Gareth stood over the Black Ledger, his blade raised, his eyes cold, his will absolute. The blade hung in the air, ready to descend, ready to end the life of the man who had dared to challenge him.
The Black Ledger smiled.
"You know..." His voice was weak, but it carried. "I wanna try something."
He shifted his body, his muscles tensing beneath the blood-soaked coat.
"If I crush your balls..." He laughed a short, wet, broken sound. "...I wonder, will you get out of that mood you have?"
He slipped under Gareth.
His body moved faster than it should have been able to desperate, instinctive, reckless. His remaining hand shot forward, targeting Gareth's groin, aiming to cripple, to distract, to survive.
Gareth's blade descended.
SHLIK!
The steel cut through the Black Ledger's fist severing it cleanly at the wrist, spraying blood across the deck, sending the severed hand tumbling across the wood.
The Black Ledger screamed.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
The sound tore from his throat raw, primal, agonized. He clutched the stump of his arm, his fingers digging into the flesh, his body convulsing with the force of the pain. Blood poured from the wound, thick and dark, pooling on the deck beneath him.
He cried.
Tears streamed down his face hot, uncontrollable, shameful. His body shook. His teeth chattered. His mind screamed.
He murmured to himself, his voice barely a whisper.
"Dammit. Dammit."
His eyes kept blinking nonstop, rapid, desperate.
"I have to apply pressure to it." He pressed the stump against his chest, trying to stop the bleeding. "Now stop the bleeding. I can't be one-handed."
He sobbed.
"Dammit. Dammit." His voice cracked. "And this is the hand I use for fun."
In pain, he said, his voice trembling.
"Oh, poor me." He laughed a broken, hollow sound. "One arm and one eye. I might die of infection before I die to you."
He forced himself to breathe.
"Hehehe."
He looked up at Gareth.
His eyes one ruined, one still studied the demon's face. The coldness. The emptiness. The stillness.
"Wow." His voice was quiet, almost reverent. "It seems I can't really understand."
He tilted his head.
"It's like a calm and violent sea at the same time." He paused. "Infinite killing intent like a monster that descended from hell, despite your own body falling apart."
He laughed again.
"But now I can still see that monster." His voice hardened. "That monster is still here."
He paused.
"But what is this?"
His eyes narrowed.
"That monster is calm."
He laughed a short, bitter sound.
"Heheh. A monster being calm." He shook his head. "That has been a huge stereotype in novels I read."
He gestured weakly with his remaining hand.
"They say when a monster is calm, it is calculated. Ready to take any action to destroy the enemy completely." He smiled. "But I don't believe in that."
He leaned forward.
"Hehehe. Why would I believe in the existence of monsters written by men without an ounce of knowledge of anatomy?" His voice hardened. "Men who bear their fantasies into reality."
He straightened.
"It is false." His voice was absolute. "I refuse it."
He pointed at Gareth with his remaining hand.
"Rather, I will go with the anatomical conclusion." He smiled. "You're managing it. But it's killing you. So you adjusted it to make sure that you don't die."
He laughed.
"HAHAHA!"
"Did I guess it right?" He asked, his voice desperate, hungry. "I guessed it right, didn't I?"
He smiled.
"HAHA. HAHAHA!"
"Then now..." His voice hardened. "...I will take advantage of it."
He forced himself up.
His body swayed. His vision swam. His mind screamed. But he rose.
"And kill you."
Gareth did not respond.
He simply watched. His eyes cold, empty, absolute remained fixed on the Black Ledger's face. His blade remained raised. His will remained unbroken.
The Black Ledger charged.
His body moved fast, desperate, reckless. He had no weapon. No plan. No hope. But he moved anyway. He attacked anyway. He fought anyway.
Gareth's blade descended.
The Black Ledger dodged.
He twisted. He ducked. He weaved. His body moved with a speed that defied his injuries, a grace that defied his pain, a will that defied his fear.
He was no longer fighting to survive.
He was fighting to prove himself right.
Gareth attacked again.
His blade swung a massive arc that should have cut the Black Ledger in two.
The Black Ledger dropped.
His body fell to the deck sliding across the blood-soaked wood, passing under the blade, emerging behind Gareth. His remaining hand shot out not a weapon, not a strike, but a touch. His fingers pressed against Gareth's spine, feeling the vertebrae, measuring the structure.
Gareth spun.
His elbow slammed into the Black Ledger's face CRACK! shattering his jaw, spraying blood, sending him stumbling backward.
The Black Ledger laughed.
Blood poured from his broken jaw, dripping down his lips, his chin, his chest. But his eyes his eyes were bright, excited, alive.
"Wonderful." His voice was thick with blood. "Your body is wonderful."
He wiped his face.
"Every strike." He smiled. "Every movement. Every breath."
He took a step forward.
"I want to learn you."
Gareth attacked again.
His blade shot forward fast, precise, deadly aimed at the Black Ledger's throat.
The Black Ledger moved.
He flowed around the blade, twisted through the strike, countered with a palm to Gareth's chest. He pushed not hard, but right redirecting Gareth's momentum, sending him staggering.
Gareth caught himself.
He attacked again.
And again.
And again.
The battle continued intense, brutal, exhausting. The destroyed vessel shook beneath them, sinking lower into the water, threatening to capsize.
But neither of them stopped.
Neither of them could stop.
The Black Ledger's body was failing.
His wounds were too many. His blood was too thin. His strength was too little. But his will his will was unbroken.
He smiled.
His eyes one ruined, one still fixed on Gareth's face.
"You know..." His voice was weak, but it carried. "I think I understand now."
He took a step forward.
"You're not a monster." He shook his head. "You're a man."
He laughed.
"A man who has been pushed beyond his limits." His voice hardened. "A man who has become something more."
He raised his remaining hand.
"And I think..." He smiled. "...that's beautiful."
Gareth's blade descended.
The Black Ledger closed his eyes.
The blade stopped.
It hung in the air a hair's breadth from the Black Ledger's neck. The edge gleamed. The steel sang. The will behind it wavered.
The Black Ledger opened his eyes.
He looked up at Gareth.
At the demon who had hesitated.
At the man who was still there.
He smiled.
"Thank you." His voice was barely a whisper. "For showing me... the beauty of a man's will."
Gareth's blade hung in the air.
The Black Ledger waited.
And the sea roared.