“Aahlright! We got Napalmic decked out in his armor! How duzzit’ feel?”

Napalmic looked at his armor, then back at Lolly and John.

“Fits just like how I remembered it, aye.”

“Good, then let’s head out, before the other watchmen catch on.”

The trio exited the H building, setting out for where John and Lolly had entered, they could hear an audible thud sound, but thought nothing of it. As they sprinted, John heard a familiar voice.

“Ey! You!”

John turned, his two friends turning as well at the sound of the call. What John saw was the face of someone he wished to never meet again, and from the looks of it, he had a new friend with him too… An Oni?

“Yeah! Remember me?”

Who is this guy? Thought Lolly. Does he know John?

John struggled to find the words to speak. He could’ve sworn that he defeated this Balandian already, there was no way for him to come back. At least, that’s what he had thought. He panicked and froze, but that didn’t stop Proxus from running at him with the speed and rage of an angry mother. John somehow was able to break free and speak.

“You’re… That Balandian!”

“Is this an enemy o’ yours, lad?”

The Balandian glanced at Napalmic with a deranged face.

“Yeah!” He looked back at John. “You ready for round 2, snot?”

“John, dis guy seems strong, we shood take em’ on together.” Lolly whispered to John. John nodded, she was right. Maybe he only felt it out of intimidation, but he could’ve sworn that something about him seemed stronger than before.

“Oi! The badlands are you doing, Proxy?”

It was that Oni standing behind the Balandian, she had a sort of confused and scolding expression on her face.

“I’m just gonna settle some beef I have with this elly!”

John quickly stanced up, his feet shifting positions. His fists raised as he generated stone gauntlets. Lolly followed by creating her Quince Sweet bow, aiming it at the Balandian.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never gotten your name, what was it, kid?”

“Why do you need to know that?”

“So I know the name of the person I beat into the ground!”

“Really? Then… I should be asking you for your name.” John raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“Ho! You think you’re funny? Heh, fine. I’m Proxus Kókkino. You?”

“John Bayani.”

“Bayani? I heard people with names like that have good luck, pfft, you’ve gotta be unlucky to come across me.” Proxus taunted with a finger curl towards himself.

“I don’t care what you call me, if you want to be beaten again, fine by me.”

“You’re gonna join your mom, kid. Just you wait.”.

With a quick tap of the foot, Proxus dashed in, outstretching his arm towards John. He wanted to grab onto John and totally smash him in the ground, but before his hand had reached John’s clothes…

CLANG

Proxus’s claws had landed on the blade of Napalmic, both of them making eye contact with each other. Napalmic was noticeably serious. Proxus couldn’t help but sense a hysterically strong aura from him, it was as if…

“Is he the strong pressure I sensed when I came here?! Holy crap!”

“No one is hurting Johnny here, not in front o’ me.” Napalmic declared. His head flared up as he was saying this, the impact of the words kicked Proxus in the head.

Napalmic quickly swatted away Proxus before kicking him in the chest.

“Urk…!”

He started to run up on him, blade readied to deliver a stab to his body. Proxus was about to get smoked like a Popeyes extra crispy two piece combo. As he thrusted his sword down to Proxus’ chest, Napalmic felt something slam into him.

THUD

In an instant, he felt his shoulders being crushed by a heavy blunt object being swung at him. He tried to keep a grip on his sword, but it was awfully difficult with his shoulder being smashed so close to his face. He started to cough up smoke, which, if you want a comparison, that’s like us people with normal heads coughing out blood.

“Crivvens!” Napalmic cursed. Dunno about you, but I think that’s going to leave a mark.

The next thing he felt was being sent flying through the air, body spiraling like a twirling arrow. As soon as he hit the ground, he rolled uncontrollably for several moments before getting an opening to plant his sword on the ground. This allowed him to stop and kneel, his breathing heavy.

“Oi! You think you can swing a sword into my partner without me doing something?!”

