Pride Against Honor

The Epic had not stopped for a single second.

Despite her massive size, she was incredibly aggressive and accelerated quite a little faster, and specifically targeted me. She slipped out of the rough surface and approached me as if she were floating in mid-air. She then sprang into the air and waved her left hand at me.

It wasn't a problem for me to get away from the blow, since I roughly guessed where her attack would come.

However, the nails on the tips of her fingers developed faster and became larger. As a result, the fact that they were pointed and sharp like razors was a major disadvantage for me.

I even jumped backward to avoid her. Then, leaning against the wall for support, I put both feet in front of me with all my might, my gaze fixed on her chest. I moved quickly to keep up with her moves and hit her to make her pause.

But just as I was about to approach her, she stopped me with a fast block of her hands. Not only that, but she grabbed my leg and began hitting my body on the ground, while still holding me.

When she threw me out again, she once again started gliding after me. And as soon as I got stuck to the wall, she tried to hit me with her tail again.

That was the perfect time to use my plan at that moment.

And it was also quite suitable for my plan to use her tail.

That's why, on the one hand, I was running away from her and, on the other, I wanted her to hit me. And, just as I had predicted, she was gliding fast and keeping a close eye on me. Attacking my every area as she found it empty.

I swindled her almost all over the room.

I was even responding to her attacks now and then so she wouldn't realize what I was up to, and I was instilling a specific thinking pattern in her mind. In this sort of way, her brain would not notice and become accustomed to doing something specific, and she would be irritated by my movements while attempting to catch me doing it.

On the other hand, her aggressiveness was morphing into a rage, which manifested itself when she couldn't capture me.

"Where do you think you're running off to! You know too that you can't escape..."

At that moment, she launched an unexpected attack, cutting me off with her tail, and when I tried to flee, she used her arms to beat me, throwing me to the location where Mila was tied. When I flew, my ears were ringing so loudly that my veins shook inside me. It was as if I had been struck by a massive metallic weapon swung at breakneck speed. So I could feel the bones in my chest shattering and rattling fiercely as I flew.

I was in pure pain and agony.

And just as I was about to get up again, she sneaked up behind me and stepped up beside me. She aimed a spear she had picked up from the ground at me and attempted to stab me.

But it wasn't her continual attacks that were the worst part; it was my response to them.

When the time arrived for her to get close enough to me with her plan, I was completely concentrated on my body pain and couldn't think of anything secondary to prevent it. I was just standing there, looking at her shocked by a very sudden attack that she made.

And as well it could be, There could be no escaping it.

But as I was near to take her blow, Mila, cutting through our battle, screamed, like her lungs were about to explode.

Her voice was so loud and shrill that it caused us both to stand motionless where we were, gnashing and gritting our teeth. It was less painful than when I was hit earlier, but much, much more uncomfortable.

Mentally, she was putting a huge burden on us as a person.

But knowing that, that was my chance, I acted upon it.

When I was about to take the blow, Mila used her strength to scream in the direction of the epic, causing her to be stunned by the effect of the wave. And knowing this opportunity, I jumped up high and, moving myself higher by taking steps, I threw an extremely solid blow in the face.

The creaking and pressing sound caused by the maxilla and the mandible bone in her jaw rubbing together, came out clearly, and her wobbling face went back expeditiously. And sliding backward under the impact of my fist, she fell on top of the column, and with that, I had achieved what I wanted.

As a result of the cracks, we had created a hole in the wall, due to the blows and the breakage of the columns, and water streams had started to come from around.

This was a plan that I had discovered earlier, finding out where exactly the water channels were flowing and connecting. While swimming through them earlier and looking at exactly where they came out of the wall, I noticed that they actually flow on a certain current in the area where we are.

I didn't know exactly where its source had reached, but I also had put it in exactly the situation it was supposed to save me from, and it was now ready for usage.

The Epic realized what I was doing, so she crawled uncertainly to the right and left, planning to make a surprise attack on me, even though we both knew that our situation would be even direr soon after that. She acted faster than me, she wrapped me up with her tail before I could move.

She also had put pressure on my bones, which were writhing in pain before, and now put me in an even more difficult situation.

I couldn't move my arms and feet, and she wanted to finish me off now at last.

"Ryuu! Get rid of her! You will both drown if you don't!" Mila shouted as she was getting more horrified by the water flowing in and my screams full of pain.

She was desperate just like me. But the epic's greed came before her emotions.

"Silence! You have served enough as prey, so know your place!" And then turning once again to me, she added,

"You're not gonna get away from me this time, you little rat! I'll finish you in the most rotting and nauseating way I can! So you won't just run anyway again!"

When she picked up the spear that she had to finish my job, the waters in the cracks started flowing faster, and they finally came to the brink of breaking. It could have flooded anywhere at any time, and we being right beneath it, was making it easier for us to get stuck here.

Her losing herself to her greed and locking me up well, were maybe the worst two combinations I could have thought of at that moment. And not realizing the big rocks above her head, were making it two times harder for me.

So even if I didn't have any idea to get rid of it, I should have tried something and gotten away from the situation I was in.

"It's time for you to go back to your ancestors!"

"No! Ryuu!"

At that moment, the epic, because of she no longer cared about anything anymore, she dealt me a solid blow on the head and squeezed me tighter, making the blow land on me much easier.

My head bled and I tilted it down, making myself immobilized from the attack that she made.

