Chapter 4: The bonds of Brotherhood

The sight that greeted him was a grim tableau of death and destruction. Bodies lay scattered everywhere, lifeless and broken. There were the forms of humanoid warriors, his collegues, and men at arms, and then the grotesque abominations representing the demons of this dark, forsaken world.

Elijah's eyes scanned the wasteland, taking in the devastation, but his heart was heavy as he looked at the dead humans that had been part of their army. It wasn't long before his gaze fixed on a grotesque mound of flesh in the distance.

The creature was massive, with its body a twisted amalgamation of creatures fused into a single grotesque form. The beast lay still, covered in a fountain of blood, chunks of flesh torn from its massive frame. It was tens of meters long, standing out against the smaller corpses surrounding it. Deep lacerations crisscrossed its body, showing signs of a vicious battle.

But what drew Elijah's eyes was the severed dragon head nearby and the realisation of what, or who, this monster had been.

"An Apostle... 'The Gourmet'?" Elijah muttered under his breath.

Next, his eyes scanned the deep laceration that had killed this apostle, and he already knew there were not many players who could deliver such precise and devastatingly clean sword strikes. These were sword strikes that Elijah recognised all too well. As he pieced it together, a sudden chill ran down his spine.

'Did Kenji kill an Apostle?' Elijah thought.

Elijah's eyes continued to roam the battlefield once more, and then he saw it. His breath froze in his throat.

Amidst the chaos and ruin of the blood-soaked battlefield, a lone figure sat slumped against a jagged obsidian rock as a pool of blood surrounded him. The figure's once-glorious armour was now in tatters and bloodied beyond recognition, but Elijah knew who it was the moment he saw him.

"Kenji..." Elijah whispered, his heart sinking like a stone.

Kenji sat there, his body propped up and his expression a mix of agony and determination. His once-imposing frame had been ravaged by battle with his left arm, and the entire left side of his chest was... gone. It looked as though something had bitten clean through him, leaving behind a gaping, mortal wound.

Despite the catastrophic injury, Kenji sat upright, his posture defiant. His gauntleted hand still gripped the hilt of his sword while a strange egg-shaped object rested in his lap. Kenji's eyes, once filled with life and fire, now flickered faintly beneath the weight of death's shadow.

"Kenji!" Elijah's voice cracked as he shouted, his body filled with a powerful surge of emotion.

His brother-in-arms, his friend and, in some sense, his mentor, was on the brink of death. Every part of Elijah screamed at him to move, to reach his friend, to help him.

But when Elijah tried to stand, his legs gave out beneath him.

His muscles, still recovering from his resurrection, refused to obey and instead sent him collapsing to the ground once more. Gritting his teeth, Elijah pounded his fists into the dirt as frustration and helplessness boiled inside him.

However, Elijah would not be stopped. If he could not walk, he would crawl.

Elijah dragged himself over the broken bodies, over the jagged debris, the remnants of the battle, inching closer to Kenji with each agonising pull of his arms.

His breath came in ragged gasps as his vision began swimming with exhaustion, but finally, finally, he reached Kenji's side.

Kenji stirred at his presence as a groan of pain escaped his cracked lips. Kenji's grip on his sword tightened; no doubt the results of his battle instincts were still pushing forward even in his current state.

"Argh", Kenji groaned as he moved his sword.

"It's me! Elijah!" Elijah quickly said, moving slightly back.

The first thing Elijah noticed was the potion bottles around Kenji, and all of them were empty, their contents already used. The injury taking the left side of Kenji's body had stopped bleeding, but the wound showed no sign of healing.

"Elijah… How? You should be… 'Cough', 'Wheeze', I thought you died!". Kenji rasped, his voice weak and filled with disbelief. Yet, even in his fragile state, his hand never left his weapon.

"I'm alive, Kenji. I'm here," Elijah whispered urgently. "It's me."

"Stand still," Kenji ordered hoarsely.

