บท 9: 8. Shock and Despair
"Courage is the resistance to fear, the mastery of fear, not the absence of fear."
—Mark Twain
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The hall was in disarray, with crystal fragments scattered about and a deep crater in the wall.
The Djinn's eyes were glowing with fiery fury. His imposing presence cast long shadows behind him, amplifying the sense of despair.
Kim Suho, with the Seven Branches Sword in hand, was completely focused. The Djinn's torn uniform, stained with blood spatter, contrasted with his firm and resolute posture. He was waiting... just waiting for the exact moment to strike a decisive blow, his body tense and ready for the attack.
Beside him, Chae Nayun was ready to fire. Dust and sweat stained her face and clothes, but her will to kill the Djinn kept her firm and resolute posture, ready to destabilize the Djinn with her arrows.
Oreki Houtarou, holding the revolvers firmly, watched with intense eyes. His body was prepared to act at the right moment, attentive to every movement of the battle.
The Djinn roared, and his previously injured shoulder closed with astonishing speed. A black and pulsating aura emanated from the being, increasingly threatening.
One could feel the tension; each wrong move could spell the end for the Heroes' side.
Kim Suho took a deep breath, feeling the responsibility of his role. The blade of his sword glowed with mana as he advanced.
"A sure strike," Kim Suho thought, "We can't afford to miss now."
The decisive moment had arrived.
With a resolute stance, he charged at high speed toward the Djinn, his sword lowered and ready to strike.
Upon noticing the swordsman's approach, the Djinn transformed its arms into enormous wolves with mouths full of sharp teeth. The creatures' flaming eyes reflected the Djinn's fury.
Before he could launch his attack, a magical arrow fired by Chae Nayun struck the Djinn's transformed arms, forcing him back and creating an opening. Kim Suho took advantage of the opening and slashed diagonally upward, his sword cutting deep into the Djinn's belly with all the force he could muster.
The sword found its mark, cutting deep into the Djinn's body. The impact was visceral; The blade tore through the creature's flesh, creating a bright, bloody opening.
Furious and wounded, the Djinn began to attempt to regenerate. The high speed of its regeneration was about to heal the open wound.
"I hope this works," Oreki thought.
Infusing the lightning element into his bullet, Oreki aimed accurately and quickly fired a single bullet. The projectile, charged with electrical sparks, cut through the air with an impressive speed, far beyond what was expected of a common pistol.
The bullet passed centimeters from Kim Suho's body and hit the Djinn's still-not-fully-regenerated wound.
Upon colliding with the wound, the bullet released an intense electrical discharge. The electricity coursed through the wound, causing significant additional damage.
Oreki kept his gaze fixed on the Djinn, his brain working at full speed. "If I can't get Suho to evolve now, we'll be in trouble later." he thought, his eyes shining with the intensity of the moment.
Chae Nayun, a little behind, pulled the bowstring again, feeling the tension in her muscles. She focused on the Djinn, following her instincts, she found the best trajectory for her arrows. With a fierce expression, she released the first arrow, which went at high speed, hitting the target with precision.
"Die quickly," thought Chae Nayun, her mind focused on the task.
The Djinn, now surrounded, struggled to defend itself from the incessant attacks. Its arms, transformed into wild wolves, blocked Suho's blows, but the collaboration between Oreki and Chae Nayun was destabilizing its movements, making them less precise.
Oreki's electrified bullets caused involuntary spasms in its muscles, while Nayun's arrows found gaps in the creature's defenses, tearing flesh with each impact.
"Damn humans!" roared the Djinn, his voice reverberating with hatred and contempt. "I will not be defeated so easily!"
Then, with a bestial howl, the Djinn began to change. His body contorted grotesquely, letting out sickening sounds of bones cracking and flesh rearranging. He expanded until he was five meters tall.
His black fur became even thicker, his muscles pulsing and visibly growing stronger. His eyes, once merely burning, now resembled flames that made the Djinn hungry, devouring any vestige of hope in the hearts of those who looked at him.
The few wounds on the Djinn's body were healing quickly, his flesh regenerating at an alarming rate. His physical presence became even more formidable, transforming him into a threat far greater than what just three cadets could handle.
