Wind And Rain

This time, the surprise had died down. I wasn’t as panicked when my scales grew anymore, nor did I feel the same surge of emotions when the armor finally emerged from me. So far so good.

Raising my hand, I conjured my drill sword once more and ran towards the monster just as it was about to throw the punch towards the man in green. It had noticed me, but that was my purpose. The monster had no choice but to switch its direction and block my slash with its shoulder armor. Seeing the opening that I created, the verdant warrior quickly slashed upward as well, but the monster was still fast enough to block with its other side, once again sending sparks flying all over.

“Hey, you!” The green man shouted. “Who are you? What platoon are you in?”

“Can we leave the questioning until later? There’s this thing that needs to be slayed first!”

“… Fine! Try to match my moves!”

After the quick exchange, we both rushed towards the monster in two different directions. The warrior took the left side, while I attacked it from the right. Both of us aimed for its softer underarm and stomach, where the pesky shoulder armor wouldn’t be able to reach. And our tactic had paid off.

Since the two strikes were of opposite trajectories — mine going downward and the other going upward — the monster couldn’t just take them all with its armor. And so, it had to make a choice: sacrificing its left side, it blocked my drill sword in full swing, but in turn, its left side finally suffered from a clean cut.

Roaring a scream of pain, the monster staggered back. However, the battle was far from over. It had learned that fighting close-ranged would be in its disadvantage. And so, the monster changed its tactics.

The shells on its shoulder opened up, revealing a pitch-black inside. From within the abyss, countless other insects flew out, the number soon large enough to cover half the sky. The cloud of bugs sent the populace to disarray again, with now buzzing added to screams of terror to make a cacophony from hell.

However, this time was much worse. With the insects around, the people started to lose their sight in the area. No longer strictly running away from the monster, now it was truly everyone for their own life, and people started crossing our battlefield.

“Damn it! Calm down everyone!” The man in green shouted, having put away his blades to guide people away with his arms. I had no choice but to follow suit, temporarily hanging my sword on my back.

Both of us knew we were in grave danger. Both of us were defenseless, and with all the citizens around, there was no telling where the monster would strike.

Indeed, as the other warrior was guiding someone, a sudden flash of gold and black appeared at his side, and soon enough, a jab from the monster’s needle landed right through his ribs. The man was lucky enough to not have his armor pierced, but the strength of the jab was enough to knock him away in the crowd. And soon after, he was further caught in the sea of people running for their lives.

“Tch. So you were aiming for me!”

I clicked my tongue in anger, drawing my sword almost immediately when the monster lunged forward at my position. Sparks flew in the air again as my block was successful, but the assault had just begun. In a crowded area, the monster's build surprisingly didn’t hinder it one bit. In fact, it was the opposite: it was expertly using the natural obstacles to its advantage, weaving in and out of my line of sight while jabbing me with quick, but deep strikes, so much that I could even feel my armor morphing from the consecutive hits it took.

And to make matters worse, I knew that inside, I was smiling. Fighting for a while had turned my urges up again.

I was wanting more. No, I craved for more.

But I had to keep myself together. Not now. If there was another bloodthirsty lunatic running around, the people would never be safe.

Placing my hand on my heart, I took long, deep breaths. I needed to control my urges for just a bit more. But the monster wasn’t making it any easier for me.

All while I was trying to recover, it kept jabbing me in all places. With my limited vision, both from the mask and the infrared, I was having trouble following its movements already, let alone parrying its strikes.

However, just when I was in a bind, another trump card came to my rescue.

The wind started to blow. Much heavier, much faster than before. But it wasn’t natural — while the desert carried heat waves, this was much more similar to the wind that I grew up with: cold, strong, and carried moisture along with it.

From afar, I could see a tiny silhouette flying high up the sky. I let out a smile. Of course, I should have thought of this possibility.

The warrior in green appeared from the sky. Naturally, he would also have flight powers. Now, as he stood on top of the world, the pair of insect wings on his back had evolved into an avian span, spreading wide and mighty like a lord of the air. His blades had grown larger, glowing a bright green shine in the process. As he crossed his arms, the wind around him concentrated into more and more rings, spinning in full force like an army of tornadoes.

“I’ve had it with you! Prepared to be sliced to smithereens!”

As he tried to unleash his presumably strongest technique, however, a flash of thought appeared within me.

“… Wait, hold on!” I cried out.

If he were to strike with that magnitude, then what would have happened to the people around?

But it was no use. My cries were soon sunk by the raging wind. Plus, the man was too far away from me; there was no way that my muffled voice could reach him.

“Argh, what do I do?”

“Die! Vayu Slicing Gale!”

“I said hold on!”

In desperation, I drew my sword and stabbed it into the air. It wasn’t meant for anything but a frustrated hit at my powerlessness. But as I least expected it, a miracle happened.

At the same time of my scream, a loud boom of thunder struck. But it wasn’t from that woman called Kana. No, it was completely natural.

The wind had died down as sudden as when it surged forward. The sky turned from a blazing white to a cool, pitch black in an instance.

One drop. Two drops. Ten. Twenty. A hundred.

That day, the nation of Drought, who had never known a drop of water since its inception, experienced its first rain.