Chapter 12

The sound of gunshots rang out through the air.

“Continue advancing! He’s not focusing on you; we’ll take care of him. Do not let them use his ability!” One of the generals shouted to his foot soldiers.

“But they’re just standing there, menacingly!” A soldier complained.

There were two people at the base of the hill, standing firm in front of the house. Both would have to be defeated to enter the house, they were all that stood between them and victory. They were greatly outnumbered and should be easy to overwhelm. No matter how skilled those two may be, it’d be almost impossible to defeat a small army all on their own.

Though, it wasn’t impossible.

One of the men standing guard was no ordinary man, he was a monster. His strength was known throughout the land, it was immeasurable, inhuman. His blows were like that of a beast ten times his size. His skin was like steel, unable to be pierced. But worst of all, was his humanity, or lack thereof. For when he is on the battlefield, he isn’t human anymore. He becomes a monster, a demon, who knows only of blood and battle. A man who hungers for pain, for misery, and they were all that was needed to satiate that hunger. The other guy was a skinny dude with swords.

The army was here for one reason and one reason only, to stop the old man from using his ability. If they were to fail, if they didn’t stop him in time, everything would be found out. Their base, their plans, and worst of all, their leader’s ability. That had to be avoided at all costs. All that stood in their way was right ahead.

They couldn’t let it all be for naught. They couldn’t come this far just to fail. The old man, these people, they were strong. They were a threat, and a threat had to be squashed.

“They know we’re coming. They’ve definitely made preparations. We shouldn’t be hasty.” A soldier said while looking through his binoculars.

“Whose wrath do you fear more, theirs? or mine?” The general said just before ducking as an Ego enhanced bullet whizzed by his head.

“Good point.” The soldier said as he put down the binoculars and turned to his comrades.

This would be a suicide charge, but it had to be done, if they were to achieve their dream.

“Worry not comrades. We have both the high ground and advantage in numbers. Some of us may die, some of us may get gravely injured. But we will do it for our cause! I will gladly sacrifice my life for not just our cause, but to protect my precious comrades. I will do everything in my power to make sure you will make it home to your families, even if it costs me my life. We shall run into what may be hell itself, but we will not do it alone. Ready your weapons, ready your hearts, and ready your resolve!” He rallied his fellow troops with an arm raised in the air. After such a motivational speech, they had to win.

They made whatever preparations were needed for their abilities, they readied whatever weapons they used, screamed their war cries, said their prayers, and began their charge.

Binocular guy led the group, but he did not think of the battle ahead, he thought of his family. He thought of his mom and dad who he had not visited in years. He thought of his kids, two sons and one daughter, he should have been a better father to them. And he thought of his wife, well, his ex-wife.

After this is all over, he would visit them, he would apologize for everything, he would tell her how much she meant to him, He would hold his kids and tell them he loved them. He would change, he would be there for them from now on. He would do anything to make this

right.

This charge was for that. It wasn’t just for his dreams; it wasn’t just for their collective goal. It was a culmination of all the sacrifices they had made. In that house ahead, was the final threat they faced. The final obstacles that stood in their way. Once that threat was extinguished, he could finally be relieved of the massive burden he had carried, as the finale was at hand. He’d left everything behind for this goal, for this dream. After today, he would achieve that goal, and regain all that he’d lost. All they had to do was kill one frail old man. His thoughts were interrupted by a shout.

“Banished Blades Version One!”

Thunder shook the earth and lightning split the sky. The brightness of it was blinding, burning his eyes. When his eyes had opened, the man with the swords was gone.

Promptly, he activated his ability.

Binocular guy's ability let him slow his perception of time, practically experiencing things in slow motion. But things hadn’t actually slowed down. He could not move faster while everyone was slow, it was only his perception of time that had changed.

His ability activated just in time to see the man appear in front of him, a trail of lightning behind him, both swords at the ready. But something was wrong, he should have slowed down to a snail's pace, and yet the man with the swords was still flying towards him at a fast speed. He didn’t have time to duck, he didn’t have time to dodge, he only had time to accept his death before the swords cut clean through his neck. The downside to experiencing time slower, is that you have all the time in the world to experience pain, that would have been over in a second.

