BOOOMMMM! BOOOM!!! BOOOM!!!
“Aghhh!!”
A series of explosions overwhelmed him.
“Sorry, I’m a hunter after all.” The man in the half mask said, his voice muffled by the rising explosions, “Using runestones and traps is part of the trade.”
As the sound of blasts came to a halt, the man walked forward while adjusting his arm guards. He was clad in protection gear from top to bottom, from shoulder pads, chest vest and all the way to leg guards.
On top of that, he had multiple different pouches positioned around his body, the easiest to access being the strap going diagonal across his chest, and the other around his waist.
The hoodie going over his head hid most of his face already, but the mask covering everything from his nose up made sure of that.
This was the master bounty hunter, Holter. A man that dedicated his life towards the hunter's life.
All for the sake of one goal…
“Besides, I knew my Camouflage Sign alone would not be a power that can challenge a Hyking.”
“Shut up already!” Lawkey shot back as he appeared behind the flames.
Shadows had erupted from beneath him, surrounding his burnt up flesh. The top he wore above his Keikogi was turned to ashes, leaving half his upper body completely bare.
Odd-looking black markings were now visible on his chest around his heart, with some of them spanning upwards towards the butterfly imprint of the same color, almost making them feel connected.
The sharp tingling sensation reminded him of the last time he had suffered third degree burns.
The day he…
“...”
He tightened the grip on his beloved sword, Eclipsed Dawn.
“I’m not a Hyking, but I’ll still kick your ass!” He shouted, ignoring the throbbing in his face.
“You don’t think I prepared a counter for the Shadow Sign?” Holter responded calmly as he brought his index finger and thumb together, then snapped them. “It’s useless.”
“!”
In an instant, blinding lights shot down from the trees around Lawkey, instantly putting all the shadows out.
And then, before Lawkey could even cover his eyes from the bright lights, Holter appeared behind his back with a sizzling blue runestone in hand.
“And you dare say you’re not a Hyking?!”
“?!”
Holter asked, then dug his hand into Lawkey’s back, causing lightning to erupt and overtake Lawkey’s body.
“URKK!!”
“Do you not feel any remorse?!”
image [https://i.imgur.com/N0owGWT.jpeg]
The shock sent Lawkey tumbling over the ground. He could barely feel his back, as if it turned completely numb.
Luckily, he still managed to keep a hold of his sword.
“‘Phantom Rogue’ Lawkey…” Holter spat out as he removed his mask, “You are the sole survivor from the Leviathan incident five and a half years ago.”
“Hah… Hah…” Lawkey began to get back up.
But…
“How many died because of you, huh?!” The hunter delivered a knee into Lawkey’s stomach, then quickly grabbed his arm with one hand, and punched him with the other, “You worry the ones you care about are being threatened when you are the very reason for it!”
SLAM!
After a barrage of blows, Holter shoved his prey into a tree trunk, still keeping a hold onto his shoulder.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Ugh!” Lawkey winced, realizing he had lost his grip on his sword.
“Your very existence keeps putting people in danger!” Holter cried out, his face finally visible, along with the nasty burn scar spanning from his forehead to under his right eye, “Do they even know what you are?! You’ll be their demise!”
“...”
It’s not that Lawkey couldn’t agree with his statement. For the past five and a half years, he had considered those exact thoughts on a daily basis.
How could he not when…
“You think I don’t know that?” Lawkey shot back as he attempted to call on his power again.
“?”
“Everyone I care about died that day… There is no way I could forget that!” He said as he glared at his hunter, “I’m cursed to relive their deaths every night!”
Then, he felt them forming around his hands, and grabbed onto them with a pull.
“I won’t let it happen to them too! No matter what!” He declared as the shadow chains delivered his sword into his hands.
Even if it means… I have to leave.
“?!”
Before the hunter’s eyes, shadows surged from underneath his prey and wrapped around him.
A purple emblem with a slight emerald hue began to form in front of Lawkey’s forehead. Even now, years later, he couldn’t quite replicate the same power and feeling as the time he was merged with the Obsidian Butterfly, with {her}. At that time, against the Undying Elder, the emblem that manifested in front of his forehead had glowed completely emerald.
While he didn’t know exactly what that meant, he did hear from his mentor that the shape, color or size of the emblem manifested from Pathbreak could give away someone’s mastery over it.
To Lawkey, this meant he still had a lot of room to grow.
“?!” Faced with that change, Holter took an instinctive step away, “How are you still able to use your Sign?! The poison should have dulled your senses!”
“Oh, they are dulled alright.” He said, closing his eyes and taking a fighting stance with his blade held high, “but if I can neither sense nor see you…”
He gathered all the shadows he could around him and his blade, purple and black waves swirling beautifully while awaiting his command.
