The Reckless Two

As Gash screamed out in pain, I looked at his health bar and noticed that it was decreasing rapidly. As he rolled in pain, Petal explained Origami Kami's origin.

"There was a special quest that sent me to an inn. It housed a person that washed up on the shores of the continent. This person didn't remember anything about himself. The only thing he remembered is his ability to make amazing origami. He made origami kami here before he died twelve hours after arriving to the inn. I stepped in and quickly got on the same page with Origami Kami after earning its trust. "

Violet immediately rushed to his side. This situation is getting worse and worse. I didn't even know that our limbs could be severed! This entire time I could've been cut in half at any moment?!

Regardless, Gash is pretty much taken out of the fight-

"Regeneration!" Violet used her skill on Gash and the bloodfallen's hands quickly grew back.

Wait...she can do that?! I broke away from my clash with Kami and asked Violet "When did you learn that?"

"I learned it when I reached level ten. It's pretty straining on me though, so we probably shouldn't prioritize-"

"VIOLET! IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO GO BEYOND YOUR LIMITS! REMEMBER! ONLY BUFF ME! AND GASH, KEEP IN MIND THAT MY WEAPON IS THE ONLY THING THAT DOES DAMAGE TO IT!" I exchanged looks with him, begging him to read between the lines. He nodded in response.

I dashed in to make an overhead slice to Kami with all my might, but he intercepted with a clean slice that cut my forearms off. As my axe went flying past the paper samurai with my forearms still attached to it, Gash reacted quick enough to catch it. As my forearms went flying past him, he brought the blade down on the samurai and split him in two. His health was immediately brought to 75%. That must be its weakness! He must've been able to do so much damage because it itself is weak to damage. I couldn't help but laugh as Petal healed Origami Kami and Gash passed me my weapon.

"IT'S TIME TO GET RECKLESS, GASH!"

"RIGHT!"

We were all moving around him, like stonecutters dancing, shaving away at boulder. With each attack, we passed the weapon, attacked, and if there was any mistake, Violet grew back our limbs. She was getting more exhausted and sluggish, so we needed to end this before she died on exhaustion alone.

As the three of us rushed, I opened with a wide right swing. Kami dodged it and cut my arms off. I put enough force behind my attack to make labrys spin horizontally like a boomerang. It spun directly into Gash's hands and he kept up the momentum to perform the wide swing I tried to do by targeting his back.

Kami expected this, so he protected his back by using his blade. Gash ran the blade past Kami's and gave the weapon to me. I received it seamlessly and redirected the attack to cut both Kami's legs off.

Once the legs were cut off of him with immense force, he was swept by his feet and toppled over like a tree. Before his back hit the floor, Petal used regeneration to make new feet for Kami. Once he landed on his back, he spun his feet in a breakdancing motion that took down both Gash and I at our calves. Before he made contact, I passed my weapon to Gash. As we landed, we turned so that we could land on our backs. Violet was starting to get tired, so she only regenerated my limbs. Once we were on our backs, we both used our weight to jump to our feet. But because Gash didn't have anything below his knees to stand on, he fell back down. Kami expected him to attack regardless, so he swiped at Gash's throat and cut it open. He immediately let go of my weapon and I feint an attack and catch the weapon afterwards.

Kami, thinking that I was going to hit him again, prepared a block.

However, I threw my weapon like a tomahawk to Petal. It moved with such speeds, she had no time to move or think. She could only react to her incoming demise. The paper samurai was so focused on the fight, he didn't think of guarding his master once. That's why I took this opportunity that not one person expected. HA! I should get Walter to make me a celebratory drink because of my genius when I log off.

"KAMI!" Petal screamed out.

It turns out that Origami Kami stepped in to block the throw. Like a true samurai, he put his honor on the line to save his lord. He sped directly in between of the incoming danger and Petal and took the weapon to the back. It immediately bursted into thousands of red crystals and left behind the sole yellow crystal it came from. At the realization of this, I walked step by step to get my labrys and finish the battle. Petal was frozen in place. She must've been feeling fear for the very first time in this confrontation. She probably thought she had this entire fight under control. Why else would she come to fight alone?

"It looks like the winner of the war is Diligence, Petal! Violet, good job!" I gave her a thumbs up.

"I...almost....passed out keeping you two...up..." Violet wheezed as she got her sentence out. I should buy her a drink once we make it to the city. She deserves it for keeping two tanks alive.

I picked General Slayer up and readied my swing.

Just as I was about to off her head, A giant monstrous worm came out from the ground and swallowed Petal whole. Everyone flew back from the sheer force of the winds produced when it emerged. Once it ate her, it left as soon as it came by looping back into the ground.

After that, a momentary silence washed over the battlefield. Due to the disappearance of my tank and the entire forest being cut down as far as the eye can see, I can understand if everyone was taking a minute to process everything that just happened. I equipped my armor and walked to Gash, who was fully recovered.

"Listen, Gash. I know this goes without saying, but your fighting style is somewhat akin to mine, but a bit rougher. Probably due to your lack of training and the fact you have the same problem I had. When you fight you enter this zone where you think of nothing but getting the advantage over your opponent. You're an amazing fighter, just make sure to use your head, okay?"

At first I thought that I was going to offend Gash. Or worse, he was going to take my advice with a grain of salt. It was the exact opposite, however. He was honored to take my advice.

"Yes, sir! I mean, Matthew!"

With that, The shifts changed and I logged off for the night.

===

As I moved through the malleabilis' digestive tract, I ended in its hollow stomach. The stomach could act as living quarters only to those the malleabilis is friendly with. That was where My love patiently waited for me.

"Привет, my love."

My boyfriend was a tall Russian man that recently moved to the states due to his fascination with technology. He was my height and wore a serious expression at all times. How we met is a story for another day.

"Mitree, I thought I said you could go with the rest of the expedition team."

"And leave you to die? ни за что. I knew you would do something crazy with frankly net negative results, so I did something that would guarantee Co-live's victory."

I sighed and dropped onto the couch. This is usually how it is. I do things from a position of emotion and passion, while he takes a more logical approach. He's the yin to my yang. that's why he's the vice leader of my guild. And that's also why I love him so much.

"So what's the plan?"

"Before we left Jericho, I contacted Anarchy and-"

"ANARCHY! THAT WACKO GUILD THAT WANTS TO DESTROY EVERYTHING?!" I rose from the couch.

"Yes. Can you calm down now please?" He held my hands, looked me in the eyes, and waited for me to relax.

"Yeah...I'm calm now..."

"Good." He continued explaining "Because the only major contenders are Anarchy, us, and that speedrunner guild being supported by Diligence, I told Anarchy that we'll help slow down Diligence to secure their win for the scorching sands kingdom. In exchange, they'll help us secure the blazing blizzards' kingdom. I even got them to sign a hero contract, so they have to comply."

"So wait...you expected me to leave to try convince Diligence and co. and made a strategy around that?"

"Yes. I know that you're probably angry that I did it, but I had the future of the guild in mind-"

I hugged him. How could I be angry with him? He took my mistake and turned it into a win for our guild. He was right. Trying to convince Diligence to switch sides was a mistake. I'll take some of his advice more seriously from now on.

"So what's the plan now?"

"We did our part. Anarchy says they have an ace up their sleeve if they need it, so we just have to sit back and relax."

I hugged him some more. I hugged him with all my might. He's so reliable! With him by my side, I'm certain we'll be able to bring peace to this world! Our way!