Chapter 14:

Astonishing Reveal

REALM ASSASSIN


Several rose petals hovered with the wind as a loud thud can be heard at the distance. If there was a monster slayer near the area, they would've heard the infuriating screams of an android desperate to kill the one that took their friend.

At least, the passionate yell from the android was evenly leveled with the fiery glow of Runo's eye. The two of them had been fighting Lewis for fifteen minutes, but the monster was overpowering them. 

A slice to her left. A slash above her. Dolly was stuck on defense. One by one, a few trees behind her fell with a loud thud while leaves scattered all over the area. 

It seemed Lewis's impenetrable claws cannot be damaged. Dolly tried to shoot her beams, but the monster laughed and tossed a bunch of sliced petals in her direction. The explosions flung the android away from his reach.

Lewis's brown ponytail swayed with its movements. Its golden necklace twinkled under the sunlight as it and Dolly exited out of the forest in mid-air. The two exchanged glares while the android lifted her arm and shot a beam.

"CUTE!" The monster giggled erratically and slapped the beam away with its metallic claws. It proceeded to fly towards the android. She lowered her head. Then, her body bounced onto the grass from the shock wave of her beam.

I should have known! The scent of the lotus flower!

The smell of rebirth. It was one not many monsters carry, but for whatever reason, Lewis was a special case. Its ability to maintain its composure for such a long time must have eaten its stamina and patience. Runo figured just as much and tried to formulate a plan in his head. He watched Dolly and Lewis from a distance.

Runo's glaring eye was fixated on Lewis's movements. His face was covered with scratch marks left by Lewis's claws, reminding him that death was lurking ominously. 

Tch, that bastard's a real pain.

The man adjusted his sidebang, his fingers ran through his silky hair. 

He had positioned himself between the trees. When Lewis focused on attacking Dolly, the man quickly moved from his hiding position and grabbed a few daisies. 

Almost there! Come on, Dolly!

Runo watched Lewis shove Dolly's arm away from it. Then, the powerful impact of his kick to her waist sent Dolly flying back into the forest. The android sighed in misery; her eyes closed for a moment to gather her thoughts.

Ah, my head hurts.

She felt the shattering sensation all over her head as she crashed onto a branch and skid sideways. Her body eventually laid onto the pathway that led the trio to the flower field.

Runo observed from afar.

If only there was an opening...!

His eye darted around to see if there was anything else he could use to fight against the barbaric creature. Lewis's demonic laughter boomed within the forest. The constant feeling of terror and anxiety only gave the nasty being the advantage to toy with them like animals.

"Say, Mr. Leader, I missed you," the creature hovered over Dolly. The veins that wrapped around its body became visible. A large and freaky grin was stapled onto its face. Judging by the wrinkles of its eyebrows, it was getting impatient. "Don't you think this is the perfect opportunity to-"

It rapidly rotated its head to see what's behind it. The noise of ripped bones and flesh soon followed. Its hollow eyes were met with several explosions. 

Runo had thrown the petals as a distraction. Using the smoke as his safety barrier, he grabbed Dolly by the waist and scurried down the path.

"Runo," Dolly groaned, "It can regenerate. We need to find a way to get it distracted enough for me to shoot the blast."

"I figured," Runo saw the faint silhouette of the flower field ahead and thought of the roses, "Dolly, do you remember what the blues ones do?"

She widened one of her eyes. "Are you saying-"

"Yeah."

The duo exited the cloud of smoke frantically. Their ears filled with the sound of a maniac's laughter and the irking noise of shattered bones reassembling back to perfection. 

"Man, oh man, O̶̠̠͇̗͐̎̿̈́̽̏̒Ḩ̸̱̞̼̗̹̆̅̔͌̊̕̚͘͝M̵̡̬͖̍̉̔ͅA̷̟̽̐̎͌̈́̇̓̕̚N̴̹̙̯̳̤͝O̵̧̯̱̪̠̦̼̗͎̬̾͋͆̂̈́Ḩ̵͓̺̥̌́͛̑́͌̆̒̎́M̵̨̢͚̯͖̬̝̟̎͠A̵̢̼͍̘̖̠̤͂̒̈͊́̈́Ņ̶͙͆̐̓͌̑̉Ō̵̫̘͉͖͕̮H̷̩̥̦͒͆M̵̡͚͍̄̑̀̐̂̕ͅA̶̢͙̠̓N̶͓̏̊͐͛̚" Lewis chuckled even louder as its head twisted back to its position, "TIMES LIKE THIS MAKES IT WORTH PLAYING WITH MY FOOD!"