Napalmic looked up at the Oni. She was holding a kanabō across her shoulders.

“Aren’t Oni s’pposed to slay Balandians? What happened?” Napalmic said with labored breaths, coughing up even more smoke.

“This isn’t the second Balandian War anymore, bub. This place seems a bit crowded, you wanna take this somewhere else?” Said the Oni, as she looked around the place.

“No way in the Badlands, lass!”

The Oni smirked. Within a flash, she had closed the distance between her and Napalmic, surprising him.

“I insist.”

CLAMP

She had grabbed Napalmic from the leg, throwing him out of the prison with her incredible strength; she leapt up to follow with the initial grab, slamming his body into the forest below.

“Hey, he just got hit pretty badly…” Said Lolly.

“I’m sure he’ll be back, Lolly. For now, we have someone else to deal with.”

John and Lolly stared at Proxus, who got up. He scoffed as he faced the two.

“No annoying guards for either side? Nice, now we can get started!”

Ooooooh boy! I get to finally do character themes here! Hee hee hee… Sorry, I’m just a little excited. Anyways, for what you’re about to read right now, I’m gonna need you to play this* while reading. Trust me, it’ll be good.

Proxus ran to John a second time. In response, John blocked his punch, which Proxus responded to with a palm strike… Which was also blocked. As they both stepped back, John swung his gauntlet to Proxus, but he dodged easily with each blow.

“C’mon, don’t tell me all you do is swing! This is pathetic!”

TWANG

Proxus felt something strike his upper arm, he looked down to see an arrow.

“What the–”

WHAM

Using the opening, John stepped to Proxus, and delivered a swift blow to his gut. This hit surprised Proxus for a moment. However, Proxus was able to quickly regain his pace, delivering a knee to John’s face and hurling him through the air.

“Who shot that at me?!” Exclaimed Proxus, mildly annoyed by a newfound Lolly aiming her bow in his direction.

“Therr’s more where dat’ came from!” Lolly pulled back on her bowstring. A pink aura began to envelop the bow, getting larger and larger as she pulled back.

TWANG

An arrow much bigger than the one that had hit Proxus, was blasted out of the bow. The arrow sped towards him, hoping to meet his body… but with quick reflexes, Proxus slapped away the arrow with a disappointed look on his face.

“So they’re just basic projectiles? Not very clever.”

Proxus stepped close to Lolly and landed a devastating kick to her body. The kick blew her away, but not before something started emerging from the arrow that had stuck itself in Proxus.

“Pop… Expand…”

Crystally candy burst out from the arrow and began to wrap around his arm, severely hindering Proxus’ movement. “A trap!” Proxus yelled, toiling to break free from the annoyance.

Raising his free arm, he smashed it into the arm that was being crystallized, shattering the candy fetters. Proxus then swiftly removed the arrow from his body, figuring that Lolly could simply crystallize his arm again if it had remained. He then threw it behind him into the distance.

“Alright, that was a little clever, but not clever enough! And you’re not my target, girl, so just get outta the way!” Proxus walked up to the fallen body of Lolly, getting ready to do one of those finisher kicks, until John stepped in front of him.

“She’s not who you’re looking for? Then why continue to attack her?” Interrogated John. The taste of blood in his mouth was not a good one.

“So you’ve got guts, John, I like that. At least I know this won’t be a complete slaughter!”

John and Proxus sprinted to each other and started trading blows. It began with a simple tap, then it was blocked and received a counterattack. This cycle of trading and blocking hits continued, with each combatant accelerating the rate of their blows. A strike to the chest, a strike to the arm, every possible location was a target. But all were either dodged or blocked by John and Proxus’ reflexive responses. Sensing fatigue, they both stopped and stepped back.

“Phew, did you get strong, or were you already this strong?”

“Drive to protect. If I couldn't save my mom, then I'll save the people I have right now.”