His head fell to the ground along with five of his fellow soldiers, the only difference being that he knew what had happened.

“Die!” Roku yelled as his fist connected with his opponent's right jaw, launching him back into the soldiers behind him.

Roku turned; he was surrounded. He had rushed towards the onslaught of opponents and had found himself directly in the heart of the soldiers' formation. From all outlooks, he was screwed.

“Surrender! It's over, you're surrounded!” A soldier yelled as he readied his rifle.

“Oh, you guys think you can actually do something against me? That’s the funniest thing I've seen all day.” Roku let out a hearty belly laugh, which made the enemies uneasy.

Roku was a strong, prideful man, that was confident in his strength above all else. The only man to have ever beat him was Diran, and seeing the extent of Diran’s strength made Roku all the more confident. To him, a group of lackeys wasn’t even considered a warm up, but that wouldn’t stop him from having his fun.

“You may think this is going to go your way, from the look of things this probably should go your way, but that’d be wrong, this is how it's actually going to go.” Roku paused to examine the situation.

“I'm going to take my elbow, and use it to break your nose.” He pointed at the man behind him.

“Then I’ll break both of your legs, and swing you like a ragdoll to take out those three.” He was unusually imaginative today.

“By then you'll undoubtedly be right on top of me, but I can’t spoil what happens next, that's where things get fun.” Roku said with a maniacal laugh.

“But it's alright, I have good news.” Roku continued as he observed the situation.

“News? What news?” An enemy soldier replied, visibly shaken by Roku’s threats.

“There’s no need to worry, no need to pray, and no need to wonder where your God is. Because he's right here,” Roku joyously proclaimed.

“and he's fresh out of mercy.” Roku finished with a cold, emotionless tone.

Roku then proceeded to do exactly what he said he’d do.

He elbowed the guy directly behind him in his nose, splattering blood everywhere. He turned and kicked the next guy in his knee caps, shattering them in one blow. Roku’s strength was amazing, even among the most high-level fighters. When faced against these lowly foot soldiers, it was truly the strength of a monster. They were nothing but flies to him. No different than a training dummy.

He dodged and caught the next attacker's punch. Roku countered by punching him in the gut, hard. The one hit was all it took to make the foe lose consciousness. Roku followed this up by picking him up by his feet, and swinging him like he weighed nothing. Sending three people flying using their comrade like a weapon. By now they were practically on top of him.

Roku fell to the ground to dodge the swing of an attacker's sword. But this was just as he'd planned. While on his back, he began swinging his legs in what looked like a breakdancing move, knocking all those around him back and generating a whirlwind of dirt, obscuring him from the rest of the assailants.

As the whirlwind dissipated, the soldiers looked on in horror. Roku stood among a pile of bodies; their number advantage meant nothing as Roku had taken them all out without so much as a scratch on himself. Cracking his knuckles playfully, Roku approached the rest of them.

“Come on, who’s next?” He said with a smile.

“Banished Blades Version Three!” I shouted.

The lightning strike blasted those attempting to retreat. There was no way out, I wouldn’t let a single one escape.

They began charging me once again, understanding the position they were in. There would be no retreat, they’d have to face their foe head on.

“Banished Blades Version One!” I switched back to my best method of attack for close range. It was a piece of cake dealing with these guys. It was just as Toshi had said, they were on Useless’s level. They stopped their charge 20 yards ahead of me when they saw the stance I was taking and the electricity circulating around me.

“It doesn’t matter how easy you can take us out! We’re only here to slow you down, to tire you out! You’ll stand no chance against our captains when they get here, let alone our leader!” His words reminded them of their purpose. Fighting not for themselves, but for the greater good. Their previous confidence and heart was returning.

“You may beat us now, but it will hardly make a difference!......So you might as well spare us.” One of the soldiers said.

“Oh, shut up! Quit trying to reason with him, he's not that strong.” One of the soldiers said, which took his allies by surprise.

“R-Really? You saw what he did to the others, he seems pretty dangerous to me.” An ally whispered to him.

