"Hold up already." Isa interrupted the conversation. "You really think we're just gonna run?"
Davi looked over.
"Oh, you're still here."
"Why wouldn't I be? I don't care what fancy titles you have, you're not taking Irontusk."
"Calm down and think a little. Your surrender is in both of our interests."
"How the hell would it be?"
"Well I won't have to do that much and you won't have to get beaten up."
"Huh? And who would be beating me up now?"
"...Me? Can you see anyone else who'd do it? It's just me and Goliath here. Do you have a rock in the place of your brain?"
"...I really don't like this guy."
"Well, better hurry up and make your decision. We've talked long enough. Go home, Luke."
Luke was now staring at the ground, stuck between words.
Fen stepped between them, raising his axe.
"We refuse. Kindly get lost."
"No, we don't want him to get lost." Isa stepped between Luke and Davi as well. "Luke wants to bring him back."
"Oh, so it's like that."
"You seem overly certain that you'll win."
"Yeah. Look at the numbers advantage here. It's pretty obvious. Have you got a rock in the place of your brain?"
"Then let's show you how wrong you are. Goliath, time to fight."
At his command, the Valstrax smashed the ground between the two of them. They dodged away. Luke was pulled backwards by Panzer.
Davi drew his tonfas in a single swift motion. All Luke could do was watch from the sides as the battle began.
Fera Gladius arc part 1: THE WILD SWORDS
Intense gusts of wind assaulted the five standing before it, pushing them back. Behind the Kushala Daora, the unnamed man smirked at them.
Laura tried sprinting forward, but was immediately pushed back. Approaching directly was pointless. That much was obvious.
At Jean's orders, Tama created a circle of bubbles, but they were all blown back at her by the wind.
"Yeah. I shouldn't trust these dumbasses to work out the solution here." Zara studied their opponent. "What I have to be careful of is that strange sword. Well, there's only one way to find out what he can do."
She lowered her head.
"Arachne. Time to go."
Finally receiving the go-ahead, Arachne ran to the right, staying well clear of the Kushala. The man's eyes followed them, still smirking. Arachne shot out a web at a tree next to him and pulled herself in at a breakneck pace.
The man didn't move. He simply raised his sword. As if ignoring any conventional wisdom, he continued to stand directly in the path of the monster several times his weight hurtling towards him. Whether that was paralysis from fear or something else had yet to be seen.
In the last possible moment, with barely enough room to breathe between them, he made his move.
A loud noise rang through the forest. Zara was unable to see the origin of the noise, but she was able to observe its effect. A bullet had pierced Arachne's side.
The man had leant to the side while attacking to push Arachne off-course. That much was clear. But Zara was still left wondering what had been used to make the attack.
It was only then that she noticed the gun barrel at the tip of the sword. An empty shell clattered into the earth as he began to load in a fresh one.
"What do you think? Surprising? Beautiful? Deadly?"
"Unnecessary."
"I suppose I can't expect a plebian to understand."
He finished reloading and snapped his sword back into place.
"Well, maybe you'll get it if I just keep trying?"
He abandoned his passive fighting style and began to run towards them. As he swung his sword around, he fired the gun to gain momentum. Arachne failed to move out of the way in time, the sword making a shallow cut.
Jean and Tama attempted to get round the Kushala to assist her.
"I'm busy with these two. Monster, hold the others off."
At his command, the Kushala intercepted Jean. Confident that he wouldn't be interrupted now, he went for another attack.
Arachne managed to pull back in time to avoid him. The distance between the two sides was great enough that the man couldn't follow up with another swing, but close enough that he had nothing less than full confidence in his aim.
Zara also recognised the distance between them. Her wirebug puppet's one advantage over other blademaster weapons was its range. No matter what other factors were at play, she felt as though she had to take advantage of that solitary boon.
She extended her fingers. The puppet raced through the air, all eight blades at the ready. The shot fired from the gunsword scraped at its side, but it was hardly effective in stopping the puppet.
"That really is a strange weapon. It can only hold one shot, but the firepower isn't even enough to stop my puppet. I can't say I know much about crafting weapons, but I get the feeling that if a certain irritating blacksmith I know saw this he'd turn his nose up at it. It's almost like the gun part is just an afterthought."
She chased off her unnecessary thoughts and went back to focusing on the battle. As it closed in on her opponent, she swung all the blades at once.
About half of them slashed at him as he tried to escape. However, the cuts weren't anywhere near deep enough. He slipped past the puppet and went to attack Zara.
In retaliation, Arachne swung her claws around. The two clashed several times in succession. Zara tried to manoeuvre her puppet to flank him, but he swung at that to deflect it as well.
Part of her strategy was to prevent him from having the time to reload. This was a clash between two with unconventional weapons. It was obvious enough that locking down what made his weapon unique was her way of evening the odds.
The man closed in again, raising his sword to slash at Arachne. At that moment, Zara recognised an opportunity.
She tapped the side of Arachne's head. Zara fell to the side, while Arachne twisted her body around to shoot out a gob of webbing. With utmost precision, the web hit the man's sword hand.
Unless he had been prepared enough to bring cleanser with him, this was the decisive move. Zara recognised his strength as greater than her own, because something weaker than her would've been an anomaly among anomalies. But in her mind, there was no way that someone unarmed could win against a monster, especially when the person in question already had an arm restricted.
But, such logic did not matter. The webs suddenly burnt away. Their counter had done nothing to stop the attack's inertia.
The blade cleaved directly through the Gypceros skin that Arachne wore to protect herself. It was only after the attack was over that Zara realised it had occurred. Another moment and she realised how.
The blade of his gunsword appeared to be glowing red.
"Looks like you're finally starting to understand. This weapon's true ability doesn't lie in its range. That's more of a means than an end. It can-"
"Heat up, I know."
"What? How did you even guess that?"
"By looking with my eyes. It's obvious. How else would you have burnt through a web? With water?"
"...Well, since it's all done getting ready, I think that it's about time we brought this farce of a battle to an end. Come at me like you mean to kill. I have no intention of giving you anything less than the same from here on."
Before Zara could even get a reply in, the man whirred into action.
The fight was over in an instant. Even after Arachne stood back up, there was nothing the pair could do.
Even without fighting with his monster, the man's power was overwhelming. There was nothing the girl could do as the heated blade carved through her puppet and her partner.
Rapid slashes followed rapid slashes. His blade could even cut through other blades, rendering her puppet's weapons useless. The overwhelming wall of attacks only seemed to reach an end as both collapsed.
The man stood over them, smirking.
"Oh? Now this is strange. I did tell you to take this seriously, right? But you didn't improve at all! Don't tell me that just keeping up with my horseplay was the limit of your abilities?"
