Chapter 22:
The Star Sanctuary: Part 2
"Sylvester… move now!" A woman demanded. Standing in front of his sister's room, Flores blocked the path of his mother, who wielded a 2x4. Her shirt was stained, and her breath reeked of alcohol. She had just recently returned from an afternoon of drinking and was not pleased at the bad grade the school reported to her. Now faced with her son blocking the door, her patience for the boy wore thin with every word he spoke.
Fucking school, now what should I do? If Mom gets inside, she's not going to stop until she sees red. On the flip side, she beats the shit out of me. I already know how option one went, so let's try to defuse the situation.
"Mom, you're drunk; leave Shelby alone!"
"Don't raise your voice at me! You're living under my damn roof! Now get out of the way!"
"No. You already broke her wrist; she does not need any more!" Flores demanded.
"And that wasn't enough incentive. I'll make sure she learns this time!"
The woman grabbed Flores by the head and pushed him aside, but it wasn't enough to keep him down. Getting back up, he lunged for the knob, closing the door right in his mother's face.
Well, you've taken her beatings before, and the cops are guaranteed to arrive in an hour. You got this… hopefully.
"You fucking brat. This is why she's like this; you're keeping her from getting proper discipline!"
"There's discipline, and whatever this is. You're a psycho; you shouldn't be anywhere near children!"
"What did you call me!?" The woman raised her stick, ready to strike. Flores was ready, holding the arm over his head in anticipation. If this beating was anything like before, he knew it was going to hurt like hell. Still, he refused to back down.
Just as his mother swung the stick, however, he closed his eyes, anticipating her next strike. The attack never came, however. Opening his eyes, Flores saw his mother frozen in place, her body still mid-swing.
"What?"
"Well, that's quite annoying. First person in six hundred years, and he immediately tries to change his fate. Changing memories takes a lot of energy, you know." The entire house shook as a booming voice echoed throughout the building. Flores covered his ears, but even that wasn't enough to shut out the voice.
"Who was that? Where are you?" Flores grabbed the stick his mother was holding and looked around.
"Let's not get hasty here, young one. Our encounter will come sooner than you expect. Until then, let us see how this event really happened."
Flores was raised into the air as the world around him began to reverse, a version of himself replaying the events he just went through. The reversing continued until the mysterious voice reached its spot.
His mother had just arrived in the room, and Flores watched as Shelby scrambled to hide her failed test paper. She was successful; their mother was none the wiser. The school, however, had different plans, with their scheme being revealed when their mother checked her voice messages for the day.
Immediately, the drunken woman went over to the young girl and confronted her about it. Yelling led to shouting, and shouting into a full-on beating with whatever the woman had available. That being a broken 2x4 from their old bunk bed.
Flores couldn't help but look away. He wanted to intervene again, but he was unable to interact with the people around him like before. His other half, however, did try to help. Similar to earlier, he got in the path of the woman with some tears in his eyes. But the boy sucked up those tears and began talking in the most confident voice he could muster.
"Mom, you're drunk; leave Shelby alone!"
"Don't raise your voice at me! You're living under my damn roof! Now get out of the way!"
"I-I won't." Flores refused, only to get a scowl from his mother. By that time, Shelby had already retreated to her room, and Flores shimmed over to the hallway entrance to keep the woman from following.
This didn't detour his mother, though. The woman approached with bloodshot eyes, all the while Flores was shaking in fear, waiting in anticipation for his inevitable beating. But once she got to the staircase, however, all the woman did was stand with her arms crossed.
"I'll give you the count of three to get out of my way and for you to go to your room. I'm sure you're aware of the consequences of not listening. One." The woman held up one finger, tightening her grip on the stick.
"Two."
Flores trembled more, subconsciously moving his hands to guard his face. He no longer held a presence of confidence; he was scared for his life and dreaded what was to come next. It was too much for the boy, and heeding his mother's warning, he ran off, clearing the path to the hallway.
