KENSHI
All at once, the four tendrils of arms dashed at me. I swiftly and gracefully evaded all of them while deflecting those I would fail to avoid with my sword. Whenever I saw an opening, I wouldn't hesitate to swing my sword at it. There was no doubt that my technique worked just fine against these malevolent limbs.
One of the arms was cut off when it exposed itself for my sword to strike. While it was healing itself, the three continued to catch me. Another was down, and only two of them were left. For the third time, I managed to sever one of them. Only one remaining and without the interference of the three, I could focus on it, and it would make this fight a little less of a struggle.
Just as I expected, I successfully cut the last of the arms, but I was certain that the three just finished regenerating themselves and were on their way to attack me again. As the last of the arms retreated to heal, the three took over and continued the fight.
But I was surprised that they ignored me and proceeded to stretch behind me. Wait. Were they aiming for Daku? I pivoted myself and turned around, only to realize that my hunch was wrong. They weren't after Daku. They were attacking from behind, and I couldn't see them.
Intuitively, I hopped backwards to distance myself from them. Only then could I intercept them with my magic if I was granted an opportunity.
"Behind you, Kenshi!" Shino exclaimed, which caught my attention.
I turned my head a little bit and allowed my peripheral vision to catch what was behind me. My already fast-paced heartbeat even faster when I saw the fourth arm flying toward my neck and Hirako himself stretching his hand to catch me. It would be impossible for me to avoid the two in midair.
And just as I expected, the arm behind me wrapped its finger around my neck as firmly as it could. The three in front of me hold me in different places: one on my face, and the remaining on each of my shoulders. I thought he would break my bones, melt my flesh, or worse, explode my entire body. But those didn't happen.
Instead, I felt warm air close to my left ear. A second later, it spoke, "I think you have something in here for me."
And my eyes widened as my system was invaded by intense and immeasurable pain. My limbs trembled and my knees weakened as the agony wrecked my entire body. Hirako pierced his hand on my hand, opposite to my chest. I could feel his arm inside me, and every tiny movement sent a tremendous amount of pain.
I could see through the space of the finger the end of his blood-soaked arm holding an object. He turned his hand upright, revealing the identity of the object as a crystal. It was black, and it reeked of malevolence and evilness. If I was not mistaken, that was inside of me, and it was the reason why I was cursed.
You were right, Kana.
Hirako harshly pulled his hand out of my chest, sending another wave of pain through my body. My throat suddenly became full of liquid that I coughed out involuntarily. I knew it was blood, and I knew I was already bathing with it.
With my vision starting to get blurry, I looked at where Daku was earlier, but he was no longer there. I didn't know where he went, but I didn't have much time left to figure it out. My body felt so weak. Breathing was already too much of a task to do.
Audible hallucinations started kicking in after I heard my mom's voice calling for me. Aside from her voice, a male and female voice could be heard as well. The voices echoed inside my head until the apparition of my dead father appeared before me. It looked like my time had really come. I was seeing dead people now.
"Now's not your time, son," Father said, but failed to comprehend what he meant by it. I had little to no awareness of what was happening around me. My mind never bothered me at all because it was starting to lose its function. My senses were barely working as well. With my sense of touch starting to get numb, I barely feel my body falling.
A familiar figure appeared before me and caught my dying body. One by one, he removed the arms that were holding me earlier, and that was when I recognized him as Daku. His body was still glowing green, but his eyes were as well. It glowed entirely green like those times back in the Geiya Village. Along with this was his expressionless face. He was neither sad nor angry. He looked stoic.
Then, the pain I felt earlier started to dissipate. My system calmed down, and my body felt relaxed. I still felt weak and unable to move, but my eyes were no longer blurry.
I couldn't see it, but I was pretty sure Daku was carrying me. He was looking up ahead until I felt his body stop. He bent his back, and I instantly realized he was putting me down. A cold, hard surface touched my back until my whole body rested on it.
Daku looked at me before standing back up. He then broke eye contact and started walking away from me. I wanted him to stop. I wanted him to stay. But my arm was too weak to move. All I could do now was watch him getting farther and farther from me.
Running footsteps registered in my sense of hearing until I felt multiple presences approaching me.
"Mister Kenshi." The first face I recognized was Kana, who had red, puffy eyes and a runny nose. Two wet lines made of tears stretched from her eyes down to her cheeks. "Miss Shino, can you fully close his wound? With the curse being lifted, I think healing magic will work now."