The heinous creature flew parallel to the pathway and quickly caught up to Dolly and Runo. The poor android turned her head in shock while a claw attempted to slash her face. The sudden push by Lewis's body sent the duo tumbling down onto the grass and in front of the first row of purple roses.

"Dolly!" Runo called out to her. His arms reached for the purple roses.

"Nah ha HAH̸͓̣̽̽̈Ã̶̭́̎̊̊͛͂Ḩ̷̧̫̜̫̮̠͖̒̓͐͗̋̕̕͘͜͜Å̸̘͉̮̺Ḧ̶̨̯͙̾̆̈́̑̑̐̓Ą̶̠̠̻̠̤̫̗̩̱̅͊̾̉͊̾̂̈́~!" The monster lunged itself onto Runo's back and proceeded to bite onto his neck, causing the poor man to scream in pain and anger. 

"GET OFF ME!" Runo screamed on top of his lungs and fell backward, trapping Lewis between the dirt and himself. The monster chuckled and bit onto Runo's shoulder.

Runo yelled. His eye trembled as sweat rolled down his face. He grabbed onto Lewis's legs and twisted them. Hard. The adrenaline surge boosted his ability to hold the monster down while it kept screeching.

Dolly watched with utmost concentration, paralyzed. Runo used his foot to kick a bunch of purple roses into the air.

"DO IT!"

With Runo's command, Dolly wiped the single tear that rolled down her fragile rose cheek, before she found herself in the middle of the air trying to grab ahold of the flowers. 

This is for you, Netty!

She yelled. Her fingers finally rejoiced at the soft touch of the rose petals. In a posthaste, all of them were ripped from their roots, and she covered her eyes.

The petals immediately took effect and flashed the scenery so brightly, it was as if the sun had fallen onto the earth and shone its beauty in front of spectators. Dolly heard the shrieks of a mortified monster, and then, the sound of a body slamming onto the ground.

She regained her vision and saw that Runo had just shoved Lewis into the ground and forced a bunch of blue roses into its mouth.

"W-WAITT STaaAAAoOP!" Lewis screeched as it begged for Runo to calm down. The man wasn't having any of it as roses upon roses entered the monster's opened mouth. It had been grinning, but due to the flash earlier, Dolly didn't see what Runo did to brutally force Lewis's mouth wide for a feast of flowery entries. 

The android's eyes only focused on one thing though-- it was the look on Runo's face.

It resembled one of a heartless murderer. 

That glare...

The poor monster was now begging for mercy, its face cried like a helpless baby. It tried to slash Runo with its elongated nails, but luck was on Runo's side, and Dolly figured as much.

One of the roses...it kept Lewis paralyzed!

Then, the monster's tears only increased in volume. Its teeth began to crumble and shrivel. Then it was his legs. Then his rings, and his arms. The roses that Runo had been shoving were clearly doing him a solid, for the monster was experiencing a gruesome and extremely painful demise. 

During the entire fiasco, Runo was so heavily fixated on watching Lewis suffer, that he did not witness Dolly prepping herself to shoot her deadly blast. She had her arm lifted and aimed it towards the monster's head. It was the only thing Runo's body wasn't blocking from where she stood.

This is it!

The android forced a grin on her face. 

Once this menace is gone, we can finally...!

She embraced for the moment this ugly amoeba of a being to cease from existing. 

I know you're still around somewhere! We'll find you Netty, just you wait! 

Without a warning, she shot the blast.

Wait, shit!

The android snapped out of her trance. Realizing that she got too focused on defeating Lewis, she hadn't considered the fact that Runo's body wouldn't survive the impact. Dolly was scared, her lack of understanding could very well end her only friend's life.

She watched in horror as the ball of deadly energy collided with Lewis. She yelled.

"RUNO, LOOK OUT!"

..

..

..

The smell of death.

Huh?

The android's breathing stopped. Time slowed down. 

What's this?

An overwhelming surge of fear tickled her back as the shivers of ice-cold air teased her skin. She watched the impact obliterate Lewis, tossing Runo away from the scene as he was flung across the dirt like weightless paper. 

But something was not right.

Wait a minute...

The faint smell of the deceased. It once lingered so lightly that other people wouldn't acknowledge such a scent.

And this entire time, Dolly had brushed it off as the scent he carried from slaying so many monsters. 

However, it made her feel anxious. The wires inside her chest seemed to tighten up. Her clattering legs began to waver. Her vision blurred for a second.

She stared at Runo.

All those times when he'd run his fingers and play with his bang, he...

Runo was equally if not, more surprised. He hadn't expected Dolly to shoot a blast without his knowledge.

He was simply distracted by Lewis's presence to realize he had made a fatal mistake. 

His sidebang swung up.

Revealing his hollow left eye.