"Thank you."
Before the mom could step into the hallway, the world paused and began to crack.
"Oh, the despair in that scene was so crisp. And is that guilt I sense? Was avoiding a small being really worth leaving your sister to die?" The voice taunted.
"Just shut up and reveal yourself. I know you're not just in my head."
"Huh, you deduced that I'm not just a voice? Impressive. Although the kid on the other side did the same with no hints at all."
The room around Flores cracked more and more until it shattered. His original size and gear suddenly returned to him as the glass began to reform into the shape of a snake.
"I am that which comes from the memories that lie within. The insecurities and regrets that lie below given form." The snake rose into the air, towering over the hero with his size. Instead of the dread and fear it was expecting, however, it soon came under assault, a flag being lodged in its stomach, narrowly missing it's neck.
Wrapping it's tail around the hero's arm, the snake casually removed Flores and held him up in the air.
"You reincarnates never give are all the same. Attack before a man is done with his monologue. " The snake taunted.
"I can give less of a fuck about what you are. I can care less about the banter. You're dying, and that's it."
"Oh, by all means. I want to see you try."
The dark world around them shifted, forming another familiar sight for Flores. His old military base, with his old training buddies, was none the wiser of the battle taking place around them.
"Do you truly have what it takes to face your past? Show me your resolve, oh great successor."
The snake lunged at Flores, catching the hero off guard with its incredible speed. Ramming the hero through a nearby building. Staggered for a moment, Flores immediately got back up and went on the attack.
"Beginners Flourish]" Attacking with an overhead swing, Flores slashed the snake across its chest, then followed up with an Advanced Flourish that deflected the snake's jaw. He had the monster on the defensive, forcing it to block and evade most of his strikes. Those that did land, however, caused great pain to the snake but failed to leave any lasting wounds.
"[Prism Trumpet! Drum Roll!]"
Flores took a hit from the snake's tail and was hit away. Recovering as he touched the ground, he fired every musical skill he had, but the snake was agile enough to dodge even the perfect notes from the drum roll. With his ranged options failing, Flores went back into melee range to attack. But as he did, the snake picked up a tank and hit Flores with it, launching him across the base.
Crashing into one of the buildings, Flores got back up, only for the same tank to crash into him once more.
"[Strength Order!]" Lifting the tank off of himself, Flores ran out, ready to throw it back. Before he could, however, a shock ran through his hand, causing him to drop it.
Warning: Heroes can not use anything aside from their assigned weapon.
"I hate this thing!"
Flores braced himself as he was sent into another building. Instead of a tank following, however, the echo-condo slithered inside and grabbed him by the neck.
"This place is a little crowded. Perhaps we should change the scenery."
The world shattered around him, with the shards reforming themselves into another location from his memories. It was an abandoned town; the buildings were damaged, with some still burning after a previous battle.
Flores saw himself with a team of 6 moving into a white house, and he immediately recognized the scene. His first ever deployment into the country of North Korea. The squad was tasked with securing the abandoned houses in the area before they made camp for the night.
At first, they didn't take it seriously, not finding a single person during their searches. But that all changed once they entered this house.
Flores watched as his memory heard gunshots and quickly ran into the other room where his mate was bleeding out. In a panic, he raised his gun but hesitated as he went to pull the trigger. Memories of his sister flashed into his head as the thought of killing someone came to the forefront of his mind.
And in that moment, a bullet came his way, hitting him in the arm as he retreated for cover. He then heard three more bullets ring out, but they weren't directed at him, however. Instead, he then penetrated into the wooden floor, and that's when he finally mustered up the fury to take the shot.
"A life snuffed out because you failed to act. Am I noticing a pattern?"
"D-drill run."
Flores weakly muttered as he held out his flag. Thrusting it right into the snake's face, the monster yelled in pain and released Flores from his grip.
