A MORTAL REMINDER

Lino watched as the pile of rocks shambled together into an upward rain, blasting away at speeds that left the dusty trails behind them. A faint, golden glimmer traced in-between the darkened piles, winding around the tunnels digging through the mountain.

"A quick reaction..." Hannah mumbled, frowning slightly.

"... is that Eight?" Lino spoke softly, barely managing to discern a solitary figure upholding the entire dome that prevented hundreds of deaths. "Oh my. I was not expecting this. You?"

"Nope." Hannah shook her head. "Upper-end barely ever leave the main headquarters..."

Meanwhile, Eight scrutinized the two figures carefully, his frown exceptionally deep. Though he'd heard the news that they were now in an official war with the Empyrean and his forces, that was less than a month ago -- when they deemed the Empyrean too hurt to make a move for months, at least. Yet, there he was, unhinged.

Eight sighed lowly and let go of the s.h.i.+eld, lifting himself up into the sky, quickly followed by four other figures -- Fifty-one through Fifty-four -- as they reached up to Lino and Hannah's level, meeting them squarely. Eight stared solemnly at the middle-aged figure floating opposite of him; black hair woven into a long-trailing tail, disheveled by the edges slightly, accompanied by a pair of terribly dark eyes that seemed to pierce through all the realities.

"... it's been a long while, young Empyrean," he said. "It's unfortunate we meet under such circ.u.mstances."

"Isn't the word you're looking for inevitable?" Lino said, smiling faintly. "From what I recall, you warned me quite clearly."

"I imagined you'd heed the warning."

"... I have." Lino replied, his smile vanis.h.i.+ng.

"Intending to end all Bearers that don't bend to your ideals... isn't exactly heeding my warning, now is it, young Empyrean?" Eight said, smiling faintly.

"... how far up do I have to go to meet someone who's not h.e.l.lbent on being hypocrisy-personified?" Lino chuckled bitterly, shaking his head. "Alas, it doesn't matter. Did the Descent order an attack on my people?"

"... what are you talking about?" Eight asked, tilting his head sideways.

"... ordinary peeps trying to run a shop and make a living. Do you know that barely anyone even knew those were my shops?" Lino said, his smile turning dark. "And, lo and f.u.c.king behold, they get butchered like swines and hung on the spikes like morbid decorations."

"..."

"Perhaps... it's high-time I paid in kind." he crackled, taking out the [Dragon Slayer] gripping it tightly. "It's a simple game, now -- surrender and you live. Oppose and I'll ensure you wish you were dead. The choice is yours."

"... alas, my point has been proven." Eight said, shrugging.

"What point?" Lino's eyes suddenly darkened as the sky thundered temporarily. "That I have a heart? That it can bleed? That each time you cut one of my own you also cut a part of me? That, eventually, I too get tired of watching people I love being mowed down like pigs? That point? Then, yeah, your f.u.c.king point has been proven. Now make a choice, lest I make it for you."

"--there is no choice to be made," Eight said, suddenly spreading his arms as the golden light bound him. Millions of threads exploded out and encompa.s.sed roughly ten miles across, pulling everyone from down below into it. "You've overstepped your bounds and trailed down the path I cannot tolerate. The time for you to die has come."

After momentary blindness, Lino jolted his eyes open, quickly realizing he was neither in the high sky nor anywhere near those crushed mountains. Rather, he stood on a flat field surrounded by a dipping valley, ending over into open ocean on each end. Hannah stood next to him, just as confused, while the opposite of them stood an army of nearly ten thousand, led by Eight.

"--do you know where you are?" he asked Lino.

"..." several things became clear to Lino quickly -- this was a blended illusion, the type of reality-changing Eight was famous for; in it, he also realized, there was no Qi. He couldn't utilize any one of his arts, or even his items. The [Dragon Slayer] in his hand was but an ordinary weapon made out of steel. There were no Levels, no realms, no nothing. He was just an ordinary mortal... as everyone else, including Eight, was. "In your worst nightmare?" he chuckled.

"You can helplessly try to fight us here and lose," Eight said, smiling lightly. "Or you can try and break out of. Which will happen first, do you wonder? Will you get out? Or... will we kill you?"

"... so, let me get this straight." Lino's smiled turned wicked as he took a slow step forward. "You locked yourself inside a reality-blend within which Qi doesn't exist, everyone is an ordinary mortal, and is forced to use powerless weapons."

"..."

"With a f.u.c.king Empyrean." he stopped, sighing and shaking his head. "I don't know whether to applaud your stupidity or thank your subtle support."

"... there's still thousands of them," Hannah added as she joined him. "Can we really take them all on?"

"Why all? Just kill Eight, and the illusion stops."

"He's gonna hide."

"There ain't a f.u.c.kin' hole he can hide himself in from me. You have a weapon?" he asked, glancing at her.

"I've got that rod of yours; I'm well-practiced with it." she replied, taking out a small, strange-looking object.

