Katharsis

{Ordos' POV}

Ahh goddamn it. Out of all the places that stupid dragon could've launched me, it was up in this tree.

I'm stuck in this stupid tree and I just can't seem to get out.

"Someone help me!"

But no one heard me. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of lightning striking and the others attacking the wyvern.

If they're done and they still don't hear me, I might as well just return to camp. Good thing I still have my spear on me.

Now someone save me!

Then I heard a cry.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

The shriek echoed through the air and I could hear crows in the distance. Damn it, what is happening? I'm stuck in this tree and I want to see what's happening!

I grabbed ahold of my spear and slashed the branches that were confining my body.

Eventually, I got down from the tree and landed face flat into the wet muddy ground. Stupid mud, now I'm all dirty.

I wonder, how did it even start raining?

…

I don't like it. The dark clouds, well actually it was already dark but a dark night with cloud and rain? Don't like it. It always foreshadows something like the awakening of some protagonist from some anime.

I hope I didn't just jinx that. That guy could be some irrelevant guy from anywhere in this world. But if it was me, I wouldn't mind.

Now to get out of this muck.

Slice!

Huh? What was that?

I peeked over the bushes and a bright light gleamed. Then I realized it wasn't light, it was the wyvern, surrounded with lightning.

Hey, wait a minute! It wasn't like this when I first saw it. How long was I stuck in the tree for?

Oh well, that doesn't matter.

I noticed there was someone standing in front of the wyvern. It took me to notice that someone was Seiya!

His back was bleeding, profusely. And that wasn't the only thing bleeding. I got a glimpse of his face and he had a huge diagonal slash across his face.

What the hell, man? How are you still standing?

"SEIYA!"

He didn't listen. Eventually, he fell onto his knees. Then fell face flat into the wet grass.

Eww…

The wyvern cackled. It cackled? What the hell? That's a bit creepy not gonna lie.

BOOM!!!

An explosion erupted behind the wyvern and the wyvern immediately turned around, still in the midst of laughing.

If I recall, that cackling is not really just laughter. A Blazing Azure Wyvern circulates lightning through its body. Lightning is its energy source and without it, it won't be able to live, leaving aside its organs and blood. It also feeds on the lightning, and so when it cackles, it's actually devouring the lightning inside it.

I know that because I read it from a book. I bet Seiya didn't know that.

Speaking of Seiya, I should probably help him.

The wyvern's attention was now on Mia who was the one that actually caused that explosion from earlier. Standing beside her was Aurelia who looked a little limp.

Oh well that doesn't matter. Anyway, to Seiya.

I hopped over the bushes and ran over to Seiya's body.

"Hey buddy, you alright?"

I carried him over my arm. He was still breathing, but barely. His breathing was… kind of strange. It was ragged and serrated. But I heard something else. It was as if he was breathing with two different voices. One was smooth and the other was… well ragged. That was the strange part.

I looked down at his chest. The wyvern must've gotten his lungs, which would explain his breathing.

Hmm, I bought some potions; I think that could help with this.

Let's see… I think the potion of restoration could do.

I reached into the ground.

…

Wait a minute, I just remembered.

I can't access sand storage with all the rain.

Fuck.

But I can't just leave Seiya like this. Even after he gets teleported, he'll suffer a huge amount of blood loss.

Oh wait a minute, I actually have a potion that wasn't actually in my sand storage.

I took my spear. At the non-sharp point of my spear, there is a little compartment that can hold a small bottle of liquid.

Of course, I kept one potion of restoration just in case. I took a bit of engineering before I was reincarnated. I was also the one that made my own weapon. You could say that I was fond of spears.

I took the tiny bottle out and popped the cap open.

"Heee..."

Seiya exhaled irregularly.

"It's alright Seiya, drink this and-"

Then I noticed something weird about him. The veins around his eyes were bulging. They were dyed black and the white bang hanging from the right side of his face was slowly tinting his hair in the same color.

That was not the only weird part, it seems that the wounds that were just on him a second ago, had disappeared.

"Uhh, Seiy-"

Crack!

His eyes shot wide open and I immediately jumped back in surprise.

D-did I just see that correctly?

Nah, I must be dreaming. No way did I just see that he had a black sclera and purple glowing irises.

Right?

Crackle!

I jerked my head towards the direction of the lightning bolt. I saw Mia and Aurelia being blown back by the wyvern's attack.

Well this isn't good, this thing is too strong to be classified as an A-rank. It's more like an S-rank if you ask me. This thing is one of the most difficult monsters placed in the A-rank. Near-invulnerability and lightning speed, might as well just give up fighting this thing unless you are faster and stronger.

The wyvern slowly perked up and began to charge a lightning blast from its mouth. The clouds in the skies began to circle around. Then a lightning bolt came down.

Crackle!

