Look at you.
Stuck within your own flesh.
Unable to escape.
A prison for each different limb.
Immobile.
Yet you still cling to life.
Rueben Vans Luton Mortimer.
The World seeks your approval of a...
Certain..
Matter.
Accept.
Refuse.
Your fate will arrive the same.
"It's loud in here, isn't it?" A man that closely resembled Rueben stood infront of Rueben.
"Inside your mind."
He glanced at you and pursed his lips before shaking his head.
"Thousands of voices, drowning out your thoughts. I'm the one who filters them all. For you. For eternity, without pause."
Rueben let out a smile, sitting down while crossing his legs, he stared at the Rueben in different parts.
"You aren't even fully conscious right now. It's thanks to me that you're still alive and kicking."
Rueben gave out a soft chuckle, the blood inside them churning. Worms made of flesh wriggled around them, drinking the blood.
Rueben stood up from his seat and bent down to the head part of Rueben.
"I'm doing my hardest here. So, do your worst there."
Rueben's eyes were closed, darkness filling his entire senses.
It hurts.
Everything hurts.
From my shoulder, to my hips. Even my neck. They hurt.
They hurt alot.
I thought i was used to this pain by now. My limbs being cut off by beasts, eaten, i only needed to inject myself with an Ichor Siphon and they'll grow right back.
But this time, it's different.
No matter how much i try to drink my own blood, tainted to the core with God's Blood, the pain is still there.
Why is that?
God's Blood doesn't give someone immortality, it only gives them a temporary ability to heal from all wounds and ailments.
So i should have already regenerated, i should already be complete. But why can't i feel it? The feeling of touch. I can't feel a thing, nothing, but the pain in my neck, and my limbs.
Is it poison? Did they poison me, used something to me that stopped me from regenerating? But that can't be.
I have now learned that poison doesn't work somehow, especially any other forms of energy that does not belong to you?
The woman tried it with her SASE, the man tried it with his Aura. The energy was repelled from my body, though it seemed that my body couldn't repel the energy from the outside, only on the inside.
Poison doesn't affect me, doesn't affect those who have God's Blood in them. So why does it still hurt?
It hurts.
Why is that? I wonder.
Why does a body made up of God's Blood do this? Am i just a special case or does everyone else, every hunter have this flaw? I assumed that since my limbs are always sliced off and one Ichor Siphon, they grow back, that my head will also do that?
Or is it the other way around? Does my body regenerate from my head? Not my head regenerating from my body? Is that it?
I felt the pain in my torso grow, it wasn't a thumping pain, nor was it like a blinking pain. It was painful, it was spreading, multiplying.
Why does this happen to me?
Here i am, unable to move a single inch. I don't know what's happening outside, i don't know what to do.
All i can do is think.
Think. Think. Think.
That's all.
Why does this always happen to me?
Is it because of my sins?
But what sins?
What burden was i meant to carry?
Or am i already carrying that burden right now but i didn't yet know?
It's starting to feel cold. The pain.
I never liked the cold. I wonder why?
This cold was familiar.
Where did i feel this from?
Ah, yeah. Right.
When i was with my mentor.
It was winter, the skies still covered in gloomy clouds. I remembered that we were in an open field just outside of Arkvem.
My menter was tasked with tracking a blood drunk hunter who managed to escape the walls and now lived in the wilderness.
I was just 12 years old then. Just watched my parents die infront of me. By the hands of the man, i now called my mentor.
My hands had also taken the life of my best friend. My hope. It was recently that my mentor took me and gave me the name Mortimer.
Being a Mortimer was an honor to many due to the feats of my mentor. Although he was old, he fought unlike anything i ever saw.
He was on par with the First Hunter and the Lady in terms of combat prowess.
But i couldn't be proud. That name, that surname, would haunt me for the rest of my life. It served as a reminder to who i was to my sins.
The cold was what always followed me. My heart, frozen in ice from that trauma, i couldn't feel a single emotion.
I forced myself to never feel.
We managed to track down the blood drunk hunter, who had killed his own wife and ate his children. I could still remember what the hunter turned into.
A man with a rabbit head, his arms turned into hooves of horses, with his sharp teeth, he bit into the flesh of his loved ones.
I couldn't see what the man had felt, but i could feel him. The tears that fell from his eyes as he ate their flesh, his crimson red eyes darkened as he weeped.
That was the last thing i saw when my mentor sliced off his neck cleanly, letting him finally rest.
I knew then...
That the world was cold. Forsakened by the gods.