Oreki felt a chill run down his spine as he watched the transformation. "This doesn't make sense…" he thought, frowning in concern. "This Djinn was never this strong in the original story. Was my theory correct?"
Suho, stunned by the sudden transformation, jumped back, his eyes wide with a mix of shock and apprehension.
He had faced terrifying beings before in his other life, but the creature in front of him was different. "This is beyond what I expected," he thought, struggling to maintain his composure. He was doubtful that he could handle this.
He prepared himself to react quickly, adapting his strategy to maximize the impact of the next attack.
Chae Nayun, even further back, felt a shiver of fear as she saw the Djinn's new form. Her fingers trembled slightly around the bowstring, panic threatening her concentration.
The weight of the situation began to suffocate her. "We won't let this defeat us," she thought, trying to steel her expression, but her mind was on the brink of chaos. "If he gets to me... it will be the end."
With adrenaline rising, she forced herself to focus more magical energy on her arrows, But every second that passed only increased the pressure. "What if what Oreki said was right?" Dark thoughts invaded his mind. "No... I need to get it right. I need to...".
Suho's heart was pounding in his chest, panic threatening to overtake him. He tried to force himself to think rationally, but images of death invaded his mind. "If I get it wrong, we will all die here. This... this cannot happen." Suho took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.
The Djinn, now a giant wolf monstrosity, let out a deep growl and advanced on Kim Suho with frightening speed.
"Watch out!" Chae Nayun shouted, her voice tense.
The ground shook beneath the wolf Djinn's paws, its claws slashing through the air toward the swordsman. Suho barely had time to react. He raised his sword at the last moment, blocking the attack, but the force of the impact sent him sliding backward. Sparks flew as metal met the monster's claws, and Suho felt his arms tremble with the effort. "Damn it… it's stronger than I thought," he muttered, his eyes fixed on the Djinn.
Despite his initial shock, Oreki forced himself to remain calm, trying to analyze the situation. "What caused this change? No, I need to stay focused."
Anger began to bubble up inside him, self-blame only increasing the pressure on his mind. "How could I let this happen? Damn it, I should have killed him before all this shit happened!" He clenched his free hand so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"Incompetent," a cold, familiar voice whispered in his mind. That voice emerged again, venomous and sarcastic.
Meanwhile, Chae Nayun shook off her fear, firing a series of mana-woven arrows at the Djinn, each one heading straight for it. The arrows hit their target, but only seemed to anger the creature, who let out a howl of fury.
But the voice in Oreki's mind continued: "Do you really think you'll get away with this, Oreki? You failed, again. And now you're going to die for it."
"Did you really think it would be that easy? Pathetic. Look what you've done. Now we are at the mercy of a monster that you should have destroyed."
His thoughts raced at high speed, searching for a way to bring down this threat. "I need other elements; lightning alone won't penetrate this hair and muscle. Our only hope so far is Kim Suho."
But the inner voice mocked: "Yes, depend on Suho. Because clearly, you can't do anything alone."
Oreki gritted his teeth, trying to push the voice away as he prepared himself for what was to come. "I… I will find a way. I will…"
Oreki infused his mana into the bullets of his revolver. Some bullets began to glow with intense light, others crackled with electricity, and still others burned with small flames. "I did it."
With a sharp click, he fired.
The electrifying bullets hit the Djinn. Although they didn't pierce him, they sent shockwaves through his body. The light bullets were launched directly behind Kim Suho, emitting a blinding flash, and the fire bullets were thrown towards the enemy, slightly irritating its black fur. The Djinn roared, its body shaking with fury.
The beast let out a howl of hatred, momentarily diverting its attention from Suho.
"Good!" Nayun shouted, continuing to fire arrows, each time with more condensed mana.
"We can't let it regenerate!" Suho shouted, taking advantage of the distraction to counterattack.
With a swift movement, he struck the Djinn's paw, trying to limit its mobility. The blade didn't split the paw in two, but managed to open a deep cut.
The Djinn, still furious, attacked Kim Suho again with the claws of its other paw. This time, the blow landed squarely, tearing the left side of Suho's abdomen.
"Ahhh!"
