Chapter 20

“You know, we really don't have to do this; I'm still down to let you go.”

As the two exchanged blows, Jason casually grabbed one of Chisako’s arms, pinning her to the ground as she thrashed, swiping at him with one of the arms on his back.

“I really don't want to kill any more humans while I'm here, so can you stop being so difficult all the time?”

“You want to lecture me about fighting, you wretch!? You’ve been here no longer than a week; I've been here for a YEAR.” She gripped the ground before slamming her foot into his face, which he narrowly dodged. “My life was royalty back home, and out of nowhere, it was torn from me! Do you know what that's like? To have everything, and then lose it all, only to be stuck here for a year?”

Chisako, gritting her teeth, shoved her other arm into the ground, shooting herself into the air.

“You have no clue what it's like here! You don't know what it's like to lose anything, living among these monsters! You’re the only one here trying to stop us from getting home!”

Chisako then fell to the ground, slamming into the street, causing the ground underneath her to shatter. Jason dodged the flying debris as he tried to plead to her.

“You’re right, I don't know what it's like. But I do know that Raksha and all the others I've met here are living beings, just like humans, and they have a right to not have their lives stripped from them, just like us. So if you’re going to kill them, you’re going to have to go through me,” he said, following her into the air.

“You think you’re being altruistic? Don't make me laugh; you're just sentencing all of us to death! I'm not going to let you!”

Chisako flung herself at Jason, finally grabbing hold of him. She slammed him into a building, dragging him across the surface, breaking the glass of windows, and sending bricks toppling into the streets. Finally, she threw him back onto the ground.

‘...It’s really lucky I seem to be regenerating faster now, but holy SHIT this is painful.’

Jason thought to himself, standing up shakily as he attempted to swat Chisako off of him, sending her back to the street, before running over to her. As he reached her, dodging her grappling attempts, he decided to ask a question he had, in the back of his mind, been thinking about since the fight started.

“Why’d you get rid of the swords? It seems more practical than just trying to brawl, you know.” Spitting some blood onto the ground, Chisako stood shakily, putting her two front arms up, holding her third arm in a block.

“It seems we’re at a stalemate. No matter, I'll keep fighting you, pummeling you into the dirt, before I finally kill you. For as long as it takes.

From behind her, a large fist swung at Chisako’s head; the shadowed face of a Raksha appeared swiftly before the four combatants vanished from the battlefield, leaving the street empty.

…

From atop buildings in the distance, Ayn stood quietly with Eclipse, watching the fight in progress.

“Don’t you think it's time to bring everyone together? I want the real fun to begin!”

Ayn said, wringing her hands with a scientific curiosity.

“... You do remember what you’re asking me, right?”

“But of course, and yet, I know without question you'll do it. You do want to set up your dramatic encounter, don't you? The question then becomes, how much are you willing to do to set your stage?’

Ayn smiled, resting her hand on his shoulder.

“I’m just doing my part to make your dream come true, Eclipse! Isn't that noble of me?”

“Don’t lie to me, Ayn; I know you simply want a show.”

Eclipse growled under his mask, placing his hand on the hilt of his blade.

“Now, you’re acting grumbly, aren’t you? But when you see the full thing, I promise you'll have fun; you have my word. It's not wrong to enjoy a bit of the human experience, is it? Even if you’re watching it secondhand, it's still exhilarating.”

Ayn moved her hand from Eclipse’ shoulder to his mask, rubbing her finger across the intricately welded metal.

“Now, let's go get Nikolai and set up our fireworks, shall we?”

Eclipse sighed deeply from under his mask before teleporting the two off of the balcony.

…

The surroundings had changed from the streets of Shin-je into the snow and dirt of the forest before Jason could process what was happening.

In front of him, Chisako had her third arm held by Eclipse, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

His other hand was on his blade, which was being used to block the blow from Panka, her hand dripping golden blood into the snow as she stared up at the knight with an irritated expression. Jason instinctively reached his hand out to the masked figure, but as soon as he had appeared, he was gone.

“W-what? Where are we? Those two—” Chisako growled, clenching her fists. Almost instantly, though, her thought was cut off by a massive shadow appearing over her.

Throwing herself to the side, Chisako narrowly avoided being crushed by a falling tree, covered in frost.

“I have never been more excited to see you guys in my life!”

As a massive tree fell to the ground, causing snow to kick up, Loba hit the ground, followed closely behind by Biji, both seeming exhausted, covered in sweat, and panting heavily.

“Yes! Panka and Jae, it's so good you’re here! We’ve been fighting for our lives out here; those bastards somehow got their hands on some sort of ‘Super-Scorched’! We’ve both almost died multiple times now; we really needed the reinforcements.” Biji heaved, the sparks of electricity coating her body sputtering.

“Where’s Uddi, you two?” Loba asked, looking around at the two still on the ground.

“Over there, beside the tree, he got hit pretty badly after you guys warped away; he’s still breathing though.” Jason smiled at seeing the two raksha before pointing over to Uddi, who, to Jason’s shock, had started to stand.

Jason’s smile quickly faded seeing Uddi’s expression; it was the first time Jason had seen Uddi without a smile on his face.

“I’m… Huff… Awake, friends. I apologize for making you worry about me.” He grimaced, standing as he wiped a streak of the now dried blood from his head onto his pale hand, as tears started to roll down his face.

“This is the second time now… Where I've failed you…”

Chisako, in a flash, had started to fly towards Uddi.

In a blink though, Panka grabbed her out of the air and, in the same way Chisako had thrown Uddi earlier, flung her into the forest.

Far away, she slammed into a tree. She slumped down unconscious, blood careening from her nose.

Jason ran over to Uddi, putting his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“You haven't failed any of us, Uddi. It's not your fault you got taken off guard. Now, let's finish this together, alright?” He smiled, a jolt of electricity forming on the place where Jason had placed his hand.

Uddi stood, wiping the tears from his eyes, hugging Jason, almost causing him to fall over.

“Not to interrupt, but the company we had earlier is coming back, and it's not friendly! Look alive!” Loba yelled towards the two of them. Jason turned to see what was behind him, as monstrous footsteps could be heard rumbling behind him.

His stomach dropped as a familiar voice appeared in his head.

“Did you really think that you had escaped, Jason?”

A shiver crawled up Jason’s back as the voice spoke to him; Eclipse’s voice was venomous.

“Allow me to remind you of your reality.”

As the words rang in Jason’s head, the creature came into view; a Scorched larger than any he had seen before ran towards the battlefield, tearing trees from their stems as it approached.

While its body was the same pale white as the others he had seen, its face was skeletal, with long, pale blond hair that flung wildly in the wind.

In its chest cavity, which had broken up into the creature’s open ribcage, a body could be seen, mummified and suspended in a cocoon of black flesh.

The sockets of its eyes were empty.

As it let out a high-pitched screech, shaking the pine needles, it sprinted with a human-like form, throwing its arms forward as it crushed the ground underneath its feet.

Gazing behind him, even seeing it at a distance, Jason recognized the face of the person within the cocoon immediately. biting through the lining of his mouth, causing blood to pool under his tongue as his body began to shake.