Episode 17: Struggle with your might

"Alright Crew, give me the sitch," Captain Sera said over the close-range radio.

"We're sitting on the main street leading towards the Blighted Tree a couple blocks south from our location." Ronx remained on the ship with Jav repairing the damages the ship maintained during entry. "Majority of the city's population had been evacuated it seemed from the roll call I 'borrowed' from the IGG."

"You mean you stole it," Jav replied.

"Potato Potahto."

"What about John and Allen's local?"

"Still don't know yet but there is a moving distress signal a little bit off from the Blighted Tree but I cannot get an exact pinpoint on it," on time a sudden shake rumbled the footing, making the buildings shiver a bit. "Judging from the tremors, there seems to be a fight ensuing too."

"John, that dick," Sera cursed under her breath.

"What happened," Elaine dropped in to the conversation next to Sera on the ground, visibly composed but her eyes show a hint of concern.

"It seemed like John's taking the battle while Allen is making a run for it."

"Then we should get them out of there now."

"Not so fast," Sera stopped Elaine before she could make a run. "Without LR Comms, we won't be able to position ourselves properly and we could run into a horde of infected. That would waste too much time to scramble in random directions."

"Sera is right," Ronx said over the radio. "We need to reestablish communications and find a way to bring back at least auxiliary power for the city."

"To do that?"

"We need to split the clouds," Sera pointed upwards.

"That's basically impossible," Elaine looked at the clouds with distress.

"If it's naturally inclined yes."

"What do you mean?"

"The Blight use certain creatures to maintain a good condition for their void portals to remain open. Those creatures need to be placed at a certain distance from each other depending on the size of the portal."

"How many would there be then?"

"I would say 9 maybe 11 of them out there?"

"And how do we find them?"

"With this," Sera pulled her left wrist out. It had been outfitted with a holomap that pinned different locations around the city. "I'll relay the information to you."

"Understood."

"Good girl." The captain buckled her belt with various utilities. Pierre and Titan came next to her as she called out to Val and Ton. "How's it looking up there?"

"Crowded." Ton replied as he searched the skyline. There were numerous of the flying beasts roaming about, searching for the ship's location. "I suggest we do this as quick as we can."

"Alright, Blood Streaks," she looked to Elaine. "Ready for Operation Clear Skies?"

"Yes Ma'am," Elaine replied with confidence. If this was the only way to save the two brothers, then she has to complete the task as soon as possible.

"Stitches heading out!"

"AYE!"

~

John fights on.

It must have been a few hours since the battle had started but he's wearing thin. Using his fists and combat specialties, he fended off one blight after another.

When they try to rush him, he would use the numbers to pile on each other as he narrowly escapes, while leaving behind a little surprise for them.

The explosion from his attack sends him flying towards the giant's face, where he latched on the eye, holding it down in place as he stumbled to get a proper footing.

The giant's hand began to swing upwards but with the slowness of its size, he was able to find a gap in the fingers. He got in between and punched the hand to add more momentum to the strike.

The giant tumbled backward, falling on a number of those infected that were too slow to maneuver.

As John was free falling, the branches of the blighted tree were moving towards his landing. John decided to use a little bit of essence to punch the air, giving him a slight change in trajectory, avoiding the sharp points of the branches.

He rolled down the side of the branch, tumbling to the ground.

As he was getting up, one of the larger beasts was about to bite down on him, but he swiftly got out of the way and elbowed the mouth shut and planted a little of his essence into its head. He then lifted the beast off the ground and threw it to a crowd of infected.

The beast suddenly writhed as if it was in immense pain before it exploded in an iridescent glow, sending the crowd to smithereens.

The giant was a little delayed since the essence took a while to overtake its body but it too blew up behind him, eradicating anything in its size vicinity.

Majority of the infected that were present were dwindling down by the second. With every second, Pride's brows furrowed.

"As expected from a rat in the corner, you sure fight well."

