their fear, cowardness and ultimately their instincts for self-preservation was what overpowers their mind.
"Do not think that any of you will leave this place alive! You do not have our permission to do so!"
Immediately the Night Lord began charging towards the fleeing citizens, intending on raising his Chainsword and butchering them before they could grasp the sweet taste of freedom. He fully intended on making his words a reality as well as sate the bloodlust built inside of him that had not been quenched for days thanks to overseeing the prisons under the church and managing the pathetic recruits they'd been getting.
Unfortunately for him, Karasuma blocked that option by waiting till he got close enough and firing his Shotgun from the hip at point blank range. This caused a burst of ammunition to slam into the Astartes chestplate with a loud CLANG sound filling the air, followed by several more alongside the surprised grunts from the Night Lord's helmet while he stumbled backwards from the impact. Aside from that, the armor held firm against the shotgun shells slamming into his armor.
'Tch, looks like this one has better armor than those two schmucks…'
Karasuma clenched his teeth behind pursed lips when he noticed this distinctive difference between this juggernaut and the punks that he'd dealt with previously. That wasn't good, he'd been hoping that this would have been a fight he could have ended quickly via point blank shotgun blasts, even expended the rest of the weapon's ammunition to deal with him. Now that that plan's busted, he was left with both his Shogun and AR15 without any ammo which basically rendered them useless to him. He;d have to look for some openings in close combat then, avoiding that Chainsword which-
"DIE!"
"?!"
Instincts pulled him out of his thoughts and saved his life, proven when Karasuma reflexively rolled to the side to avoid a downward slash from a vicious Chainsword swing meant to have likely torn him vertically in half. Inwardly cursing himself for being distracted, Karasuma quickly deduced from the following slashes that he only dodged by a hair's breath that this guy was LEAGUES above those punks in terms of physical ability. Not only that but the way he moved, swung that Chainsword and his all around aggressivesness gave him not a single chance to even breathe let alone counterattack.
SASH-SLASH-SLASH-SASH-SLASH-SLASH-SASH-SLASH-SLASH-SASH-SLASH-SLASH!
Every second in his life kept currently being spent dodging those furious Chainsword slashes before it could rip him a new one, each slash literally having enough killing intent put into it to resemble the grim reaper's scythe tearing at his soul's defences to steer it towards the afterlife. He'd hopped about, sidestepped, backtracked among multiple other evasive maneuvers just to keep his head on his shoulders like a gamer playing Undertale on maximum difficulty with each slash sometimes even cutting through strands of his hair more than a few times.
'This isn't good…' Karasuma thought, barely dodging yet another sword swing after wincing when some of the injuries he'd sustained from his previous battles sent spikes of pain to his nerve system. 'I haven't recovered from busting those punks earlier, shouldn't have resorted to close combat even if there weren't many other options. Cannot let this drag on any further…'
"You're open!"
"Guh!"
In a brief moment of weakness, Karasuma cringed from another sharp pain spike which caused hi to hunch over… something which the Night Lord had been apparently waiting for during this whole exchange as he promptly exploited this momentary weakness. He did so by kneeing Karasuma in the face hard enough to draw blood when the man's head got blown backwards.
As for why his head hadn't flown clean off his shoulders like such strength SHOULD have rendered a reality would be anyone's guess.
The Night Lord didn't let this opening go wasted however, for he followed up with a sharp low roundhouse kick that knocked the sluggish Uni coach off balance, knocking him down to the ground with a loud THUD accompanying him.
His fall ratted the uni coach's brain adding to his dazed state, something which he SO didn't need right now. Yet that momentary daze soon got dismissed from his mind (alongside the thoughts of a possible concussion) when Karasuma promptly grunted in pain and discomfort. The reason? The massive armored boot that planted itself atop his chest, the limb's size completely covering it from a top-down perspective as the man struggled to remove the limb lest it crush his damaged internal organs into paste.
"Hahahaha! You fool! You are just like all those incompete fools who fail to realize their uselessness against a night lord!"
Raising his chainsword up to the air before swinging it downwards. Karasuma quickly despite his internal pain blocked the attack with his Benneli m4.
VVVRRRRROOOOOMMMMMMM!
"Now die like the others in the most pathetic way!"
VVVVVVRRRRROOOOOOMMMMM!
