Kade plummeted down, landing on the top of the scavenger, and slammed the red gauntlets into its head—the carapace cracking under pressure. It screeched in pain, and now two pincers shot up to bisect him.
Kade reached both of his arms out, his body shuddering as he caught the incoming pincers; the power of the awakened crab was trying its best to crush him. But Kade held back.
Despite the danger, his smile only grew more wicked, his eyes filled with the exhilaration of the bloody combat. His heartbeat pounded against his chest like the drums of war.
This was exactly the purpose the spell had assigned him—the unyielding asura who never faltered, the heart of Chaos-- and the brawler of the outskirts.
It surged like a divine purpose. A goal, a reason.
[Battle Lust] consumed him further, pushing for him to follow in the footsteps of the Asuras before him.
'I've missed this...'
The feeling of insurmountable odds, diving headfirst into groups of enemies desperate to tear him apart. It was nostalgia at its finest, the experience that filled his soul with feelings of power he had lacked in his early life.
He was not weak like that anymore.
Kade was strong, beyond belief. [Vigilance] gave him the power to resist being crushed by the scavenger's claws and to retaliate as well. With his arms occupied, Kade made the logical choice.
He raised his foot and viciously stomped the scavenger's head down. Then, again and again, the cracking of its carapace echoed through the ravine as he stomped the head deeper into its chest.
With a final sickening crunch, he felt the crushing claws lose their strength, the scavenger collapsing down, the multiple eyes on its small head staring blankly at him from inside its chest.
The spell whispered the title of his victim.
[You have slain the awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
Kade landed on the deceased crab, blue blood painting his coat and muddying his face. With both hands he wiped the blood off slowly, enjoying the moment. With every action he did to further descend into violence, the less [Battle Lust] would itch at his sanity.
The relief was euphoric, and Kade was starting to find himself trapped in the addictive feeling of release.
'I can think later... I don't have time for it.
Another scavenger bolted to him, crashing through its fallen brethren. Kade blurred backward, avoiding the lashing claws. The wind roared at each swing, the beast's maws clicking in frustration, its pure black eyes desperate to break Kade.
Yet Kade, with quick footwork, weaved the pincer easily and ducked away from the next. Kade's boots danced along the sand as he avoided the assault. No matter how strong, quick, and ferocious the scavenger was.
It couldn't touch him.
From behind Kade, another scavenger of the sixteen flanked, unmolested—the beast scythed its pincers down.
His back was turned, and he had no way to see the attack, yet Kade suddenly twisted on his heel, swinging himself around just enough to throw the blow grazing against his chest. Kade's amber eyes burned with violent focus.
'These things are snails compared to Caster.' Kade mused, after the match with the legacy, he had trained further with Nephis to further improve his ability to evade. His already fantastic footwork had improved greatly, not to mention developing his immersion with his attributes.
He had found out how to use [Vigilance] to increase his spatial awareness, reacting to incoming danger and increased strength like a sensor, and now he could use it to react faster, whether he saw the incoming threat or not.
The first scavenger lunged again, a wide horizontal slash with its pincers. Kade dropped into a backward lean, spine bending back-limboing under the strike as it hissed over his chest.
Kade didn't have time to recover. Another scavenger joined the other two, the three now surrounding him. The clicking of their pincers echoed around him like calls of the hungry.
Armored bodies were shadowing over him. Each one closing in on him like hyenas.
He couldn't escape.
But he didn't... The Asura was not alone.
He was allied with a beast far more starving than the oversized crabs.
Byakko emerged onto the scene. The mythical tiger pounced up from behind the scavengers. Claws outstretched. The scavenger tumbled forward, screeching in fury as Byakko tore through its shell—its armored carapace cracking and buckling beneath its supreme claws.
The other two ignored his brethren. Both diving down at Kade. He barely sidestepped one of the attacks, but the other pincer was destined to hit.
The red gauntlets morphed together, forming a shield of lusterless blood. Kade braced, ready--the pincer. The strike impacted, sending Kade hurtling back; he felt the force reverberate through his skeleton. And his muscles retreat in fatigue.
He rolled through the sand, then slammed the dented shield down, parting the dune and dragging himself to a halt.
Sweat formed and dropped down to his chin, yet Kade never lost his drive.
'I refuse to be broken.'
The passion of the [Unyielding Asura] burned hotter, melting his fatigue like frost beneath flame.