"Can't say that I'm doing well either," John said as he sweat heavily from the strain in his body. Despite the minor injuries, the real pain is coming from the pit of his chest as the more essence he consumes, the more his inner vessel cracks. He needs to end it soon or find a way out.

"The teachings that you have learned over the years of experience have really brought out the peak of your mortal form," Pride commented. "Even when you are at your lowest, you will always find a way out. I wonder how long you can last like that."

John wanted to rebuke back but he was a little busy dealing with the swarm of infected that were coming his way.

"I hope long enough to face him again."

A sudden whistle scraped through the air like an eminent bomb approaching. The whistle got closer and closer until a sudden shock wave followed by the eruption shattered the crowd of infected.

"LEWENTOS!" A roar cracked the air.

"Draconis," the Lord of Pride greeted the enraged Lord of Wrath.

"You said I'd continue my battle without interruptions!"

"Yes, I did and you did marvelously. Now, that you lost-"

"I have not been beaten yet you conniving cat!"

"Who are you kidding? You've lost in such a glamorous way; I cannot say much for the Hero there."

"He and I have unfinished business. A battle to the de-"

"That battle would render both of you unfavorably disadvantageous to the Blight, remember what the Lady demands."

"Bu-"

"Do you disobey the Lady's orders?"

The Lord of Wrath fell uncharacteristically quiet. It was not like him to be shut down but the mere title that Lewentos gave sent shivers down the Blight Lord of Wrath's spine.

"The Lady?" This was the first time John had ever heard of that name.

"You'll get to know her well soon enough. For now, you need to die."

The Blighted Tree rose from the ground, carrying its enormous body off the ground by the roots. Void Portals opened up from all over the surrounding area as the sudden miasma hit John's aura, making it shiver under its pressure.

"Damn it." John cursed under his breath.

"Lady Lust," Pride called out next to the him. "Had enough of beauty sleep?"

"More than enough, the show was quit entertaining so I let myself enjoy it for a bit."

"And what of the other assignment?"

"He'll be making his way here, no doubt."

"What are you talking about?" John didn't like where this conversation was going.

"You didn't think you were going to resist long enough to hide him from us?"

"Bastards!"

"Soon, you'll have your family reunion before your demise." Pride chuckled a little bit before the sudden appearance of Porcus came from under the roots.

"Lewentos, there are more intruders."

"Who?"

"A ship, filled with Archs."

"What?"

"It had the insignia of a stitched scar on its fin."

"Those ruffians?"

John, despite his position, was now bursting in laughter. He cannot believe that those crazy people actually broke through the barrier just like that.

"What's so funny, John?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," he said catching his breath. "It's just that. I have nothing to worry about now."

John didn't hesitate to use his full force this time, encapsulating the area with the remaining essence he had left. All this time, he had been waiting for the best opportunity, the moment to change the tide and now that the Stitches are here, the moment came.

"Now that the party is here, it's time for the main event!" John said with a menacing smile.

"How many times will you continue to escalate this battle until you're satisfied," Lewentos said in annoyance. "Take him down!"

The two eager blight lords did not hesitate and rushed at the hero, who remained smiling all the way through.

Their clash sent tremors all over the world that could be considered a global quake.

~

"What was that?" Allen said as the sudden quake shook their footing. Outside the windows of the bridge, he could even see that the buildings outside were swaying a bit from the sheer force of the tremor.

"We shouldn't wait here to find out." Martin said in concern.

They needed to hurry. They had spent enough time trying to replenish their strength.

The benefit of having a mass evacuation is that the denizens had to leave behind unnecessary belongings, that included food and some various items. The owner of the apartment they had left was ready for a standoff in case their first plan went south. Allen was able to rummage a few ammunitions from the countertop next to the bed.

He wouldn't say that it was a struck of luck but it was helpful to be able to be given a slightly higher chance of survival.

"I know we've been running randomly across the place," Allen began as they carefully inspect the area for any remaining hostiles. "But do you know where we are?"

"I'm guessing that we're in the housing district. Relative to what you know, this should be around the area bit far off from the IGG Ward."

Allen got an idea just then.