Coughing on the ground, Flores rolled out the way of an attack before rushing the snake down, unleashing every skill and attack he could use. Unlike before, however, the echo-conda showed little to no reaction to his attacks at all. Flores dropped a bead of sweat, backing off to gather his breath. But the snake pursued him throughout the city, breaking through every building in it's path to reach him.
"You know, I haven't explained my powers to you yet." The snake threw several cars in front of Flores, blocking his path forward.
"I know what you're thinking. Indeed, my power is reading and manifesting my enemies memories. But my main power is drawing off the negative emotions that come from it."
With nowhere left to go, Flores lept into the air to strike, coming down as a bolt of lightning with his Electro Flourish. The attack connected, sending out a boom of thunder that echoed throughout the abandoned city.
Flores ran off, knowing that it wasn't enough to stop the monster, and sure enough, as the smoke cleared. The snake chuckled as it continued it's game of cat and mouse, relentlessly hunting Flores down.
"The regrets of your past, the insecurities you carry every day. They make me stronger. Even now, the dread you feel only fuels my power more than ever."
The world shattered and was made anew. Flores, who was running, quickly stopped as he found himself about to head into a newly constructed metallic wall. The area he was in now was on fire, and he could see his squad from afar on their way out. By then, he noticed the snake had stopped pursuing him and instead sat and watched the chaos unfold.
The factory. Not again.
"Exactly. Just the emotions I want." The snake menihically laughed as Flores couldn't help but turn away.
The apparition was about to be crushed by a steel beam. Paralyzed with fear, someone else pushed him out the way but got her leg caught in the process. Realizing the danger, memory Flores attempted to lift the beam off of the girl but was unable to do so. His squad was too far away to help, and the blaze was getting more and more dangerous as time went on. He wanted to help as much as he could, but the girl forced him to leave, just narrowly escaping the collapsing building.
After the memory concluded, the world shattered and the fight started back up, this time with the snake on the offensive. He was stronger and faster now, and Flores stood no chance as he tried desperately to defend against the snakes attacks. He had no idea what to do other than run. But the dark void they were in offered no escape. Even worse, the voices of the memories he just watched were echoing throughout the room. The cries of his sister, the pleas of help from Lee, and even the fake voice of Kim as she awaited her inevitable demise.
Flores had no energy left as the snake coiled around him, lifting him into the air with it's tail. It had a disappointed look on it's face as he saw the hero make no effort to escape.
"How pitiful it is. For a life to be snuffed out long before its prime, due to the mistake of another."
The snake's eyes glowed, and a massive headache surged through Flores's mind as many voices flashed through his head. The cries of Shelby, the last words of Romeo, and the dying screams of his squad all assaulted him at once.
"Shut up!" Flores shouted in pain.
"Face it. It was your reluctance to act that led to their deaths. And now you let that experience force you to take the fall for every death that happens, even when it wasn't your fault. This isn't retribution for your past actions, nor is it a feeling to prove oneself. It's all just a foolish sense of pride, all so you have an excuse to not forgive yourself."
The snake's eyes flashed again, playing a more recent scene this time. It was the bodies of Feil and Taylor dead on the ground, along with the others injured during the fight with Phantom's bandits. Despite Ray and Leo's comments on the matter,. He still blamed himself for the attack.
"You reincarnates will only lead the world to ruin. So let me do Arcadia a favor and take the Morale Tools back. You don't deserve it's power."
The snake released Flores, opening it's jaw as it lifted the hero closer. Flores, meanwhile, had no words or thoughts. Only the suggestion of the snake to keep echoing around the room. Looking at his weapon, he knew he only had one option.
"Maybe he's right. Mother always said a punishment severity if determined the mistake tenfold. If the price of a bad grade is death by one's own mother, then causing the death of another should lead to a death ten times worse. And since they can't do it for themselves, it's only fitting for another to do it for them."
Flores closed his eyes, awaiting his fate.