Sparks could be seen flying forth from from the interlock between Karasuma's shotgun and the chainsword, spreading out into their surroundings during this battle for dominance between them. The uni coach could only helplessly grit his teeth amidst the struggle of survival as the chainsword slowly ground its way through his shotgun. His face quickly started losing color the more the cracks that started to form on his weapon spread throughout accompanied by the sounds of metal being sliced apart that filled his ears. Although, none of those could compare to the rapidly pounding heart thumping within his ribcage, the sole target of this Night Lord's ravenous weapon.
'No… Shit! I can't it end here!' Karasuma mentally screamed as he tried to find a way out from the armored boot that is planted on his chest. He could just SENSE how the chainsword was rapidly getting closer to ripping through him as if he were a piece of paper mache, his body hot from the amount of blood coursing through him thanks to his thumping heart. 'I gave my word that I would come back alive and I intend to! Come on, move you fucking piece of shit! MOVE!'
He tried to forcfully order his body to get out of the night lords boot, struggling ravenously to shift himself from beneath it but to no avail, for the boot remind firmly in place and, seeing his struggles, the Night Lord could only offer a bout of mocking laughter. Laughter which sounded more like the bell tolls for the dead in Karasuma's ears as his Shotgun begun to start bending under the strain. He could feel death's aroma looming him, the concept reaching out towards him to claim his soul and ferry him to the afterlife… if that shit even existed of which he highly doubted.
Perhaps all of this building stress was getting to him, because in the corners of his vision Karasuma swore he could see the usual form that death took: a spectral skeletal avatar clad in a hooded cloak. It reached out towards him with it's right, oversized claw-like hand, reaching towards him and somewhat overlapping with the chainsword that dug its way through his Shotgun's defences.
Part of him honestly couldn't help but applaud it's resilience, for it had been several seconds and the Shotgun hadn't succumbed yet when its functions likely had… though Karasuma doubted this would be the case for much longer.
A fact which the Night Lord Pinning him also took notice of given the jeer that left his mouth.
"Come on, squeal like the fucking pig you are! In the end, all humans are cowards! their first priority is their own survival instincts! Just like how those livestock abandoned and ran away from you!"
Ignoring the taunt and the Chainsword getting closer and closer to him, Karasuma made his best attempt at a smirk despite the bullets that he currently sweated over his forehead, all while making the following statement. "Mock me all you want, pal, but it would appear that you've got some misconceptions."
"Oh? Do tell, mortal."
"In battle, there's no enemies nor allies, only those about to die. There's no room for pity or remorse, its either you or them. Thing is, whether in this Church or the outside world, one thing I've learned is that life… life has ALWAYS been a war!" Karasuma roared, sounding calm and collected at first, almost resigned to some fate being a fact of life. However, in the end like rebels crying out against injustice his gaze gained a fiery blaze to it that took the Night Lord by surprise.
The said Night Lord made to speak again, probably to mock Karasuma's words or something, but the uni coach beat him to it by continuing. "We live in the shadows of our 'supervisors' called the government, like sheep or cattle, but we can ALWAYS surpass what is expected of us! You may call yourselves 'above' us mortals like you're some divine gods or some shit, but when youlot die nobody hears your screams in the wind. Your so-called 'power' is an echo of humanity's OWN power, pressing forwards is NOT the same as running from one's mistakes!"
"Hah! What delusional dribble are you spouting?! Humans, strong? Hah, don't make me laugh, you're race are weak and undisciplined cowards! Running at the mere CHANCE of danger with your tails between your legs like freaking wimps!"
Karasuma scoffed at the Night Lord's words, even as internally he agreed with him in that there were many humans just like that. However to say that was true for EVERY human was just plain overgeneralizing things, something he intended to reveal right now. "Hah, maybe so, but that's good. Because when one falls, the climb must be their destination. People cry out for strength, strength that's already there's! Look at the military! Look at history! People fell all the time, but they kept climbing to the top of their journeys peaks without rest!" In the end, Karasuma lowered his tone's volume at the end of his increasingly passionate speech, delivering another sentence that actually sent CHILLS down his opponent's spine unbeknownst to him. "Besides, even if you DO kill me today… at least I'll die a man, not some damn ABOMINATION like yourself."
"Insolent fool!" Raising his chainsword in anger, revving it faster, making the teeth go faster than before, the Night Lord prepared to dish out the final blow. His fury at being called an abomination stung deep especially when one considered what one had to go through to become a Night Lord and their history. "You will regret defying me! I will make sure your corpse skinned, shall be hanged in front of every single livestock you try to save and force feeding your flesh to them so they will lose all hope! God won't save you! Its miracle will not grant you any mercy!"