"Stick to my back," he said. "Let's go crack some f.u.c.king skulls."

"Ha ha ha, yeah, let's..."

Without seemingly any hesitation, Lino suddenly thrust into a sprint, running toward the opposing side uninhibited. Eight frowned for a moment before slithering back through the ma.s.ses as thousands of souls pushed forward, charging at Lino in a half-circling formation. The latter, however, only had a maddened smile all throughout.

The two sides met mere seconds later as crude-looking swords and axes came swinging at Lino overhead. He blasted off a laugh before sliding in a spinning fas.h.i.+on, dragging the Slayer in the full circle, cutting over ten pairs of legs in one, swift motion. Blood spurted out immediately, fas.h.i.+oning his face crimson, as painful screams flayed out into the sky.

Hannah skillfully dodged a few stray attacks before elongating the rod and using it as a crude staff. Though she fought largely from range, through countless spars with Lino, she'd picked up many things. He also taught her occasionally to give her an edge if she ever found herself in such a situation. Her strikes were precise and lethal -- either aiming for in-between the eyes to immediately crack the skull, center of the chest, where two rib-cages met, crotch or lower back.

Lino heaved himself off with a free arm and jumped over three meters into the air, over the heads of all those who could merely look up and stare. He quickly located Eight in the sea of people, spinning like a whirlwind for a moment as he dove down, cutting through the meek blockade that welcomed him. Limbs scattered about as heads flew, blood dyeing the green gra.s.s red. Hannah followed closely behind, mostly picking up the strays and ensuring the circle around Lino never got too tight.

Striking forward, he slashed four more souls as a faint opening spurred into existence. Everyone currently present except for Lino had completely missed it, as hardly anyone had more than just basic experience when it comes to melee clashes. He stuck the Slayer into the ground and slid down once more, cruising through a pair of stretched legs before grabbing at the backside of the man's belt and heaving himself off the ground, tearing away at the crotch and pulling the screaming man down. Grabbing the Slayer, he kicked himself off the man's back and lunged over a small group of clearly young.

None of them raised their weapons properly, most-likely praying inwardly Lino didn't reach them. Their hopes and prayers, however, were vanquished as he found his way inside a small group and began the ma.s.sacre.

A new symphony emerged at that moment, one that had even Hannah frowning. All other movement ceased as even the battle-hardened souls came to a halt. He didn't spare anyone, cleanly cutting their heads and kicking their bodies out of a small clearing he fas.h.i.+oned for himself. By the end of it, over forty heads lay around his bloodied feet, the Slayer dripping with crimson, creating an ever-growing pond of blood down below. Lino's hair grew even more disheveled, covering one end of his face, while the other remained horribly bloodied.

Beneath the crimson, a singular eye opened and stared frigidly at its surroundings. n.o.body dared move. They shook in their boots, their arms quivering, a mere whisper away from dropping the weapon.

"... drop your weapons," Lino said calmly. "And I won't touch you."

"..." n.o.body did, however.

"What are you bound by? Duty? Honor? Loyalty?" Lino smiled faintly. "You f.u.c.king morons. Instead of fighting me fairly to buy you enough time to escape, he dragged you all inside this nightmare and then hid himself like a f.u.c.king c.u.n.t he is, watching the rest of you die like headless morons from safety. Why are you protecting him, huh? You think he's going to reward you? If anything, he's going to punish you because you took to fearing me in the midst of a heated battle."

"... he's right," Hannah said; it was only then that the countless eyes noticed this seemingly innocent woman by Lino's side. That thought, however, was very short-lived as they spotted a cleanly cleaved head spiked on top of her staff, blood dripping down over her crimson hair freely. "You were dragged in here without ever being asked. Who are you to fight the Empyrean? That is not your job. It's supposed to be his, but he's quite a b.i.t.c.h, ain't he?"

"... I'm actually kinda disappointed." Lino sighed, turning toward Hannah. "After the beating Two gave me, I honestly expected more."

"You're basically his bane," Hannah shrugged. "Sure, he can bend reality and whatnot. You can do whatever you want with it, though."

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"But I did nothing," Lino shrugged, sighing. "I let him drag me in here, I played by his rules... I was expecting at least something. Not 'oh, I've got thousands of people; by the time he kills them, reinforcements will arrive'... f.u.c.king h.e.l.l."

"... sometimes I forget you can be quite observant and clever." Hannah said, smiling warmly.

"... I'd like to retort, but there's a f.u.c.king head spiked on your weapon. You're way crazier than I'll ever be."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Anyway," Lino turned toward the confused crowd once more. "I don't mind playing his game. If that's what it takes, I'll kill every one of you motherf.u.c.kers to get to him. And then I'll kill him. And I'll kill whoever comes to help his stupid a.s.s. And I'll continue killing for many years to come while you poor sods will be doing whatever the f.u.c.k, having died for honor and loyalty. So, think carefully for the following few moments..." he added, his voice turning frigid once more. "You only have one life... don't waste it."