Before Murai had a chance to wonder further, Izik charged with a thrust of his straight sword. It was an attack of a simple mindset, steering from the fact that Izik didn't have a lot of time left. A sharp point of the sword aimed straight at Murai's chest, coming fast after Izik pounced forward with unnatural speed. This attack was what Izik considered the best against this sort of beak, which should have some limited potential and flexibility to stop such an attack, but that was his hope ~ not knowledge.
In this way, Murai will have some trouble with catching such sharp and quick points of the sharp blade that has the potential to rip through his feathers.
Izik guessed it correctly, and Murai noticed it right away as well.
However, neither planned to back down when this last exchange happened in the next few to dozen seconds. Both of them held minds of conviction and confidence in their ability, but one was more resounding and stronger than the other by an unsurprising grade.
Strangely enough, Izik wasted a lot of time, allowing Murai to prepare another Beak Peak. It was the strongest attack he had in terms of his potential. It was part of his unnatural body, so it made sense to do things in his way. He was ready in a couple of seconds, so Murai made the obvious strategy that he could use against the obvious upcoming attack.
By lowering his center of gravity, and crouching down along with his posture, he could interact with the incoming attack much better. Since Izik was aiming quite low, Murai's advantage went without question. He was short, giving him an advantage of a small target, which was more than apparent in these clashes against large opponents. The path of this upcoming trust will move in a fine and narrow line, so expecting it to come straight was obvious.
Seeing crouching Murai, Izik felt nothing but expectations that his momentary pause and focus would pay off. The mana within the beak was flaring strangely, aiming straight toward him, and making him nervous.
With the beak facing the tip of the blade from afar, Murai's move will go straight toward Izik's intentions. This will be a confrontation and that's how it should be like. Izik understood the intentions of this Blessed even without any words said between them, albeit in the true line of conversation, Murai would rather curse this man to the seventh hell.
”So you are confident to take me on?” Izik asked. “I am as well, so you will be sorely disappointed by this!”
Pushing his whole being towards the kill, Izik was like the thrust itself. His whole body strengthened, resembling a spearhead itself. The sword pushed forward with all of his body strength, flaring up with speed and mana. The sword itself had a glister of mana, engulfing it with waves of momentum. It was as if the tip of the sword pierced the sky, aiming at Murai in a split second and arriving at it soon.
The tip reached Murai's Beak's Peak so fast, but in a straight line, that the straightness became negligible, nor did their size matter. Izik hoped this attack would create an opportunity or straight victory and he should be right, but Murai wasn't an idiot. He held some confidence in his own choices, which was the core of this Peak. Tensing his head tight by clutching every fiber of his body, he hit the tip of the sword with his closed beak.
The tip against the tip. Both were sharp, but one had momentum, and the other hadn't moved at all.
Screeching sounds emerged from the impact, pushing Murai, instead of Izik because of the difference in momentum.
“Bah! Damn!” Murai grunted, feeling how his legs gave up on him, causing them to not bend, but travel through the ground behind him. Those are physical limits and not my issues, I bet. Soil isn't strong enough to support this. Those are damn pesky things, or am I way too light? Murai thought, yet still tried his best to push his beak against this straight and incredible momentum. Digging with his feet to the ground, he was hoping to find a steady footing so he wouldn't lose his balance and find some firm spot to stop this momentum.
Izik pushed him for dozens of meters, uninterrupted by anything but was unsuccessful in injuring his target. That angered him as much as he was shocked.
Murai kept grunting, wincing his neck against the sword but his body was firm and steadily taking this sort of attack without losing further. It was the surroundings that were losing against him.
Because of the lack of steady footing, Murai fell to a disadvantage, feeling his neck was giving up on him, but the beak was sturdy and Beak's Peak was strong. It was pushing against the sword just enough without losing or winning, which wasn't bad or great. It was a case where it shouldn't be lost normally if it wouldn't be for the rest of the body. The rest of the body was weaker than the beak since the growth and time Murai underwent weren't all that great. He lacked the comfort, usability, and potential of his body.
