Alruin sat up from the rubble surrounding him. The attack had caused very little damage to him but just the same, he had been caught off guard. He had just been thinking no one could possibly be strong enough to hurt him and just then that man had showed himself.
"Where did he come from?"
Was the masked man hiding, observing them from far this whole time or had he just showed up at the same time they happened to be walking towards the castle.
His guess was that this might be where he was standing by all along. Alruin thought back on the large concentration of shadows Sayu had killed and sighed in anger.
This should have let him know that there was something in the area. They had not faced a single force of creatures so big on their way here. The monsters were probably there as a front for the Shadow Manipulator to know when someone is approaching him.
He had allowed them to walk into that surprise attack and now they were engaged with the enemy.
Alruin stood up from the debris of the building that he had crashed into to. He looked towards the direction of the masked man and what he saw made him run as fast as his legs could carry him.
Sayu stood in front of the man, holding the hilt of a sword that was piercing her heart. Her mouth opening and closing as if trying to make a sound.
There was no time to understand what was happening, whatever it was didn't look good. He struggled with all his might to get there on time but all he could see was the waning light of life escape her eyes.
The flames of the sword made a hissing sound as blood sprung forth from her wound. Her white attire had a become tainted by the color of her blood escaping from her wound. It spread through it as she stumbled in place, trying to remain on her feet.
He staggered onto the ground only a few feet away just in time to see Sayu's eyes grow completely dim before she collapsed on the ground.
"D-dammit w-what the hell is this?! Get the hell back up this shit's not cool!" yelled out Hiromichi.
"A pity, I could feel my skills influence slipping. Just a little longer and she would have broken free. Can't use that for a while now can I?"
Alruin had a mixture of feelings towards seeing this. It wasn't so much because of his new fixation on Sayu, a girl he had barely met a few minutes ago, it was about seeing someone die in front of him. Had he the strength to stop this man, there would be no need to see her die, to see anyone die.
Alruin lifted himself from the ground once again. He would have to keep himself under control, show no more signs of emotional disruption. It would only cloud his mind if he was going to take on this person. He tried pushing Sayu's cold body that layed on the ground, motionless, away from his sight.
His attention turned to the masked man who was quietly staring back behind the mask.
Sword in hand and shield ready he spoke with a calm tone.
"To whom do I have the displeasure of talking to?"
"W-why are you asking him this shit! Don't you see what he did to her?! Swing at this asshole!" Hiromichi's words echoed loudly.
Behind the assertive demanding voice of his, Alruin could sense a hint of pain and frustration. Frustration that rose from his lack of strength, just like his own. They were different somehow though. Hiromichi's seemed to come from a friend who has just lost someone close while his own came from seeing the death of another. He ignored Hiromichi's demands, waiting patiently for a response.
The masked man, finally tired of the grunting struggling sounds Hiromichi was making, threw him back towards Sayu's body.
The shadow that he had brought forth earlier made a disgruntled sound as it empty red eyes stared back menacingly at Alruin.
Hiromichi who had finally been released, immediately shuffled his way towards Sayu and shook her.
"H-hey! Hey get up! This isn't funny! Y-you're not supposed to die here! What kind of sick joke is this!?"
"Do you not have an answer for me then? Is your identity that important to you?" persisted Alruin.
Hiromichi's constant loud mouth comments were making it difficult for him to focus but he had to pull through.
"Oh no, I was just wondering how to answer. My name is not something I've used in a while. How about you call me...Y."
"Y?"
"Why indeed?" the masked man replied with a chuckle.
Alruin's grip on his sword tighten. How he could stand there and laugh after Sayu died needlessly was beyond him. Only the mind of a truly twisted person could easily take the life on another and not find a moment of remorse. He had enough of questioning this man, there was clearly no intentions for him to reveal anything about himself.
He raised his sword and shield, vigilant of any sudden moves Y, as he wanted to be called, might make.
Hiromichi stood up, his face red in anger, or perhaps because he was holding back some tears.
"Alruin we have to kill this guy, I don't care how we put him in the dirt but he's paying for this shit!"
He understood his anger but wished Hiromichi wasn't so loud to express it.
"Very well, you handle that shadow while I take on Y."
"Actually, calling me that? I'm flattered. Not wise letting me know your plan, though right? What if I brought more of my pets out to play."
"I don't believe you can do that anymore."
"...Explain."
"You're at your limit when it comes to using these creatures. You have them running around the entire city terrorizing the denizens. Just by the strength of your creatures I can assume you chose to bring out weaker ones to do so, otherwise you would only be able to use a limited number of stronger shadows. Seeing that you only brought this one out, I believe this is the limit to how many you can use, unless you remove the presence of the others across the city."
"Well observed. Yes, as of now holding all these creatures in this realm is proving to be an extensive use of my strength. You're silly though if you think you have the upper hand because of this. Your friend here will have a difficult time holding my pet back."
The Shadow being that had been idling standing behind made its move. It jumped with a surprising amount of speed for its looks towards Hiromichi.
"T-this thing is fast!" he yelled out.
Hiromichi lifted his hands in a guard position, knowing well that it would be too late to react towards the monster's attack and dodge. He instantly felt the full blow of the monster as its large fist made contact with his arms.
"Agh!" he let out a cry of pain.
He was flung back across the air like a rag doll. His arm was still in pain from being held by Y all this time so he couldn't properly defend himself against it.
The bulky shadow raced after him leaving Alruin and Y once more in complete silence.
"You are making this difficult. We had had hoped to avoid any Heroes in this area. How you slipped past our radar I'll never know. The REAL Hero of Tyr if I'm correct. Then again its only a few days off..."
