War (3)

The four of them were trapped in the web of blood, unable to move.

War landed on the ground and walked slowly toward them.

The guys watched him getting closer, desperate. Their ends seemed nearer at every War’s step.

The Vassal stopped in front of Olive and pointed his greatsword to her throat.

The girl’s breath was irregular and she was run by shivers of fear. Was she really going to die?

Natsuo clenched his fists and wriggled to get rid of the web. He couldn’t let Olive die like this, he would never have forgiven himself.

Gregory’s eyes widened. He tried to break the strings of blood to free himself and help Olive. He didn’t want to see his loved ones die again.

Olive stared at the helmet of War in front of her, frozen by fear. The Vassal pulled back his sword and charged a blow.

Natsuo, I’m sorry… Olive thought.

Tears started to roll down her cheeks, as the knight’s greatsword was getting closer.

Natsuo and Gregory were trying in vain to get free and were screaming her name.

Tristan stared at the Vassal, terrified. He had to do something, otherwise Olive would have died and it would have been his fault. His face turned pale as he imagined Natsuo abandoning him because he let Olive die and the guilt devouring his soul for the rest of his life.

He shook his head. That couldn’t happen.

He clenched his fists and froze the strings that were enveloping his body. The ice fastly covered the entire web and broke into pieces under Gregory’s and Natsuo’s movements.

Olive fell on the ground and the Vassal’s greatsword hit the air.

Tristan pointed his rod to War. The flakes of ice sprinted in his direction and pierced him.

Gregory immediately rushed to him and struck a blow with his club.

War backed away, dodging it, and taking flight to escape.

“Tristan! You saved me!” Olive exclaimed.

She felt relieved as never before.

“Apparently…” replied Tristan.

Olive looked up at the Vassal, determined to make him pay. An idea flashed through her mind.

“Tristan, can you make an ice barrier?” she asked.

“Yes, I should be able to do it” replied Tristan, even if not very convinced.

“Perfect! When I tell you, create a barrier for the four of us” she said.

Tristan nodded, a little anxious to get the timing wrong.

“What do you have in mind?” asked Natsuo.

Olive winked. “A little gift for our friend. You’ll see.”

The Vassal was still in the air. Olive used her system to summon a bottle full of yellow crystals. Natsuo’s eyes widened: that was picric acid, a highly explosive substance.

The red knight got ready to launch another attack and glided toward them.

Olive immediately threw the bottle.

“Tristan, now!” she exclaimed.

Tristan enveloped everyone inside an ice sphere right on time. Outside, the bottle had hit the Vassal.

A very big and violent explosion burst out. Tristan turned pale.

“If… If I didn’t get the right timing we would have all died… I can’t stand such responsibilities” he said.

He held tightly his rod, keeping the barrier from breaking during the impact. Gregory helped him, creating a barrier of metal over it.

When there was no more noise, they dismissed the barriers.

From the Vassal’s body was raining blood. He was burning alive and also the dust on the ground had caught fire.

The knight’s wings couldn’t hold him anymore and he fell on the ground.

“It worked!” exclaimed Olive.

Her and Gregory exchanged a high five.

“Good job” said Natsuo.

Tristan sighed, relieved. “We were lucky that I didn’t make any mistake, otherwise—”

A string of blood pierced him from one side to the other, leaving the hole in his body. His eyes widened and he fell on the ground.

“Tristan!” Everyone exclaimed.

Right after him, everyone was pierced by a string of blood and collapsed.

“W-What?” Natsuo, lying on the ground, glanced at War, who was kneeling and had his sword’s tip placed on the ground. He was still burning.

Natsuo spat blood and his vision started to get blurry. He looked around and glimpsed the others, all laying down on the dust.

The Vassal, who was burning alive, made a last effort. Large drops of blood began to fall from the sky.

Natsuo looked up and saw a huge black hole opening up in the sky. An enormous bloody sword got out from it and started falling over the place where they were.

His eyes widened. They couldn’t avoid that attack. The only solution was killing the Vassal before the sword reached them.

He observed the distance that was between him and War. If he sprinted with the SPEED attribute he could make it.

There wasn’t enough time to heal his wound, he had to fight the pain and get up.

He placed his hands on the ground and tried to stir up his body, but a pang of pain ran through his entire body. His head started spinning and he spat blood again.

“N-Natsuo!” Olive exclaimed.

Natsuo glanced back.

Olive was behind him. She smiled at him, despite the suffering.

“I know you can do it” she said.

Natsuo felt reassured by her words. Olive counted on him, he couldn’t let her down. She was able to smile even in such a situation because she trusted him: she knew that he would have saved everyone.

Natsuo smiled. “Yeah, I always get the job done, right?”

He sank his hands into the dust and pushed himself up, resisting the pain. He looked up. The sword was coming at an extremely fast speed. He couldn’t hesitate.

He put one foot on the ground and got up with difficulty. His head was spinning and his vision was blurry, but he could still see the Vassal in front of him.

Natsuo leapt forward with all the strength he had.

He covered the distance very quickly and raised his scythe upon the Vassal, ready to deal the final blow.