The Story of Midnight

Chapter 35

"The heart dies a slow death, shedding each hope like leaves until one day there are none. No hopes. Nothing remains."
― Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha 

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I was used to fighting two or three soldiers at a time—God, that seemed like such a long time ago—but not only am I fighting four enemies at the same time, I'm also fighting four enemies that have the abilities of a dragon. What other skills Azazel is capable of I have yet to find out.

None of them have any weapons, waiting for the time when they can use their dragon abilities.

The one that was to my right narrowed his eyes.

"So you're ready to kill him four times over." He asked suspiciously.

"It's the only way to get rid of you, right?" I said nonchalantly.

He continued to stare at me probably wondering what happened to me in the past few seconds: How did I change from not wanting to kill Cloud to wanting to kill him repeatedly four times?

I heard movement behind me but didn't bother to do anything. One of Azazel's clones moved, ready to attack but ended up being electrocuted. He screamed and fell to the ground on his hands and knees, breathing heavily.

I turned around. He looked up at me and fear crossed his eyes. I tipped my head to the side slightly and smiled knowingly. "You should be afraid of me," I said as I picked him up by the scruff of his jacket. "Because I'm not afraid of killing you," I whispered darkly.

His eyes widened as electricity surrounded his body, burning him from the inside out. His scream pierced the silent forest.

I let go of him. His charred and blackened body turned to dust before he hit the ground.

"You think I'm kidding now?" I asked, turning to gaze at the one I assumed to be the real Azazel.

He looked slightly shocked and amused. Then burst out laughing.

I waited silently while he finished.

He wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh, man. You should listen to Cloud right now. He's completely mortified." A few soft chuckles escaped then he exhaled sharply before looking at me in the eye. "I knew you had it you, metal. You just needed that little push."

I tilted my head in curiosity before appearing in front of the Azazel that was to my right. In two slices from Haze, his head fell off. Just like the other clone he turned to dust too.

I looked at the one that was to my left and suddenly he was on the ground, pinned by my foot at his throat. My gaze was blank as I snapped his neck. He too, became dust.

The real Azazel didn't even flinch. He wasn't afraid like the others.

Pain suddenly flared in my stomach and slowly spread throughout my other organs. I clutched at my torso, taken by surprise at the new form of attack. His sword had pierced through me. Panic swept through me as the electricity gave a few crackling sparks before it died out.

Zephyr!

My trepidation only grew and became more rampant when the dragon didn't answer.

"You really need to stop relying on Zephyr so much." Azazel said, shaking his head.

He lifted his arm and slowly closed his hand in a fist. This action somehow made gravity change around me; its pressure forcing me to lay flat on the ground; he pulled his sword out of my stomach causing me to gasp in pain as blood poured out.

"I think with enough force I can break your ribs maybe even go further and break your spine." Azazel mused.

I tried to gather energy but nothing came to me. Frustration made me want to scream but I couldn't. I couldn't move. My insides felt like they were being shredded.