War (2)

War let his greatsword drop from above, ready to strike the final blow.

“Natsuo!” Olive yelled.

Before the blade could reach Natsuo, she threw a blast of vials.

The ampoules hit War’s horse and shattered into pieces. The liquid they contained crept inside the horse’s armor and the latter began to squirm.

The liquid was an acid, so the horse felt its flesh burning as it was melting.

The red horse went wild and War wasn’t able to control it anymore. It started running around and got away from Natsuo, saving him from the Vassal’s greatsword.

“Thank you, Olive” Natsuo said.

She gave him the thumbs up. “I’ve got your back!”

War was fighting in vain against his own horse to make it calm down.

“Let’s take advantage of this situation!” exclaimed Natsuo.

Tristan nodded and pointed his rod to the horse.

Ice climbed up the red legs and blocked the creature from moving.

Natsuo raised his scythe and, fast like lightning, flashed forward. He put the blade on the horse’s neck and cut it, beheading the creature.

Blood sprayed out of the dead body, forming a puddle on the ground.

The Vassal got off of the horse and, before the corpse could fall, he pierced it with his greatsword.

He pointed the weapon with the horse to the sky and strings of blood further wounded the animal, as a punishment for its death.

Then War threw the animal’s body on the floor and continued to stab it with cruelty.

The four guys watched the scene, horrified. Olive covered her eyes, disturbed by that vision.

The red Vassal was violent and sadistic. Perhaps, those features reflected the tragedy his name held: War.

The red knight toyed with the horse’s corpse for a bit, then got tired of it. He took his greatsword with both hands and thrust it into his own chest, startling everyone.

The atmosphere became more tense. Streams of blood started running on the ground under the four guys’ feet and the sky turned red.

The Vassal’s body rose to the sky and stopped in mid-air. All the blood on the ground was being attracted by him and converged in a column that seemed to connect the land to the crimson sky.

War pulled the greatsword from his chest and curled on himself. From his back, two big bat’s wings protruded.

He turned back straight and opened the wings, sticking his chest out fiercely.

This time, Natsuo expected a second stage and wasn’t surprised to see it. He also understood what made the Vassals turn to it: they just needed to kill their horses.

“Don’t let him take the lead!” exclaimed Natsuo.

He feared that War was stronger than Plague and if he was the one leading the fight, they would surely lose.

He swung his scythe and launched sound waves toward the Vassal, who was still in mid-air.

War blocked them with blood waves before they could reach him and the two attacks clashed.

“Let’s hurt his wings!” suggested Olive.

Tristan did as she said and launched a storm of ice flakes in the Vassal’s direction.

The pieces of ice were too small to dodge, so War raised his greatsword and a vortex of blood enveloped him, acting as a shield.

Gregory stretched his left arm and from his hand got out a trail of molten metal that was instilled in the blood vortex. He closed his hand into a fist and the metal solidified in thorns.

The Vassal managed to get out in time and wasn’t wounded by his attack. He scrutinized all of them and locked his eyes on Natsuo, the one who killed his horse.

He glided toward him with his greatsword raised and struck a blow.

Natsuo parried it with his scythe and pushed him away.

War crawled back because of the push, raising crimson dust. He seemed surprised that someone was able to resist his blows.

Natsuo smirked. “You’re not the only one with tricks, my friend.”

He leapt forward. The Vassal couldn’t see him because he was too fast thanks to the SPEED attribute. He flashed next to War and wounded him on his side, releasing the sound of the guitar’s fourth string.

Taking advantage of the small time of stun that the guitar’s sound gave him, Natsuo instantly turned back and slashed the knight’s other side.

Blood sprayed out from the Vassal’s waist.

Gregory coordinated with Natsuo and hit War on his stomach with the club. The blow had so much force, that the red knight was pushed toward Tristan’s direction.

Tristan prepared to touch War with his rod and freeze him, but, when the Vassal was about to reach him, a column of blood rose from the ground and lifted the knight in the air.

War glided into Tristan’s direction, charging a blow with his greatsword.

Tristan moved aside, dodging it by a whisker. His face turned pale.

“I thought I was going to die” he commented, trembling.

War took flight again.

Natsuo snapped his tongue, annoyed.

“Stop flying, I can’t hit you like this.”

The Vassal raised his greatsword toward the sky. A pillar of blood descended from above and connected with the blade.

War brought down the weapon and, together with it, the blood was dragged down.

Natsuo’s eyes widened. That enormous attack was coming in his direction.

He moved aside to dodge it, but he was still too close.

The whip of blood slapped the ground, hurting Natsuo and Gregory and leaving a deep groove on the floor.

Natsuo brought a hand to his waist, completely wounded. He had to heal him and Gregory.

Before he could do anything, War slammed the greatsword on the floor and streams of blood started to flow at his feet.

Thin red strings rose from the ground and wrapped around the four guys’ bodies. After a few moments, they found themselves enveloped in a web of blood.

Gregory tried to set himself free, but the strings were too resistant.

They were trapped.