Killstreak

Wiping the words “Desertification” off, Hyuga doesn’t pay much attention to the other Searchers. Part of him could buy the argument of Despise’s rampage but that just didn’t seem to be the case. The malevolent swordsman was definitely not kind, nor did he share any kind of moral compass, so seeing him present himself in such a way, was not at all surprising.

But giving the memories he had of the Draught as a squadron, it was definitely unexpected. Limbo could not be sensed, and no one seemed to know where he was. And as far as Hyuga could tell, none of the corpses around Despise was of his own captain. He kind of wished it was though.

— I ask for… your surrender.

— You believe you can’t win anymore?

— Killing a senior… would be dishonorable.

— Against you, Despise, honor doesn’t mean anything. Not a single person here, would feel a speck of guilt after putting you down. Myself included.

Clenching all of his arms and preparing for deadly combat, Hyuga stands with all the remaining Searchers in the ruins of Lapse. Among the fifth generation of VSS was the likes of Imperium and Useless. The fourth generation has Ragnarok, Epicenter, Killerkill and Meatball. The third has Slots, Teacher, Evangelist, and Franchise.

The second has Limbo, Despise himself, Juice, Liver, and pre-Rebirth Ejo.

And in the First Generation of VSS’s was Hyuga, the sole remainder of his time. All others perished somewhere along the way. He could never return to the real world. After all, he sacrificed his body to the duty of Searcher. It wasn’t just a matter of charity, Hyuga couldn’t even face the world, with the way he looked. Declared dead, his life now belonged to the Lapse and anyone or anything he left behind didn’t matter anymore. As sad as that thought was, he didn’t dwell on it a lot.

— You speak of honor. Yet, you took my only home.

— Any place… can be home… should you… will it.

— You seem unaware, Despise.

But what Despise had done to Hyuga, by destroying his home, was an unforgivable sin. He was not letting it pass, without at least punching Despise once. The swordsman lowers his stance, bringing the blade closer to his face.

— Now that I am here, the battle has switched outcomes.

— Prideful… aren’t you?

Despise stomps on the dirt, causing the flaming air to surge and swirl around him.

— TRY ME.

Shifting his body, the blade cuts the air and the flames that erupt, swallow the kilometer ahead of him. The black blade is engulfed in swirls and rings of sun flares that power the swordsman’s attacks. Except that after the initial outburst, Despise realized that no one had been hit. Teleported into safety, the Captains immediately move in against him.

— Gather…

Hyuga took himself to the ruins of The Lapse. On the tallest pillar of ruble, he crouched, looking over the scorching battlefield with a great white and clear moon behind him. Like overseeing a chess board, ready to control all his pieces, vigilant to the enemy’s every move.

— And…!

Stabbing down into the earth, Despise destroys his surroundings with a tower of hellfire. Hyuga continued to teleport the captains away from the attack. An unspoken agreement between the experienced senior and the talented captains. Attack shamelessly and put your life on the line without fear because Hyuga will save you. All that mattered was dealing irreversible damage to Despise.

— Release!!

The Meteor Blade is swung wildly, switching styles to something with less form and more speed. The persisting strikes go everywhere, flares of a living sun blade vaporizing the earth in every direction launched. Everyone was put in immediate peril. But Hyuga didn’t lose focus, teleporting each person at the exact last second, to a safe position in which they wouldn’t immediately have to be teleported again.

Mind you, that Despise was practically dancing with his sword. Swinging the death weapon almost as fast as Imperium could snap his fingers. Hyuga had to take one of the remaining twenty-four captains, calculate the trajectories of every swing, and then teleport someone to a safe position. He couldn’t simply move them backwards.

Despise’s weapon was designed to delete space and yet they must move closer to him. Teleporting someone towards Despise to face him head on would also prove fatal, because of the timing and the openings. Hyuga could not decide that for the captains. They were kept safe but ultimately, were still obligated to reach and battle the walking inferno. A rainbow of VSS are set of against a single enemy.

— How trivial…

With that strategy, some managed to reach the center and attack Despise before having to be teleported away. One could emit shockwaves and blasted the man’s leg from the back. The other could conjure iron from its nails, shooting and piercing the swordsman at the only instance he had. On top of the few scratches now he had a bruised leg and some bleeding indentations in his left shoulder.

— This plan of yours.

The other captains cheer in their heads, little by little, they could defeat him. However, Despise turned around and incinerated the two who had reached him with a single swipe of his sword. Hope quickly fades as the Captains hear Despise talk.

— Gather another forty opponents.

The two cremated corpses had not been teleported to safety because at one moment during his endless string of attacks, Despise had aimed one of the crescent, scorching lasers at Hyuga, who was too focused in keeping the others safe to worry about himself. Losing two left arms caused Hyuga to waver, allowing Despise to kill another two.

— These chaotic flames cannot be bested by any of you!

Lifting himself, Hyuga and the remaining captains despair. They had no options but to continue their battle against Despise. In the meantime, The Ballada and the other members of the Heavy Draught found themselves in an isolated space.

Enter the Bookstore Dimension.

An infinite realm with no celling, floor, or walls. Massive structures float, aimlessly. Unsuccessfully, yet decidedly, filling the great void. The light came from everywhere, yet nowhere either. A dark green, almost foggy atmosphere, was the light of that realm. Through the structures, if you could spot the beyond, that would be its shade.

Illusionary gravity, attaches everyone to the current surface in which they stand. Meaning it only took a jump up, towards another surface, to be “upside down”. And the structures, were of course, bookshelves. Made of multiple shelves of indefinite shapes or length. Some were like blocks and some were like long, long roads. In these bookshelves were, of course, books.

Every book, for that matter. Every book ever written or published. Every unfinished book, ever attempted. Every incomplete book, still to be finished. Words from the past, present and future. Any conceivable rendition of the characters, numerals, and all other interjections. Every language spoken, dead or still to be conceived. All of varying lengths.

One would have to wonder, if somewhere in this endless place, there would be an endless bookshelf, containing an equally, yet smaller, endless-paged book. Thankfully for the Searchers and for their perception of reality, that abnormality was nowhere near them. There was a faint sound of rumbling, echoing in the world. As if something in the great beyond was moving its colossal-ness through space, away from sight.

The Draught’s member responsible for this catastrophe of a place, Epicenter herself did not know why her power worked the way it did, but she didn’t bother much. She was less of a book fan, and more of a movie person. Even though people always felt the need to tell her that the books were better.

It started when Ragnarok saved Killerkill, and herself, by entering the dimension. Pushing Franchise and Epicenter into one of the bookshelf platforms. Looking up, the dimension’s owner realized she was outmatched and that Useless, was in another platform, behind and a few meters down. She falls on her back, off the platform to join her short and childish ally.

— And what is this now? — Franchise spoke.

— Epicenter’s VSS. — Killerkill spoke. — She can open portals to move freely in this space.

— I hate pocket dimensions… — Ragnarok spoke.

Killerkill got up and looked around, trying to analyze the environment. But for once in her life, her eyes didn’t know what to tell her other than what was already obvious. This is an empty dimension with books. An infinite library in an infinite space. Ragnarok and Franchise also recovered from the sudden change, taking in the landscape.