He leaned in.
"Weak. Seriously weak. I came here to take that monster of yours, but I don't think it'd even make the cut. If you want the advice of a conqueror, then hurry up and ditch it."
"What… the hell did you just say?"
"Oh, what a relief. In spite of your impudence, your sharp tongue is a redeeming quality, so I'm pleased to hear you still possess that."
"Repeat what you just said, jackass."
"I'm telling you that if you want any real power you need to ditch that monster of yours. Replace it with something strong. That's the only way for someone like you to rise in the ranks."
For once, Zara smiled. Her empty eyes bore through him. In this situation, there was absolutely nothing to fear. So why did those eyes make him feel so unnerved?
"Ah, I got it. I totally get what you're saying. It took a bit, but it's clicking now. You want me to kill you. That's why you're talking all the nonsense, right? Just wait. I'll grant your wish."
He stared down before shaking his head, as if reprimanding his own emotions.
"How exactly do you plan to do that? I doubt I'm the one speaking nonsense here."
Before he could hear an answer, the man instinctively turned around.
Even as he moved he was unsure of the meaning behind his actions. A sound from behind him. A rushing sense of danger.
This hunch proved to be what saved him. He barely escaped from a greatsword swing.
The beast had broken through the wall of wind. Laura stood there ready to attack.
The man looked over. She hadn't killed his monster, just broken past it. It still seemed intent on stopping the remaining two.
"Idiotic thing." He muttered before turning to face him. "You don't possess a monster, no? We possess no reason to fight each other."
Laura stared at him, completely baffled.
"You need a reason to fight?"
"Never mind."
The man turned his head.
"Monster! To my side!"
The Kushala responded to his command instantaneously, flying over Laura and directly towards him.
"Ah, musician. You can join in too, if you wish. I don't particularly mind. If anything, it will save us a bit of time."
"Why would I need your permission?"
He reloaded, having forgotten to do that until that moment. Laura dashed forward.
"Block."
The Kushala threw itself between them, taking her greatsword swing. The sound of clashing metal resounded through the great forest. The man ran around from the side, swinging with his still-heated blade.
"Now bite."
The Kushala followed once more, attacking Laura. The man followed a step behind. She blocked both strikes.
"Make him back off slightly!" Jean yelled.
Laura had no idea what she was talking about. It was too late to stop her plan, though.
Tama whirled around, creating a flurry of bubbles, before launching them towards the man.
He stepped back, as did Laura.
"Create some wind."
The bubbles were blown back towards Laura, who was too slow to dodge them.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Jean yelled.
The man looked back and shrugged.
"It's basic logic, stop overreacting."
After being hit by numerous bubbles, Laura was unable to stand properly. Even so her eyes remained focused.
"You're still planning on fighting in that state? How frightening. Or maybe just foolish. Well, it's not like I have to respond to your blazing soul in kind anymore. Monster, create a continuous gust."
The Kushala created more wind at his command. The man fired a shot from his gun, chipping one of the spikes on Laura's armour.
"Wow, that's tough. But it doesn't matter too much. We've got all the time in the world, after all."
"What the hell are you doing? Get over here and fight for real."
"Why don't you come over to me instead? I've got no interest in fighting with a woman that can't even stand up for herself."
His words seemed to incite her even more, but it proved a futile struggle. Jean and Tama rushed at them from the side, but failed to move the Kushala Daora. The man then changed targets to them, his sword still heated up.
Out of all eight hunter-monster pairs and the one lone hunter in the DBA, there couldn't possibly have been any worse group combination than this one. Laura's irresponsible power. Zara's bitter weakness. Jean's tendency to do whatever seemed funniest. A group that was four fifths suited to support with no coordination or planning between them to speak of. Even without two of them isolated and defeated, their chances of victory were already paper-thin.
With Zara and Arachne defeated, Laura unable to move and everything left to Jean and Tama, they had pretty much already lost. This was only barring a miracle.
"Stop right there!"
At the haughty voice's command, all those present (with the exception of the Kushala Daora) looked to the one standing on a slightly elevated hill.
His face was obscured by a mask. Behind him, a makeshift cape lazily flapped around in the wind. Not one of those present knew who the diminutive man was or where he had come from. Though some could guess.
"It is now justice time! The time of justice! For I have arrived! The one of justice! Justice- mask- okay, I got it, Masked Justice Hunter!"
The new arrival posed with his gunlance raised across his body and his shield held back slightly.
"Are you prepared to witness a miracle? Of justice, that is."
Spence was still unable to get back up.
"Are you okay?" Mary asked.
"Yeah, all good. I don't think there's anything important in the stomach. Heart's further up, right?"
"Even though you're not entirely correct, it's good that you're still optimistic." Judah didn't turn around to reply. "Can you stop the bleeding?"
"Yeah, leave it to me."
"We're staying in this spot right here. Mary, take a defensive stance."
She hesitated slightly, but didn't argue. Judah continued looking around. Not that he could particularly see anything.
"Whatever is attacking us can't be seen. I'm no expert on monsters, but that only leaves two possibilities in my mind. A Chameleos or a Lucent Nargacuga. It has to be a Chameleos, right? That explains all the mist."
He wasn't sure when the mist covering the ground had appeared. Presumably it was while they were arguing.
Judah gave another order.
"No matter what happens don't move too far away from each other."
"But we have to get to the others. We should just rush through."
"That's too dangerous. I can't defend against something that I can't see, I doubt that you can either. Rushing in will leave us too open."
"There's no way you can just expect me to wait around for something to happen right now!"
Judah finally turned around.
In truth, he had never been good at picking up on other people's emotions. Even over the short course of this journey there had been a few obvious examples of this. There were a myriad of causes behind it, most of his youth having been spent solely on training certainly didn't do him any favours.
It wasn't until he turned around that the realisation finally dawned on him. This wasn't impatience. She was panicking just as much as he was, for different reasons.
"This is the worst possible scenario. We're both losing our minds, and the one guy I could trust to keep a level head is currently on the ground bleeding. Even Titan is afraid. More so than usual."
As he continued to mentally lament his situation, he finally heard what he was waiting for. A slight footstep. What followed was something hitting the ground, before strangely coloured smoke began to rise up.
It took a second before they realised they should cover their mouths, by which time it was already too late. The poison had entered their systems.
"I totally forgot to bring an antidote." Spence looked up, still applying pressure to his wound.
"You always do." Mary reached into her bag. "Here."
"Don't drink that at the same time."
"What?"
"We're definitely facing a human right now. I've worked that much out. Whoever's out there in the mist is planning on taking advantage of our emotional state. The poison will only make us more anxious. Once we all lower our guards in our rush to get rid of it, that's when they'll strike again. Spencer, you go first. Then Mary. I'll go last. But we have to make sure that only one of us is defenceless at a time."
