章節 30: -The Final Assault
'Cain?'
The sound was so vivid, Cain didn't need to ask for a repeat.
Tilting his head as if to better hear her, Cain paid little attention to the man he was currently locked in battle with. His silver hair sticking to his forehead and face, the sweat dripping down his jaw.
He was half crouched over, hands on his knees, and taking in breath like it was about to disappear from the world.
All Cain thought of when he saw this was one word.
'Weak.'
Though he didn't say it out loud, as there was no need for him to do so. After all, the strong don't rub a weak man's weakness in his own face. A true man of strength does not need to point out another weakness, when he has none at all.
'To point out a weakness is to prove you know what weakness looks like. What it feels like. What it's like to be weak.'
Ignoring the man's labored breath, Cain turned to a scene much farther away from him, a battle taking place some fifty meters away.
Because of his heightened senses, his eyes could easily cover the distance between him and Lia, who stood locked in a rigorous battle with another man.
'She's getting better.'
Several times he could see her using Drifting Winds, a skill that even he had to admit was powerful.
'Though her usage of it is somewhat dull, it doesn't lack in any style of fighting.'
Truthfully the skill came from Kal, who still stood off to the side with Lukali, defending him from anyone who was foolish enough to pick on the already half dead man.
Luckily, no one had thought to be so foolish as to fight him.
Smirking to himself, Cain imagined that fight taking place before his eyes.
'They'd be dead before they even realized it.'
The flashing glimmer of his blades, the shadows that danced across the floor. Cain was no fool to mistake Kal's title as a mere joke.
'The Great Mirage.'
"Ergh…"
Catching his attention, the silver haired man struggled to stand up, using his own sword as a crutch for his weakened body.
"Are you done yet?"
Asked Cain, clearly still intrigued by Lia's call.
'Why would she call me? She seems to be doing fine by herself.'
"N..Not even close."
The silver haired man raised his sword, pointing its edge at Cain, who simply stood with a lax attitude.
"I'm not even close."
Seeing his resolve, Cain could only shake his head and sigh.
Then..
'Cain?'
Lia's voice echoed in his head, calling out to him once again.
'Yes?'
Her response came in some form of broken up words. Almost as if she was catching her breath.
'I need…your help…this…guy is…'
Firstly, Cain wondered how Lia's labored breathing and fatigue had any correlation with her telepathy.
Secondly, he wondered if she was truly struggling against this man, as the last time he had checked up on her, she had smashed the shield the man was using, leaving his main defense broken in pieces on the ground.
'Surely she could handle one man.'
Stealing a glance at the fight from a distance, Cain was able to see just how much 'struggling' was occurring.
And by 'struggling' he meant she was absolutely obliterating him, smashing his head against stone, and leaving several large gashes in his side, spilling blood all over the stone.
'Does she really need help?'
Getting distracted with Lia's fight, Cain was unaware of the sword heading straight towards his face until it was just a few inches from his head.
As a reflex he quickly grabbed the sword's blade between his fingers, stopping in midair.
"Do you mind?"
He asked the silver haired man, whose face was contorted with rage and anger.
"Don't turn your back to me, you bastard!"
Raising one eyebrow, Cain had an uncaring look on his face as he contemplated the words this man had just spit out at him.
'Cain, help me deal with this guy. He's strong.'
Once again, he could hear Lia's pleas for help in his head, his eyes finding Lia in the distance.
Slowly, and carefully he thought as he watched her struggle with each thrust of her sword.
Eventually, a thought entered his head as he stared after her.
'Did I choose wrong?'
Quickly he shook his head, erasing the thought from his mind just as quickly as it came.
Looking back to Lia, his mind began to turn over each one of her attacks, from their advantages to their weaknesses. In turn, only one idea came to mind when he analyzed Lia's attack pattern.
'She's got resolve. I'll give her that.'
Making up his mind, he turned back to the silver haired man.
"Excuse me for a moment, my master calls."
Surprised entered the man's eyes as his frown deepened.