“Hah, the drive to protect.” Proxus scoffed. “Such a stupid idea! I want you to be honest with me. We both desire to rip and tear at each other! We both have an instinct to do battle! And the side with no killer instinct never wins!”

“Pfft, that sounds too angsty. I’m not doing this because I want to beat you. I’m doing this because I have to win.”

“Heh, fine, believe what you want to believe, but…”

Proxus suddenly appeared in front of John, looking down at him with a stern look on his face.

“You’re gonna die if you don’t do something.”

WHAK

A rapid rising kick to the gut, launching John into the air, John sensed the air and blood leave exit his mouth as he felt the painful blow.

Koff… Koff

In his daze, Proxus grabbed John out of the air.

“Gotcha’!”

He slowly lowered him down to his level, he grinned and snarled at John, while John was looking at him with a fearful and shocked look. It was at this moment that Proxus decided to deliver the nastiest combo you’ll ever see (read) in your life.

WHAM

One powerful punch, straight to the face, John was stunned, he could only grunt in pain. But that punch wasn’t the last one.

WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM

Proxus’ lightning-fast barrage struck John like a swarm of insects stinging all throughout the body. He couldn’t do anything, as every hit kept him stunned, what made it even more taunting was the maniacal laughing Proxus couldn’t hold, this was like some sick joke to John.

WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM

“Hehe… Hahaha… Hahahaha! HAhahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Proxus’ laughter ringed through John’s head, which was not something he needed, considering how badly his head was being beaten already.

CLAMP

“GRRAHH!!”

Proxus gripped John’s neck, and threw him high into the air, John was barely holding onto his consciousness, his stone gauntlets struggling to keep themselves attached to his arms. Proxus jumped into the air, a shockwave of dust bursting around him as he did. As soon as he reached the same altitude as John, he raised his leg up high, and slammed it onto John. All in one quick motion.

WHOOM

The leg hammered John back to the ground, a crater forming where he crashed. Proxus gazed at the destruction he caused, and was about to laugh, but something about how easily he beat John peeved him.

“Wow, I didn’t think those two Balandians would be that much of a boost…”

Proxus landed skillfully on the grass. As he landed, he heard rapid footsteps approaching him.

(Oh, you can stop the music here now.)

TMP TMP TMP TMP TMP

He turned, there were multiple watchmen, all pointing their flintlocks and swords at Proxus. They all had a mix of terror and anger on their faces.

“Stop right there, Balandian!”

“We don’t know how you devils were able to come back, but we’re going to need you to stand down.”

Proxus groaned.

“Constant ordering… tch, my leader would never be this bossy.”

“Hands into the air, Balandains, nice and slow.”

“Fiiiiine, you guys got me…” Proxus frowned as he raised his hands.

“Now open up your hands! We want to see if you have anything!”

“Really? Open up my hands…? Be careful what you wish for…”

Confused, Proxus opened his palms, he smiled as he did. The watchmen all noticed a blue light beginning to shine from his palm.

“Októ*.”

VWOOM

A blue beam of light erupted from Proxus’ hand. A poor watchman standing in the path of the beam was completely erased by the beam. All that was left after the beam finished traveling was a mere pile of dust.

“You monster! What did you do to him?!”

“I thought they taught them at school… Every Balandian can blast beams of lights, you fool.” Proxus lowered his left arm, keeping the other raised and pointed at the other watchmen.

“Go ahead, dodge~!”

VWOOOOM… szzl…

As the beam shot, Proxus found himself surprised when he noticed it was split in half, hitting the walls behind the watchmen instead of their intended target. He then noticed something out through the center of the beam.

SHUK

An arrow. From its appearance, it appeared to be…

“The girl!”

As he looked, he could see Lolly aiming her bow at Proxus. She was smiling.

“Ya’ thought Aah’d just stay outta this fight? Pop Expand!”