“Come on, the others were just taken by surprise from his speed. Now that we know his abilities, he doesn’t stand a chance.” He brushed me off as he stepped away from the crowd.

“We’ve got a live one!” I excitedly proclaimed to no one in particular.

“I’ll face this guy, swordsman to swordsman.” He said as he pulled out a two-handed broadsword.

“Ah yes, a fellow swordsman, our battle will be honorable, a true battle of blades and ideologies! This will be in the history books for centuries! the sheer power of our blades will reform the very landscape!” I said sarcastically as I put away my other sword.

He took his stance, both hands on his sword, he held the blade in front of him, a perfectly balanced stance.

Finally having fun in a fight for the first time in a while, I mirrored him.

“Rah!” He yelled as he attacked with an overhead chop.

I easily sidestepped his attack, catching his wrist with my left hand. I then kicked his legs out from under him with my left leg, striking with my sword as he landed face first on the ground. It was over faster than it began.

“I have a serious case of déjà vu.” I remarked.

“Now! While he only has one sword out!” one of the enemies shouted.

“Like that'll make a difference!” I taunted as I reactivated Version One.

With the sound of thunder, I zigzagged through the crowd, chopping arms and dropping heads. The blade was both a merciful and merciless weapon. Merciful in that it

is usually over in one strike, faster than they can feel the pain. And merciless in that my strikes almost always result in either death or dismemberment. But hey, that’s just what happens when you fight with deadly weapons.

The zigzagging attack pattern left the imprint of a lightning bolt in the ground.

“Who’s next?”

***

“Shit! They’re massacring us!” One soldier shouted, his words drowned out by the sound of thunder, screams, and carnage.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“How the hell can two people cause so much damage when they are so outnumbered?”

“Language, gentlemen.” interjected a third soldier.

“The hell? That’s what you're worried about!?” The first soldier said.

“I said language! Quit freaking out! Have you forgotten who we are?” The third yelled again.

“Like hell I have!” The first responded.

“Then you should know that this is the best possible scenario for us.” The third responded.

“Do you mean we are going to use ‘that’?” the second soldier asked sheepishly.

“Now, what else would I be suggesting?” the third soldier said with a villainous grin.

These three soldiers were unlike the rest. They had been a member of the organization for far longer. They had joined before even some of their superiors, and yet they were regarded as low-tiers, as mere swine.

Despite this, they still had some merit. They still had something that set them apart from the rest of the trash degenerates, and that was their ability, their Ego.

At face value, all of them were weak, even when compared to the other foot soldier level members, but in the right time, under the right circumstances, their power became monstrous.

“I *BANG* love that idea!” The first soldier shouted, the sound of thunder censoring his curse.

“Again, language Larry!”

The three soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder, knives in hand, and jabbed them into their palms. Each carved an identical pattern into their right hand. They took their left thumb and smudged the blood all over their hands, completely covering the pattern, and yet it began to glow.

They were preparing for a ritual, an ability utilizing all of their combined energy to create a collectively monstrous

ability.

“Here we go gentleman, on my mark,” The first soldier excitedly said.

“Nutty Necromancer!” They shouted in unison as they stabbed through their right hands.

Their power began to surge. The specifications had been met, and their true power was to be revealed, the true extent of their abilities would be showcased.

“Finally, our efforts will be recognized!” One excitedly proclaimed.

“Those shitty excuses for our higher ups won’t even need to get involved!” They celebrated, completely ignoring the pain of the daggers that pierced their hands.

All the corpses of the fallen soldiers scattered around the battlefield began to go up in smoke. Slowly, they began to shrink, their very essence was being absorbed, the remaining Ego they had in their bodies was all being used for one ability, and its power would be far above what any of them could do on their own.

The corpses began to disappear, their entire being had been absorbed, leaving only the clothes they had worn as evidence of them ever being there.

***

“What the hell?” Roku shouted when he noticed all the disappearing corpses.

