Chapter 38: - His Final Stand
At first it was subtle, then it became more and more of a headache for Alan, who was in the midst of battling a man who he could barely see.
Other than the faint appearance of after images that appeared all around him, and the stinging sensation of a cut that appeared on his side, he had no way of tracking where the man was coming from, or where he was going.
Whirling his head this way and that, all Alan could see surrounding him was the subtle signs of afterimages, caught for only a breath in his eyes before quickly disappearing.
And just as he was about to accept that he could never catch this mysterious man who had showed up, out of the corner of his eyes he saw 'him.'
'Cain.'
It was for only a second, but he could swear that he saw him, standing not too far away, his hands behind his back, his face blanketed by some cold and emotionless expression.
Alan didn't know what came over him, but the moment his eyes landed on Cain, who disappeared soon after, he began frantically searching for him.
Left, right, ahead, behind. In all directions, Alan's body turned and turned, occasionally catching sight of Cain, who stood, arms behind his back in some elegant fashion, before he disappeared soon after, causing Alan to begin his search all over again.
He no longer cared about the blur surrounding him, or the constant appearance of various wounds, cuts, and bruises. He was too injured to put up a decent fight, so he saw no reason to focus on fighting the blur, who would easily overpower him given the chance.
It wasn't long before Alan became over come with fear, his heart searching everywhere for the man who caused such terror to rise in his bones.
And as he turned, his body gave way, and suddenly, there he was, standing before him, his hand clutching his throat.
Through his labored breathing, and the obvious signs of his windpipe crushing, Alan barely managed more than a few words.
"Y-You….I kne…knew you…would co-come."
"You knew? Quite the obvious and doubtful attempt at some fallen honor."
"Wh-What?"
Alan couldn't comprehend what Cain was saying, but he soon began to notice that the blur that was once surrounding them had disappeared. All that was left was them. Cain clutching his throat, and the fear that crept up and rose within Alan.
Him, Cain, and the fear that binds them.
'No wonder the blur's gone. He wanted his revenge himself.'
"So..What do…y-you want?"
"What do I want?"
Cain tilted his head, obvious signs of dominance and superiority creeping onto his face, but it did not fool Alan.
'Fake.'
"Do..Don't pre-pretend."
Some small signs of surprise crept onto Cain's face before quickly disappearing, his unusual demeanor replacing what had once been.
"Pretend? Oh, no Alan. I'm not pretending."
Bringing their faces closer together, Cain whispered in Alan's ear, his voice quiet, but filled with murderous intent.
"I'm as real as that fear you feel."
As Alan's eyes widened in shock, he suddenly felt his body thrown back, a crushing and full forced pressure rammed into his back, before the pain subsided.
Only taking a moment, Alan knew quickly that he had been thrown into the chambers walls, and like before as he had noted, Cain would most likely attack him while he was immobilized.
Instead, Alan wasn't about to give into that false sense of superiority that Cain felt. He threw himself from the crevice in the wall, just before Cain's fist embedded itself into the stone.
Scrambling over the fallen debris, Alan quickly set himself upright before he felt a prickling feeling coming from his side, narrowly dodging Can's fist as it flew past his head.
Pushing against the ground, Alan tried to distance himself from Cain, but failed in doing so.
In the midst of battle, Alan had forgotten that he was gravely injured, and thus, overestimated his strength before pushing off the ground, tripping and stumbling before Cain.
As Cain threw his next punch, Alan raised his arms in some manner of small defense from the attack he knew would hurt.
"Good reflexes."
A flurry of punches came after that, too many for Alan himself to count, and he solely focused on keeping some parts of his body protected. Though what little that did.
With each punch, Alan flet several miniature shockwaves being sent out, vibrating the very bones in his body.
And with one solid punch to his gut, Cain sent him flying against the wall. Though the punch didn't embed him into the rock face behind him, it did leave quite the large crevice in the stone.
While the force of the punch did make him queasy, Alan had enough of his head together to dodge the incoming attack that Cian sent, his fist once again driving itself deep into stone next to his head.
Throwing himself out from under Cain, Alan found himself behind Cain, taking the opportunity to pick up a sword from off the ground.
Though the tip was somewhat broken and the body of the blade didn't seem fairly intact, Alan didn't care. He followed a strict code when it came to fighting.
'A weapon is a weapon. Even if it's in the hands of a child a sword can kill. But in the hands of a master, even a stick can be a weapon.'
As Cain pulled his fist out from the rock wall, he turned to Alan and quietly spoke.
"You asked me what I want. Well then, shall we get down to it?"
Confused, Alan din hesitated to raise his broken sword, which Cain regarded as nothing more than a twig in his eyes.
"Get down to what?"
'Even a stick can kill in the hands of a master.'
He silently thought to himself, as he began to look for any obvious openings that Cain would leave, his pride possibly getting the best of him.
"Your death."
'But a stick in the eyes of a master, is still a stick.'
Alan froze, paralyzed and his body refusing to move. His mind silently working away at the words, the logic, the possibilities.
'Did…did I just hear that.'
To others who might have listened in on their conversation, they would have heard only a normal threat, a back and forth squabble between two fighters.
But what was different from a normal squabble, was the fact that, even the onlookers could feel some sense of fear inside themselves, as if something they could not comprehend had just transpired.
But Alan could.
What sounded like Cain's voice had been heard within his head, but not his ears. Not to mention the fact of the words themselves.
'Can…Can he hear me?'
Cain showed no signs of responding to Alan's unspoken question, but Alan knew better than to take a risk as deadly as this.