Crackle, crackle… POP

The candy on the arrowhead exploded, causing an eruption of popping candies to encase Proxus. He quickly began to break out of the trap, but his fists met a gelatinous substance, pudding. This was something he couldn’t break out of. He couldn’t use Októ either, as he was pressured into using his fists when he tried to break out.

“This’ll hold ya’, for a few moments, at least!”

“Blast you… Girl!”

And then, the seal of popping candies and pudding finished forming, completely halting Proxus.

“Well Aah do declare… That took aah lotta concentratin’.”

“Little girl, who are you?” Asked one of the watchmen, they all gazed in awe at how easily Lolly was able to contain Proxus.

“Me? Oh, Aah’ma good guy, so dontcha’ worry bout’ me. Now if ya’ll excuse me, Aah’ve gotta’ friend to take care of.” She pointed over to the crater, John was lying unconscious from the beating he took.

“Don’t worry, we have Candy Elementals of our own. You just focus on containing that Balandian.” Calmly said a watchman.

“Ah! Thanks a bunch!”

Lolly returned her focus to Proxus, who was sitting completely still. If her concentration was broken for just a little longer, it would’ve given Proxus the proper opening to tear himself free of the prison he was being held in.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Wowie, Aah can feel him, he’s madder than a wet hen. But he’s neva gettin’ out of that containment, not while Aah’m here!”

Lolly looked up into the air, her bow lowered.

“Aah wonder how Napalmic is doin’ with that Oni girl?”

Koff koff…

Lolly turned, she saw John, staggering and being held up by two watchmen. He was still badly beaten, but at least his injuries were less severe.

“You okay, Lolly?” Coughed John.

“Huh? Aah should be askin’ you that! Ya’ look rode hard and put up wet!”

“Uhh… What?”

“Dat’ means you look beaten up! Ya’ really shouldn’t worry bout’ me.”

“Heh. Well, at least you’re alright.”

“Here, lemme see those wounds.”

Lolly deactivated her bow and walked up to John, placing her hands above the most grievous wounds.

“Heal Drop.”

A gum drop appeared, launching itself towards John’s wound. The heal drop melted into the wound, causing a rippling effect, and for the wound to immediately heal. It was as if nothing happened.

“Thanks. Now I feel like I can actually move.”

“Haha, you’re funny.”

“But enough of that. Do you know what happened to Napalmic after he jumped into the forest with the Oni?”

“Ah, aahbout as much as a hill of beans. Ya’ think he’s OK?”

“I’m sure he is. After all, he is the Escottian Hunter, right?”

John and Lolly laughed, but they were quite worried about Napalmic. That Oni girl looked powerful, and they’re supposed to be extremely strong physically. Even someone strong looking like Napalmic would have some trouble taking on an opponent like that.

SMASH

“You shouldn’t have looked away, girl.”

John and Lolly turned, they were shocked to see Proxus, who smashed away both the pudding and the popping candies encasing him. He had a face full of rage.

“What happened to Mocxla is about to happen to you two.”

“Who?” Said John and Lolly.

“Exactly.”

John and Lolly generated their weapons, stancing up against Proxus. The tension in the area was so thick, one could cut it with a knife.

“Lolly, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to take any chances anymore. Let’s just gang up on him.”

“Sounds like a plan, John.”

They charged at Proxus, which caught him by surprise. He wasn’t used to being on the defensive.

WHAM WHAM TWANG TWANG

An assault from both sides. Proxus couldn’t handle it. If he focused his attention on evading John’s blows, he’d get peppered by Lolly’s arrows, but if he concentrated on Lolly, he’d get conked by John. While John and Lolly do a recreation of that one scene from Jujutsu Kaisen, I’ll ask you, the reader something. What would you do in Proxus’ position? Assuming you had all his abilities, of course. O-Oh, right, this is a book, you can’t respond… Well, I’m sure you’re imagining a wild way of getting out of this conundrum, so I’m sure it's fine!