The cold i felt was beyond what the winter could provide. Its frost was weaker than the coldness in my heart.
That familiar cold was sadness.
They say i should be proud that i gave those who lost their minds rest. But i can't.
I didn't feel proud.
Who would be proud of becoming a murderer? Only a demon will feel pride, or the sick in the head.
I don't want to live anymore. I don't want to cry anymore. I don't want to feel pain anymore.
I want to die somewhere, anywhere. To rid myself of life is my greatest wish.
But i can't.
I desperately want to die, but i can't. Oh, i wish i could.
If i die, the burden i carry will be passed on to somebody else.
Such is life, our souls being islands, when other islands clash into other islands, it results in destruction, the left over pieces of the destroyed island will forever be marked into you.
I can't have that, i can't let anybody be burdened by my own pieces.
I must.
I must keep moving forward. Ceaselessly.
No matter how painful, no matter how anguish, no matter the suffering, i must always take a step. Forward. Forever.
For that is my burden to bear. Forever.
***
"Tch!"
Dust filled the entire area as the once mighty walls that stood for generations fell today.
Jerone grabbed a part of the pieces of boulder that he cut and found some kind of fluid substance.
Looking at the incoming army, Jerone bent his waist forward and made a stance, golden light shone from his blade as he prepared for the incoming army.
"Crowned Moon: First Clash." He muttered underneath his breath as he spoke, slicing off the arms of countless hunters that had charged at him. His blade glowed golden as he dashed forward. His aura shining the dark skies above.
The shining golden brilliance made countless hunters flinch from shock, the horses, upon being blinded by the shine, let out harrumphs and stopped in their tracks.
Neighs and harrumphs dominated the battlefield as Jerone started slicing off the heads of the hunters on the horses.
The hunters at the back saw all this and swiftly got down from their horses and clicked their tongues, some of them started grabbing the cut off heads of their friends and put it back into their torsos.
They then force fed the heads Ichor Siphons, some regenerated their necks and soon woke up, others didn't regenerate anymore.
Jerone watched this as he continued slicing off their heads, his eyes narrowed.
That is disgusting.
He thought to himself as everyone swarmed to him, clicking his tongue, Jerone stomped heavily on the ground, cracks filled the entire scene and most of those who swarmed him was propelled up in the air.
"You are desecrating the name of the dead, tainting it with your seemingly immortal blood..." He muttered softly as he made a stance, his sword behind him.
A bright shining aura crackled on his blade as Jerone continued on.
"Those who died must remain dead, those who are alive must continue on..."
The shining aura doubled in size as the hunters watched in awe, seeing the golden glow.
"That is the law that the Gods have set, and respecting them is a must!"
"Crowned Moon: Hollow Basket Clash."
Thang!!!
Jerone swung his sword towards the army of hunters, the aura was flung to a wide area, it formed into a crossing shape and sliced off everything in its path.
Hunters lost their heads, arms, legs, torsos, cut in half....
Well, that was supposed to happen if not for Aschura stopping the blade from fully swinging with the handle of her spear.
Letting out a grin, Aschura kicked Jerone's hand that was holding the sword to which he evaded the kick and swung his body, using the momentum to backhand slap Aschura. Her head flinched to the side, her silver white hair spread her sweat and blood.
Jerone looked at Aschura with wide eyes as she looked down on him, her crimson eyes looking at him like a rat trapped by a lionness.
Licking the blood that fell from her nose, she let out a grin and pushed her hair away.
"I am Aschura of Arkvem. Tell me, warrior of the cult, what is your name?"
Jerone's eyes glowed golden as he spoke, "Jerone of the Crimson Moon Church, heretic madwoman."
Aschura gave him a chuckle as she moved to make a stance, to which Jerone did the same.
"Madwoman? That's the first time someone called me that. Most of the time, they call me workaholic god or something." Her silver armor, died in red from the blood of her enemies, shone in the dark.
Jerone held his sword not too tight, and not too loose, just right. Raising his stance into a high guard, Jerone's sword shone in golden brilliance.
"Do you speak with your opponents each fight?" He asked harshly, with a hint of a mocking tone.
Aschura shrugged her shoulders with a smile, "Maybe. After all, i don't need to give my everything in a fight i'll dominate."
Two opposing forces, one in white hair covered in blood, her spear brought thousands to their knees. The other in golden, his blade became the light for those who are unworthy.
The clash of their weapons created a kilometer wide crater from their first contact.
1.75 seconds in, Aschura moved her leg and prepared to kick Jerone.
