Final Struggle

Wha—what is that thing Nicolas?" Mr. Alloy questioned in panic but his questions met deaf ears. The artifact hunter had paled, It was too late.

"He—help!" The younger miner cried out pitifully in fright on seeing the dreadful beast that held him in its grasp.

The beast placed its hand where its ears would normally be nodding its head at the miner's cries.

The young man tried to wriggle out of its grasp, shutting his eyes in denial of his agonizing predicament. But when his eyes flicked open. 

His situation hadn't faded away forever into the land of nightmares. It was harsh reality, a really harsh one.

His eyes met with those of the beast causing him to burst out in uncontrollably tears. At the sight of this a wide smile spread across the beast's pitch black face and it swayed its head in enjoyment.

"This can't be real!, it's not real, it's not real, it's not real—"

"IT'S NOT REAL!" The young man continued weeping earning a joyous nod from the beast with every cry.

"Please take me away from this gruesome monster!" 

The beast paused its movements as if irritated by the young man's statement causing an ironic calm to flood the cave for a moment.

The beast gave the teary miner a questioning look before transforming it into a sick smile. 

Everyone paused, curious of what evil currently brewed within its mind when.

BOOM

In mere moments a growing pool of blood suddenly splashed unto the cave floor getting larger and larger by the second.

The beast let out a screeching laugh as it observed the crushed head of the young miner under its tight grip as it bashed the young man's head unto the hard cave floor.

"KID!" Mr.Alloy clenched tightly at his pickaxe looking to Nicolas in rage.

The beast paid them no mind. Slowly lifting up its hand from the young man's crushed skull he held it in the air eying it with mirthful delight.

It watched as the red viscous elixir known as human blood trickled through its dark hands flowing gradually to form a single drop.

It then opened up its mouth letting a single droplet soak into its tongue. 

Then Immediately, it's scarlet eyes glimmered brightly and the beast started to shake in uncontrollable joy.

It finally brought itself to a still, processing what he had just experienced before proceeding.

"Th—that." A human like sound emerged from the lips of the beast shocking everyone in the cave.

"That was DELICIOUS."

The beast's body suddenly began to bubble, discontorting in an unnaturally unearthly manner. It's body's darkness burnt off and it's size reduced, resembling the build of a human.

Hair suddenly stretched out from the roots of its head and clothes started to form also where there was none transmuting the beast into the form of a human. 

But not just any human.

The beast clenched its fist continuously before cracking its neck. It stretched its new found body for a moment before opening its eyes.

"Hi I'm Clark Mundave, official miner of Pulchra central." The once illiterate beast voiced earning two dumbfounded looks from the two men.

The beast had gotten a body but not just any body. Rather right here and right now it had the body of the younger miner it earlier killed. 

But how was this possible was the question racing through everyone's minds.

"It seems like that was successful." The beast yelled into the air as though talking to the deaf.

The beast now humanoid then turned his red eyes towards the two men. His eyes landed on the miner but disinterested they whistled past him before landing on Nicolas.

"Ohh what do we have here, an Artifact hunter perhaps?" His eyes glinted in excitement.

Nicolas braced himself holding unto his katana firmly. But one thing hung on his mind. 

This beast was indeed frightening yet, yet for some reason he could sense an even greater level of dread emanating from inside the door. And only then did his hands start shaking.

"SURELY YOU DIDN'T WISH TO ENGAGE THEM WITHOUT MY ORDERS DID YOU MIMETRIEZ?"

A cold aura washed over the room almost paralyzing the two men on the spot.

'How can this be?' Nicolas questioned in his mind.

'How can aura be this chocking?' 

'How can its presence be so commanding?'

A dreadful figure emerged from the Crimson Door, his dreadful aura compressing everyone in the cave.

He had a humanoid figure the only contrast being his large dark horns that protruded from the top of his head, and a strange red glowing diamond drawn on his forehead.

He wore a cloak that went all the way down to his feet that was gently weaved with an unearthly embroidery that glimmered a dark purple glow. 

However his eye color remained unknown since they had been sealed shut since he walked through the door.

