Arc 3: Mission – Zion Orb Retrieval
Part 3: Noir Anima
Just as we thought we had finally secured the Zion Orb and completed the mission, this man appeared.
The light in the place was dim, but even if it had been brighter, I still wouldn't have known who it was.
He had red, medium hair, a black skin-tight shirt that showed off his sculpted physique, a thick purple obi sash at his waist, tied in the back and protruding outward behind him, black baggy harem pants that cuffed above his calves, and black martial arts monk shoes. He had a distinct scar in the shape of an X on his face that trailed past his orange eyes. The color seemed familiar for some reason…
"You won't be taking shit," I said as I charged him.
I was quick and caught him off guard, but he still managed to react in time. He blocked my side kick to his head almost too effortlessly as a gust of wind brushed past him. I was shocked that he had actually done it.
"So… you don't just have sharp senses. You also react quickly as well," he said to me, and that's when I recognized his almost invisible-like presence.
"I knew I sensed something earlier in the mountains before we headed in here," I said. "It was you… Who the hell are you?"
He merely glared at me with emotionless eyes; there was neither joy nor animosity in them. I don't know why, but when I saw that orange hue this close—and that hair color… I felt that strange feeling of familiarity more prominently.
"The Mountain Kingdom's hired gun… a mere mercenary," was all he said.
"So, you're from the Mountain, huh?" My glower grew intense, and the pressure around me thickened, crackling the ground and sending dust and debris floating silently upward. "Okay, then it is personal."
I retracted my kick and slammed it against his palm again. He didn't even move as I kicked harder, and the gust blew past him again. The intensity from my kick cracked the ground below him, but he still did not budge. It wasn't until an eerie voice somewhere near him said, He did it…
The man shifted his eyes to the direction of the voice so quickly, but it was enough of a distraction for me to pull my kick in and reel in a punch. I shot it forward, and he shifted his eyes back to me, shifting his stance back and throwing that same palm he blocked with directly back to my fist.
He blocked my strike again… I swear I was infusing Tantra into these attacks…
Right then, black pillars shot out of the ground around him, attempting a capture, but before they reached him, he shifted his front foot back and raised the other, shooting it downward into the ground. The simple move caused a shockwave in the air, and Zeno's black pillars shattered completely.
What!? Zeno and I both thought.
Right then, I heard Rex's voice, "Greed!" as he shot a green string of aura to me, pulling me out of there before the ripple he caused caught up to me.
But as I flew back, he vanished from my line of sight; I didn't even blink as I witnessed him disappear. And with me barely realizing he was behind, he severed Rex's string of green aura behind me with nothing but his straightened hand in an upward motion.
The momentum I was in still pulled me backward as he waited for me to arrive, thrusting his straightened hand back down onto me. I blocked, but it still shot me downward, crushing earth.
"Greed!" Ryo shouted as he appeared through the smoke of my crash with both his claymores in each hand.
When he swung a cross slash, both blades were engulfed in a red lightning flame that roared toward the mysterious male.
With arms crossed over him, he caught both Ryo's blades with his bare hands as the lightning flames were put out upon impact.
How!? Ryo thought.
The male, still grasping both blades, then raised his leg and kicked Ryo right in the chest.
Ryo flew back at a staggeringly as he let go of his blades, and they were now in the hands of this male.
"Ryo, hold on!" Rex shouted as he cast his green Trajectory aura at Ryo.
But the male tossed one of the blades, and it sliced the air endlessly until it clang to a halt and stabbed the ground, directly blocking the path of Rex's magic. The green aura bounced off as if it was desperately avoiding it…
"No way…" he uttered in disbelief.
The male then flipped Ryo's other blade and went for a stab at me, who was still below him. I didn't think I needed to block, but my instincts screamed, so I threw my arms in a cross fashion against his thrust.
And it stabbed through both my forearms.
What the fuck is going on!? I blocked that… my Tantra… I know I activated it, but he—
"What's wrong?" He said and his words were heavier than his stab. "Have you never faced an opponent who was stronger than you before?"
The tone was so calm that I didn't even know if he was mocking me. My eyes shuddered for a second as I struggled with both my arms pierced—locked in place below his boot.
"I can see it in your eyes. I once had eyes like that before. Eyes that believed after I reached a certain threshold of power, I thought I was unbeatable." He went on.
He strengthened the stab of the claymore into my forearms, inching it toward my chest. Blood from my arms gushed out and poured over me, and my eyes began to tremble uncontrollably now.
"It doesn't matter who you are. This world favors none. Whether you're born with power or trained to the brink of death to achieve it… There always exists another who surpasses you in every way."
I clenched my teeth as the tip of the claymore that stabbed past my arms touched my chest.
It was then that Ryo, Rex, Zeno, and Snow shot in from all angles to flank him.
Ryo with a Burn Bright Meteor in his palm, Rex with both his pistols pointed, Zeno in his Black Arcane Knight form, and Snow with his steam gauntlets.
But as they inched closer to him, the man whistled, and a silver orb shot out from seemingly out of nowhere, forming into a pistol that shot four consecutive rounds at each of them.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The shot wounds on them could not be seen; they had no idea what had just hit them, but as they reached the man, all their magic disappeared, and that's when the man grabbed the silver pistol and it morphed into a pole. He whirled around his wrist and neck, hitting Rex first, dragging him to Ryo, then to Snow, and lastly to Zeno as he finished his precise wring around.
They all flew in the same direction somewhere to his side.
All of them wore shocked expressions as they flew. And only one thought lingered in all our minds, thoughts that I didn't even have to read: What is going on?
Ignoring the pain, I flipped my legs into a flare spin. The motion shredded my arms, but I did not care. I needed to get back at him.
As I finally released from his pin, I threw a hand down to catch me from my spin and landed two kicks, but they were ineffective even as they landed directly without him needing to block—standing there as if nothing happened.
I couldn't believe what was going on, all I could think now was to hit harder…
I spun more and circled him, sending kick after kick in his direction until I finally landed a foot down and pivoted, throwing a barrage of punches next.
He faced me and threw the claymore down—like he no longer needed it—and began mimicking my movements.
Strike after strike, he met my punches with simple blocks with nothing but the palm of his hands. I kept pushing and intensified my strikes. I shrouded my fists in vantablack and let it inch toward the rest of my body. But still…
He blocked each one effortlessly.
"Hmm…" he said so ominously calm, "if it wasn't for that void black coating, I wouldn't have known your punches were getting stronger… what an interesting form of Tantra you have."
When he said that, I twitched a brow at him, and that was all he needed for distraction as he flung both my arms back. When he did this, my right arm dislocated, and I grunted at the sudden force.
"But unlike you, I know how to control mine."
He reeled in his fist, and I could have sworn I saw Ryo and the others' soundless shouts in the distance.
It happened so quickly, my mind couldn't even process moving. With muscle shredded arms behind me and one of them dislocated, I merely stood there wide open, helpless… and all I could do… was receive the strike.
The force of his punch was so intense that my eyes turned white, and I blacked out. And the last thing I saw was Ryo and the others running toward me with my vision blurring out…
It was at this moment… I suddenly understood what all those monsters—enemies—whoever was at the other end of this punch all felt…
One unanimous feeling that burrowed its way down to the soul, forcing it to accept.
Utter defeat.