"Then I shall make my own miracle!" Karasuma declared in front of the night lord, blinded in rage he thrust down to the uni coach man.
He never noticed that Karasuma had started briefly glowing a pale grey all of a sudden.
Just as he was about to finish butchering the man below him, so blinded by his rage at Karasuma's defiance, the Night Lord never noticed something transfiguring into existence around his arms while the pinned man was holding his broken shotgun together.
CLING!
VRRRRRRROOOOOOMMMMM!
SCCCCCCRRRREEEEEEE!
"Huh?!"
In an instant, instead of hearing the sounds of flesh being carved into pieces the Night Lord widened his eyes in surprise when he heard a screeching sound coming from beneath him. Additionally, his chainsword wasn't going any further downwards and sparks in greater quantities could be seen flying, obstructing his vision. Taking a risk, he pulled his Chainsword back to inspect the source and instantly became enraged by the sight in front of him.
"You…..you…."
Meanwhile, Karasuma had to close his eyes when a sudden grey light lit up in front of him, temporarily blinding him. Part of him got the image of himself being being transported into somewhere like the afterlife, heaven. Though considering that he could still hear his pounding heart reverberating across his ears he likely was still a part of the living world.
So… why had he not fallen yet?
Squinting one of his eyes open a bit, the Uni coach's vision in front of him looked kind of blurry for a few minutes before it solidified into a clear one. At that moment, he blinked multiple times until they widened in sheer shock and surprise. "What, what the hell?" Karasuma shockly said to himself.
His surprise came from what lay over his hands. Instead of normal flesh, now he had a pair of white gauntlets, massive ones that matched those of the being in front of him. They had tubes protruding out from the back of the hands to a pair of metallic knuckles which currently sprouted a bunch of black blades numbering at 4 that crackled with seemingly electrical energy. The hands's outer sides had a series of wires that also connected to these mechanical knuckles.
"When the hell did I get these? How the hell did they just appear out of thin air?" Karasuma questioned, looking absolutely befuddled by to the absurd and bizarre things that had just literally appeared from nothing over his hands. Not only that but they seemed to be successful in holding back the Chainsword during their brief exchange, and right now he could almost feel mesmirized by their electrical glow as if they were sirens lulling him into the depths of security, away from his current troubles.
Nevertheless the illusion vanished when his question got answered by the currently BLOODTHIRSTY-looking Night Lord, his form fuming in fury.
"How dare you possess a sacred gear! Its blasphemy! It Shouldn't exist! You never should have awakened that foul sacred gear!"
"Sacred gear…" Karasuma repeated the item he somehow now had, narrowing his eyes. Instead of going further down to inspection he decided to use this opportunity to get out, knowing that he should regroup with the survivors. But to do that he needed to get through this guy and for that reason he should familiarize himself with this 'Sacred Gear' thing. "Lets see what these babies can do."
Flexing his hands which somehow he could feel inside his mechanical ones like it was normal, Karasume slashed with his right gauntlet through the night lords leg that held him down, the electrical blades meeting no resistance from the armor as if it weren't even there.
"AAARRRGGGHH!"
Screaming in intense pain, the juggernaut lifted his leg off of Karasuma, rolling away from him. Stabbing the floor with his sacred gear (of which he'll call them his 'lightning claws' till he found a more suitable name) provided enough momentum for him to flip backwards and land on his own two feet.
He'd almost bit the bullet there… maybe this was that 'plot armor' thing that his students sometimes complained about.
He sure wasn't complaining though.
Back in the fight, the coach glared at the Night Lord who ignored the pain from when the retired veteran had carved his claws across his leg. Even so, the damage looked to be quite significant, since thanks to the wound being instantly cauterized thanks to his weapons electricity burning through the flesh, the wound could be seen to be slightly steaming.
Glaring the coach, the Night Lord's eye lenses glinted with intense anger and promised bloodlust as well as retribution for this slight against his superiority.
Unfazed, the uni coach brought his lightning claws together into an X shape akin to a certain beastly wolverine, before breaking the X formation and spread his hands out, making a stance. His lightning claws crackle with lightning, illuminating his immediate surroundings with the strength behind it's glow. 'Round 2, motherfucker…'
In an instant, Karasuma sprinted fowards towards his opponent during which time he crouched low to spread his arms out like an upside down V. Doing this allowed the tips of his claws to scrape across the church ground, creating trails of electrical sparks that danced behind him.
