Sounds of yells and whirlwinds cut through the air from a distance.
Getting closer to a field of raging flames on a scorched land, a figure hovered upside down above the ground, yelling while fire burnt down from his hand.
His balance was dead on as though he had thrusters which kept him crushing down like a falling jet.
Steam was rising rapidly from his body as if exhaustion was weighing down on him but his expression said otherwise.
'Just a little more push.' He thought, yelling louder as the burning only grew stronger.
'Not yet.' He thought again as he kept pressing down.
Then, his eyes widened. "Now."
As he said that, he swung his blade downward as if cutting something.
Then flipped backward through the air, landing softly on his feet.
He immediately went down on one knee, breathing heavily.
'I... hope that was enough.' He looked forward, into the furnace.
His other knee dropped as well as his arms as he lifted up his head, trying to catch his breath. 'It'll be really bad if that didn't finish him off. I'm beat to the bone.'
— —
Deep into the forest, sunlight lit brilliantly across a disheveled field—a few trees splintered, others slightly bent, rocks shuttered.
Amidst the destruction, the white haired girl from earlier stood, breathing heavily, looking slightly wrecked, an ori-tandemon's head in one hand, another head on the ground, their decapitated bodies lying at her feet.
She threw the head she was holding away. 'Looks like I finally got to fight some strong ones. They did give me some trouble though.'
She looked at her right arm which seemed to be bleeding and clicked her tongue. "It would have been more trouble if there were more than two. I guess I still have a long way to go to get to my sister's level."
Then she turned to her left. "Now... to find where that strong presence was coming from."
She said and left off, dashing at an incredible speed.
— —
Emmanuel knelt in the midst of the burning field, breath slowly coming to a steady rhythm.
"Looks like I killed him." He said, gazing into the smoking flare ahead of him.
A sigh escaped him as he slowly got on his feet. "Now, to get out of here."
He turned around and started walking away but stopped after a few steps, a frown drawing on his face.
Behind him, a figure rose up in the smoking flare. "You really did a number on me, I'll give you that."
— —
Emmanuel was frozen, unable to take another step, sweating pellets.
He gulped, slowly turning his head to look behind him, catching a glimpse of the demon walking out of the flames.
The demon was radiating a burst of red aura as it kept advancing its way out of the fire, sending a chill throughout the place.
Emmanuel's brows couldn't stop twitching. "Is this... bloodlust?"
The demon finally got out, coming into view.
It glanced at its right side, finding its right arm missing. "You little brat. You cut off my arm."
Then it turned back to Emmanuel with a menacing glare, speaking in a calm but slightly hoarse tone. "It hurts. Really bad."
Without another word, Emmanuel dashed towards the forest, not looking back. 'Dammit. Didn't it work? Why?'
He shook his head, clearing his thoughts before looking back ahead as he ran. 'That's not important right now. I just have to get out of—'
His thoughts were cut off as the demon suddenly blitzed to his side.
'What?' Emmanuel gasped, glaring at the demon from the corner of his eye.
"It hurts, you brat." The demon yelled, slicing its burning sword at Emmanuel who blocked with his katana reflexively.
The strike shot backwards, increasing the distance between him and the forest.
Emmanuel rolled over the ground several times as he flew, finally landing on his feet and skidding to a stop.
His attention snapped to the demon who was walking slowly towards him. He immediately noticed the steam rising from the demon. 'Is... Is he doing what I did earlier?'
He thought, remembering when he used heat to burn the sugar in his body rapidly to boost his physical abilities.
Emmanuel straightened up, clenching his sword. "I barely have energy left to fight."
As he said that, his sword glowed a white light and disappeared along with his arm guard.
He flinched instantly, noticing the situation he had gotten into. "This is bad. Now I can't summon my sword. I'm out of pure energy."
The moment he realized his attention was drawn away, he snapped back but then, it was already standing in front of him, gazing intently down at him.
The whole place turned red with bloodlust, Emmanuel stiffened, brows furrowed and twitching, teeth clenched.
He slowly lifted his head to look back at the demon.
The demon groaned in surprise. "You have quite the look. I sense no fear from them. Could it be that you're just frustrated?"
Emmanuel didn't say anything. He just stood there, fingers balled into fists, glaring at the wolf-headed creature.
The demon chuckled. "Are you frustrated because none of your attacks worked on me?"
It chuckled again. "Just accept the fact. The truth is you're too weak to kill me."
It grabbed Emmanuel by the shirt, lifting him up till they were levelled. "So... you ready to pay for my arm with your life?"