2.76 seconds in, Jerone grabbed her leg and gave Aschura a headbutt, making her grin in delight.
3.77 seconds in, Aschura recovered from the headbutt and kicked him away.
4.78 seconds in, Jerone was already swinging his blade at her head, his blade shining in golden light.
5.79 seconds in, Aschura dodge the sword by benting down backwards and thrusted her spear towards Jerone's leg.
6.80 seconds in, Jerone changed the trajectory of his blade mid swing and stepped on the handle of the spear.
"!"
7.81 seconds in, Jerone was propelled to the skies as Aschura pointed at him with a wide open palm. His entire torso suddenly burst open in a zigzag pattern. Aschura jumped up and thrusted her spear from behind him, plummeting him down on the ground.
8 seconds in, Jerone landed on the ground, a spear stabbed through his chest, in the middle of his ribcage. Coughing up blood Jerone grabbed her legs and firmly gripped it, Aschura let out a grin while looking back.
9 seconds in, Kasaya appeared from the shadows behind Aschura, already pointing to her with two palms open.
9.01 seconds in, Kasaya activated her spell.
"World Series: Bell's Anger!!"
Everyone watched as the entire 1 kilometer radius was bathed in all elemental discharge, the earth shook from the massive amounts of elemental disarray in the area.
The entire battlefield went into chaos as the walls fully broke down, countless hunters managed to enter the city because the 10 second fight distracted the Crimson Moon Church people, buying Arkvem enough time to enter their cities from the collapsed walls.
Jerone lied in Kasaya's arms as he coughed up blood, a woman in black nun uniform suddenly appeared beside them, she tossed them a bottle of red liquid and turned to the smoke that covered the battlefield.
Kasaya clicked her tongue in annoyance as Jerone let out a chuckle.
"That fuckin' bitch..." Kasaya cursed loudly as Aschura came out of the smoke, revealing herself to the world.
"How the fuck did she survive that?" The woman in nun uniform muttered as she knelt infront of Jerone, her hands shone in white light, heading straight to the hole on Jerone's torso.
Aschura grinned as her entire flesh muscles was for all to see, her armor didn't survive, leaving her naked in the battlefield. Countless injuries, wounds that could be fatal was nothing to her after all.
"What was that?" She chuckled loudly, asking towards Kasaya.
"That thing you did, it was amazing! What you did was a thousand times better than fucking ten men!"
Jerone slowly stood up and pushed his golden hair to the back as he covered Kasaya behind him.
"That didn't work out as well as i hoped it would be." He whispered as Kasaya made handsigns.
"No, it did work, it's just that we underestimated her healing abilities."
Jerone turned to look at the nun and spoke, "Go back to the inner districts, Lianne, tell Ahmo about that."
The woman, Lianne, nodded her head and disappeared from the battlefield.
Aschura looked around the battlefield, the entire 1 kilometer radius had dug deep, burrowed into the ground.
Grabbing a coat that had somehow survived the onslaught of elemental discharge, Aschura wore it and grabbed her spear, holding it gently.
Aschura held her spear forward as Jerone took off his top.
"Go inside my shadow and find an opportunity to attack..." He softly whispered as Kasaya clicked her tongue and nodded her head.
Jerone held his sword high up in the air, before swing it back down. The air shifted from the weight of the swing and the dust and smoke that covered the entire area cleared up in a flash. Aschura smiled and planted the soles of her feet deep into the ground.
Jerone's sword lit up in a blazing brilliance as Kasaya finished her spell.
They came to a stand still, the noise of those inside the city wailed to the battlefield, Arkvem continued to arm the catapults and launch burning boulders to the city. Wind slowly brushed pas them as their hair floated along the currents of the wind.
Silence.
Then a clap.
"Blue Wall!"
Kasaya clapped her palms together and a line of lightning shot past Aschura, who took a single step to dodge the wall of lightning that suddenly appeared, she flinched from the searing pain of the lightning that managed to hit her.
She smiled as she span her spear around and blocked the incoming sword of Jerone, who was suddenly beside her, his blade burning with golden Aura.
"Crowned Moon: Golden Clash."
A large crescent aura blade reached to the skies as Aschura looked at Jerone in shock, grabbing her cut off head, she put it back to her neck and bit her tongue. Jerone followed up with a close proximity stab.
Feeling the blade pierce her chest, she coughed up blood and clenched her hand into a fist. Jerone wanted to pull back but can't, his sword was firmly stuck in her chest, before he could let go, Aschura had already punched him in the face.
