Chương 83: Twin Hammers

June stood atop a monolithic tree's branch in a dimming rainforest. The clouds above the canopy of trees had begun to darken as drops of rain started to fall from the sky. The first few seconds were a series of calm taps, which quickly escalated into heavy rain beating the canopy. He knew for sure that Dreamers were not omnipotent or unkillable, but even then, June's observation of the enemy was terrifying.

He didn't know if they knew of his presence; he didn't know if the Dreamer had extended senses, or even if one of the Aspirants had an ability similar to theirs. Every second, every time any of his enemies even glanced slightly in his direction, he felt a chilling fear creep in. His hair and body felt prickled by goosebumps all over; it felt as if his hair was trying to tear itself out of his flesh, and his head started to pound from simply thinking of being found.

He made the motions with his arms to leap off the branch he stood on and swiftly dispatch his enemies; stalking them was a double-edged sword. He couldn't figure out if he was the one preparing for an ambush or if they were subtly luring him. The enemy Aspirants had huddled together once the rain put out their campfire, and the two Dreamers who looked identical stayed beside one another constantly. June continued making the motions with his arms to leap off the branch, but his feet stayed planted.

It felt like trying to tear off a Band-Aid and not knowing if it would give a waxing as well. His hands kept on leaping up, but his feet didn't budge until he heard the voice sigh and then felt a sudden charley horse. June hopped on one foot, grasping his suddenly pained calf, and immediately regretting hopping as his foot slipped off the wet, slick branch he was standing on, sending him face-first into another branch close by as he ungracefully bounced off the ground in front of the Dreamers.

'GOD DAMMIT VOICE!' Ignoring the cramping pain in his leg, he leaped up to his feet and tackled the closest identical Dreamer through a tree and immediately began to rain a barrage of sloppy yet destructive punches on the Dreamer until a meteor hammer flew past his face, leaving a cut on it. He tried to grab the Dreamer and position him as a meat shield, but the downed Dreamer swiftly jammed an obsidian dagger into his side, making June's grip falter, leading to him being thrown to the side.

He instinctively curled into a ball and rolled a few feet while clutching the embedded knife, and when he rolled onto his feet, he quickly lunged toward the Dreamers, who created some distance. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

'Meteor hammers, knife per, 13 Aspirants left.' He swiftly ducked an incoming meteor hammer, but a second one appeared swifter and hit the knife implanted into his side, causing it to violently shift inside of him. June fell to the ground ungracefully at high speed and haphazardly attempted a somewhat successful handspring dropkick at the nearest Dreamer at the cost of breaking several fingers.

He landed next to the male identical Dreamer and delivered a devastating backhand, sending the Dreamer cartwheeling through several Aspirants at breakneck speeds and killing the unlucky few who acted as the Dreamer's cushions. A sudden lull of battle was created, an opportunity of attack was made, but June decided to take in his environment instead.

'Bushes, trees, flat space where I stand.' The spot where June stood was a natural clearing of flora; the thick canopy of trees above blotted out the sun, causing even grass to barely grow. They were deep within a rainforest, meaning plenty of cover from Aspirant fire, but he didn't think that the trees would be capable of blocking the enemy twin Dreamer's fury. A meteor hammer flew past him once more, this time blatantly off course.

He leaped to the side to grab the rope linked to it with his gauntlet hand and attempted to pull the Dreamer, wielding it, to no avail. The rope slithered its way through his grip until the hammer collided violently with his gauntlet, sending shards of bone everywhere and crushing his fist into a bloody pulp.

'SHIT!' The rain began falling harder once more and slowly began to obscure his vision. He used his working hand to tear out the fragments of bone in his fist that prevented it from healing properly; his fingers still functioned simply because they didn't need bone or muscle to work. He plucked a few shards and then tore the blade from his side and poised himself to parry the next attack with it; his side was pouring blood out, matching the dreadful cadence of the battering rain.

The rain was getting too heavy to see what was in front.

'The male twin Dreamer was thrown to his right; he would have realistically grouped with the Aspirants and would be preparing for me to attack.' June's eyes narrowed to where the female twin was. He may not have directly seen her, but he did see where her hammer and rope disappeared to.

'The twins covered each other's blind spots when together. I need to kill the singled out one first.' He inhaled and winced at the sharp pain in his side. If he couldn't see them with his eyes, then he would smell their emotions instead. He slowly approached where the meteor hammer had shortly disappeared to and inhaled once more before producing a rickshaw bag and plucking a golden glowing eye from it. His eyes narrowed before he softly spoke with humming frequencies resonating in his voice.

CLEAR THE RAIN FROM THERE. The spirits of water chirped back to him and he tossed his Will-filled eye with haphazard form, but even then, it disappeared into the rain at break neck speeds to shortly make a ringing noise as a bubble of rain suddenly disappeared, exposing the female Dreamer clutching a stick at her side.

"Looks like my dropkick was more effective than I thought."

"Tsk Tsk Tsk, someone didn't protect themselves with their source." June produced another eye from the rickshaw bag and crushed it, as wisps of gold flowed out of it and into his nostrils as he inhaled.

"Ready for round 2?"