But after awhile, Flores opened his eyes, finding himself in another place entirely. Contrary to the dark room he and the snake were in, Flores was now in a white void with a woman in front of him.
She was a tall, well-endowed tan woman wearing a blue and white dress, along with a white sun hat. She had indigo-colored hair, along with a purple gem embedded into the center of her chest. Flores was a bit embarrassed to look at it, but he felt like he had seen it before but couldn't remember where.
Not that his questions mattered anyway; he guessed he was already eaten by now, and he was in the world beyond the other one. The only thing that he could guess was that this was a god or some sort of angel waiting to escort him into whatever was beyond death.
"It's pretty ironic. The morale hero is supposed to boost others and inspire them to fight. Yet it seems you've lost the will to do so." The woman sighed as she crouched to Flores's level. "Oh, second wielder of Morale. You were doing so well, so why lose hope now?"
"It is ironic, and I understand that. But I'm nowhere near the hero Miguel is. What the snake says is true. If summoning a hero like him will lead to the betterment of the world, I'm in no place to stop them. My life is already worthless as is."
"Miguel had his ups and downs as well. He was drunk, a delinquent, short-tempered, and even committed regicide once. But he had a heart of gold. And the people still believed in him despite his borderline antagonistic attitude. The world already sees you as his successor; they see you as a hero. So why be so adamant not seeing yourself as worthy? Is it because you can't fathom seeing yourself as such? You're unworthy of forgiveness."
The woman asked but received no answer as Flores hung his head low. With a sign, she reached for the hero's head, a golden light glowing from her hand. Flores gave no protest, but after the hand touched him, he felt an overwhelming amount of arrogance flow through his brain.
"It seems you're much more broken than I expected, so there's no avoiding this. Despite what you think, the world still needs you. Are you really going to let some snake tell you otherwise?"
"I… no. I won't"
"Then why are you moping on the ground. Stand like the proud soldier you are, and fight to the end. There's no taking the easy way out here."
"You're right. I shouldn't let the voices of some dead people bring me down. I shouldn't let a damn snake take me out! Damn it." Flores punched the ground. "I was acting like a bitch this whole time!"
Flores got up from the ground, dusting himself off as he began to walk off.
"Before you leave, let me warn you."
"What is it, lady?" Flores scoffed, now bolstering his more arrogant tone.
"I'm only doing this because I had too. You're still not in the correct mental state to act normally. So be warned, as it upgrades itself more and more, it becomes a greater danger to your life."
"What's your point, and hurry it up, will you?" Flores rolled his eyes.
Flores turned around as the woman held out what he was missing. It was his flag, and it had a new form he had never seen before. It was a glaive, with a yellow fanion-type flag at the bottom of its black pole. On said cloth was a peacock with yellow feathers, all of them glimmering with a faint golden glow as he looked at it.
"Are you ready to become a sinner in order to survive?"
Reaching out his hand. Flores needed no more convincing as he snatched the flag away from the woman.
Closing his eyes, he swung his flag just as the snake was about to eat him. Cutting through the snake's jaw, it hissed in pain as it backed away. But Flores kept up the assault, leaping at the snake and attempting to drive his flag through it's neck. He missed as the snake narrowly avoided the hit, but Flores shifted his attack to the snake's tail, pinning it to the ground.
"What wrong, Conda? Didn't expect me to have a second wind?" Flores laughed. "The fight isn't over until I say so."
"But you were demoralized. So bad that you couldn't fight, how... You didn't."
The echo-conda looked at Flores's flag, recognizing the form being utilized.
"Status awaken for this snake. Show me the stats of the flag in my wake. [Star Appraisal]."
Sylvester Keneddy Flores
Path: Morale Hero
Flag: F##g 0# #rro#g4nce
"The curse series. The anti-suicide system took effect. I thought this was a reincarnated individual, not his actual successor."
"Well, congratulations! You want a cookie for stating the obvious?" Flores laughed some more and activated blazing flourish. Moving his blade up and down, he burned the snake until he was thrown off.
