originally posted in:The New Dojo
"I know the exact feeling. And I swore I'd never feel that way again."
[i] Lance snarled, fighting off the fatigue as he flew through the air at Seth and viciously slashed downwards with his two blades, and swung across with the one in his mask's jaws. [/i]
English
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[b]The blades connected as another pulse jolted from Seth's eyes...[/b] [b]With a crash, Seth fell backwards and landed with a sickening thud at the bottom of the tree, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, a twisted grin across his lips.[/b] [i]"Then... You haven't.... Seen... What I... Fear..."[/i] [b]He sputtered, coughing slightly as his eyes pulsed once more, the air running thick with moisture as clouds gathered above and a slight rain began to pour... Then... The chill... A draining chill that sapped Lance's energy and made his body ache... Then, the world around him began to spin as a pounding sensation overtook his mind...[/b] [i]"Cry out... Or flee... It won't matter. I am the snake of man that eats loaves of plagued children, festering upon lies... Pestilence return, blasphemy reborn, Anthony our king, you are torn..."[/i] [b]A voice, a cold and empty voice seemed to surround Lance as the chill was replaced by dense fog, visibility reaching near zero. Lance could barely see anything in front of him... All but two silhouettes that stood next to the fallen Seth.[/b]
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[i] Lance hopped back a few feet, hands tightened on his blades. Shadows began to pour from The Demon's Heart in his mouth, the voice of its inhabitant probing Lance's fatigued and weary mind.[/i] [quote]Whatever that is, it's above your pay grade Lance. You're gonna need me if you even wanna entertain the thought of facing it down. [/quote] [i] Lance shivered as Shadow's words crossed his mind. He only spoke to him rarely, and in cases of extreme danger or emergency. He didn't like the way that sounded.. because he meant it. Shadow was genuinely looking out for him. The blade of the Demon's Heart pulsed in an agitated sense, but Lance willed it down..for now.[/i]
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[b]Suddenly, a figure blurred, Lance feeling a massive strike land on his backside. The other figure crushing Seth in two it too, also blurred.[/b] [b]Then, another strike, but this one not physical... It was certainly not natural, but it hurt Lance's body all the same, as if his blood had suddenly reversed direction.[/b] [i]"He'll run soon..."[/i] [i]"He's already running..."[/i] [i]"He just doesn't know it yet..."[/i] [b]Voices, each unique and different, but separate as well... As if a choir were speaking, but all part of an even larger group...[/b]
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[i] Lance stumbled forward from the strike to his back, and gasped as the seemingly internal strike hit him. It wasn't a physical wound, but it felt like someone had constricted his veins. The voices jumbled together on the edge of his hearing, while cracks in The Demon's Heart began to spindle their way up and down the blade. Whatever was in it..it wanted out.[/i] "Come on, you can't hit any harder?" [i] Lance said to practically no one, but the asshole in him took over before he could rethink the decision. [/i]
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[b]Another strike, one just outside his peripherals, as if these beings knew just how to keep out of sight.[/b] [i]"A little... Push..."[/i] [b]Then, the branch beneath Lance's feet cracked and split in two, taken out from under him as he felt the draining sense shackling him and wrapping to his body like a coiling snake... This wasn't a physical fight... This was spiritual warfare.[/b] [i]"Break him..."[/i] [b]Then the assault, strike after strike as the beings moved around him, invisible in the fog, but there altogether... There would be a flash, then a hit to the arm... A whir and then a blunt attack to the back of a leg... On top of it all, it felt like he had been falling for hours... Endlessly into the fog, the grass below never quite forming.[/b]
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[i] Lance grunted and gasped, thrashing around as he was assaulted. He didn't know how to defend against something he couldn't see, but he saw light gleaming between the cracks on The Demon's Heart. Shadow wanted out, and he wanted out now.[/i] "Dammit!" [i] Lance screamed, throwing random slashes and stabs through the air, attempting to hit something. [/i]
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[b]The slashes cut against the fog as if it were a thick substance, able to be cut. But every slash seemed to miss the two attackers both beginning a chorus of insane laughter, thousands of voices chiming in...[/b] [i]"He is going to tire out... We should fix that..."[/i] [i]"This one is frantic... Paranoia perhaps?"[/i]
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"Frantic my ass." [i] Lance whispered, shadows swarming over him from The Demon's Heart's edge, encasing him in inky blackness and solidifying, covering him in a hard shell of shadow. [/i]
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[b]Silence. Nothingness. The assault quickly stopped as the voices and blurs vanished.[/b] [i]"Be still... You are in Seth's mind, Mister... It's dangerous here."[/i] [b]Lana's voice eventually spoke up from behind Lance, her footsteps silent as he had seemingly landed on solid ground.[/b] [i]"It's full of bad thoughts... It's diseased."[/i]
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[i] The shadows dissipated from around Lance, leaving him standing on the foggy ground, bent double with his hands on his knees. He'd almost let Shadow have control of his body. He'd been that desperate. [/i] "Why..how?" [i] He questioned, looking over his shoulder to Lana. [/i]
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[b]Lana was still in her usual attire, but she seemed almost fake... Distant.[/b] [i]"I don't know... But it would explain his temper. I've felt this presence before... I know these thoughts... But we can't stay here... We need to go, Mister."[/i] [b]Lance felt her reach out and grab his arm, tugging quietly as the figures formed in the fog once more, visible now. They were tall, wrapped in dark grey cloaks that shimmered slightly, wearing mask like structures on their faces, red symbols sprawled across, one with an X shape, another with two squares connected to the edges by lines.[/b] [spoiler]https://i.imgur.com/cS8lrEH[/spoiler] [i]"So... He hasn't run..."[/i] [i]"Then we kill him..."[/i] [i]"The girl is watching..."[/i] [i]"It matters not..."[/i] [b]Lana's pulling became more forceful, her eyes clouding with concern.[/b] [i]"Let's go, Mister!"[/i] [b]Long sleeves hid all kinds of features except for thin gloved hands, the tips barely visible. Their faces... If they even had faces... Were invisible, but Lance could almost sense that the two were grinning.[/b]