----------------------------------------

Ah, such a calm and peaceful forest. Critters happily skipping along to the sway and dance of wind and grass. Birds chirping their vulgar mating and warning cries we humans see as beautiful melodic calls. One could only imagine just how peaceful these kinds of woods would be for a nice, afternoon picnic.

It’s unfortunate then, that these woods are currently the battlefield for a Knight and an Oni.

CLANG CLANG KA-CLANG CLANG KA-CLANG

Trees were crumbled into pieces, wood got cut in masterful strokes of a blade.

CLANG CLANG KLANG KLANG CA-KLANG CLANG KA-KLANG CLANG

“CRUACHAN!!*”

“ORA!!”

CLANNNNNNNNNNG

Napalmic found himself surrounded by trees. Or, to better describe it, what should’ve been trees. All that was really left were many stumps, fallen logs, and scattered wood. He looked around, thinking it was strange that the Oni would simply halt her clash with Napalmic after what felt like hours of their weapons striking and opposing each other.

“What’s wrong, lass? Ye’ getting tired?! Aal stop this fight if ye’ cannae fight no longer!” Challenged Napalmic, as he waved his arms around, his flame head blazing in excitement.

In truth, Napalmic was also getting exhausted from the fight. Fumes of smoke spilled from his flame, and with each difficult breath came out even more smoke. The feeling of his dented armor crushing his body didn’t help, either. As Napalmic would learn the hard way, blunt weapons (especially large ones) are very effective against armor.

But Kreffica wasn’t doing so hot, either. Believe it or not, leaving both arms and your stomach completely exposed isn’t the ideal set-up when facing up against a sword. She was perched on a tree, observing Napalmic from below.

“Huff, Darn! That human’s got guts, I’ll give him that. Huff, Well, we both seem to have taken an equal amount of damage, I’m sure it’s fair to come down.”

BOOM

Napalmic turned, attracted by the sudden noise. There in front of him stood Kreffica, stomping down to the ground.

“Ha! So ye’ got some fight, aye? Aal be lyin’ if I said yer swinging didn’t hurt!”

“And I’ll be lying if I said your slashing didn’t work, heh.”

“Looks like we’re an awfully good match, aye? Say, we’ve never got each other’s names, did we? What yer name, big lass?” Napalmic raised his sword, pointing it.

“Kreffica Cilven. Omegum Juliet.” She said while panting.

“Omegum? Looks like ye’ got a fancy title. I’m just Napalmic Fehiónas. Plain ol’ criminal.”

“You can stop with that. You’re way too skilled with that huge thing to be just another thug. You’ve got some experience, do you?”

“Maybe I do, lass. Ye’ want to find out?”

“Trial by fire it is~!” Kreffica wiped off the red river running down her nose.

They both drew their weapons, aiming for each other. They waited for each other to make a move as they circled, keeping their eyes locked.

TMP

CLANG

A quick step-in followed by a horizontal slash by Napalmic. It was quickly parried by Kreffica, however, intercepting the blade with her weapon. Napalmic didn’t let this minor set-back hinder him, however.

THWAK

A swift kick to the midsection. To Kreffica’s surprise, it caused her to stagger. She had to plant her kanabō in the ground to find her balance.

“How did you manage to move me?”

TMP TMP VOOM

Napalmic leapt into the air, claymore in one hand. He was getting ready to come down on Kreffica with an aerial attack.

“Not used to a human being strong, Oni?”

BOOM

Kreffica was able to get out of the way before Napalmic slammed down. She responded with a quick swing of her weapon to Napalmic’s side, hurtling him to a nearby tree.

“Not at all. Is the strength gap between us not noticeable?”

Napalmic laboriously raised himself up. He coughed up more smoke as he smiled at the Oni.

“Ye’ see, a human’s strength isn’t a natural gift like ye Oni got. We have t’endure rigorous trainin’, force our bodies to perform at limits we once thought impossible. I took all o’ tat’ and trained myself every day and night. In other words. It doesn’t matter if it’s another Human or Oni or Balandian or Beastial, if those are still running around; You’ll never beat the hard work I put in to obtain this strength!”