"The Curse series is a dangerous weapon successor. Your mind will be warped, possibly changed forever, if you continue to use it's power."
"Who cares." Flores landed, rolling on the ground and back onto his feet. "I was tired of being passive anyway. Besides, what was it that you said earlier? I let that experience force me to take the fall for every death that happens. You were right; I was too conscious about it. But now, I don't care anymore. Everything is about me, so why let the others drag me down?"
Flores walked closer to the snake, purposefully dragging his glaive across the ground as the scratching metal echoed throughout the room. Once he reached a certain point, he dashed forward with a sudden burst of speed.
The echo-conda reacted, swiping it's tail across the room. But Flores leapt over the tail and slashed the snake across its body; he then followed up, hitting it with an upward slash to it's face. He was going to strike again, but the snake's tail came back around and wrapped Flores up.
"Remember your first skydive!" Slamming the hero into the ground repeatedly, the world suddenly shattered as they found themselves in the air, falling to the ground. Coiling around Flores more and more, the snake chanted a defense buff spell as they crashed into the ground.
The snake huffed and puffed, shaking off the damage from the fall. But a bundle of paper flew in front of him, folding itself into the form of a wolf. Leaping at the snake, the paper wolf tackled it to the ground and began chewing out its eye.
Through the pain, the grip on Flores loosened, and the hero escaped, albeit with some injuries. At first, he struggled to raise his right arm as his shoulder felt weak. But the pain quickly became numb, and his wounds began glowing.
"[Boomerang Flag!]"
Reeling his arm back, threw his flag at the Snakes neck.
The snake quickly rose it's tail, taking the hit as the flag became lodged inside. Grunting in pain, the snake used the moment to shake the paper wolf off of him and rush at the hero.
Flores chucked like this, holding out his hand as the flag reappeared back in his palm. Activating his Drill Run, he thrust his flag at the approaching snake, but it disappeared in a puff of smoke, his attack going through the cloud as he came into contact with nothing.
"Another memory tri-?"
Before he could realize what just happened, several snake heads popped out of the cloud, biting into Flores's arms and legs. Ripping them off his body, he was suddenly hit in the face by a green blur. It passed by him over and over, hitting him with punches and bites from all around him. Flores, however, took on the hits with ease and slowly observed as the blur came at him once again.
"Got you." Timing it perfectly, Flores sidestepped the attack and caught the snake head as it was coming to bite him. Instead of a large snake, however, it was a miniature snake connected to something. And that something was a human, with green hair and a plain pair of brown clothes.
"What. You couldn't beat me as a snake, so you decided to change forms. Pathetic."
"What can I say? Miguel always said, What's a boss fight without it's stages?"
Kicking Flores in the jaw, the snake took notice of Flores's reaction. Or, to be exact, the lack thereof. After getting kicked, the hero only laughed as he grappled the snake, slamming him to the ground. Being caught in an arm bar, Flores pulled harder and harder, stretching out the snakes arm to it's limit.
"So what do I call you in this form? Slither? Hiss? Eh fuck it, I'm just calling you snake."
Grunting in pain, Snake transformed, pushing the hero off with his massive size.
"Lifeweave: Flowing Strike."
Changing back into a human, the snake ran forward, effortlessly weaving through Flores's strikes before kicking him on the arm. Flores was launched across the field they were in, and the world began to shatter and remake itself once again.
"I don't think your arm is supposed to bend that way, successor." The snake taunted as Flores got up from the ground. Recognizing the area as his old military base, the hero recalled his paper and grasped his arm. Realigning his limb as nonchalantly as ever, the hero tossed some bandages on it and stared down the snake.
"How the-"
"Do you really think I, the Morale Hero,. Would be easily hurt. Man you're dumber than I thought."
"So that's what your curse series does. It makes you so proud that you can just ignore pain."