Judah spoke with a determination unlike how he was just a few moments before. Understanding that Mary was afraid had given him this resolve.
Perhaps he was a sadist that got motivation from the troubles of others. Perhaps he had a hopeless saviour complex that would only let him take things seriously when others were in distress. Maybe his spirit reached below the lowest point of despair and turned back into hope. Regardless of the reason, Judah's resolve was finally there.
Spence finished downing the antidote.
"But how the hell can a human turn invisible?"
"It might not just be a human. Maybe they're partnered with a monster like us. Like a Chameleos, for instance. I've still got no idea why they might be attacking us though, sorry."
Mary continued drinking her antidote, offering no comment.
"They can hide their appearance, but that's all. We should be able to hear them approaching before they attack. So… as soon as Spencer is ready, we'll keep advancing slowly until we escape the mist. So long as we remain vigilant, they shouldn't be able to attack us."
"Oh, got it." Spence quickly rose to his feet.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Can't keep lazing around when you're like this, right? Let's hurry up."
"That's a bit worrying, but thank you nonetheless."
The group slowly marched through the mist in complete silence, making sure not to lose sight of each other. As Judah led the way, he heard them again.
But something else was mixed in this time. Another set of footsteps, accompanied by an object rhythmically hitting the ground.
Eventually, the outline of a swordsman came into view. As the mist finally parted enough for his features to be visible, he appeared rather aged. The object that had been heard appeared to be a sheathed longsword that he was holding onto, using it in the same way as a walking stick.
"Who is this?" Judah thought. "Did the enemy give up on hiding? Is he one of their allies? Could he just be someone uninvolved?"
"Ah, finally found some people. Would you mind giving me directions to Seion?"
The old man's words disarmed his suspicions. But it was then that he noticed them again. The footsteps he'd heard before were headed towards that old man. Spence also seemed to pick up on this.
"Old man! Look out-!"
He failed to finish his sentence in time. A clash occurred as a blade soared towards the old man. All that the onlookers saw was the end result.
The man stood with his blade partially unsheathed, blocking a strike from a blade on the arm of a man clad in all black. The world seemed to pause.
"That's an awfully harsh punishment for simply asking for directions. I'm just a frail old man. Didn't anyone teach you to be kind to the elderly, little phantom?"
He was blocking a strike that had come from behind him, without even bothering to turn his head around. Judah's eyes widened slightly from the shock of what he was watching.
Another half second passed, before the attacker retreated back into the mist. The footsteps became gradually more distant as the mist faded away, leaving just the group and that old man.
"What a rude young man. Now, where was I? Do any of you know the way to Seion?"
Let's turn back the hands of time by just a few minutes.
As the Starward Diamonds trekked through the great forest, they heard the sounds of another group drawing closer.
Lotus signalled for the rest of the group to stop. The footsteps were too loud to be from humans, but too numerous to be from a pack of large monsters. The answer eluded them, but it was surely getting closer.
A group of people appeared, with monsters behind them. With one monster to each person, they numbered fifty in total.
The one that seemed to be their leader stood in the center, with a Kushala Daora behind him. He flicked his hair up.
"Good day to you, fair hunters. My name is Crescent Apocalypse Excommunication Salutation Alternative Rondo. You can just call me Rondo if that's too much to remember."
"What a ridiculous name." Doctor Professor Scientific Genius thought aloud, going ignored.
"This is my legion."
"Why are you telling us all this?" Michael asked.
"It's basic manners to introduce yourself. Don't you even know that much?"
"Oh, I guess you're right. I'm Michael. Nice to meet you."
"...Nice to meet you too, Michael." Rondo tried to recover after being thrown off by the straightforwardness of the reply. "But I'm sorry to say that we won't be knowing each other for long. This area is the territory of Fera Gladius. So you have two choices. Turn back or die."
"Can we go past you?"
"No."
"Why?"
"We're trying to evict you hunters from the FG."
"Huh?" Michael looked shocked. "So you guys aren't hunters!?"
"You're being kind of dumb today even by your standards." Vicke told him from the side.
"Hm? That's odd. You're clearly a fool, but I would've thought that even the foolhardiest of fools would've heard my name by now. Since you're so uninformed, I suppose there's no choice but to tell you. Crescent Apocalypse Excommunication Salutation Alternative Rondo! Also known as the Molten Conqueror! Also also known as Fera Gladius' Rook of Storms!"
"Did you need to repeat your whole name?" Lotus asked, his voice being drowned out by loud cheers from the other poachers.
Rondo smirked, filled with renewed confidence.
"So? What shall it be? Hurry up and decide."
"So you poacher guys have a chess piece theme going on, right?" Lotus grabbed his attention successfully. "I'm familiar with the game myself. Hardly an expert, but I can at least say I understand the basics. So I've worked out a solution that's best for everyone. A skilled chess player can put their opponent in checkmate with most of the pieces still on the board. Why don't you lead me to that king of yours? I can take him down without you needing to get hurt."
No response.
"Was that meant to sound cool?" Milla asked.
"At least give me half the support his subordinates are giving him, you ingrates."
"I didn't fully get it, but you spoke confidently, captain." Sol clapped.
"Yeah, you really did talk with your mouth and it even made words." Bal joined in.
"I'm never asking for anything ever again." Lotus sighed. "If you want to fight then can we just hurry up and get on with it?"
Rondo gripped his swords, before one of his followers approached him.
"Great Rondo, we've spotted some hunters with monsters to the west of here."
"Oh, those must've been the ones that Davi was after. Well, I can't let him or Nebulo outdo me. Let me think."
He paused momentarily, before turning away.
"Leave capturing the monsters to me. I know that all of you can handle these plebeians without a problem."
"Thank you, oh great and honourable Rondo!" The twenty four of them yelled back in unison.
"Let us depart. Follow me, monster."
Rondo ran off with the Kushala following him. Those left behind got ready to fight.
"You're worried about them, right?" Bal asked.
"What? Who exactly?"
"The DBA."
"What are you- I would never- that isn't possible."
"Just go after him already. That Kushala guy seems like an idiot, but he also seems relatively strong. We'll be fine dealing with the goons."
"...Thank you, Bal."
The tactician smirked back before firing a tranquiliser shot at the one who had been standing closest to Rondo, knocking him out instantly. While the other Legion members turned around in confusion, Lotus broke through their rank. Before any of them could think of chasing after him, Kalo's attack began.
"Hey, stay focused!" Bal yelled at the enemy. "You're fighting us here!"
The battle began.
