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Elemental Blacksmith
9: Geus' Challenge II

9: Geus' Challenge II

Kelric had to move. His only choice left was to try and fight the tree-sized bear head-on. He knew it was impossible to win against it but still went. It seemed to be safer than being summoned to ‘The Battlefield of 8th Hell’.

After dodging one last fireball, he rushed in. In the short moment he had before facing the bear, he had to decide the first combo he’d use on the bear. He recalled all the combos.

Combo 1 wasn’t usable while running. The same was true for Combo 2. Combo 3 took too long. Combo 4 was difficult but doable. Finally, Combo 5. It was too crazy to even attempt.

Combo 4 it was. Now only a few steps removed from the bear, he initiated the combo. He held his sword close to him and took the final steps. Followed by a stab in the bear’s right leg. The next part of the combo would be to block an attack.

And just like he thought, the bear swung a claw at Kelric. But what was out of his prediction was the bear's strength. He hadn’t tested the block against a human yet, let alone a bear.

Despite that, he still continued the combo. He held his sword pointing down in a defensive stance. Quickly the bear’s flaming claw approached. He strengthened his stance. He thought he could tank it.

He couldn’t. Kelric got swiped off his feet completely. The bear had hit his legs and not the sword. He flipped sideways and had a rough landing on his side. In a span of less than a second, he had likely fractured multiple things. A part of his leg due to the first impact and a set of ribs with the second impact.

Adrenaline kicked right through him. He stood up swiftly and finished his combo. The original idea was to go under the blocked hit, but going over it had the same outcome. The final part of the combo. Slicing the other leg. It was a combo that attacked both sides of an enemy. It was…

Combo 4: Double-sided Stab and Slash.

There was only one problem. The bear had no reaction to his attack. It didn’t even flinch. It only thought of Kelric as an annoying bug. Some bugs were strong. But not this particular bug.

The bug had to fight to keep its life. Kelric had to fight to keep his life. One more hit of the bear would render him incapable.

But say, what if the bug wasn’t alone? What if it had help from a bigger bug? Then the heavy load placed on the smaller bug would lessen. It wouldn’t have to fight as hard to survive.

“I’m glad I put a part of my soul into your necklace.” The voice of someone he knew entered his ears. It was the Witch.

“Witch?” Kelric said as he jumped out of the bear’s range.

“I’ll help you, just trust me. I’m good at predicting enemy attacks.”

Kelric nodded while the bear had already approached him.

“Also, drink this.”

A small bottle containing an unknown liquid appeared out of thin air. He popped open the lid and drank it. But just as the first drop of the liquid entered his mouth someone spoke.

|I cannot allow such things.| It was the Great Demon Sapaq.

The bottle and the liquid both disappeared into thin air again. Kelric had a baffled expression.

|I shall allow her to help, however, for one minute only.| It seemed a Great Demon would always be a Great Demon at heart.

The bear swung its claw again.

“Forward and duck.”

Kelric heeded the Witch’s commands. Resulting in the claw flying right over his head.

“Let’s make the most of this minute, Kelric!”

“Let’s do this.”

The appearance of the witch was the ray of hope Kelric needed. With this, he might have a chance against the bear. This was the true beginning of Geus’ Challenge.

“Stab its left leg and slide under.” Kelric stabbed its left leg and slid in between its legs.

“Keep cutting its legs until it turns around.”

And so Kerlic did just that. He kept cutting its legs until it turned around.

|55 Seconds.|

Time was slowly ticking. The bear had turned around and flung his flaming claw at Kelric again. And again Kelric did just as the witch asked.

***

“This is fun isn’t it.”

|It takes too long to my liking.|

“Tch. Says the guy who’s been farming grass for thousands of years.”

|Battlefield of 8th hell?|

“I apologise, sir, Great Southern Demon of The Banished Ones, Sapaq.”

Sapaq and Geus were talking while watching the match from the sky.

“I forgot to say this, but you have impeccable taste, sir.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

They found themselves in a floating box in the sky decorated with only a few items. There were no walls, floor, or roof, but it was clear where each was supposed to be. There was a large couch against the back wall and two smaller ones to the front, all surrounding a small table. On the left, there was a small box containing a small patch of grass in the shape of a circle. It seemed like grass was still Sapaq’s number one priority, even if he wasn’t on his plain of grass.

On the right was a bonsai tree located on a square table. The bonsai tree seemed out of place, considering Sapaq only liked grass.

“Sir, why do you have a tree here?” Geus asked a question.

The shadowy figure of Sapaq looked straight at Geus. Waves of darkness could be felt from the figure. But also a few waves of light.

|You want to know more about the tree?|

Geus nodded while swallowing his saliva.

|Here I go explaining things again.|

Sapaq held his hand up. Darkness from his hand reached forward and engulfed Geus.

|I shall show you the story of the tree.|

Geus was now fully engulfed in darkness. His mind was transported somewhere.

***

It was a large desolate battlefield. The ground was rough, and rotting trees stood all over, mountains blacked all sunlight. And at the center of the battlefield, one final battle was taking place. Two beings stood back to back. Only death remained for them, they were surrounded by an army of roughly 500 men. Two versus 500 was definitely an impossible battle.

“Sapaq, this is the end, isn’t it?” It was a beautiful almost angelic voice, coming from a beautiful woman.

“I guess it is. I’m glad I met you, Sari.” This voice was deep and devilish, Coming from an average man covered in scars.