Alruin nodded his head. There was no need for him to hide is identity. If anything, having the enemy know who he was would work in his favor and make him second doubt his decision to continue this fight. The most important thing right now was securing the city, even if the enemy was to retreat and leave alive, it would be preferable to having the city completely destroyed with potentially more casualties.
"Guess she was right about your arrival, a bit far too early but she was right. That fake Hero, Kami, forced our plans in a rush. He's been leaving a trail of his mess wherever he goes and it's caught our attention. At any rate, you will have to forgive me for not taking this fight as serious."
"No more talk then."
Alruin's feet moved with very little thought towards Y. His sword angled directly at his chest.
"Predictable."
Y dodged easily to the side the sword gracing the air where he stood.
"Overdrive I."
A distinct blue and green aura glowed around Alruin for a split second. His muscles grew distinctively in size and strength releasing a steam like effect from within his armor.
As fast as he could think his sword arm swung back at an increasing speed towards the direction Y had dodged.
This seemed to have caught him a bit off guard as he attempted to move back from his attack. This time though his swords tip managed to hit the side of his mask, slightly cracking it.
Y slid back, raising his hand at Alruin.
"Heroes, what a pain, Shadow Force."
A dark area of effect that originated from his palm resonated through the air. It reached Alruin sending him back from the force of the attack.
"A weak attack for someone of your strength, you're really not taking this seriously."
Alruin slammed his sword against the ground to stop himself from skidding.
"Earth Bound!"
The ground beneath Y shook for a second before his legs sunk in. He was lowered to about knee deep before the floor instantly harden locking him in place.
"Tsk, persistent indeed...it's going to take-"
Alruin despite still being unable to stop sliding back held onto his weapon. This was just where he needed him to get a clean attack in.
"Light Seal: Sword Lockdown!"
A barrage of swords made of light materialized around Y. Before he could react, they sunk themselves into his body. The sword continued to penetrate Y from all angels before eventually lodging him in place. A small lock made of light appeared over his chest signifying the finished process.
There was barely a peep from Y only a disgruntled noise from having so many swords piercing through him.
"Ngh...I let my guard down."
Alruin coming to a halt from being forced back, ran towards him once again.
This time, Alruin had him confined as he wanted. His next attack should be one to finish him in one blow.
As he gathered speed, his sword gave off a distinct glow. Light seemed to gather onto the weapon as the intensity of the weapons glow increased. It wasn't long before it was covered in a thick layer of light which made the appearance of the sword much bigger than it actually was.
His muscle movement was fast and precise as he was only a few feet away from Y. He placed his foot in front of himself holding back all that momentum he had gained while running and channeling it towards his arm strength.
"Holy Sweep!"
He swung high, down towards the top of Y's head. Alruin would cut right down the middle with no mercy what so ever. The swords that were currently rooting his movements down was only a fraction of the pain he wanted Y to feel. This would be a mercy killing if anything, but he would know a small taste of pain before his life escaped him.
The attack made contact with Y as the overwhelming force that swung down at him passed through the ground and made a large explosion. The air lifted the dust up making any vision particularly hard. The debris that had been thrown into the skies from the force of his strength began raining down around the area.
Alruin breathed heavily his muscles returning back to normal.
Overdrive was a move that accelerated one's muscles making them stronger and faster. It sends electrical signals from the brain to every muscle forcing them into this state. His body would also react faster due to this making every movement closer to his own thought speed. Over use of this though could potentially cause harm so he had to make sure to only use it for a certain amount of time.
The smoke began to clear as he turned his attention towards the direction of Sayu's body.
It was still intact, luckily the fight had not taken place near enough to do any further harm. He walked up to her still corpse and stared down at her.
Even now in its lifeless state he couldn't help but admire her. His only regret was not being able to save her. He allowed his arrogance to get the better of him by thinking his presence would be enough to protect them. As a Hero, every life lost due to his incompetence was a striking blow to him.
He reached down on one knee and drew the sword in flames from her heart and placed it next to her. There were no words that escaped his lips at this moment. He hardly knew enough about her to say any kind words that would put her to proper rest.
The best he could hope to achieve was a moment of silence as a sign of respect. Had they got to know each other more, the gravity of this situation would have driven him in a rage he would not be able to quell.
He postured himself, making sure not to lose control. How was it that the loss of this one girl was causing such an effect on him? Was this what they called, love at first sight? Then he had lost it as quickly as he had found it. Would he scream to the skies and demand an explanation to this so-called Goddess Iatra, or would he do as he has so far and swallow this uncertainty and place a face of someone who is sturdy and unshaken.
For the betterment of Mortality in the land of Tyr. It rested in his shoulders to place their needs before his own. This love he felt was nothing but a momentary emotion time would heal, or so he hoped.
"So life is cruel as such..." he spoke raising himself on his feet again.
Alruin sighed at losing himself in his emotions again. The proper thing to do at this moment would be to check if Hiromichi was fine. He expected the shadow would be gone now that its user was dead. Still, there was no guarantee that it worked like that.
He picked Sayu's sword from the ground and gave one last glance.
"Forgive me."
"A romantic I see, how coy."
He felt an icy cold grip around his shoulder that sent shivers down his back.
Alruin tried to turn around and swing his sword at the force that held to him but he couldn't. He looked down at his feet and saw a shadow, coiling itself around his legs and moving up his tighs. It restricted him, kept him from making any further moves.
The chuckle that followed after that was a familiar one. It was Y, still alive and seemingly unharmed.
"What now, Hero of Tyr?"
A/N: Merry Christmas,doods!