I’m Going to Kill You Now

Walking down the dim corridor, the echoes of the events unfolding at the Capital House whispered through the air like a taunt. Nertu was steady on his feet as he moved through the hollow darkness alone, preparing himself for what lay ahead.

“She has fooled the world ten times over.”

The voice reverberated from wall to wall, saturated with conviction.

“May you see the truth only in failure.”

The corridor opened up to the inside of an imposing structure, the walls draped with embellished architectural accents entirely clad in a staunch white. Nertu’s footsteps enlarged throughout the expansive interior as he walked with a controlled pace.

“The catastrophe is not some biblical reckoning of God, but instead the fallacy of man. The last empire suffered the same fate; human obsession plunging the world into collapse. That uncurable disease and the destruction it leaves in its wake time and time again, is the only thing a true prophet can say without fail will happen.”

Seated before Nertu was a man draped in a white surcoat. A black mantle cloaked his left shoulder, with a helmet of pure silver in hand. He sat with confidence, belittling Nertu with nothing but his glare.

Nertu continued to approach him, his words sealed behind his lips.

Zing!

The subtle glint caught his eye as a wire swirled around his neck. With just the flick of his fingers, the man had made the first move, hoping to end the battle quickly.

Zip!

In an instant, Nertu was airborne swinging his spear and cutting the wire, landing back on his feet with unfaltering control.

“Sorry, I guess you wanted that to work, Commissioner,” Nertu spoke pointedly, arrogance staining his words. “I’ll let you in on a secret, my shift script isn’t limited to my spear.”

The commissioner lowered his fingers, then slowly stood to his feet, holding his helmet firm to his side. “I never expected him to appear before me, but for you to stand here without your sister, that’s quite disheartening.”

He raised his helmet, fitting it over his head, “Daim should be more grateful to me. The less remaining of the Mu clan, the better for everybody.”

Nertu glared upon the commissioner with has face vacant of expression as he remarked, “I’m going to kill you now.”

His constant feints and sudden shifts to his spear proved a nuisance, forcing the commissioner to keep his wire in relentless motion just to hold him at bay.

Nertu’s apparent lack of fatigue took the commissioner by surprise, but he saw in that very strength a potential weakness. Timing his reappearance at the spear after each toss, he lunged at the sliver of an opportunity, aiming to seize Nertu before he could react..

Slice!

As he watched his severed arm fall to the floor, not even the pain would reach him quick enough before Nertu looked to strike at him again. He swiftly rolled out of the way, marginally avoiding Nertu’s spear.

Quickly cauterizing the wound with a flame script, he lamented his underestimation of Nertu’s wit. Assuming he had found the perfect opening, it was instead Nertu who delayed his shift to fool the commissioner into miscalculating the timing.

“It’s a simple trick, but hard to keep up with,” Nertu mocked during the brief lull in his barrage of attacks. Nertu then leapt in the air, feeling the floor beneath his feet suddenly rise in temperature before erupting into flames.

Not only could the commissioner conjure flames from his hands but seemed capable of igniting them anywhere at will. One after the other, Nertu was forced to shift constantly as the flames erupted across the room. There appeared to be no limit to their reach.

Feeling his movement begin to slow, Nertu grew flustered, suspecting the commissioner had somehow discovered the secret behind his shifting. With the fire sapping the air of its oxygen his shifting would become more sluggish. Realizing he had to end the fight quickly, Nertu readied an attack on the commissioner, only for his spear to slip form his grap.

Quick to notice Nertu’s faltering speed, the commissioner seized his chance to end the nuisance shifting. Engulfing the spear in flames, Nertu was then forced into hand-to-hand combat, falling right into the commissioner’s ploy.

Zip!

In the blink of an eye, Nertu found himself wrapped tightly within the commissioner’s wire, with his flaming spear pressed against him, scorching his body.

“Shift all you want now, you pest,” the commissioner reveled. But his victory was misplaced. Nertu unexpectedly shifted directly onto the commissioner’s back, leaving the wire and his spear behind. “You should listen more, I said it’s not limited to the spear dummy.”

With the fire spreading, the commissioner charged into the flames, forcing Nertu to retreat, unaware of the second wire coiling around him, binding him back-to-back with the commissioner.

“Let’s see who lasts, you or me.”

The commissioner began pulling on the wire, its force so tight it slowly began cutting through Nertu’s skin bit by bit.

Screaming out in agony, Nertu feared that he had merely moments left before meeting his gruesome fate.