[15] ONE-SIDED

The horde of Onyx Bane gangsters got closer. The two big men in front cracked their knuckles, smiling predatorily.

"Busters!" Rillon yelled. "Don't let your guard down! We're up against the infamous twins."

"Like you need to say that," Dyso said, swinging his metal bat on top of his shoulder. "We just need to break them to the 'point of tears'."

Rillon smirked. "I'll take care of the others."

"They talk big, don't they?" Eber said.

"They sure do, brotha," Bebin said.

The twenty or so gangsters closed in on the Seekers—

A gangster jerked sideways, slashing the face of another beside him.

"AAAGH!" the gangster with a slashed face yelled, covering his face and backing away from the one who slashed him—

The gangster behind him grabbed his head and twisted it all the way. A loud crack echoed through the columned entrance of the Buster stronghold.

"What the hell!" Eber shouted, turning. "The fuck are you doing?"

The gangster who just killed the slashed-face one looked at his hands. "I didn't do it—"

The one who slashed the first one charged at him, slicing his neck.

Eber's face tensed. "What in the—?"

"Look, brotha," Bebin said, pointing at Rillon. "He's using Alchos."

Rillon stood upright. "They took quite a while to notice…"

Eber turned toward his twin, clearing his throat. "And for how long did you know that?"

"Since the very start—"

Eber punched the back of his head.

"Ow!" Bebin said. "Why'd you hit me?"

"Block him, Beb," Eber shouted.

Nodding, Bebin slammed his palms on the ground, several walls of stone growing from under it toward the Seekers.

"Disperse," Rillon said before the other Seekers went either side.

"Away," Dyso said, spitting on his right hand. "This one's mine."

Rillon leapt rightwards, cursing in his mind. "Kylix went the other way! How the fuck will I impress her now?" He hid behind the corner, keeping an eye on Dyso.

Dyso pulled back his bat as the waves of walls approached him. "Victory Hit: Home…" The walls got right in front of him. "…RUN!" He swung his bat, smashing it into the wall, with force strong enough that it broke all the walls behind it.

Dyso pointed at himself with a thumb, exhaling from his nose. "Bring it, bitches!" As the dust cleared up, he found no one on the receiving end. "Huh?" He looked from side-to-side, finding himself alone. "What the fuck?"

"That idiot!" Rillon thought, standing upright then running to the back of the stronghold, circling the building all the way to the mini-forest behind its enclosure. "I'm at an advantage; snatching bodies will be easier there—"

His feet got stuck in the ground before he noticed that it had become softer, just like…quicksand.

"Shit!" Rillon thought, looking up at the big man ahead. "I let my guard down."

"Caught you!" Bebin said, smiling. "Now I just have to wait for Eb to finish."

"Huh?" Rillon said, forming a hand-sign. "Didn't you see what I did back there? Do you not understand who has the disadvantage here?" He pointed his hands toward the big man.

Bebin scratched his head. "What're you even saying—?"

In Rillon's mind, he could see the spirit of the big man. He reached for in, grabbing it with his alchoskill, pulling it into submission…

And failing to do it.

Bebin got onto one knee, reaching for his head. "What did you do, you bastard?"

"He's stronger than me," Rillon thought in grim realization. "I can't snatch his body."

Bebin stood up slowly, rubbing his head. "Are you someone strong?"

"Huh?" Rillon said, cocking back his head. "Don't tell me you didn't do research on your target, moron."

"Research?" Bebin said, tilting his head. "You are not worth my time."

"What the hell, fatty?" Rillon yelled, gritting his teeth.

"Besides…" Bebin said, wriggling his fingers. "It's so much fun this way!"

Rillon exhaled softly, gritting his teeth. "How the hell am I supposed to get outta here?" The soft ground pulled him into itself, slowly devouring him.

"Woah…" Bebin said, shading his eyes as he looked up. "A flying girl."

"Have you lost it—?" Rillon said, looking at the sky.

A girl drifted across the sky on top of an airy-cloud, shading her eyes, looking down. Kylix Dewstar.

"Is she done with the other twin?" Rillon asked himself.

"There you are," Kylix said with a smile, dispersing her cloud-ride, falling beside Rillon. "I'm coming, Rillon."

"Don't say that, Kylix," Rillon thought, biting his shirt. "You're too pure for shit like—" He realized where she would land as Bebin laughed.

"Kylix," Rillon yelled. "This is quicksand! Don't come here!"

"Huh?" Kylix said, cupping an ear as she fell. "I can't here you, Rilly."

"R-Rilly?" Rillon thought. "Like I'm her…husband—"

Kylix splashed the quicksand as she dove beside him. "Whoops! Made a mess."

"Mess?" Rillon said. "You're neck down under quicksand!"