But that wasn't all. Not all from me.

The epic, on the other hand, relaxed my body slowly, and confidently, looked at my body when she thought I was dead. She thought her job was done and started talking in a sarcastic tone.

"How piteous..."

And made herself the one under a trap.

Because that was the only way I could move my arms and she didn't realize a thing. They weren't tight anymore and I could do what I had on my mind. I just shouldn't have moved it until the time came.

"I just wanted to have a little bit more fun, you know?"

Now was time.

As soon as his epic freed me a little, I used my nails, which had become sharpened and turned into claws, on my hands. I was now faster and stronger than before, so I handled my maneuvers properly, albeit imperfectly, and turned around in the palm, leaving a long scar.

I was now in the middle of the air trying to find another point I could attack. But while I did that, on the other hand, with the pain of her palm, came a loud scream. And later, it will have angered her that she looked at me with wide-open eyes.

But I didn't fear much. I just continued what I intended to, and aimed for her shoulder.

She noticed that I was going to land on her shoulder, and so she moved her hand towards it. But the plan I had in mind was to target her back, not her shoulder exactly. So I slid off her shoulder, on point and slippery, and I went over her back, leaving a wound on her shoulder. It had just made her scream more and more, but I was just getting started. When I got to her back, I started going up and every time I made a move, I left deep wounds on her back.

And when she tried to put her hands on her back this time, but much more aggressively, I jumped up, stepped on her hands, and I threw myself back into the air. Then controlling my body, I landed on her collarbones while her hands were on her back.

I raised my hand and tried to land a solid blow after gathering more power on my hand, and thought it would get her down, but this time she caught up to me and to my speed, and threw me against the wall, grabbing me from my waist.

This stunned me big time and increased the amount of running water. And because of this, epic has once again won the chance to attack me.

"Now I will end you!"

But it was a mistake for her to approach me like that.

As soon as she approached me, I got out of the smoke that had formed and pointed my paws at her directly. This got her and caused her to retreat.

"Damn it!"

But even her withdrawal led to the formation of the second variant of my offensive attack. As she retreated, I became more comfortable seeing her jaw and aimed it at a certain point. I landed on her neck and landed heavy blows under her chin, again and again.

She tried to grab me by the neck and throw me once more, but at that moment I jumped up and landed on her forehead, looking very deeply into her eyes.

Finally, stopping for a moment, to look at each other, and see what more happened to each other.

To my surprise, she was the one who first fell.

Her eyes were full of fear and despair.

No one could look at these particular eyes, all this long time. And this made it, the situation, and me, the first one. This cruel creature, which has turned people to stone for generations and taken innocent people's lives, was now drowning in its own fear, and perhaps for the first time in its life, it has tasted helplessness.

And I, on the other hand, was looking at those eyes of her with hatred.

The sparkle of my eyes, a deep color flowing through them as if it were blood, appeared on the spot, exactly in the middle. It was for me to look into her soul and give her a taste of her own medicine, even though my words couldn't reach her. I could see and hear all her hopes, goals, and fears, while as I heard the ones who died on her path.

All this was, right in front of me.

"You are just in a long dream that you can't wake up, Kid. Those are thoughts you gather in your mind, because of how much you are scared to face the reality. It's just a game you play, because you want to live peacefully every day! But in the end, the devils in your mind will actually show you, how real the world can be!"

"Then tell me. What is the thing behind those "demons"?"

She just stood there, getting confused about what I was saying. And tried to find an answer in a shocked manner.

"Behind that? What the hell do you think behind those? Nothing! Because that is the last point you can get. Don't carry about your own imaginary scenarios, or it will be the end of you!"

"No. No, that is not the end of that line."

"What are you talking about? You are just-"

"The thing behind those "demons" is how weak they are. Who they truly are and how they can be defeated. You never got there, because you were too scared and those things didn't let you get behind. Because they were too scared just like you. They didn't want to show their "real" side. And for that, you are the one who is weak. Not me."

"What! How are you!? You scumbag! You dirty little, Kid! You will pay for this! You hear me! Pay for this!"

It was her final moment of seeing a normal human being's face.

But it was horrifying, and was the end of her.

And so on carrying my purpose, I raised my hand in the air quickly and landed one last blow.

The epic was now laid on the ground. And when she was knocked down, a key fell off her. This fallen key was undoubtedly the key to the princess's handcuffs. So without a moment's thought, I took out the spear in my chest and headed for the keys. Later, I freed princess Mila from the chain where she was and checked on her. Even Princess Mila was looking at me in amazement.

But the bad thing was that I was forgetting one more big thing. My power, which I had, came to an end in an instant. That solid power in my body, that power that sharpened my vision, increased my speed, and made me feel like hard metal, disappeared out of nowhere.

I didn't feel anything at first. Just a nice, comfortable breeze hit my body and I felt the warmth of my body. It was very soothing. The few seconds I had there were very peaceful. But only until that moment.

As soon as I ran out of power, I felt the void created by the hole in my chest.

Now the small hole I felt with a little breeze, became bigger. And I, fell to the ground.

Mila gave a terrified scream at that moment and ran straight towards my body. She was trying to figure out how I got away, and how I ended up in a situation like this.

But before I had a chance to talk, I found myself on the floor.

"Ryuu! Hang in there a little longer. I'll get you out of here!"

And as soon as I saw the water flowing through the cracks, my eyes closed again.