"What-"
However, he never got to finish his sentence as the next words that came out of his mouth were silenced by the sound of metal shattering.
Instantly, his vision was filled with the shattered bits of his sword, almost as if the metal wasn't metal at all, but glass.
Shocked, he took several steps back from Cain's figure as he just stood there contemplating the man before him.
"Forgive my untimely departure. But my master has asked me to come and deal with some issues. A man whose strength she can not fight off against., you understand"
"Y-Your leaving?"
His voice was filled with anger at Cain, which could easily be read, but paid little attention to.
"Yes. You see, my master has asked me to deal with someone of great strength, and as you do not fit that criteria, I hope you won't judge me for ignoring you."
The silver-haired man's eyes widened with rage, as he began spitting out any insult he could at Cain's back.
"Get back here you bastard. I'm not done with you yet!"
Rushing forward, the man attempted to grab at Cain, who simply moved to the side, throwing the silver haired man off balance.
"Oof."
Slamming against the ground, the man lost all the air in his lungs as Cain continued to taunt him while looking down at hsi depressing figure.
"Please act civilized. You're a guild master, not some drunken fool."
Hearing these words, the man froze.
This man, of course, was Alan, and after hearing what Cain had just said, he was left in a moment of impeccable fear.
'H..How does he know who I am?"
Only furthering his fear, Cain fixed his dark leather clothes while he continued speaking without a care in the world.
"Honestly, from the great Alan Vargo, I had higher hopes. After all, I had some little respect for you, which is as rare as it comes."
Pushing himself up on his hands and knees, Alan turned to look at Cain, now a figure of uncontrollable fear. A demon in his eyes.
'M…Monster.'
Not only did Cain's actions deem he was stronger than Alan - much stronger - but he finally realized that Cain was going easy on him.
With the way he spoke, it was almost as if Cain knew everything about Alan, from past, present, and future.
If this was the case, then he had to have known Alan and his guild would be arriving here to kill them, yet Cain did nothing to stop this, and merely let it happen.
'Why? Why does this man look so terrifying now?'
Throughout their entire fight, Alan had never once felt any fear for Cain, yet now, he was faced with an inconsequential amount of fear.
Seeing the effect his words were having on Alan, Cain raised his eyebrows in some half assed surprise, as if he expected this result, but didn't plan for it happening.
Shrugging, Cain turned his back to Alan, and turned his focus back to Lia, who was in the middle of locking swords with her attacker.
'A tank huh?'
Smiling to himself, Cain readied his attack.
'This ought to be fun.'
***
Lia was in the middle of giving up, her knees burned and her chest heaved. Her arms were on fire and she felt like her entire body was about to explode in pain.
Knowing this was coming, Lia had called out to Cain, in hopes he would show up in time to lift some of the burden off her shoulders.
However, with each passing minute, Lia worried that he wouldn't be coming, as the strength in her arms and legs slowly began giving out.
Gritting her teeth, Lia pulled out all her strength to last her a few more minutes of time, enough time that she could pull together all her options, and decide on the best possibility.
Suddenly, the voice of her attacker interrupted her thoughts.
"You're going to pay for what you did to us."
Confused, Lia's mind began racing, wondering when or how she had hurt these people before. But when her mind came back with nothing, she had no choice but to ask him.
"What…What do you mean by that?"
Taking in several breaths to calm her aching muscles, sweat began trickling down her face and her body, soaking her already dirtied clothes.
"Your little stunt in the guild set us on the path to ruin. It's because of you we all walk with shame."
"You mean the…the three drunks. What does that have anything…to do with this."
Her foot nearly slipped from the weight the man was pushing on her, forcing her down on one knee to hold up the man's sword.
"Because of you, those three drunks embarrassed our guild master in front of his parents, leaving him disowned by them."
Quickly raising his blade and bringing it back down with a heavy force, Lia had to place one of her hands on the other end of the sword just to keep it from moving.
"No guild will work with us. No Hunter will help us. We were all made fools of by those three."
"T-Then isn't it their fault for your situation?"