"Calm down, reptile. You only half a cookie this time."
"Are you really that confident that you'll just tell me your abilities?" The snake scoffed. "Who am I kidding? It's just arrogance."
"Uh uh. Friendly fire will not be tolerated."
Flores and the snake walked up to each other, both ready to throw down. Flores was the first to move, attacking with a quick barrage of strikes. Some do make their mark, but many of them are simply deflected away. The snake then struck back with his own barrage, which was much harder to deal with. His attacks flowed like water, making counterattacks difficult. He would also transform his hands into mini-snakes sometimes, and those would bite down on the hero any chance they got.
Flores had to back away and use his range to his advantage. Swinging his glaive like a claymore, Flores used the wide arcs to keep the snake back while simultaneously approaching to keep it on the move. On occasion, his position would be compromised, forcing him to swap back to his usual spear-type style to deal with the fast attacks of the snake. This exchange went on for awhile, with neither side gaining on the other. That was until Flores got hit and actually took pain from the attack.
Finching from the pain, Snake capitalized on this moment and continued his assault. He hit Flores with everything he could muster, and the hero felt every attack. He even began to feel the pain from his, and even some he gained from previous injuries. He knew what must be done, and he had to do it fast.
That was when Flores smirked. Leaping back, Flores held his flag in a greatsword position.
Snake assumed this was the same strategy again and ran at Flores in order to finish him off. This was his greatest mistake. Twenty feathers on the flag glowed and flowed their power into the flag, which also began to glow. Then, in a swift moment, Flores leapt forward.
"[Prominence Draw!]" Swinging his flag, Flores sent a massive slash of yellow energy at echo-conda.
"What!"
The snake was quite shocked at the display. He was prepared for something, but not something at this calibur. It was too wide to sidestep it and too low to slide under the attack. Since he was already in motion, the snake jumped into the air, leaping over the mass of energy. He didn't come out unscathed, however. His arm was caught in the slash as he leapt over it, and now it was black and stung like hell.
"Cursed… wounds?"
"I don't know how you dodged that. But your last hour strikes now."
"What was that?"
"Oh? Did you not know? Sure, you figured out how I ignore pain. But what you didn't know is that the pain I take is actually stored up for the next attack. Flores laughed maniacally as the snake cursed under his breath.
"You were wrong earlier. It's not arrogance if it's true. [Attack Order!]" Flores laughed as a golden circle grew on the ground.
This is getting bad. I don't have time to slowly syphon him anymore; I need to end this now.
"Water flow from the land and sky." The snake chanted.
"Not a chance!" Flores dashed forward, using beginner flourish as he attacked. But the world shattered, and he soon found himself in a field.
"Gather here, and smite who I spy."
"Your little trick won't help yo-!" As Flores took a step, he was blown back by an explosion in front of him. Apparitions of his team ran away as they were caught in a fire fight. Although he couldn't interact with the people, the explosions and bullets were real, and he had to defend himself as the stray bullets made their way over.
"[Prism Trumpet!]"
Dropping to the ground, Flores aimed his trumpet and fired it at the echo-conda's chest. The snake tried to dodge, but his other arm shot instead. But even though the pain was severe, he continued his chant.
"Pressure so strong, even the mighty will fall."
"Get over here, you coward!"
Flores switched to his yang-sho drum, but the world shattered again. This time, he found himself underwater. It was the time he almost drowned during swimming practice, and he had to be saved after jumping into the deep end by mistake. Knowing how to swim now, Flores let himself fall to the bottom of the pool before pushing himself back up and above the water.
"Gather it all, so I may end this brawl."
"[Boomerang Flag!]"
Flores tossed his flag at the snake just as the world began to shatter once again. They were displaced once more, but the flag kept it's position and implanted itself right into the side of the snake. But the echo-conda kept chanting.
"Gather up, like moths to a flame."
"You're a bitch for making me speedrun this."