"I think we should head to the Thessaly then."

"That's a bit off from the bank."

"Yeah, but with the transponder you gave me, I think we'd have a better chance of getting reception if we were able to reach the top of that structure."

"True but the other survivors must be waiting at the bank."

"If we can get help as soon as possible, then we'd be able to safely protect the people."

Allen's suggestion was correct. Martin, like the men he led, understands the layout of the city like the back of his hand. He can't help but feel proud that a person as young as Allen is able to think ahead of situations despite the odds not being in their favor.

"Are you confident that this will work?"

"No," Allen averted his eyes from Martin for second.

He seemed to be thinking about something deeply, possibly from the events that had happened abruptly, maybe even about his brother that is putting himself in peril to protect what is left. Whatever he thought of, he made up his mind.

"But I want to try with the best that I can."

"I see," Martin smiled. "Then we need to head North."

It was then that their wristwatch started to crackle as a voice broke through the static. "This.... IGG Stitches reporting to.... please respond..... help on the...."

Martin's eyes began to light up with a sense of hope. Ever since the invasion began, there had been no LR Signals. Now that he was finally getting reception brought a bit of joy in his soul.

"I repeat.... help is on the way."

The reception was cut off.

"I guess that's all we can get for now." Martin looked to his broken leg with irritation as he tried to take a step forward. He then saw that there was a cane that had probably been dropped from a former tenant. "By the lucky twins," he smiled even more.

The situation was getting better by the moment and he wasn't going to remain as baggage any longer.

"Lassy, mind bringing that cane over to me."

"Martin, you can barely move in your condition. You need medical attention."

"The only attention I need to focus on is making sure that you," he grunted as he got off Allen's back and grasped on the can. He puts half of his weight on the side, where his remaining leg is at, and brings out his firearm.

He checked in his pockets to see if any useful equipment was left. "A few utilities but this will do."

"Martin, please don't push yourself."

"Son, for all my years serving, I have experienced a whole lotta things. There were good and there were many of the bad. I have lost so many throughout as well." Martin stood in front of the young man who was barely old enough to be able to drink a sip of whiskey and clasped his shoulder to look him in the eyes.

Allen never realized how large of a figure this pseudo commander was until he really paid attention. There were so many wounds and bruises from just this single day but as he stood over Allen, he realized that this person has a conviction to fulfill, deep in those cashew eyes.

"If this was going to top off as the worst day of my life, being dragged into command and having led a failed escape, then damned if I don't do all that I can to change that. You will be that key."

"I don't understand," Allen didn't expect all of this to happen, especially the words that came out of Martin's mouth. How can he live with the expectations of those around him on his shoulders?

"You need not worry about the meaning behind it and just be the best of what you are. That's all that matters."

"Okay," Allen still didn't understand the meaning behind those words but he was willing to do his utmost best for them, all of them.

~

"Successfully taken out 3 of those conductors," Pierre said as the flames on his hand were extinguished.

The creature, despite being unrecognizable from the char, was a flying type. Though it didn't have any visible wings, it probably used void magic to float safely in the clouds, especially since its body was tinted perfectly to match the color of the storm. '

"Don't mistake the 'conductors' for floating spec, Ton." Pierre hopped on his Zephyrian Board and began to ride the winds to search for more of those things.

"We've dealt with two of them so far." Ton and Val were placed on the highest structures, searching the skies. "Well, we coulda gotten the last one but we've run into a little problem."

"You mean I could have gotten them if you hadn't gotten in my way."

They were now dealing with a swarm of those flying creatures.

"Said the person that ran straight in for the kills, yelling, 'I got this!'"

"I did but ya kept nagging on and on about waiting for the right time when as you can see, I was able to take down one after the other!"

"Tsk."

"Did you just- Oh! After these assholes, I'm putting one in that large noggin of yours!"

"Enough bickering you two," Ronx spoke over the intercom. "Counting Sera's, we've got a total of 9 and judging from the stable frequency, I'd say we are getting close."