'I can't have him hearing me. If he can read my mind, I just have to think on my feet.'
Heading his own words, Alan clutched the sword's hilt, gripping it tightly, before he pushed off the ground towards Cain.
If his wounds would hinder him in battle, then he would use them to his advantage.
At the moment, he was working against his body, which was screaming at him to calm down, and rest. But he knew he couldn't do that, so instead, Alan pushed his body to the limits, only stopping when he needed fast and quick actions that only his tired limbs could achieve.
Thrusting his sword towards Cain's head, he prepared himself for the backlash that he knew would come.
Cain, like always, easily dodged the attack by tilting his head sideways, allowing the sword's blade to slip past, and strike empty air.
Letting the blade fall, Cain swiped his arm horizontally across the air, but surprisingly, struck empty air.
"Hm?"
As Alan had predicted, Cain had dodged his attack, and had even struck back against him. But unlike what Cain had expected, Alan had relaxed his aching leg muscles, which caused him to drop to the ground almost immediately.
Alan had used his wounded body to his advantage.
Pushing off the ground, he distanced himself from Cain, getting back into position all before Cain had even made his first move.
"Impressive I will say. To use your own body like that…I've never seen it before."
Thinking for a moment while stroking his chin, Cain shrugged before he began to slowly walk in Alan's direction.
"But then again, no one I know has ever been that injured before."
"Oh, then what about her?"
Stopping, Cain's eyes narrowed as he stared blankly at Alan.
'Looks like my taunting worked.'
Alan was, in fact, trying to anger Cain, hoping the man would make some mistake in his attacks, leaving an opening for Alan. One that Cain couldn't doge.
"That was a mistake."
However, contrary to what Alan was expecting, Cain's face just grew colder as his empty eyes peered back, deep into Alan's.
"A mistake? Why? Because I pointed out your weakness?"
"No."
-Clack -Clack -Clack
As Cain's loud but rhythmic steps echoed through the air, Alan found himself instinctively stepping back, his mind somewhat working for itself.
"Because you just reminded me of why I'm trying to kill you."
Like a blur, Cain disappeared from his spot, before appearing beside Alan, thrusting his forward in a threatening attack.
Using the sword, Alan was able to parry his fist away from his body, by using both his hands on the blunt edges of the weapon.
What happened next demonstrated the extent of Cain's anger, as his fist, which had hit nothing but air, created a massive shockwave that sent a powerful breeze flying in every direction.
Similarly, Cain twisted his body, slamming his fist into Alan's sword, sending another shockwave blasting out. Though Alan tried to fall back several steps, he eventually succumbed to the force and was sent flying back.
There was no breath for the weary however, because just as Alan stopped himself, planting his foot into the ground, Cain appeared above him, his fist reared back ready for another atack.
Alan didn't even bother to parry, he simply threw himself out from the line of fire, as Cain sent his fist crushing deep into the stone ground.
But Alan severely underestimated Cain's power, as the force behind the attack sent the very ground flying into the air, along with him. And before long, Alan found himself right back where he started, slamming against a wall.
"F*ck, not again."
He groaned, pulling himself from the rubble.
However, before he even had the chance to do so, he sensed another incoming attack, narrowly able to dodge it, by hunkering down in the dirt and rubble.
"Too late!"
Cain screamed as his foot plunged into the rock face, sending an even bigger shockwave out, and creating a large crater in the wall.
Pushing off, Cain twisted his body in the air, before landing in front of Alan, who raised his blade, attempting to stab at his stomach.
However, Cain was quick to react, grabbing the sword blade, which Alan was still gripping tightly, and twisted his body sending Alan flying along with the sword.
Smiling, Cain disappeared from his spot, before appearing above Alan, who had kicked hard in the stomach, slamming the man into the ground.
"Doesn't feel nice to be thrown around like a rag doll now does it?"
Lifting his body upwards so that he was facing Alan's crumpled body on the floor, Cain pushed off some invisible wall in the air, twisting his body in the air and flying full force at the unsuspecting Alan.
By some miracle, Alan was not crushed by the impact force, though the same could not be said for the ground.
As Cain's foot came in contact with the ground the entirety of the front chambers floor was shattered like glass at the force of the impact, sending rubble and debris flying everywhere.
For those watching, they were thrown to their knees at the sheet vibrations the impact sent out, as they clutched whatever solid mass they could find for support.
However, unlike those few who luckily were able to come out unharmed by the impact, the same could not be said for Alan, as his body fell against the cracked rubble, showing no signs of moving.
His body laid there, flimsy and relaxed, as if every bone in his body had been broken and he could no longer move.
To the onlookers, they concluded that he must have died on impact. But to Cain, who glanced wearlily at his feet, deeply embedded into the ground, he had a somewhat different idea.
Narrowing his eyes, he turned his head to glance at, what appeared to be, the dead body of Alan.
"Get up. I know that's not all."
His voice was quiet, as it neither rose to the level of yelling, but it neither fell to the sound of whispering. But the silence surrounding the air made it almost impossible to tell, as his voice could be heard clearly from any place in the chamber.
As his eyes passed squarely over Alan's body, Cain could see the subtle signs of small flashes of light that appeared underneath him.
And like that, Alan's body slowly picked itself up from where he had fallen, his bones making the disturbing sound of cracking back into place.
As Cain made eye contact with Alan, he was met only with the two glowing eyes of his, as small bursts of light cracked from his body, shooting towards the ground.
"Lightning. So then Alan Vargo, you plan on fighting seriously?"
Alan said nothing, as he silently glared back at Cain.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone