บท 43: Interruption
Ten gave chase first as Lukas ran. Thirteen balled up as much of his lifeforce as he could, pulled Nine to his feet, and sent that wave of life barreling through his friend's body. It would be a painful experience for him, bearing that much foreign energy being forced through the body; But they didn't have time to take things slowly. That amount of lifeforce would quickly begin to bolster his own, healing his wounds and restoring his fatigue.
Thirteen didn't wait any longer, leaving Nine to recover as he dashed after Ten and their target. He doubted that Lukas Junill could run from them. Not only were they VERY good at moving through thick foliage and woods at high speeds, they also each possessed a metahuman's agility and the Lightness technique.
Lukas on the other hand never employed Lightness during their battle, only using his cultivated version of Anchoring to increase his mass.
Thirteen was proven correct as he soon saw Ten in in the distance, clashing with Lukas while still on the move. Ten employed her Phasing technique to travel short distances very quickly, allowing her to strike him without worrying about falling behind, and every hit of hers was both disorienting to the soul and qi.
Thirteen might not be affected by the latter, having cultivated lifeforce rather than pure qi, but he had experienced the former way too often in their spars. It would feel like she hit you in the head and dizzied you, no matter where she actually hit.
This was what made him and Ten a great combo. They each possessed strength and agility to overcome most with pure momentum, and fearful abilities to drain and disrupt their energy with each hit, preventing foes from fighting at their fullest and regaining control. Thirteen was saddened to think that one day, when the distinction between body and qi cultivation grew, Ten might no longer fight in the melee with him.
Thirteen summoned the longsword he had collected earlier and readied to throw it like a spear. This was a difficult technique to get the hang of, and of course would never serve better than a true spear or javelin, being poorly shaped and balanced for the task. But in these shorter ranges, when employing his supernatural strength and control, he could certainly make great use of it.
His right hand rested at the crossguard, his fingers positioned to support the weapon as he jumped into the air, avoiding the issue of his running steps interfering with his aim.
He didn't need to draw strength from his legs and the ground, the rotation of his body would be plenty. With one fierce motion of his entire body, the longsword was hurled forward like a bolt of lightning, aimed directly for the back of Lukas Junill.
Never let it be said that a veterans instincts would wane with age however, as the 50 year old man spun his large and imposing frame around, his feet dragging through the ground for an instant before he increased his mass heavily, becoming too heavy for the inertia to push him forward any more.
Lukas' feet dug into the dirt slightly, before he redirected as much of that mass as possible to his left arm while still having the strength to wield it. He did all of this in an instant, never stopping his motions, as he leaned in to one heavy left strike aimed directly at the sword point!
The sound of collision was sharp and painful to the ears. The sword drew blood on Lukas hand, but did not pierce through it. Instead it was the blade that bent greatly, too greatly. It snapped with a harsh noise, the metal bending back and forth as the front half of the longsword's blade pushed off the impenetrable hand with incredible speed, spinning as it shot elsewhere, before finally stabbing deep into the large man's right chest.
It stabbed. Deeply!
Thirteen was amazed at every step of that encounter, and his mind was working overtime to dissect what had happened. Meanwhile his body was straightening itself as he fell from his short jump, landing still with some of his prior momentum and immediately picking up into a sprint.
Just as Thirteen had landed on the ground and Lukas was realising he had been stabbed by the shattered sword, the smaller Ten stuck up to his right side, hitting him with a strong left palm, producing cracking noises from the man's ribs, as she kept moving. Lukas leaned right from the shock, lowering his right chest towards Ten as her right hand came flying up to it in an arc, delivering what could only be called a slap directly onto the end of the sword blade stabbed into his chest.
Lukas roared in shock and pain as the blade was driven through his body and the clapping hand eventually made contact with his chest, disrupting any false mass gathered there and once more disorienting his soul and — by connection — his mind.
With this Thirteen realised what had happened.
"He only has so much fake mass to distribute! If he enhances one area too much, the rest is left relatively undefended!" He shouted to Ten. Announcing his discovery to the enemy was not always a bright move, but Ten was better at making the most of opportunities like that, while Thirteen was better at making the opportunities to begin with. Thus it was better to let her know.
Knowing it was about to get very dangerous, ten phase stepped away, her figure blurring as she appeared elsewhere. This wasn't anything like teleportation, and it wasn't yet true phasing, but rather a precursor to such a power. It allowed rapid short distance movement in a straight line, and hid her form as she did so, leaving only the swiftest and most perceptive foes the ability to strike her in time.