Suho screamed in pain, blood beginning to ooze from the wound. He staggered back, but remained standing, a burning will in his eyes. "I won't go down... so easily," he thought, gritting his teeth in pain.
Chae Nayun continued to fire arrows from afar, each shot more desperate than the last. "Suho, hold on tight!" She screamed, her voice thick with rage. The arrows dug into the Djinn's body, but the creature seemed relentless, ignoring the pain.
Oreki realized they needed a longer distraction. "May a deity protect me," he ,muttered to himself. He ran toward the Djinn, his heart pounding.
"Hey, big wolf! How's your body doing after all those attacks?" he shouted, as he fired luminous bullets to attract the creature's attention. The Djinn turned, its flaming eyes fixed on Oreki.
The giant wolf advanced on Oreki with animalistic ferocity, and one of Kim Suho's blood-stained claws.
Oreki, anticipating the attack, activated his enhanced flow state. Time seemed to slow down around him, but even with this advantage, he felt the weight of pressure on his mind, the inner voice taunting him. "You're going to miss."
The Djinn's claws passed millimeters from his face, but one of them, the blood-stained ones, found his chest, tearing his flesh with a burning heat. "Damn..." He staggered back, blood beginning to flow from the wound.
After wounding Kim Suho and scratching Oreki, the Djinn's claws began to glow with an ominous light. A sense of dread took over Suho. "What's happening?" his mind screamed in warning.
Memories began to be sucked in, scenes from their lives flashing in the Djinn's eyes. "No... you don't want these," Oreki growled, feeling the invasion, but his mind remained sharp, searching for an opportunity.
Kim Suho also felt the same invasion, "This won't stop me," he thought, trying to ignore the pain and confusion.
Chae Nayun, seeing her friends in danger, redoubled her attacks, firing arrows more ferociously. Each arrow was an attempt to stop the Djinn.
As the Djinn continued to absorb the memories, Oreki and Kim Suho prepared for their next move.
"Idiot, be careful not to absorb my bad jokes! The last thing you need is to get bogged down in puns like me!" Oreki mocked, using his humor as a weapon.
Now focused on Oreki, the Djinn growled in irritation, which made him barely notice Kim Suho's movement. With burning determination, Suho channeled his magical power through the sword. An aura of metal enveloped the blade, preparing it for the attack.
Suho acted quickly. With a fluid and precise movement, he activated his gift technique, "Holy Sword," and aimed it straight at the Djinn's neck. The cutting blade shone brightly, as if promising to annihilate any threat.
As the blade struck the Djinn, there was a brief resistance, but the sword sliced through the monster's flesh, causing a deep gash that caused the Djinn to let out a snarl of pain. The flash of the technique illuminated the battlefield, and a glimmer of hope appeared in Kim Suho's eyes.
However, before Suho could seize the moment, a metallic cracking sound rang out. The blade of the sword began to crack, and with a violent crack, it broke into two pieces. The steel, now useless, fell to the ground in shards.
The Djinn, enraged by the injury, unleashed a circular blast of dark mana, howling with a terrifying roar. The overwhelming power of the blow threw Kim Suho and Oreki away, throwing them with devastating force.
"Argh!" Kim Suho groaned as he was thrown backwards, his body colliding violently with the ground. The broken sword slipped from his hands as he struggled to recover from the impact, dazed and struggling to breathe.
Oreki, on the other hand, had unfortunate luck. He was thrown upwards with an unexpected force, his vision spinning as he was catapulted through the air. The sensation of being propelled without control left him disoriented.
To make matters worse, he passed directly through a large hole in the ceiling, as if thrown by an invisible force. In the air, Oreki struggled to balance himself, his confused mind trying to understand what was happening.
"This wasn't in the script!" Oreki shouted, nervousness mixed with a desperate mood as he tried to stabilize his fall. When he finally landed, it was hard and awkward, the impact aggravating his wounds and causing intense pain throughout his body.
As he touched down, he heard the dry, sharp cracks of whips cutting through the silence, adding a layer of tension to the atmosphere. "Whip sounds..." Oreki muttered, his thoughts focused on the source of the sound.
