Subduing Dusk

Three blazing blue wheels validated my fears.

Those look just like the flames Bixey used! Is this Dusk connected to her somehow? Then the clothes I saw…

The pieces fell into place and I cursed Lucinda and Taro. There was only one answer; Lady Hanabi had somehow fused with the Dusk.

"Be careful, Yahime. I don't know if you remember, but those flames can incinerate a person in an instant and she has three times as much as Bixey did."

"kyomi careful…"

I bit my bottom lip to suppress my smile. Now wasn't the time to be feeling embarrassed. If Lady Hanabi was anything like the stories, we were in for the fight of our lives.

A stream of flames engulfed snaked towards us and I clung to Yahime's back as she jumped to safety. I could still smell the putrid smell of burning fat wafting from the charred bodies in Edgeton. Yahime might be safe, but I doubted I'd survive unless [VIDE'S GRACE] protected me. I wasn't keen on being covered in burns when I couldn't heal either way.

"We need to end this quickly," I said. "I'll use [OVERDRIVE] to distract her while you transform."

Yahime set me down without argument and hunched over, growing into her bestial form. In contrast, I hesitated, thinking about the recoil from [OVERDRIVE]. Not like I had much of a choice unless I wanted to look like Shiro.

ALERT

[APOSTLE] HAS EVOLVED [OVERDRIVE].

[OVERDRIVE] HAS EVOLVED TO [DUSK RAGE]

I flung my status window open for details.

[DUSK RAGE]

DEBUFFS ARE TEMPORARILY NEGATED. USER STATS BOOSTED TO 1.25x FAMILIAR'S STATS FOR SIXTY SECONDS. USER IS TEMPORARILY PARALYZED ONCE EFFECT ENDS.

Well if that isn't a gamble. It's an insane boost. I'll just be completely defenseless if this takes longer than a minute. Might as well go all out.

I pulled the Essence Stone from my satchel and crushed the stone casing away. The power flooded my body the moment my skin made contact with the orb and I activated my new skill.

The sudden surge of strength shot through me and it felt like all my muscle fibers were at the brink of breaking. The shaft of my naginata groaned in my grip, ready to snap if I squeezed too hard. The flickering flames on the ground seemed to move slower as did the flame wheels hovering behind the Dusk-Hanabi hybrid.

"Sorry in advance."

I was next to the Dusk in a single step. I swung my naginata in tandem, using the inertia to increase the force of the attack. The blade dug into the Dusk's skin and I flung it into the column in the center of the room. As I'd feared, a long crack formed on the shaft of my weapon, though it managed to remain intact.

Yahime had finished transforming and leapt onto her sister. Her black maw gnashed, digging black fangs into her shoulder. She shook her head like a dog pulling at a rope, tossing the Dusk in her jaws to and fro. She only let go when the blue flames threatened to engulf her.

I kicked Yahime out of the way before they could, following through with another kick to the Dusk's face. The blow shook the cavern and a moment later hundreds of Essence Stones rained from the ceiling.

It spun my naginata above me to try to stop any from reaching the Dusk, but there were too many. Dozens clung to the Dusk's body like glowing pustules. My heart sank to my stomach. Any advantage we'd had was gone.

Or so I thought. The Dusk hybrid wasn't the only one the stones clung to. Just as many clung to Yahime and in her bestial form she looked like a creature of nightmares.

A tangible black aura formed around Yahime, dancing and bubbling around her. She let out a deafening roar that would have stunned me with a debuff if I hadn't had [DUSK RAGE] activated. The Dusk I'd pounded into the stone wasn't as lucky.

I didn't let the opportunity pass me up and tossed my naginata aside to pummel the creature with everything I had. Stone after stone shattered at my fist, losing their glow and turning inert. There were just too many and though I'd subdued the Dusk I couldn't tell if I was doing any real damage. The only indication was the floating flame wheels struggling to stay alight.

Ten seconds.

Grabbing the Dusk's neck, I hurled it in Yahime's direction before I ended up in the same situation I had with [SECOND CHANCE]. The flame wheels had reignited while the Dusk curled into a ball mid-flight to regain its bearings, only for Yahime to catch her like a tennis ball.

Flames ate Yahime's body as the two struggled and in my final moments of movement, I hurled my naginata. Yahime took notice and spat the Dusk at the incoming projectile and it impaled it through the chest.

If I hadn't been paralyzed, I would have been writhing in agony. I prayed that the paralysis would at least numb me. Instead held me down while I tried to claw my skin off. It would have been better to just light myself on fire. I couldn't breathe at all and I cursed and thanked [VIDE'S GRACE] at the same time. Immortality wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

My vision darkened as I watched Yahime and her sister battle. My lungs had become a void chamber, drowning me without the water. I welcomed it. If I couldn't die, passing out was the next best thing.

***

Black spikes held her sister, binding her to Yahime while she dug in her fangs. The blue flames licked at their bodies, though it was of no consequence to creatures who felt neither heat nor pain. Their battle would continue until one of them was dead.

Determining which would expire first was easy. Both Yahime and her sister had absorbed the sparkling stones Kyomi had been searching for and the more they fought, the more stones on their bodies cracked. Yahime's were shattering first.

She clawed at her sister in a frenzy. She couldn't lose. Kyomi was asleep again. Helpless again. She had to keep her safe until she woke up.

With a bellowing roar, Yahime smashed her sister into the stone wall. She did it again and again and again, pounding the stick Kyomi had poked through her sister further and further into the stone. She stopped when she was sure her prey couldn't escape and summoned her sword to her hand. It was awkward to hold in her monster form, so she put it in her mouth. Clenching it between her jaws, she leapt back to dash at her immobilized sister, spinning her body like the little animal people of the village had.

The blue flames that licked at Yahime's body flung off and something bubbled within her, urging her on. One final attack.

Spinning, spinning, spinning, Yahime sliced her sword into her sister. Shrill screams filled the air, but Yahime didn't stop until the world moved around her on its own. She lost her balance and stumbled back. When the world was still again she released her transformation and examined her fallen sister.

She was still alive, though Yahime couldn't understand how. Any human would have been in pieces. Could her sister not die? Could she not die? Her head felt strange, the same way it did whenever she tried to think of new things. She would ask Kyomi when the human woke up.