Their sheer brightness could have been enough to blind any mortal, but the Night Lord in front of him instead raised his Chainsword for an overhead slash, one which Karasuma dodged by sliding along his foe's left flank.
Afterwards, he lept forwards to swing his right claw towards the Night Lord's back, although the said enemy's reflexes were enough for him to quickly twirl around on his good leg and block the strike with his Chainsword.
The Night Lord followed up with a sidestep to avoid the left claw when it came from the opposite direction of the previous swing. He then raised his Chainsword and performed a thrust towards Karasuma's chest, of which he leaned backwards then performed a backhand motion to deflect the weapon and it's rotating teeth away from him.
This led the man to use his bent position to stab one claw into the ground beneath him for a back flip, though he couldn't kick the Night Lord's face due to their height difference. After getting back to his feet and plucking his claw out the ground, Karasuma ducked under a horizontal Chainsword swing then jumped to the side, avoiding a reverse horizontal slash that followed suit although right afterwards his opponent had already closed the distance between them,
SCHWING-SCHWING-SCHWING-SCHWING-SCHWING-SCHWING-SCHWING-SCHWING!
Constant swings from the Chainsword were launched at the uni coach from multiple directions, the speed of which making it look like the Night Lord was leaving afterimages. However, since he now had little fear of his weapon of choice being unable to block it Karasuma either blocked or parried these slashed with either one or both Lightning Claws, each one crackling with electricity in increasingly volatile sparks.
'Hmph, the moron's getting cocky…' the man thought in observation of the Night Lord's movements which had gotten increasingly frantic and erratic the more times he dodged his attacks. He could tell from seeing those movements that the Night Lord was getting increasingly furious and agitated at the lack of successful hits. Part of him swore that there was a tint of fear starting to seep into those attacks of his, but Karasuma pushed that aside after seeing one slash reveal an opening for him to swing his left claw upwards at the exposed shoulder.
Of which he took it…
But then the Night Lord pulled back at the last second, stepping backwards so his weapon just BARELY nicked his shoulder armor.
"?!"
"Fool!"
After seeing this moment, Karasuma INSTANTLY recognized his foe's intentions and had only a SECOND to cross his clawed gauntlets in front of himself in an X shaped manner when the Night Lord moved. He moved in the form of a shoulder tackle, one that A: occurred far too fast for Karasuma to dodge even with his above average speed, and B: he couldn't dodge due to being exhausted from previous battles and injuries.
Thus…
WHAM!
"Guh!"
The uni coach cringed HARD when he got shoulder tackled with a similar intensity, the impact sending him flying faster than a freaking BULLET into a nearby wall.
BOOM!
The sheer impact alone caused him to gasp, spitting out a mix of saliva and blood that fell to the ground beneath him. Upon impact, he'd spread his arms and legs out like some kind of crucifixion victim and in that moment he swore he BLACKED OUT for a moment… though he soon got brought back to reality when a massive armored fist slammed its way into his gut with enough force to kickstart his consciousness again.
Not a second later, did the Night Lord grab him with his free hand and slam him head first back into the wall, repeating this several times before reverse diagonal swinging his fully revved Chainsword. It had only been due to hearing the revving sound that Karasuma managed to raise his Gauntlets in time to block the attack though it instead sent him further upwards to allow the Night Lord the chance to twirl a full 360 degrees… then launch a kick RIGHT into his gut when the coach had been falling.
Once again, Karasuma cried out in pain from the strike, feeling nearly all his ribs SHATTER under the force of the impact. It got even worse when the man grabbed him by the neck and almost choked the life out of him, had he not went and threw him across the floor.
The uni coach rolled several times, bouncing a couple from the impact and strength behind the toss, before coming to a stop in a fit of frantic gasps and coughs.
Even as his mind swam and his vision resembled that of a drunkard on a late saturday night, Karasuma nonetheless struggled to get to his feet, relying only on his own strong will and determination. Whilst his legs trembled like a coward before they ultimately fled a battlefield, Karasuma stomped on the ground a few times to get his legs under control before getting back into his battle stance. He held his lightning claws together despite the fatigue and bruises his body had sustained, ignoring nearly every fibre of his being telling him to stay down. Blood trails could be seen flowing down the sides of his face, staining it especially on the areas where he'd been slammed into the wall previously. Breathing heavily, Karasuma's blurry vision nonetheless made out the Night Lord's hulking figure slowly approaching him, the stomping of his heavy armored boots more like loud explosions ringing right next to his ears.