In the meantime, Lotus' sprint through the woods slowed down to a brisk walk as doubt weighed him down.
"Wait. If I go so out of my way just to save Judah then that'll basically be the same as admitting… uh, I mean, it'll give him the wrong idea. But I still want him to be in my debt, too. This is a problem. A serious problem."
While he fretted over this Rondo was already engaging the DBA in battle.
"Wait, I've got it. This is the only possible answer in this situation!"
Several minutes of shoddily putting together a disguise later, Masked Justice Hunter stood overlooking the group. He then jumped down from his vantage point.
"I was starting to think that all of you intruders lacked both manners and a sense of aesthetics, but I'm ever so glad to be proven wrong. I do think you could stand to be a tad more original, though. Allow me to introduce myself in turn, my name is Cresc-"
"I already know it."
"Hm? But I'm certain this is the first time we've met."
The masked hero realised his mistake.
"Did I give myself away? I can't have him revealing my identity to them. Should I just start firing to shut him up?"
As he mulled over his options, Rondo smirked.
"So I'm famous after all. I was getting a bit worried about my name being unknown."
"Oh, right. He's still an idiot. Anyway…"
Despite it being part of his namesake, Masked Justice Hunter's mask wasn't a very well put together one. It restricted his range of vision greatly, to the point here he hadn't been able to tell who else was in the area. So it was only now that he'd descended that he could take a chance to scan the area.
"The barbarian, the oddity and the weakling. None of them are Judah. Where is Judah?"
"Excuse me, young lady?" Masked Justice Hunter asked in a polite tone.
"Yes?" Jean replied.
"Do you have any other allies here? Is it just you three?"
"Actually, there's five of us in total."
"Go on."
"There's me, Tama, Laura, Zara and Arachne. Five."
"So no Judah?"
"No, he's somewhere else. Why would that-"
"Well, it seems that you have the situation under control. I'll just leave you to it."
"Huh?"
Masked Justice Hunter turned to walk away.
"Wait!"
Zara managed to drag herself up to look at him.
"What kind of hero would just leave two helpless maidens to deal with some freak with a gunsword?"
"Me."
"Then retire. Come save us already!"
"Zara, that's not how you're meant to ask to be saved. A strategy like that wouldn't work on him anyway. I've got my own plan, just leave it to me."
Jean closed the distance between herself and the masked hunter. In a fluid motion, she slipped something out of her rght sleeve, holding it a short distance away from. The masked hero raised his guard, before seeing what she was in her hand.
He snatched it immediately.
"H-how did you get this?"
"I snuck in while you guys were in the sauna."
"I h-have no particular interest in this nor do I know who the man photographed here is, but I'll accept anyway. No, wait. This can't be legal. I'll have to confiscate this. For justice, okay?"
"That's not the only one."
No response.
"I'm more than willing to give them up once I'm not in danger."
"There's no way that Masked Justice Hunter could avert his eyes from those in need. I'll defeat that poacher and then claim those photos. For that is my fate."
"I feel like I'm not made of a strong enough moral fibre to point out what's wrong with this." Zara commented from the side.
Rondo finally stopped fantasising and focused on the ones in front of him again. Masked Justice Hunter took a few steps towards him.
"I said to the others that I don't have any reason to fight someone without a monster, but I'm starting to reconsider in this case. I'm itching to know if this sword of mine can best a gunlance."
"Now that I look at it, that is a strange sword. What exactly is it?"
"Ah, I suppose I have yet to explain to you. The gun part is more of a means than an end. This sword's main gimmick is its ability to heat up as I attack."
"That sounds almost like-"
"Correct. It's just like a Glavenus' tail. Curious as to how?"
"Not really."
"...Alright. Well, I'll just give you the short version. There is no such thing as power without sacrifice. That's the only conclusion that this world has led me to. So there's absolutely no way that I can lose."
Masked Justice Hunter paused, taking this in.
"I've got no idea what youre talking about, but I do know that defeating someone after their declaration that they're unbeatable is what a hero does."
Both humans dashed forward, attacking at the same time. There was a noticeable disparity in height between the two, but accounting for their respective weapons the hero still possessed the advantage in reach so there was no surprise that his attack connected first.
Rondo narrowly skimmed past it and swung back, being deflected by his opponent's shield. Seemingly undeterred, he kept striking. The hero charged forward with his shield, forcing Rondo back.
They both swung, aiming to fire at the other. Their weapons clashed midway, causing both shots to fly off in different directions. Now holding a slight advantage, the masked hero got ready to take the offensive.
Rondo took a few steps in retreat.
"Monster! Blow him away!"
The Kushala Daora sprung into action, immediately generating a wind strong enough to push even the Masked Justice Hunter away. He firmly dug his shield into the ground, trying to prevent himself from going even further.
Rondo took the opportunity to reload his gun. A shot was fired, chipping the hero's armour.
"That Kushala shows no signs of letting up the wind. I guess I have no choice but to try and blast through."
"Use a justice kick!" A yell came from the sidelines, disrupting his thought process.
"Excuse me?"
"A justice kick."
"I won't understand if you don't elaborate, eccentric girl."
"You seriously don't know?" Jean looked completely flabbergasted. "It's when you jump into the air and do a flying kick."
"How would that help me get through this, though?"
"It's boosted by justice."
"Justice seems far less reliable compared to my gunlance."
"You can use both at once."
"Does this really matter?"
"Of course it matters. If you don't care enough to do the kick I'm going to have to question whether you're really a Masked Justice Hunter at all. For all I know you could just be a guy in a costume who'd be too embarrassed to continue living if we found out his real identity. But there's no way that's true, right? So hurry up and start kicking, boy."
Without even a single word wasted on questioning this reversal of power between saviour and saved, Masked Justice Hunter activated a wyvern's fire to blast himself into the air. Taken by surprise, Rondo was unable to issue any orders in the time it took his opponent to rocket himself through the wind. Before he could even think to dodge, a kick landed on his face.
Masked Justice Hunter hit the ground and posed with his arms raised, while his opponent flew slightly backwards
"That was surprisingly fun." He thought.
Rondo stood back up.
"Are you sure it was the best idea to place yourself between myself and the Kushala, my dear hero?"
With those words, he dashed forward.
"Tear him to pieces, monster!"
The gunlance user instinctively turned around and raised his shield to block the Kushala's attempt to bite him. Rondo attacked from the other side, where he was completely open. His attempt to deflect the attack failed, giving Rondo the opportunity to fire.
MJH shifted his entire body. In the space of less than a second that he had available he just barely managed to pull his face away from the bullet's path, instead causing it to take a chunk out of his shoulder.
"The way he instinctively avoided a lethal hit really isn't bad at all." Rondo thought, preparing another attack.