"No way they were able to get 4 out of the bat."

"Getting slow there, Pierre," Captain Sera then said as she stood confidently over the conductor. "10 now. Finding the last 2 will be difficult. They hide really well, but with Elaine here it almost a cinch."

"Doting on the new child, now?" Titan said jokingly.

"Of course! She's such a good girl."

"Please refrain from petting me."

"Sorry sorry, bad habit," Sera apologized as she lifted her hand from Elaine's head. "Let's get this over with, Titan and Pierre should be able to meet up with us near the epicenter of the storm. I feel like we'll be able to find the last two there."

"Me and Val will head back to the ship. We should be able to safely fly around to search for more survivors."

"Oi! Why am I getting stuck with stationary duty?!"

"You've already messed up the shot, so we should head back to protect the ship at the very least."

Valorie reluctantly stayed quiet and concentrated her fury on wiping out the remaining flyers that were around them.

During the short period of time, Elaine was impressed by the coordination of the crew. They were able to do something that Kasipeia struggled with. It must be their years of experience but Captain Sera displayed the kind of leadership that only a few shows; Being the vanguard and taking the Helm. She now understood why their reputation was not an exaggeration, even if they were a bit quirky.

However, it looks like things are proceeding a little bit slowly since it was pass noon. They need to finish this quickly before the night sets and the darkness takes over.

"Alright, Elaine," Captain Sera spoke up after setting a coordinate in her holowatch. "The last leg, you ready."

Elaine looked deeply in the captain's confident ocean eyes and silently nodded.

"Good. Let's get a move on!"

~

John was holding on by the thread. He has been for the whole day. He did not only assist in aiding the citizen's evacuation, he had to fight hordes of Blighted Armies and deal with the Blight Lord's themselves.

There wasn't much time left on his hands but that did not matter. As long as there was help nearby, he did not have to worry about Allen's safety.

However, the last hurdle was to get out of his current predicament. Blight Lord Porcus and Blight Lord Draconis were on him the whole time.

It was one thing to deal with the lord of wrath but to deal with Gluttony's axes were another thing.

John was avoiding the quicker of the two, Draconis, who had rushed with blinding speed but as he did, he was struck with one of Porcus's axes. He felt a bit of his energy leaving his body, even though he had only been scrapped by it.

"Feeling a little weak, John?"

"Not one bit!" John had stumbled on his footing but it wasn't enough to bring him down. He just needs to precisely avoid the onslaught of the two attackers. Easier said than done.

Draconis was gathering a wild amount of energy behind him as John readied himself to avoid the attack.

Suddenly, Porcus had begun to release volatile energy towards John.

"Eat this!" The blight lord yelled as the energy released from his mouth.

The two attacks were barreling towards John's direction. It was easy enough to avoid by jumping in the air, but as he did, Pride was instantly placed right above John with one leg raised in the air.

"Futile." He said that single word as he kicked John down towards the ground.

John fell with a large crash that cracked the ground below.

As he tried to regain composure, it was too late. The blast from both Blight lords had cut through him from diagonal directions.

The intensity of the attack was enough to blast away anything in the area, leaving a X that scared the area of impact.

John was in the center of that blast with a motley barrier that barely held together. Visible burns were showing in parts of his body from cracks of the barrier. He fell on his knees the second time today.

"You can Struggle with your might, John, but you cannot hold your own against the Blight Lords together." Lewentos understands that John is reaching his limit.

John chuckled under his haggled breathing. "Yeah, it's kinda unfair."

"Life IS unfair."

"Doesn't mean that I should just relax here just yet, though."

"You're going to rise again?"

"Of course."

"How many times have you kept yourself by the grit of your teeth, by the blood the oozes out of your pores? How many times do you want to struggle such a fruitless fate? How?"

"It's cause I can." This answer irks the lord of Pride.

"Why?"

"If I can show them that there is always a chance to stand, then they will take that opportunity and make it their own."

"You speak as if other humans can stand like you do. They cannot be like you, who have done so much and achieve great feats. You are blinded by your pride for them that you cannot see the truth of their own limitations."

"Maybe.... Maybe I cannot raise them the way I have been raised but I can do something better for them."

"What would that be?"

"Give them a chance to rise on their own." John then disappeared from Pride's sight.

Pride's eyes widened as he hadn't realized how fast John could still move. Before he could react, he had received a powerful kick to the face. The kick sent the blight lord of pride crashing into the roots of the tree.

"HAH!" Draconis laughed out loud before he saw John taking out Porcus with another single blow in the gut.

John disappeared again but it didn't catch the lord of wrath off guard.

"Aren't you being sly, John?"

"Not sly enough to take you down that easily."

"THIS IS WHY I ENJOY OUR FIGHTS," Draconis pushed John back and rushed towards him with his claws arching towards the hero. "YOU ALWAYS BRING A SURPRISE OR TWO!"

"I have more coming up."

John raised his hand towards the Blight Lord and it began to flash in a bright glow, blinding Draconis for a second. It did not blast him away but it incapacitated him. He didn't realize that he was plummeting the ground with high velocity.

"Shi-" He crashed again, creating another smaller crater next to John.

He then rose from the crash to meet with John again but it was then that he realized he had been sent to another location in the city.

"HAHAHA!" He busted in laughter. "You took some of my essence you dirty fool! I guess I have to walk from here. It should give him some time to recover."

Controlling the blighted energy of a dragon was not so easy. However, if it was John, he would be fine.

~

"We've finally made it."

"It took us quite some time."

"It would have been faster to carry you here."

Martin was reluctant on being carried by the young lad again but it did not matter now. The transponding signal should be able to broadcasted from here, especially now since the barrier that's surrounding was growing weaker by the second.

"How do we get up there?"

"The stairs should be somewhere nearby."

"You're planning on taking the stairs in your condition."

"Not that many options."

It was then that fortune played its part and power returned to the city. The elevator was now fully functional.

"Ho-"

"No time to ponder, get on! The quicker we send the signal the better."

Allen wondered what had happened. LR frequencies faintly returning and the city streets being cleared. It was all too fortunate for them. It was like another party is playing a part in this invasion and he hopes they are on their side.

"Layla, how are you doing?"

"Fine," the little girl that had accompanied them was feeling a little bit sluggish since the apartment complex. It was understandable since they had been through even before then.

"Don't push yourself too hard, okay?"

"Mmm." She hummed in agreement.

"We're almost free."

The little girl remained silent after that. There was indeed a lot that she had experience and she wasn't sure if she had any more family members left. She doesn't know what to do.

The elevator ride was the closest to safe as they could get. There wasn't much they could do but wait as the elevator continued to rise over the cityscape, revealing the vast destruction that had been generated in the city.

Smoke that rose in every direction, meeting the clouds as they merged into one black culmination. Once great structures had been toppled over or tangled by that strange root coming from whatever that was in the distance.

They could even see the bank that thy supposed to meet up with everyone else, luckily, still intact.

The most eerie thing among the carnage was the strange lights that were emanating from the base of that blighted tree.

"I wonder if he's fine..."

Martin looked at the young man, who was staring out towards the blighted tree. Allen's eyes wavered a bit as he thought of John struggling to fight against those monsters that were dubbed the Blight lords.

They barely survived an attack from just one of them so it was understandable that he would worry about his brother.

"John can hold his own. He is the best among the best."

"I don't know about that," Allen said suddenly that shocked the commander.

"What do you mean?"

"I feel like something bad might happen and if I'm not there to help him.... I'd regret it."

"Lad, there is nothing we can do now but find a way to assist the people that are struggling while John is doing what he does best. Trust this old dog's experience, John can do whatever he can as long as there is something to protect. You should do the same."

"...Yeah." Allen didn't felt comfort in those words but Martin was right. He has a mission to complete and that was to get this signal out and find help.

As their conversation ended, the doors opened to their final destination. As they did, they met up with the people they least expected.

"YOU!"

"CEO?!"

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