Chương 190: Black and White (I)

Zero felt himself being forced out of his body. He felt a claw impaled into his back, pulling him out with a jolt. With a harsh pull, he was thrown out and flew through a solid tree. A giant demon that looked like a humanoid goat with fish scales ran towards him with razor-sharp claws. The demon punched towards in an attempt to spear him alive.

Dodging sideways in a roll, Zero rolled out of harm's way. Unfortunately, the tree splintered and broke in half. It fell forward and came crashing down.

"What the hell!" Zero cursed. He was busily dodging from left-to-right to the demon's attack. A claw barely grazed him, giving him a sharp stinging pain that could be felt running up his whole arm.

His instinct took over, and he willed Kamori, his black sword, to form in his hand. A black energy sword appeared over his head, blocking an attack. Black sparks erupted from both the sword and the demon's claw. The adrenaline-like high was pumping throughout his body, causing him to be calm.

Zero pushed with all his might till Kamori overpowered him. Finally, it cut through the demon's fingers. Then, with a yell of pain, the demon pulled back with its hands clutched to its side.

"It's not over!" The demon screamed with anger. "We will have your soul, just as our lord has promised."

"What are you talking about?" Zero rushed forward with his Kamori in hand. "You take my soul? Do you think I will let you?" He was fuming in anger.

"Kuhuhuhu." The demon laughed. "Our lord has made a contract with a lowly human." Then, jumping to the side, the demon dodged Zero's swing. "Puny dragon, do you think you can harm me?"

A wave of negative energy erupted outwards from its body. Zero felt the overbearing energy coming down on him from all sides. His instinct screamed to run away, but his mind told him to fight or his existence would be jeopardized.

"A dragon's soul. How nostalgic." The demon clawed his hands toward Zero's body.

Zero swung his sword cutting the whole hand off. "You don't learn, do you, stupid Demon."

"Gahhhhhhh! You Dare?"

"Yes." Zero glared back, but his soul was shaking in fear. Yet, at the same time, he could feel his confidence returning. The second cut reassured him that he was able to fight on par with the demon before him.

"I'll torture you before I hand your soul to the Lord!" The demon screamed in a fury—black globe-like energy formed around him, destroying the vegetation in minutes.

Like a laser beam, the energy balls quickly shot toward Kiyro. In three-fourths of the attacks, Zero was able to run around dodging the attacks, while the rest he used his sword to fend off. Luckily, his sword clashed with the energy ball and split it in half.

"How?" The demon stared dumbstruck. "How is this possible? A newborn dragon should not have such power at this level."

"I'm not just born, you idiot!" Zero ran forward and cut the other arm off the demon in one clean cut.

"You're already passed such a stage?" The demon stepped backward, barely missing the sword. Instead, he focused all his energy on his horn and stopped Zero's attack from slicing him. "If it's matching energy, even I can do it." Then, with a hiss, the demon stood his ground, unwavering.

"Why does your Lord need my soul? Who do you work for?"

"Don't you know? Since the awakening of your existence, our Lord has awakened as well." The demon chuckled in happiness. "You do not understand the value of the dragon's soul."

"Speak, demon! Before I slice your life in half!"

"Kahahahah! I will gladly tell you that your life is now forfeited since the awakening!"

"My life is my own to bear!" Zero pushed downwards will all his might, his energy amplified and transferred into his blade. Kamori glowed dangerously black, and the demon was cut in half in one clean swipe.

"Noooooooo! This is not over, dragon!"

Like smoke, the demon disappeared before him.

Zero sighed with relief and stumbled backward onto the tree. He leaned back, barely holding up. Then, examining around, he remembered exactly where he was; he was still in the forest, running away from Russ and his army.

Was he truly dead? Zero was confused at such a thought. The world around him was devoid of colors, barely holding on to what little color it had. The only thing that he noticed was that he still had color himself.

Looking down, he noticed that a long transparent line could be seen attached to his belly button. Then it dawned on him; it was exactly like when he was sent to Atlanta when he was spying on Angel. The same lifeline that he had then was present now.

Gently picking it up, he felt a warm pulse coming from the line that disappears into the distance. A jolt of energy went through his body, and it finally dawned on him. He was not dead. Quickly imagining the lifeline to fade away, he protected his one-way ticket back to his body.

"Stop the Swamp Fairy!" Voices of soldiers could be heard behind him.

"Is it still not dead? How is this possible?

"Get back! We got to stop it before it kills us all!"

"Where is Commander Russ? Are we left alone to battle by ourselves?"

"Damn it! We threw them away like trash! I knew we shouldn't have followed him!"

"Gahhhhh!"

"Help!"

"Nooooooo!"

Angry words and panic erupted around him. Soldiers ran left and right, trying to pin down the Swamp Fairy from killing them. It was a fierce battle between the two to end up in a stalemate.

"What's going on?" Zero was confused. "I thought Russ and his companions killed it?"

The Swamp Fairy ran around in rage as it continually swung its scythe-like a maniac. With every swing, it killed dozens of soldiers around it, causing them to disappear like smoke. A harsh reality played before him; the dead soldiers were dying again, with their existence in jeopardy.

"Kill it! Kill it!"

"Please, someone save me!"

The Swamp Fairy stomped hard onto the back of the soldier, causing the soldier to dissipate like smoke.

"We're all going to die!"

The soldiers all moved backward in fright and headed toward Zero.

Alarmed, Zero followed and ran away. He was unsure how to kill the Swamp Fairy in the afterlife, especially if he couldn't tell how much health the Swamp Fairy life had left. All he knew was that he was like every soldier here, with no way of killing it. The Swamp Fairy overpowered them so easily and swatted them away like flies.

Dull green vines snapped toward the soldiers and Zero. One of the vines wrapped around his foot, causing him to trip forward. In mid-air, Zero used Kamori to cut away the vines. At the moment of contact, the vines bubbled and burst to leave nothing behind.

Zero was baffled that Kamori could damage the vines in one slice. He wondered if it was because it was a worldly form made by energy or if he was just lucky. Then, without thinking, Zero twirled his sword over his head and slashed through many other vines that came at him in great numbers. Each of his attacks caused the vines to focus more and more on him, giving the other soldiers relief.

"I can't die here." Zero gritted his teeth. "I'm going to survive if it's the last thing I do!"

Bright golden light erupted around him, creating a small halo-like barrier. Every time the vines attacked Zero, the golden barrier dissipated the vines into black bubbles and smoke. He knew in his gut feeling what had just activated; it was the skill Last Stand.

The soldiers that were running away saw what Zero was doing. So one by one, they all headed toward him, hoping to stay alive.

"Please! Help me!" The soldier ran to him, hoping to stay alive just a moment longer. But, instead, the moment the soldier stepped into the golden barrier, the barrier expanded larger.

"Thank you." Dropping to his knees, he let out a sigh of relief.

Zero felt a sudden surge of energy from the soldier that came running into his golden barrier. It was as if the soldier was also feeding the golden barrier, causing it to expand to encompass two people.

More and more soldiers ran towards Zero, and the golden barrier grew and grew. The words of praise and relief could be seen on their faces as they thanked Zero repeatedly. Finally, over a thousand entered the golden barrier, and the light dazzled to the point where they were a bright beacon.

The soldier's weary souls were rejuvenated, and they all took a stand beside Zero. Hope filled their eyes at the prospect before them. The Swamp Fairy could not get through the bright golden dome of light and shy away from it for fear of being demolished.

Zero ran towards the Swamp Fairy with Kamori. He raised the Katana and chucked it toward the Swamp Fairy's chest. "Come on! Reach!"