And once again, he stood. Hurling himself back into the flurry, at the whims of [Battle Lust]
---------------------------------------
On the other side of the battlefield was the group of sleepers. Grudge, the tank of the party, held back two of the scavengers, his aspect forming crystalline barriers that briefly prevented the scavengers from getting a decisive blow.
Dancing around him was Sandra, agile like the wind; her daggers lashed out with precision, cutting and slashing into the scavenger's joints. The beasts would retaliate with attacks that she barely dodged. Despite being armored beasts, the scavengers were fast.
They were awakened beasts after all, and even when injured, in every aspect they would naturally best them. They had only managed to live so far thanks to teamwork. With her, Ike, and Ayen supporting the grudge, they managed to hold them back somewhat.
'I'm not going to lose! I WON'T ALLOW IT!' Sandra shouted inwardly, the gale following her steps, whistling past the advancing crystalline barriers and at the party of scavengers.
She flew past their pincers, her daggers finding purchase against the soft spots of the awakened beasts.
Her father had trained her from birth to be a fighter, and she would not disappoint him. She would only allow herself to live if she painted the silver edge of her daggers with their blue blood.
"Sandra, fall back; you're too far forward!" Grudge commanded, the tank reeling back from a scavenger that slammed into his barrier. A moment later, flames howled overhead, Ayen's magic, purple and hexed, searing the scavenger's flank. She stood trembling, sweat rolling down her temples, her focus unbreaking.
"I'M FINE!" Sandra snapped, flipping back as two more scavengers surged forward.
Eight of the sixteen had come for them.
And the other eight?
They were facing the Heart of Chaos.
She watched him for only a second, and it was enough to steal her breath. Kade should of been a normal sleeper like them, but unlike them. He acted like an unchained spirit of violence.
Alongside his mythical beast, he carved through the enemy with shocking brutality.
It was awe-inspiring. Terrifying. And deeply humiliating.
'He's insane…'
But as long as he was there, they still had a chance.
She couldn't fall behind now. She would carve out an opportunity, no matter the risk.
The scavengers dived upon her, and yet she weaved out of their attacks, cleanly and swiftly, adrenaline pounding throughout her system as she played with death.
And unknown to her, a scavenger shadowed behind her, ready to silence her.
Until, with a burst of teal mist, Ike appeared.
His cape billowed in the wind, and without hesitation, his lusterless broadsword rocketed forward, deflecting the lethal claw with a sharp ring of metal.
Sandra spun around, wide-eyed.
Ike stood firm, anger and resolve burning in his eyes. He opened his mouth, clearly berating her. But no sound escaped. Not even a breath.
He said everything he needed to.
Sandra flew backward with the aid of the wind, retreating toward Grudge.
'Thanks, Ike…'
The caped sleeper was now alone, encircled by screeching scavengers.
But with a soft poof, he vanished into mist.
Then he reappeared beside Grudge, his broadsword flashing once again, slicing the pincer off of an attacking scavenger. It screeched in pain and sent its other limb to retaliate.
But a crystalline barrier formed just in time, deflecting the blow with a crack.
Grudge grinned through gritted teeth, reaching out a trembling hand.
"Thanks, Ike. It's been an honor fighting with you."
Ike blinked, puzzled. Then he saw it. The final barrier around Grudge fractured—
And shattered.
Ayen, Ike, and Sandra froze in horror as the scavengers surged forward, pincers gleaming.
"GRUDGE!" Sandra screamed. She launched forward like a bullet, ready to throw herself into the horde. But Ike appeared behind her in a burst of mist, catching her and holding her back.
They couldn't do anything to stop it; they had only managed to hold them back thanks to Grudge and his barriers. The scavengers were unstoppable.
Six of the beasts surrounded him. They heard a sickening crunch.
His scream was choked mid-breath as the pincers pulled and ripped until his body came apart like tearing meat off the bone. In a blur of slashing limbs and ravenous bites, the scavengers fed.
*Much* *CRUNCH* crack
It took less than ten seconds.
When they finally settled, there was nothing left of him. The many scavengers pulled their gaze from their finished meal. Their blood-soaked mandibles and carapaces gleam over their dark armor under the sunlight. Their pitch-black eyes in unison stared blankly at Sandra and Ike.
Sandra stood frozen in Ike's hold, shivering as the scavengers' empty gazes bore into her.
A grip of icy terror clutched her heart. Her face had gone pale, every muscle in her body screamed to run, yet she couldn't move.