Planting Jerone's head on the ground, Aschura grabbed her spear and backflipped as a large beam of lightning roared from Jerone's shadow, revealing Kasaya.
She pulled out the red liquid potion that Lianne gave and went back to the shadows as Jerone downed it in. Wiping his mouth, he grabbed his sword that Aschura tossed over and let out a sigh.
He stabbed his sword into the ground and spoke, "Why aren't you cutting off any of my limbs?"
Aschura span her spear around and rested it on her shoulder. "Why would i stop this fight? We're just getting started."
She clapped back with a question. Understanding her, Jerone asked again. "I thought someone of importance was imprisoned in our city."
"No rush, Mr. Jerone. That guy can rot for a couple hours and i wouldn't care."
"To you, he might not be, but to your superiors?"
"He may be, but why should i care? You're turning me off with this conversation." Aschura spoke, her eyes prickling in annoyance.
Jerone looked at her for a moment, before speaking again. "Then may i ask one final question?"
Aschura pursed her lips, and nodded her head, rolling her eyes in the process.
"Yeah, sure. It's not like i have nothing going on."
"Why did your superiors send an army over one guy? Is he some kind of important figure to your country-"
"Arkvem is a kingdom, not a country."
"...." Jerone narrowed his eyes.
"Kingdom, not country." Aschura spoke again, this time with a stronger tone.
"..."
"..."
"....Kingdom?" Jerone continued.
Aschura covered her lips with her palm and gave it a thought for a moment.
She then let out a sigh and answered. "He could be one. But he's not there, yet. The Crown is rather... 'fond' of pieces with great potential, pieces like me. Arshavin, Cheryl.... Ah also Uril Marquee, the Crown sees her as someone with great potential as well."
Aschura formed a stance, digging her feet into the ground as she spoke, "As to why he bothered to rescue one spy when there were countless others who was also caught? I honestly don't know yet. I'm not as smart as my Gwynne."
"...."
Jerone stared at her for a moment, then felt his core, feeling that only half was left, he turned to Aschura and made a stance.
Aschura made a move first, dashing to Jerone, crossing the distance in a single second, her spear already primed to pierce Jerone. Jerone flicked his sword and parried her spear, letting it pass through, his free hand had already grabbed Aschura's collar.
Aschura stared at the hand as it pulled her deep, Jerone span his sword to reverse grip and stabbed Aschura straight in the forehead. Her eyes split directions as blood bursts out from the wound. Before she could react, Kasaya had already appeared behind her and slapped her back.
"Gugh!?" Feeling a sizzling pain on her back, she drank her blood and started regenerating her body.
Spinning her torso around, she managed to grab Kasaya's hair before she could disappear to the shadows and pulled out the sword stabbed in her forehead. Hitting Jerone in his chin with her elbows, he was temporarily paralyzed as his brain hit his skull from the shock, Jerone lost consciousness for precisely one second.
But that gave Aschura enough time.
Holding the hair of the Mage, Aschura let out a maniacal grin and stabbed Kasaya in the shoulder near the collarbone, feeling the blade pierce through her inner organs, she coughed up blood and burnt the hair that was grabbed, disappearing into the shadows.
Seeing that, Aschura turned around and wrapped her arms around Jerone's neck, giving him a tight hug.
With Jerone's consciousness pulled back, he glared but suddenly felt Aschura's hug.
Crack..!!
Jerone's eyes widened in shock as his body suddenly shut down. He felt the nerves of his body go cold in a second.
What!?
Aschura let him fall down to the ground. She grabbed her spear and made a javellin throwing stance, pushing her entire muscles into the throw, the spear span in speeds so quick, it penetrated the entire wall of the city, another wall was destroyed in the process.
Aschura then pointed her entire hand towards the spear and it suddenly went back to her hands. As if something was pushing it back towards her.
"Tch!" Clicking her tongue, she saw a glint of light flashing her eyes before her entire head burst into pieces. Her body was also stabbed through the chest from the back, and the golden aura burst out, burning her entire torso.
The last thing she saw was Jerone behind her, stabbing her while his eyes bled and a man on the walls she destroyed, falling down while holding a rifle in his hands.
Aschura managed to drink her own blood before they burst her head and made her able to regenerate from the wound. Just as she was about to retaliate, the sizzling pain on her back suddenly reappeared and hands burst out.
The hands went and stabbed her in her pressure points, thus rendering her immobile.
Aschura bent down immediately as it happened, her entire body unable to move a single muscle.
Jerone drank a flask of the red liquid and relocated his neck back to its proper place.
"You finally used that thing again. I was wondering when you would do so."