'This guy really is a pain, one wrong move and I'm dead.' Mimetrieze, the first beast to enter the room thought getting a slight shiver from the commanding figure.

"Surely not Chief Oneiros, I just wished to clean up these scum before your arrival is all." Mimetrieze let out a forced smile.

Oneiros turned to the bloody pulp on the ground then back to Mimetrieze. Mimetrieze immediately turned away from his gaze whistling before giving a slight chuckle.

Nicolas was still pale even paler than ever. What he had wished to avoid this whole time had finally befallen him.

He had been forced to witness the sheer terror that can creep out from a crimson door.

"We need to find a way to get out of here." Nicolas mumbled fearfully.

Mr. Alloy shivered clenching unto his pick axe to curb it.

"So that's it? You're just going to turn tail and let those monsters get away with what they did?" Mr. Alloy mumbled. 

He was afraid yes, even more so than Nicolas but for some reason he couldn't just be okay with running away alive. 

"Th—they killed the kid." He sniffled

"He had a bright future ahead of him but they just ended him, just like that."

Nicolas' grip on his katana loosened.

"It was your job to protect us." He mumbled in a higher pitched tone.

"You're the artifact hunter!"

At Mr. Alloy's yell Mimetrieze turned his attention towards them while his chief faced the door staring at the crimson red glow the portal emanated. 

With a cocky smile Mimetrieze then proceeded to taunt the miner some more, after all what could a useless miner like him do.

He stepped on the dead miner's bloody corpse wiping his foot into it.

In a blast of fury Mr. Alloy lunged forward, speeding towards the beast. He had lost all sense of intellect. And only vengeance now moved his body.

He grabbed his pickaxe leaping into the air towards Mimetrieze.

'That fool!' Nicolas screamed out in his mind.

"Don't you dare step on him you MONSTROUS BEAST!" The miner yelled out even more as his pickaxe went down towards the beast. Glinting a soft gold gleam as it came down.

Mimetrieze stole a glance at Oneiros who paid him no mind. 

"10 minutes and that's it." Oneiros stood unbothered, his attention still firmly fixed on the Door.

"And also just do it away from me."

Great that meant he could do whatever he pleased.

In a flash, more blood spilled unto the ground as the pick axe fell never even meeting its target.

"We are not monsters, neither are we beasts. But rather." Mimetrieze lectured as his right hand was all the way through the chest of Mr. Alloy.

"WE ARE VOID BEASTS."

Mr. Alloy coughed expelling a large volume of blood from his mouth.

He slowly turned towards Nicolas who stood in utter confusion.

"I'm—sorry Nico." He managed to mutter before crumpling down unto the floor to embrace the cold hands of death.

"Now then for the real show." The Void beast chuckled in excitement.

"Wait is that toy the real deal?, nah it's probably one of humanity's fakes." Mimetrieze questioned observing the artifact in Nicolas' hands.

Nicolas' hands never stopped shaking. They quivered so much that he almost let loose of his katana only to hold it before it fell again and again and again.

'Mr. Alloy, the kid, they were both my responsibility.' Nicolas judgingly thought to himself.

'But I let them die to the hands of beasts.' He quivered some more.

If only he was taking just Mimetrieze that would be a completely different story. But him and the the other guy? The one whose presence almost suffocated him?

Could he beat him? He thought loosely holding his katana.

'I'm sorry Nico' Nicolas reminisced Mr. Alloy's passing words. He reminisced it until his eyes sprang once more with a ray of hope or just foolhardiness?

It didn't matter if he could beat them, all that mattered was that he was going to fight them and give his all. After all he was indeed—

AN ARTIFACT HUNTER.

"By the powers invested in me as a 3RD CLASS ARTIFACT HUNTER and the wielder of the CERULEAN SLASHER." Nicolas heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"I WILL JUDGE YOUR SINS!"

Nicolas clenched his katana tightly activating it to the highest of its potential.

Streams of blue energy fired from it giving it a light blue shimmer and the atmosphere around him began to grow hotter.

