Horrus continuously swung his ridiculously long bone blade at me. His only weapon, and it was capable of piercing through my spectral cloak, despite being supposedly indestructible. Not even Tom's arrows were strong enough to pierce through my cloak; although I was not willing to test his powered shot, that was capable of piercing through tree trunks or rocks like paper. Why did Peter even call it indestructible in the first place when there seem to be many things that can pierce or cut through it?
Both Lily and I dodged his swings. Lily was much more nimble than me, so she had no trouble avoiding and getting some hits in. Me, on the other hand, was doing my best to avoid his flames and blade. He knew full well that Lily was barely able to do any damage to him aside from using Fa Jin Zhòu, which takes a long time to restore. Innate explosive power takes time to recover within the body, and I was certain that Lily had used all of it with that one destructive strike of hers earlier.
Horrus knew that preventing me from getting close was what he needed to do. Letting his flames do the job in roasting me from a distance while sustaining no further damage to himself. A smart tactic, but I'm not going to sit back and let that happen. He retracted his blade and extended it in an attempt to stab me again. I turned my body to the side and spun my body, bringing both of my blades to slam his blade into the ground. Inazuma powered by Lightning Charge, Tengu-kaze enveloped by blue flames, and Dark Slash combo for both of them for maximum attack power.
CRACK!!
I was genuinely surprised when his bone blade actually snapped in half. I was fully expecting it to sink deep into the ground to throw him off, but to actually snap it; Horrus should be sweating bricks right about now. His face says it all with that speechless, mouth agape expression of his.
Dawn was approaching closer, but it was still dark enough for me to make use of the darkness around me. I quickly cast Conceal and ran towards him as Lily took his attention. Hopefully, with all the sudden, unexpected events, Horrus would be thrown off and miss his opportunity to search me using smell.
"W— where did he go?!" he shouted to himself.
He tried to kick Lily aside once more, but she was not about to fall for the same trick again. She grabbed Horus's leg with an elbow grab and, with a fully powered flame gauntlet, slammed on Horus's right knee from the top end. I swore I heard something cracked before Horus swung his broken bone blade diagonally at Lily, slicing through her cloak, armour, and flesh. He proceeded to flame Lily with his left hand, seemingly deciding that Lily was no longer worth the trouble of keeping alive.
A swift, flexible blade swung through the air and pierced through Horrus's left primary eye. Rose seemed to have a knack for weak points and certainly did not waste the opportunity provided by Lily when Horrus's mobility was hampered after breaking his knee. And neither will I.
Horrus stopped flaming Lily after his eye was stabbed. It would seem that his regeneration had slowed down or is being hampered by something. Is it due to my blue flames constantly damaging him that he cannot regenerate quickly? Either way, after a quick glance to ensure that Lily was still wriggling under her cloak, I appeared behind Horrus and cast Fear, hoping that it might have some effect on him when it is empowered by Bloodlust.
Horrus swung his left arm behind in an attempt to flame me, but I was no longer there. Rose with her proper timing, casted whatever spell she had to buff me in speed, strength, and defence. I reappeared in front of him when I was midway swinging both of my blades at him. I spun myself for further momentum to strengthen my attacks.
I hit home, feeling the weight of my blades as they made contact with Horrus's body. What is the outcome of my attack? Did it work?
Massive pain erupted from my body. I was too focused on my attacks that I failed to realise that Horrus had the same idea. He spun his body to the front after missing his attack and sliced me diagonally with his broken bone blade. From my right ribs to my left eye, I was bleeding profusely from that backhanded attack. Fuck, this hurts like crap. I was already low on blood, but this pushing me over the edge. With one eye down, I tried my best to focus myself to see whether I had wounded Horrus as badly as I had.
Two large diagonal cuts were visible on his chest, and most importantly, he was bleeding profusely too. I was uncertain whether I had sliced through his bones, but that injury on him was a fair trade for losing my left eye. Horrus roared angrily as he was not having it and approached me to finish the job. It would seem that he had healed his knee by now. I was struggling to keep myself from losing consciousness due to the extent of my wounds when I noticed two figures standing in front of me.
"Zen, take this and heal yourself. We'll buy you some time," spoke Rose as she handed me her healing gel.