"Don't let him hit the mask! Can't let him hit the mask! Under no circumstances can the mask take any damage!" Masked Justice Hunter thought while he twisted his body around, moving to the side.
He swung his shield out, shoving Rondo back before swinging overhead. This was dodged around. Rondo reloaded at a quicker speed than the previous times and closed in to strike again. The blade was gradually heating up to a fatal level. Once more, he fired.
"Keep tearing into him, monster!"
The two maintained an onslaught of attacks, forcing the hero of justice on the defensive.
Instead of trying to strike back at one of them, his next attack was directed towards the earth. Rondo realised just a second too late what his plan was.
The entire area shook as the wyvern's fire tore through the ground, causing all those immediately surrounding it to lose their balance. The one to recover first was the one who was most ready for it.
In the second that Rondo was unable to do anything, the hero struck out. Any attempts to block would've proven futile, the best he could do was almost sidestep it, trading impalement with a sizable gash in his side.
The blood splashed across the ground. The pain served to irritate Rondo, causing him to launch a counterattack before the hero could escape his unfavourable position. It crashed against his shield, the heat emitted feeling more dangerous than the attack.
His interest in locking down the masked hunter of justice was waning, instead focusing on causing harm to his opponent more than anything else.
The two locked eyes for a brief moment before the heated blade successfully cut the space between him and his shield. His chest in searing pain, the hero of justice flinched. Rondo took full advantage of that opening, slicing again while he was defenceless.
As an idea appeared in his mind Rondo yelled out "Crush him completely, monster!"
At his command, the Kushala descended upon Masked Justice Hunter. In less than a few seconds, he was to be crushed by a dragon of pure steel. Without the time to run, without the strength to block, all should have been lost.
That is, if he had really been on the ropes. Rondo only noticed at the very last millisecond that the flame in his enemy's eyes had not yet faded.
He swung his weapon around, leaving a trail of flame behind it. The brilliantly shining wyvern's fire appeared to the onlookers as though it was slicing through the Kushala Daora as it melted through the steel.
Rondo only just avoided serious burns from the same attack by throwing himself to the side. As he fell towards the ground, the masked man glanced at the monster before turning his gaze to Rondo.
"Wai-"
Moving at a speed that neared instantaneous, he crashed his shield into Rondo's head and drove him into the ground. A moment of silence followed the impact.
Masked Justice Hunter pulled his shield back, revealing his opponent sprawled out on the ground. As he just barely grasped onto his consciousness, his opponent's indifferent gaze dredged up memories from Rondo's mind. Perhaps if those eyes had held anything other than apathy towards him, he wouldn't have been reminded of that time.
Memories of defeat. Memories of humiliation. Memories of the world shattering.
Memories that he wanted to destroy more than anything.
The Kushala Daora lay on the ground, badly injured.
Masked Justice Hunter was about to request his opponent's surrender, under the assumption that he could still hear anything. Jean was about to yell something in overly enthusiastic celebration. Zara was planning on another snide comment. Laura still had yet to realise that there was a fight going on, too preoccupied by trying to get back up.
All of them except for one were cut off from that intended course of action by their bewilderment at Rondo's next move.
He threw himself off the ground at a speed faster than any of them could've expected. But instead of taking revenge on the hero, he ran away. Not in retreat, but to attack another target.
Rondo struck the Kushala Daora he had arrived with. It offered no resistance, simply lying there. As if confirming to the baffled onlookers that he hadn't made a mistake, he repeated his attack with an irregular rhythm. Even as he hacked away, the man spoke with a puzzlingly resigned tone.
"I'm sorry. I was wrong to ever abandon you. Compared to dead weight like that, you're the best partner I could've ever asked for. I'll offer you this monster. I'll offer you these hunters. I'll even offer you that woman's head. So will you melt everything away for me once more, Brutus?"
It was only then that it became clear that he wasn't talking to any of the others, or even the monster that accompanied him. The one he was apologising to was his own sword.
After even more strikes, he turned to face Masked Justice Hunter. His sword, practically glowing, radiated heat strong enough that Zara felt like she was going to be melted away even from the distance she was at.
"I believe this is the highest level possible. If you have any last words, best to speak them now. Not even I know what will happen when this hits you."
"Don't get hit by that, Masked Justice Hunter!" Jean yelled from the sidelines. "It'll be bad if it hits you!"
"Anyone can work that out, who are you explaining to?"
There were about five meters between them. Not waiting for his foe's response, Rondo dashed forward. Masked Justice Hunter instinctively pulled back as the intense heat drew closer. The way that Rondo was handling his weapon seemingly without any concern would've been enough of a wonder on its own, but his abrupt increase in skill elevated it to the level of a miracle.
Masked Justice Hunter attempted firing his gunlance to ward his opponent off, but Rondo continued his mad dash, dodging around the shells. He closed in and swung, grazing him and melting through part of his armour.
Now fully recognising his opponent's strength, Masked Justice Hunter's confidence dropped completely. In just a few seconds, the hierarchy of strength had been overturned. The prey had become the predator. In accordance with this newly established food chain, he saw retreating as the best course of action.
He charged up his gunlance and hit against the ground, blasting himself a considerable distance away from Rondo. He then used a second blast to change directions, positioning himself so that one of the forest's giant trees was between them.
Masked Justice Hunter took a second to catch his breath, before observing. He glanced left, then right. No sign of his opponent.
"Should I keep stalling? Whether it overheats or cools down, there's no way his sword's current state will last indefinitely. No, stop this. What the hell are you doing? That's a coward's way of thinking, you idiot. Are you a coward? Fight like the leader that- I mean, the hero of justice that you are. Left, or right. He'll have to come chasing after me eventually. That's when I'm going to take him down. He's become reckless, so all it'll take is one well-timed hit."
As Masted Justice Hunter resolved himself, he heard a strange sound. Then, it felt as though his eyes were deceiving him. The tree that he faced towards almost seemed as though it was getting closer. It took less than a second to realise that was because it was actually getting closer to him.
From the other side of the tree, unseen to him, Rondo smiled. He seemed proud of his blade's ability to effortlessly slice through even a tree of such an absurd size.
Seeing that he lacked the time to escape to either the left or the right, the hero sighed and resigned himself. Not to being crushed, but to using his trump card.
Just above the trigger for his gunlance was a switch surrounded by warning labels, reiterating that this was not to be flipped under normal circumstances. The most prominent was one warning of the deadly heat.
Ignoring them all, Lotus flipped it. His gunlance began to heat up, reaching unprecedented temperatures. In the second before he was flattened, a superheated wyvern's fire burst through the air, nearly annihilating the section of the great tree above him in the process. The rest crashed into the ground nearby, as the wyverns in the area scattered due to the disturbance. The destruction resulted in a cloud of dust rising, obscuring everything from sight. From beyond what obscured his vision, Masked Justice Hunter heard someone's applause.
