“A-AAAA…” I couldn’t find it in myself to say a single thing. The boiling contempt was so palpable from that thing that it made even breathing seem like a fool's errand. I grit my teeth, watching it with paralyzing fear coursing through my veins. It took a step forward, and Maria did the same. I-I need to get out of here. I won’t be any help to her. I’ll just get in the way. I move to run when I see the thing grab the blade it just threw to the ground and dodge past Maria to send it flying my way. I panic, throwing myself to the ground, only to be met with a foot to the face. The feeling of my front teeth shattering is palpable. I freeze up, allowing him to smash his bolder like foot into my chest, sending me rolling off, breaking at least a few of my ribs.
“Hey, fuckface!” The thing turns in time to dodge the oncoming blade of Maria, who had managed to summon a sword like earlier. I try to get up, but my body refuses to cooperate, blood pooling out of my mouth as my bare gums quiver. Damn it…damn. I feel my eyes focus in on the fight occurring so close to me. The beast grabs Maria’s blade, but Maria jumps up, smacking her foot hard into the thing’s chin, kicking off him and releasing its grip on her sword. The thing falls to a knee, and Maria is quick to take initiative, rushing forward to give the fatal blow.
The thing chuckles, before launching off the ground with imperceptible speed. Maria clicks her tongue and moves to get out of the way of impact, barely dodging a high velocity landing, destroying the ground underneath it. Unfortunately, it recovers quickly, sending Maria flying with a kick. Thankfully the sword provided a nice guard for some of that strike, saving her from my injuries. She’s still sent flying, slamming into the glass for the connecting corridor between the main building and the social sciences building. She falls into the grass, desperately trying to catch her breath as that thing walks straight for her.
“Gotcha!” A blade raises from the ground, piercing through the thing’s foot. As it screams, Maria chuckles, and I notice a piece of her sword has been broken off. Did she throw it there? Hell yeah! I wanna call her a genius but just existing is still painful right now. The sword in the things foot disappears as a new one appears in Maria’s hand, before she sends a strike swifter than any before right at the fucker’s cranium. This time, the best the thing can do is raise an arm to take the blow, the sword slamming deep into its flesh. It grits its sharp teeth as it reaches out and scratches deep gashes into Maria’s side. She falls over as it breaks her attack.
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“Hah, hah, hah…” It stands up, holding its bleeding arm, as Maria holds her ruined side. “Hah, hah, he, hehe, heheeheh! Now this is the true purpose! So much more satisfying than that hunger bullshit! Come on, little girl, get up and kill me!” The thing mocks Maria as she struggles to even attempt standing up. “What’s wrong, got nothing left?! Maybe I should put an end to your foolishness then! Oh, may god forgive you for your nonsense!” The thing laughs. God? What the hell is something so vile doing talking about something like god? Ah, damn it, Maria, shut him up. Get up, please.
“Oh can it with all the talk. How about I show you something really neat?” Without warning, she flicks a piece of sword in the air. Surprised, the beast raises its arms to guard its head, but…no new sword is made. Instead, Maria grins, pushing forward and raising her sword to pierce through the thing’s chest. Reaching all the way through to the other side, the beast is clearly caught off guard as Maria laughs. “How’s that, you disgusting thing?! Take your god talk right back to heaven with yourself!” Maria declares when she notices that her sword is stuck in the things chest. It lowers its arms and backs up, taking her sword from her grasp. “W-what-” Completely taken aback, Maria watches as the thing removes the sword itself.
“Hmm. Nice trick. How about you see mine?” An explosion of light. I cover my eyes and wince in pain, hardly able to take it as the world is engulfed in the burning. I desperately try to see regardless, and what I find in that plane of light is the silhouette of something horrific, beyond human, beyond nature. A cycle of animal skulls surrounding a disfigured human, its neck longer than any other, and wings like a creature from a fantasy book. It speaks, but I only hear it in my head. “As long as I don’t appear like this, you have no chance of killing me. Even if I do appear as such, however, well, how about I make it my last example of the night?” His words make me realize exactly what he has planned. Maria…no! I grit my remaining teeth and force myself to work through the pain, standing up on my own.
In that world of pure light, I walk ahead. I’m unsure if my feet are meeting with the world I know or something truly alien, but regardless, I force myself to stagger forward. As I get closer, I can see the thing raising its finger straight to Maria’s terrified forehead. Shit, no, think! I look around and I see it. The chip of the blade Maria had thrown. With what strength I can muster, I reach down and grab ahold of it and move to aim. My fuzzy eyesight blurs just what I can aim for, but with no other option, I send the thing flying through the air. Flying, flying, and…it hits, smacking against the thing’s finger. The light vanishes in an instant, and we’re left with the thing we’re much more accustomed to. It turns to face me.
“Still alive? Don’t worry, I can fix that.” It promises.