"I'll try," Shino replied and hovered her right hand on my chest. A green light illuminated it, which I believe is the magic itself.
"My dear, Kenshi. My poor son." It was nice to see her again, but I would like it even more if she were smiling rather than sobbing over my condition. "I'm so sorry, Kenshi. I failed as a mother."
"Hang in there, Brother Kenshi!" That was Gresa's voice. She looked like Mother. "Cheer up, your older brother, Kenshiro."
A boy peeked behind Gresa. He was shy, and I could tell by how he held onto Gresa's pants. "Yo-You can do it, Older Brother!" he mumbled, and it was the cutest thing that I had ever seen.
"The healing magic is working! Mister Kenshi, you're finally free from the curse!" Kana declared, but the celebration was interrupted when a commotion caught our attention. Daku and Hirako and fighting once again. "I have a bad feeling about Mister Daku."
I watched Daku skillfully block, deflect, and negate the attacks sent to him by Hirako. His movement became sharper, and his senses were keener than before. He could block an attack without looking at it, and he could foresee which arm would strike next and its trajectory.
Then I noticed something in his hands. Both of them were glowing in crimson red. It was different from Vigor because of the color intensity. This one was redder and ominous. It didn't feel evil, but I could sense danger from it.
One of the arms approached Daku, and we caught it with our hand with ease. Then, red root-like tendrils resembling blood veins spread from Daku's hand to the whole captured arm, exploding it. Just like what Hirako did earlier.
"That's Hirako's Rupture Magic, right?" Shino asked.
"That explains the bad feeling I felt earlier," Kana commented.
Hirako laughed hysterically even though one of his arms got destroyed. He looked ecstatic after witnessing Daku use the Rupture Magic.
"That's right, Daku! Use it! Taste its power!" Hirako convinced.
No, Daku. You shouldn't! Using that forbidden magic came with a price!
"Stop him," I begged. "Someone, please stop him."
"You can't stop him anymore," an old man's voice opposed. It was Grosi. "Besides, it was already too late. He is already using it. He already had his hands on it. Let's just pray he is still the same Daku that we all know."
"No!" Shiro screamed. "Mister Daku will never become like Hirako. I believe in him. He'll be back."
After destroying one of the arms, Daku proceeded to get rid of the rest. A while ago, it was the arms that were chasing Daku; now, it was the opposite. Daku was now chasing them, and he made it look so easy when he caught two of the arms at the same time. Just like what happened to the first arm earlier, the two exploded.
With three of his arms gone, Hirako's expression changed from satisfied and confident to annoyed and impatient. This implied that he underestimated Daku. He must have thought that making Daku use the forbidden would make Daku his ally - that he would join the Dark Order. But he was wrong. I hoped he was.
Daku grabbed the last arm and blasted it out of existence. He slowly approached Hirako, and the enemy feared it and took a step back before sending three of his newly regenerated arms. The three made contact with Daku's body but were immediately destroyed and exploded.
Every time Daku steps closer to Hirako, Hirako takes a step back. He continued to deliver his tentacle-like arms but ended up in the same state as earlier. Whenever they contact Daku's body, they explode into thin air.
"Daku was right, Hirako," Daku finally spoke, but in a different voice. It was a woman's voice, and it sounded very familiar to me. Who was it again? Right! Thelah. Was she taking over Daku's body? "Your mind is weak. You let people's comments about you being a Healer get to your head. You let yourself drown in the sea of anger and rage. When I taught you forbidden magic, parts of me were saying that you would use it to harm other people. It was a fault on my part to believe otherwise. Now, I have come to correct my mistake."
"N-"
Hirako never got to finish his word when Daku, or should I say Thelah, placed his hands on both sides of Hirako's head. In an instant, thick purplish-black smoke escaped from Hirako's mouth as the Evil Remnant escaped from his body. I could say he consumed quite a lot because of how much smoke escaped from his mouth. It lasted for a minute before all of the Evil Remnant was removed from Hirako's system.
Daku let go of Hirako's head, which dropped the body to his knees. I didn't know what Thelah did to him other than cleansing him, but it turned Hirako into his current state: an expressionless face as if he were in a state of shock.
"I have removed every bit of memory of the Rupture Magic from your mind. You can no longer use that forbidden magic anymore."
Daku turned his back against Hirako and faced in our direction. His eyes returned to normal, and his body was no longer glowing green. But his expression remained stoic and blank. Then, I watched his body fall, and at the same time, my vision turned black. As much as I wanted to stay awake, my weak body craved a good slumber.