"Is that you?!" Olivia says.
"Hm?!" Zeco murmurs, turning around after catching the faint voice within the silence.
"ZECO?!" she shouts loudly.
Zeco immediately turns fully around.
"HUH?!"
His face freezes instantly.
"OLIVIA?"
BRAK!
The sword behind Olivia's belt slips from her weakened grip and falls onto the ground. Her body stiffens in shock, her expression filled with disbelief.
"…I thought I would never meet you again on this land, after spending all my time searching for you at your home…"
Zeco grits his teeth, his face tightening as he stares at her.
"Olivia?" Zeco calls out.
Olivia lowers her head, closing both eyes while restraining the storm of emotions within her.
"…and I,"
"Olivia!" Zeco calls again.
"I almost gave up after hoping to meet you there, and stopped hoping after making the nearest cemetery the place where I would meet you, I—"
Olivia raises her head, opens her eyes, then gives him a faint smile.
"—never expected this."
"OLIVIA!" Zeco shouts repeatedly once again.
"Ehmph?!" Olivia startles, raising both eyebrows.
Her smile fades as confusion takes over when she sees the pressure and fear on Zeco's face.
"BEHIND YOU!!"
"What?!" Olivia replies, furrowing her brows.
She slowly turns around—
—and her expression immediately stiffens, filled with fear.
"HMPH?!"
Zeco clenches both fists tightly, staring sharply at the figure behind Olivia—
"HUH—"
Both of their faces are filled with fear and disbelief.
The two of them stare intensely at the figure—
"IMPOS—SIBLE"
---
His body leans halfway forward, both feet pressing hard against the ground, his sword tightly gripped.
"I will die… if this continues…" Albert says.
WUSH—WASH—WUSH!
Albrecht's sword continues spinning through the air—
SCKHWAPH!
—and plunges halfway into the ground several steps away from him.
"With that being said..." Albert continues, slowly straightening his body.
SHWAHM—
Albrecht pulls the sword free and grips it tightly.
SWHIHMH—SHWAHMN!
The blade continues spinning as it is swung and drawn behind his body. One foot steps forward, one arm rises.
Albert lifts his head and stares deeply at his father.
"…This will be the perfect time for me," he says, tilting his head slightly.
His brows rise.
"To show you my advantage—a blessing bestowed upon me…" he continues.
SCHKWAAAAAAHMNH!
Albrecht suddenly charges straight forward at tremendous speed—
"…The same blessing possessed by the God of War, Dante," Albert adds.
CKHAHMN!
—pressing against the ground before leaping briefly into the air before Albert.
"Huft." Albert calmly draws and exhales a deep breath.
Albrecht has already drawn back his sword, preparing to swing it straight forward in a devastating slash.
Albert closes both eyes—
"This is my advantage!"
CLAAAAAAAAAAAAANGHN!
The two blades collide violently.
Albert blocks the attack even with his eyes closed.
Albrecht freezes in disbelief at the sight before him.
"I know a great deal about you, Father," Albert says.
Tactile Sense.
Through the skin and palms gripping the sword's hilt, he can feel the vibrations and pressure.
"I do not know whether I should admire your story… but—"
The pressure is weaker than his own. Albert presses forward, striking at the opening clearly revealed through his senses.
CLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNGGNNNHHH!
The blades collide violently once more.
"…it is nothing more than a tragedy."
Several steps are forced forward.
CLAAAAAAAAAAAAANGHN!
"—you are even inferior to those two twins."
Albrecht is forced several steps backward, pressured by attacks coming relentlessly from every direction.
However—
Albrecht suddenly freezes in shock.
—Albert completely corners him before him.
SCPKLAAAAASHHLSH!
The strike lands fully across Albrecht's body, slashing from the upper right shoulder down to the lower left abdomen.
KLAKHHH!
Blood bursts from Albrecht's mouth.
Albert's full swing at such close range has only just begun to draw back—
Thermoreceptive Sense.
—Albrecht is briefly thrown backward, his sword already prepared to swing straight forward once again.
Albert detects the drastic change in temperature near his neck. His pores sense the heat of his opponent's body and the murderous aura rapidly approaching.
The sword swings fully before Albert—an attack impossible to block—
SKWLAAAAAAAHSSHH!
Another straight slash cuts through empty air—
Albrecht grits his teeth.
—His swift counterattack is avoided at an impossibly close distance.
Albert furrows his brows.
"Hmph?!" he murmurs.
Vestibular Sense.
It is not Albert consciously avoiding the attack, but rather the instinctive reflexes and balance of his senses forcing his body to move.
Albert raises his brows, fully drawing back his sword.
"What do you even possess, Father…"
CLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNGGNNNHHH!
The blades collide once more as Albrecht blocks the strike.
"…Do you not possess anything worthy of being called your own strength?!"
CLAAAAAAAAAAAAANGHN!
Auditory Sense.
The blades continue colliding again and again as Albrecht desperately withstands the assault.
Once again, through the sword's hilt, Albert feels the vibrations and pressure.
"Why would you go so far as to become one of them?" Albert continues attacking relentlessly, leaving neither openings nor space.
CLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNGGNNNHHH!
The distance continues to close under constant pressure.
Through his sense of hearing—
"The only strength you possess, as far as I know, is your intelligence and calculations in battle…"
Through the vibrations and pressure—an opening appears—
SCKWLAAAAAAAAAAHSHH!
—Another strike lands fully across Albrecht's body, slashing from the upper left shoulder down to the lower right abdomen.
"…and I suspect Grizz and Gruzz pressured you so heavily that you could never defeat them."
Another opening appears—
SCKWLAAAAAAAAAAHSHH!
—A second strike lands again, carving fully across his body from the lower left abdomen to the upper right shoulder.
"That means, Father… you possess nothing beyond that."
CLAAAAAAAAAAAAANGHN!
The two blades continue colliding violently without pause.
"Do you know that, Father?!"
CLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNGGNNNHHH!
"You are no longer worthy of standing against me!"