"If you didn't end up killing yourself in the process, then I must congratulate you. That was a magnificent attack. I'm glad that I avoided such firepower. That probably could've stood a chance against Brutus' full strength! But… if you weren't using it from the start, that means there's some drawback, no? Like, hm I don't know… overheating afterwards?"
Rondo didn't wait for an answer before resuming his maddened sprint. The hero braced himself and thrusted his lance forward at the last second, to little avail.
Rondo slashed at his opponent's left arm, burning him enough to stop any chance of attacking.
"I came!"
A rising slash hit the right arm, causing the shield to lower completely.
"I saw!"
With the sword now raised overhead and his opponent powerless, he revelled in the moment before bringing it down.
"I conque-!"
The final line never arrived. Several dozen kilograms of metal slammed into him before could land the hit, sending him flying through the air.
Laura watched him go, the heat generated by the battle having evaporated the bubbles that trapped her in place. She then turned around, spotting the one that was currently unable to properly stand.
"Huh? Hey, are you a Masked Justice Hunter? I've always wanted to meet one of you guys!"
"How did you not notice me until after you hit him? Are you that single-minded?"
"That's not a Masked Justice Hunter line."
"Oh. I mean to say, my name is Masked Justice Hunter. Thank you for your assistance in delivering justice… brave hunter."
"Yeah, any time."
Trying to distract himself from the idiotic turn of events, Masked Justice Hunter looked back to where Rondo had landed. However, the poacher himself was nowhere to be seen.
"Where the hell did that weird guy go?"
"Into the sky, obviously. Look, he's probably just-" Laura turned back around. "Oh damn."
She threw her head from side to side, scanning the woods.
"Jean! Where the hell did he get to?"
"What? You let him get away?"
"I got distracted. Weren't you watching?"
"Me and Tama were busy putting out the fire their fight caused, I figured you had it under control."
The pointless discussion continued, only resulting in the poacher and his monster getting further away.
Rondo stopped after travelling a short distance, the heavily injured but still barely moving Kushala lagging behind him. The impact had launched the hysteria out of him. What followed returning to his senses was inescapable dread.
"It's all over. It's all coming down. The dragon that the king gave me… and he- I won't forgive any of them. I know. If I come back with nothing to show, then I'm a failure. So all I have to do is outperform them. Right, right, right, right. It's that easy, right? I must've at least tired them out. I'll just gather everyone, then go back to crush those fools with sheer numbers. Having two monsters to show… that's at least enough to break even, isn't it? Trust in your friends, Rondo."
He left the Kushala behind him and headed through the woods, returning to somewhere familiar. What he saw was completely outside of his expectation.
Rondo had nothing but trust in his Legion. They were by no means as powerful as himself, but he considered them allies more valuable than anything. In a situation where they held more than double an advantage in numbers, not counting the monsters they fought alongside, defeat was unthinkable.
He did not believe them to be incompetent. So the only conclusion available was that the foe he'd left them to deal with was abnormal.
The remaining eight members of the Starward Diamonds stood relatively unharmed, while all twenty four of his subordinates were on the ground. The monsters they had brought with them were either defeated, or standing by idly.
Rondo stared blankly, weighing which worst-case scenario to choose.
Two attacks struck simultaneously, pushing each other back. The two that had clashed pulled back.
Isa seemed to only grow more irritated. She stepped in again to deliver a brutal swing in Davi's direction. In response, he weaved around her attack and prepared a punch of his own. A sound was heard from behind his head, giving him only a brief window to move himself out of the way before an axe swing cleaved through the air.
Even with how close the attack was to hitting him, Davi showed no signs of fear towards Fen.
"Aren't you getting tired of that one? You should already know that it won't work."
"I'm getting closer, aren't I?"
Ignoring the conversation, Isa threw herself between them and attacked while yelling out. Davi vaulted into the air to avoid it, before launching himself back down to kick her into the ground.
As if instinctively, Isa launched into an upwards swing from the ground. It tore through the air, but failed to reach anything else. Davi backed off, but this was roughly as planned.
Irontusk dug up a chunk of the ground and dropped it on the poacher. Without any time to evade and with the chunk too heavy to be destroyed by him, it should've been over.
It was of course, at that moment, that Goliath punched it away for him.
A second later, the elder dragon started wildly spinning in a circle, forcing the attackers to back off.
Fang returned to standing beside Fen, the Valstrax having slipped past him. Both sides now stood facing each other. Fen glanced over at Isa.
"You should probably stay back and leave this to us."
"What? Just cause he's kicked me a few times doesn't mean anything."
"It's more like a few dozen, but trust me, there's a good reason."
"What is it?"
"Letting a girl's face get hurt would go against everything I stand for."
"I'm gonna start attacking you instead of him if you don't shut up."
"She's got a point. Even if you've got such nice hair, you've still gotta stay focused!"
"W-Wait, why are you complimenting me? Isn't it kind of weird to bring that up right now?"
Davi ran forward and threw a right hook, the tonfa crashing into Fen's stomach. Fang responded a second too late to save his partner, trying to tear through Davi with his claws.
They exchanged several hits, Davi just barely managing to slip through the gaps in its attacks while delivering consistent jabs. Fen retaliated with an axe swing, cleaving through the air.
The one thing that tied these two together was their unusual choice of weapons. Both unable to block, all they could do was throw out their own attacks and attempt to dodge the other's at a blistering pace. The maddened flurry persisted for a few seconds until Davi backed off slightly and vaulted into the air. Goliath flew over and the two both ascended.
Fen looked over, not sure of what to do next. Isa and Irontusk ran to where they were standing.
"Hey, he's obviously going to come crashing back down. Let's not make things too easy for him by all standing in the same place."
"I'm here cause I've got a plan to stop that."
"Oh." He took her reply in and then made a double-take after processing it. "For real? You're sure of this? You definitely have a plan?"
"Yeah. I just told you what it is earlier, didn't I?"
"No, you didn- Oh. Wait."
She kept running towards him.
"Can we at least talk this thr-!" Was about all that he managed before Isa's hammer launched him into the air.
Despite his protests, he quickly adapted to his new situation. He spun himself around to the point where his feet were near one of the great trees and pulled the acceleration. A burst of flame from his axe propelled him away from the ground, sprinting around the tree towards the poacher and the elder dragon.
Davi and Goliath took note of his approach as they headed up. Recognising that a clash in mid-air was inevitable, it only made sense to try taking the first move.
