Loss

Ryuunosuke flew into the sky and started to approach the three that were about to clash. His hands glowed in white light and thousands of ropes emerged out of them. The ropes raced towards the demon-like entity and tried to bind it, but black flames burned them instantly. The entity didn't even move as it commanded the flames. Ryuunosuke didn't lose focus, as he kept focusing and producing more ropes.

Erykytos had cut into Vortigern's way and punched him as hard as he could, sending him pummeling into the ground. The entity noticed Ed who was lying on the ground and extended one hand forward. Ed felt all freedom of his body dissipate instantly. He was stuck in a limp state, unable to move. Dread and fear took over him, as he saw the entity raise its sword high. It swung down and sent a black wave that swallowed the light surrounding it. The sun disappeared from the sky as it cowered in front of the mighty attack.

Ryuunosuke, however, didn't.

He descended down and, with hands full of white glow, struck the darkness that was about to kill Ed. It was sent into the sky, where it turned into nothing but a memory of fright in Ed's mind. The latter felt freedom return to his body. He contacted his system in order to inquire about the details of the monstrous entity, but only got one answer. You're not strong enough.

Ed bit down on his lips and struggled to rise up. He wasn't about to lose everything he held dear to someone stronger than him. At the very least, he could sacrifice himself in order to save them. The pain that assaulted him was no more than an afterthought by now. His eyes shone in red as intricate patterns appeared on them. He flung a dimension around them, keeping only himself, Ryuunosuke, and his grandfather against the blood sect master and the monster.

"If you're not going to run away, then you must help, is that how it is?" Ryuunosuke muttered as he knocked off the entity's attacks one after the other. "Keep it distracted somehow while I try to get rid of it, young one."

Ed summoned thousands of weapons, as much as his Telekinesis allowed him to control. Spears, swords, glaives, all different abilities, and grades. He sent them packing towards the entity and the blood sect master, and the two of them were not disturbed by the least. Somehow, the entity was focused on Ed, as it attacked him in the midst of the torrent of swords that targeted it. Ed managed to dodge by utilizing his Space magic.

Vortigern locked Erykytos in combat and the two's clashes damaged Ed internally. His Ki wasn't strong enough to fend the two of them off.

The entity flew towards them, and it swung its sword down. Vortigern turned around and swung his glaive back. He managed to knock it away while dodging Erykytos' blow.

Ed felt suffocating as he convinced himself to approach. He cleared his mind and teleported right behind the entity, his sword circling both of them. It noticed him and swung sideways with both of its hands. Ed didn't dodge and instead stacked hundreds of weapons between them, all while he stared daggers at the entity's head. However, his defenses were mere play for the entity, as its sword cut through like paper, and smashed his head from the side.

Ed fell to the ground like a discarded piece of plastic. Fast, yet not too fast. A smirk on his face.

He protected himself from death thanks to his Haki and Nen. Of course, that didn't mean he was saved from damage, as he had a gash as big as his face. He was out of commission. However, he managed to leave a parting gift to the entity. He used his Amaterasu right before he was attacked, and although he didn't manage to set it on the head, he managed to burn its dominant arm.

He watched, satisfied, as the entity had no choice but to sever its own arm.

Ryuunosuke found no better time to intervene as he appeared behind the entity. His ropes surrounded it in an instant and formed a gigantic cocoon. Vortigern and Erykytos noticed it and rushed towards the cocoon as well, however, Erykytos managed to knock the former one last time into the ground, right next to Ed.

He shifted his sight towards his grandson as soon as he rose from the ground and smiled reassuringly. "What we've done in the past, is part of it, and you shouldn't dwell on it, my dearest boy," Vortigern said as walked towards Ed and ruffled his hair. "Your choices will matter, and not ours. You might not rule the kingdom, but your choices will weigh more than any king from now on. I hope that you will choose well, better than we did, at least. Goodbye, my dear boy. Take care of the world for me, hohoho."

As just as he finished speaking, Vortigern flew towards the cocoon where Erykytos had entered. It wasn't too fast a speed, but Ed didn't manage to spell out, "Don't go!" before Vortigern was already inside the cocoon.

Ed's eyes burned with tears while throat clamped up. His Regeneration was not working due to his insufficient Ki, yet he still tried to fly and catch up with his grandfather. However, he couldn't even crawl let alone walk or fly.

I didn't even get to talk to you, he thought. I wanted to live more with my family, he desired.

Ed noticed Ryuunosuke's small figure rushing towards him like an arrow. The same type of ropes that bound the entity and his oldest friend, and enemy, surrounded him and Ed, who felt the warmth of the light. He could still see from inside of the small cocoon that surrounded him.

Dark light appeared from inside of the big cocoon and made it swell up in size. An instant later, Ed closed his eyes as an intense light exploded into the dimension he had created. The warmth he felt turned into burning heat as the explosion that came from the bigger cocoon couldn't be held off; not all of it.

Ed opened his eyes wide and forcefully. He gazed at the midst of the explosion and noticed nothing appeared inside of it. He checked his Map and noticed how only he and Ryuunosuke were inside of his dimension. He didn't want to believe it, but he heard his system's chime.

Acquired 15.000.000.000 Exp.

Acquited Gacha ticketx50.

He had lost another one of his family members that day.