Chapter 11C: Castle Made of Dirt

I said to the swordsman standing beneath the starlight, “We both know this doesn’t have to end in a fight. We are here not to fight but only to run; we both are fighting for the same outcome. Even if she and I were to both disappear, it means that in the end we would not be here. You could lie to Hayatama and say that you killed us. It is an easy end that we don’t need to discuss.”

“Hayatama may have set the stage for this fight, but I could not live with myself if I were to just let you leave. I know about the bodies that scatter your path. I must punish you for your malevolence as a message to this world! I always dreamed of one day fighting an evil with fearsome strength. It will be an honor to take you out,” said the swordsman in an enthralled shout.

Though his words sent a shiver through my soul, Aeliana said, “I’ve got him under control. Even together we cannot beat him now. I will hold him back, and you kill the one standing in the shallows. If we are to win this, we will need his power.”

An enemy unleashed a blast of white-hot plasma in that moment. It was so bright that it blinded my eyes from seeing any other detail, so I summoned a substitute and sprinted into the light. The blast struck the dummy with so much force that it stopped me in my tracks, and then I kicked off the dummy and pushed with the impact. I hit the ground running in a full-force sprint toward our first enemy who stood in the shallows. As blinding fire illuminated the darkness around us, I saw my target glow as if he intended to summon a rock wall. I steadied myself so that I shot by its side when it ascended from the sand. In the moment the light from the plasma blast fell, I unleashed a fireball of my own and launched it at my enemy. He desperately materialized a second wall which practically shattered in the shockwave of my attack. Spirals of fire illuminated the shore before me, and the clash of blades echoed into the sky behind me.

But as soon as I crossed from the sand and into the shallows, my enemy retaliated by throwing a short spear with all his strength. The spear shimmered in the starlight as it barreled forward and pierced into my chest. Or at least, that is what it looked like from his perspective. As Aeliana and her enemy grunted in the background, I threw aside the decoy dummy with the spear in its chest; it slammed in the shallows with a splash. The assailant then swerved to see my true body with a look of horror, but by the time he realized what had happened, it was already too late. The love of my life fought desperately in the background just to give me this opportunity, and I hated myself for endangering her just because I was too weak to end all our enemies at once. So with the strength of this self-hatred, I sidestepped his second spear and stabbed my sword straight through his chest. I shattered half his ribcage as we stood there in the shallows. As my blade broke his bones and barreled through his back, I pierced him so deeply that he touched the Array I had inscribed upon my sword. It illuminated with a flash, and then black fire blanketed his body. Black fire burned his barren soul.

I struck in the moment I felt myself devour his heart; I wanted nothing more than to split the two fighters apart. I forced a rock wall to suddenly ascend from the sand, but Aeliana was on her knees and still struggled to stand. The swordsman slammed his weapon against the wall, but somehow he barely damaged it at all. He chuckled and stepped back while still facing forward, still set to carry out the task for which he was ordered. I wondered if perhaps she had injured him during their fight, but I could still only see burn wounds beneath the starlight.

The swordsman stood at a short distance and said, “This is all the more reason I must strike you dead. These powers we possess are sacred centerpieces of our souls, given to us by God to enact His righteous will. But instead of defending this world with a power of your own, the two of you torment it by stealing weapons from the righteous. You are a conglomeration of evil, but Hayatama has empowered me with all that I need to take you out. You will pay for betraying the man who will save this hopeless world.”

I answered him as I reached Aeliana in the sand, “It looks to me like you are struggling to stand. Are you sure you can stop me? It seems your strength has seeped through your hands.”

“When I awaken my power, it doubles my strength and my speed. Even my stamina and durability double. I’m not telling you this just to brag; I just want you to understand why Hayatama empowered me to defend the city. The two of you are villains and must be brought to justice,” said the swordsman as a faint glow illuminated his skin.

The swordsman jumped atop the rock wall in the same moment that I reached Aeliana’s side. She had managed to stay upright, but deep gashes scattered her scarred skin. Her daggers dangled limply in her bloodstained hands. A tear shimmered in her eye as she struggled to lift her heavy hands; she had given all she had just to hold off the swordsman. I dismissed her with a tap of my hand, silently assuring her that she had already done enough. She had protected me so that I would steal the power to fight back, so it was now up to me. I only had this ground to stand on because of her.

I said to the swordsman as I subtly took aim, “Before we fight to the death, please tell me your name.”

“I am Elijah, but I serve as the hand of justice. And though I may execute the two of you in the end, I want you to know that it has been an honor to fight you,” said the swordsman as he jumped into motion without further ado.

In the moment that he landed on the sand, I outstretched my hand and unleashed a sudden sphere of fire. But to my surprise, Elijah kicked off the rock wall behind him and launched himself closer; the explosive shockwave behind him only accelerated his approach. I swung my sword with all my strength, but he clashed his blade against mine and sent me flying backward at a jarring speed. Even after he knocked me down, he sprinted closer and swung his sword for a decisive strike, but I blocked him with a sudden rock wall. I stumbled upright and steadied myself, but he crushed the wall in the next moment with a slash of his sword. A scattershot of shattered rock spattered my skin and lightly cut my bloody arms, but then I found myself under attack from a second angle.

As particles in the air came crashing together in his hand like an explosion in reverse, the other enemy unleashed a plasma blast from the edge of the street. I desperately summoned a dummy and kicked it into the blast as a shield, but the shockwave overpowered my substitute. It flew back and struck me with so much force that I was thrown backward and into the shallows with a splash. I steadied my sword and stumbled upright as Elijah launched himself toward me at his fastest speed. He possessed a strength that nothing could stop, but at the very least, I could beat him to the punch. Though I had practically no chance of success, I convinced myself that it was a mathematical certainty that this gamble would succeed in the end. After all, I had already resolved that this is my last lifetime. I was lost and locked in the limelight of a life I knew I could not lose, so this last-ditch effort therefore had to succeed.

I jolted forward as I ducked and thrust my sword so that I could use his momentum against him, but he blocked my blade with a flick of his wrist and a flicker in his eye. Our swords summoned a scarlet spark that sent shimmers on the shallows, but then he struck me in the upper chest with the handle of his sword. This impact alone was enough to throw me back into the waves. I glanced at Aeliana in desperate horror, but she shook her head with tears in her eyes; she did not possess the fuel to freeze time once again. She sought to look past this lost life as it ran by. She was untamed but wordless; she silently screamed herself into the sky as if the stars which crossed us could come and save us. I had to do something to save her. My thoughts strived to flow, but my words came out pouring.

“You are caught in Hayatama’s web of deception, so you’ve defended the darkness ever since your inception. You serve no purpose other than being his mule, but he never told you the dark truth to your fuel. Your power is fueled by the life force of the dead, stolen from the innocent that he claims to defend. He seizes this fuel by killing them himself, and then he uses it to bribe you and everyone else. You can declare yourself a hero like those this city reveres, but the crimes you’ve committed cause screams and not cheers. Do you know how many people died so you could play pretend? All because you believed the lies that he would portend. You can see the truth scarred into your ally’s eyes; he knows the truth that Hayatama wanted to hide. But he denied and defiled your sense of justice,” I said as I prayed that he would somehow trust us.

Note: There is still one more part to this chapter