"Am I?" Kylix asked, looking down, finding her entire body under the soft ground. "You're right, Rilly! It feels really funny, if you're wondering."

"Now we're both handicapped," Rillon thought, looking beside him. "But she called me 'Rilly' again… I can die in peace now."

"You're even dumber than I am," Bebin said, pointing at her.

"What did you say to her, you self-aware idiot?" Rillon shouted.

"Oh…" Bebin said then funneled his mouth, inhaling. "I said… YOU ARE EVEN DUMBER THAN I AM!"

"What's his deal?" Kylix asked, looking up at Rillon. "Did he make this quicksand?"

"Yeah…" Rillon said. "But don't worry, I'll figure out a way to get us out of here—"

Kylix popped right out of the ground, the quicksand morphing away from her.

"That can't be possible!" Bebin said. "You used Hurica style and now Grana… How?"

Kylix flexed her biceps, her sweater sliding halfway to her forearms. "Because I'm strong!"

"She only a Huricus, you idiot," Rillon thought. "She used Hurica to push away the sand, allowing her to…"

Kylix pulled him out of the sand as well, pushing him away afterward. "Go help the others; I'll take care of him."

"Are you sure—?"

"No one calls me dumb," Kylix said, pointing at Bebin. "Not even me or my cat!"

"Umm… Alright…"

***

"If that bastard does something to her," Rillon thought, entering the forest behind the stronghold building. "I'll kill him…alive." He climbed onto a tree, hiding himself and his embarrassment after realizing how stupid his thought was.

Rillon jumped onto another tree, stopping after another jump, looking down at the beat-down the Busters and Ravens were receiving from the men lead by the other twin. He smirked, directing his alchoskill toward a gangster fighting beside Eber.

"Time to confuse them."

Eber was pummeling every Seeker around him, knocking them into the trees with his Alchos, by creating columns and boulders. The gangsters engaged other Seekers with different weapons, all sharp. But all of them seemed panicked, even though none of them seemed heavily injured—

Rillon gritted his teeth, looking at the bloodied bat next to a body stamped to a tree. "They're dead." He jumped down from the tree, standing tall in front of the giant Granius.

"Oh," Eber said. "Aren't you our target?"

Rillon's eyes narrowed as he realized all this time only Dyso was able to stand against the big man. "I'll never forgive you."

"I don't need that," Eber said, approaching him. "All I need is to capture you alive."

"For that you have to survive."

Rillon used his alchoskill to reach to Eber's spirit. But just like the other twin, Eber's spirit did not submit.

"Puppet Master: Spirit Breaker"

Rillon's body went limp, falling to the ground. His spirit launched straight toward the spirit he held on.

Eber fell onto a knee. "What the—?"

Rillon head-butted Eber's spirit, knocking him to the ground.

"You're tiny!" Eber yelled. "You can't beat me!"

"When it comes to spirit," Rillon said. "My master told me I'm bigger than even him." With that he chocked Eber's spirit, submitting him.

Eber's body struggled for air as he flapped his arms around, launching boulders everywhere.

"Dammit! I can't snatch his body even after Spirit Buster… What choice do I have?"

Eber pounded the ground, using his fists to get onto his knees. But he immediately fell as Rillon tightened his choke—

Rillon's body was stabbed on the back. Then again. Then again as he gritted his teeth in agony. "This is bad… If can't use Spirit Buster twice… I have to keep holding on…"

"I know you're doing something to the boss, bastard," the gangster stabbing Rillon's body yelled. "Get off him or I'll kill you!"

"That's right," Rillon thought, gaining newfound strength to force Eber's spirit to submit. "They can't kill me! They want me alive! That means—"

The gangster stabbed again, blood pooling around Rillon's ribs.

"That was too close to the heart," Rillon's grip loosened. "I can't hold on much longer—"

He heard a loud 'bang' near his body, spirit-form not allowing him to see anything physically. Then a body fell on top of his. Was it the gangster? Did someone get him?

"It's me…you idiot."

Rillon tried to hold onto his grip as he realized who it was.

"Dyso?"

"I know you're listening," Dyso said. "I can't move… That bastard was stronger than I thought… Get him for me…alright?"

Rillon exhaled softly. "Right…" He yelled as he tightened his grip, pressing down on Eber's spirit, taking away the last effort of his attempt to break free from Spirit Breaker.

Rillon let go of the limp spirit, knowing he had already broken it past repair—

His spirit got knocked back into his own body, the open stab wounds hurting even more.

Rillon got onto his knee, covering one of the wounds, looking ahead at the man whose spirit he just broke. "What…happened—?"

Eber was on his feet, advancing toward Rillon with a creepy grin on his face. "Now you've done it, kid. Now you've made me angry!" He pulled back an iron-spike gloved fist—

A gust of wind swept across the forest, blowing everything and everyone away. It came from behind Rillon's back. Just as he was about to think it was Kylix, he heard a faint noise coming from somewhere.