“All I have to do is destroy everything in my way to get you!”
Dammit! I used the strong dosage too! Holter thought to himself as he quickly snapped his fingers again and used his Camouflage Sign to blend with his surroundings, “You monster…!”
How many times had Lawkey heard that by now?
Ever since he was a kid, that’s what they called him.
Even before he joined the Phantom Rogues and got his name from Jay, that had been the go-to title.
He hadn’t cared what people called him at first, but the more he built bonds with the ones around him, the less he wanted to be referred to as something that unpleasant.
He wanted to be better, a simple human for their sakes.
But he couldn’t escape it no matter what he did.
Perhaps it was his nature, perhaps that is what he needed to become to protect them.
A faraway monster who couldn’t hurt the ones around him.
Yeah… In the end, maybe that’s what I am. Lawkey thought to himself as he tightened the grip on his sword.
The blinding lights had been going off all around him again, he could feel them despite keeping his eyes closed.
And yet, the shadows kept swirling around him.
His mind was finally made up, it was now clear.
He kicked the ground, launching himself forward, the only other way his enemy could be in a two way valley.
It was finally time to try it.
To graduate.
One Shadow Sword Style - Ninth Stance!
Inner yearning Echo, Unleashed!
Despite being invisible, Holter’s eyes widened in shock as he continued to take steps backwards.
In front of him, his prey had disappeared amongst a chaotic wave of shadows that came together to form the head of a legendary beast.
A shadow dragon was eating through everything in its path, and it wasn’t stopping.
No! Stop!! Why aren’t the light traps working?! Holter panicked, His Sign… his Sign can’t be that strong!
In a split second, the shadows had engulfed his entire body.
This isn’t right… This wasn’t what I was told! Holter screamed in his mind as he was met with the jaw of the beast coming down at him.
“You accursed Hyking!!” He managed to let out before his body fell motionless to the ground.
“...” Lawkey landed a ways ahead behind his fallen enemy.
image [https://i.imgur.com/jO27Gny.jpeg]
The shadows, along with the emblem in front of his forehead, began to scatter away from him and his sword, “Rest in Darkness.”
Despite what Holter's goal was, Lawkey was taught to respect his opponents.
Life was precious, and if he was forced to take it… He could at least offer words of respect.
“Thank you, if there are more strong fighters like you out there…” Lawkey staggered on his feet, “Then I can still improve after leaving…”
As the last bit of shadows left his body, he raised his head to the moonless sky.
I can still get stronger before I can find it!
Lawkey declared to himself before feeling his senses finally give out, forcing him to fall down and rest his back on a boulder.
Among the burns across his body and the numbness in his back, he felt his vision disappear. Whatever those pink spores were, they really had made this fight a close one indeed.
“Man, it’s been a while since I’ve pushed myself like this…” He said as a soft smile formed on his face, “I should… go back now. I still have to…”
He felt his consciousness slip away. Perhaps it was the spores, or his lack of sleep finally catching up with him now that he had made up his mind.
“Ah but first… Maybe a short nap…”
“Law!!”
He heard a voice as his eyes closed.
Was the poison creating hallucinations again?
“Stay awake!”
**👑**
“What…?”
Lawkey muttered as he opened his eyes. His body was rocking up and down repeatedly as the cold wind continued to hit his face.
“Don’t move!”
“?”
“You’re still poisoned!” Jun declared, “We’re almost back in the village, just stay conscious!”
Lawkey couldn’t move his body, but he felt the bandages across his wounds. He realized she had come to get him, and they were riding back on Aoi, who had grown to the size of a horse.
image [https://i.imgur.com/ZWJ9nkN.jpeg]
Once again, she had come for him.
But that still didn’t explain one thing…
“How… did you know?” He managed to mutter.
“I asked around when you didn’t come home from the market, some of the guards saw you leave in this direction.” Jun explained, then changed her tone, “We barely made it! What were you thinking coming here alone?”
“The village… isn’t safe for you.”
“Is that what this was about? It’s fine. There aren’t many left who oppose the Queen.” Jun glanced back at him, “Did the rebels hire that bounty hunter for you? You should’ve told us!”
Lawkey narrowed his eyes at that. He had his suspicions about it. The rebels were involved, especially the religious fanatics who preach about the Absolute Darkness. They had become more fierce in the last five years after Taiga opened the borders to the Kage Clan.
Their involvement was obvious, but the bounty hunter was too prepared.
Still, Lawkey didn’t want to point that out or dig any of that up again.
Besides, there was something far more important to address.
It was time.
“I’m sorry…I won’t be able to pick up the food anymore…” He muttered, looking away.
“Huh? That’s not important right now!”
“Once I’m feeling better…” He trailed off.
Jun felt her heart drop within her chest.
“I’ll be leaving.”
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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]