"Hahahahahahahaha! In the end, no matter how hard you try you will fall! No matter if you awakened your weak and pathetic sacred gear, you mortals all fall deep into the abyss in the end!"
The night lord revved his chainsword, the blurry sight causing the uni coach to grit his teeth in aggressive and passive determination. He needed something to keep his blood inside his body so he could better focus, and for a moment he wasn't sure what to do about that… until he remembered what his claws had done to the Night Lord's wound. 'It'll hurt, but its better than conking out on the battlefield…'
Grimness mixed in with his previous emotions as his claws shimmered with dangerous and voltile electricity. He then placed both claws on some of the injuries he had sustained that were drawing blood, searing them shut which increased his pain during those moments immensely. The fact that he could still FEEL pain was something that Karasuma appreciated however, it meant he was still among the living at the moment. Biting his mouth while making sure to not scream, Karasuma prepared for the final stand against his opponent, fully willing to fight to the death. If he were to die here, at least he would die a man and not a freaking monster like this fuckwit.
VRRRRRROOOOMMMMMMM!
"The chapter master will be very pleased when I deliver your head to him, a sacred gear user no less."
Just as he was about to make his move, the Night Lord suddenly heard an unfamiliar masculine voice.
"Then I suppose it's not your day then. I'm afraid I have to ruin your glory."
"?!"
"Who dare-"
Before the Night Lord could finish his outcry, a white streak rushed past the uni coach and slammed hard into the night lord in a manner reminiscent of what the said juggernaut had done to Karasuma before, making the juggernaut fly away from the uni coach… about 20 feet or so.
Upon landing on the ground, the Night Lord rolled into a crouching position and stabbed his Chainsword into it, using it as a medium to halt his mobility till he came to a skidding halt, leaving a long gash on the ground. Afterwards, he raised his head to get a look at the 'new' intruder who dared interrupt his fun.
Thanks to this, the perpetuator was revealed to be a familiar being clad in white draconic armor with very recognizable wings.
"?! That's…!"
Karasuma widen his eyes at the sight of someone rescuing him from his incoming doom. "W-who….who are….you?" he weakly asked the white armored man in front of him.
The white armored man turned his head to the injured and wounded uni coach. If Karasuma didn't know much he'd swear the man in front of him was giving him a bit of respect. "You'll have your question answered soon enough, for now let me handle this." he turned his head back to the night lord in front of him.
"How are you here, white dragon emperor?!"
"You could say a little birdy told me, but tell me: why should I answer a weak and lazy ass person like you?"
"Insolent dragon emperor! You will regret what you said!"
The night lord revved his chainsword up and ran towards the white dragon emperor, it was from this moment just this moment Karasuma had his eyes focused on the white dragon emperor. He saw the white dragon emperor literally announced the following.
[Divide!]
"?! My strength-!"
When the night lord senses his energy was halved, he didn't have the chance to complete his startled exclamation before he was grabbed by the white armored man on the head. Again, Karasuma noticed the similarities to how he had been handled earlier.
BAM!
Then, the white armored man raised the juggernaut upwards slightly before he slammed him onto the floor, easily dealing with the Night Lord. The juggernaut became dazed on the sudden action The white armored man then stomped the night lords head, it widened its eyes when feeling its head was being crushed.
"Enjoy going to hell while knowing you were one of the weakest opponents I've ever dealt with." the white armored man declared at the Night Lord before lifting his foot, repeatedly slamming it on top of his head.
BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!
SPLAT!
The repetitive stomps eventually allowed the foot to splatter the head into a pile of liquid sludge, mixed with brain matter, bone and mush. What Karasuma had been struggling to do this whole time, this guy had done in mere moments.
The white armored man stared at the corpse of the night lord before Karasuma's struggling form. The fatigue and wound was finally catching up to him. His sacred gear dispelled, leaving his hands back to normal, slowly falling down to the ground. He heard the following statement.
"Rest now coach, you have earned your rest."
With the last remaining thought he had in before falling to unconsciousness.
'Just what kind…of conflict have I been thrust into?'