Rose was injured on one of her sides, judging by the blood stain on her signature white guild's clothing. Lily, on the other hand, had burns all over her visible skin and a sealed wound that Horrus inflicted on her earlier. I should use the healing gel to staunch my wound before I bleed to death. Oh Lord, why are my visions getting so blurry now? I must heal myself!
Quickly removing the cap of the tube, I simply applied the gel where I felt the most intense pain. I cared not whether dirt was mixed into my wounds, as it was simply do or die with the current situation. With one remaining eye, I could barely see the extent of my wounds as I simply spread the gel on myself. Of course, I could not seal the wound on my eye. I will never be able to recover the damage from my left eye unless Stein is somehow capable of making a bionic eye. The feeling of relief was brief, but intense pain throughout my body was still present. I must push through the pain to help them.
"Why won't you three just die?! You defied all odds when other humans would have been burned alive by now. Especially you, Zen Hawthorn! Why won't you die?!" he roared as he fought with Lily and Rose.
Beats me. I was wondering the same as to why I'm not dead yet despite everything that has happened thus far. I'm not some main character in some story with plot armour. I just narrate the things that are happening around me to make my life more interesting. A forced habit after years of talking to yourself.
But Horrus is right. I must stand. I need to defy all odds and kill this Vessel. Byakko, why don't you have any strong attack like Inazuma with its Twin K Thunderbolt? Aren't you supposed to be a legendary weapon?
"Damn it, boi, you are asking at the wrong time. I need full concentration to maintain this blue flame of yours!" he scolded me through my mind.
What's the point of maintaining this when what I need right now is the total destruction of Horrus? I can barely even stand straight now and am about to kick the bucket real soon. I even lost my left eye! I wish to see Horrus dead before I head to the afterlife.
"Fine, you'll probably get one shot at this judging by the remaining blue flames, so pay attention. Wind has always been my strongest power, so you can technically create tornadoes or twisters in your vicinity. But I doubt that is what you're looking for; so what you need is an extremely strong wind pressure. For that, you need to condense the strength of a hurricane into a single point. I'll recommend you start with twisters first," he spoke through my mind.
Why twister? Is a tornado actually stronger than a twister? Aren't they literally the same thing? Run me through the difference as I'm confused.
"Sigh, you ask for the weirdest things at the wrong time. Fine, I'll give you the short version. There are 5 categories to a hurricane. It starts with whirlwind, twister, tornado, cyclone and maelstrom. Since this is the first time you're using this power, I would suggest that you start with category 2 first. Hey, pay attention!" he shouted in my mind.
Sorry, I just thought of something. I just realised that if I were to combine both Kirin and your powers, I can actually create thunderstorms or a cumulonimbus for large, devastating effects. Why don't you two work together?
"Careful what you wish for, boy. Your parents sort of had the same idea and— let's just say some landscapes and a small village was levelled to the ground. You do not want to follow what they did. Hey, what's gotten you all freaked out?" he asked.
I just remembered someone warning me to be careful about what I wish for before. Someone really important, but I just can't remember who it is.
"Do recall that you are at death's door. Focus on the important things at present. I'll guide you on how to use it," he reminded me.
I allowed Byakko to guide my hands. Both my hands gripped Tengu-kaze tightly and lifted it up to the right side of my face, simulating the Kasumi no kamae stance. Uh— is it safe for me to have an eventual flaming twister right next to my face?
Strong winds began gathering around the blade while my shaky legs struggled to keep myself upright. I was genuinely sweating buckets, worrying that a twister would spin out of control just inches away from my face. I'm so glad the blade is on my right side instead of my left, as I can barely see anything with my left eye now. But all was good as Byakko skilfully controlled the miniature vortex surrounding the blade, mixing with the blue flames that he stole.
So, what do we call this attack? I am sure you have a name for it, right? Even Kirin thought of his attack before showing me how to do it.
"I don't know. Just call it 'Twisty son of a bitch'. We don't exactly have a lot of time to think here," he sighed.
Fine. Twisty S.O.B. it is. I can get on board with that.
