Chương 118: Bonds Tied In Viscera IV

Are you watching? Are you listening? Are you reading? Are you?'' I have searched for you from the moment you blessed my mind with reason.'' Blessed my body with power.'' Blessed my soul with your kindness'' But I have sullied my gift.'' My prey are my tribute, and my sin'' Men, Women, Children, Nightmares, and monsters alike'' Any who equate themselves, or even dare to associate with those who take your title in vain.''' My lord! My God! The fabric of my body and the world around me! I CAN FEEL YOUR PRESENCE!'"

WITNESS MY BEING ALMIGHTY!" ONI roared, and the red aura surrounding its body billowed and expanded into a brilliant red. Lightning violently struck down from the heavens and curved around its body, flowing into a bolt of hovering electricity that rapidly orbited underneath its armpit and shoulder.

With a forward stance, ONI briskly rotated its body and flung the bolt of hovering lightning past the regenerating Wendigo and towards the mountainside, causing the impact zone to violently explode into a fiery mushroom cloud of red aura with the radius of a sedan. ONI slammed its fists together with a deafening pop, and another bolt of lightning fell onto it and hovered near, primed to be shot. It awaited the Wendigo's move; this was not an execution, nor a true battle.

It was a show for the one beyond the outside.

The Wendigo trembled as its body regenerated its wounds. Wisps of pale regolithic color shone beneath its thin skin. Its neck snapped to the side, and peerless eyes locked onto the noble's form. Blood It's gaunt, and agape jaw slowly curled into a gleeful smile, and curled and curled, ear-to-ear, blood ran down from its cheeks as its skin and muscle tore from its smile, its saliva drooled out of its side carrying its own blood to the ground.

The scent of blood was weak; the elements deemed it so, but even then, the noble's taunt was well received. The skinstealer lifted an elongated finger and lifted its loose jaw back into place for a moment, before immediately lunging with feral noises screaming out. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Hunger Lustful Hunger It could not see, but it could smell. JOY! HUNGER!

The noble presented its carved chest and waited patiently while the insatiable skinstealer and the Wendigo happily lunged at the bestowed buffet, and was met not with the taste and texture of intestines and viscera, but blood and steel as the noble thrust its entire fist down the skinwalker's throat, and flexed, prying down its jaw, throat, and chunks of it's chest like a peeled banana.

Still, the Wendigo didn't back down; it shoved its thin, gangly fingers right into the noble's chest and through the other side in an eruption of red blood. Its peerless eyes stared into the mask's glowing red eye slots. The lightning hovering behind the noble unsteadied and flew off into a random direction, but the noble didn't seem to care.

It clawed onto the hand impaling it with its spare and extricated hand, and sank its talons into the skinstealer's flesh, as it slowly crawled closer and further down the stake that impaled it. The Wendigo's other hand trembled, attempting to reapply to the peeled skin and its jaw, but before it could, the noble stepped closer and jabbed its fist through the Wendigo's skull. The noble didn't stop there; it tore its fist out and slammed both of its fists together, and screamed in a billowing voice."

FALSE GODS STRIKE ME DOWN!" Several bolts of furious lightning struck the noble and the Wendigo's body in rapid succession.

Ann was stirred awake by bolts of lightning striking a distant blip countless times; the sky lit up with every outburst. She weakly leaned her head to the side; her body was tingling and numb. Dispersed electricity from the distant battlefield permeated far around the space and was buzzing around her as she lay on the ground. Will was a power ingrained with mentality; it was literal will after all.

It was a cloudy sensation of how much Will a person had within; only the exceptionally acute could tell, and while Ann was exceptional and acute, talent and genius were separated by a thin, invisible barrier. Only alright and low registered in her mind when it came to feeling her Will reserves, and currently, it was steadily filling towards feeling alright. Her mentality was stalwart; it stood predominantly to her Aspirant peers, and so her recovery was in sight.

She felt her Will distribute through her body and restore its strength, not at her full potential, but on the battlefield, where close enough was either enough or too little; only time would tell. She slowly raised her body with a weak arm and looked at a charred body slowly disintegrating into blue mist while standing. It grasped a large odachi stuck in the ground and held on despite its lack of life.

'Valiant!' Ann looked at the battle off in the distance and pinched her side enough to draw blood, simply to wake her up. She looked back at the body that had quickly flowed away into blue sparks.

'Where is Silvester?' She looked around once more and didn't see him.

'He isn't the type to abandon people…' Ann slowly stood up on trembling legs and walked over to the closest thing of interest. The odachi stood taller than her, stuck in the mud with its handle sticking towards the sky.

'Like a lightning rod…' She contemplated her choices. She wasn't in the condition to run; there was nowhere to hide in the large open space, waiting wasn't her style, and there was a sword in front of her. Ann looked around once more for Silvester and staggered over to the sword after catching no sight. The ornate blade was plain, yet elegant.

The blade was sharp enough to cut hair; it was a marvel of smithing to the point Ann couldn't tell if it was her inner craftsmith trembling or if the sword had an aura of its own. She gently wrapped her fingers around the giant sword's hilt. Then she heard a whisper.' Brother, another one has tried.' Then her vision went white as thunder struck her down. 4 hours remained until the final stretch.