Lukas was neither of these, and his reactionary grab met nothing but air. His eyes were bloodshot and breathing ragged, and as Thirteen approached, he had the distinct feeling that he had to be extra careful around the man right now; his mind flashing back to that single, fatal punch that glanced off his own ribs earlier.
The battle continued without any of the restraint Lukas had previously shown. For all his desire to not kill his attackers, self-preservation would always win out. No longer were they so lucky as to land such a deadly blow on Lukas, as they now remained trapped in his onslaught of heavy, powerful strikes.
It could be imagined as a lightweight fighter, very quick on his feet and capable of consistently dodging, standing before a heavy weight champion boxer; His cannon-like fists forcing their way through the air with daunting power. The smaller fighter can dodge, sure. But if he's never given a chance to counter, or go on the offensive, then there will come a time when the heavyweight fist lands, and the fight is over.
If you can imagine the stress put on that smaller fighter as he looks for every opportunity to attack back, to weaken his foe slightly, only to be pushed back at every juncture by such oppressive, overbearing force, then you can understand how most would feel in this scenario.
Most. But not Thirteen. For reasons even beyond him, Thirteen was smiling. He felt the risk, the danger, and of course the incredible stress brought on by the strikes of the veteran before him, but Thirteen was smiling. His body was shaking, but not of fear. He was truly, undeniably, excited!
Ducking as he stepped back, a heavy hook barrelled overhead. Lukas' strikes were not slow; far from it. He was simply not as fast as his attackers. The hook passed overhead as Thirteen dodged, and soon a left straight was bearing down on his new position.
Thirteen found his back to a wide tree and so ducked and moved the side. The left straight punched a whole in the tree as wooden shards and splinters flew like shrapnel. Thirteen thought Lukas a fool for following through with a failed strike, but soon realised his naivety.
Lukas used his grip on the tree trunk to push himself backwards and into the air where he spun. Directly below where he was now, Ten had appeared, trying to strike the man as he hit the tree.
Her eyes went wide as she realised her situation. She looked up as Lukas launched himself 8 or so feet in the air and made eye contact with the man as he reached the zenith of his jump directly above her. Lukas Junill. A mass manipulator.
Her pupils constricted as she jumped out of the way as soon as possible. Lukas Junill came crashing straight down as if bearing the weight of an elephant. His legs falling like a guillotine. The ground shook and broke beneath him with a boom, as dust clouds covered all. Luckily, Ten managed to get out of the way just in time.
Alas, she didn't move far enough, and Lukas' large hand shot through the dirt cloud with incredible speed, latching onto her thin neck from behind. Ten could only feel like an iron clamp had seized her. And worse, he had grabbed her from behind leaving her with very limited movement if she wanted to try and strike him.
Thirteen reacted immediately when he saw the vice like hand reaching for Ten. He conjured his greatsword in both hands, held low and to the left, and swung with great force after stepping in close enough. He wanted to sever that disgusting arm, coated in beast blood.
With his incredibly disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes, Lukas truly did paint the image of a demon to Thirteen, and while the fight had been exhilarating, the thought of now losing Ten because they didn't kill the fiend fast enough ignited a horrible concoction of heavy, negative emotion in Thirteen as he swung his blade.
Alas, if emotion could take power, his art had nothing to do with that. Lukas reinforced his left hand heavily to catch the blade mid swing, gaining nothing but a new shallow cut on his palm, while still keeping his right hand enhanced enough that the girl wouldn't be able to crush his fingers with her weirdly strong hands.
Thirteen froze for a moment realising he had failed and looked to ten. She too was unable to do anything in the fraction of a second it would take Lukas Junill to snap her neck. It was a horrible instant of pause that seemed to last seconds as they realised they were hopeless to stop what comes next.
'Wait…' Thirteen realised.
It HAD been seconds! Thirteen turned to look at Lukas Junill, and found the man staring above them with a fearful expression.
Thirteen shifted his eyes up to the dense canopy above, his lifesight which had been active at every moment of the fight to combat the darkness, outlined a very large, very bright silhouette.
'Bright.' He repeated in his thoughts. Everything as strong as he would appear midtone. So if it was this bright…
Lukas acted first. He released the girl and threw the greatsword's blade away, pulling the arms of Thirteen who held its hilt away as well. In the moment his hands were free, Lukas made to run away as quickly as possible.
A sharp beastial shout, high pitched and so incredibly loud echoed from the canopies above, as the one thing Lukas had been dreading and running away from in this place, descended.
Like a meteor it fell, its weight bound to mark a crater on the earth below.
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