'Oh god. Oh god—no, no, NO!'
She bit her lip until it bled, fear and denial taking control.
Ike grimaced and yanked Sandra aside, his eyes sharp with urgency.
Seeing her paralyzed, he struck her cheek, just hard enough to jolt her back to reality.
Sandra blinked, stunned, her breath catching in her throat.
Without a word, Ike locked eyes with her, then sharply turned his head toward Ayen, cornered, shivering in terror, struggling to hurl her purple fire towards the scavengers now charging at her.
He jabbed a finger at her, then swept his arm wide toward Kade's distant figure, cutting a path through the battlefield.
His free hand curled into a fist and tapped twice against his chest, then pointed at Sandra, his silent command as clear as speech:
Protect her. Get her to him.
"I...I can do that," Sarah whispered weakly, the breeze dancing against her once again, and she shot forward toward Ayen, grabbing her up just in time to avoid being crushed by an incoming scavenger.
"RUN, SANDRA! PLEASE, RUN!" Ayen screamed, panic choking her voice.
Sandra gritted her teeth, the wind carrying her steps forward as she hauled Ayen over her shoulder. The hungry screeches of the scavenger, like a reaper calling, force the fearful girl's fatigued muscles to act.
They reached Ike and passed him. The caped sleeper watched them go and then the eight scavengers making chase. They were already injured and now had been damaged further. It was a miracle they even managed something like that...
The silent sleeper looked down at the sand, cursing his weakness. The Scavengers arrived, an ear-piercing screech from the horde crashing down on him.
Moments before it ended his life--
Ike vanished into the mist once again.
---------------------------------
The world was noise and fury.
Kade laughed, having ducked past another scavenger's pincer, rushing past the attack and up its back. Reaching the top of its head, the red gauntlets turn into spear-tip-like hands. And dug through the scavenger's eyes with ease.
[You have slain an awakened beast: Carapace Scavenger.]
[You have received a memory...]
The crab lay still, dead, and the other scavengers surrounding Kade reached up to crush him between their pincers. But he kicked off the corpse, flipping in the air past their claws. He landed on the sand as his newest victim fell.
'Four down.'
He had just taken his second kill, and Byakko had claimed two. The mythical tiger proving itself a tier above its awakened peers. Yet the two of them hadn't come out unscathed.
Kade had been walloped by a sneaky strike of a scavenger, and he had felt a couple of his ribs break. While Byakko's perfect coat was damaged and soaked with some of its own blood.
They were putting up a hell of a fight, but they were outnumbered, and Kade knew he couldn't avoid it forever.
Byakko returned by his side, the maw of the beast filled with blue blood and forlorn crab meat; he had feasted. Yet he didn't decide to retreat back into Kade's soul nor fall back and watch.
It seemed the echo, while having a mind of its own, seemed to somewhat care about Kade. Or only mad that the scavengers dare damage its divine coat.
Either way, Kade was grateful for his help; he would have been long dead without it.
The remaining scavengers roared with new fury, scuttering quickly across the sand, closing in on Kade and Byakko. The brawler dived into the frustrations. Dodging the first strike and replying with a powerful jab, cracking the carapace on its stomach.
The other one came, and Kade lashed out, parrying the pincer away, and then again for the third--The first scavenger came back to finish the job but was quickly intercepted by Byakko, who tackled away the crab. His long canines piercing the neck of the crazed beast.
Kade was now surrounded, and as the fourth came, he was on the defensive again. 'Shit... Can't you have the decency to give me some space?!' Yet they closed in further.
In a matter of moments, they launched their assault. Kade did his best, dodging, ducking, and parrying the attacks, but he couldn't find an opportunity to escape.
A pincer descended from above, aimed to crush Kade's skull. [Vigilance] flared in warning, but he was too slow. Wide-eyed, helpless—
until mist bloomed beside him.
The average-looking caped sleeper suddenly appeared before him, silent as death. His broadsword slicing forward in defense. Cutting the arm off from the shoulder. The limb crashed onto the bloodied sand.
Kade watched his savior and grinned.
'Guess that guy wasn't so average after all.' After all, what normal person would wear a cape? Something had to be different about him.
'But that means...' Kade darted under the legs of the pained scavenger, emerging under the beast's other side and into the open. Where he saw Sandra carrying Ayen, running from their lives against eight scavengers...
"Well, shit," Kade muttered.
'It looks like there is still plenty more to go.'