As I gazed up toward the hill, searching for the source of the massive energy I was feeling, I felt a chill go down my spine. A giant mass of smoke was gathering in the sky near the middle of the hill, and it was growing, almost molding into something. This was clearly unnatural and the work of some enemy abilities, but from the scale of the Ego being used it couldn’t belong to any of this fodder.

This ability couldn’t belong to a simple foot soldier, but it also couldn’t belong to a general level opponent, as they were still pinned down by Mack. Something weird was at play.

The mass of smoke stopped growing, and began to change. It shifted in the air and began to turn, the smoke was stretching and forming what appeared to be a crude, human-like body.

The smoke started to solidify, turning into a deep purple, dripping, sludge like substance. As its transformation ceased, the beast let out a roar. The sound of which was like a dying animal, crying out in pain. A stark contrast to the disappointing monster cry from chapter 3.

It had massive hands that were as big if not bigger than me, and it's not like I’m short or anything. I’d say its hands alone were about six, maybe even seven feet long. That alone should give you an idea of the scale of this beast.

“Lee, finish off the remainder of these guys, I’ll handle the monster!” Roku shouted the command to me.

“Alright, I’ll join you soon!” I shouted back from across the battlefield.

There were only around seven enemies left, a far cry from the initial number of foes. By using Version One I would be able to take them out quickly, but my energy was beginning to run low. It was my fault for being so out of practice, but this battle was tiring me out quickly.

“Alright, here we go, a few more uses of Version One couldn’t hurt.” I faced the remaining foes.

But instead of them facing me down, they were panicking at the chaos around them. Their fallen allies that littered the battlefield were disintegrating before their very eyes. Except, not all of them were.

Almost all of the enemies that I had taken out had vanished, while very few of the ones that Roku took down had disappeared. Something was weird about this, and I’d better figure it out before I make a move.

Like I had thought earlier, something wasn’t normal about this monster, well, besides the fact that it is literally a giant monster. Creating a creature of this size and power was beyond the scope of the cannon fodder we were fighting against. There had to be something else to it, some external power that was assisting them, and it more than likely connected to the disappearing corpses.

Earlier we fought a monster similar to this when we were sent to capture that weird murderer guy. The way he was able to create that golem was by stealing and manipulating other people’s body parts. This monster was different though. It was larger and made entirely of Ego. But I don’t think one single person could muster up, let alone control this much Ego. So, like the previous golem we fought, there had to be something else contributing to it.

I had a hunch, the catalyst to summon this monster connected to the disappearing bodies, but not all of them disappeared. This monster was created by absorbing the dead. That would explain why only some bodies vanished. Since Roku, who uses nothing but his fists, didn’t kill many of his opponents. While I, who wields deadly weapons, had. It feels very weird that the former-villain-Roku was more merciful than me. I should re-evaluate my choices

Instead of testing my hypothesis I just went ahead and tried to hit all the soldiers with the back of my swords to knock them unconscious, or dealt non-lethal wounds, whichever was easier.

They were still too panicked to have noticed what happened, and were once more taken off guard by my speed. They fell as easily as dominoes. But unlike their allies, they would live. By taking them out this way, they would be out of the equation without adding to the monster's power.

And sure, enough I was right, none of the soldiers I just took down disappeared, because I am not an idiot….

most of the time.

“I’ve taken them out, hit it Roku!” I yelled to him.

“Good job Lee, now get your ass over here!” Roku shouted with excitement. Roku lived for battle, the battlefield was where he found the most enjoyment in life, only by facing a strong opponent does Roku feel true happiness. Judging from his reaction, Roku was experiencing that happiness right now.

“Now, was this really your trump card? All you idiots have done is made an easier target for me to hit.” Roku taunted the unseen enemies who created this creature.

“Fighting Flow, Legs!” Roku shouted.

While Breakdown Barrage may be Roku’s main attack, this was Roku’s main ability. Fighting Flow lets Roku change the flow of Ego in his body and focus it to certain spots, drastically increasing their strength. By focusing it to his fists he can punch with force far beyond that of a human, by focusing it in his skin he can make his body as hard as steel, and by focusing it to his legs, he can leap with speed that exceeds even Version One.

