Rise Of Pandora

Rise Of Pandora: XLVIII. The End Will Not Be Beautiful

Everybody in the room was drawn in. The already gloomy ambiance of the room had entirely altered into a thing of despondent fear.

"I wanted to press him and see what he'd do once I mentioned the Dakini and what I was doing in the forest. As I expected, the entire atmosphere changed. His voice rang heavier than it had previously and he was far more reckless. He was behind me at the time. I heard a clap and turned around, and that's when I spotted a bow in his right hand with small blue spheres flying around him, similar to the ones that come out of Gaijin's body.

XXVI. Stoic

"He wasn't fully human. He told me there was a time he could be considered as such, but that time is long gone, I am sure. His skin, from what I could discern, was artificial and there was something inside of him like armor that kept me from slaying him. He used his arms like blades to combat me. He was nearly impenetrable. Not even Augury and Omen could cut into his body. I constantly went at him, but I could not get the upper ground. I could not let there be too much space between us, or else I would be shot down. And being so close to him was a battle of its own. I felt I was fighting the earth which I stood upon, a small iota going to war with a celestial body. Still, I could not afford to just lose. I was terrified but I was running on adrenaline so I could not stop."

"Rarely were there times I could keep up with him. He moved with unnatural speed and hit hard. I was beginning there was not a place on his body where I could touch him. I felt like everything was playing against me. I won't lie, it got to me. Placed against that man, I felt my bones boiling. Those arrows of his pierced so heavy and shot so fast. I nearly prayed and to gods I do not even believe in. Gaijin, even as remarkable as his abilities are, was being utterly dominated. At this point I had already been shot down several times with arrows, they were too fast for me to react."

"Gaijin was the only one who stood between me and dying by the hands of miserable man. He truly had done me a service, I owe that much to him. I truly do. He kept the target back and drew him away from me. I was bleeding out but I had my mask on so I fell unconscious but I do not know how long I was passed out for. I came to and saw no one around me, not even Maddard. I followed the messy footprints they left. But that's when things got dark. The sky was literally dark. Overhead were millions of these arrows, I could not even tell what they were at the time until they plunged into my body. They fell like raindrops. At this point, I truly thought I was going to die. For the first time in my life, I saw the reaper. I don't remember how far they were but I know it took me some time to find them. That was when I saw Gaijin in his arms, he was filled with arrows and half alive. I rushed out and confronted my man. I forced him to drop Gaijin, I told Gaijin to go and find Maddard, leave the man to me."

XXVII. Stoic

"That's when the real struggle began. He was all mine now. It was at this time that I had to push more than I ever believed I could. He had distance on me so I had to move carefully, I stayed near trees but I was forced to fight in areas they were scarce. I hate to admit it, but I was outclassed in nearly every respect. He had power. He had speed. He had size that did not shrink even in the face of my skill and the twins. When we were distanced, he filled me with arrows. When we were close, he jabbed into my body. There was without a doubt some form of internal skeleton or element that made him hit and move so supernatural. It was otherworldly. Actual purple light trailed him, he was creating afterimages, this is how quickly he was moving. I want to paint the best picture because truly only I and Gaijin fully understand the weight of this enemy. I wish I had a better description to give but you would just have needed to see it for yourselves. But I hope you do not have that misfortune."

"Unless you are Purple Man, it will not be pretty. Not in the slightest..."

Baccus slowed down and contemplated. He knew he had left out information but he did not know what it was he was missing. He thought for a second.