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[i] Lance didn't budge, hands gripping on his swords. He wouldn't run. These guys had just kicked his ass, and he wasn't gonna let them have the last laugh.[/i] "You can go Lana. I'm staying." [i] He said quietly, a familiar voice prodding his thoughts.[/i] [quote]That's my boy. Let's make them wish they'd never been created.[/quote] "What are you freaks?" [i] Lance calls out, shadows dripping from the blade in his mouth, his other two swords becoming a blur as he swung them around in a fanciful fashion. [/i]
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[i]"I am the World-Eater..."[/i] [i]"I have no name but the one the child gives me..."[/i] [b]The two seem to talk as if they were the same person, the flurry of sword slashes cutting through the fog, but every time they seemed to make contact, it seemed the duo had moved farther back without taking a single step.[/b]
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[quote]Way, way above your pay grade Ninja boy.[/quote] "So you're another one of Lana's constructs?" [i] Lance questions, stilling his swords and resting them on his shoulders as he stands still, mask's optics finding it difficult to look through the fog at the pair of figures. [/i]
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[i]"Constructs? No... Incursions of the new age..."[/i] [b]Then with a rush, the two sprinted forwards, arms trailing behind as they sprinted, blurring until they were gone, a strike crashing into Lance's chest as another slammed into his back.[/b] [b]Then before another could arrive, Lana's arm reached out and swatted a leg away, sending one of the figures stumbling away.[/b] [i]"I'll take care of one... The other is yours... If a third arrives... Run..."[/i]
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[i] If a third shows up, I'm letting Shadow loose, Lance thought to himself.[/i] [quote]That's my boy.[/quote] [i] Lance crouched low in an unorthodox fighting stance, both swords stretched to the left and in line with each other, the third in his jaws protruding the opposite direction. The air around Lance seemed to twist and bend, like it was trying to escape the edge's of his blades. [/i]
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[b]The one left to Lance was the one with squares along his mask, his long sleeves letting strange black liquid onto the white ground.[/b] [i]"Is that all...? No challenge from you...? So trifling...."[/i] [b]The figure rushed forward, blurring again as a blunt attack collided with Lance's head. But this one was stronger, meant to be lethal. His armored stopped the majority of the force... But this thing wasn't playing games anymore.[/b]
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[i] Lance turned with the blow, softening the impact that normally would've had him seeing stars. He brought his blades up in a vicious upstroke, aiming to relieve the figure of his arm. [/i]
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[b]The blade seemed to pass through the arm and sleeve like they weren't there, like they weren't corporeal...[/b] [i]"You cannot touch the flame casting the shadow born from the womb of the void..."[/i] [b]Another slam, this one to the leg as the figure blurred next to him, looking down from his seven foot height.[/b] [i]"Your anxiety builds as you fall... You fear loosing... You fear... My existence..."[/i]
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"I fear nothing." [i] Lance snarled, the blow to his leg forcing him to one knee. He held out a hand, a ball of volatile darkness forming in his palm. It stretched and pulsed like it was trying to break some invisible barrier. Before it could, Lance hurled it at the figures chest.[/i]
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[i]"Seals...? The ancient Lordan technique...? Taught only by masters... Impossible..."[/i] [b]The figure seemed concerned for once, extending a gloved palm, the shadow orb slowly sucked into the palm of his hand as he stood tall and rigid.[/b] [i]"What are you...?"[/i] [b]It asked, creating an orb of its own, this own much bigger... Stronger... More violent. This orb was bright blue, swarming with energy as it suddenly expanded to twice the size of the figure.[/b] [i]"Answer or die..."[/i]
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"I am Lance May." [i] Lance stands back up to his feet.[/i] "The Demon of the Darkness." [i] Holding his two blades vertically and out to his left.[/i] "The Triple Swordsman." [i] Bending his arms backwards and holding the swords behind the one in his mouth, he glares at the figure in front of him. [/i] "The Ronin." [i] He states, power leaking from his aura, begging to be let loose. [/i] [spoiler]https://imgur.com/a/eA4OQ Basically what I was going for. [/spoiler]
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[i]"Trivial..."[/i] [b]The figure launched the orb forward, causing it to split into thousands of smaller orbs that rush towards Lance, the figure blurring along with them.[/b]
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"Absorb." [i] Lance's mask retracted to show his face, his left eye a swirling abyss of black as liquid shadow ran down his cheek, the orbs seemingly sucked into the air in front of him. [/i] "Scatter." [i] His right eye mimics the left, taking on a pitch black color, white, iris, and all. The same dripping darkness falls from the edge of it, and with an explosion of air, triple the amount of orbs that had been launched at Lance were rebounded back at the form in front of him.[/i] "I'm human. Sorry to disappoint you." [i] Lance sneered.[/i]
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[i]"Pitiful how a human mind can be so determined... You are merely a race meant for rotting and decay..."[/i] [b]The massive scattering of energy sent the area into a frenzy of explosions, only for the damage to suddenly absorb into the palm of the distant figure's hand.[/b] [i]"But I... I am everlasting..."[/i] [b]With a sweeping motion, the figure cuts his hand through the fog, the air warping and sharpening until a pale white spear rested in his hand. Then, he vanished, only to appear in front of Lance a second later, spear aimed for his stomach.[/b]