“Quit your inner exposition and enjoy the show!”

Roku kicked off the ground with all his might, shattering the ground on which he stood, and sending him flying toward the beast with the force of a missile.

“Die!” Roku shouted as his kick connected with the beast, piercing straight through its heart. To a spectator it would have looked like a flash of light shot through the towering monster, but it was just the sheer brute strength of one man.

The monster let out an ear-piercing screech as it began to stumble, its every step shook the ground.

While Roku landed safely like an eagle landing...safely.

Not a very interesting simile.

“Who’s next?” Roku said while flicking the sludge off of him.

“Watch out!”

By the time he turned to me, it was too late. The monster's giant hulking hand connected with him and launched him far into the air.

“Banished Blades Version Two!”

I magnetized the back of the monster’s foot where the Achilles tendon would be, and flew towards it with both swords at the ready. I cut through the air with the speed of a jet, I had no time to waste. Once my blades connected with their target, they sliced through as smooth as butter. Without breaking pace, I promptly switched to its other foot and repeated my task like clockwork.

With its feet taken out it fell to its knees with a quaking groan. Seeing my opportunity, I glided up its back. My swords planted firmly in its skin the entire time, leaving a trail of charred sludge behind me as I reached its head.

“Roku!” I shouted as I spotted him from the titan’s head.

Roku was still falling from the force of the beast’s slap. If he hit the ground after falling from that height, even with his defense he would be out of this fight. But I had an option that could save him, a risky, rather stupid, gamble. But it could save him.

Normally I’m the type of guy to take the easy route. To leave the risks to those suited for them, to put myself before anyone else. But in the heat of the moment, my body acted before my brain did. I took the risk, I acted before I could think. I took the leap of faith.

“Version Two!” I shouted. Leaping from the beast's head I activated my ability. Sending my Ego to magnetize my target, Roku.

With Version Two, it was almost like I shot an invisible thread. If it hit my target, it would connect them to my Ego. Thus, allowing for it and I to be magnetized, pulling me towards it as if I was flying. Normally I used it on stationary or big objects, making for easy targets and lowering my chances of missing. But this time I had used it on a small, far away, fast moving object. To make up for the distance and let my Ego connect before he hit the ground, I had leapt from the monster.

If my aim was off and I missed, I wouldn’t have time to fly to anything else. Both Roku and I would hit the ground and crack like a couple of raw eggs. But if Version Two connected, we both would be fine. If I make it, we’ll live, but if I miss, we’ll die.

“Come on, come on, come on!” I had jumped from the monster to have the closest shot at Roku, but if I hit the ground before it even connected it wouldn’t have mattered. The thread was nearing Roku at the same rate that I was nearing the ground. And just when I was mere feet from reaching my untimely demise...

“Got it!” The thread connected.

I got pulled up just as my hood brushed the grass, and shot toward him like a bullet, catching him just before he would have hit the ground. If I had had the slightest delay, the slightest hesitation, we both would have died.

“Another happy landing.” I breathed a sigh of relief as I safely skidded along the grass, Roku safely on my back.

“You good? Did the slap cause any major damage?” I asked as I set him down.

“I’m fine, I transferred my energy to my arms and blocked it just in time.” He responded as he brushed dust off his clothes.

“Good, because this is going to take more than just your usual one punch, man.” I said while looking at the monster as it rose back to its feet.

“It can regenerate?”

“It can regenerate.”

“Shit.” Roku said with a sigh. The hole he kicked through its chest, The spots I cut it at, all appeared as if they’d never happened.

“Shit is right.” I responded.

“So, what's the plan Lee?” Roku asked me.

“Why are you asking me?”

“Because you're the smart plan guy, the only plan I ever use is the good ‘ole ‘hit it till it dies’.” That is true, Roku never was the planning type.

“Well that one’s sure fire, never fails.” I responded sarcastically.

“I know right? It hasn’t until now.” Roku responded, aloof to my sarcasm.

“What about against Chikara?” I asked.

“Doesn’t count.” He firmly responded, annoyed that he never really got to finish that fight.