"Ohh? maybe it's not a fake after all—" The vile beast stroked its chin in contemplation.

"Now!" The void beast Mimetrieze lunged at Nicolas in elation.

"This is what I call a fight!"

Nicolas' dashed to the side evading Mimetriez's blow. The ground beneath them suddenly exploded sending large pieces of rocks flying through the cave. These rocks disintegrated to dust immediately they came remotely close to meeting Oneiros.

He slashed his katana at Mimetrieze who managed to clasp them with two hands, holding it in place.

'That's exactly what I wanted.' Nicolas gave a slight grin as his artifact grew in its bright blue hue.

BOOM

Shockwaves of blue energy echoed through the cave as Nicolas blasted Mimetriez's arms clean off.

"Tch"

'He evaded full damage'

Mimetrieze leaped back, leaving some distance between him and Nicolas.

"Arrghhhh!" The void beast yelled in panic as he stared at his arms that had been disintegrated by Nicolas' cerulean blast.

"Cut the dramatics." Nicolas yelled, his eyes locked sternly on his target.

"I know full well that you guys can regenerate"

Mimetrieze's pained expression immediately transformed into a gleeful chuckle.

"So you knew huh? I knew you'd be a lot of fun." 

The flesh around his shoulders bubbled as dark red clouds of energy filled up his arms restoring both flesh and bones.

His arms were as good as new.

"Let's get at it again. Nico." He gave a wicked smile reminding Nicolas of the miner's last words.

Blue streams of energy fired from the cerulean slasher once more as heavy winds washed over Mimetrieze.

"Ohh, I think I made him angry." Mimetrieze let out a teasing taunt.

Nicolas increased the energy pouring out of his artifact once more until it was dark blue. Until it shone like the blue rubies themselves and gave off an Azure glow.

WHOOSH

Nicolas was gone.

Mimetrieze searched for him all over only to find him blasting from one edge of the wall to another all around him.

A quadrilateral was born. A bright blue connective square could be seen around the void beast as Nicolas went past him cutting him, but whistling away just as fast as the hit landed.

He cut through the void beast at several intervals and with pinpoint accuracy spilling his blood all over the place.

Mimetrieze tried to grasp him only catching a blur when.

SLIT

The gentle sound of a katana cutting through its target echoed across the cave. Mimetriez's body was split in two. His upper body dropped to the ground leaving a sickening thud. 

Despite this Oneiros still continued to face the crimson door.

Nicolas heaved a sigh of relief as he stood, his back facing his defeated opponent then a costly realization hit him.

'Wait!' 

He thought, but it was too late. The dreadful void beast's right hand was completely immersed in Nicolas' belly.

"In order to kill a void best you have to destroy its core." Mimetrieze whispered behind Nicolas' ears, his upper body well intact.

"You even managed to avoid a direct hit to your vitals huh?, you really are something Nico."

'When did he regenerate?, Nicolas asked trying to slash at the beast who easily evaded his weakened attack.

'How could I have forgotten such an integral element.' Nicolas held unto his gut which did not fail to eject as much blood as it could from his body.

"You've probably fought monsters for so long that you failed to remember attacking my core right? You jumbled up the differences between a beast and one from the void didn't you?"

The void beast stalked the bleeding artifact hunter mocking his rookie mistake. 

"Laugh all you want, it's not yet over!" Nicolas groaned holding unto his belly.

"That's one of humanity's many mistakes." The void beast rose his forearm into the air letting Nicolas' blood flow through it till it formed together creating several drops.

"You never know when to give up." 

He opened his mouth then let a drop soak up his tongue. Immediately it did Mimetrieze felt that same—no an even greater level of elation.

He swayed in mirth. Shutting his eyes to enjoy the delicate flavor.

"As expected this is even better than the last." He mumbled before pausing for a moment.

"BLOOD COPY, TRUE TRANSFORMATION"

The void beast's body began to once again constrict, but this time red streams of energy flowed through his body changing his form once more.

"Is this a joke?" Nicolas questioned in awe as he witnessed what or who he was currently facing—

Himself.