Emmanuel was quiet for a moment, eyes darkened, not letting out a word. A grin slowly crept up his lips. "I already knew. I knew I couldn't kill you. But you know what..."
He lifted one arm, grabbing the demon's arm. "I won't die here! No matter what!"
The demon frowned, veins bulging on its arm. "What's with that confidence in your eyes?"
Emmanuel's grin didn't falter. Not one bit.
The demon's frown deepened. "That glare is irritating me. It's like you're mocking me. And it's seriously pissing me off."
— —
It lifted him higher up, watching him gaze down on it. Something snapped inside the demon and it suddenly slammed Emmanuel into the ground.
Emmanuel gasped, blood spilling from his mouth.
Then it took a step back to look down at Emmanuel who laid helpless on the ground, not able to move an inch.
He was battered up—shirt ripped and some parts burnt, blood leaking down his face, multiple scratches on his body.
Emmanuel coughed, struggling to breathe. When he managed to get his breath under control, he smiled at the demon again.
The demon groaned, the crown of its head igniting.
Emmanuel chuckled. "Did I touch a nerve? Who's frustrated now?"
The demon growled, lifting one leg. It began driving heavy stomps on Emmanuel, each one knocking the air out of him.
Each powerful crash expanded the crater Emmanuel laid in, burying him deeper into the ground while he coughed blood every time the foot landed.
"You think you can survive?" The demon asked, delivering another heavy pound.
"Stop acting cocky, human." Another stamp. A second. Fourth.
"There's no..."
Heavy tramp
"Way..."
Clomp
"You can..."
Tromp
"Escape me..."
Lifting its leg. "You weakling."
BOOM
A final heavier stomp landed on Emmanuel, knocking dust into the air.
Emmanuel laid on the ground, eyes tightly shut, mouth opened, struggling to catch his breath, body limp.
The demon had a smirk on its lips, foot heavily pinning him down, breath softly ragged.
"Do you understand now?"
Emmanuel opened his eyes to look up at the demon as it kept speaking.
"Brats like you can never escape from my blade no matter what."
Emmanuel coughed twice and...
Lifting both hands, he grabbed the demon's leg.
A mischievous smirk beamed on his face. "Buzz off."
"Ke!" The demon took off its foot, body shaking violently. "I said..."
A sword flickered into its hand. "Stop acting cocky."
It raised the blade, tip pointing down at Emmanuel as if to threaten him, but he wasn't the least fazed.
The demon snapped, a red wave of aura washing over the whole place. "You brat."
It growled, thrusting the blade down at Emmanuel who closed his eyes, preparing for the worst.
"Dammit. Dammit." Emmanuel thought, frustration sounding under the grin. "I can't die here. No way. My... My family's waiting for me. I refuse to die."
Just then, the sound of a clinging metal sounded through the air.
And Emmanuel didn't feel any stab at him for seconds. Not knowing what was happening, he slowly opened his eyes.
Immediately, his mouth opened, eyes widened.
The demon's blade was broken, the detached part flying off.
There was something like a clamped long spine of sand piercing through the demon, pointed tip coming out from its back.
Emmanuel was left speechless as he watched the bleeding demon.
The demon itself was shocked, glaring at the lance in its chest.
The sand suddenly pulled the demon forward and Emmanuel's eyes followed.
At the far end of forest, he saw someone running along with the dust lance with kept pulling the demon in.
As the two closed in, two swords appeared in the the man's grip and while passing beside the demon, sliced it into three parts—head and legs detached from the torso.
The clamped sand withered and dropped to the ground.
Emmanuel laid there, eyes glimmering with hope, watching the person approach him.
Then he shook his head, pulling himself out of his trance and slowly sat up, looking at the person again.
'That ability.' Emmanuel thought. "Don't tell me."
The person came clear into his view.
"It's one of the masters. Farouque Obin."
Farouque stopped in front of Emmanuel, swords and arm guard disappearing. "Nice job, weakling."
Emmanuel groaned, lowering his head, looking down.
Farouque, noticing his expression. He moved to Emmanuel's side and bent down. "Here. Let me help you up."
He took Emmanuel's arm, throwing it over his neck and helped Emmanuel to his feet.
"Don't look so down because you weak against it." Farouque said as they started walking away.
"At least you managed to hold your own against it before I arrived."
Emmanuel slowly lifted his head to look at Farouque.
"Now that you managed to survive, you just have to get stronger so you can kill one the next time you see it."
Emmanuel kept staring at Farouque like he had seen some sort of god. 'He sounds so sincere under that cold mask.'
He smiled softly, looking back ahead. "Yes sir."