"YOO YEONHA!" Oreki shouted, still dazed and struggling to compose himself. His heart was pounding with worry, forcing him to move in the direction of the sounds. However, he stopped abruptly, indecision taking over his confused mind.
While in his enhanced flow state, Oreki quickly assessed the situation: "The Djinn we were facing was clearly weakened. My elemental bullets, Chae Nayun's condensed mana arrows, and Kim Suho's strikes were taking their toll."
Kim Suho was a formidable swordsman, and together with Chae Nayun, they had a real chance of defending themselves.
Yoo Yeonha was physically weaker. The desperation in the sound of the whip indicated that she was in trouble. "She's losing," Oreki thought, urgency rising in his chest.
"Your constant barrage of arrows and sword strikes will keep the Djinn busy," he decided about Suho and Nayun. "But Yeonha needs help now."
Before moving toward the sound, Oreki scanned the room with a keen eye, until his eyes settled on a sword encased in an ancient windowpane.
"This will do," he muttered, approaching the display case. As he prepared to break the glass, Oreki used his CC, immediately feeling a deep connection between mind and body.
With momentum and focus, he summoned the muscle fibers and used the necessary muscle to throw a straight right into the window.
The window gave way instantly, shattering into pieces with an impact that seemed soft despite its devastating force. Wasting no time, Oreki grabbed the sword.
The blade Oreki held in his hands had a peculiar sheen, with a slightly wavy edge that reflected the light in an almost hypnotic pattern. The handle was wrapped in dark leather, with ancient inscriptions carved in silver. The handguard had an elegant design, curving slightly upwards, like wings about to unfold. The metal of the blade emanated a feeling of coolness to the touch.
Oreki, already aware of his 'Basic Versatility' skill, infused the sword with the light element. Although he knew he could choose from a few elemental effects, he had not fully mastered the skill and thus did so instinctively. He felt the light spread across the blade, imbuing it with a radiant energy.
Oreki, making sure he had done it correctly, felt the significant use of his mana. "I can't fail," he thought, determined to give Suho and Nayun a decisive advantage and Yeonha the time she needed.
Bracing himself, Oreki threw the sword accurately through the hole, watching the blade glow brightly, cutting through the air toward the Djinn. Even though he knew the sword would probably miss the enemy, he made the weapon look like a menacing projectile.
"This is for you, Suho," he murmured, with a slight smile of satisfaction as he watched the sword disappear from view.
The sword hurtled toward the Djinn, who was staring at the pair in front of him. Kim Suho, panting and on the verge of exhaustion from the devastating blow, felt the presence of the sword before he even saw it. With the strength he had left, he reached out and grabbed the hilt of the blade just as it passed, feeling the light energy flow through him.
A sense of calm and serenity immediately spread throughout his body, without Suho understanding why.
"This feeling… must be the sword," Suho deduced in surprise as the light energy flowed through him. He felt his strength return and his spirit flared with renewed hope for victory.
The Djinn, sensing the change in the atmosphere, turned its attention to Suho. Its flaming eyes now shone with renewed fury, but also with a hint of caution. The presence of that sword was something it had not expected.
"I will finish this now!" Suho shouted, his voice echoing across the battlefield. With a war cry, he charged forward with the sword wrapped in light, delivering a powerful blow that aimed for the Djinn's head.
While Suho and Nayun fought, Oreki, his mana draining and his body clearly deteriorated, decided to launch himself towards Yoo Yeonha. The movement seemed almost automatic, a reflection of his determination at its best, despite the pain and exhaustion consuming him.
"My mana is running out," Oreki thought, noting the paleness of his skin and the open wounds. But his mind was cold, disregarding the physical suffering. He had used almost all of his mana on the Sword.
"My body is injured, but I must endure," he mused, his observations relentless and detached from the physical pain. The pain of broken bones and wounds seemed almost irrelevant to him.
Calculating the time needed, he thought, "If we can defeat this Djinn in less than 2 minutes, I can still return to help Suho and Nayun." Determined, he moved forward, each step driven by his unwavering willpower.
As he moved forward, a sense of disconnection enveloped him. The situation he was in seemed like a distant scene. "This would be more interesting if I could play," he muttered calmly.
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