Goliath stopped flying upwards. Fen only had a single second to observe this before an extended wing punched at the spot on the tree that he was on. Just barely, he avoided it and lept from the tree. He landed on the wing while still running forward.
With such little space between them, it was clear to both Fen and Davi that the next move would decide this battle in the sky.
Holding the advantage in the air, Davi fell back on a defensive tactic, waiting to see his opponent's next move before acting. With no such guarantee of staying airborne, Fen was forced to take the first move.
No matter what he did, his opponent would attempt to find a counter for it. In that answer, there was only one obvious answer. Choose a move that was too strong to be countered. Figuring that he'd have to fall to the ground eventually anyway, the next move connected in his mind.
Fen swung his accelaxe around and started to dive towards the ground. Davi was unable to stop him, getting caught in the side by the axe and knocked out of the air. Both crashed into the ground a few seconds apart.
As Davi shakily stood back up he still wasn't safe. Fang pounced towards him and twisted his head to the side, trapping Davi within his jaws. But, for some reason, those jaws couldn't be closed. Davi stood there, just barely holding them open with a tonfa for each set of teeth.
"What's wrong? You seem a little stuck. Lemme help you out with that."
With those words, he abruptly pushed his arms outwards to stretch Fang's jaws to the limit of their range of motion and escaped. Now enraged, Fang began to cover himself in ice and stood up on his hind legs, letting out an ear-shattering howl.
Only for Goliath to collide into him and knock him onto his back. The two monsters began to tear away at each other. In the meantime, both Isa and Fen dashed towards Davi.
As he dodged, Davi spoke.
"You're starting to get it now. Make sure you keep attacking. Weaklings have to stick together, after all."
Isa's hammer swings only got more violent as a result of his words. Davi jumped to the side to avoid one, before hitting Fen with the backside of his tonfa.
Isa charged forwards while winding up her hammer again. Davi also ran forwards, meeting her in the middle and delivering a devastating punch to her helmet. Davi heard the sound of something cracking, assuring him of his success.
"That's all?"
Even though it seemed like it had been enough to stop her in her tracks, the hammer swing continued regardless. The fully charged hammer swing hit him before he could respond, knocking him back.
"Now, Irontusk!"
Davi only noticed Irontusk's position as this command was yelled out. She was standing just behind him, digging up a massive chunk of the ground. Not given the time to move away, the earth collapsed onto him. It shattered into pieces upon contact, trapping him beneath.
"I thought we had to capture him, not kill him." Fen pointed out as he rose to his feet.
"You two were worse about trying to kill him than us, between all the cutting and biting. He'll be fine, don't worry about it. Well, fine with a few months in a hospital, that is."
Luke and Panzer continued to watch on, unmoving.
Ever so slightly, the chunks on the ground twitched. That slight movement didn't go unnoticed by the two hunters. But they thought nothing of it. It was probably just him twitching.
By all logic that they had acquired over their lifetimes, not one of them had reason to believe that a normal human could still be able to fight in this situation. That's why they were wholly unprepared for what emerged from the rubble.
Before even seeing their attacker, they were hit. With a tonfa for each, Davi burst forwards and got them in a double lariat, slamming them into the nearest great tree.
Davi backed off a little before they could strike back.
"Guess I should start by apologising for calling you weak."
"About time." Isa replied. "Now are you ready to give up?"
"No, no, no. Since I know that you're strong enough, this is the part where the real fight begins."
"Huh?" Fen asked. "Saying that you're not serious just because you're getting your ass kicked is lame."
"No, he's serious." Isa remarked. Even without being able to see his face, she could somehow tell that his eyes were almost glowing at this very moment. Something had shifted.
"Yeah, I'm more than serious." Davi leant his head back. "Goliath! Stop playing with the dog, we're going all out!"
As Goliath flew over, he jumped onto the elder dragon's back.
"No more stalling. Let's kick things up a notch."
As he finished speaking, Goliath blasted off at top speed, disappearing from view. Before Fen could ask if he ran away, they saw a dot just a second later, rapidly approaching.
"Get ready to dive, that looks like our only choice here!"
Isa gave no response. Rather than dodging, Isa and Irontusk's minds were elsewhere.
Perhaps it was overconfidence caused by her small victory against Davi's attack earlier. Perhaps it was a response to being suddenly praised by someone that looked down upon her. Perhaps it was simply the type of beings that she and Irontusk were.
Once more, a gigantic chunk of the earth was pulled up by Irontusk, even more gigantic than the one that had been dropped on Davi. The two stood behind it, seemingly unbothered by the comet closing in on them at a blistering pace. Rather than indifference, it would've been more accurate to call it defiance.
The rock stood tall, declaring to the world that it was unbreakable.
The crimson line pierced through it.
Isa and Irontusk were knocked away, completely bewildered. The sound of destruction arrived a second after the impact.
Fen began to form a yell of concern as he looked over. He got distracted partway through, as he and Fang noticed an attacker that was already within range.
From an outside perspective, it seemed as though Davi appeared from out of nowhere and dashed through them, a series of explosions that knocked both out following him. That was the effect of the dragon spirit piercing attack.
Goliath returned to Davi's side as he mused over the battle.
"Hm… my mistake. Guess going all out really wasn't necessary after all."
In just a few moments, the battle had been completely overturned. Davi and Goliath stood there as though their victory had been effortless. With none left to challenge them, there was no question of them being the strongest.
So, naturally, someone had to go to challenge that. Davi watched Luke run towards him, having finally got the courage to move from somewhere.
In response, he couldn't help but sigh.
"Come on now."
Luke ran towards him, brandishing his gun as though it was a melee weapon. Davi threw out a lazy punch, knocking Luke to the ground.
"Are you serious? I guess you haven't changed a bit, even after becoming a hunter."
Luke looked up at him, not answering. His mind was still racing, even at this moment.
Having watched the entire fight, he recognised Davi's true strength. Isa had him outclassed in power. Fen had him outclassed in speed. The reason why Davi had prevailed against both at once was because of his immaculate cooperation with Goliath.
He'd watched as Goliath's absurd speed destroyed Isa and Irontusk's defences. All of them had been distracted by that. It was only after Fen and Fang were knocked to the ground that Luke realised that it had been a trick. Davi hopped off Goliath's back before the elder dragon charged Irontusk, the distraction giving him ample opportunity to sneak up on the two remaining to deliver a devastating attack.
Such wordless teamwork was only proof of their strength.
"It's not like knowing that he gets along with monsters well is some great revelation. Considering how many monster-taming hunters I know, I can probably say with certainty that he's got the most talent for this fighting style out of anyone in the entire world. I've already known that for my entire life, haven't I? Just like how I've always known that I can't beat him. So why am I still moving? Why won't my body let me just give up?"
"Hey, you lost your voice or something?"
Luke stared at him.
"I don't like those eyes. You still aren't giving up?"
"As if I could."
Davi looked away for a second.
"Alright, alright, alright. I get it, idiot. You came all the way out here cause you were lonely, right? Both of you. So I'll give you some affectionate advice to take with you and get lost."
Davi took a deep breath.
"First, you took too damn long. Finding the determination to fight over precious friends who got hurt is a nice and honourable concept on paper, sure, but doesn't it make more sense to just cut out the middleman and start fighting to stop them from getting hurt? I know you were listening earlier, you should remember what I said about weaklings needing a numbers advantage. Second, why the hell are you being so overconfident? The others couldn't win at their best, you certainly aren't going to get anything done if you aren't even fighting properly. You're a gunner, shoot at me. As for the third thing… you're not cooperating with Panzer at all. There's no point in bringing him if he's just gonna stand around. Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it."
Luke stood back up.
"Thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to use it to beat you."
"Ah, don't go getting the wrong idea. I got the feeling that if I took the monsters now and left you there you'd start making excuses, thinking that you might be able to win under different circumstances or whatever. Goliath, you just stay out of this, okay?"
"Weren't you just criticising me for fighting alone?"
"Yeah, but that's different. This is an intentional handicap. I'll crush you so thoroughly that you won't even be able to have any delusions of hope afterwards. So come on already."
At his command, Luke stood back up.
"Panzer!"
The Barroth responded to Luke's command, running towards Davi.
Davi looked up indifferently and dodged out of the way without putting in much effort. Panzer continued to slam at the ground, missing him each time. Davi then heard the sound of a few shots being fired. Without him needing to do much, they all missed. Panzer went to attack him again.
Davi ran past him and towards Luke.
Luke braced himself, watching his brother run towards him. He dodged back out of the way of some punches, but ended up tripping while moving backwards.
Luke fell to the ground, defenceless. In that moment he spent falling, Davi closed in to punch him.
Panzer just barely managed to get between the two, but Davi didn't stop, instead using his tonfas to vault over the brute wyvern. The extra momentum behind his attack ironically made it all the more powerful. A single strike to the chest sent Luke sliding across the ground.
Davi caught up, standing over him. An empty silence passed before Davi asked him a question.
"Is there any cooperation going on here?"
"Huh?"
"It's a simple question. You came all this way with Panzer. I'd expect you two to at least know a few basics about fighting as a team."
"Y-you should already know why that is."
"So that's it?"
"No way in hell!"
At the very least, Luke's words were steadfast. Panzer ran towards him and Luke jumped onto the monster's back, ready to fight once more.
What ensued hardly could've been called a fight.
It wasn't a clash of wills, it wasn't a violent brawl, it wasn't even an elegant duel.
To compare it to anything, it resembled the food chain. A helpless creature powerless to stop something several times stronger than it.
Even without Goliath by his side, Davi was still toying with them.
Luke's mind whirred, trying to grasp at any faint straw that could lead him to victory and finding not a single one.
His analysis only ever returned a single result. His own failure.
But then again, hadn't he known that from the very start? Luke Gilmore being unable to prevail against David Gilmore was a law as infallible as the force of gravity or the very idea of the strong devouring the weak.
There was no way for the boy and his shield to win. So, once more, he fell.
"That's three downs in just a few minutes. If this were boxing, this'd be a TKO. Isn't it about time you gave up?"
Luke still stared up at him, the determination in his eyes flickering.
Davi looked down, then let out an exasperated sigh.
"You really got me here. You're really unbeatable. Not going to learn how much I beat you up, are you?"
He raised his arm into the air.
"I guess I've got no choice but to surrender. I'll go back home, apologise to everyone, and spend the rest of my days doing whatever the hell it is you're so insistent on. Congratulations, Luke. You got what you wanted."
"Huh? You're joking, right?"
"Of course I am. At least your mind hasn't gone completely. But still, if you can't believe that, that really does leave me wondering what you want here."
"I want you to come back with us. I know that… a lot happened, but you still-"
"Yeah, I get it, but I'm just wondering how you want to go about it. Fighting's the right idea, you should know we're long past the point where words can change anything. But can you win?"
"All I've got to do is keep on trying until I do."
"That's what's so goddamn annoying. I don't mean how persistent you are, I couldn't care less about that, what's irritating is how deluded you are."
Luke appeared confused.
"Guess I've just gotta show you."
Davi removed his helmet, then reached down and grabbed Luke's bowgun. Instead of snatching it away from him, he helped Luke aim it. Davi placed the barrel directly against his own head.
"Just to be clear, even someone of my skill level wouldn't be able to dodge if the gun went off now. Here's your perfect opportunity. Just one small twitch of the finger and I'm done for."
"What the hell are you talking about? I- I hate you and all, but I didn't come here to kill you! That'd be the whole point, idiot!"
"And that's your problem. How are you gonna change my mind if you haven't at least got the resolve to kill me? Weapons are for nothing other than ending lives. I didn't think you were enough of a hypocrite to take up one and then start preaching about pacifism."
Davi then kicked him in the head, resulting in Luke landing on his back.
"You weren't even trying to shoot me earlier, were you? You were just shooting in my general direction and hoping Panzer would solve everything. You're both too soft."
Davi paused, before putting his helmet back on.
"We don't need weak-ass monsters like yours, I don't care about taking them anymore. Come on, Goliath, we're going."
Luke weakly attempted to get back up. He no longer even had the words to argue back with, but something still faintly compelled him to move.
Davi walked towards Goliath, not looking back. Even so, he spoke as though he knew.
"Just give up and head back, Luke. Pass this onto the others too. This isn't your world. The place I've gotta get to… is one higher than you could even imagine. You're all too caught up in the gravity to go the way that I'm going, so just make the most of your life on the ground. Oh, and give up on all those notions you've got about me needing saved. There's no way that I could go back at this point, anyway."
Luke dragged himself forward silently, barely covering any distance. Davi hopped onto Goliath's back, and a second later the elder dragon began to soar away.
As the sound of dragon energy being expelled from Goliath's faded away, the only thing that resounded through the great forest was a hopeless yell.
TO BE CONTINUED
We're finally back. This isn't even the longest chapter of this series so far, but it took so absurdly long to get through because of how busy I've been since publishing chapter 23. I guess the price for two chapters in one month is two months without one, so I'll be sure to never tempt fate again. One chapter a year from now on.
Since this is the official start of the new arc and a pretty major turning point, I want to try a few style changes that I've been thinking about for a while now. It might be a bit late, but I figure it's better to try things rather than just think about trying them.