Murai felt a bit disappointed in himself in this matter, feeling that he should prefer to master the body first before anything else. However, the world had other things to give him, albeit he was at fault for it instead. He lacked the time because of many things combined.
Now, seeing his situation before his beak, it would be quite bad if he would end up being rolled over so easily. The sword was right there, ready to pierce him. Murai was pretty much sure this sort of attack wouldn't stop because of his small stature, or feathers that seemed more than they appeared.
Like this, Izik was pushing Murai further through the soil, forcing Murai to dig his feet deeper in a try and find something to hang onto.
This went from meter to meter, and even some boulders and wood were pushed away because of Izik's force.
Murai already went through this force for 3 seconds, giving his neck an unnatural twist while his beak was yet to lose. The force of this momentum and lack of proper ground strained his neck and hurt his throat. He shouldn't go with this further, or some bones will break. A neck one would be fatal since the spine was quite important.
His Beak's Peak went against the glowing tip of the sword, but both of the forces were beginning to lose some of their lusters. The reach of the limits was prone to them both, as their time, mana, and power were approaching.
Murai watched it all with his eyes that went along his beak, allowing him to see everything clearly. Izik's eyes showed helplessness and his soul screamed how he should flee or do something better than ushering his life in a death momentum. It was the sort of emotion that was common in the End and grief for one's inability to do what one wanted or desired.
He was close to the limits, but so was Murai, who had enough of this bullshit. Clutching his lower body by pushing his flat parts of the push as behind as he could, he did the obvious thing he could do. He halted as much speed as he could before he twisted his knees and by using the power from his core, Murai jumped if he could. Instead, he took a step, wriggling himself to the left as he opened his beak, and twisted his step.
The small movements would allow the force behind Izik's sword to change direction, so the blade would no longer pierce him. It traveled through the Murai's open beak, but because of the sidestep, it didn't travel to the throat further or hit the insides of the beak.
At the moment of this small and almost unnoticeable sight, Izik was too late to realize the strategy that went before his glowing sword and after Murai's Peak. It was too hard for his helplessness, so he only felt delighted after his sword went in, no longer restricted by the Peak. The radiance disappeared, and his thrust traveled forward without any interruptions.
This went for a meter until he pierced the soil of the ground, while almost stumbling to his knees. He watched forward in disbelief since there was no duck any longer, nor any corpse of one. There was no blood and his sword pierced nothing but the soil. Izik thought he moved quickly and pierced fiercely, yet here he was, speechless and empty in his insides.
He should've been impossible to dodge. That was what he thought but before looking around more, he noticed distinct cracks around his blade. Then, before he knew what caused those cracks, he felt dizziness and pain around his neck.
Putting one hand towards his neck, he retrieved only flowing blood on the top of his palm, pouring down his fingers and dropping to the ground. It was no small amount of it so he realized how fucked he was. The dizziness overlapped his mind at last. His sword stumbled from his other hand, ceasing the enchantment to exist along with any will to fight.
“C-crap... Fuck...” He mumbled as blood escaped from his mouth, before he stumbled to the ground, falling onto his face where a pool of blood funneled out of his severed chunk of the neck.
Murai was a step behind him, clutching a piece of flesh around his beak, and almost staggering to the ground as well. He just got out of his jump but he was more than tired after this intense fight. This was an incredible challenge to figure out the proper gist of this attack, strategy, and desired attack. He even doubted himself in his own confidence, but it didn't matter in the end. He succeeded so that was what mattered.
Spitting the flesh out of his beak, Murai felt grossed out for some reason. The blood wasn't up to his taste, and the idea to use "mouth" as a weapon, still seemed strange to him. The taste of the human blood was metallic, almost like tasting scraps of metal, the soil of some sort, or a cold blood soup of some sort. It wasn't great. It was terrible.
“Welp, I am no maneater... so good fight, lunatic, and have some rest in the Afterlife. Give her thanks, in fact, or... whatever. It isn't important.” He quacked and walked forward victoriously.