They both looked at each other one last time. The angelic Sari smiled at the devilish Sapaq, but Sapaq kept a straight expression.

Then the large army rushed in. Loud cries of the enemies came from all sides. The very last battle of a lengthy war was approaching. Sapaq rushed straight at the army, while Sari waited patiently for the army to come. Sapaq slaughtered enemies brutally and mercilessly, letting them suffer for as long as possible. On the other side was Sari killing the enemies with only one controlled hit, making sure they wouldn’t suffer.

They were truly polar opposites. Despite that, they worked together as a perfect duo. But the end of a fight of two versus 500 was already set in stone. The army would prevail, no matter how strong the two were.

After slaughtering a part of the army, Sapaq looked back toward Sari, only to be greeted by an unsightly happening. Sari was surrounded, and multiple swords stabbed into her.

Sapaq ran. He ran to save Seri. He ran faster than ever before. Sadly the distance between them was far too big. Sari’s body crumbled and shattered, letting out one last angelic aura before fully disappearing.

“No. No. No! No! NO! NOO!” Sapaq screamed out. The only being Sapaq cared for had died. What now? Such thoughts couldn’t reach him. Only rage filled him, and the already devilish aura that permeated him increased. Then everything stood still. A bright white figure walked toward him.

“Get your revenge for me.”

“S-Sari? Is it truly you?”

The figure didn’t answer, still, Sapaq knew that it was Sari. Her soul had come to him and said her one final sentence, her one final goodbye. He held his hand out the figure. He wanted to embrace her one more time. His forbidden love. To no one's surprise, the world wasn’t such a place. Before he even came close to her, she shattered. A droplet of water fell from the shattered soul.

The droplet hit the floor and an amazing echoing sound resounded. A bonsai tree grew right before his eyes. He knew exactly what it was and what to do.

“I’ll get revenge for you Sari, I definitely will!”

Sapaq held his sword up, and his devilish aura increased even more.

“Shattering The Soul Sword Art chapter 8. No, chapter 9. This one’s for you Seri.”

He swung his sword horizontally in a beautiful arc. It was the most beautiful slash ever performed.

“Chapter 9: The Final Soul Slash.”

Crackling noises were heard from all over. Bodies fell down. And then even more. There was no visible damage to the bodies, but it was obvious what ‘The Final Soul Slash’ did. It had shattered their soul completely. Leaving only empty, soulless carcasses. Only the strongest warriors remained.

Only Sapaq remained.

It was quiet now. There were no sounds. There were no men talking. There were no men fighting. Nothing was happening. Not even the wind blew. It was the conclusion of the final battle of a lengthy war. The ending that was set in stone, was completely altered. Someone had changed the contents of the stone. It was Sapaq who created that change.

But was this the correct ending? Was this the good ending? He had won, but for what? He had nowhere to return to. There was no one to support him. Except for one small bonsai tree.

The one bonsai tree stood at the center of a now completely desolate battlefield. It was surrounded by blood, weaponry, corpses, and many other things. It was the only thing that could be seen as a ‘beautiful’ result of the war. A war that lasted multiple years ended with only a single man and a single bonsai tree.

Sapaq fell down as his legs gave upon him. His head turned toward the bonsai tree.

“Who are you again?”

He had forgotten. Who was the one in the bonsai tree? Who was the one he cared for? Was Sari even her real name? Or was it a name he imagined to keep himself sane? The true name of his lover, what was it? He didn’t know.

His teary eyes turned away from the tree. A cluster of blueish lights was floating in front of him. With nothing else to try, and without hesitation, he touched one of the lights. Suddenly a flash of memories entered him.

Being born. Making friend. Starting military training. Getting chosen to fight in a big war. And finally dying at the hands of one single man.

It were the memories of a man he had just slaughtered.

“Why are you all here?” Sapaq yelled in a sad tone.

“WHY? Why… why did you kill her? Why? Please…”

He grasped the cluster of lights. Suddenly a bigger light flashed.

He suddenly found him on a big patch of dirt. Containing one bonsai tree and a small patch of grass. Beyond his great wall of already accumulated emotions, surprise had no space to enter. Only rage and sadness existed for him at the moment.

Without knowing why he crouched down and touched the grass. The same memories from before entered him.

||Oh, Sapaq. I congratulate you on your promotion from demon to Great Demon. With this, I grant you the title of ‘Great Demon of The Banished Ones, Sapaq’. Receiving this title signifies the end of my aid. Good luck.||

“Who are y–” An immense power blocked the words he wanted to say. He couldn’t ask a simple question like ‘Who are you?’. What kind of power held such a being?

He asked again. But before he got to the ‘you’ his words twisted.

“Who are… am I? I’m Sapaq. Sapaq. The Great Demon of The Banished Ones, Sapaq.”

“But why? Why of the banished ones?”

But in reality, it was quite clear to him. The grass were the souls of the men he had slaughtered. And there was not a single person who remembered the noble actions of the men. Not one person knew who the men were. Meaning they were banished from the world, to be forgotten forever.

And Sari… No, the angelic woman who helped him, she was also forgotten. No one truly remembered her. No one knew who she really was, or even her real name.

Sapaq understood the intention of the being that gave him his title. He had to gather all ‘Banished Ones’ here. He was the last line of salvation for all living beings.

And gathering ‘Banished ones’ was the sole thing he had to do for eternity.