“Is this guy crazy? If I started to legitimately work out even once, he’d never catch up to me… Though he does have a point. As of right now, it seems as though our strength are evenly matched…”

“So you believe in hard work, yeah? I can respect that. I’ve got myself a little proposition for you.” Kreffica said with inquisition, she lowered her guard as she planted her weapon across her shoulders.

“Tch, in the middle of the woods? Yer quite desperate, aren’t you?” Naplamic said snarkingly, he had a hard time containing a chuckle.

“Not that kind of proposition, dummy! Sigh.” Kreffica turned her head to the side, before looking back at Napalmic.

“What do you say about this? You, me, rivals?” Kreffica raised her weapon, pointing it at Napalmic.

“Heh, a wee rivalry? Aal gotta warn ye’ lass, I’ve got no opposition for a reason.” Napalmic pointed his blade at Kreffica.

“That so? You’ve just never met anyone as strong as me.”

“Aal be the judge o’ tat’.”

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG

With every clash and confrontation of their weapons, it was as if Napalmic and Kreffica adapted to each other’s fighting styles. Kreffica reacted to Napalmic’s surprise slashes with preemptive swings, to which Napalmic countered with a kick. With every CLANG and THWAK and THUD, it always felt like both fighters had some sort of hidden trick up their sleeves.

That is, until, Napalmic made a bad play. He used a thrust. Naturally, he got countered. The thing is, Napalmic was tired and he couldn’t keep up with the Oni’s stamina and strength. Kreffica was also tired, but her race was known for its endurance. Napalmic, however, is used to being unchallenged. This is the first time in a while that he’s felt this. The sensation of fear had become unfamiliar to him. It had been so long since he had experienced it that he almost forgot what it felt like. But suddenly, it rushed back to him like a tidal wave. His heart raced, his palms grew sweaty, and his mind raced with worst-case scenarios. Fear had returned to his life, and he realized how much it had been missing from his everyday experiences. It reminded him of the fragility of life and the importance of being vigilant in the face of danger.

“You’re going down!”

Grabbing Napalmic’s arm, Kreffica lifted him up and slammed him back. The impact bouncing him into the air once more, he coughed up more smoke as Kreffica readied her weapon, raising it high above Napalmic.

“METEOR BREACH!!”

SLAM

A direct hit to his stomach. A large shockwave was made, reverberating across the woods. As the dust cleared, she saw Napalmic lying down, defeated, with the armor being dangerously dented where she struck.

Napalmic’s eyes widened as he observed the hit. He could feel his body being crushed under the smashed armor, it was seriously hard for him to continue breathing.

“Phew! Glad that’s over. Stay down, would you? You really don’t want to take another one of those.”

Kreffica raised her weapon and turned her back on Napalmic. She walked away, sighing out of relief.

“That man was a beast! If he simply played smarter, he’d probably be the one to come out on top… I’m a lucky girl.”

(Hey, do you hear that? Oh yes, that’s a character theme! Play this*.)

Tmp… Tmp…

“Huh?”

“Ye… Tot’... Ye’... Won… Lass?”

Kreffica turned, to her shock, Napalmic was standing.

“You’ve gotta be joking. How in the world are you standing after that?” She grimaced, Kreffica’s eyes narrowed at his crushed body.

“Good question, lass. Right now I’m barely strugglin’ to even see straight. But if I just stood there and remained defeated, what kind o’ guardian would I be?!”

Napalmic grabbed a large tree log that was sitting beside him. He held it like a javelin, ready to throw it at Kreffica.

“What’re you planning to do with that, little knight?”

“I’ve got revanite on me, so I can’t use my Element. However…”

Napalmic grinned, he leaned his head closer to the wood, and within an instant, it was set on fire.

BWOH

“It seems my natural fire resistance and flame head is something revanite can’t take away, aye lass?”