This time, it was the obstacle course Lizen made. And Flores began running, doing his best to quickly complete every obstacle to get to the monster.
"Flow like a storm; that brings typhoons to shame!"
"I'll kill you right here and now! [Prominence Draw!]" Only a few feathers on the flag glowed this time as Flores swung his flag. Instead of an arc, however. Flores came down with a thrust. It was already too late for the hero, however. Snake spread his arms as a massive ball of water appeared in the sky.
"[Galaxy Orb!]" Touching the orb with his hand, the ball of water flowed across his entire body, coating himself with layers upon layers of water. Bracing himself, the snake made no effort to dodge as the golden arc crashed into him, stabbing him through the chest.
"[Wild Winds… Turbulent… Water Flow]"
Pulling out the flag, Snake threw a punch, sending a massive fist of water from his body that launched Flores into a wall. Unaware of the pain, Flores tried to escape, but the water wrapped around him, pulling him out of the wall and slamming him back into the ground.
Cutting through the water, Flores used drum roll and began sending a hoard of eight-notes at Snake.
The monster, however, expanded the water, blocking all the approaching notes. He then punched some more, sending more water fists at the hero. The first were fast and powerful, but Flores ran through them all, ignorant of the pain they truly caused him. That was until he went for an attack. He attempted to swing his flag, only to find that his arm had been broken once again and that he could not even lift his weapon anymore.
He tried to swap it for his paper arm, but the water had dampened it, making any attempt to even form the thing fail miserably. Flores grumbled as he could only watch as Snake rushed him, hitting him with a flurry of attacks that he was powerless to defend against. Even worse. He was feeling the pain of each and every strike given.
His flag had reached the maximum number of attacks it could store. And Flores began feeling the pain of his battle damage. All he could do was sit there and watch. His pride was not going to let that happen. Injured or not, he's killing this guy.
"[Erst Banner.] [Order Chang, Litsune Flag!] Light in the sky, blast this guy!"
Dropping a banner, Snake dodged as it almost hit him and leapt away once again as it shot at him in a blaze of flames. Flores attempted everything he could in order to hit snake, but it all failed as the monster weaved his way through the bullet hell to attack once more.
Punching Flores in the chest, the hero was launched back. But he came to a complete halt and was suddenly pulled back as the water on his clothes suddenly turned into rope. Bracing himself, Snake punched him in the face, driving his entire body into the ground.
"Just pass out already! [Wild Wind: Primordial Shower!]" Drawing in all the water off his body, Snake stretched out his hand as it all blasted down full force at Flores.
"I won't lose to the likes of you! [Prominence Draw!]" Grasping his flag with his teeth, Flores swung the flag with his head, sending out his golden arc.
The two attacks met in the air, with the golden arc quickly and slowly overpowering the water. But as time went on, the water pressure soon began pushing the arc back. He began to chant himself, but he suddenly became nauseous, and his vision became more blurred.
"W-what!?"
"The venom finally took effect! Now's my chance!" Pushing more mana into his water, the lifeforce technique broke through Flores's cursed strike. The full force of the water crashed into the hero, driving him deeper and deeper into the ground while immediately charging up his flag to the max.
With no way to release the damage. Flores began feeling all the damage from the battle. The broken bones, the cuts and bruises, the strained limbs. And now the high pressure of water beating him into the ground. It was too much for his body to bear, not to mention the major strain on his mind that this new power was.
His attempt mind fought on, not wanting to lose in such a fashion. But his body gave out before he could try anything else. The last thing he saw was Snake approaching him, falling to his knees as he was also severely injured himself. But he still had the energy to push. And with one final punch, he finally went out.
"Fuck… oh fuck." Snake fell to the ground, the room shattering and returning to it's original state. He lied there on the brick floor, using the water around him to slowly heal his and Flores's wounds.
"Father… it is done… but we… have an issue."
Clutching his chest wound. The water he was controlling fell to the ground as he finally lost consciousness himself.