Kenji's silver eyes glowed as he used the remnants of his mana to use his legendary ranked 'spirit eyes' skill. Then his face gave way to a smile, a true deep and broad smile.

"You piece of... 'cough wheeze'. You damned cockroach!" Kenji's eyes softened as he managed to get out a few words between pained breaths in a joking manner.

Elijah forced a weak laugh in response, though it was hollow.

"Yeah, you know me. Hard to kill," he said, tapping his chest in a show of bravado, though the effort sent fresh waves of pain coursing through his body.

Elijah's hand instinctively went to his left index finger, where his spatial ring had always been. Feeling nothing, he was once again reminded that he had lost his 'spatial ring' and all the contest inside. All the potions or other items that could have helped his dying friend were gone.

Instead, Elijah again tried to call upon his 'true bond' and connection with 'Hallowed embrace', but like before, he once again fell face first into the ground.

"Argh!' Elijah groaned

"Are you okay?" Kenji managed to get out through pained breaths.

"Damn it!" Elijah cursed, slamming his fist into the ground. "I can't summon my shield... I can't..."

Kenji's breathing grew heavier, each breath a battle in itself.

"My wounds... they won't heal," he said quietly, his voice shaking. "I already tried everything… It's alright, Elijah!"

"What about the others?" Elijah asked, trying to change the subject and deny the reality that his friend, his brother, was dying.

Kenji nodded weakly.

"I... I made a path. They should've escaped," he wheezed, each word taking more from him. "You were right, 'Couph' 'Blood lord' betrayed humanity!"

Elijah's heart twisted in anguish.

"Damn it...!" he spat through gritted teeth; his voice filled with bitter frustration. "Those traitors! if only… I would have... I would have…!"

Elijah's words resonated with an undercurrent of fury.

Their meticulously crafted plan to eliminate the supreme of this level of hell had been thwarted. 'Blood lord' had betrayed not only them but also humanity!

Kenji's head turned slightly; his once-vibrant eyes clouded by the toll of his injuries.

"It's... so dark," he murmured, his voice fading.

With trembling hands, Kenji lifted the egg-shaped object from his lap. Its weight seemed to drain the last of his strength, but he extended it toward Elijah as if offering him something of immense importance.

"If it's you... if it's you! Maybe we have another ch… 'couph', chance." Kenji rasped each word a struggle.

"Kenji..." Elijah reached out, his heart breaking as he took the strange object from Kenji's weakening grasp. But even as he did, Kenji's strength faltered. His hand fell limp to his side, the life in his eyes dimming.

Wheezing through his final breaths, Kenji strained to speak.

"Remember... never... never submit to them... never trust their patronage. Be... be aware of Ol—" Kenji's voice broke off, his final warnings lost.

Elijah, hearing his brother's dying words, desperately tried to move closer, to offer aid or comfort, but it was too late. Kenji's head slumped forward, his once-bright eyes staring blankly into nothingness. The flicker of life that had clung so fiercely had now been extinguished.

"Kenji…" Elijah muttered weakly, his voice cracking with the weight of his sorrow.

He reached out a trembling hand and gently closed Kenji's lifeless eyes. His hand lingered for a moment, the gesture both final and tender.

"My brother," Elijah whispered softly, his voice heavy with grief. "Your trial has ended. May you find peace."

For a moment, Elijah simply knelt beside his fallen comrade, the stillness of death hanging thick in the air around them. The blood-soaked ground beneath them seemed to hum with a morbid silence, broken only by the faint, ghostly winds that carried the stench of the battlefield.

But somewhere, far off in the distance, perched atop the jagged peaks of an obsidian outcropping, a pair of deep, blood-red eyes watched the scene unfold without a shred of emotion.

From the shadows, the figure of Damian, also known as 'Blood Lord,' observed Elijah and Kenji with an eagle-like intensity. His gaze was cold, piercing, and uncaring.

The air around Damian was eerily still until his low, heavy voice shattered the silence.

"Master," he intoned, his tone carrying a deep, ominous resonance.

"It seems we have a problem".