The lightning bolt came down towards the wyvern and was just about to hit it, that was until a black lightning chain wrapped around it and bent towards the direction of the chain.

Boom!

I turned and it seems that the lightning bolt had struck where Seiya was. Oh shit!

"Seiya! Are you al… right…"

Crackle-crackle!

Black lightning surrounded Seiya and he seemed to be giving off a weird glow. Not like a light glow but more like a dark glow. I don't know how to explain it, but he was looking a bit off.

His hair was completely dyed in white and it seemed to be longer, long enough to cover his eyes. Then he lifted his head up, revealing his indistinct eyes.

His pupils; they were glowing sharp slits that gave off a bad vibe. I got chills just by staring at them. What the…? Is this what I think it is?

The wyvern began to cackle again as it turned towards Seiya. Oh no, this is bad. If the wyvern attacks now, then Seiya won't be able to-

"Katharsis."

…

Say what now?

In a moment, he stood there, still and not moving an inch. Then in a flash, he vanished and then appeared in the exact same spot with his Katana drawn, blood dripping from the end of the blade.

…

I think I need some time to process what just happened. Did he just vanish just to draw his sword? That… that sounds kinda stupid if you ask me.

It was quiet, much quieter than before. Then I realized!

I turned around and the wyvern which was glowing brightly before, had its head rolling on the ground and its body collapsing with a thump.

Blood spilled out of the wyvern's open neck like water spilling out of a sewage pipe. In a matter of seconds, the grass was stained with blood.

I was baffled. If I were to guess, Seiya just… killed it just like that. The wyvern didn't even see it coming.

We won.

"He… hehe, well, we did it I guess."

Well actually I didn't do anything but I'll just pretend I did something.

"Ack, ouch."

I looked over at the girls and it seems that they were injured. Well, Mia was really injured that much but Aurelia sure looked like she got a broken ankle.

I ran over and took a look at her ankle.

"Hmm, well that's not good. Looks like she sprained her ankle."

"I'll cast a healing spell."

Mia said as her hands began to glow. However, a second later, her hands stopped glowing and she almost fainted.

It seems she exhausted too much mana during the fight. Well, not all problems can be solved with magic.

"Some ice could just do, you know. You have enough mana to produce ice, right?"

"Huh? I think so."

"If you need mana, I can lend you some."

"Oh, uhh, thanks."

I placed my hand on her shoulder and lent her some mana.

"Hey Seiya, you should lend some mana… too…"

Seiya… was nowhere to be seen. W-where the hell did he go?

"Where'd Seiya go?"

"I-I don't know, he was just there a second ago."

Crackle!

A lightning bolt rumbled in the distance. I stood up and looked around. It was still raining and it was beginning to rain hard.

"What the hell?"

Then I spotted Seiya. He was flying in the air, his wings… restored.

What the hell is he doing up there?

Seiya's left hand transformed and it was glowing, lightning generating around it. Is he gonna do that move? How is he going to do that from the air, though?

Suddenly, the skies were clouded with lightning and it was above Seiya. A lightning bolt came down and pummeled towards Seiya when suddenly, he grabbed it. Literally.

"HRRRRRAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!!"

The lightning bolt was then dyed black and he threw it down towards the ground.

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!

A gigantic explosion erupted in the distance and I read the situation.

"Crap, we need to get outta here."

"Huh? Why?"

"Can you run?"

"Huh? Well of course I can but-"

"Then we should get going immediately."

I lifted Aurelia and placed her on my arm. Then I transformed my legs and began running, Mia following me.

"Wait Ordos, tell me what's happening!"

Mia shouted behind me, followed by the sounds of explosions.

"Are you serious? Can't you see? Seiya's gone rogue. He's become insane."

How didn't I notice it before? Once a guy has white hair and some dark creepy eyes, it's obvious they aren't themselves. I've seen enough anime to know where this is going!

"Gone… rogue?"

"He's mad! He won't even be able to notice us! The only thing that's probably on his mind right now is probably blood, blood, and BLOOD!"

Crackle!

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

An explosion erupted just a few meters behind us and I could hear the violent gust of wind approaching us. Luckily there was a cave just a few feet ahead of us.

"Hold on!"

I grabbed onto Mia and then dove into the cave entrance. I blasted a concentrated fireball at the entrance, making the ceiling crumbled.

Crumble!

The entrance was now sealed off but it seems the explosion must've been a bit more powerful than I expected because it seems the cave was about to collapse.

Crap!

I quickly rushed mana into my arms and they began to glow. I would strike the ground, the floor breaking into extremely small pieces, and those pieces formed a hardened dome around us, shielding us from the falling debris.

After what felt like an hour, the crumbling stopped.

Finally… I'm feeling a bit tired now. I think I'll just lie down and sleep. This rock dome can hold up for a day or two.

Now… time to… rest…

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