THOOM

Napalmic threw the flaming log into the air. Kreffica couldn’t react. Not because of the log being too fast, but because she was too shocked at Napalmic’s innovation with his lack of fire.

“This man… Even with those revanite shackles, he was still able to get around it and use fire in some way? Blast… He’s good…”

THUD

The wood slammed into Kreffica, carrying her through the air. Napalmic used this opportunity to grab his claymore, and jump in on Kreffica. He dipped his sword in the fire that engulfed the log, within an instant, an blaze erupted from the sword, Napalmic glanced at the sword, then back at Kreffica. He prepared a swing, and with a quick flick of the arms…

“GEARRADAIR STÀILINN: FLARE!!*”

SLASH

A vertical slash up. The first thing Kreffica noticed wasn’t the intense, burning pain she felt, though it did come quickly. Instead, she had noticed that half of her vision was seemingly turned off.

With one fiery slash, Napalmic not only inflicted serious damage to her, but she even managed to burn off her eye. The log in the way was cut too, releasing Kreffica from its hold. Napalmic landed, but Kreffica rolled in pain.

“AHHHHHH!! My eye! You…!” Kreffica screamed out in agony, she noticed a huge burning scar running up her body.

“What’s wrong, lass? I did ye’ a favor! I think you’ll look quite the stunner with an eyepatch!” Napalmic remarked.

Kreffica covered where her eye would’ve been, as she stared at Napalmic with a furious expression.

“YOU JERK-OFF!! I’M NEVER GONNA BE THE SAME BECAUSE OF YOU!”

“I warned ye’, lass. I have no rivals for a good reason.” Napalmic scoffed.

“Grr… Fine. I accept my loss. You’re not even my objective, anyway.”

Ooooh, Kreffica making excuses! Don’t worry, the writer will give her an actual W somewhere down the line.

With that last line, she leapt into the air, in the direction of Rubiyang. Napalmic sighed before collapsing to his knees, coughing up more smoke.

“Tat’ bloody Oni…! She doesn’t know how hard it was for me to move like that…”

Then, Napalmic realized something, the thought screwing itself into his head.

“Oh no, I have to protect John from tat’ Balandian too… Bloody hell…”

Napalmic struggled a bit, before leaping into the air as well.

----------------------------------------

WHAM WHAM TWANG TWANG

“Ugh!-”

WHAM TWANG TWANG TWANG

“Uh, hey, do you think we should help those two out?” Asked a watchman.

“Hm, no.”

“Wh-What?! Why?”

“Those kids seem to be coordinating well against the Balandian. I think we’d only get in the way if we interfered.”

“ENOUGH!! OKTÓ!!”

VWOOOOOOM

Proxus was tired of being beaten around, he used the very instant he was able to fight back to discharge a quick beam at John.

“What the? What is that? I could block it… But it’s going to hurt…”

John raised both gauntlets above his face. When the Októ hit, he could feel an immense force strike his arms, pushing him back and back. He struggled blocking it.

TMP TMP

He quickly noticed Proxus coming in to his side, and throwing a punch to his side, staggering John.

WHAM

John was stunned. In the very next moment, Proxus grabbed his leg and threw his body to Lolly.

SLAM

Both John and Lolly were hurt by the sudden crash, they both scattered on the floor, knocked out cold. Proxus breathed in before walking up to Lolly’s body, he raised his foot, about to stomp.

“Urk…”

John raised up, he gazed at Proxus as he was about to bring his foot down onto Lolly’s body. In a fit of rage, he charged at him, a gauntlet readying itself to make contact to the back of Proxus’ head.

CLANG THUD

“Huh?”

As they steadied their vision, Proxus noticed his foot being obstructed by Napalmic’s blade. John was in a similar boat, as his fist made contact with the kanabō of Kreffica. Neither side would be allowed to make a decisive move against their enemies.

“Playtime is over!” Said Kreffica and Napalmic at the same time.