Murai emerged victorious thanks to his careful tactics and a slim tinge of luck and determination. He already killed quite some individuals that were higher than him, but it wasn't fine to view levels as a direct and meaningful rule.
It all came down to his strategy and force as an Anatidae, while physicality and one's skill seemed to be an important issue when it came to life and death. Humans had many vital areas even if they turned out to be stronger than normal kinds. Striking a vital area was a normal way to hit and injure a tough opponent. That was what were armors for, after all. They were protection for the flesh and vital areas.
The neck was an easy target, filled with important veils, windpipe, and spine. It was usually thin, and not protected by tough muscles. If pierced, the potential to kill someone was high. It didn't matter if one's Vitality was over the moon, as the benefits of Vitality worked on an individualistic basis, species, or other factors.
In a sense, Vitality was defense status, while not really when it came to certain physical limitations. Overcoming the limitation of vital areas wasn't easy, and in most cases, it was unnaturally. For the most part, the Vitality served as body improving attribute, with regeneration, stamina, and flesh along with the biggest, which was the stronger Physicality.
Physicality was the basis of one's overview of their physique. For humans, there were child physiques, adolescent ones, young adults, and so on. It usually had some prefixes, or unique visions because of the Battleworld, but beasts or demons had it differently. It was stepping from their species the most, while their sub-species, path and so one can also had some factor in their Physicality. Of course, the Vitality could have many other effects, but those were rarer to level up, improve, find, or get out of the Battleworld.
Izik, Porik, and the 3rd dead messiah had nothing unique about them. They were as regular in their body as they could. They wore regular leather armor sets, and seemed like regular infantry, even though their treasures weren't like them. Albeit, if together as a whole, they would be a force to reckon with because of magic.
Murai watched the 2 corpses on the ground, feeling great over this fight that put some anxiety out of his mind. It calmed him amid the struggle against this Encounter, situation, and issue pertaining to his body. Though, it didn't take long for his body to wince in pain, and he almost felt as if his legs went through twists and turns.
“Damn it!” he quacked, feeling not that great, since he wasn't in the perfect shape. His stamina was out like his mana. “This has been.... great... but... I am dead tired indeed. My strategy was fine against this damned lunatic... Good.”
The force of his Beak's Peak was a source of satisfaction for sure. It was stronger than anything under his repertoire and it was one of the few Anatiade species abilities that he had under his control. At least for now, that was.
The fight was over, or was it?
Murai looked around, noticing Lisa who regained some sort of view of ideas. She went back to the appearance of a succubus after figuring the fight was over. She didn't help with anything apart from the 1st distraction, which was the most important part. Destroying the potential of the 3-way Grand Enchantment allowed Murai to get rid of Porik much easier. Then, solving the things against Izik was another challenge, which turned out to be much tougher than she thought, but he emerged victorious in the end.
At the moment, Lisa was looking at the remaining survivor of the group of 3, since Izik bled out after his collapse.
With a chunk of the neck gone, it was no wonder. Murai's quick, albeit forced and dangerous ability to change the flow of the strike allowed him to jump for real. Appearing like a phantom behind Izik's head, he flew past the sharp sword and struck his neck with a clutch of his beak. It was a fabulous kill with splendid results. If he had failed even in one step, or calculation, or felt the flow of power wrongly, he would've ended up pierced for sure. He didn't, so that was fortunate.
Lisa was looking, and sending some strands of sona toward Porik, who still remained alive. He breathed heavily, unable to lift his finger or help or do anything for his comrade. Blood flowed out of his mouth and chest. He won't have much longer to live, after all. He would have had more time if he hadn't been stubborn when he tried to get up and fight for the sake of Izik.
Alas, he didn't even manage to stand, much less fight or steady some formation.
The moment he tried to do that, he felt like his right lung exploded, ending with a lot of blood seeping out of his wound, nose, and mouth. Let alone that, the inner bleeding was already fatal.
He was drowning in his own blood, creating an agonizing death, yet Lisa was looking at him and doing something that she wanted to do to him too.
