Chapter 10:

Enlightenment IV

JOB.

I had to help grandma, and fast, she seemed heavily fatigued and injured too.

However, I had to deal with Ellane first, so.

“GAH!” She screamed out.

“That’s for trying to take my sister away from me.” I said as I pulled the sword out

But just as I was about to deal the finishing blow, she dematerialized.

I looked left, and then right, but she was nowhere to be seen.

I had more important matters to deal with however.

“JOLEE! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, no I-I’m fine!” she said, shuddering. “B-but what’s Grandma doing here? M-m-more importantly, she doesn’t seem too oka-”

Jolee fainted.

“Ah, you should’ve saved your strength.”

But she was right, I needed to help grandma.

I dashed out of the camp, looked to see if I was being followed, then laid my sister to rest against a tree.

“I’M COMING GRANDMA!”

While I dashed, I manifested my Karma and redirected it towards my sword.

“I will not lose.”

But those robed bastards were strong.

“God that was a nasty swing.” I said to myself.

It didn’t seem like I could get clean through my enemies, but it mattered not. As long as I was dealing damage, that was one less enemy for Grandma to deal with.

“GRANDMA! JUST FOCUS ON Gerthard, I’VE GOT THE RIFF RAFF UNDER CONTROL!”

Just barely anyway. Even though they weren’t Karma wielders, they were pretty strong.

But I didn’t come all this way for anything.

I lunged at another, but I miscalculated.

A blow sent me hurdling into a nearby tent, but upon inspecting myself, I seemed relatively alright.

Without a moment to lose, I leapt back into the fray.

“RAAH!”

Meanwhile Grandma was engaged in an exchange of blows with Gerthard.

Every time she decapitated a limb, he would just reattach it. She seemed very visibly frustrated. But lumbered on.

Lightning seemed to irradiate from her sword, and out of nowhere, her scimitar, shortsword abomination of a weapon seemed to extend.

There were now blades on both sides of the handle.

Grandma had now lowered her stance, and began launching a flurry of swift and successive attacks. The nature of her movements reminded me of the Commander’s, but Grandma’s movements were way more graceful, and quicker.

With every attack she launched the crackle of lightning followed.

But I couldn’t focus on grandma for too long, because I had my own problems to worry about.

“GAH!”

I had been stabbed three times in my left thigh, rendering me almost completely immobile.

I swung my sword wildly, cutting down those foolish enough to get close, and dissuading others from doing so.

“I can’t LOSE!”

I forced myself to stand, and I did, just barely.

Limping, and wielding a claymore were not for the faint of heart.

I didn’t realize how heavy and unwieldy my sword was until that point. But nonetheless, I pressed forward.

“I c-can’t keep this up for much l-longer.” I said to myself.

But still, I cut down enemy,

After enemy,

After enemy.

I was stabbed many times. But I still kept going.

I had to stop them from overwhelming Grandma.

So I gave it my all.

I felt my muscles tearing.

But I still went on.

I felt my insides screaming.

But I still went on.

I was stabbed.

But I still went on.

But I couldn’t go on anymore.

I saw a myriad of blades rushing towards me.

Was this the end?

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Grandma screamed.

“I’LL FINISH THIS NOW!”

And then, within a moment’s notice, all the swords that pointed at me were gone.

One by one, and without fail, the robed started to fall.

We, we were winning!

“YOU CAN DO THIS GRANDMA!”

But just then.

“I GUESS I’LL GO ALL OUT TOO.”

It was Gerthard, and his presence was even more overwhelming than before. He was a walking manifestation of the path of the demon.

He lifted his finger, and the very ground around him rose up.

He shot them at Grandma, with incredible speed.

“AH!”

“GRANDMA!”

“It’s going to take more than disabling my arm to kill me you bastard.”

“Oh really? Well, let’s see how well you fare with this.”

He whisked his hands around and lifted Grandma into the air.

He contorted her limbs and twisted her about as though she were a doll, until he finally dropped her.

“GRANDMA! NO! NO!”

“I’ll deal with you next.”

He lifted me up into the air, and contorted my limbs. I felt as though my insides were about to erupt.

“ARH” Gerthard screamed.

“I told you before. It’s going to take alot more than your petty tricks to kill me.”

“YOU BI-”

“Let me get rid of that dirty mouth of yours.”

Grandma and Gerthard were at blows.

They flew up, they fought it out.

Gerthard came hurdling towards the ground.

“I’LL TAKE YOU OUT ONCE AND FOR ALL YOU MANILLA TRASH”

Just then, I heard a voice in my head.

“Watch closely Grandson, for I’ll only be able to show this once.”

Grandma stood still, with her dual blades pressed against her face.

When she opened her eyes, they were white.

Her Karma manifestation, I couldn’t see it, but I could tell it was still there.

“G-grandma?! A-A SWORD MASTER?”

Lightning crackled all around her, then she spoke.

“YOU, MASTER OF THE GREAT EVILS. WITH THE POWER INVESTED IN ME THROUGH MY HOUSE AND THE KING. I STRIKE YOU DOWN!”

TIGER

PALM

LIGHTNING

SLASH

As she swung her sword, the lightning came together to form the image of a tiger, slashing down with it’s paw.

“NO! NO NO! I WILL RISE, I WILL RISE AGAIN! I AM ETERNAL, YOU CAN NEVER KILL ME!”

“Let’s see your core hold up now you hellspawn.”

She let out a roar, and charged straight for Gerthard’s chest.

“NO! NO! NOOOOOOOO”

“Tell the eldest son I said hello when you get to hell!”

What emerged from the other side was a grandma drenched in blood from head to toe, with Gerthard, or what was left of him anyway, a corpse on the ground with a very Grandma sized hole in the middle.

“GRANDMA! We did it.”

“Yeah, we did.” She said as she coughed out some blood.

“Grandma! Are you okay?!”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. This much is nothing. But hey, I guess you’ve saved your sister. I guess you finally have become strong eno-” Grandma stopped suddenly.

“GRANDMA?! WHAT'S WRONG?”

Blood started streaming from her lips, and her eyes were widened.

We both looked down slowly.

My eyes widened.

There was a hand sticking through Grandma.

The hand twisted inside her.

“URK!”

Grandma fell to her knees, and behind her was Ellane.

“You took someone dare from me. So now I will take EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE FROM YOU.”

“NO YOU WITCH! W-W-WAIT PUT DOWN JOLEE.”

I tried to get up, but I couldn’t.

I tried to move but I couldn’t.

I couldn’t move.

“You are NOTHING. You will NEVER be strong enough to defeat me YOU HEAR? YOU WILL RECKON IN MY UNRAVELING OF THIS WORTHLESS KINGDOM. IT SHALL FEEL MY WRATH BECAUSE YOU TOOK MY FATHER FROM ME!”

“MY MEN, GIVE ME YOUR ENERGY!”

All her remaining men died instantly, and with a whir of her finger, she created streams of blood that flew from their bodies to hers.

“YES MY MEN. YOUR SACRIFICE WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.”

She looked upon me.

“As for you. You will SUFFER. Just as I have. YOU WILL KNOW WHAT DARKNESS IS.”

And with that, she slowly rose away.

“NO. NO. COME BACK WITH MY, MY, M-MY SISTER. MY FAMILY. NO. NO I’M GOING TO KILL YOU. AHHHHH”

But just then, through the midst of all that.

“Look here G-g-grandson.”

“Grandma! Grandma, save your strength. Please PLEASE, you’re all I have left.”

“Job. Job, this is the end of the line for me.”

“NO. DON’T SAY THAT GRANDMA. NO PLEASE PLEASE, please.” I was crying. I could barely see through the tears.