Chapter 101: Zeth vs Crimson Round 2

Chapter 101: Zeth vs Crimson Round 2

“How did you find me!?” Zeth shouts.

“Hmhmhm!” Crimson confidently laughs. “I have my sources. I must say, you seem much more powerful than when I faced you five months ago.”

Sasha’s whole body trembles. “Zeth, this is bad. None of us are in any position for another fight. He will defeat us easily!”

“I wish I knew what to do to get us out of this,” Zeth says, also trembling.

Crimson marks the ground beneath Zeth’s feet with his magic.

“Sasha, get out of the way!” Zeth yells.

Zeth pushes Sasha out of the way, but he gets caught in the explosion.

***

Kurt, Joe, Emily, and Sandy hear the explosion, fully grabbing their attention.

“What was that?!” Emily asks with worry.

“I’m going to guess that they aren’t setting off explosions for fun. Let’s hurry over there!”

With no time to lose, the four of them run in the direction they heard the explosion.

***

Zeth emerges from the explosion, on his knees, and significantly wounded.

“Zeth!!” Sasha screams.

Breathing heavily, Zeth says, “Yeah… I’m in rough shape…”

It’s only moments later that Kurt, Emily, Joe, and Sandy show up.

“What’s happening!?” Emily shouts, noticing Crimson.

Still breathing heavily, Zeth replies, “That’s Crimson… My 25 percent darker self…”

“What is he doing here!?” Kurt asks, scowling at Crimson.

“Someone must have told him Zeth was here,” Sasha says as she helps Zeth to his feet.

Giving Zeth no time to recover, Crimson runs toward him. Zeth quickly activates his Star Light Shield just before Crimson starts rapidly punching him. The damage is reduced, thanks to the shield. Crimson then slams his leg into the side of Zeth’s abdomen, knocking him away until he lands near a small lake on his back.

“What do I do?” Zeth asks himself. “If I were rested and at full power, I could put up a good fight, but I’m neither at the moment. My movements and reactions are both slower. The others are completely worn out too, so I can’t involve them.”

Crimson comes walking toward Zeth, holding his arms out as he smiles sinisterly. “Yes! This is it! I will finally get to consume Zeth!”

Zeth struggles to his feet, almost falling over in the process. He breathes heavily as he glares at Crimson, scared but determined nonetheless.

“Why do you look at me like that?” Crimson growls. “I miss that frightened kitten-look you gave me the last time we met.”

Crimson sprints forward, readying his fists. He rapidly punches Zeth, who is too weak to fight back.

Crimson continues his verbal onslaught. “What!? Did you really think that you’re on my level now!? You’re still pathetic, just like the last time we fought!”

Crimson then marks the ground Zeth is standing on with his magic and makes it explode, which knocks Zeth back with a lot of momentum. On the way back, his arm gets pierced by a tree branch, and then finally, he lands in the lake.

Zeth slowly sinks farther down into the water, his eyes barely open. He thinks, “Damn it… Why did he have to show up now when I’m too exhausted to fight…? …Why…?”

As Zeth sinks, he grabs onto the tree branch pierced into his arm and tries to pull it out, but he fails because he has so little energy left.

He thinks, “It’s no use… Is this where I die…?”

Visions of his friends flash in his head. “Kurt… Emily… Joe… Sasha…”

He opens his eyes fully. “No! I can’t just die like this! He will kill them too!”

Now bleeding and in pain, he struggles and slowly swims back to the surface. He gets his arms, head, and upper body to rest onto the grass, but is too weak to pull himself out.

Crimson, standing in front of him, sinisterly smiles at Zeth. “Are you ready? Let’s get this consumption underway.”

Zeth struggles a little bit, trying to pull himself out of the water. “No…”

The other heroes come running for him, but Crimson just looks at them while he marks the ground, and makes it explode. The explosion knocks the heroes back and significantly wounds them. They’re all down for the count.

“Damn it…” Joe mutters in pain. “Why?”

Crimson focuses back on Zeth. “It will take one more hit to destroy all of your remaining resistance.”

Crimson strikes Zeth with a soccer-like kick to his face, knocking him back to the other side of the lake. Zeth lies motionless on the ground, groaning.

“Gr..err…”

He feels a strong heartbeat, vibrating through his whole body.

“Ga..ahh! That hurt! I need to get this tree branch out!”

Zeth looks to his side and sees a knife lying on the ground. He slowly takes the knife and then starts carving into his arm to create a bigger wound. It loosens the branch, allowing him to pull it out.

His arm is in bad shape, and soon, he places his hands on his head.

“Something is wrong… It feels like everything is spinning…”

He starts acting strangely, beginning to giggle in delusion. “It looks like I need to stop the bleeding. Hehe… hehe.”

Another strong heartbeat vibrates through his body. His eyes become unfocused.

“What is happening?”

Crimson is walking around the lake to reach Zeth. “This is so exciting! I’ve waited too long to get to consume you!”

A chemical reaction begins in Zeth’s bloodstream, blood and magic fighting against each other, as the strong heartbeats become more frequent. He hears his own voice talking to him in his head.

“Consume Crimson. The volcano demands it.”

“Huh…? Wha…?” he says to himself. “Volcano…?”

Zeth’s whole body begins turning blood-like. His skin has blood all over it. His ears become pointy and his eyes start glowing orange. His teeth become sharper. He then stands up, and Crimson stops in place.

“What is this?” Crimson asks in confusion.

“Hmhmhmhm!” Zeth laughs sinisterly. “Welcome, dark side. Welcome to your consumption.”

For the first time since the Cursed Water incident, Zeth has released Blood Magic. But this time seems different from the last time, and not just the appearance. Is this the same Zeth? Or is there some other evil at play here?

Chapter 101 END

To be Continued in Chapter 102: The Power of Blood