“And that Ice lady?” I asked again.

“It did work, I did beat her.” He spoke confidently.

“Ah, I guess, but that's just a technicality.” I said with a shrug. He may have beat her, but I am pretty sure we already established that that was an asspull.

“Anyway, that thing has got to have a weakness.”

Big monsters always have a weakness, especially summoned ones. They always either have a blind spot, a huge obvious weak spot, or, if they are summoned, some blatant weakness in the method of summoning. And if my gut was correct, this one would be the latter.

“Let's see,” Roku said while studying the beast.

“It's big, it’s purple, it’s sludgy, and it has a whole lot of eyes. Like seriously, that’s a ton of eyes, I wonder why it has so many eyes? The eyes don’t seem all that useful either, I mean, you were able to surprise it from behind, and with all those eyes it should have seen you.” He described the monster.

“Hmm, I wonder what it’s weakness could be?”

“Are the eyes just for show? Why would it need so many eyes, if they don’t really help all that much? Is it so you can’t blind it? Like, are there two real eyes and the rest are decoy eyes?” Roku continued to describe it.

“Hmm, what could it be?”

“No, I don’t think so, since you were able to cut some of its eyes when you were running up. Plus, it can regenerate, so why would it need spare eyes when it can just grow new ones?”

I gazed up toward the towering monster and studied its appearance, looking for anything that stood out. The first and only thing that stood out to me were its eyes. It was covered with big, bulging eyes, it had about 70 of them decorating its head, and right along the back side of its head, there was a line of closed, bloodied eyes.

“That's it! The eyes don’t regenerate!” I excitedly shouted the solution I had stumbled upon all by myself.

“Each eye might correspond to a dead person it absorbed, if we take out all the eyes the monster should die!” I had figured it out, hopefully. It was a reach, but eyes are usually a pretty obvious weak point.

“Good job Roku, you were a great help, you deserve a round of applause” I sarcastically said, mocking him for not contributing to the discovery.

“Don’t patronize me, Lee.” He responded.

We got up off the ground and began approaching the monster, which had begun advancing towards the house.

“You get ready to punch the hell out of that thing, I’ll give you the perfect setup.” I told Roku.

“ Don’t need to tell me twice.” Roku joked.

Roku stood firmly in front of its path, drawing its attention to himself. Roku took a stance as he charged all of his energy into his right fist, this would be over with one punch from Roku.

The monster raised its right arm, intending to slam down and crush him. It swung the arm with enough force to blow back the surrounding trees. But when its arm came down, its hand was no longer attached.

The beast reeled back in pain, screeching that horrible screech as it held the painful wound with its remaining hand, before that hand was promptly severed as well.

Roku stood there, focusing all the energy he had into his fist. A normal punch from Roku using Fighting Flow was enough to break through walls and send people into critical condition. But a focused punch, a punch charged and imbued with this much Ego, a punch of this magnitude, would not just destroy its eyes, it wouldn’t just destroy its head, it would destroy the beast in its entirety.

The grass around Roku was pushed back from the sheer force of the energy being concentrated there, as if an intense wind was blowing down.

“NOW!” He shouted, giving the signal.

I circled upwards and around the golem's legs using Version Two, cutting along the legs the entire time. Severing all the nerves, tendons, and anything it could use to stand before repeating the process all the way up its torso.

It swung its arm at me, forcing me to kick off of its body into the air, giving me the perfect shot.

I magnetized the back of its head and seized the opportunity.

“Banished Blades Version Three!” I shouted, using the last of my energy for this final blow.

As my blades connected with the back of its head, so did the blast of lightning, spiking it towards Roku with the speed and force of the lightning blast behind it.

“DIE!” Roku shouted as his fist connected with the center of its face, all the energy he had been building up into his fist, all of the force and power he had behind it, all connected in that moment, sending a wave of wind and dust into the surrounding area. The power of this blow was unlike anything I had ever seen, I was unsure if even Diran would have been able to survive it.

When the dust settled, nothing remained. No sign the beast had ever existed, the punch had obliterated it, letting no evidence remain, it was gone, reduced to nothing.