She smirked closer to his face, pointing her hand toward his chest. Porik saw her figure closing, yet what could he do? This demonic and ghostly beautiful face was at least a bit numbing to his pain and upcoming End. He tried to open his mouth, trying to speak, but it didn't do much, then led to bloodied coughing.
Lisa spread her palm, and touched his head, giving a Memory Extract under her abilities as a Soul Render, a shot. It was a direct one, unlike the slow and unsteady flow she used against Izik. This one was more fierce and appeared as if her hands clutched into Porik's head. The moment she did so, his face changed and contorted in pain. If he could scream, he would, but he couldn't even do that for long.
Murai realized what she was doing, yet he realized if it even mattered. He hesitated for a couple of seconds before turning and Shaping a flying knife out of a simple strand of Conjured mana in under a second. He flickered it forward, striking Porik's forehead, traveling to the brain, and ending his life in a second. Along the way, the knife moved through Lisa, but she was indifferent to it as a soul form.
Porik was dead in agony in his eyes and face, which caused Lisa to turn back. Anger and confusion were on her face as he glared at Murai who was looking back at her. She was indifferent to the End of this man, who appeared like a victim, rather than one who wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone for the Centralis Kingdom.
“Why have you done that? Why have you stopped me?” she asked, frowning in disapproval at approaching Murai.
“Memory extract and dying breathlessly in a pool of one's own blood... Tell me, Lisa, have you ever felt a true, gruesome death like that? Have you ever felt that kind of End?” Murai asked, appearing somewhat restricted in his quacks, but his mind was sharp, and his words caused Lisa to argue about this nonsense.
“So what? There are all kinds of torturing deaths, and you are the one who ended up killing him like that. In fact, you did create this sort of death, because you hit him in a piss-poor manner to his chest, causing him to struggle in this pain. If it wouldn't be so shallow, he would've died quicker, and in a less painful End, so who are you to quack like that? Is this called hypocrisy?” She argued.
“Yea? That is true, so that's why I killed him to end his misery. That's it, and you are you. Your case goes over me like my flying knife to his skull, and Memory Extract or not, it's not like you would gain a lot from these lesser guys.” Murai downplayed the issue that wasn't really an issue.
He was more or less inclined to the appeal of the Memory Extract. That was why he hesitated. He would get as much information as possible, but doing so in a matter of utmost torture wasn't something he desired. He may be a devilish fiend, but he preferred to be a fiend with certain standards.
That was one of the less important rules of his lives. It may be because of the many experiences, deaths, and kills he underwent in many of his lives, but thinking about them was always a norm in any New Beginning. That, or he may be a hypocrite, as Lisa stated. He can't deny that possibility, but feeling that these messiahs would know something, was true.
He butchered that, so he would do what?
Feel better?
Was he?
“I gained something, but you stopped the full extract. Thank you... Really.” Lisa said and waved her hands to fold them before her chest. “It was something regarding this Encounter and things those bastards got from some superior, but they are undetailed... and you stopped it, so thanks you, for yourself, or me, or whatever you even tried with this. Are you an idiot?”
“So what if I am?” Murai stomped the ground, reaching her destination after some walking. “You are one to talk about such things, fool. You sought that older lunatic yourself with some Memory Extract and even tried some things behind his back. He didn't even notice it, so what about him and not this rookie-looking corpse? Do you feel good about yourself too? Wanna some pat on your back?” he asked.
“Tsch... No secrets... I feel like I am becoming less of myself...” Lisa complained, feeling wronged by the shifts in Murai's tone. Yet she chose to comply for the sake of the information and his more than excellent fight that he finished with splendor. It was clear to her that apart from the 1st kill, the whole course of the battle was under Murai's command and she wasn't doing much of anything.
What did he just do in this battle against the 3 messiahs? Lisa understood it more than she was willing to acknowledge.