"…Heavenly Arrow…!"

"That's Kylix's alchoskill, he kick." He looked around as the wind blast cleared, trying to find if she was around.

Eber pulled back his hand, leaning toward Rillon. "You won't get lucky this time."

"Shit!" Rillon thought. "I can't even move."

"Die—"

"Hai-yaa!"

Eber was hammered into the ground by something that came from above.

Rillon covered his eyes with a forearm as the impact sent shockwaves around the forest and filled the air around him with dust. "Huh—?"

Kylix patted his head, sitting on top of Eber's stamped head. "I told you I would protect you, didn't I?"

"She came from above…" Rillon thought, looking at the smile on her tilted face. "She's an actual angel!"

Kylix turned around, forming a gun with her left hand, a finger pointing at a gangster. "Bang!" A sharp sound was heard.

That gangster's head was drilled through by a bullet of air.

"I…" Rillon thought as Kylix hit another gangster, saving another Seeker.

"Bang!" A third gangster bled from his head.

"…am glad she's on our side," Rillon realized as he saw Kylix shooting the gangsters with a playful smile.

He looked at his blood-wet hand… "Lost too much… Losing…"

Rillon felt all of his worries fade away as a warm blanket covered him in an icy blizzard. "Feels…good—"

His wound were shut, consciousness stable.

"Don't move," the green haired healer said. "Or else they'll open again."

"Right…" Rillon said, realizing that the healer was not among the Seekers present just a moment before. He sat on his butt. "Who're you?"

The healer pressed a glowing orb against his wounds, healing them quickly with her non-style healing Alchos. "I'm…nobody…"

"Huh?" Rillon said. "What do you mean?"

"Just…" she said. "Let me heal you…"

Rillon exhaled softly. "Fine, I guess…" He cocked back his head in confusion. "What's her deal?" he thought.

"Myrin," Kylix said, having dealt with all the gangsters by herself. "Help is needed here."

"Right…" the healer—Myrin—said, getting onto her feet, her waist-length hair falling down. "I've sealed the wounds. Try not to move too much since it's just a temporary seal."

Rillon nodded with his head down. "She healed them way too fast."

Kylix squatted in front of him. "Are you hurt, Rilly?"

"Umm… No! Of course, not!" Rillon said, flailing his hands. "This is just…whatever…"

"Good!" Kylix said. "We'll be getting outta here shortly. We don't want more baddies to hurt you, you know."

"She cares about me that much?" Rillon thought with an internal stupid grin. "Please marry me!"

"I wonder how the others are doing," Kylix said, playing with her hair.

Rillon gasped. "That reminds me… How did you take the other twin down?"

"By burying him under the ground," Kylix said, making a peace sign around her winked eye.

Rillon's jaw dropped. "Umm… That's not what I meant, actually. But fine, I guess."

"You're among the less injured ones," Kylix said, standing upright. "Help me to load the carriages, will ya?"

"Of course," Rillon said, jolting onto his feet, dusting off his butt. "Hey… What did you mean by 'others'?"

"If these guys knew about our plan," Kylix said. "I'm pretty sure they'll be hitting our stronghold too."

"Maybe that's why Master Ragnaul hurried there so fast," Rillon said. "Not because a witness was there, but maybe because he knew about their counter-plan."

"Nah!" Kylix said, waving her hand. "He just ran off because he's scared."

"Scared? Excuse me!" Ragnaul thought. "That man is literally called 'Darkhunt'!"

"But even if they attack," Kylix said. "They'll be just fine."

"Yeah," Rillon said. "Master will be there."

"Not because of him, dummy," Kylix said. "Because of Lokius…"

"Lokius?" Rillon thought. "He's a young rookie. Strong. Good-looking. But he's shorter than me. Wait! Don't tell me she's into short and younger guys. Do I have to deal with this Lokius?"

"…after all," Kylix continued. "He's the only rookie in history of Esbara to have not just a nickname, but also a title-nickname."

"What do they call him?" Rillon asked.

***

The main gate of the stronghold opened, a suited man on its other side.

"Welcome, brother!" Lokius said. "I almost got bored to sleep, waiting for someone to show up!"

"Oh," the man said, glancing around the main hall, at the tables on top of which twenty Raven Seekers were sitting. "It seems you were prepared."

Lokius jumped off to the ground, walking toward the newcomer. "I just wanna say this to you, brother."

The man inched closer to Lokius, smiling. "What is it, my love—?"

Lokius dashed past him, slitting his throat, a trail of black thunder sparks flying behind him. "I hate waiting!"

The man grabbed his neck as he fell to the floor, blood dripping out of it.

***

"Oh, Lokius?" Kylix said. "They call him 'Darkflash' Lokius!"