all_roads_lead_to_red

 The winds crashing against the trees in sync with our footsteps are the only thing heard that is natural. Everything else is a byproduct of technological advancements. The clashing of Lorentz against his golden claws and the electrical whirring from Juliette’s whip reverberate within the mountain. Clashing my sword relentlessly against him, some sweat drops are cut accidentally in half by my non-stop waving of my katana.

Juliette’s electrical whiplashes are booming the ears of Green, demonstrated by the blood of his timpanus reaching the surface of his body. Regardless of his inner organs being damaged, he shows an exterior as calm as water in a waveless ocean.

The constant chirping of our metallic equipment is damaging Lorentz by the extensive amount of time being used, alongside the plasma blade being activated on and off to try and lower his defences. Using the trees to my advantage, they are a natural cover for my next movements; a smoke screen of mother nature. Juliette’s way of dealing with Green’s attack is by simply outmanoeuvring and being quicker than him.

All this constant moving, attacking and defending has us leaning closer and closer to the actual warfare nearby us, as the sound of imminent war disturbs our battle.

In some moments, he hyper focuses on me. Whether you want to call it hatred or simply a strategy for a two on one combat, it happens. Using this to her advantage, Juliette gets to freely use her railgun without much preparation. That is why my only job right now is maintaining his attention towards me. So, from now on, I’ll let fate decide what’s the outcome for all I’ll do is get his eyes on me.

Applying different styles of fighting, he now is posing and acting as a lion. With this, he is leaping and trying to claw his way through my foot for me to stop moving so frantically. As a response, I send Lorentz blade pieces to dance around my only enemy in my mind.

Now, being damaged by both my blade and the railgun from Juliette, using my glove for protection is key. Defending myself with my bare hands would be suicide in the long run. For that, a force field repels his attacks ever so slightly to give him the idea that he is closer and closer each time.

Trying to catch me off guard, he switches the animal he imitates and starts climbing the trees, teleporting in between many of them to finally leap towards my back. For a countermeasure, the force field thrower stops him at the bare minimum for him to not brace me. Frustrated slightly, he then devises another way to get me.

Permanently teleporting in and out of battle, he gets a few hits through my reflexes. It is just too much for me to handle at times. Exhaustion is catching up to my body. The only thing maintaining me from total collapse is the will in my mind or spirit; whichever it is, thank you so much, comrade.

Catching him off guard a few times, landing some critical hits in his chin and stomach, I command the blades to stop circling around him like bees and call them to form the whip blade mode. With some gracious movements, I catch him in one of his teleportation tricks.

“Caught you, piece of shit.” Panting by both of us, he seems more tired than I am. Perhaps the constant teleporting is demanding mentally. Let’s test it out, then.

Moving the blade like a saw, I start tearing his skin off thanks to the plasma. It does cut him, it only lacks more strength. Ordering the blades to pierce him, now a combination of my own force and Lorentz’, adding my glove force fields will be the final blow.

Preparing the force field, a slight thundering sound can be heard in the distance. A storm is coming soon. In the same instant that another lightning illuminated Green’s face, I launched my attack of three forces. Fortunately, one of the blades was able to slash his flesh. In a sudden teleportation, the piece of blade is still sticking on him.

Besides, his range of distance travelled has diminished to a point of only a few metres. Because of this, catching him is easier than ever. Punching him with a force field contained in my gloved hand, a concussion is emerging as he is not responding to other stimuli whatsoever. Noticing this, Jules prepares for a powerful railgun attack.

After a few seconds, the piping hot augmented arm is emanating so much heat that the air surrounding it is bending itself as if we were in a desert. Aiming at his head, she shoots the single most powerful shot that she ever shot. A crack on his skull can be heard.

Him dropping to the floor is followed by my exhaustion catching up with me, noticeable as I mimic Green’s previous action. Panting and screaming from the pain and excitement for a challenging battle, Juliette does the same. An explosion of emotion accumulated across 10 minutes of pure concentration.

“Huhu…huhuhu…”

He is still responding. I thought he would be unconscious.

“All roads le-le-lead to re-ed.”

As he says that, he has difficulty grabbing a pill from his pocket. When he does so, he swallows it without hesitation. A cyanide pill? Clueless of what it actually was, Juliette is perturbed and jumps quickly on her two feet.

“Get up, Julian! He is going to get up as a berserker!” Hallucinogens. The vikings used them to rampage and pillage everything in their way. With nothing in their way stopping them, not even their own human limitations as they did not feel any pain, a self destructive uncontrollable monster is born from the combination of a human and a hongus.

Foam and vomit coming out of his mouth, I quickly get up with a force field. Expecting the worst, I order Lorentz to form a normal katana. Although forgotten and underused by me, the thermo-mechanical revolver is still at my waist. Maybe I can distract him with it at most.

With a cracking sound, accommodating his neck, he stands up. Puffing his chest out and looking around, he then makes a comment.

“All roads lead to red.”

An ominous prescription of the future. Then, he instantly re-activates his claws and positions himself to battle, without making a sound.

Leaping in a furious manner, he manages to punch me in the chest as his speed improved significantly. The amount of force behind his augmented arm also drastically changed, sending me backwards and rolling down the hill until a tree stopped my decline.

Cracking his neck once again, he starts to walk fast at me with a menacing look. Using her whip, Juliette grabs him by the neck and pulls him to her while current passes through the wire. Grunting, he is annoyed more than damaged. Grabbing her weapon, he exceeds her strength and overpowers Juliette by throwing her away. With his sight set on me, he continues to walk to me.

“You made me cross a line I could have never imagined myself crossing. Well done. Now die.” Devoid of any emotion, he is only a husk of that prideful monster from before. In his current form he only is… simply put, a walking calamity.

Managing to stand up, using Lorentz as a walking stick, I repose my back against the tree behind me. Throwing force fields at him to disturb him, he only slowed his pace. By the time he reaches me, he comes to a halt.

Looking straight at me, he says. “Why were you… the chosen one…” Mustering his final words, he falls on his knees and drops onto the floor. Kneeling down, checking for signs of life, his throat has no movement whatsoever.

“Huh… Guess I am the only prideful monster now.”

Victorious in our encounter, a sense of glory fills me with joy. Juliette comes after me and helps me to get to the castle.

“C’mon, we are not done yet. This is the last stretch.” Encouraging me, we get increasingly near the warfield of corporate affairs.