He just killed the 3 person squad under messiahs' numerous and powerful departments. A single triple-powered messiah in the low 30s would be able to go toe to tea against anyone above level 40 but not 50s. Hunting monsters, killing targets of this caliber, and solving missions well outside of Murai's prowess. They were strong. The 3 of them, that was. Without the proper structure of the 3-way Grand Enchantment, they lost their full strength, and it showed.
Lisa let Porik be, since what use was the corpse for her? None. Dead had nothing to offer.
“It appears you are a wanted duck, Murai Hisagi,” she said.
“You don't say... Wanted? I feel like a toy for a hunt if you say it like that,” Murai sighed. “But, it angers me though. This whole mess isn't fine. When I can't do much about it and then move on, it gives me a headache, so tell me, Lisa. What about it? Were this whole Encounter and Razmund's case so craftily created just to force me into this situation? By whom? Assholes? Gods? Something worse?”
“I... don't know the details,” Lisa said, glancing away as she noticed Murai's unhinged anger again. “Well, the information that this older messiah knew was kind of lackluster and you stopped my 2nd attempt...” Lisa said hesitantly but chose to not talk further after noticing Murai's annoying stomp.
“The memory extract wasn't the finest, since It was my first time doing it under these conditions and the situation of my body. But that doesn't mean I can't see some sense. As far as I know, the whole premise of the Encounter was Razmund's doing. Messiahs got this hunt from higher-ups, which means Razmund forced some situations to occur for his own benefit. The good success of the Encounter means a favorable position for the Centralis Kingdom, so perhaps the whole situation is more messed up than I thought. It has something to do with some gods for sure, but I wonder who is above the Centralis Kindom. The one that is hidden, and only performs certain actions for the chosen ones, or Rankers, or others? I wonder.”
“Chosen ones? You mean, Blessed or those messiahs too?”
“Something like that.” Lisa nodded. “There seems to be the inclination of something... worst. I knew it wouldn't be pretty but it really seems that the world wants you dead. It... is probably because of you. ”
“What? Me? I fear no Wrath of Gods or some measly God's Trial but when things feel like the heavens are falling onto my head without proper reasons, it is ridiculous. What else have you discovered? Tell me.” Murai ordered, guessing a few things about this whole ordeal of an Encounter out of the context he understood.
He didn't necessarily need Lisa to tell him everything, since he wasn't stupid. This whole world had complicated systems of relationships, and adding Gods and their followers to the systems must be creating a total mess. Adding to him the various things he heard from the Will of the Battleworld, things must be complicated because of his soul, or other things.
It went without saying, so Murai was curious about what sort of crappy chaos Razmund, or someone else created with him at the center.
“It's... Good news, but not good per se. If Razmund is unable to solve this Encounter in your successful retrieval or kill, the Wrath of a God will swipe and create some nasty things for the Centralis Kingdom. They ended up scapegoating Razmund, I bet, but Gods or their rules stated some rules specifically against them. That means some favor in your case, but that is my guess. I think they haggled over some choices too, so they got the upper hand in this because their punishment is quite severe for their failure. It is a gamble on the fact of their might. They aren't giving you much chance. It is that sort of thing. Razmund involved his kingdom for his sake, but perhaps it was his plan or his higher-ups did something as well? A possibility of some nasty Extremes acting behind the scenes is also right to assume. Hence, the Encounter is undergoing massive scales that I can hardly perceive from these memories. It's bigger than me, and the reason for the start of this all is also weird...”
“Weird?” Murai asked, eyeing Lisa in her lengthy explanation that seemed to include her knowledge, opinion, and facts she found. “It sounds like nothing but a total mess if you ask me. Gods are playing the chessboard, finding chances, and playing moves by possibilities that are happening at a moment's notice. Then, they change the Encounters and follow certain agendas they have with mortals involved, but mortals can also make their move. It can be within or outside god's interest. That's what Encounter is for, basically. Rules are there, but they aren't clear. The mortal realms do have plentiful changes as well... That is as interesting as simple, Lisa. I get it now.” Murai explained, ending the explanation that Lisa wasn't finding as clear for herself, but perhaps she wasn't telling him everything.