Giving the man a half smile, Lia tried to taunt the man into doing something rash or foolish. But it failed as the man gave Lia a sinister smile.
"It is. That's why we fed those three to a pit of man eating fire ants. It was wonderful to hear their screams as they were eaten alive, from the inside out."
Lia's face contorted and cringed at the thought of something like that. Those fools were dicks to her, but in no way did they deserve to die like that.
That was just sinister.
But her attacker wasn't done yet, as he continued, his eyes wide and his voice hiding traces of something creepy.
"But don't worry. Since you caused all this, you'll be next you know?"
Grunting from the pressure the man was putting on her, Lia found it harder and harder to regain the footing she had lost.
At this rate, he would have put her on her back, and killed her just as quickly.
"I'm really going to enjoy that!"
The pressure increased and Lia gasped for air as the weight of the man dug her own sword deep into her hands, leaving blood dripping down her wrists.
'C..Cain. Please.'
In some last ditch attempt, Lia called out to Cain one last time, hoping for a savior or some miracle.
And she got it, in the form of a crisp and calming voice.
"Really now. Well then, enjoy this!"
Right before her eyes, her attacker's face ripped and froze as time began to move in slow motion.
A single hand filled her vision as she saw the attacker's face being pushed away, and thrown to the other side of the room.
"Enjoy that fucker."
Standing where the man once stood was Cain, his fist steaming from the force of the punch, and his eyes locked on to the man's crippled form that was nestled between two large bits of stone.
His eyes shifted to Lia, who's breath was labored and full of exhaustion.
Meeting his eyes, Lia couldn't help but smile, thanking whatever gods lied in the heavens that Cain had showed up in time.
"You alright?"
His calm and crisp voice filled her ears, bringing her a sense of comfort and stability. Through her labored breathing she was able to mutter a few words.
"Yeah…I…I'm fine."
"Good."
Turning back to the man, who was now recovering from the attack, pushed away the stone that had fallen on his body and pinned him down.
The attack seemed to only knock the man back and off his balance, rather than dealing any damage to the already bleeding man.
'Did he do that on purpose?'
Lia wondered as her eyes passed from Cain to the attacker, wondering if Cain's longing for some form of entertainment had gotten the better of him.
However, seeing him smile at the figure of the man, struggling to get up, Lia shook away any doubts in her mind.
'Yeah, he definitely did.'
Interrupting her thoughts was the man's voice, his own breath ragged and his throat all scratchy from the dust in the air.
"So..you've come to help her?"
Turning over the question in his mind, Cain tilted his head in confusion.
"Why yes, I did."
Narrowing his eyes, he glanced at the secondary weapon latched onto the man's belt. A large and very threatening mace.
"Is that a problem?"
Chuckling to himself, the man reached down to his side, and pulled out the mace, adjusting his grip on the handle.
"No, no problem. You're just going to die with her anyways."
Putting himself in a stance, the attacker arrogantly looked to Cain with a smug look on his face, raising the mace above his head.
"What's one more body?"
Lia could swear on her heart, that she could vividly see something snap in Cain's eyes. Though his expression did not change, she could feel it.
Perhaps it was because of their shared senses, or maybe their shared emotions. Of even just sheer instinct, Lia didn't care. Whatever gave her the idea that something had snapped, she trusted more than her own mind at this point.
'Shit.'
She thought, knowing full well that these next few moments were going to be the worst parts of this battle.
"What's one more body,' you say? Well then…"
Smiling, Cain's eyes found the man's, who flinched at the red hue coming from them.
Fear. The natural fear all living creatures feel, when they know they have no chance, when they know they cannot stand against the predator, how they cannot change their fate.
The fear of knowing they will die. And there is nothing they can do to change it.
That was what the man felt, as the arm raised with the mace, slowly fell to his side.
Smiling his devilish smile, the fear in the chamber could be felt by every living creature. Whether it was one of the intruders, Lia, Alan, Rian, anyone and everyone felt the fear.
Death.
"I like that phrase."
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票