“Kreffica?! What happened to your eye? And what’s with that huge scar on you?”

“Napalmic?! Why is there so much smoke coming from your head? And why is your armor crushed?”

“I’ll explain it later!”

Kreffica glanced at Proxus with a disappointed expression.

“Proxy, we’re not here to bury anyone, did you forget our objective?” Barked Kreffica.

“How the heck am I supposed to know?! You never told me what we were supposed to do!”

“That’s fair. Well, we’re here to break someone out, he’s quite important to us, you see.”

“Kay’... So where is he?”

“Over there!” Kreffica pointed over to the long, narrow building ahead.

“I see. I’ll hold these three off, go!”

“Oh? Since when did you think you could order around an Oni?” Said Kreffica in a teasing manner. There was a hint of an ominous threat within that voice, too.

“I-I meant… Wh-Whatever you feel like doing…” Proxus’ composure began to break down.

“Just messing with ya’! You seem strong enough to buy some time anyways.” With that being said, Kreffica ran off. John stepped back, confused.

“Wait… I thought the Grand Elemental specifically created the Oni for the purpose of winning the second war…!” Said John in a puzzled tone.

“A lot can change, kid. Now tell your flamey friend to get off me.”

“Not a chance, lad.”

SHUNK

With a quick gesture, Napalmic quickly stabbed Proxus. A mixture of black and purple blossomed out from where he was impaled. The feeling shocked Proxus, to the point he didn’t even feel pain, just pure surprise.

GRIP

“Sorry, hot-head, but as long as John is alive, I refuse to go down!”

Proxus grabbed the blade and forced it out of him. With a swift punch, he launched Napalmic back into the ground. He would then train his focus on John, who was looking at him with a scared face.

“What’s wrong? Your friends not here to back you up?” Proxus grinningly said, he spread his arms in glee.

John simply stared at Proxus, mouth wide open.

“Hah, looks like I really shook you, this is no fun.”

With a fast step forward, Proxus lifted up his claws, and brought them down on John.

SLASH

A large cut was made across John’s chest. Blood escaped from the red streak made on him. John had no reaction, the only he could feel was falling down in a crimson mess.

“I spared your life, didn’t cut too deep, or else I would’ve hit your vitals. I want you alive so I can come at you for a second beating, you got that? So don’t you die on me!” Yelled out Proxus.

“Balandian!” One of the watchmen called out. “You will be taken away by force!”

“Pfft, I’d like to see you try. Besides, did none of you spot the escaped criminal?”

“I think he’s the least of our worries.”

----------------------------------------

Kreffica opened the entrance to Building I, she barely fit through the entrance and had to be really careful with not bumping her head against the ceiling. She shuffled within the narrow building, the chatter of prisoners annoying her until she found the man she was looking for. She walked to the cell, and squatted down.

“Hey, you’re Aleckrine, yeah?” Asked Kreffica, it was a man of average height. He appeared slender, and wearing that same orange jumpsuit every other prisoner was wearing. He had medium-length, messy silver hair, and gray eyes that looked to be permanently squinting. Some kind of white mask was covering his mouth. He turned his head away and scoffed.

“Don’t know anyone by that name, go away.” He said in a harsh, foxy tone.

“Would the alias ‘Omegum Foxtrot’ ring any bells to you?” Kreffica said teasingly, she raised an eyebrow and smirked. The man turned back his head to Kreffica. She couldn’t see it, but there was a wide smile all over that fox-like face.

“Now we’re talkin’, Juliet. You brought anyone with you? And, what’s with the eye and burn?”

“You bet. We got ourselves a new guy, he’s a Balandian. Oh, and it’s a bit of a long story.”

“A Balandian? What a drag… Alright, just get me outta here.”

“What’s the magic word~?” Kreffica grinned at the irritated face of Aleckrine.

“Please get me outta here, and don’t talk like that.”

“That’s all you needed to say!”

KRASH