I kept my remaining eye focused on the fight before me. Rose was suffering the most as her skins were starting to melt from the intensity of the blue flames. Without much protection from anything, she was exposed to the direct heat. My wife will never look the same after this fight. Lily had a small chunk of her hair burnt off along with some second-degree burns on her shoulder. That was probably where Horrus was flaming her earlier when she used her cloak to try and negate the flame damage. Both of them must be struggling to fight against Horrus even though he himself was badly wounded. Is it just me, or is Horrus's body steaming?
"Why won't you both just die?!" roared Horrus as he fought against those two.
"Stand back, you two! You've done enough!" I shouted at both of them.
They obliged and leapt back to where I was standing. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air, and it was intoxicating. Will any of us make it out alive even if we manage to defeat him? I just hope both of them will live to tell the tale. Me, on the other hand, would be considered lucky if I even have enough strength to embrace them after this is over.
"How infuriating. The death reaper is literally looming over your shoulders, yet you all refuse to follow him," he spat.
"Aren't you on the same boat? Your wounds no longer heal themselves, and your flames are out of control. Why don't you do us a favour and visit your maker instead," I smirked.
"Nonsense, I am the Vessel for the God Of Destruction. He will never allow me to die," he laughed.
"Tell that to Baku, who got strangled to death by a teddy bear. I bet his "God" is extremely happy about that, alright," I chuckled.
"You lie! Gods would never allow their Vessels to die! It's unforgivable!" he roared.
"Feel free to test it out. I have no reason to lie. When was the last time you talked to Baku? You think I would know his exact name if I didn't fight him?" I questioned him.
His face turned sour with a concerned expression. He probably saw the truth in my one remaining eye. Tengu-kaze was rattling in my grip, signalling that it was ready to strike. I don't know what will happen when I swing this, but Byakko seems confident that we can destroy him. I really hope so, as this will be my last attempt at killing him.
Horrus's hands started shaking; is he afraid or in denial? Nevertheless, he struck out and charged at me full speed. Both Lily and Rose leapt away from where I was to give me space. It's now or never; I only have precious seconds to release this attack on him. Dear body, please stand firm!
I swung Tengu-kaze diagonally downwards. The muscles on my forearms were screaming as I was not expecting the swing to be so heavy. But—why is everything so quiet? What happened to Horrus?
As I looked ahead, Horrus had completely stopped dead in his tracks, seemingly bracing for something. Why did he stop though? There were absolutely no signs that the attack even did anything. Was the attack a failure?
Seemingly out of nowhere, a huge diagonal gaping wound erupted on Horrus's body from his left shoulder to his right side. It was so deep that I could literally see his bones from the wound, but it still did not slice through. It was then some mini vortex covered with blue flames swirled around the wound, generating screeching sounds that caused me to grit my teeth and cover my ears. It lasted a couple of seconds, and a huge explosion erupted from where Horrus was standing, sending a wave of dust and smoke into the air.
W— what the hell just happened? I had never seen such an attack before. Is this the true power of Tengu-kaze? Compressing powerful winds and focusing it on a single point? Destructive and dangerous is what I would label this attack.
As the dust settled, what remained was Horrus gripping the wound tightly with his claws. Is he— trying to prevent his body from slipping off? Ugh, I guess that's one way to hold your body together.
"H—how can this be? *cough. I…am a Vessel. I can—not die," he started coughing blood.
His blue flames were dying off. Is it finally over? Can I drop backwards and lie in peace? I was seeing double despite having only one eye as my body struggled to maintain consciousness.
Horrus tried to move forward, but his dismembered body was only pinned in place because of his claws. I was surprised that he could even move when he had already been sliced apart. His eyes widened when blue flames suddenly erupted from within his body, seemingly engulfing him entirely with it.
"N—NO! I'm not done! I have a duty, my ambition is not yet fulfilled!!" he roared as the blue flames began to burn his body to cinders.
"Ladies," I trailed off.
"Yes?" both Rose and Lily responded to me.
"Sorry, I meant, lay these foolish ambitions to rest, Horrus. Your time is done," I started coughing blood myself.
"No, it is not done until you are dead," he spat.
I genuinely had not anticipated that Horrus would use the bottom half of his body to push his top half, dismembered body, at me. I commend his tenacity in wanting me dead. His devotion to his Cosmic Being is certainly noble.